This paper presents a static analysis of functionally graded single and sandwich beams by using an efficient 7DOFs quasi-3D hybrid type theory. The governing equations are derived by employing the principle of virtual works in a weak form and solved by means of the Finite Element Method (FEM). A C1 cubic Hermite interpolation is used for the vertical deflection variables while C0 linear interpolation is employed for the other kinematics variables. Convergence rates are studied in order to validate the finite element technique. Numerical results of the present formulation are compared with analytical and FEM solutions available in the literature. / Revisión por pares

Pollution levels in urban areas continue to rise, with transportation being the number one cause. As cities ban fossil fuel cars access to the city center, this project looks at the delivery of packgaes from internet purchases. A three-wheeled, human-powered and electrically assisted vehicle is designed. This vehicle is dsigned to work together with last-mile logistics. A scientific design process was carried out to define the stakeholders, competition and requirements of the project, among others.The results yielded a semi-finished vehicle, comprising of the frame, general design, FEA analysis, delivery system and an optimization process for the frame. Future work includes economical or social study, design of the brakes and gear system or a design of the frame-cabin connection.

This thesis investigates the characteristics of an involute gear system including contact stresses, bending stresses, and the transmission errors of gears in mesh. Gearing is one of the most critical components in mechanical power transmission systems. Transmission error is considered to be one of the main contributors to noise and vibration in a gear set. Transmission error measurement has become popular as an area of research on gears and is possible method for quality control. To estimate transmission error in a gear system, the characteristics of involute spur gears were analyzed by using the finite element method. The contact stresses were examined using 2-D FEM models. The bending stresses in the tooth root were examined using a 3-D FEM model. Current methods of calculating gear contact stresses use Hertzs equations, which were originally derived for contact between two cylinders. To enable the investigation of contact problems with FEM, the stiffness relationship between the two contact areas is usually established through a spring placed between the two contacting areas. This can be achieved by inserting a contact element placed in between the two areas where contact occurs. The results of the two dimensional FEM analyses from ANSYS are presented. These stresses were compared with the theoretical values. Both results agree very well. This indicates that the FEM model is accurate. This thesis also considers the variations of the whole gear body stiffness arising from the gear body rotation due to bending deflection, shearing displacement and contact deformation. Many different positions within the meshing cycle were investigated.

This thesis investigates the characteristics of an involute gear system including contact stresses, bending stresses, and the transmission errors of gears in mesh. Gearing is one of the most critical components in mechanical power transmission systems. Transmission error is considered to be one of the main contributors to noise and vibration in a gear set. Transmission error measurement has become popular as an area of research on gears and is possible method for quality control. To estimate transmission error in a gear system, the characteristics of involute spur gears were analyzed by using the finite element method. The contact stresses were examined using 2-D FEM models. The bending stresses in the tooth root were examined using a 3-D FEM model. Current methods of calculating gear contact stresses use Hertzs equations, which were originally derived for contact between two cylinders. To enable the investigation of contact problems with FEM, the stiffness relationship between the two contact areas is usually established through a spring placed between the two contacting areas. This can be achieved by inserting a contact element placed in between the two areas where contact occurs. The results of the two dimensional FEM analyses from ANSYS are presented. These stresses were compared with the theoretical values. Both results agree very well. This indicates that the FEM model is accurate. This thesis also considers the variations of the whole gear body stiffness arising from the gear body rotation due to bending deflection, shearing displacement and contact deformation. Many different positions within the meshing cycle were investigated.

