A large structural weldment has been designed to serve as the new star tracker bridge for the Dark Energy Experiment upgrade to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory. The modeling approach, analysis techniques and design details will be of interest to designers of large structures where stiffness is the primary design driver. The design includes detailed structural analysis using finite element models to maximize natural frequency response and limit deflections and light obscuration. Considerable fabrication challenges are overcome to allow integration of precision hardware required for positioning the corrector optics to a precision of less than 5 microns along the 4-meter travel range. This thesis provides detailed descriptions of the bridge geometry, analysis results and challenging fabrication issues. / text

Surface integrity of manufactured components has a critical impact on their functional performance. Magnesium alloys are lightweight materials used in the transportation industry and are also emerging as a potential material for biodegradable medical implants. However, the unsatisfactory corrosion performance of Mg alloys limits their application to a great extent. Surface integrity factors, such as grain size, crystallographic orientation and residual stress, have been proved to remarkably influence the functional performance of magnesium alloys, including corrosion resistance, wear resistance and fatigue life. In this dissertation, the influence of machining conditions, including dry and cryogenic cooling (liquid nitrogen was sprayed to the machined surface during machining), cutting edge radius, cutting speed and feed rate, on the surface integrity of AZ31B Mg alloy was investigated. Cryogenic machining led to the formation of a "featureless layer" on the machined surface where significant grain refinement from 12 μm to 31 nm occurred due to dynamic recrystallization (DRX), as well as increased intensity of basal plane on the surface and more compressive residual stresses. Dry and cryogenic burnishing experiments of the same material were conducted using a fixed roller setup. The thickness of the processed-influenced layer, where remarkable microstructural changes occurred, was dramatically increased from the maximum value of 20 μm during machining to 3.4 mm during burnishing. The burnishing process also produced a stronger basal texture on the surface than the machining process. Preliminary corrosion tests were conducted to evaluate the corrosion performance of selected machined and burnished AZ31B Mg samples in 5% NaCl solution and simulated body fluid (SBF). Cryogenic cooling and large edge radius tools were found to significantly improve the corrosion performance of machined samples in both solutions. The largest improvement in the material's corrosion performance was achieved by burnishing. A finite element study was conducted for machining of AZ31B Mg alloy and calibrated using the experimental data. A user subroutine was developed and incorporated to predict the grain size changes induced by machining. Good agreements between the predicted and measured grain size as well as thickness of featureless layers were achieved. Numerical studies were extended to include the influence of rake angle, feed rate and cutting speed on the featureless layer formation.

