Durability of the composite materials in marine environments has been investigated experimentally and with analytical and numerical methods. The main focus of this study is on the integrity of the fiber/matrix interface under seawater exposure. A single-fiber compression test specimen called the Outwater-Murphy (OM) test has been analyzed using mechanics of materials principles and linear elastic fracture mechanics. Sizing of the OM specimen was conducted so that debonding of the fiber from the interface should be achieved prior to yielding of the matrix and global instability failure. Stress analysis of the OM specimen has been conducted from theory of elasticity and finite element analysis. A superelement technique was developed for detailed analysis of the stress state at the fiber/matrix interface. The interface stress state at the debond site in the OM specimen, i.e. at the hole edge, was identified as biaxial tension at the fiber/matrix interface. Characterization of cure and post-cure of 8084 and 510A vinlyester resins has been performed using cure shrinkage tests based on dynamic mechanical analysis and coated beam experiments. In addition, moisture absorption, swelling and the influence of moisture on the mechanical properties of the resins were determined. Testing of OM specimens consisting of a single carbon or glass fiber embedded in vinylester resin at dry conditions and after seawater exposure revealed that the debond toughness was substantially reduced after exposure of the OM specimen to seawater. C(F) did not debond. Macroscopic carbon/vinylester woven composites where the fibers were sized with F sizing were tested in shear at dry conditions and after four weeks of seawater exposure. The shear strength was very little affected after the short immersion time. / by Muhammad Umar Farooq. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The random nature of the micro-structural attributes in materials in general and composite material systems in particular requires expansion of material modeling in a way that will incorporate their inherent uncertainty and predict its impact on material properties and mechanical response in multiple scales. Despite the importance of capturing and modeling material randomness, there are numerous challenges in structural characterization that are yet to be addressed. The work presented in this essay takes a few steps towards an improved material modeling approach which encompasses structural randomness in order to produce a more realistic representation of material systems. For this end a computational framework was developed to generate a realistic representative volume element which reflects the inherent structural randomness. First stochastic structural elements were identified and registered from imaging data and parameters were assigned to represent those elements. Statistical characterization of the random attributes was followed by the construction of a representative volume element which shared the same structural statistical characteristics with the original material system. The resultant statistical equivalent representative volume element (SERVE) was then used in finite element simulations which provided homogenized properties and mechanical response predictions. The suggested framework was developed and then implemented on 3 different material systems. Image processing and analysis in one of the material systems extended the original scope of this work to solving a machine vision and learning problem. Object segmentation for the purpose object and pattern recognition has been a long standing subject of interest in the field of machine vision. Despite the significant attention given to the development of segmentation and recognition methods, the critical challenge of separating merged objects did not share the spotlight. A simple yet original approach to overcome this hurdle was developed using unsupervised classification and separation of objects in 3D. Lower dimensionality classifiers were joined to provide a powerful higher dimensionality classification tool. The robustness of this approach is illustrated through its implementation on two case studies of merged objects. Applications of this methodology can further extend from structural classification to general problems of clustering and classification in various fields.

This thesis deals with metal foam, a relatively new material whose tremendous potential has been identified early on. The material is an excellent shock absorber and also has a very high strength-to-weight ratio, properties that are highly desirable particularly within the aerospace and automotive industries. Despite the material’s immense potential, hardly any metal foam products have made it past the prototype stage. The reason is that the material is difficult to manufacture in the shapes required in industrial applications. Oftentimes, applications require sheets to be bent into specific shapes, yet bending is not possible with conventional methods. Laser forming is currently the only method that shows promise to bend metal foam panels to a range of shapes. In this thesis, the analysis of laser forming of metal foam was taken far beyond the experimental work that has been delivered thus far. A thorough analysis was performed of the thermo-mechanical bending mechanism that governs the deformation of metal foam during laser forming. This knowledge was then used to explain the effect of the process condition on the bending efficiency and the bending limit. Additionally, the impact of laser forming on the metal foam properties was explored. Experimental results were complemented by numerical results that were validated both thermally (using infrared imaging) as well as mechanically (using digital image correlation). Numerical models with different levels of geometrical complexities were used, and the effect of the model geometry on the predictive accuracy was explored. In the second half of the thesis, the aforementioned effort was extended to metal foam sandwich panels, in which metal foam is sandwiched between two sheets of solid metal. The material again has a high strength-to-weight ratio and excellent shock absorption capacity, while also being stiff and core-protective. Just like metal foam alone, metal foam sandwich panels are typically manufactured in flat sheets, and failure-free bending can only be achieved using lasers. The analysis was again initiated with the bending mechanism. It was revisited whether the foam core still follows the same bending mechanism, and how its deformation is affected by the interaction with the solid facesheets. This insight was then used to elucidate the bending efficiency and limit at different process conditions, as well as the impact of the process on the material performance. Additionally, the effect of the sandwich panel manufacturing method on the process outcome was investigated. This was achieved by contrasting two sandwich panel types with a different foam core structure, foam core composition, facesheet composition and facesheet attachment method. Lastly, three-dimensional deformation of metal foam sandwich panels into typical non-Euclidean shapes such as bowl and saddle shapes was explored. It was shown that a significant amount of 3D deformation can be induced. At the same time, it was discussed that the achievable deformation is limited to moderate curvatures, since only a limited amount of in-plane strains may be induced using laser forming. The aforementioned experimental efforts were again accompanied by numerical efforts. Sandwich panel models with different levels of geometrical complexity were used to study all aspects pertaining to the process, and the properties to the facesheet/foam core interface were discussed. Overall, the work in this thesis demonstrated that laser forming is capable of bending metal foam panels and metal foam sandwich panels up to large bending angles without causing failures, while maintaining the favorable properties of the material. Conceptual, experimental and numerical groundwork was laid towards a successful implementation of the material in industrial applications.

