In this licentiate thesis the work done in the project KME410 will be presented. The overall objective of this project is to evaluate and develop tools for designing against fatigue in single-crystal nickel-base superalloys in gas turbines. Experiments have been done on single-crystal nickel-base superalloy specimens in order to investigate the mechanical behaviour of the material. The constitutive behaviour has been modelled and verified by simulations of the experiments. Furthermore, the  microstructural degradation during long-time ageing has been investigated with  respect to the component’s yield limit. The effect has been included in the  constitutive model by lowering the resulting yield limit. Finally, the fatigue crack  initiation of a component has been analysed and modelled by using a critical plane approach. This thesis is divided into three parts. In the first part the theoretical framework, based upon continuum mechanics, crystal plasticity and the critical plane approach, is derived. This framework is then used in the second part, which consists of three included papers. Finally, in the third part, details are presented of the used  numerical procedures.

The high specific bending stiffness of sandwich structures can with advantage be used in vehicles to reduce their weight and thereby potentially also their fuel consumption. However, the structure must not only meet the in-service requirements but also provide sufficient protection of the vehicle passengers in a crash situation. The in-plane compressive response of sandwich panels is investigated in this thesis, with the objective to develop a methodology capable of determining if the structural response is likely to be favourable in an energy absorption perspective. Experiments were conducted to identify possible initial failure and collapse modes. The initial failure modes of sandwich panels compressed quasi-statically in the in-plane direction were identified as global buckling, local buckling (wrinkling) and face sheet fracture. Global buckling promotes continued folding of the structure when compressed beyond failure initiation. Face sheet fracture and wrinkling can promote collapse in the form of unstable debond crack growth, stable end-crushing or ductile in-plane shear collapse. Both the unstable debond crack propagation and the stable end-crushing are related to debond crack propagation, whereas the ductile in-plane shear mode is related to microbuckling of the face sheets. The collapse behaviour of sandwich configurations initially failing due to wrinkling or face sheet fracture was investigated, using a finite element model. The model was used to determine if the panels were likely to collapse in unstable debond propagation or in a more stable end-crushing mode, promoting high energy absorption. The collapse behaviour is mainly governed by the relation between the fracture toughness of the core and the bending stiffness and strength of the face sheets. The model was successfully used to design sandwich panels for different collapse behaviour. The proposed method could therefore be used in the design process of sandwich panels subjected to in-plane compressive loads.During a crash situation the accelerations on passengers must be kept below life threatening levels. The extreme peak loads in the structure must therefore be limited. This can be achieved by different kind of triggering features.Panels with either chamfered face sheets or with grooves on the loaded edges were investigated in this thesis. The peak load was reduced with panels incorporating either of the two triggering features. Another positive effect was that the plateau load following failure initiation was increased by the triggers. This clearly illustrates that triggers can be used to promote favourable response in sandwich panels. Vehicles are harmful to the environment not only during in-serve use, but during their entire life-cycle. By use of renewable materials the impact on the environment can be reduced. The in-plane compressive response of bio-based sandwich panels was therefore investigated. Panels with hemp fibre laminates showed potential for high energy absorption and panels with a balsa wood core behaved particular well. The ductile in-plane shear collapse mode of these panels resulted in the highest energy absorption of all investigated sandwich configurations. / QC 20100728

