The main purpose of the thesis work is based on achieving same mechanical properties on the three different sized bearing housings. The key mechanical property that had to be focused on was the hardness of the parts. In order to achieve this goal, chemical compositions of the parts have studied. However there were some limitations on the composition variants. Allowed variables of the compositions are silicon, nickel and copper. Due to necessity another element, Molybdenum (Mo), was also introduced. After many simulations three different compositions are proposed. Then the feasibility of results of casting simulation software investigated. And finally an optimization guideline has proposed. Chemical composition researches have carried on casting simulation software, which is called Magma5. Following the completion of the simulations phase, proposed compositions trial casted at the company. Subsequent to trial castings cast parts had tested for their hardness values. In order to bring the thesis to completion simulation outputs and trial test results had compared. With the help of a casting simulation software composition optimisation of different sized parts could be easily optimised in order to achieve same results. Many simulations are executed with different composition for the silicon, nickel, copper and molybdenum variants. It was seen that Mo additions significantly increase the mechanical properties of the parts. Nickel and copperacts similarly on the hardness values, however nickel addition reduce undercooling tendency at a greater rate. Good inoculation is vital for the parts with thin sections. Decent inoculation helps to improve the microstructure and helps to get closer results tothe simulated values. However software represents key information aboutundercooled zones on the part. Software ensures 95% to 97% correct values on hardness results.

Fibre-to-board is a simulation model developed at Stora Enso Research Centre Karlstad. Within this model isotropic hand sheet properties are used as input data for prediction of the final multi ply board properties. In order to improve and verify the calculations from simulations in Fibre-to-board so that these will correspond better with the results from the measurements on the paper/board machine, it was requested at RCK to investigate the possibility to optimize the input data to the model. Standardized hand sheet forming always results in sheets with properties far away from those produced on a machine. Therefore the aim with this Master thesis was to modify the laboratory procedure to receive hand sheets with properties closer to machine sheets. To achieve this, it was investigated how different parameters affect the sheet properties and if the hand sheet making process could be improved. When freely dried sheets were investigated it was found that sheets pressed with a wire clothing between the blotting paper and the hand sheet were less cockled than sheets pressed against only blotting papers. These sheets also tend to have a higher density. The cockling i.e. as a result from shrinkage was also reduced when the sheets were dried between slightly weighted wire clothing. Neither wire clothing nor orientated blotting papers during pressing eliminate the influence of anisotropic blotters on the shrinkage for isotropic hand sheets. It was also examined how the fine material influences sheet properties. The results showed that an increase in fines content result in higher shrinkage, higher density, increased TSI, more cockling and decreased air permeability. Different pressing loads and an increased density did not have much influence on the shrinkage. The density for freely dried sheets increased with higher load, but the results did not reach machine sheet densities, when the laboratory platen press was used. It might be difficult to receive freely dried hand sheets with higher densities. This is because fibres in freely dried sheets tend to relax after pressing, which will influence the density. Another press than the platen press used in these studies might compensate this matter. An increased pressing load resulted in less cockled sheets. The basis weight did not seem to have that large affect on the shrinkage when using machine chest furnish, therefore the basis weight on hand sheets used as input data to the simulation model Fibre-to-board might not be that important. It was studied how different plies and SW/CTMP pulp in a mixture affect the shrinkage. The results showed that the shrinkage increased with a higher SW content. It was also found that there is a linear relation between the total shrinkage of a SW/CTMP pulp mixture and the shrinkage for each individual pulp. In order to verify the Fibre-to-board model a simulation finally was performed. Furnishes and CD profiles of board were collected from a particular board machine within the Stora Enso Group. Properties from hand sheets made of furnishes were used as input data and the machine CD profiles were used as references. The CD TSI value corresponded with the value received from measurements on the machine board, but the MD TSI value did not. The shrinkage calculated on machine sheets did not coincide with the shrinkage from the simulation in Fibre-to-board. There are insecurities in the results from shrinkage measurement on the board CD profile due to the lack of width measurement during the process, which complicates the validation of the Fibre-to-board model. / Fibre to board är en simulerings modell framtagen vid Stora Enso Research Centre Karlstad. Modellen används för att prediktera krympning och styrkeegenskaper hos en bestämd kartongbana. Indata till modellen hämtas ifrån isotropa laboratorieark. För att förbättra och verifiera erhållna resultat från simuleringsmodellen så att de korresponderar bättre med värden från kartongmaskinen fanns det ett önskemål från RCK om att undersöka möjligheten att optimera indata till modellen. Laboratoriearktillverkning enligt standard resulterar alltid i ark med egenskaper som ligger långt från maskin arkens. Därför är syftet med detta examensarbete att modifiera arktillverkningsmetoden så att laboratorieark med egenskaper närmare de för maskinark kan erhållas. För att lyckas med detta undersöktes det hur olika parametrar påverkar pappersegenskaperna och om tillverkningsmetoden kunde förbättras. Vid undersökning av fritorkade ark upptäcktes att ark som pressats med viraduk mellan läskark och laboratorieark blev mindre buckliga än ark som pressats med enbart läskark. Dessa ark hade också en något högre densitet. Buckligheten som är en följd av krympningen reducerades också när arken torkades mellan viraduk under lätt belastning. Läskarkens inverkan på de isotropa arken kunde inte elimineras genom att använda viraduk vid pressning, inte heller genom att växla läskarken så att deras MD riktning orienterades olika. Även finmaterialets inverkan på pappersegenskaperna undersöktes. Resultaten visade att ett ökat finmaterial innehåll ger ökad krympning, högre densitet, ökat dragstyvhetsindex, buckligare ark och en minskad luft permeabilitet. Det visade sig att olika presstryck ger arken en högre densitet men krympningen påverkades inte märkbart. Densitet i samma nivå som på maskinark kunde däremot inte erhållas med laboratorieplanpress. Detta kan bero på att fibrerna i fritorkade ark relaxerar efter pressning, vilket ger en lägre densitet. För att kunna få högre densitet kanske en annan press än den planpress som användes i dessa studier kan införas. Det kunde även konstateras att ett ökat presstryck ger mindre buckliga ark. I dessa studier, där ark tillverkades av färdiga skiktblandningar från maskinkar, hade inte ytvikten på arken någon större inverkan på krympningen. Detta tyder på att ytvikten på arken som används som indata inte har så stor inverkan vid simulering i modellen Fibre-to-board. Det undersöktes även hur skikten i ett två-skikts ark och en blandning av LF/CTMP massa påverkar krympningen. Resultaten visade att krympningen ökar med en högre andel LF och att det finns ett linjärt samband mellan den totala krympningen för en blandning av LF/CTMP massa och krympningen för de enskilda massorna. För att kunna verifiera beräkningsmodellen Fibre-to-board utfördes slutligen en simulering. Skiktblandningar och tvärsprofiler från kartong togs ut från en specifik pappers maskin inom Stora Enso koncernen. Egenskaperna på laboratorieark gjorda av skiktblandningarna användes som indata till simuleringsprogrammet och kartongprofilerna från pappersmaskinen användes som referens. Dragstyvhetsindex i CD stämde bra överens med de mätningar som gjordes på maskinarken, men dragstyvhetsindex i MD skiljde sig. Krympningen som beräknades på maskinarken överensstämde inte med det simulerade resultatet. Det förekommer en osäkerhet i krympmätningarna som gjordes på kartong profilerna, då det idag inte förekommer någon mätutrustning på pappersmaskinen, som bestämmer bredden mellan press- och torkpartiet. Detta komplicerar valideringen av Fibre-to-board modellen.

