This product presents the design of a useful multi-functional adjustable table. It will bring great convenience to people with disability who spend most of time in bed, so as to meet their daily needs. Since there are already many similar products on the market, we focused on updating the functions on table, which can help people reading books or using tablet PC on beds in a comfortable way. It can also support people to stand up and walk around. There is a C-clamp fixing the product consolidated to bed. Besides, the hydraulic and micro-computer systems are used to adjust the table into a proper height automatically. The whole structure was designed in Autodesk Inventor 2015, and the simulation, test, analysis experiments were made in Abaqus 6.1.2 to ensure its safety and stability. In addition, this design can be an incentive for the improvement of the auxiliary equipment, highlighting the importance of the development of mechanisms for the healthcare.

The bulge test is a commonly used experiment to establish the material stress-strain response at the highest possible strain levels. It consists of a metal sheet placed in a die with a circular opening. It is clamped in place and inflated with hydraulic pressure. In this thesis, a bulge testing apparatus was designed, fabricated, calibrated and used to measure the stress-strain response of an aluminum sheet metal and establish its onset of failure. The custom design incorporates a draw-bead for clamping the plate. A closed loop controlled servohydraulic pressurization system consisting of a pressure booster is used to pressurize the specimens. Deformations of the bulge are monitored with a 3D digital image correlation (DIC) system. Bulging experiments on 0.040 in thick Al-2024-T3 sheets were successfully performed. The 3D nature of the DIC enables simultaneous estimates of local strains as well as the local radius of curvature. The successful performance of the tests required careful design of the draw-bead clamping arrangement. Experiments on four plates are presented, three of which burst in the test section as expected. Finite deformation isotropic plasticity was used to extract the true equivalent stress-strain responses from each specimen. The bulge test results correlated well with the uniaxial results as they tended to fall between tensile test results in the rolling and transverse directions. The bulge tests results extended the stress-strain response to strain levels of the order of 40%, as opposed to failure strains of the order of 10% for the tensile tests. Three-dimensional shell and solid models were used to investigate the onset of localization that precedes failure. In both models, the calculated pressure-deformation responses were found to be in reasonable agreement with the measured ones. The solid element model was shown to better capture the localization and its evolution. The corresponding pressure maximum was shown to be imperfection sensitive. / text

Glued connections are relatively new in structural timber engineering. They are expected to show high connection stiffness as well as a high connection strength compared to mechanical connections e.g. dowel‐type connections.The main aim of this thesis is to characterize the behavior of glued timber connections under pure tension by conducting experiments as well as numerical simulations. Hereby the influence of different parameters is studied such as the geometry (bond-line length and thickness) and the material properties (e.g. adhesives of highly diverse stiffness). Additionally, reference tests on a dowel-type connection are made. The purpose is to see the differences between dowelled and glued connections and to see if there are some advantages in using glued timber connections (the base geometry was chosen acc. to Eurocode 5).Finite element models were created in the software ABAQUS. The models were used to predict the connection stiffness and compare this to the experimental results. In addition, parametric studies were performed on e.g. overlapping lengths. The comparison between experiments and simulations showed good agreement.It was found that glued connections with the adhesives SikaPower-4720 and SikaFast-5215 NT (an epoxy and an acrylate, respectively) had higher stiffness than the dowel connections, whereas connections with the silicone adhesive SikaSil SG-500 had a lower stiffness. A general conclusion drawn from this work is that the glued timber connections simulated in this project should also be suitable for application to complex connections and situations involving other loading situations than pure tension.

