Rivets are widely used as a means of fastening in airframe construction industry. There are various types of riveted joints on an aircraft fuselage or on a helicopter body. Among the other types of fasteners riveted joints are preferred in such applications due to / their permanence after installation and their economical advantages. In a riveted joint, it is known that residual stresses are present as a result of the installation process. Furthermore, during the flight of an aircraft, the fuselage is loaded in one cycle and such cycles are repeated throughout the service life. As a result, the panels and the rivets are subjected to fatigue type loading. The integrity of the joint must be maintained against this combination of service loads and the residual stresses. Hence, the riveting process parameters which influence the residual stresses are utmost critical in terms of fatigue life of the hole body. In this study it is aimed to obtain an accurate numerical model of a single-lap riveted joint which is widely used in airframes. 2-D axisymmetrical and 3-D numerical models are generated using commercial finite element code ABAQUS/CAE and subsequent parametric studies are carried out on these models. The Results of both models are compared with those found in the literature. Clearance between hole and rivet shank is selected as the primary parameter to be inspected. The effects of hole clearance on the final residual stress field are examined on 2-D and 3D models. Furthermore, a through the thickness, crack on the inner panel which is initiated after installation is modeled. The crack is perpendicular to the direction of loading. It is placed to the residual tensile stress zone that surrounds the rivet hole. Hence, the effects of residual stresses are also taken into account. For a riveted joint subjected to fatigue loading, such a macroscopic crack could eventually form. In this thesis, stress intensity factors (SIF&rsquo / s) for this crack are calculated for various parameters such as clearance and crack length. These can be utilized in a subsequent fatigue crack growth analysis as the initial values or they can be used in a fracture analysis, to predict unstable crack growth due to overload (i.e. crack linking).

In the course of thermal treatments, materials are usually subjected to continuous heating and cooling cycles during which microstructural evolution and mechanical interactions occur simultaneously at different length and time scales. Modeling of these processes necessitates dealing with inherent complexities such as large material property variations, complex couplings and boundary conditions, coupled heat and mass transfer mechanisms and phase transformations. In this study, a mathematical framework based on finite element method (FEM) capable of predicting temperature history, evolution of phases and internal stresses during heat treatment of metals and alloys was developed. The model was integrated into the commercial FEA software MSC.Marc&reg / by user subroutines. The accuracy of the model was verified by simulating the quenching of eccentrically drilled steel cylinders. Simulation results were justified via SEM observations and XRD residual stress measurements. According to the results, the model can effectively predict the trends in the distribution of microstructure and residual stresses with a remarkable accuracy.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the residual stress state in steel weldments by using Magnetic Barkhausen Noise (MBN) technique. For obtaining accurate, fast and continuous residual stress measurements a set up for single pass welded plates was designed and used. In order to convert the MBN values to residual stress values a calibration set up was also designed and a procedure for obtaining calibration curves was developed. After welding of low-C steel plates, residual stresses on heat affected zone (HAZ) and parent metal were measured by MBN technique. The results were verified by the hole drilling method. Microstructural investigation and hardness measurements were also conducted.

In this study, residual stresses introduced via application of shot peening on the raceways of bearing rings and their effect on the fatigue life was investigated experimentally. For improvement of residual compressive stress state, shot peening operation with different parameters was utilized. Residual stress measurements were conducted via X-ray diffraction technique. Optimization of residual stress state during the production of ball bearings is the main target of this study. Process parameters for shot peening and super-finishing were studied for determination of the parameters that induce the most favorable residual stress state. The fatigue life of ball bearings were determined by life cycle tests and tabulated to show the results of the study. The results of the thesis are believed to help for optimization of residual stress distribution and improvement of service life of ball bearings.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the effects of bulging and deep drawing processes on St4 cold rolled steel by simulation and experimental characterization. In the simulations, commercial software programs MSC Marc and Simufact.forming were used. The experimental studies cover metallographic investigations, hardness measurements, and residual stress measurements. Residual stress measurements were carried out by different non- destructive characterization methods / X-ray diffraction and Magnetic Barkhausen Noise. The experimental and simulation results were correlated with each other.

