Development of new scientific disciplines such as bioengineering and micro-nano engineering adopting nonconventional materials requests innovative methodologies that can accurately measure the mechanical properties of soft biological materials and characterize surface energy and adhesion properties of them, independent of measurement conditions. One of emerging methods to measure the deformation of materials under stress is digital image correlation (DIC) technique. As a noncontact strain measurement method, DIC has the advantages of prevention of experimental errors caused by the use of contact type sensors and of flexibility in its application to soft materials that are hard to be tested by conventional method. In the first part of the thesis, 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional DIC codes were developed and optimized, and then applied to two critical applications: 1) determining the stress-strain behaviour of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sample, as a model soft material, using the optical images across large deformation region, and 2) detecting the stiffness variation within the gel mimicking the breast tumour using ultrasound images. The results of this study showed the capability of DIC as a strain sensor and suggested its potential as a diagnosing tool for the malignant lesion causing local stiffness variation. In the characterization of surface energy and adhesion properties of materials, two most common methods are contact angle measurement and JKR-type indentation test. In the second part of the thesis, the experimental set-up for these methods were developed and verified by using the PDMS in static (quasi equilibrium) state. From the dynamic tests, it showed its possible usage in studying adhesion hysteresis with respect to speed. The adhesion hysteresis was observed at high speed condition in both contact angle measurement and JKR-type indentation tests.

The use of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique has become increasingly popular for displacement measurements and for characterizing localized material deformation. In this study, a three-dimensional digital image correlation analysis (3D-DIC) was performed to investigate the displacements on the surface of isotropically consolidated and drained sand specimens during triaxial compression tests. The deformation of a representative volume of the material captured by 3D-DIC is used for the estimation of the kinematic and volumetric conditions of the specimen at different stages of deformation, combined with the readings of the global axial compression of the specimen. This allowed for the characterization of a Mohr-Coulomb plasticity model with hardening and softening laws. In addition, a two-dimensional axisymmetric finite element model was built to simulate the actual experimental conditions, including both the global and local kinematics effects captured by 3D digital image correlation analysis on the boundary of the specimen. A comparison between the axisymmetic model predictions and the experimental observations showed good agreement, for both the global and local behavior, in the case of different sand specimen configuration, including loose, dense and half-loose half-dense specimens.

La conception et le dimensionnement des structures stratifiées sont aujourd’hui globalement maîtrisés grâce à la théorie classique des stratifiés. Cependant, les problèmes de délaminage près des bords libres et des jonctions posent encore de nombreuses difficultés. En effet, dans ces zones, la discontinuité des propriétés mécaniques entre les plis d’orientation différente engendre des contraintes tridimensionnelles aux interfaces interlaminaires.L’objectif de ce travail est d’étudier expérimentalement les effets de bords et de mettre en évidence les paramètres susceptibles de les influencer. Pour cela la démarche a consisté à définir un protocole de mesure par corrélation d’images des champs cinématiques, à l’échelle des plis (échelle mésoscopique), sur le bord libre d’éprouvettes stratifiées sollicitées en traction.Trois matériaux de propriétés mécaniques et de microstructures différentes ont été étudiés ainsi que deux géométries d’éprouvettes : planes et avec sauts de plis. Des calculs par éléments finis ont permis de choisir la séquence [(15/-15)2]s pour laquelle les effets de bords sont les plus importants.Cette étude a permis de montrer l’existence de gradients de déplacements et de pics de déformations de cisaillement au voisinage des interfaces interlaminaires dont l’intensité dépend des gradients de propriétés mécaniques, de l’épaisseur de l’interface interlaminaire, et de la présence d’une discontinuité géométrique. D’autre part, les observations montrent l’apparition de fissures aux interfaces fibre / matrice à l’échelle microscopique le long des interfaces interlaminaires qui se traduisent à l’échelle mésoscopique par une évolution non linéaire du cisaillement / The use of composite materials has become more and more widespread in many industrial applications. Thanks to Classical Laminates Theory, design of composite structures is today globally well mastered. However, local effects, such as delamination near free edges or junctions, remain a problem. Indeed, mismatches between elastic properties of adjacent plies induce strong three-dimensional interlaminar stresses in the vicinity of free edges and interlaminar interfaces.The aim of this work is to experimentally study these edge effects and to highlight the parameters which could influence them. The approach has consisted in measuring the mechanical fields by Digital Image Correlation at ply scale (mesoscopic scale) on free edges of laminated samples under tensile loading.Three different materials, with different mechanical properties and microstructures have been studied as well as two sample geometries: plane samples and with ply drops. Finite element calculations allowed choosing the stacking sequence [(15/-15)2]s to be studied for experimental tests in which the edge effects are the most important and measurable.The results highlight the presence of displacements gradients and shear strain concentrations near free edges and interlaminar interfaces which depends on the inter-plies gradient of mechanical properties, width of interlaminar interfaces, and presence of a geometrical discontinuity. Moreover, observations at the microscopic scale show the presence of fissures at fiber / matrix interfaces which induce a non-linear shear behavior at mesoscopic scale

