No description available.

The intersection of decreasing resource size and increasing population and its associated demand creates a pressing need to develop products that act as alternatives to solid sawn lumber. Engineered composite lumber is one such alternative. The product described herein utilizes a modified form of sawn lumber as the raw material. The objective of this research was to manufacture, mechanically test, and evaluate a novel type of engineered lumber. Non destructive evaluation of raw materials and finished beams, and final mechanical testing to determine mean strength and stiffness values as per ASTM 5456 were used. The mechanical property data was converted into design values for fiber stress in bending (Fb) and stiffness (MOE). These design values was compared to those published by the U.S. (NDS) for wood construction. Pine logs were reduced into cants and further processed into matched symmetrical trapezoids. Symmetrical trapezoids were then non-destructively evaluated via E-computer and Director, and sorted by results. Next, the sorted trapezoids were matched into pairs and assembled into bowtie beams. Polyvinyl acetate adhesive was used throughout. Stiffness of the manufactured beams was nondestructively evaluated too. Then the beams were mechanically tested. The information from the E-computer was correlated to the strength and stiffness for each beam. The design strength and stiffness was compared to the values of sections of equivalent depth and maximum width as shown in the NDS. Also, non destructive test values were compared and correlated to those from the destructive tests. Finally, the design strength and stiffness values were respectively multiplied by the sectional area or the moment of inertia. This produced a strength efficiency factor and a stiffness efficiency factor. These factors were compared to factors derived from multiplying the design strength or design stiffness values (from the NDS) times the area or the moment of inertia of a rectangular section of equivalent depth and maximum width. It is found that the mechanically efficient bowtie section produced an increased strength and stiffness efficiency as compared to that of solid sawn material.

This research embodied a three-prong approach for directly determining the residual prestress force of prestressed concrete bridge girders. For bridges that have yet to be constructed, outfitting girders with instrumentation is a highly effective means of determining residual prestress force in prestressed concrete bridge girders. This constitutes the first prong. Still, many bridges are constructed without such instrumentation. For these bridges, a destructive technique can be used to directly determine the residual prestress in a prestressed concrete bridge girder. This implies that the girder(s) being tested have already been taken out of service. This constitutes the second prong. For bridges that are anticipated to remain in service that are lacking embedded instrumentation, the development of a non-destructive technique used to estimate the remaining force in the tendons of prestressed bridge girders is extremely important. This constitutes the third prong used to directly determine residual prestress force. The flexural capacity was also determined from field tests and compared to analytical estimates. By design, the code estimates are meant to be conservative. Alternatively, the residual prestress force for in-service members can be determined directly through the non-destructive technique presented in this research. As such, bridge service capacities can be determined directly and do not need to be conservatively estimated. (231 pages)

Acoustic source localization (ASL) is pinpointing an acoustic source. ASL can reveal the point of impact of a foreign object or the point of crack initiation in a structure. ASL is necessary for continuous health monitoring of a structure. ASL in an anisotropic plate is a challenging task. This dissertation aims to investigate techniques that are currently being used to precisely determine an acoustic source location in an anisotropic plate without knowing its material properties. A new technique is developed and presented here to overcome the existing shortcomings of the acoustic source localization in anisotropic plates. It is done by changing the analysis perspective from the angular dependent group velocity of the wave and its straight line propagation to the wave front shapes and their geometric properties when a non-circular wave front is generated. Especially, 'rhombic wave front' and 'elliptical wave front' are dealt with because they are readily observed in highly anisotropic composite plates. Once each proposed technique meets the requirements of measurement, four sensor clusters in three different quadrants (recorded by 12 sensors) for the rhombus and at least three sensor clusters (recorded by 9 sensors) for the ellipse, accurate Acoustic Source Localization is obtained. It has been successfully demonstrated in the numerical simulations. In addition, a series of experimental tests demonstrate reliable and robust prediction performance of the developed new acoustic source localization technique.

Visual inspection is the current method for determining if a wire rope needs to be removed from service. It can be time consuming and inaccurate. The point of this research is to prove that vibration testing could be used on rope to find damage. For this research, capacitive accelerometers were used. A program ran a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) as the main analysis. From the data produced, it was determined that a damaged rope's vibration signature was different from the vibration signature of the undamaged rope. There were four different types of vibrations used: an impulse while measuring the axial response, a harmonic excitation while measuring the axial response and both transverses directions. The impulse did not provide consistent results to adequately find damage with an acceptable degree of confidence. The harmonic excitations did provide results that showed a different signature. This was the case for all three directions measured. As a result, it was determined that vibrations can be used to find damage in a wire rope.