Preparation of thermoplastics composites using engineering thermoplastics and plant fibers or fillers is a technical challenge because the processing temperature of the thermoplastics is generally above the temperature of degradation of plant fibers of fillers. There have been numerous attempts for processing high melting point engineering thermoplastics like Nylon-6 with plant natural fibers and fillers. Low temperature processing methods, fiber modification or addition of additives which drops polymer melting point are some of proposed solutions for this problem. The objective of this thesis was to develop a formulation using wheat straw (WS) as a reinforcing fiber for Nylon-6. The concentration of WS was 15 wt-%. The thermoplastic composites were prepared by mixing grinded wheat straw and Nylon-6 using a laboratory scale twin-screw extruder; follow by preparation of samples using injection moulding. The strategy investigated in this thesis was utilization of additives to lower the melting point or to decrease the viscosity of Nylon-6. Lithium chloride salt (LiCl) and N-Butyl benzene Sulfon amide plasticizer (N-BBSA) were used as process additives to decrease melting point and to reduce the processing temperature and time. The addition of the wheat straw (15 wt-%) to the Nylon-6 increased modulus by 26.9 % but decreased the strength by 9.9 %. Effect of different level of these two additives on mechanical, thermal, physical properties and processability of the composite runs were studied. Addition of 4 wt-% LiCl was found to decrease the melting point from 222 °C to 191 °C, to increase modulus by 14 % in comparison to Nylon-6/wheat straw (15 wt-%). However, it decreased the processability and strength by 12.7 %. Plasticizer was investigated to easing processability and decreasing the degradation by reducing the residence time in the extruder, it does not affect the melting point of Nylon-6. The addition of 4 wt-% of plasticizer (N-BBSA) increased modulus and strength only by 2.6 % and 3 %, respectively, in comparison to Nylon-6/wheat straw (15 wt-%) composites. The results of mechanical properties were used as a benchmark for comparisons among samples with different formulations (levels of additives) to find out levels of LiCl and N-BBSA for the best mechanical properties. It was found that samples with 2 wt-% LiCl and 2 wt-% of N-BBSA had 29.3 % higher tensile modulus than neat Nylon-6, while its strength was almost same as neat Nylon-6 and 6.3 % higher than Nylon-6/WS (15 wt-%). These results were used to correlate the mechanical properties as a function of percentage of salt and plasticizer in the formulation. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to evaluate the percentage of crystallinity and the melting point of the thermoplastic phase and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to measure the thermal stability of different formulation. The kinetics of crystallization and degradation were evaluated using results from DSC and TGA, respectively. The activation energy for thermal degradation and the percentage of crystallinity of the thermoplastic composites were correlated to mechanical properties using linear regression. It was found that fiber degradation had a significant effect on strength but the effects of percentage of crystallinity on composites strength were insignificant. On the other hand, the percentage of crystallinity affects stiffness and impact strength. The ductility was a function of both crystallinity and thermal stability.