Knowledge of the three dimensional shape of the human foot is important in the design of shoes to facilitate correct fit. Currently only the static shape of the foot is considered despite the fact that the foot undergoes changes in its shape, particularly in athletic pursuits, due to associated movements and loadings. Attempts, presented in research, have been made to measure dynamic foot shape. However, to date, measurements have been limited in detail as well as restricted to walking gait, as a result of the method. The work of this thesis aimed to develop a methodology that would be capable of measuring the three dimensional shape of the human foot during the stance phase of gait, in locomotion speeds associated with running.

Adhesive bonding of graphite epoxy composite laminates to itself or traditional metal alloys in modern aerospace and aircraft structural applications offers an excellent opportunity to use the most efficient and intelligent combination of materials available thus providing an attractive package for efficient structural designs. However, one of the major issues of adhesive bonding is the occasional formation of interfacial defects such as kissing or weak bonds in the bondline interface. Also, there are shortcomings of existing non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods to non-destructively detect/characterize these interfacial defects and reliably predicting the bond shear strength. As a result, adhesive bonding technology is still not solely implemented in primary structures of an aircraft. Therefore, there is a greater demand for a novel NDE tool that can meet the existing aerospace requirement for adhesive bondline characterization. This research implemented a novel Acoustography ultrasonic imaging and digital image correlation (DIC) technique to detect and characterize interfacial defects in the bondline and determine bond shear strength in adhesively bonded composite-metal joints. Adhesively bonded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) laminate and 2024-T3 Aluminum single lap shear panels subjected to various implanted kissing/weak bond defects were the primary focus of this study. Kissing/weak bonds were prepared by controlled surface contamination in the composite bonding surface and also by improperly mixing the adhesive constituent. SEM analyses were also conducted to understand the surface morphology of substrates and their interaction with the contaminants. Morphological changes were observed in the microscopic scale and the chemical analysis confirmed the stability of the contaminant at or very close to the interface. In addition, it was also demonstrated that contaminants migrated during the curing of the adhesive from CFRP substrate which caused a decrease of bond shear strength in single lap shear test samples. Through-transmission ultrasonics (TTU) Acoustography at 3.8 MHz showed promising results on the detectability of bondline defects in adhesively bonded CFRP-Al lap shear test samples. A correlation between Acoustography ultrasonic attenuation and average bond shear strength in CFRP-Al lap shear panels demonstrated that differential attenuation increased with the reduction of the bond shear strength. Similarly, optical DIC tests were conducted to identify and quantify kissing bond defects in CFRP-Al single lap shear joints. DIC results demonstrated changes in the normal strain (εyy) contour map of the contaminated specimens at relatively lower load levels (15% ~ 30% of failure loads). Kissing bond regions were characterized by negative strains, and these were attributed to high compressive bending strains and the localized disbonding taking placed at the bondline interface as a result of the load application. It was also observed that contaminated samples suffered from more compressive strains (εyy) compared to the baseline sample along the loading direction and they suffered from less compressive strains (εxx) compared to the baseline sample perpendicular to the loading direction. This demonstrated the adverse effect of the kissing bond on the adhesive joint integrity. This was a very significant finding for the reason that hybrid ultrasonic DIC is being developed as a faster, more efficient, and more reliable NDE technique for determining bond quality and predicting bond shear strength in adhesively bonded structures.