No description available.

abstract: Micromachining has seen application growth in a variety of industries requiring a miniaturization of the machining process. Machining at the micro level generates different cutter/workpiece interactions, generating more localized temperature spikes in the part/sample, as suggested by multiple studies. Temper-etch inspection is a non-destructive test used to identify `grind burns' or localized over-heating in steel components. This research investigated the application of temper-etch inspection to micromachined steel. The tests were performed on AISI 4340 steel samples. Finding, indications of localized over-heating was the primary focus of the experiment. In addition, change in condition between the original and post-machining hardness in the machined slot bottom was investigated. The results revealed that, under the conditions of the experiment, no indications of localized over-heating were present. However, there was a change in hardness at the bottom of the machined slot compared to the rest of the sample. Further research is needed to test the applicability of temper-etch inspection to micromilled steel and to identify the source of the change in hardness. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.Tech Technology 2010

Orientador: Aparecido Carlos Gonçalves / Resumo: Os problemas associados às falhas protéticas e cirurgias de revisão aumentaram muito desde que a substituição total da articulação passou a ser aplicada também a pacientes mais jovens e mais ativos, portanto, a necessidade de resolver ou reduzir os problemas relacionados ao desgaste é de suma importância. Partindo-se dessa premissa, decidiu-se por projetar, fabricar e validar uma máquina de ensaio de desgaste do tipo acoplamento orbital, capaz de realizar o ensaio de desgaste de Prótese Total de Quadril (PTQ), obedecendo aos parâmetros de carga e movimento (Flexão/Extensão, Adução/Abdução), estabelecidos pela Norma ABNT NBR ISO 14242-3. Após a validação, foi realizado o ensaio de uma amostra composta de uma cabeça femoral de 28 mm de diâmetro de aço inox ASTM F138 e acetábulo de polietileno convencional (UHMWPE). O ensaio teve a duração de um milhão de ciclos (aproximadamente 12 dias), equivalente a aproximadamente um ano de uso da prótese in vivo e teve duas avaliações de perda de massa e volume ao longo do ensaio. Os resultados obtidos da taxa média de perda de massa e volume por milhão de ciclos, foram compatíveis com os resultados apresentados por outros autores. A avaliação do desgaste sofrido pelo componente acetabular (análise visual e microscópica) e a análise morfológica das partículas geradas pelo desgaste via MEV, forneceram informações importantes para melhor interpretar os mecanismos de desgastes (abrasão, adesão e fadiga) ocorridos durante o ensaio tribológico. ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The problems associated with prosthetic failure and revision surgery have increased greatly since total joint replacement has also been applied to younger and more active patients, so the need to resolve or reduce wear-related problems is of paramount importance. Based on this premise, it was decided to design, manufacture and validate a wear test machine of the orbital coupling type, capable of performing the Total Hip Prosthesis (PTQ) wear test, according to load and movement parameters ( Flexion / Extension, Adduction / Abduction), established by the Standard ABNT NBR ISO 14242-3. After validation, a sample composed of a 28 mm diameter femoral head of ASTM F138 stainless steel and conventional polyethylene acetabulum (UHMWPE) was performed. The assay lasted for one million cycles (approximately 12 days), equivalent to approximately one year of use of the prosthesis in vivo and had two mass and volume loss evaluations throughout the trial. The results obtained from the average loss rate of mass and volume per million cycles were compatible with the results presented by other authors. The evaluation of the wear of the acetabular component (visual and microscopic analysis) and the morphological analysis of the particles generated by the MEV wear, provided important information to better interpret the mechanisms of wear (abrasion, adhesion and fatigue) that occurred during the tribological test. It is a fact that these wear mechanisms compromise the useful life of a hip joint ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