This thesis investigates the performance of compact brazed plate heat exchangers (CBE) operating as evaporator in heat pump applications. The thesis, and the performances investigated, has been divided into three main sections; One zone evaporator performance; Two zone evaporator performance; and finally Local performance. The 'One zone evaporator performance' section considers the evaporator as one "black box". It was found that "approaching terminal temperatures" were obtained as low overall heat flux is employed. It was also found that the total area averaged film heat transfer coefficient was affected by changes of the brine mass flow rate. This indicates that the widespread Wilson plot method may not be used to determine flow boiling heat transfer coefficients. Further, it seems that co- and counter-current flow configuration performs equally well if the superheat is kept low. A numerical simulation of the above investigations indicates that a nucleate boiling model better predicts the performance compared to a convective evaporation model. Finally, the significant impact of the refrigerant inlet distributor design was illustrated using several CBEs with different inlet geometries but with identical heat transfer surfaces. The 'Two zone evaporator performance section' considers the evaporator as two "black boxes", i.e. the boiling and superheating boxes. Thermochromic liquid crystals (TLC) was used to determine the boiling heat transfer area. The resulting flow boiling heat transfer coefficient was found to correlate with heat flux. The superheated heat transfer area was then estimated using single phase correlations. It was observed that the TLC measurements and the predicted superheating area did not agree. Possible causes for this deviation were discussed. The most likely explanation found was the presence of mist flow at the higher vapor quality range in the boiling section of the evaporator. The 'Local Performance' section considers local pressure drop and flow boiling heat transfer. The Chisholm parameter was found not to be a constant and was found to correlate well with the kinetic energy per volume. The resulting predictions of the pressure drop were better than ± 10%. The resulting local flow boiling heat transfer coefficient, at different vapor quality, mass flux and heat flux, was compared to flow boiling correlations available in the literature. It was found that the saturated nucleate pool boiling correlation by Cooper (1984) and narrow channel flow boiling correlations (Tran 1999, Lazarek and Black 1982) predicted the experimental data better than several traditional flow boiling correlations, developed for larger tubes. / QC 20100524

The homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) concept has been acknowledged as a potential combustion concept for engines, due to low NOx and soot emissions and high efficiency, especially at part-load. Early direct-injection (DI) during the compression stroke is an option when Diesel fuel is used in HCCI. This implies that the risk for wall impingement increases, due to the decreasing in-cylinder density. The fuel sprays has to be well dispersed in order to avoid wall impingement. Specially designed impinging nozzles providing a collision of the Diesel sprays in the vicinity of the orifice exits have experimentally been verified to yield well dispersed sprays and the desired benefits of HCCI under various conditions. The purpose of this work is to use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as a tool to simulate and evaluate non-impinging and impinging nozzles with respect to mixture formation in direct-injected HCCI. Three different nozzles are considered: one non-impinging and two impinging nozzles with 30 and 60 degree collision angle respectively. Lagrangian CFD simulations of impinging sprays using the traditional collision model of O’Rourke is not sufficient in order obtain the correct spray properties of impinging sprays. This work proposes an enhanced collision model, which is an extension of the O’Rourke model with respect to collision frequency, post collisional velocities and collision induced break-up. The enhanced model is referred to as the EORIS model (Enhanced O’Rourke model for Impinging Sprays). The initial drop size distribution at orifice and break-up time constant of the standard Wave model is calibrated and calculated wall impingement (piston and liner) is compared with combustion efficiency, smoke, HC and CO emissions as a function of injection timing. A set of model parameters were selected for further evaluation. These model parameters and the EORIS collision model were applied to non-impinging and impinging nozzles under low- and high load conditions. The EORIS model and the selected model parameters are able to predict wall impingement in agreement with experimental measurements of combustion efficiency and smoke emissions under low- and high load conditions for the investigated nozzles. A benefit is that one set of model parameters can be used to predict mixture formation, and there is no need for additional model calibration when, for instance, the injection timing or nozzle geometry is changed. In general, experiments and simulations indicate that impinging nozzles are recommended for early injection timing in the compression stroke. This is due to the shorter penetration which leads to a reduced risk for wall impingement. The non-impinging nozzles are, however, beneficial for later injection timing in the compression stroke. During these injection conditions the impinging nozzles have a more stratified charge and under some conditions poor mixture quality is achieved. / HCCI-konceptet (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) är en tänkbar förbränningsprincip för att uppnå låga NOx och sotemissioner, speciellt under låglast förhållanden. Då Diesel används som bränsle är tidig direktinsprutning under kompressionsslaget en tänkbar strategi för att åstadkomma gynnsamma HCCI-förhållanden. Den tidiga direktinsprutningen medför däremot att risken för väggvätning ökar, på grund av den minskade densiteten i cylindern. Detta ställer krav på bränslesprejen som måste vara väl fördelad i cylindern för att undvika väggvätning. Specialkonstruerade spridarspetsar som skapar kollision av sprejerna nära hålmynningen, så kallade kolliderande sprejer, har experimentellt påvisats vara fördelaktiga för HCCI förbränning, tack vare kortare sprejpenetration och voluminös sprej. Syftet med detta arbete är att använda CFD (Computational FluidDynamics) som ett verktyg för att simulera och evaluera ickekolliderande och kolliderande sprejer med avseende på blandningsbildning under direktinsprutade HCCI förhållanden. Tre olika spridarspetsar har undersökts: en icke-kolliderande och två kolliderande med kollisionsvinkel 30 och 60 grader. CFD-simuleringar av kolliderande sprejer med Lagrangiansk modelleringsteknik och O’Rourkes traditionella kollisionsmodell har visat sig vara otillräcklig för att uppnå korrekta sprejegenskaper. Den här avhandlingen presenterar en förbättrad kollisionsmodell baserad på O’Rourkes ursprungliga kollisionsmodell med avseende på kollisionsfrekvens, dropphastighet efter kollision och kollisionsviinducerad break-up. Den förbättrade modellen kallas EORIS (Enhanced O’Rourke model for Impinging Sprays). Den initiala droppfördelningen vid spridarspetsens hålmynning och Wave-modellens tidskonstant för break-up har kalibrerats och beräknad väggvätning (kolv och foder) har jämförts med förbränningsverkningsgrad, rök, HC och CO-emissioner som funktion av insprutningstidpunkt. De valda modellparametrarna och EORIS-modellen tillämpades för att evaluera blandningsbildningen på kolliderande och icke-kolliderande spridarspetsar under låg- och höglast-förhållanden. EORIS-modellen och de utvalda modellparametrarna kan predikteraväggvätning i överensstämmelse med uppmätt förbränningsverkningsgrad och rökemissioner under låglast- och höglastförhållanden för de undersökta spridarspetsarna. En fördel är att de utvalda modellparametrarna kan prediktera blandningsbildningen och det finns inget behov att justera modellparametrarna då t.ex. insprutningstidpunkten eller spridarspetsgeometrin ändras. Generellt påvisar såväl experiment som simuleringar att de kolliderande sprejerna är lämpliga för tidig direktinsprutning underkompressionsslaget. Det är på grund av kort sprejpenetration som reducerar risken för väggvätning. De icke-kolliderande sprejerna är dock lämpliga för sen direktinsprutning under kompressionsslaget. Under dessa förhållanden har de kolliderande sprejerna en mer stratifierad blandning och under vissa förhållanden uppnås då en ofördelaktig blandningskvalitet. / QC 20100819

