With the export of coal being more lucrative than selling coal to South African power producers, power station operators might consider accepting lower-quality coal. While the impact lower quality coal has on cycle efficiency is understood, the influence it has on equipment reliability and lifetime is often not understood. This study focusses on addressing the question of how different characteristics of coal influences different damage mechanisms of common power station equipment. The results are translated into a reference framework that can be used when coal quality variation is expected. The influence of coal calorific value and ash content has on air-heater element erosion was evaluated. This was accomplished by establishing a correlation between calorific value and ash content of coal from a specific colliery; this was then used to calculate the mass of fly ash and flue gas produced when burning enough coal to satisfy the boiler load. An erosion model was then used along with historical coal quality and air heater erosion history to develop and fit a model for full boiler load. The model was verified against data not used during the development of the model, and a seemingly good prediction was made when compared to the measured result. The calorific value of the coal in the model was varied for a hypothetical situation; this indicated that as calorific value decreases the erosion of air heater elements increases. The influence abrasiveness index has on mill liners was also investigated as part of this study. Historical liner ultrasonic thickness and coal abrasiveness index results were used to fit a mathematical formula. The results indicate that for the ball mills at the power station used in the case study, the abrasiveness index did not have a significant influence on the wear rate of mill liners. The relationship was established to be directly proportional to increased abrasiveness index resulting in an increased wear rate. The final two case studies that form part of this overall study were focussed on boiler temperature variations as a result of variation in coal calorific value and establishing the impact coal “hang-ups” have on the lifetime of a drum reclaimer. The first of these two case studies was completed by creating a mathematical thermo-hydraulic model of a hypothetical boiler and calculating the effect calorific value would have on the boiler temperature distribution. The results were then compared to temperature-related damage mechanisms; the comparison indicated that a variation in calorific value, whether up or down from the designed value would be negative for overall boiler health. The final case study was not completed due to the unavailability of related equipment. A full description of the envisaged study is provided. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted

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This study investigates the cyclic deformation, fatigue behavior, and failure mechanisms for Ti-6Al-4V ELI (extra low interstitial) with and without mean strain/stress. Mean stress effects on fatigue behavior were studied using four strain ratios. Fatigue data generated was used to assess mean stress fatigue life prediction approaches, including stress-based methods such as Goodman, Gerber, Morrow, Walker and Kwofie; as well as strain-based models, such as Morrow, Smith-Watson-Topper, Walker, Kwofie, Ince-Glinka and a modified version of the Smith-Watson-Topper. The stress-based models did not yield reasonable results and data scatter was observed. The strain-based models offered better results, specifically the Morrow approach which provided more accurate fatigue life predictions. Fractography analysis determined that the influence of material defects on fatigue life had no major differences across all the strain ratios considered. Overall observations indicate that inclusions near the surface had great influence on the fatigue behavior.

This thesis documents the findings of a three year experimental investigation into the impact damage resistance and damage tolerance of composite honeycomb sandwich panels. The primary area of work focuses on the performance of sandwich panels under quasi-static and low-velocity impact loading with hemispherical and flat-ended indenters. The damage resistance is characterised in terms of damage mechanisms and energy absorption. The effects of varying the skin and core materials, skin thickness, core density, panel boundary conditions and indenter shape on the transverse strength and energy absorption of a sandwich panel have been examined. Damage mechanisms are found to include delamination of the impacted skin, core crushing, limited skin-core de bonding and top skin fibre fracture at high loads. In terms of panel construction the skin thickness is found to dominate the panel strength and energy absorption with core density having a lesser influence. Of the external factors considered the indenter noseshape has the largest effect on both failure load and associated damage area. An overview of existing analytical prediction methods is also included and the most significant theories applied and compared with the experimental results from this study. The secondary area of work expands the understanding obtained from the damage resistance study and assesses the ability of a sandwich panel to withstand in-plane compressive loading after sustaining low-velocity impact damage. The importance of the core material is investigated by comparing the compression-after-impact strength of both monolithic carbon-fibre laminates and sandwich panels with either an aluminium or nomex honeycomb core. The in-plane compressive strength of an 8 ply skinned honeycomb sandwich panel is found to be double that of a 16 ply monolithic laminate, with the type of honeycomb also influencing the compressive failure mechanisms and residual compressive strength. It is concluded that under in-plane loading the stabilising effect of the core opposes the de-stabilising effect of any impact damage.

