Temperature is a parameter which is important because of its influence on other material properties. Many temperature measurement techniques are available but few of them permit a direct visualization of surface temperature Variation. The Liquid crystal method is one of the rare methods that permits a complete color mapping of surface temperature and that is also fast enough to respond to surface temperature Variation on plates heated by cyclic bending. A mathematical model for irreversible mechanical heating of plates is developed to support the experimental investigation. The results, which include comparison of the theory and the experiment, show that liquid crystals allow good qualitative measurements and can lead, with certain precautions, to quantitative results. / Master of Science

Biaxial stress fatigue data is carefully examined in order to determine how much foundation exists for a rational approach to classical stress-based fatigue limit analysis involving biaxial stress components. A review is given of the methods presently in vogue, and new methods are suggested for obtaining equivalent mean and equivalent alternating stresses. Some groundwork is laid for the consideration of stress gradient influence on fatigue behavior. There are also some observations concerning the Distortional Energy and Tresca criteria and how they are incorporated in fatigue design procedures. The work is restricted to cases in which the alternating principal stress axes have fixed orientation. / Ph. D.

The relationships between fatigue damage, stress redistribution, and residual stiffness and strength were investigated for notched graphite epoxy laminates during fulIy-reversed cyclic loads. Two material systems, AS4/3501-6 and AS4/1808, two lamination arrangements, (0,45,90,-45)_s₄ and (0,45,0,-45)_s₄, and two notch configurations, central hole and opposing semi-circular edge notches, were used to obtain a fundamental understanding of the fatigue effect in specimens under low and high cycle lifetimes. Damage was evaluated with penetrant-enhanced X-ray radiography and Iaminate deply. Tensile and compressive residual strengths were measured at three stages of damage development. A recently developed nondestructive testing technique, Stress Pattern Analysis by Thermal Emission, was implemented to obtain full-field measurements of surface stresses during damage initiation and growth. A new micromechanical theory of the adiabatic thermoelastic effect in Iaminated fiber composites was conceived to assist the interpretation of SPATE measurements. / Ph. D.

Failure processes in unidirectional composite materials subjected to quasi-static tensile load along the fiber direction are investigated. The emphasis in this investigation is to identify the physical processes taking place during the evolution of failure in these materials. An extensive literature review is conducted and the information relevant to the present topic is summarized. The nature of damage growth in five different commercially available composite systems are studied. In-situ scanning electron microscopy is employed for identifying the failure events taking place at the microscopic level. Acoustic emission monitoring is used for estimating the rate of damage growth on a global scale and determining the size of individual failure events. The results of this study have shown the important roles of the matrix material and the interphase in determining the tensile strength of unidirectional composite materials. Several failure modes occurring at the microscopic scale are revealed for the first time. Further, the results indicate that dynamic fracture participates to a significant extent in determining the failure process in these materials. Based on the results of this study the influence of various parameters in determining the composite strength is described. / Ph. D.

The objective of this investigation is to predict the residual strength of notched composite Iaminates with various layups, subjected to low frequency fatigue loading with constant amplitude at room temperature, by using a material modeling approach, fracture and fatigue mechanics and the finite element method (FEM). For simplicity, after thousands of cycles, the geometry of a circular hole of the deformed laminate was categorized as (1) uniformly expanded hole into elliptic shape, (2) crack propagation around the hole transversely. Both types were studied for 12 cases of layups with various proportions of 0, 45, -45 and 90 degree plies. The effect of geometry change during fatigue on residual strength was attributed to the elliptical hole, longitudinal splitting, matrix cracking (reduction moduli of plies), crack propagation and local delamination. Due to the thin through-the-thickness notched laminate, two-dimensional FEM was used and interlaminar stresses were not considered. Reduction of stress concentration is a reason for the increase of the residual strength of the notched laminate. The stress concentration factor decreases while the elliptic hole becomes more slender; that was examined by the FEM. The residual strength and stiffness were determined by the material modeling with moduli reduction and damaged zone, and the numerical result was obtained by FEM. Laminate theory, point stress criterion, polynomial failure criterion, ply discount method, and fatigue and fracture mechanics (Paris' Power Law) were also included in this research. Geometry change and moduli reduction are two major effects that are considered to predict the notched strength. The WN point stress fracture model is adopted for simplicity, instead of the average stress criterion. K_tg that corresponds to the unnotched strength in the normalized stress base curve is used to obtain the characteristic length (d_o). We find that K_tg decreases when the elliptic hole becomes more slender and more moduli are reduced (more plies crack). At the time d_o that is determined from K_tg in the base curve is not necessarily a fixed material constant. The correlation between the fatigue life and the residual strength as predicted by the model and those determined numerically is found within acceptable errors in comparison with the experimental data. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Electron BackScattered Diffraction (EBSD) systems can be considered as a tool providing three kinds of responses: EBSD patterns (EBSPs) themselves, an indexing response (orientation data), and an intensity response (also called Band Contrast "BC", Image Quality "IQ", or Pattern Quality "PQ or P"). This work focused on the characterization and development of the intensity response. For now, the intensity response cannot be used for quantitative microstructural analyses, including strain analyses of materials. Indeed, this response is affected by several material and experimental conditions. Moreover, properties of the intensity response (strain sensitivity, reproducibility, exact relation with EBSP quality or diffraction band intensities) are not well-known and understood. This project constitutes an exploratory study on the development of the intensity response for quantitative strain analyses of materials. A new modelling and statistical approach is presented and assessed for transforming the raw (current) intensity response (values and grey-tones of intensity images) of commercial EBSD systems into an accurate and reproducible parameter allowing objective visualization and measurements of strain. / Les systèmes de diffraction des électrons rétro-diffusés (EBSD) peuvent être considérés comme un outil offrant trois types de réponses: les patrons EBSD (EBSPs), la réponse d'indexation (données d'orientation) et la réponse d'intensité (aussi appelée Contraste de Bande «BC », Qualité d'Image « IQ », ou Qualité de Patron « PQ ou P »). Le présent projet s'est concentré sur la caractérisation et le développement de la réponse d'intensité. En effet, pour l'instant, la réponse d'intensité ne peut être utilisée pour réaliser des analyses microstructurales quantitatives des matériaux. En effet, cette réponse est influencée par de nombreux facteurs relatifs au matériau analysé et aux conditions expérimentales utilisées. De plus, les propriétés de la réponse d'intensité (sensibilité à la déformation, reproductibilité, relation exacte avec la qualité des EBSPs ou les intensités des bandes de diffraction) ne sont pour l'instant pas bien connues ni même compnses. Le présent projet représente donc une étude exploratoire visant le développement de la réponse d'intensité des systèmes EBSD commerciaux pour l'analyse quantitative de la déformation des matériaux. Dans ce projet, une approche de modélisation statistique est présentée et évaluée afin de transformer la réponse d'intensité actuelle (valeurs et tons de gris des images d'intensité) des systèmes EBSD commerciaux en une réponse précise et reproductible permettant de visualiser et de mesurer objectivement la déformation.

