<p>This work presents a study and implementation of the simulation of residual stresses in castings. The objects of study are a cast iron truck Hub part (provided by the company Volvo 3P) and an optimized version of the Hub resulting from the application of a topology optimization process. The models are solved through an uncoupled thermo-mechanical solidification analysis, performed both in the FE commercial software Abaqus and the FD commercial software Magmasoft and the results are compared. First, a thermal analysis is carried out where the casting is cooled down from a super-heated temperature to room temperature. The thermal history obtained, is then used as an external force to calculate the residual stresses by means of a quasi-static mechanical analysis, using a J2-plasticity model. The simulation procedures are explained through a simplified model of the Hub and then applied to the geometries of interest. A results comparison between the original Hub and its optimized version is also presented. The theoretical base is given in this work as well as detailed implementation procedures. The results shows that the part subjected to the topology optimization process develop less residual stresses than its original version.</p>

- Allgemeine Problematik bei der FEM-Simulation von Lagern/Gelenken - Modellierungstechniken in MECHANICA wie z.B. Kontakt-Analysen, Balkenspinnen, gewichtete Verbindungen, orthotropes Material, etc. - Vergleich dieser Techniken und Diskussion der Vor- und Nachteile anhand eines Gleitlagers - Empfehlungen und Regeln

The manufacturing process ‘long line method’ has shown many advantages when producing prestressed concrete sleepers, such as rapid production and low cost. However, there have been certain difficulties when cutting the 100 m long concrete blocks into sleepers. The sleepers tend to crack when the diamond cutting blade cuts through the last strands. Moreover, the shape and size of the cracks varies from one sleeper to another. Although these cracks may not affect the load carrying capacity, they will not be aesthetically pleasing. No earlier studies within the area have been found, i.e. diamond cutting of prestressed concrete blocks. As a result, there have been certain difficulties when approaching the problem. Finite element analysis has been proven to be a useful tool when analyzing stress variation. Throughout this project, the cutting simulation has been analyzed using the finite element analysis software ABAQUS. To summarize, stress variation has been examined during different cutting depths. The results from the FE model shows that no critical values were reached in the areas expected to have cracks. The true cause of the problem could not be specified. Therefore, further studies are needed yet this thesis could be a good foundation.

This document reflects the results of evaluating three computational methods to analyse the fatigue life of components mounted on the cylinder block; two currently in use at Scania and one that has been further developed from its previous state. Due to the cost of testing and the exponential increase in computational power throughout the years, the cheaper computational analyses have gained in popularity. When a component is mounted in a fairly complex assembly such as an engine, simplifications need to be made in order to make the analysis as less expensive as possible while keeping a high degree of accuracy. The methods of Virtual Vibrations, VROM and VFEM have been evaluated and compared in terms of accuracy, computational cost, user friendliness and general capacities. Additionally, the method VFEM has been further developed and improved from its previous state. A in-depth investigation regarding the differences of the methods has been conducted and improvements to make them more efficient are suggested herein. The reader can also find a decision matrix and recommendations regarding which method to use depending on the general characteristics of the component of interest and other factors. Two components, which differ in complexity and mounting nature, have been used to do the research.

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing process which enables the creation of intricate components from high performance alloys. This facilitates the design and fabrication of new cellular materials for blast and impact mitigation, where the performance is heavily influenced by geometric and material sensitivities. Design of such materials requires an understanding of the relationship between the additive manufacturing process and material properties at different length scales: from the microstructure, to geometric feature rendition, to overall dynamic performance. To date, there remain significant uncertainties about both the potential benefits and pitfalls of using additive manufacturing processes to design and optimise cellular materials for dynamic energy absorbing applications. This investigation focuses on the out-of-plane compression of stainless steel cellular materials fabricated using SLM, and makes two specific contributions. First, it demonstrates how the SLM process itself influences the characteristics of these cellular materials across a range of length scales, and in turn, how this influences the dynamic deformation. Secondly, it demonstrates how an additive manufacturing route can be used to add geometric complexity to the cell architecture, creating a versatile basis for geometry optimisation. Two design spaces are explored in this work: a conventional square honeycomb hybridised with lattice walls, and an auxetic stacked-origami geometry, manufactured and tested experimentally here for the first time. It is shown that the hybrid lattice-honeycomb geometry outperformed the benchmark metallic square honeycomb in terms of energy absorption efficiency in the intermediate impact velocity regime (approximately 100 m/s). In this regime, the collapse is dominated by dynamic buckling effects, but wave propagation effects have yet to become pronounced. By tailoring the fold angles of the stacked origami material, numerical simulations illustrated how it can be optimised for specific impact velocity regimes between 10-150 m/s. Practical design tools were then developed based on these results.

This works presents a study about effective properties of porous solids with nonlinear elastic and elastoplastic matrix. For macroscopic mechanics properties evaluation, micromechanics models are used with effective strain concept relative to the modified second method. The porous are assumed as randomly distributed in the matrix, which presents a constitutive law with linear behavior in dilatation and nonlinear in shear. The results are compared with those provided by finite element methods program ABAQUS, assuming porous with spherical geometry for three dimensional solids. Numerical results from ABAQUS were obtained by an implementation of an external subroutine which incorporates at analysis the nonlinear constitutive law. / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre as propriedades efetivas de sólidos porosos com matriz elástica não linear e elastoplástica. Na avaliação das propriedades mecânicas macroscópicas empregam-se modelos micromecânicos lineares em conjunto com o conceito de deformação efetiva correspondente ao método secante modificado. Os poros são admitidos como distribuídos randomicamente na matriz, a qual apresenta uma lei constitutiva caracterizada por um comportamento linear em dilatação e não linear em cisalhamento. Os resultados obtidos são confrontados com aqueles fornecidos pelo programa comercial de elementos finitos ABAQUS, admitindo-se que os poros exibem geometrias esféricas para sólidos tridimensionais. A geração dos resultados numéricos oriundos do programa ABAQUS foi viabilizada mediante a implementação de uma sub-rotina externa que incorpora a relação constitutiva não linear considerada nas análises.