Seeking to quench airliners’ unending thirst for lightweight, reliable and more comfortable seating solutions, designers are developing a new generation of slim economy – class seats. Challenge in front of the designers is to carve out additional “living space”, as well as to give a “lie – flat” experience to air travellers with strict adherence to safety regulations. Present research tries to address all these industry needs through an innovative and novel “Sleep Seat”. A generous angle of recline (40 degree), movement of “Seat Pan” along the gradient, fixed outer shell of backrest, and unique single “Forward Beam” design distinguishes “Sleep Seat” form current generation seats. It is an ultralightweight design weighing 8kg (typical seat weight is 11kg). It satisfies “Generic Requirements (GR2)” which ensures “Comfort in Air”. It will be a “16g” seat, means it can sustain the “Emergency landing” loads as specified by “Certification Specifications (CS 25.561 and CS 25.562)”. For present research, only CS 25.561 has been considered. Since, the design of “Sleep Seat” is still in its conceptual phase, it is not possible to build the prototypes and their physical testing, due to costs and time involved. “Finite Element Analysis (FEA)” is a useful tool to predict the response of the structure when subjected to real life loads. Hence, the aim of research being undertaken is to develop a detailed FE model of the complete seat structure, which will help designers to identify potential weak areas and to compare different design concepts virtually, thereby reducing the development cycle time. In order to avoid handling of large number of design variables; major load carrying members (called Primary Load Path) i.e. Forward beam and leg; are designed for the most critical “Forward 9g” loads; using FEA results as a basis. A robust framework to verify the FEA results is developed. “Sequential Model Development Approach”; which builds the final, detailed FE model starting from preliminary model (by continuously updating the FE model by addition of details that are backed up by pilot studies); resulted in a FE model which could predict the stress induced in each of the components for applied CS 25.561 loads along with “Seat Interface Loads”. The “Interface Load” is the force exerted by the seat design on the floor and is one of the main contributing factors in seat design. “Optistruct” is used as a solver for linear static FEA, whereas “Abaqus / Standard” is used for non-linear FEA. Stepwise methodologies for mesh sensitivity study, modelling of bolt-preload, representing bolted joint in FEA, preventing rigid body motion, and obtaining a converged solution for non-linear FEA are developed during this research. Free-Shape Optimisation is used to arrive at a final design of Seat-leg. All the findings and steps taken during this are well documented in this report. Finally, a detailed FE model (involving all the three non-linearities : Contact, material and geometric) of the complete seat structure was analysed for the loads taken from CS 25.561, and it was found that design of “Forward beam” and leg are safe against CS 25.561. Therefore, all the aims and objectives outlined for this research were accomplished. For future work, first area to look for, would be validation of present FEA results by experimental testing. FE model to simulate dynamic loads CS 25.562 can be developed followed by design improvements and optimisation.

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are a relatively new class of active materials that can store a temporary shape and return to the original configuration upon application of a stimulus such as temperature. This shape changing ability has led to increased interest in their use for biomedical and aerospace applications. A major challenge, however, in the advancement of these applications is the ability to accurately predict the material behavior for complex geometries and boundary conditions. This work addresses this challenge by developing an experimentally calibrated and validated constitutive model that is implemented as a user material subroutine in Abaqus ? a commercially available finite element software package. The model is formulated in terms of finite deformations and assumes the SMP behaves as a thermoelastic material, for which the response is modeled using a compressible neo-Hookean constitutive equation. An internal state variable, the glassy volume fraction, is introduced to account for the phase transformation and associated stored deformation upon cooling from the rubbery phase to the glassy phase and subsequently recovered upon heating. The numerical implementation is performed such that a system of equations is solved using a Newton-Raphson method to find the updated stress in the material. The conductive heat transfer is incorporated through solving Fourier's law simultaneously with the constitutive equations. To calibrate and validate the model parameters, thermomechanical experiments are performed on an amorphous, thermosetting polyurethane shape memory polymer. Strains of 10-25% are applied and both free recovery (zero load) and constrained displacement recovery boundary conditions are considered for each value of applied strain. Using the uniaxial experimental data, the model is then calibrated and compared to the 1-D experimental results. The validated finite element analysis tool is then used to model biomedical devices, including cardiovascular tubes and thrombectomy devices, fabricated from shape memory polymers. The effects of heat transfer and complex thermal boundary conditions are evaluated using coupled thermal-displacement analysis, for which the thermal material properties were experimentally calibrated.