Cette étude concerne l’influence de la formulation sur les propriétés en fatigue des élastomères. Pour cela, douze matériaux ont été préalablement choisis de façon à ce que leur formulation soit simplifiée mais représentative de celles de matériaux industriels. La première partie de l’étude vise la description des mécanismes et des scénarios d’endommagement par fatigue, pour différents matériaux, niveaux de sollicitation et pourcentages de durée de vie. Une vaste campagne d’essais de fatigue interrompus a été menée permettant une analyse statistique de la population de défauts. Ces données ont permis d’une part de proposer des scénarios de ruine pour les différents matériaux étudiés, et d’autre part d’identifier deux types de mécanismes d’amorçage autour d’inclusions de différentes natures. La deuxième partie de l’étude vise à comprendre les mécanismes d’amorçage de fissure de fatigue. Un protocole expérimental permettant d’obtenir les champs d’énergie dissipée directement à partir des champs de température mesurés a été mis en place. Ce protocole a d’abord été développé à une échelle macroscopique et validé grâce à des simulations par éléments finis. Il a ensuite été appliqué avec succès à l’échelle des inclusions pour des cas 2D. Enfin, la troisième partie de cette étude propose un critère énergétique basé sur un protocole d’auto-échauffement permettant une détermination rapide des propriétés en fatigue. L’approche proposée utilise un critère à deux paramètres et permet de prédire la courbe de Wöhler déterministe avec une seule éprouvette, en une demi-journée d’essai et uniquement à partir de mesures thermiques. Ce critère a été validé sur une large gamme d’élastomères, et s’avère capable de rendre compte de l’influence de la gomme, du taux et du type de charges. / This study deals with the influence of the formulation on the fatigue properties of elastomeric materials. Twelve materials have been chosen so that their formulations are simplified but representative of these used in the industry. The first part of the study aims to describe the fatigue damage mechanisms and scenarios, for different materials, strain levels and fatigue life durations. A large experimental campaign of interrupted fatigue tests has been performed enabling a statistical analysis of the defects population. On one hand, these data led to propose damage scenarios for the studied materials, and on the other hand, to identify two classes of initiation mechanisms around different nature of inclusions. The second part of this study aims to better understand the fatigue crack initiation mechanisms. An experimental protocol enabling to obtain directly the dissipated energy fields from the measurement of the temperature fields has been set up. This protocol has been first developed at the macroscopic scale and validated thanks to numerical simulations. Then, it has been applied successfully at the scale of inclusions for 2D cases. Finally, the third part of this study suggests an energetic criterion based on a heat build-up protocol leading a fast determination of the fatigue properties. This approach uses a criterion with two parameters and is able to predict the deterministic Wöhler curve with one sample, in half a day and thanks to thermal measurements only. This criterion has been validated on a wide range of elastomeric materials and is able to reflect the influence of the gum, the type and the amount of carbon black.

Aujourd'hui les structures multi-matériaux à base de bois sont en plein essor. Ces structures mixtes sont à la fois originales et mécaniquement prometteuses. En revanche, leur utilisation est encore récente. Cela se traduit par une certaine méconnaissance de leur comportement et notamment vis-à-vis de la présence des endommagements pouvant conduire à la dégradation de leurs propriétés mécaniques. Dans ce cadre, l'émission acoustique peut être une alternative pour l'inspection et le contrôle de ces structures. Afin de caractériser l'évolution de l'endommagement dans les structures multi-matériaux, il est indispensable de commencer par la caractérisation de l'endommagement de chaque matériau isolé. Le travail de recherche présenté dans ce document porte donc sur la caractérisation par émission acoustique de l'endommagement du matériau principal de la structure qui est le matériau bois. L'une des difficultés associée à son suivi par émission acoustique tient en particulier à la variation de sa réponse acoustique selon la structure du matériau, le type d'essence et la sollicitation appliquée. Dans cette étude, à partir de trois types d'essais mécaniques normalisés (traction, compression et flexion), l'endommagement de trois essences de bois (Douglas, sapin pectiné et peuplier) a été caractérisé par la technique d'émission acoustique. Les résultats obtenus montrent que l'émission acoustique est une technique performante pour la détection précoce de l'endommagement du matériau bois. Elle permet également d'affiner les scénarios d'endommagement et de différencier les signatures acoustiques des différents mécanismes par le biais d'algorithmes de reconnaissance de forme. En outre, les résultats obtenus ont vérifiés que la réponse acoustique est dépendante de l'essence et du type de sollicitation. / The application of wood-concrete-composite hybrid materials in a mechanical structure is increasing day after day. These multi-material structures are both original and mechanically promising. Nevertheless, their use is still recent. This results are in a certain lack of knowledge about their behavior and in particular with regard to the presence of damage which may lead to the degradation of their mechanical properties. In this context, acoustic emission (AE) may be an appropriate non destructive method for the inspection and control of these structures. In order to characterize the evolution of damage in multi-material structures, it is essential to characterize the damage of each constituent material. This work presents the first part of the project for assessment of hybrid structures. It concerns the characterization by acoustic emission of the damage of wood material. One of the difficulties associated with acoustic emission monitoring of wood is the variability and the complexities in its response, because the AE response depends on the structure of the wood specie and the loading condition. In this study, under different mechanical loading (standard tensile, compression and bending tests), damage of three wood species (Douglas fir, Silver fir and poplar) is characterized by the technique of acoustic emission. Results obtained show that the acoustic emission is efficient for the early detection of the damage of the wood material. It also allows to refine the damage scenarios and to differentiate the acoustic signatures of different mechanisms by means of unsupervised pattern recognition algorithms. Moreover, the results confirm that the acoustic response is dependent on the wood specie but also on the loading condition.

Carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates are widely used in various engineering applications, such as in race cars and aircrafts, because they are light, stiff and strong. They commonly contain stress raisers in the form of holes and notches (for mechanical joining methods, routing of pipes and cables etc.) and are also often subjected to complex combined multi-axial stress conditions during service. Yet their notched multi-axial fracture behaviour remains largely unexplored. This is the main contribution of the thesis. First, a novel loading fixture for applying a wide range of in-plane loading modes is developed based on the popular Arcan’s method. Termed the ‘modified Arcan rig’, it utilises friction gripping to transfer loads into tabbed specimens. This loading fixture is used to test centre-notched multi-directional CFRP laminates under different combinations of tension and shear stresses. Together with penetrant-enhanced X-ray CT and laminate de-ply, the fracture behaviour of quasi-isotropic CFRP specimens is investigated for the following loading modes: pure tension, pure compression, in-plane shear, and combined tension and shear. Two notch geometries (sharp notch and circular hole) are investigated to allow for an assessment of the role of stress concentration upon strength and damage development to be performed. Three distinct fracture modes are observed in a tensile/compressive-shear stress space (termed Mechanism A, Mechanism B and Mechanism C). It is observed that quasi-isotropic specimens with a central sharp notch are consistently stronger than equivalent specimens with a central circular hole (for all stress states investigated). An underlying micromechanical explanation concerning the effects of damage upon strength is proposed. Second, a finite element (FE) model is developed using the commercial FE program, Abaqus FEA to simulate the observed progressive damage and failure in the quasi-isotropic specimens. The FE model employs independent material property data as inputs. Overall, good correlation between the simulations and the experiments is obtained, validating the FE strategy. The capabilities of the model are extended to predict the notched fracture behaviour of the specimens under combined compression and shear loading, for which experimental work has not been done by the author, but for which literature data exists. Finally, the effect of laminate lay-up upon the notched multi-axial fracture behaviour of the CFRP specimens is explored by considering a 0° ply-dominated lay-up, a ±45° ply-dominated lay-up and a cross-ply lay-up, alongside the quasi-isotropic lay-up. Experiments reveal that all lay-ups exhibit Mechanisms A, B and C. However, the extent of damage in each Mechanism as well as the regime in which each Mechanism operates in (in the failure envelopes) strongly depend on the lay-up of the specimen. As expected, the tensile strengths and compressive strengths increase with the proportion of 0° plies. Surprisingly, the shear strengths do not scale with the proportion of ±45° plies; the specimen geometry and material orthotropy are attributed as reasons for this. In contrast to the case of the quasi-isotropic lay-up, the extent of subcritical damage induced by the circular hole is not always lower than that induced by the sharp notch for the other lay-ups. The difference in the extent of damage between both notch geometries is reflected in the notched strengths of the lay-up in question. These experimental observations are adequately predicted by the FE strategy, which further validates it as a reliable predictive tool for composite fracture.