The main goal of this work was to develop numerical models for studying the behaviour of fibres in an accelerated flow. This is of special interest for e.g. papermaking. The early stage of the paper manufacturing process determines most of the final properties of a paper sheet. The complexity of studying the flow of fibre suspensions both experimentally and numerically emphasises a need for new ideas and developments. By means of solving the evolution of a convective-dispersion equation, i.e. the Fokker-Planck equation, a fully 3D approach with respect to the position and the two fibre angles, polar and azimuthal angles, following a streamline is presented. As an input to the fibre orientation model the turbulent flow field is solved by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with second-order closure in the turbulence model. In this work two new hypotheses have been presented for the variation of the non-dimensional rotational diffusivity with non-dimensional fibre length, Lf /η and the Reynolds number based on the Taylor micro-scale of the turbulence, Reλ Parameters for the two new hy- potheses and earlier models are determined with the aim of achieving a general relation and a value of the rotational dispersion coeffcient of stiff fibres in an anisotropic turbulent fluid flow. Earlier modelling work has been focused on solving the planar approach, i.e. assuming all fibres to be in one plane. This planar approach is discussed and compared with the fully 3D approach and its validity is evaluated. The optimization of parameters for the different hypotheses correlated on a central streamline, showed a good agreement with an independent experimental result in the undisturbed region. Moreover, it is particularly interesting that the boundary layer region and the wake region are predicted fairly well and the phenomena are well described, which has not been the case earlier. It seems that the new hypothesis based on the variation of the non-dimensional fibre length, Lf /η gives the best correlation in these shear-layer regions. Further- more it was established that the planar approach fails to predict shear layers, i.e. the boundary layer and the wake regions. As emphasized in the theory section, the planar formulation is strictly valid only if all fibres are oriented in one plane, which is not the case in the shear layers. In the undisturbed region, the 3D and the planar approaches, agree in their results. This leads to the conclusion that both approaches are suitable when shear layers are not studied. / QC 20100812