The Formula SAE is a student based competition organised by SAE International where engineering students from a university design, develop and test a formula-style race car prototype to compete against other universities. The competition car needs to satisfy the competition rules set out by the organisers. The competition strives to stimulate original, creative problem solving together with innovative engineering design practices. In any race environment, the primary goal is always to be as competitive as possible. Due to the competitive nature of motor sport, vehicle components need to withstand various and severe stresses. The components of a race car vehicle are responsible for the vehicle’s handling characteristics and reliability. The chassis is a crucial and integral component of a Formula SAE competition car, primarily responsible for the vehicle’s performance characteristics. The chassis is the structural component that accommodates all the other components. A Formula SAE chassis is a structure that requires high torsional stiffness, low weight as well as the necessary strength properties. In this study, multiple Formula SAE chassis were designed and developed using computer aided design software. Each concept’s torsional stiffness, weight and strength properties were tested using finite element analysis software. The different concepts consisted of different design techniques and applications. All the concepts were analysed and assessed, leading to the identification of an acceptable prototype. The prototype was manufactured for experimental tests. The designed chassis complied with the Formula SAE rules and regulations. The weight, torsional stiffness and strength characteristics of the designed chassis frame were also favourable compared to accepted standards for Formula SAE chassis frames. The manufactured chassis was prepared for experimental tests in order to validate the simulation results produced by the finite element analysis. The torsional stiffness, weight and strength were experimentally determined and the results were compared with the corresponding simulations results. The comparison of the experimental and simulated results enabled the validation of the finite element analysis software. The study draws conclusions about the use of computer aided design and finite element analysis software as a design tool for the development of a Formula SAE chassis. Closure about the study is provided with general conclusions, recommendations and research possibilities for future studies. / MIng (Mechanical Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In the process of engine design, it is important for the engine designer to predict the accurate component temperatures. Controlling the temperature of engine components requires a better understanding of the coolant behaviour in the coolant jacket of an engine which is critical to internal combustion engine design, The studies reported in the literature emphasize the influence of the cooling system on other engine operation such as exhaust emission, fuel consumption and engine wear. In this context, much work has been done with the purpose of improving the coolant jacket design and components of the cooling system to achieve higher performance. (Some of these studies) Previous researches have shown the possibility of achieving higher engine efficiency and performance with higher coolant temperature. This project aims at understanding the coolant flow behaviour in the coolant jackets of a diesel engine and investigating the possibility of running the engine at higher coolant temperatures by predicting the temperature distribution of the structure which is required for the assessment of the durability ofthe engine components. In this thesis, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and FE (Finite Element) techniques are used to study coolant flow in the coolant jackets and to predict the temperature distribution within the engine structure respectively. The objectives are to develop an FE model of the engine structure for thermal analyses and a CFD model of the fluid domain for the coolant flow CFD analyses. A number of case studies are carried out with the purpose of determining the most suitable technique for accurate temperature prediction. The methodology of manual coupling approach between CFD and FE analyses, which is more widely used in industry, and conjugate approach are demonstrated. Using these approaches, thermal analysis of the engine is conducted with the purpose of identifying the thermally critical locations throughout the engine. Furthermore, the influences of higher coolant temperature on these thermally critical regions of the engine are highlighted by carrying out four case studies with coolant inlet temperatures of 110°C, !ISOC, 117.5"C and !20°C. The temperature rise at the particular points around thermally critical regions is found to be in the range of 3-9 degrees at the higher coolant temperatures. This slight increase in temperature of critical locations may affect the durability of the structure. However, without carrying out the structural analyses it is not possible to comment on the durability of the engine structure. The effects of surface roughness and viscosity on heat transfer rate are also investigated and shown to be insignificant.

Adhesive bonding is one of the most attractive joining techniques for any structural application, including high profile examples in the aerospace, automotive, marine construction and electrical industries. Advantages of adhesive bonding include; superior fatigue performance, better stress distribution and higher stiffness than conventional joining techniques. When the design of bonded joints is considered, fatigue is of critical importance in most structural applications. There are two main issues that are of importance; a) in-service damage characterisation during fatigue loading and, b) lifetime prediction under both constant and variable amplitude fatigue loading. If fatigue damage characterisation is considered, there has been some work to characterise damage in-situ using the backface strain (BFS) measurement technique, however, there has been little investigation of the effects of different types of fatigue behaviour under different types of geometry and loading. Regarding fatigue lifetime prediction of bonded joints, most of the work in the literature is concentrated with constant amplitude fatigue, rather than variable amplitude fatigue. Fatigue design of a bonded structure based on constant amplitude fatigue, when the actual loading on the structure is of the variable amplitude fatigue, can result in erroneous lifetime prediction. This is because of load interaction effects caused by changes in load ratio, mean load etc., which can decrease the fatigue life considerably. Therefore, the project aims to a) provide a comprehensive study of the use of BFS measurements to characterise fatigue damage, b) develop novel techniques for predicting lifetime under constant amplitude fatigue and c) provide an insight into various types of load interaction effects. In this project, single lap joints (SLJ) and compound double cantilever beam geometries were used. Compound double cantilever beams were used mainly to determine the critical strain energy release rate and to obtain the relationship between strain energy release rate and fatigue crack growth rate. The fatigue life of SLJs was found to be dominated by crack initiation at lower fatigue loads. At higher fatigue loads, fatigue life was found to consist of three phases; initiation, stable crack propagation and fast crack growth. Using these results, a novel damage progression model was developed, which can be used to predict the remaining life of a bonded structure. A non-linear strength wearout model (NLSWM) was also proposed, based on strength wearout experiments, where a normalised strength wearout curve was found to be independent of the fatigue load applied. In this model, an empirical parameter determined from a small number of experiments, can be used to determine the residual strength and remaining life of a bonded structure. A fracture mechanics approach based on the Paris law was also used to predict the fatigue lifetime under constant amplitude fatigue. This latter method was found to under-predict the fatigue life, especially at lower fatigue loads, which was attributed to the absence of a crack initiation phase in the fracture mechanics based approach. A damage mechanics based approach, in which a damage evolution law was proposed based on plastic strain, was found to predict the fatigue life well at both lower and higher fatigue loads. This model was able to predict both initiation and propagation phases. Based on the same model, a unified fatigue methodology (UFM) was proposed, which can be used to not only predict the fatigue lifetime, but also various other fatigue parameters such as BFS, strength wearout and stiffness wearout. The final part of the project investigated variable amplitude fatigue. In this case, fatigue lifetime was found to decrease, owing to damage and crack growth acceleration in various types of variable amplitude fatigue loading spectra. A number of different strength wearout approaches were proposed to predict fatigue lifetime under variable amplitude fatigue loading. The NLSWM, where no interaction effects were considered was found to over-predict the fatigue life, especially at lower fatigue loads. However, approaches such as the modified cycle mix and normalised cycle mix approaches were found to predict the fatigue life well at all loads and for all types of variable amplitude fatigue spectra. Progressive damage models were also applied to predict fatigue lifetime under variable amplitude fatigue loading. In this case a fracture mechanics based approach was found to under-predict the fatigue life for all types of spectra at lower loads, which was established to the absence of a crack initiation phase in this method. Whereas, a damage mechanics based approach was found to over-predict the fatigue lifetime for all the types of variable amplitude fatigue spectra, however the over- prediction remained mostly within the scatter of the experimental fatigue life data. It was concluded that, the damage mechanics based approach has potential for further modification and should be tested on different types of geometry and spectra.