In diesem Beitrag werden ein Berechnungsverfahren und ein Bemessungskonzept für biegebeanspruchte textilbetonverstärkte Stahlbetonbauteile vorgestellt. Ihre Anwendbarkeit wird durch die Auswertung von Versuchen an verstärkten Stahlbetonplatten mit einer Reihe veränderlicher Ausgangswerte überprüft. Als Ergebnis dieser Arbeit stehen dem Anwender einfach nutzbare, praxisgerechte Bemessungstabellen zur Verfügung. In dieser Version weisen die Grafiken eine bessere Qualität auf. / This article introduces a calculation method and a design concept for reinforced concrete elements strengthened with textile concrete. Its applicability is verified by an analysis of tests with strengthened steel reinforced concrete slabs with a certain variety of design parameters. Results of this work are easy manageable, praxis-orientated design tables that are available for users. This version contains figures with a better quality.

This work investigates the effects of post-fabrication applied mechanical tensile strain on Silicon (Si) Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) and Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT) devices. Applied strain effects on MOSFET transistors are being heavily explored, both in academia and industry, as a possible alternative to dimensional scaling. This thesis focuses on how strain affects Si BJT and SiGe HBTs, where tensile strain is applied after the Integrated Circuit (IC) fabrication has been completed, using a unique mechanical method. The consequence of both biaxial and uniaxial strain application has been examined in this work. Chapter I gives a short introduction to the scope of this work, the motivation for conducting this research and the contributions of this experiment. Chapter II entails a brief discussion on Si bipolar and SiGe heterojunction bipolar device physics, which are key to the understanding of strain induced effects. Chapter III provides a thorough summary of the current state of research regarding applied strain, also known as Strain Engineering. It covers different types, orientations, and application techniques of strain. Chapter IV, highlights the details of this experiment, and also presents the measured results. It is observed that for this particular method of biaxial tensile strain application, the collector current (IC) and current gain degrades for both Si BJT and SiGe HBT. Base current (IB) decreases in Si BJT, though it increases for SiGe HBT after strain. Little or no change is noticed in the dynamic or ac small-signal characteristics like unity-gain cutoff frequency (fT) and base resistance (rBB) after strain. Uniaxially strained SiGe HBT samples showed similar results as the biaxial strain. This chapter also attempts to explain the origin of these strain induced changes. Chapter V, summarizes the finding of this experiment, and concludes the thesis with some future directions for this research.

Materials derived from chicken feathers could be used advantageously in composite building material applications. Such applications could potentially consume the five billion pounds of feathers produced annually as a by-product of the U.S. poultry industry. To aid the development of successful applications for chicken feather materials (CFM), the physical and mechanical properties of processed CFM have been characterized in this research. Results describing the moisture content, aspect ratio, apparent specific gravity, chemical durability, Youngs modulus, and tensile strength for processed CFM and specifically their fiber and quill components are presented herein. Processed chicken feather fiber and quill samples were found to have similar moisture contents in the range of 16 - 20%. The aspect ratio (i.e., length/diameter) of samples were found to be in the range of 30 - 50, and the fiber material was found to have a larger aspect ratio than the quill material. A comparison with values in the literature suggests that different processing regimes produce CFM with higher aspect ratios. Samples were found to have apparent specific gravities in the range of 0.7 - 1.2, with the fiber material having a higher apparent specific gravity than the quill material. A comparison with values in the literature suggests that apparent specific gravity results vary with fiber length and approach the value for keratin as fiber length decreases and internal voids become increasingly accessible. Chemical durability results showed that CFM rapidly degrade in highly alkaline (pH=12.4) environments and are, thus, likely incompatible with cement-based materials without special treatment. The Youngs modulus of processed chicken feather materials was found to be in the range of 3 - greater than 50 GPa and, thus, comparable to the Youngs moduli of other natural fibers. The tensile strength of oven-dried samples was found to be in the range of 10 - greater than 70 MPa. In agreement with results in the literature, the fiber material was found to have a greater tensile strength than the quill material. Finally, a simplified approach for comparing the effective Youngs moduli and effective tensile strengths of various processed CFM samples was introduced.