QC 20100901

Interest in utilizing solar-driven refrigeration systems for air-conditioning or refrigeration purposes has grown continuously. Solar cooling is com-prised of many attractive features and is one path towards a more sus-tainable energy system. Compared to solar heating, the cooling load, par-ticularly for air-conditioning applications, is generally in phase with solar radiation. The objective of this thesis is to establish a fundamental basis for further research and development within the field of solar cooling. In this thesis, an overview of possible systems for solar powered refrigeration and air-conditioning systems will be presented. The concept of the ‘Solar Cool-ing Path’ is introduced, including a discussion of the energy source to the collector, and choice of cooling cycle to match cooling load. Brief infor-mation and comparisons of different refrigeration cycles are also pre-sented. The performance of solar cooling systems is strongly dependent on local conditions. The performance of a solar divan air-conditioning system in different locations will therefore be compared in this thesis. Solar cooling systems can be efficiently operated in locations where sufficient solar ra-diation and good heat sink are available. A solar-driven ejector refrigeration system has been selected as a case study for a further detailed investigation. A low temperature heat source can be used to drive the ejector refrigeration cycle, making the system suitable for integration with the solar thermal collector. Analysis of the solar driven ejector system is initiated by steady state analysis. System performance depends on the choice of working fluid (refrigerant), oper-ating conditions and ejector geometry. Results show that various kinds of refrigerants can be used. Also, thermodynamic characteristics of the re-frigerant strongly influence the performance of the cycle. An ejector re-frigeration cycle using natural working fluids generates good perform-ance and lower environmental impact, since traditional working fluids, CFC’s and HFC’s are strong climate gases. Further on, exergy analysis is used as a tool in identifying optimum operating conditions and investi-gating losses in the system. Exergy analysis illustrates that the distribu-tion of the irrervsibilities in the cycle between components depends strongly on the working temperatures. The most significant losses in the system are in the solar collector and ejector. Losses in the ejector pre-dominate over total losses within the system. In practice, the cooling load characteristic and solar radiation are not constant. Therefore, a dynamic analysis is useful for determining the characteristics of the system during the entire year, and dimensioning the important components of the solar collector subsystem, such as storage tanks. The final section of the thesis will deal with the ejector, the key compo-nent of the ejector refrigeration cycle. Characteristics of the actual ejector are shown to be quite complicated and its performance difficult to de-termine solely through theoretical analysis. Suggested design procedures and empirical equations for an ejector are offered in this thesis. Prelimi-nary test results for one fixed ejector dimension using R134a as the re-frigerant are also included. / QC 20100916

This thesis deals with some aspects of crack growth in the presence of cyclic loading, i.e. fatigue. The cyclic load cases studied here are primary of non-proportional mixed mode type. Under non-proportional loading the principal stress directions rotate and, generally, the ratio between the principal stresses vary. A new criterion has been presented for prediction of incipient crack path direction after changes in load from steady Mode I to non-proportional loading. The criterion is based on FE-simulations which are used to compute the actual elasto-plastic stress state in the vicinity of the crack tip. The predictions of the criterion capture several phenomena observed in the literature, which indicates that plasticity effects have to be included in a criterion for crack path predictions under non-proportional loading. The effects of Mode II overloads on subsequent Mode I crack growth have been studied relatively little in the literature. Also, the results deviates substantially. In the present thesis, this load case has been investigated in detail, both experimentally and analytically. The results show that the Mode I crack growth rate decreases after a single Mode II load, if the R-ratio is not as high as to keep the entire Mode I load cycle above the closure level. This is based on the fact, shown in this thesis, that the reduction is caused by crack closure due to tangential displacement of crack-surface irregularities. A new loading device is presented. With this device, it is possible to apply sequential loading in Mode I and Mode II in an automated way, without having to dismount the specimens. This loading device is used to study the influence of periodic Mode II loading on Mode I crack growth. The main parameters concerning the influence of periodic Mode II loading on Mode I crack growth are; (i) the Mode I R-ratio, (ii) the Mode II magnitude and (iii) the Mode II periodicity, M (number of Mode I loads for every Mode II load). The mechanisms involved are mainly RICC (Roughness-Induced Crack Closure) and a Mode II mechanism that increases the growth rate temporary at every Mode II load. Hence, the latter becomes more significant for low M-values. The higher the Mode I R-ratio the smaller is the reduction. / QC 20101004