Silicon is used as a substrate for X-ray mirrors for correct imaging. The substrate needs to be mechanically bent to produce a certain curvature in order to condition and focus the X-ray beam. The X-rays impinge a mirror at very shallow angles, in order to reduce the amount of intensity loss in the diffraction process. The X-ray mirrors need to be bent to an extremely precise profile, and even small distortions from this profile can reduce the effectiveness of the X-ray mirrors. The X-rays that impinge on the mirror also produce large amounts of heat that can change the temperature of the substrate, resulting in its thermal expansion and distortion. By measuring the distortions in-situ caused by these temperature changes it may be possible to correct for these errors. A four-point bending fixture was designed for in-situ X-ray bending experiments in order to measure the distortions to the (100) silicon sample caused by the bending setup. By being able to measure the distortion caused by the setup, in like manner it would be possible to measure distortion caused by thermal expansion. Several alignments were needed in order to obtain accurate results, including adding copper powder on top of the sample. The copper powder that was added is not under stress, and therefore will not shift its reflection peak when the sample is under bending stress, thus serving as a reference in order to make corrections. The strain results were then compared to values calculated from mechanical deflections from bending. Despite the efforts to control accuracy, a significant variation appeared in the values when the top surface was in compression. As an alternative an IONIC stress-gauge was used to measure the deflections of the sample rather than calculate them. Another alternative was to calculate the deflection of the substrate by first determining the stress in the layer deposited onto the mirror's substrate by using sin²psi technique, then using Stoney's equation to determine the change in curvature of the substrate, with the stress in the layer being known. Several tests were performed to demonstrate the ability to measure these deflections.

This work was carried out to study the effect of shot-peening on the fatigue behaviour of carbon steels. Differently heat treated medium and high carbon steel specimens were selected. Medium carbon steels, AISI 1141 and AISI 1151, were respectively air cooled and quenched-tempered. A high carbon steel, C70S6 (AISI 1070), was air cooled. The other material was a powder metal (0.5% C) steel. Each group of steels was divided into two. One was shot-peened. The other half remained in their original conditions. All were fatigue tested under fully reversed (R=-1) tension-compression loading conditions. Microhardness tests were carried out on both the grip and gage sections of selected non shot-peened and shot-peened specimens to determine the hardness profile and effect of cycling. Shot-peening was found to be deeper on one side of each specimen. Compressive residual stress profiles and surface roughness measurements were provided. Shot-peening increased the surface roughness from 0.26±0.03µm to 3.60±0.44µm. Compressive residual stresses induced by shot-peening reached a maximum of -463.9MPa at a depth of 0.1mm.The fatigue limit (N≈106 cycles) and microhardness profiles of the non shot-peened and shot-peened specimens were compared to determine the material behaviour changes after shot-peening and cycling. Also their fatigue properties were related to the manufacturing process including heat and surface treatments. Comparing the grip and gage microhardness profiles of each steel showed that neither cyclic softening nor hardening occurred in the non shot-peened condition. Cyclic softening was apparent in the shot-peened regions of all steels except powder metal (PM) steel. The amount of softening in the shot-peened region was 55.0% on the left side and 73.0% on the right in the AISI 1141 steel , 46.0% on the left side and 55.0% on the right in the C70S6AC steel and 31.0% on the right side in AISI 1151QT steel. Softening was accompanied by a decrease in the depth of surface hardness. It is suggested that although the beneficial effects of shot peening, compressive residual stresses and work hardening, were offset by surface roughness, crack initiation was more likely to occur below the surface. Surface roughness was not a significant factor in controlling the fatigue lives of AISI 1141AC and C70S6 steels, since they were essentially the same for the non shot-peened and shot-peened conditions. Shot-peening had very little effect on the push-pull fatigue limit of C70S6 steel (-2.1%), and its effect on AISI 1141AC steel was relatively small (6.0%). However, the influence of shot-peening on the AISI 1151QT and PM steels was more apparent. The fatigue limit of the PM steel increased 14.0% whereas the fatigue limit of the AISI 1151QT steel decreased 11.0% on shot peening.