Disease and degeneration of articular cartilage and fibrocartilage tissues severely compromise the quality of life for millions of people. Although current surgical repair techniques can address symptoms in the short term, they do not adequately treat degenerative joint diseases such as osteoarthritis. Thus, novel tissue engineering strategies may be necessary to combat disease progression and repair or replace damaged tissue. Both articular cartilage and the meniscal fibrocartilage in the knee joint are subjected to a complex mechanical environment consisting of compressive, shear, and tensile forces. Therefore, engineered replacement tissues must be both mechanically and biologically competent to function after implantation. The goal of this work was to investigate the effects of oscillatory tensile loading on three dimensional engineered cartilaginous tissues in an effort to elucidate important aspects of chondrocyte and fibrochondrocyte mechanobiology. To investigate the metabolic responses of articular chondrocytes and meniscal fibrochondrocytes to oscillatory tensile loading, various protocols were used to identify stimulatory parameters. Several days of continuously applied tensile loading inhibited extracellular matrix metabolism, whereas short durations and intermittently applied loading could stimulate matrix production. Subpopulations of chondrocytes, separated based on their zonal origin within the tissue, differentially responded to tensile loading. Proteoglycan synthesis was enhanced in superficial zone cells, but the molecular structure of these molecules was not affected. In contrast, neither total proteoglycan nor protein synthesis levels of middle and deep zone chondrocytes were substantially affected by tensile loading; however, the sizes of these new matrix molecules were altered. Up to 14 days of intermittently applied oscillatory tensile loading induced modest increases in construct mechanical properties, but longer durations adversely affected these mechanical properties and increased degradative enzyme activity. These results provide insights into cartilage and fibrocartilage mechanobiology by elucidating cellular responses to tensile mechanical stimulation, which previously had not been widely explored for these tissues. Understanding the role that mechanical stimuli such as tension can play in the generation of engineered cartilaginous tissues will further the goal of developing successful treatment strategies for degenerative joint diseases.

This study presents near-field electrospinning (NFES) on flat and hollow cylindrical process to fabricate permanent piezoelectricity of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/ multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) piezoelectric nanofibers. Then the mechanical properties of fibers were measured. PVDF is a potential piezoelectric polymer material combining desirable mechanical, thermal, electrical properties with excellent chemical resistance. The existing researches mostly focused on piezoelectric thin film process. However, the research of characteristic about piezoelectric fiber is little. The methods of measurement of the mechanical properties (Young¡¦s modulus, hardness, and tensile strength¡Belongation) of the electrospun PVDF/MWCN composite nanofiber were carried out by using nano-indention test (MTS Nanoindenter Windows XP System) and tensile test (Microforce Testing System). By setting electric field (1¡Ñ107 V/m), rotating velocity (900 rpm) of the hollow cylindrical glass tube on a motion X-Y stage (2 mm/sec) and PVDF solution concentration (16 wt%), and MWCNT (0.03 wt%), in-situ electric poling, mechanical stretching and morphology of PVDF nanofiber were demonstrated. After the experiments of nano-indention test and tensile strength test, it is suggested that the good mechanical properties in NFES on cylindrical process. The results show that the mechanical properties of composite nanofiber are better than the conventional NFES process. The Young¡¦s modulus of 16% PVDF fiber prepared by cylindrical process is 0.89 GPa and hardness is 26.5 MPa. The mechanical properties were increased 56.2% and 49.4% after adding 0.03% of MWCNT, corresponding to 1.39 GPa and 39.6 MPa. The tensile strength was increased 32.7% and elongation at breaking point was increased 35% after adding 0.03% MWCNT.