La corrosion des canalisations métalliques pour le transport de gaz ou d'hydrocarbures est un problème critique qui peut avoir des répercussions financières et environnementales très importantes. Les revêtements polyoléfines tricouches sont largement utilisés pour préserver l'intégrité des structures. Ils sont constitués d'une sous couche mince époxy, d'une couche mince d'adhésif et d'une couche épaisse le plus souvent en polyéthylène. Ce système de revêtement bénéficie de très bonnes qualités d'adhérence. Néanmoins, des cas de décollements de ces revêtements à l'interface époxy/acier ont été constatés sur des pipelines en service depuis quelques années seulement, alors que la durée minimale de vie escomptée des tubes dans le sol est de quelques dizaines d'années. Ces décollements pourraient être dus à une dégradation progressive des liaisons interfaciales entre le primaire époxy et la surface métallique, associée à la présence de contraintes interfaciales importantes entre les différentes couches de l'assemblage. Cette étude vise alors d'une part à proposer des solutions permettant d'aboutir à la meilleure performance en vieillissement de la liaison adhésive, et d'autre part à quantifier les niveaux de contraintes au sein de la canalisation en acier revêtue depuis sa mise en œuvre, jusqu'à sa mise en service.Les liaisons interfaciales dépendant nécessairement de la préparation de surface de l'acier, des procédés de nettoyage ont été testés afin d'évaluer leur influence sur l'adhérence initiale et la durabilité des assemblages. Les préparations de surface permettent d'obtenir un degré de propreté et une rugosité. Ces deux éléments maximisent les forces de liaison et donc l'adhérence du revêtement. Le revêtement résiste alors mieux dans des environnements agressifs. Tous les procédés de nettoyage testés ont conduits à des niveaux de propreté équivalents du substrat en acier. Les essais effectués sur substrats polis miroir ont mis en évidence qu'une rugosité est nécessaire pour améliorer la durabilité des assemblages. La rugosité permet d'obtenir des adhérences supérieures à celles sur substrats polis miroir, de ralentir les effets du vieillissement humide et donc de prolonger la durée de vie du système. Il a été mis en évidence que les fortes rugosités étaient particulièrement bénéfiques pour les adhérences sèches. Par contre, au-delà d'une certaine rugosité, l'augmentation de la rugosité ne s'accompagne pas d'une amélioration significative de l'adhérence humide. Une étude sur l'apport des traitements de surface a aussi été menée. L'addition d'un traitement de surface a peu d'impact sur les adhérences initiales des assemblages, en comparaison avec une préparation de surface classique. Par contre les traitements de surfaces améliorent considérablement les adhérences humides, et donc la durabilité des assemblages. Notre travail prouve que le traitement aminosilane est un candidat potentiel en vue du remplacement du traitement toxique de chromatation, référence en matière de traitements de surface dans l'industrie des pipelines et dont l'utilisation sera interdite dans un futur proche compte tenu de l'évolution de la réglementation. Dans de bonnes conditions d'application et associé avec des primaires époxy appropriés, les adhérences sèches et humides obtenues avec les silanes sont comparables (voire supérieures) à celles de la chromatation.Par ailleurs, la modélisation par éléments finis du système tricouches a permis de préciser les niveaux de contraintes aux interfaces résultant de la mise en œuvre et de prévoir leur évolution au cours du temps et du vieillissement humide.

Dowel-type steel to timber connections are commonly used in timber structure. The load carrying capacity and the stress distribution within the connection area are complicated and the failure behavior of a connection depends on many parameters. The main purpose of this thesis was to verify, using the data obtained from previous experiments, the conventional design method of European Code 5(EC5) (hand calculation) for dowel type joints subjected to pure bending moment and other alternative design methods based on the finite element method (FEM) including the use of the mean stress approach and the extended finite element method (XFEM). Finite element models were created in the software ABAQUS. The models were then used to predict the load bearing capacity and compare this to the experimental results. In addition parametric studies were performed with modifications of material properties and other parameters. The closest prediction in relation to the test results was obtained using XFEM where the predicted capacity was 3.82% larger than the experimental result. An extension of the mean stress method going from a 2D-formulation to a 3D-formulation was verified as well. A general conclusion drawn from this work is that the numerical modelling approaches used should also be suitable for application to complex connections and situations involving other loading situations than pure tension.