by Shaun Hurley. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web. / The study presents a reliability-based fatigue life prediction model for the ocean current turbine rotor blades. The numerically simulated bending moment ranges based on the measured current velocities off the Southeast coast line of Florida over a one month period are used to reflect the short-term distribution of the bending moment ranges for an idealized marine current turbine rotor blade. The 2-parameter Weibull distribution is used to fit the short-term distribution and then used to obtain the long-term distribution over the design life. The long-term distribution is then used to determine the number of cycles for any given bending moment range. The published laboratory test data in the form of an ε-N curve is used in conjunction with the long-term distribution of the bending moment ranges in the prediction of the fatigue failure of the rotor blade using Miner's rule. The first-order reliability method is used in order to determine the reliability index for a given section modulus over a given design life. The results of reliability analysis are then used to calibrate the partial safety factors for load and resistance.

An effective way to describe changes in the microstructure of a material or to assess fatigue damage at an early stage in fatigue life is by measuring the acoustic nonlinearity parameter beta. The nonlinearity parameter is defined for harmonic longitudinal plane waves and it depends on the ratio of the amplitudes of the first harmonic of the exciting signal and the second harmonic. A reliable measurement of the amplitudes of these harmonics is crucial since their amplitude of the second (higher) harmonic is much smaller than the amplitude of the first harmonic. This research investigates the influence of the apparent nonlinearity that can occur due to the signal processing and shows how this influence can be quantified and minimized to enable a more accurate evaluation of the acoustic nonlinearity parameter. Furthermore the concept of the nonlinear parameter is extended to Rayleigh surface waves by developing a connection between the harmonic amplitudes and the third order elastic constants, using the approximate model by Zabolotskaya. Finally the problem of modeling the influence of fatigue damage on the nonlinear parameter and the elastic constants is discussed. The reduction of the processing nonlinearity combined with Rayleigh surface waves - Rayleigh surface waves are more efficient in the detection of fatigue damage initiated and concentrated at the surface - helps improve the prediction of fatigue damage and the remaining life of a sample.

This work shows that toughness (resistance) to fracture propagation is an inherent characteristic of cohesionless particulate materials, which is significant for understanding hydraulic fracturing in geotechnical, geological, and petroleum applications. We have developed experimental techniques to quantify the initiation and propagation of fluid-driven fractures in saturated particulate materials. The fracturing liquid is injected into particulate materials, where the fluid flow is localized in thin crack-like conduits. By analogy, we call them 'cracks' or 'hydraulic fractures'. Based on the laboratory observations and scale analysis, this work offers physical concepts to explain the observed phenomena. When a fracture propagates in a solid, new surfaces are created by breaking material bonds. Consequently, the material is in tension at the fracture tip. In contrast, all parts of the cohesionless particulate material (including the tip zone of hydraulic fracture) are likely to be in compression. In solid materials, the fluid front lags behind the front of the propagating fracture, while the lag zone is absent for fluid-driven fractures in cohesionless materials. The compressive stress state and the absence of the fluid lag are important characteristics of hydraulic fracturing in particulate materials with low, or no, cohesion. Our experimental results show that the primary factor affecting peak (initiation) pressure is the magnitude of the remote stresses. The morphology of fracture and fluid leak-off zone, however, changes significantly not only with stresses, but also with other parameters such as flow rate, fluid rheology, and permeability. Typical features of the observed fractures are multiple off-shots and the bluntness of the fracture tip. This suggests the importance of inelastic deformation in the process of fracture propagation in cohesionless materials. Similar to solid materials, fractures propagated perpendicular to the least compressive stress. However, peak injection pressures are significantly greater than the maximum principle stresses in the experiments. Further, by incorporating the dominate experimental parameters into dimensionless form; a reasonable power-law fit is achieved between a dimensionless peak injection pressure and dimensionless stress. Scaling indicates that there is a high pressure gradient in the leak-off zone in the direction normal to the fracture. Fluid pressure does not decrease considerably along the fracture, however, due to the relatively wide fracture aperture. This suggests that hydraulic fractures in unconsolidated materials propagate within the toughness-dominated regime. Furthermore, the theoretical model of toughness-dominated hydraulic fracturing can be matched to the experimental pressure-time dependences with only one fitting parameter. Scale analysis shows that large apertures at the fracture tip correspond to relatively large 'effective' fracture (surface) energy, which can be orders of magnitude greater than typical for hard rocks.