Faserverbundwerkstoffe werden häufiger für Leichbauanwendungen eingesetzt. Thermoplastische Matrixmaterialien gewinnen in der letzten Zeit immer mehr an Bedeutung wegen höherer Produktivität, niedriger Kosten und besserer Umweltfreundlichkeit sowie Recyclingsfähigkeit. Im Rahmen des Projektes SFB 639 werden Spacer-Strukturen aus GF (Glas)- und PP (Polypropylen)-Filamenten verstärkten Textilien hergestellt. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Montage von textilen Preformen mittels Nähtechnik und den mechanischen Eigenschaften genähter thermoplastischer Faserverbundwerkstoffe. Das Ziel ist, durch Untersuchungen der Festigkeitseigenschaften von genähten thermoplastischen Faserverbundwerkstoffen die Möglichkeiten gezielter Verbesserung der mechanischen Eigenschaften herauszufinden. Als Versuchsmaterial werden Twintex®-Gewebe und Mehrlagengestrick (hergestellt im ITB) aus GF- und PP-Filamenten verwendet. Durch Zug-, Schub-, Biege- und interlaminare Scherfestigkeitsuntersuchungen ist festzustellen, dass das Nähen an mehrschichtigen thermoplastischen faserverstärkten Verbundwerkstoffe positiv wirken kann. Durch Verwenden thermoplastischer Nähfäden wie beispielsweise Polyester-Nähfäden kann die Zugfestigkeit des Verbundes sogar erhöht werden. Ohne Verminderung der Zugfestigkeit kann das Nähen die Schlagzähigkeit thermoplastischer Faserverbundwerkstoffe wesentlich erhöhen. Bei der Schlagbelastung erzeugen die Nähte neue Arten des Bruchs, so dass mehr Energie aufgenommen wird. Durch das Nähen lässt sich die Schlagzähigkeit besonders bei Faserverbundwerkstoffen mit thermoplastischer Matrix bei niedrigen Temperaturen erhöhen. Die Zugfestigkeitsuntersuchungen von genähten überlappenden Faserverbunden zeigen, dass das Nähen die Zugfestigkeit überlappender Bauteile leicht erhöhen kann. Die Erfahrungen mit der Wirkung von Überlappungen der Verstärkungstextilien in Faserverbundbauteilen mit duromerer Matrix sind nicht auf thermoplastische Matrices zu übertragen. Der Konsolidierungsprozess mit thermoplastischer Matrix mittels Presstechnologie erzwingt eine konstante Wandstärke, so dass lokal im Überlappungsbereich ein erhöhter Faservolumenanteil theoretisch zu erwarten und praktisch nachgewiesen ist. Zur Vorbereitung der Montage von Faserverbundbauteilen kann das Einbringen von Löchern zur Aufnahme von Bolzen oder Schrauben erforderlich sein. Ein Konzept für ein maschinelles Verfahren zur Lochverstärkung wird in dieser Arbeit vorgeschlagen. Der Konstrukteur von Faserverbundbauteilen muss außerdem berücksichtigen, dass ein Gewinn an Schlagzähigkeit mit Verlusten bei den In-Plane-Eigenschaften verbunden ist. Durch eine optimale Wahl der Nahtparameter lassen sich gewünschte Eigenschaften des Faserverbundwerkstoffes einstellen. Trotz vielfältiger, auch berechtigter Kritik besitzt das Nähen als Montageverfahren für Preformen eine Perspektive, wenn die Nähte zielführend positioniert und schonende Nähprozessbedingungen gewährleistet werden.

<p>Thermal barrier coatings (TBC) are used for reduction of component temperatures in gas turbines. The service temperature for turbines can be as high as 1100ºC and the components are exposed to thermal cycling and gases that will cause the component to oxidize and corrode. The coatings are designed to protect the substrate material from this, but eventually it will lead to failure of the TBC. It is important to have knowledge about when this failure is expected, since it is detrimental for the gas turbine.</p><p>The scope of this thesis has been to see if an existing life model for thin TBC also is valid for thick TBC. In order to do so, a thermal cycling fatigue test, a tensile test and finite element calculation have been performed. The thermal cycling fatigue test and finite element calculation were done to find correlations between the damage due to thermal cycling, the number of thermal cycles and the energy release rate. The tensile test was preformed to find the amount accumulated strain until damage.</p><p>The thermal cycling lead to failure of the TBC at the bond coat/top coat interface. The measurment of damage, porosity and thickness of thermally grown oxide were unsatisfying due to problems with the specimen preparation. However, a tendency for the damage development were seen. The finite element calculations gave values for the energy release rate the stress intensity factors in mode~I and mode~II that can be used in the life model. The tensile test showed that the failure mechanism is dependent of the coating thickness and it gave a rough value of the maximum strain acceptable.</p>