Wind-induced damages on low-slope roofs are a major and common problem that many buildings located in high wind areas suffer from. Most of these damages are initiated when the metal roof edge fails first, leading to overall roof failure. This is because peak wind pressures occur at the edges and corners of low-slope roof buildings. Currently, there are not enough wind design guidelines for the Canadian roofing community to quantify the dynamic wind uplift resistance of the roof edge system. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effect of wind-induced loads on roof edges using a finite element model, verify the numerical results with those obtained from controlled experiments, and perform parametric investigations for various design variables. In this research, the overall roof edge system was modelled using the commercial finite element software package ABAQUS, by simulating the roof edge system with shell elements and applying a uniform static pressure against the face of the edge cleat or coping. Results of the modelling were compared to the experimental ones in terms of deflection of the coping under uniform pressure. The results of the numerical model and the experiments show a good agreement. Furthermore, a parametric analysis of the system was conducted under the effect of varying parameters. i.e., coping gauge, nail spacing, coping and cleat length and wind and thermal load application.

Plusieurs types d’interactions existent entre un emballage (contenant) et le produit emballé (contenu). L’inertie d’un emballage est rarement totale, ce qui peut engendrer par exemple une altération des propriétés du produit emballé. Ce contact contenant/contenu peut également influencer les propriétés thermomécaniques de l’emballage. L’objectif général du travail de cette thèse consiste à développer une méthodologie expérimentale rigoureuse et pertinente pour caractériser les phénomènes observés et ainsi modéliser le système matériau/produit. Cette démarche a pour but la mise au point d’un outil d’aide à la conception des emballages en polymère, permettant la prédiction et la simulation de résistance mécanique de ces emballages, afin notamment d’améliorer leurs performances. Dans le cadre de ce travail, nous avons caractérisé la sorption de l’acétate d’amyle dans des flacons en polypropylène par les techniques de gravimétrie et de spectrométrie infrarouge à transformée de Fourier avec différentes concentrations aux températures de contact de 23°C et de 40°C. Nous avons pu constater, à l’aide de ces deux techniques, que la quantité d’ester dans le polymère augmente en fonction de la température de vieillissement et de la concentration en ester. L’étude thermique par la technique de DSC a montré que la température de fusion augmentait et que le taux de cristallisation du polypropylène diminuait en fonction de la concentration d’acétate d’amyle, ce dernier jouant le rôle de plastifiant. Nous avons également identifié, à l’aide du logiciel SiDoLo, un modèle analytique de type sigmoïdal pour modéliser la sorption de l’acétate d’amyle dans le polypropylène Pour corréler l’évolution du module d’élasticité et de la RCV des flacons avec le vieillissement du polymère, nous avons réalisé des essais de traction simple sur des éprouvettes prélevées sur les flacons, ainsi que des essais de compression verticale sur des flacons. Pour identifier les paramètres de la loi de comportement des polymères solides, nous avons utilisé la méthode d’identification inverse sur les essais de compression verticale, en couplant le logiciel d’optimisation SiDoLo et le logiciel de calcul des structures par la méthode des éléments finis ABAQUS®. Cette approche nous notamment permis de proposer une évolution de ces paramètres en fonction de la concentration d’acétate d’amyle / Several types of interactions exist between a packaging (container) and the packed product (contained). The inertia of a packaging is never total, which can generate for example a deterioration of the properties of the packed product. This container/contained contact can also influence the thermomechanical properties of the packaging. The aim of this work consists in developing a rigorous and relevant experimental methodology to characterize the phenomena observed and thus to model the system material/product in order to obtain a tool for simulating the mechanical resistance of polymer packaging, which will be used for the improvement of their mechanical performances. Within the this work, we have characterized the sorption of the amyl acetate in polypropylene bottles by the techniques of gravimetry and Fourier transformed infra-red spectrometry with various concentrations at the temperatures of contact of 23°C and 40°C. We have noticed, using these two techniques, that the quantity of ester sorbed in the polymer increases according to the temperature of ageing and the concentration of the ester. The thermal study by the DSC technique, showed that the melting point increases and that the rate of crystallization of polypropylene stripped according to the concentration of amyl acetate, the amyl acetate playing a role of a plasticizer. We have also identified, using the software SiDoLo, an analytical model of sigmoïdal type to model the sorption of the amyl acetate in the polypropylene to correlate the evolution of the modulus of elasticity and the top load of the bottles with the ageing of the polymer. We carried out simple tensile tests on cutted out samples from the bottles and top load tests on the bottles. We have used the inverse identification method on top load tests, by coupling SiDoLo optimization software and the nonlinear finite element program ABAQUS®, to identify the parameters of the law of solid polymers. We have also proposed an evolution of these parameters according to the amyl acetate concentration