The objective of this dissertation centers on gaining a better understanding of the structure - property - performance relations of nickel and copper through the advanced multiscale theoretical framework and integrated computational methods. The goal of this dissertation also includes to combine material science and computational mechanics to acquire a transformative understanding of how the different crystal orientations, size scales, and penetration velocities affect plastic deformation and damage behavior of metallic materials during high strain rate (> 103s-1) processes. A multiscale computational framework for understanding plasticity and shearing mechanisms of metallic materials during the high rate process was developed, which for the first time reveals micromechanical insights on how different crystal orientations, size scales, and penetration velocities affect the atomistic simulations which render structure property information for plasticity, shearing and damage mechanisms. The contributions of this dissertation include: (1) Comprehensive understanding of the plasticity and shearing mechanisms between the nickel penetrator and copper target under high strain rates (2) Development of a multiscale study of a nickel penetrator striking a copper plate by employing macroscale simulations and atomistic simulations to better understand the micromechanisms. (3) An essential description of how different crystal orientations, size scales, and strain rates affect the plasticity and shearing mechanisms.

Le domaine automobile utilise des alliages légers d’aluminium dans la fabrication des pièces volumineuses du moteur thermique afin d’améliorer son rendement énergétique. Cependant, leurs propriétés sont insuffisantes pour pouvoir faire face aux contraintes thermomécaniques du moteur en service qui requièrent des matériaux à haute performance. Une solution innovante est l’application d’un revêtement par projection par gaz froid dite « cold spray » à base d’acier inoxydable AISI 316L aux dimensions et aux propriétés adaptées aux sollicitations locales. Ce procédé repose sur la projection à haute vitesse de particules de poudre sur un substrat, qui, déformées en « splats » à l’impact, adhérent pour créer un revêtement. Cette étude a pour ambition de comprendre les mécanismes d’endommagement thermomécanique de revêtements cold spray composites à base de 316L. Pour cela, les étapes de l’élaboration des revêtements, les paramètres de projection et les poudres de l’étude sont détaillés. Des revêtements de 316L pur sont réalisés ainsi que des analyses microstructurales par microscopie optique, MEB, chimiques par EDX et cristallographiques par EBSD et DRX, afin d’étudier l’influence du procédé cold spray sur la poudre initiale. Les interfaces entre les splats, constituants majeurs dans la cohésion des revêtements, sont étudiées en détail au MET. Puis, des éléments d’addition moins durs de cuivre et plus durs d’alliage de nickel Tribaloy 700 (Ni700), sont incorporés dans les mélanges de poudres avec l’acier afin de créer des revêtements composites. La modification de la microstructure et de la qualité des interfaces par la création de matériaux composites est alors abordée. Enfin, ces matériaux sont éprouvés et comparés grâce à des essais quasi statiques de dureté et de traction, et dynamiques d’impact-glissement. Les résultats et les observations locales de la réponse de la microstructure à ces sollicitations macroscopiques permettront d’envisager les mécanismes d’endommagement de ces revêtements cold spray. / Aluminum alloys are commonly used in the automotive industry for lightening and power gain of thermal engines. However, thermomechanical properties are not often high enough to undergo the in-service stresses while the engine is running. High performance materials are needed. A novel approach to reach these high performances is to develop specific coatings using the cold spray route. This thermal spray process is based on the plastic deformation of sprayed powders at a supersonic velocity onto a substrate resulting in so called « splats » and stick to the surface. In this thesis, thermomechanical damage of cold-sprayed 316L-matrix composite coatings are studied. Prior to the study of composites, the elaboration steps of 316L in the cold spray coatings are established. Powder and coatings are studied to determine the influence of the cold spray process. Microstructural analyse involved optical microscopy, SEM, chemical analysis EDX and image analysis. Cristallographic analyse were performed by EBSD and DRX. Interfaces between splats are specifically studies by TEM. These consist of a crucial actor in the cohesion of coatings. Then, softer powder of Cu and harder powder of Ni700 are mixed with 316L and cold sprayed to build composite coatings. Their influence on the microstructure through the creation of new interfaces is observed. Last but not least, mechanical properties of the different coatings are compared. Hardness and tensile tests are used for quasi-static loading characterization whereas impact-sliding tests are used for dynamic loading characterization. Results and the local observation of the microstructural response to these macroscopic loadings give an insight into major damage mechanisms of cold sprayed composite coatings.