Fuel cells are the direct energy conversion devices which convert the chemical energy of a fuel to electrical energy with much greater efficiency than conventional devices. Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) is one of the various types of available fuel cells; wherein the major components are made of inherently brittle ceramics. Planar SOFC have the advantages of high power density and design flexibility over its counterpart tubular configuration. However, structural integrity, mechanical reliability, and durability are of great concern for commercial applications of these cells. The stress distribution in a cell is a function of geometry of fuel cell, temperature distribution, external mechanical loading and a mismatch of thermo-mechanical properties of the materials in contact. The mismatch of coefficient of thermal expansion and elastic moduli of the materials in direct contact results in the evolution of thermal stresses in the positive electrode/electrolyte/negative electrode (PEN) assembly during manufacturing and operating conditions (repeated start up and shut down steps) as well. It has long been realized and demonstrated that the durability and reliability of SOFCs is not only determined by the degradation in electrochemical performance but also by the ability of its component materials to withstand the thermal stresses. In the present work, an attempt has been made to evaluate the thermal stresses as a function of thermal and mechanical properties of the component materials assuming contribution from other factors such as thermal gradient, mechanical loading and in-service loading conditions is insignificant. Materials used in the present study include the state of art anode (Ni-YSZ), electrolyte(YSZ) and cathode materials(LM and LSM) of high temperature SOFC and also the ones being suggested for intermediate temperature SOFC Ni-SCZ as an anode, GDC and SCZ as electrolyte and LSCF as the cathode. Variation of thermo-mechanical properties namely coefficient of thermal expansion, and elastic and shear moduli were studied using thermo-mechanical analyzer and resonant ultrasound spectroscope respectively in 25-900°C temperature range. A non-linear variation in elastic and shear moduli- indicative of the structural changes in the studied temperature range was observed for most of the above mentioned materials. Coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) was also found to increase non-linearly with temperature and sensitive to the phase transformations occurring in the materials. Above a certain temperature (high temperature region- above 600°C), a significant contribution from chemical expansion of the materials was also observed. In order to determine thermal stress distribution in the positive electrode, electrolyte, negative electrode (PEN) assembly, CTE and elastic and shear moduli of the component materials were incorporated in finite element analysis at temperature of concern. For the finite element analysis, anode supported configuration of PEN assembly (of 100mm x 100mm) was considered with 1mm thick anode, 10μm electrolyte and 30μm cathode. The results have indicated that cathode and anode layer adjacent to cathode/electrolyte and electrolyte/anode interface respectively are subjected to tensile stresses at the operating temperature of HT-SOFC (900°C) and IT-SOFC (600°C). However, the magnitude of stresses is much higher in the former case (500MPa tensile stress in cathode layer) when compared with the stress level in IT-SOFC (178MPa tensile stress in cathode layer). These high stresses might have been resulted from the higher CTE of cathode when compared with the adjacent electrolyte. However, it is worth mentioning here that in the present work, we have not considered any contribution from the residual stresses arising from fabrication and the stress relaxation from softening of the glass sealant.

A practical engineering design problem is used to examine the over-conservativeness of designs obtained using deterministic optimization with worst-case parameter assumptions and a safety factor. Additionally, an attempted application of reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) demonstrates the limits of RBDO for practical problems. The design problem considered here is TESCO's Internal Casing Drive System (ICDS), which is used in feeding pipeline, or casing, into predrilled holes. After developing a finite element model of the ICDS, experimental data is used to successfully validate modeling methods and assumptions. The validated model is then subjected to multiple analyses to determine an appropriate design configuration to be used as the starting point for optimization. Worst-case, safety factor-based design optimization (SFBDO) is then applied considering two and three design variables, and is successful in increasing the critical load of the ICDS, Pcrit, by 35% and 45%, respectively. An efficient and recognized RBDO method, Sequential Optimization and Reliability Assessment, is selected for application to the design problem to determine an optimum design based on reliability. Due to the optimization formulation, however, SORA cannot be applied. The ICDS design problem represents a practical example that demonstrates the difficulties and limits in applying RBDO to practical engineering design problems. To evaluate the over-conservativeness of worst-case SFBDO, structural reliability analysis is performed on the deterministic optimum designs. It is found that the value of Pcrit for both the two and three variable optimum designs can be increased by 53% while maintaining acceptable probability of failure, demonstrating the over-conservativeness of the worst-case SFBDO. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-05 10:51:26.273