Die Finite Elemente Analyse (FEA) ist aus heutiger Sicht aus dem Produktentwicklungsprozess nicht mehr wegzudenken. Zur Sicherstellung einer kontinuierlich wachsenden Innovationskraft sind viele kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen auf einen wirtschaftlichen Einsatz der FEA angewiesen, weshalb diese vermehrt auf Freeware Programme (z.B. Z88Aurora) zurückgreifen. Die dabei meist verwendete, linear statische Analyse von Einzelkomponenten gehört deshalb bei heutigen Simulationsaufgaben längst zum Tagesgeschäft. Diese isolierte Betrachtung von einzelnen Bauteilen ist allerdings oftmals aufgrund der fehlenden Interaktion mit benachbarten Komponenten nicht realitätsnah, weshalb komplexe numerische Simulationen von Baugruppen herangezogen werden müssen. Die Abbildung der gegenseitigen Wechselwirkung entspricht dabei einer nichtlinearen Randbedingung, da sich der Zustand zwischen den Kontaktzonen (offen oder geschlossen) während des Rechenlaufes ändern kann. Dieser technisch-physikalische Effekt lässt sich in nahezu jedem technischen System – beispielsweise einer Zahnradpaarung, einem Kettentrieb, usw. – beobachten, weshalb dessen Berücksichtigung für die Ergebnisgüte eine große Rolle spielt. Das hierfür in Z88Aurora implementierte Kontaktmodul erlaubt dem Anwender ebendiese Anbindung des elastischen Umfeldes sowie eine Detailbetrachtung der Verbindungsstelle (Kontaktdruck). Die für den industriellen Einsatz essentielle Validität der Berechnungsergebnisse wird anhand analytisch berechenbarer Geometrien, wie etwa einem Zugstab, nachgewiesen. Zusätzlich werden die Benchmark-Tests von der National Agency for Finite Element Methods and Standards (NAFEMS) sowie der Kontakt Patch-Test nach Bathe herangezogen, um die Leistungsfähigkeit und Stabilität des Z88-Kontaktalgorithmus zu erproben. Hierbei wird unabhängig von der Ausprägung des Kontaktabstands und der Oberflächenvernetzung der Bauteile die korrekte Finite-Elemente-Kontaktanalyse anhand der Homogenität der Kontaktdruckverteilung bewertet. Auf Basis dieser Benchmark-Tests und weiterführender Vergleichsrechnungen mit kommerziellen FE-Systemen zeigt sich, dass die Ergebnisse des Kontaktmoduls von Z88Aurora valide sind und die Software für den produktiven Einsatz in der Industrie geeignet ist.