Polyethylene is a widely-used material in package industries. The fracture behavior of this material has not been studied in the plastic region in many years. In this thesis work, the J-Integral which is one material property used to represent the plastic material strength is calculated through the numerical analysis. To build a correct numerical model, the material behavior is summarized from previous uniaxial tensile test. The result from the fracture experiment for variable initial crack length is used to validate the reliability of the numerical model. The numerical analysis is done by the software ABAQUS which has the function to get the value of J-Integral directly. The final result contains the comparison between experiments and numerical analysis and the value of J-Integral at the crack initiation.

The present research aims to develop a novel technique for creation of composite riot helmet shells with reinforcing fibre continuity for better protection against low velocity impacts. In this research an innovative, simple and effective method of making a single-piece continuously textile reinforced helmet shell by vacuum bagging has been established and discussed. This technique also includes the development of solid collapsible moulding apparatus from non-woven fibres. Angle-interlock fabric due to its good mouldability, low shear rigidity and ease of production is used in this research. Several wrinkle-free single- piece composite helmet shells have been manufactured. Low-velocity impact test on the continuously reinforced helmet shells has been carried out. For this purpose an in-house helmet shell testing facility has been developed. Test rig has been designed in such a way that the impact test can be carried out at different locations at the riot helmet shell. Low-velocity impact test has been successfully conducted on the developed test rig. The practical experimentation and analysis revealed that the helmet shell performance against impact is dependent on the impact location. The helmet shell top surface has better impact protection as compared to helmet shell side and back location. Moreover, the helmet shell side is the most at risk location for the wearer. Finite Element models were created and simulated in Abaqus software to investigate the impact performance of single-piece helmet shells at different impact locations. Models parts have been designed in Rhinoceros software. Simulated results are validated by the experimental result which shows that the helmet top position is the safest position against an impact when it is compared to helmet back and helmet side positions.

Epithelial tissues, one of the four primary tissue structures found in our human body, are known to comprise of tiny cells interconnected in a unique continuous pattern. In most cases, they serve a dual purpose of protecting the internal organs from physical damage, and at the same time, enable in facilitating inter-cellular activities and prevent pathogen break ins. While the tissue mechanics and its proliferation have been scrutinized to great detail, it is their geometric uniqueness, that has remained more or less unexplored. With an intent of doing the same, this thesis identifies and explores those geometric properties/parameters that have an influence on the micro structure’s homogenized and localized response. However, it does so by extracting the microstructures profile and representing its cell edges via three dimensional beam elements - hence the name, bio-inspired structures. The analysis is carried out by first developing a staggered Representative Volume Element (RVE)using finite elements, and identifying its appropriate size. The staggered assembly aids in minimizing boundary effects from creeping in, and at the same time, provides the requisite statistical homogeneity. This is followed by the geometry study. A wide range of epithelial geometries are considered for the study, ranging from completely isotropic skin models, to in plane anisotropic cuboidal structures and out of plane anisotropic stratified geometries. The effects of orientation, relative density and edge length are extracted and studied in great detail. It is observed that cell edges initial orientation has a direct dependence on the particle distribution, whereas the change in orientation is largely dependent on the deformation the microstructure is subjected to. Relative density is documented to show a direct correlation to a materials homogenized response i.e. larger the relative density, greater is the microstructures stiffness and homogenized stress response to the same deformation. Edge length, on the other hand is observed to showcase a downward trend on the cell edge’s axial stress. On average, in any kind of distribution and any kind of deformation, smaller cell edges are known to showcase larger stresses, as compared to the larger cell edges.

Diplomová práca, ktorá vznikla v spolupráci so spoločnosťou AUFEER DESIGN (AFD), sa zaoberá analýzou konkrétneho stieračového mechanizmu automobilu. Najprv je uvedená stručná história stieračov. Stieracie sústavy sú potom rozdelené podľa ich usporiadania a spôsobu pohonu. V nasledujúcej kapitole je formulovaná problémová situácia, problém a systém podstatných veličín. Kinematické veličiny kľúčových bodov mechanizmu sú určené analytickým aj numerickým prístupom. Výpočtový model pre kinematickú analýzu je vyvinutý v Matlabe a SimMechanics. Ďalšia časť je venovaná vytváraniu konečno-prvkového modelu v programe ANSA. Všetky deformačne-napäťové analýzy sú vykonané v programe Abaqus. Prvá z nich je parametrická štúdia, ktorá odhaľuje kritické polohy mechanizmu z hľadiska tlakového namáhania určitých súčastí. Mechanizmus v kritických polohách je potom zaťažovaný so zablokovanými ramenami stieračov. Nakoniec sú urobené lineárne analýzy straty vzpernej stability súčastí, u ktorých môže nastať, nasledované nelineárnymi analýzami so zahrnutými imperfekciami.