A adoção de materiais compósitos pela indústria de petróleo e gás vem ocorrendo de forma gradual, e ainda encontra certa resistência devido à novidade de sua aplicação em projetos mecânicos do setor, e da menor confiabilidade que possuem em relação a metais. A sua implementação em maiores escalas depende também do desenvolvimento de métodos de inspeção e monitoramento de integridade estrutural. Em paralelo a isso, sistemas de varredura de tubulações baseados em ondas guiadas ultrassônicas vêm ganhando espaço devido à sua capacidade de inspecionar toda a seção de trechos extensos de uma tubulação metálica. Baseado nestas duas premissas, este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar estudos visando o desenvolvimento de uma metodologia que seja capaz de obter as propriedades elásticas de um meio e obter as características de propagação das ondas mecânicas, cobrindo uma metodologia para obtenção das propriedades elásticas baseados em ensaios ultrassônicos, um método de otimização baseado em propriedades vibracionais e por fim, confrontando dados provenientes de modelos em elementos finitos com resultados experimentais e aproximações teóricas. Como resultados espera-se gerar informações necessárias para que possa-se compreender os mecanismo de propagação das ondas elásticas, pois é ele que permitirá a obtenção de informações a respeito dos defeitos presentes na estrutura analisada ou ainda utilizar as informações de dispersão em função da frequência e em função da direção para localização de fontes acústicas em meios ortotrópicos, sendo o conhecimento das propriedades de fase e energia das ondas em tais materiais de fundamental importância para a plena exploração do seu potencial de inspeção e monitoramento. / The adoption of new materials by the oil and gas industry has been occurring gradually and still finds some resistance due to the novelty of their application in mechanical design and their lower reliability compared to metals. The usage in large scales also depends on the development of inspection methods and structure health monitoring. In a parallel way, systems that scan pipes using mechanical guided waves have gained space because of their ability to inspect the section of large excerpts of an metallic pipe. Based on these two assumptions, this work aims to study the development of a methodology that is able to obtain the elastic properties of a medium and obtain mechanical characteristics through propagation of the stress waves in it. For this, a method to obtain elastic properties based on ultrasonic testing, a optimization method was based on vibrational properties, and comparison of to data from finite element models with experimental results and theoretical approaches were used. The results are expected to generate information needed for understand the mechanism of propagation of elastic waves, needed to obtain information about defects present in the structure or using information of angular or frequency dispersion for localizing acoustic sources in orthotropic media. As knowledge of the properties of the phase and energy waves propagation in such material are crucial for the full exploitation of inspection and monitoring.

A adoção de materiais compósitos pela indústria de petróleo e gás vem ocorrendo de forma gradual, e ainda encontra certa resistência devido à novidade de sua aplicação em projetos mecânicos do setor, e da menor confiabilidade que possuem em relação a metais. A sua implementação em maiores escalas depende também do desenvolvimento de métodos de inspeção e monitoramento de integridade estrutural. Em paralelo a isso, sistemas de varredura de tubulações baseados em ondas guiadas ultrassônicas vêm ganhando espaço devido à sua capacidade de inspecionar toda a seção de trechos extensos de uma tubulação metálica. Baseado nestas duas premissas, este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar estudos visando o desenvolvimento de uma metodologia que seja capaz de obter as propriedades elásticas de um meio e obter as características de propagação das ondas mecânicas, cobrindo uma metodologia para obtenção das propriedades elásticas baseados em ensaios ultrassônicos, um método de otimização baseado em propriedades vibracionais e por fim, confrontando dados provenientes de modelos em elementos finitos com resultados experimentais e aproximações teóricas. Como resultados espera-se gerar informações necessárias para que possa-se compreender os mecanismo de propagação das ondas elásticas, pois é ele que permitirá a obtenção de informações a respeito dos defeitos presentes na estrutura analisada ou ainda utilizar as informações de dispersão em função da frequência e em função da direção para localização de fontes acústicas em meios ortotrópicos, sendo o conhecimento das propriedades de fase e energia das ondas em tais materiais de fundamental importância para a plena exploração do seu potencial de inspeção e monitoramento. / The adoption of new materials by the oil and gas industry has been occurring gradually and still finds some resistance due to the novelty of their application in mechanical design and their lower reliability compared to metals. The usage in large scales also depends on the development of inspection methods and structure health monitoring. In a parallel way, systems that scan pipes using mechanical guided waves have gained space because of their ability to inspect the section of large excerpts of an metallic pipe. Based on these two assumptions, this work aims to study the development of a methodology that is able to obtain the elastic properties of a medium and obtain mechanical characteristics through propagation of the stress waves in it. For this, a method to obtain elastic properties based on ultrasonic testing, a optimization method was based on vibrational properties, and comparison of to data from finite element models with experimental results and theoretical approaches were used. The results are expected to generate information needed for understand the mechanism of propagation of elastic waves, needed to obtain information about defects present in the structure or using information of angular or frequency dispersion for localizing acoustic sources in orthotropic media. As knowledge of the properties of the phase and energy waves propagation in such material are crucial for the full exploitation of inspection and monitoring.