The increasing use of composite materials in many industries such as aerospace, automotive, and civil industries has increased the need for the development of effective techniques to detect defects in the bondlines of adhesive joints in composite structures. Currently, composite structures used in commercial applications such as modern aircraft use mechanical fasteners in redundancy to adhesive bonds to ensure structural integrity due to a lack of methods to reliably detect defects in the bondline of composite structure. As such, this thesis facilitates the development of nondestructive evaluation techniques for detecting bondline defects by using finite element (FE) modeling to simulate the effects of disbond defects caused by contamination of the bondline. These models were developed for single-lap joint specimens made of metal, composite, and dissimilar materials (metal bonded with composite) with contamination induced disbonds. The created FE models were used to generate whole-field strain data for single-lap joints under tensile loading. This generated strain data was then used to provide a model for evaluating and interpreting experimental strain measurements captured by digital image correlation (DIC). Finally, conclusions were drawn outlining the observed capability of strain measurement in the evaluation of bondline contamination in single-lap joints.

Increasing use of composite materials in industry brings the need for newer and more practical methods to evaluate them. Widespread use of composite materials heavily depends on the manufacturer’s ability to unquestionably ensure its safety, given how much the user trusts them. Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) can be used to evaluate adhesive bondline health. This thesis employs Digital Image Correlation (DIC) method, one of the known methods in NDE, and combines it with an embedded speckle pattern in order to obtain valuable information from within the adhesive bondline. By recording the movement of the speckles and analyzing their behavior according to DIC algorithms, a strain map of the adhesive is drawn. An adhesive strain map helps find defects that might be out of sight using conventional NDE methods. This thesis discusses different possible materials to be used as the speckle pattern and chooses the one shows better results based on different criteria. Then employing the material, it records the speckle pattern using optical and ultrasonic methods to draw a strain map. By analyzing the obtained strain maps, defects within the bondline are revealed.

Cette étude présente une analyse mécanique et énergétique de la fatigue des matériaux métalliques à grand et très grand nombre de cycles. Des bilans d'énergie en fatigue sont réalisés à partir de techniques d'imagerie quantitatives. Les sources de chaleur sont déterminées à partir des champs de température mesurés par caméra infrarouge. Les champs cinématiques sont obtenus en utilisant une technique de corrélation d'image numérique et permettent d'estimer l'énergie de déformation mise en jeu. Un premier objectif est d'analyser la pertinence énergétique des concepts de limite de fatigue et d'état cyclique stabilisé. Un deuxième objectif est de comparer les champs de dissipation à l'échelle mésoscopique aux distributions de bandes de glissement. Enfin, la comparaison d'essais de fatigue conventionnelle (30-50 Hz) et ultrasonique (20 kHz) permet d'analyser les effets de la fréquence sur le comportement dissipatif du matériau. / This work presents a mechanical and energy analysis of metallic materials during high and very high cycle fatigue tests. Energy balances are derived from quantitative imaging techniques. Heat sources are estimated from temperature fields measured by an infrared camera. Kinematic fields are obtained by using digital image correlation techniques and used to compute the deformation energy. A first aim is to analyse the energy relevance of the concepts of fatigue limit and stabilzed cyclic behavior. A second aim is to compare dissipation fields at mesoscale with the microstrural distribution of slip bands. Finally, conventional (30-50 Hz) and ultrasonic (20kHz) fatigue tests are used to analyse the frequency effect on the dissipative behavior of the material.