This thesis deals with fluid dynamic mechanisms related to papermaking, specif- ically: the initial dewatering mechanisms during roll-forming and fibre motion in sedimentation and in shear flow. Pressure and wire position measurements have been conducted in a model resembling the forming zone and the measured pressure distributions are shown to have more complex patterns than the simple model p / T/R (where T is the wire tension and R is the roll radius). It is shown that an increase in wire tension has a similar effect as a decrease in flow-rate on the shape of the pressure distribution. In addition, it is shown that the drainage has a stabilizing effect on the dewatering pressure. The flow around the forming roll has also been modelled with the assump- tion that the wire is impermeable. A non-linear equation for the position of the wire is derived that clearly shows that the Weber number, We, is an im- portant parameter. The equation is linearized around the trivial solution and has a standing wave solution with a specific wavelength that scales with the We-number. Motion of non-Brownian fibre settling in a Newtonian fluid at a small but finite Reynolds number has been studied experimentally. Two different regimes of sedimentation were identified. For dilute suspensions, fibres gener- ally fall without flipping and may travel at velocities larger than that of an isolated particle. In the semi-dilute regime we found the settling process to be dominated by large-scale fluctuations. The velocity fluctuations scale with the suspension volume concentrationφ according toφ1/3, which is similar to the findings for settling spheres. The influence of shear on fibre orientation in the near wall region was studied in cellulose acetate fibre suspensions. At low concentration and low aspect ratio fibres were observed to orient perpendicular to the streamwise direction (named rollers) in the near wall region whereas the orientation further into the suspension was unchanged. As the concentration and aspect ratio increased the fraction of rollers decreased. Finally, an evaluation of a commercial Ultra Velocity Profiler unit in fibre suspensions are presented. The idea was to determine the velocity and characterise the turbulence from ultra sound echoes from particles in the fluid. However, the spatial and/or temporal resolution of the measurements did not permit turbulence characterisation. These limitations might be possible to overcome and some procedures are proposed and evaluated. / QC 20101021

The objective of this thesis is to develop a model that represents the dynamics of a hydraulically operated forestry crane. The model was derived with the traditional Euler-Lagrange formalism and considers the crane mechanics, three double-acting hydraulic cylinders and the valve control unit. On the basis of the derived model we reproduced the entire crane model in MATLAB in order to run simulations herewith. This gave us the possibility to do parameter changes for further studies of the crane in motion. Another major goal within the thesis work was to estimate cylinder friction of the hydraulic actuators. We built up a test rig and used double-acting cylinders for determing their frictional behaviour. For this, we ran open-loop experiments in order to create velocity-friction maps that represented the static friction force of the cylinders. In this concern, we varied system pressure and cylinder load to study their influence on the friction force. By means of the derived static friction maps we approached the cylinder’s dynamic friction behaviour and applied both step and ramp control inputs to examine the spring-damping characteristics of the microspoic bristles in the contacting area. The dynamic friction experiments have been exerted in the fashion of the LuGre model. As a result we acquired different nominal friction parameters that we necessarily used to develope adequate friction models. A third objective of this thesis was to establish a crane-tip control. Instead of a traditional control, providing a direct relationship between joystick input and cylinder extension, the focus was to build up a control for the end-effector’s trajectory in a two-dimensional frame. This could be achieved by using inverse kinematics in order to determine the required joint angles that corresponded to the desired position of the crane-tip. The work also contains a CD including all developed MATLAB models that have been written within this project.