The surface-normal impact velocity distributions, impact frequencies and impact power per unit area were measured using a force sensor in a vibratory finisher for two types of spherical media. These parameters control the degree, rate and character of plastic deformation of a workpiece surface in vibratory finishing. The force sensor was also used to quantify the effect of media type, finisher amplitude, and location within the finisher on the probability distribution of the particle impact velocity normal to the workpiece. It was found that reducing the total media mass in the finisher and moving closer to the wall resulted in a more aggressive process. It was also found that contacts occured periodically within time periods that corresponded to the finisher’s driving frequency. The Almen system was adapted to a vibratory finishing process to characterize the effect of varying process parameters for the purposes of process development and control. Saturation curves for two types of aluminum Almen strips were obtained by finishing at two distinct conditions. Comparison with the normal contact forces and effective impact velocities, measured for both these conditions, provided insight into the mechanics of the vibratory finishing process. An electromagnetic apparatus was constructed to simulate the normal impacts in the vibratory finisher. It was found that surface-normal impacts at velocities comparable to the higher range in the vibratory finisher produced Almen saturation curves similar to those created in the vibratory finisher. This provided support for the modeling approximation of treating all contact events in a vibratory finisher as effective surface-normal impacts, and the accuracy of the effective impact velocity measurement. A model of the process by which Almen strips were plastically deformed by media impacts in vibratory finishing was presented. The motivation was to extend the use of Almen strip measurements as a means of characterizing vibratory finishing through an improved understanding of the process parameters that controlled time-dependent curvature development. Two thicknesses of Almen strip were tested for two finishing conditions. The quantitative agreement between the model saturation curves and the experimental curves was fair, although the overall trends were predicted very well.

The surface-normal impact velocity distributions, impact frequencies and impact power per unit area were measured using a force sensor in a vibratory finisher for two types of spherical media. These parameters control the degree, rate and character of plastic deformation of a workpiece surface in vibratory finishing. The force sensor was also used to quantify the effect of media type, finisher amplitude, and location within the finisher on the probability distribution of the particle impact velocity normal to the workpiece. It was found that reducing the total media mass in the finisher and moving closer to the wall resulted in a more aggressive process. It was also found that contacts occured periodically within time periods that corresponded to the finisher’s driving frequency. The Almen system was adapted to a vibratory finishing process to characterize the effect of varying process parameters for the purposes of process development and control. Saturation curves for two types of aluminum Almen strips were obtained by finishing at two distinct conditions. Comparison with the normal contact forces and effective impact velocities, measured for both these conditions, provided insight into the mechanics of the vibratory finishing process. An electromagnetic apparatus was constructed to simulate the normal impacts in the vibratory finisher. It was found that surface-normal impacts at velocities comparable to the higher range in the vibratory finisher produced Almen saturation curves similar to those created in the vibratory finisher. This provided support for the modeling approximation of treating all contact events in a vibratory finisher as effective surface-normal impacts, and the accuracy of the effective impact velocity measurement. A model of the process by which Almen strips were plastically deformed by media impacts in vibratory finishing was presented. The motivation was to extend the use of Almen strip measurements as a means of characterizing vibratory finishing through an improved understanding of the process parameters that controlled time-dependent curvature development. Two thicknesses of Almen strip were tested for two finishing conditions. The quantitative agreement between the model saturation curves and the experimental curves was fair, although the overall trends were predicted very well.

A Barkhausen noise (BN) testing system was developed for the non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of residual stresses in CANDU reactor feeder pipes. The system consists of a four-channel arbitrary waveform flux control system (FCS), and the spring-loaded tetrapole prototype (SL4P) BN probe. The combination of the FCS and SL4P was shown to provide repeatable BN measurements on feeder pipe samples, with variations in air gaps between the SL4P poles and the sample from 0.43 mm to 1.29 mm, and typical pickup coil coupling uncertainties for the total BN energy from ±2% to ±7%. Precision for elastic strain estimation in feeder pipes was found to be between ±7 MPa and ±9 MPa in tension, depending on the excitation field configuration, and negligible in compression. Modelling of the BN penetration depth as a function of the excitation field was used to estimate the BN penetration depth between 5 μm at 300 kHz to a maximum of 500 μm at 3 kHz. The modelling, engineering, and procedures developed for this BN testing system provide an improved basis for the future advancement of BN testing, and ferromagnetic NDE in general. / Thesis (Ph.D, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2009-07-22 15:34:28.967