abstract: The motivation of this work is based on development of new construction products with strain hardening cementitious composites (SHCC) geared towards sustainable residential applications. The proposed research has three main objectives: automation of existing manufacturing systems for SHCC laminates; multi-level characterization of mechanical properties of fiber, matrix, interface and composites phases using servo-hydraulic and digital image correlation techniques. Structural behavior of these systems were predicted using ductility based design procedures using classical laminate theory and structural mechanics. SHCC sections are made up of thin sections of matrix with Portland cement based binder and fine aggregates impregnating continuous one-dimensional fibers in individual or bundle form or two/three dimensional woven, bonded or knitted textiles. Traditional fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) use random dispersed chopped fibers in the matrix at a low volume fractions, typically 1-2% to avoid to avoid fiber agglomeration and balling. In conventional FRC, fracture localization occurs immediately after the first crack, resulting in only minor improvement in toughness and tensile strength. However in SHCC systems, distribution of cracking throughout the specimen is facilitated by the fiber bridging mechanism. Influence of material properties of yarn, composition, geometry and weave patterns of textile in the behavior of laminated SHCC skin composites were investigated. Contribution of the cementitious matrix in the early age and long-term performance of laminated composites was studied with supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash, silica fume, and wollastonite. A closed form model with classical laminate theory and ply discount method, coupled with a damage evolution model was utilized to simulate the non-linear tensile response of these composite materials. A constitutive material model developed earlier in the group was utilized to characterize and correlate the behavior of these structural composites under uniaxial tension and flexural loading responses. Development and use of analytical models enables optimal design for application of these materials in structural applications. Another area of immediate focus is the development of new construction products from SHCC laminates such as angles, channels, hat sections, closed sections with optimized cross sections. Sandwich composites with stress skin-cellular core concept were also developed to utilize strength and ductility of fabric reinforced skin in addition to thickness, ductility, and thermal benefits of cellular core materials. The proposed structurally efficient and durable sections promise to compete with wood and light gage steel based sections for lightweight construction and panel application / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil and Environmental Engineering 2016

abstract: Laboratory testing was conducted to quantify strain concentrations adjacent to seams and scratches in high density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembranes. The tensile strain profile of remnants meeting the ASTM criteria for wide-width tensile testing from samples of field seams recovered for construction quality assurance testing was evaluated using digital image correlation (DIC). Strains adjacent to scratches on laboratory prepared samples loaded in tension were also measured using DIC. The tensile strain in the zone adjacent to a seam and the tensile strain adjacent to a scratch were compared to the tensile strains calculated using theoretical strain concentration factors. The relationship between the maximum tensile strain adjacent to a seam and the global nominal strain in the sample was quantified for textured and smooth geomembranes of common thicknesses. Using statistical analysis of the data, bounds were developed for the allowable nominal tensile strain expected to induce maximum tensile strains adjacent to the seam less than or equal to the typical yield strain of HDPE geomembranes, at several confidence levels. Where nominal strain is the global or average strain applied to the sample and maximum strain is the largest tensile strain induced in the sample. The reduction in the nominal yield strain due to a scratch in a HDPE geomembrane was also quantified. The yield strain was approximately the same as predicted using theoretical strain concentration factors. The difference in the average measured maximum strains adjacent to the seams of textured and smooth HDPE geomembranes was found to be statistically insignificant. However, maximum strains adjacent to extrusion welded seams were somewhat greater than adjacent to fusion welded seams for nominal strains on the order of 3% to 4%. The results of the testing program suggest that the nominal tensile strain should be limited to 4% around dual hot wedge seams and 3% around extrusion fillet seams to avoid maximum strains equal to 11%, a typical yield strain for HDPE geomembranes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Civil Engineering 2017