In this research, the degradation of carbon fiber/vinylester composites in marine environments was experimentally investigated. Additionally, two types of carbon fiber surface treatments, namely Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS) and the industrial surface treatment F0E, were evaluated to determine their effectiveness in creating a fiber/matrix (F/M) interface for use in the marine environment. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was explored as a new application of an existing technique for use in measuring the amount of water at the F/M interface in carbon fiber/vinylester composites. EIS spectra were used to determine equivalent electric circuit models that allow for the prediction of water at the interface. The location of water within the composite was determined through Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS). Interlaminar shear strength and transverse tensile tests were carried out for dry conditions and after hygrothermal exposure of the composites to study the influence of the integrity of the F/M interface on the macroscopic response of the composite. / by Chris J. Vinci. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Ku, Sin Yee = 添加鎳對網絡結構Fe₈₀C₂₀合金機械性能的影響 / 古倩儀. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Ku, Sin Yee = Tian jia nie dui wang luo jie gou Fe₈₀C₂₀ he jin ji xie xing neng de ying xiang / Gu Qianyi. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.v / List of Tables --- p.viii / List of Figures --- p.ix / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Composite Materials --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Parti culate-reinforced Composites --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Fibre-reinforced Composites --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Structural Composites --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.4 --- Metal Matrix Composites --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2 --- Phase Transformations --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Introduction --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Stability and Equilibrium --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Undercooling --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2.4 --- Solidification of Undercooled Melts --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2.4.1 --- Nucleation --- p.8 / Chapter 1.2.4.1.1 --- Homogeneous Nucleation --- p.8 / Chapter 1.2.4.1.2 --- Heterogeneous Nucleation --- p.9 / Chapter 1.2.4.2 --- Growth --- p.11 / Chapter 1.2.5 --- Binary Systems with a Solid Miscibility Gap --- p.12 / Chapter 1.2.6 --- Phase Separation Mechanisms in a Solid Miscibility Gap --- p.14 / Chapter 1.2.6.1 --- Nucleation and Growth --- p.14 / Chapter 1.2.6.2 --- Spinodal Decomposition --- p.15 / Chapter 1.2.6.2.1 --- Uphill Diffusion --- p.16 / Chapter 1.2.6.2.2 --- Diffusion Equation of Spinodal Decomposition --- p.17 / Chapter 1.2.6.2.3 --- Solution to the Diffusion Equation --- p.19 / Chapter 1.2.7 --- Metastable Liquid Miscibility Gap --- p.21 / Chapter 1.3 --- Mechanical Properties --- p.22 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Hardness --- p.22 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Strength --- p.23 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Ductility --- p.23 / Chapter 1.3.4 --- Strengthening Mechanisms --- p.25 / Chapter 1.3.4.1 --- Grain Boundary Strengthening --- p.25 / Chapter 1.3.4.2 --- Solid Solution Strengthening --- p.26 / Chapter 1.4 --- Objectives of This Project --- p.27 / Figures --- p.29 / References --- p.42 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Experimental --- p.43 / Chapter 2.1 --- Formation of Bulk Network Nanostructured Alloys --- p.43 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Preparation of Fused Silica Tubes --- p.43 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Weighing and Alloying --- p.44 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Fluxing and Quenching --- p.45 / Chapter 2.2 --- Sample Preparation --- p.46 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- "Cutting, Grinding and Polishing" --- p.46 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Etching --- p.47 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Sample Preparation for Transmission Electron Microscopy Analysis --- p.48 / Chapter 2.3 --- Mechanical Tests --- p.49 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Microhardness Test --- p.49 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Compression Test --- p.50 / Chapter 2.4 --- Microstructural Analysis --- p.51 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Scanning Electron Microscopy Analysis --- p.51 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Transmission Electron Microscopy Analysis --- p.52 / Chapter 2.4.2.1 --- Indexing Diffraction Patterns --- p.52 / Chapter 2.4.2.2 --- Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis --- p.53 / Chapter 2.4.2.3 --- Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy --- p.53 / Figures --- p.55 / References --- p.62 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Dependence of the Mechanical Properties of FesoC2o Network Alloys on the Addition of Ni --- p.63 / Chapter 3.1 --- Abstract --- p.63 / Chapter 3.2 --- Introduction --- p.64 / Chapter 3.3 --- Experimental --- p.64 / Chapter 3.4 --- Results --- p.66 / Chapter 3.5 --- Discussions --- p.74 / Chapter 3.6 --- Conclusions --- p.79 / Tables --- p.80 / Figures --- p.82 / References --- p.100 / Bibliography --- p.101

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M. Tech. Mechanical Engineering / The increased use of composite materials in different industries has led to the realization of some of its benefits and disadvantages. One of the major problems, however, is the availability of biaxial test data for different composite materials. This is because structures during application face multi-axial stress states examples of such stress state scenarios include wind turbine blades and pressure vessels. This has also led to diverse range of test methods and material compositions such as combining different fibbers. The material used in this work is polymer matrix honeycomb sandwich panels. Sandwich panels are fabricated by attaching two thin stiff skins of fiber glass or carbon fiber reinforced laminates to a lightweight core. This work addresses some of the major advantages and disadvantages of this testing method. The main objective of this study is to develop a repeatable, cost effective and time efficient method for multi-axial testing of sandwich panels using existing resources.

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