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This thesis presents the work undertaken to assess potential improvements in high performance bicycles. There are several wheel options available for elite riders to use in competition and this research has investigated the aerodynamic properties of different wheel type. The research has also developed CFD and FEA models of carbon fibre bicycle wheels to assist in the wheel improvements process. An accurate and repeatable experimental test rig was developed to measure the aerodynamic properties of bicycle wheels in the wind tunnel, namely translational drag, rotational drag and side force. Both disk wheels and spoked wheels were tested. It was found that disk wheels of different hub widths have different aerodynamic properties with the 53mm wide Zen disk wheel requiring the lowest total power of the wheels tested. There was little difference between the translational power requirements of the wheels but there was greater variation in the rotational power requirements. Compression spoked wheels of 3 and 5 spokes were found to require less power than wire spoked wheels. There was little difference between the total power requirements of the compression spoked wheels tested, with the differences at 50km/hr being less than the experimental uncertainty. The Zipp 808 wheel demonstrated considerably lower axial force than all other wheels at 10° yaw angle, confirming Zipp design intention to have optimum wheel performance between 0-20°. The Zen 3-spoke wheel showed the lowest axial drag and side force at yaw of the compression spoked wheels tested and had similar side force results to the Zipp 808. CFD models of the disk and 3-spoke wheel achieved good agreement with the experimental results in terms of translational drag. Rotational drag did not agree so well, most likely due to the turbulence model being designed for higher Reynolds number flows. A FE model of the disk wheel was validated with experimental testing. In order to simplify modelling, the FE model of the 3-spoke wheel did not include the hub, which led to a large discrepancy with experimental results for the particular loading scenario. The experimental rig and CFD models were used to develop aerodynamic improvements to the wheel and the FE models were used to identify the implication of geometric changes to the wheel structural integrity. These improvements are not reported in this thesis due to the results being commercially sensitive.

After 333 years under depths of the Baltic Sea, the warship Vasa was salvaged and nowadayslies in a dry dock inside the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. Its current support system, which consists on eighteen cradle-stanchions pairs of steel, is not able to handle the present loads in a satisfactory manner. Experimental tests showed that the Vasa's hull is gradually deforming mainly due to creep behavior. Thus, in order to preserve the Vasa for future generations, a new support system has to be implemented in a foreseeable future. There are several factors to take into consideration for its construction, which are: the degradation of the oak, its current mechanical properties and its inhomogeneity in addition to the climatic conditions of the Museum and the impossibility of taking unlimited specimens for its analysis. Hence, it is crucial to investigate the areas where the stresses and deformations are critical in the ship and how affected is the stiffness of the hull, its most important component. In this dissertation work two Finite Element Analyses are accomplished. The first study consists on the creation of a superelement of a section of Vasa's hull with the intention of investigating the influence of the dowels on the stiffness of the hull. In the second analysis a simplied model of the entire warship Vasa is created in order to analyze it and locate possible critical areas on the hull due to its own weight and the stresses originated by the support system. The software selected for these simulations are Abaqus and CreoSimulate 2.0. From the first study it is concluded that that the dowels do not have a signicant influence in the stiffness coeffcients of the hull. The second analysis determines that the maximum stresses are located on the bottom part of the hull. This dissertation work concludes with a suggested future work.

Heavy vehicles require tires which can withstand extreme loads while maintaining control, delivering performance and minimizing fuel consumption, particularly on soft soils. Recent advances in finite element analysis and computational efficiency have opened doors to highperformance, highly complex simulations which were not possible just a few years ago. This research aims to model two tires using non-linear finite element analysis code and validate them using static and dynamic tests, including response to steering input. Soils are modeled using both traditionally-meshed FEA techniques as well as a newer mesh-less smoothed particle hydrodynamics method. Soils are validated and the accuracy of the SPH and FEA models are compared. The tires and soils are used together to estimate the rolling resistance of the tire over various terrains. The developed soil models are sufficient to model soils behaving like clay. The SPH soil models behave closer to actual soils, providing superior penetration and shear properties. This causes the SPH soil models to exhibit rolling resistance closer to experimental data.