Excellent properties of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composites are usually obtained in the direction at which carbon fibers are embedded in the polymeric matrix material. The outstanding properties of this material such as high strength to weight ratio, high stiffness and high resistance to corrosion can be tailored to meet specific design applications. Despite their excellent mechanical properties, application of CFRPs has been limited to more lucrative sectors such as aerospace and automotive industries. This is mainly due to the high costs involved in manufacturing of this material. Machining, milling and drilling, is a critical part of finishing stage of manufacturing process. Milling and drilling of CFRP is complicated due to the inhomogeneous nature of the material and extreme abrasiveness of carbon fibers. This is why CFRP parts are usually made near net shape. However, no matter how close they are produced to the final shape, there still is an inevitable need for some post machining to obtain dimensional accuracies and tolerances. Problems such as fiber-matrix debonding, subsurface damage, rapid tool wear, matrix cracking, fiber pull-out, and delamination are usually expected to occur in machining CFRPs. These problems can affect the dimensional accuracy and performance of the CFRP part in its future application. To improve the efficiency of the machining processes, i.e. to reduce the costs and increase the surface quality, researchers began studying machining Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites. Studies into FRPs can be divided in three realms; analytical, experimental and numerical. Analytical models are only good for a limited range [0° – 75°] of Fiber Orientations , to be found from now on as “FO” in this thesis. Experimental studies are expensive and time consuming. Also, a wide variety of controlling parameters exist in an experimental machining study; including cutting parameters such as depth of cut, cutting speed, FO, spindle speed, feed rate as well as tool geometry parameters such as rake angle, clearance angle, and tool edge/nose radius. Furthermore, the powdery dust created during machining is known to cause serious health hazards for the operator. Numerical models, on the other hand, offer the unique capability of studying the complex interaction between the tool and workpiece as well as chip formation mechanisms during the cut. Large number of contributing parameters can be included in the numerical model without wasting material. Three main objectives of numerical models are to predict principal cutting force, thrust force and post-machining subsurface damage. Knowing these, one can work on optimization of machining process by tool geometry and path design. Previous numerical studies mainly focus on the orthogonal cutting of FRP composites. Thus, the existing models in the literature are two-dimensional (2D) for the most part. The 2D finite element models assume plain stress or strain condition. Accordingly, the reported results cannot be reliable and extendable to real cutting situations such as drilling and milling, where oblique cutting of the material occurs. Most of the numerical studies to date claim to predict the principle cutting forces fairly acceptable, yet not for the whole range of fiber orientations. Predicted thrust forces, on the other hand, are generally not in good agreement with experimental results at all. Subsurface damage is reported by some experimental studies and again only for a limited FO range. To address the lack of reliable force and subsurface damage prediction model for the whole FO range, this thesis aims to develop a 3D finite element model, in hope of capturing out-of-plane displacements during stress formation in different material phases (Fiber, Matrix and the Interface bonding). ABAQUS software was chosen as the most commonly used finite element simulation tool in the literature. In present work a user-defined material subroutine (VUMAT) is developed to simulate behavior of carbon fibers during the cut. Carbon fibers are assumed to behave transversely isotropic with brittle (perfectly elastic) fracture. Epoxy matrix is simulated with elasto-plastic behavior. Ductile and shear damage models are also incorporated for the matrix. Surface-based cohesive zone technique in ABAQUS is used to simulate the behavior of the zero-thickness bonding layer. The tool is modeled as a rigid body. Mechanical properties were extracted from the literature. The obtained numerical results are compared to the experimental and numerical data in literature. The model is capable of capturing principal forces very well. Cutting force increases with FO from zero to 45° and then decreases up to 135°. The simulated thrust forces are still underestimated mainly due to the fiber elastic recovery effect. Also, the developed 3D model is shown to capture the subsurface damage generally by means of a predefined dimensionless state variable called, Contact Damage (CSDMG). This variable varies between zero to one. It is stored at each time step and can be called out at the end of the analysis. It was shown that depth of fiber-matrix debonding increases with increase in FO. / Graduate