High-speed craft are in high demand in the maritime industry, for example, in maintenance operations for offshore structures, for search and rescue, for patrolling operations, or as leisure craft to deliver speed and excitement. Design and operation of high-speed craft are often governed by the hydrodynamic phenomena of slamming, which occur when the craft impact the wave surface. Slamming loads affect the high-speed craft system; the crew, the structure and various sub-systems and limit the operation. To meet the ever-increasing demands on safety, economy and reduced environmental impact, there is a need to develop more efficient high-speed craft. This progression is however limited by the prevailing semi-empirical design methods for high-speed planing craft structures. These methods provide only a basic description of the involved physics, and their validity has been questioned. This thesis contributes to improving the conditions for designing efficient highspeed craft by focusing on two key topics: evaluation and development of the prevailing design methods for high-speed craft structures, and development towards structural design based on first principles modeling of the slamming process. In particular a methodological framework that enables detailed studies of the slamming phenomena using numerical simulations and experimental measurements is synthesized and evaluated. The methodological framework involves modeling of the wave environment, the craft hydromechanics and structural mechanics, and statistical characterization of the response processes. The framework forms the foundation for an extensive evaluation and development of the prevailing semi-empirical design methods for high-speed planing craft. Through the work presented in this thesis the framework is also shown to be a viable approach in the introduction of simulation-based design methods based on first principles modeling of the involved physics. Summarizing, the presented methods and results provide important steppingstones towards designing more efficient high-speed planing craft. / <p>QC 20160907</p>

The superficial tangential zone (STZ) plays a significant role in normal articular cartilage’s ability to support loads and retain fluids. To date, tissue engineering efforts have not replicated normal STZ function in cartilage repairs. Finite element models were developed to examine the STZ’s role in normal and repaired articular surfaces under different contact conditions. Models were developed by incrementally adding improvements which culminated in contact loading of curved models by permeable and impermeable rigid surfaces and a normal cartilage layer. In the normal STZ, permeability was strain-dependent on volumetric strain; tension-compression nonlinearity modeled collagen behavior. Nonlinear geometry accounted for finite deformation. Results showed that STZ properties of sufficient quality maybe critical for the survival of transplanted constructs in vivo. As compared to rigid surfaces, loading via normal cartilage provided more physiologic results. These models can provide guidance in identifying critical features for the design of tissue engineered articular cartilage constructs.

No description available.

This research sought to establish residual stress distribution characteristics in typical pipe and vessel welds by carrying out a comprehensive parametric study using an advanced sequentially coupled thermo-mechanical finite element procedure. The parametric study covered vessel and pipe components with a ranging radius to thickness ratio from r/t=2 to 100, for thickness ranging from t=1/4” to 10”. Component materials varied from low carbon steel to high alloy steels, such as stainless steel and titanium alloy. Furthermore, a structural mechanics based framework is proposed to generalize through-thickness residual stress distributions for a broad spectrum of joint geometry and welding conditions. The results of this study have been shown to provide both a significantly improved understanding of important parameters governing residual stresses in pipe and vessel welds, as well as a unified scheme for achieving consistent residual stress prescriptions for supporting fitness-for-service assessments of engineering structures. Specific contributions of this investigation may be summarized as follows: (a) A welding heating input characterization procedure has been developed and validated to relate prescribed temperature thermal modeling procedure to conventional linear input definition. With this development, a large number of parametric analyses can be carried in a cost-effective manner without relying on the heat flux based weld pool model that can be exhaustive and time-consuming. (b) A set of governing parameters controlling important residual stress distribution characteristics regardless of joint types, materials, and welding procedures have been identified. These are characteristic heat input intensity and radius over thickness ratio. (c) A shell theory based residual stress estimation scheme has been developed to interrelate all parametric analysis results for circumferential girth welds, which can also be used to estimate residual stress distributions in both through-thickness and at any distance away from the weld, for cases that are not covered in the parametric study. (d) In a similar manner, a curve bar theory based residual stress estimation scheme has also been developed for longitudinal seam welds. These developments can significantly advance the residual stress profile prescription methods stipulated in the current national and international FFS Codes and Standards such as 2007 API 579 RP/ASME FFS-1 and BS 7910: 2011.