Effects of dislocation emission from a mode I crack and of pinning distances on the behavior of the crack and on fracture toughness in aluminum were studied by using the Molecular Statics Technique with atomic interactions described in terms of the Embedded Atom Method. It was found that aluminum is a ductile material in which the cracks generate dislocations, blunting the cracks. The blunting and the dislocation shielding reduce the local stress intensity factor. Also, twinning, which has not been observed experimentally in Aluminum due to the high stacking fault, was obtained in the simulation. Probably, the low temperature facilitates twin formation. The applied stress intensity factor required to propagate the crack tip increases at first, and then becomes constant as the maximum distance that the first dislocation can travel away from the crack tip increases. These effects can be attributed to dislocation shielding and crack blunting. The maximum distance of the emitted dislocations from the crack tip is the equilibrium distance for the largest simulation performed (400,000 atoms) while for the smaller simulations the dislocations are hindered by the fixed boundary condition of the model. On the other hand, the total local stress intensity factor at the crack tip and the local stress intensity factor along the slip plane remain basically constant as the maximum distance of the emitted dislocations from the crack tip increases. For distances larger than , these local stress intensity factors start to increase slightly. / Master of Science

Im Rahmen der fünften Erweiterungswelle der EU um zwölf neue Mitgliedsstaaten setzte die EU-Kommission erstmals auf das Instrument der Verwaltungspartnerschaften. Das sogenannte Twinning umfasst Projekte, bei denen Behördenmitarbeiter aus Verwaltungen der EU-Mitgliedsstaaten in Partnerbehörden der Beitrittsländer entsandt werden, um diese bei der Umsetzung des EU-Rechtsbestandes zu beraten. Im Gegensatz zur bisherigen Forschungsliteratur, die sich vor allem auf die Europäisierung der Beitrittsländer konzentriert, geht die Autorin dieser Forschungsarbeit davon aus, dass Twinning-Projekte auch zur Europäisierung der beteiligten deutschen Verwaltungen beitragen. Mithilfe neo-institutionalistischer Ansätze entwickelt die Autorin die These, dass Twinning-Projekte den Handlungsspielraum der involvierten Akteure innerhalb der europäischen Dimension erheblich erweitern. Inwieweit diese Akteure die von der EU-Kommission im Rahmen des PHARE-Programms zur Verfügung gestellten materiellen und immateriellen Ressourcen tatsächlich genutzt haben, wurde für vier deutsche Bundesressorts (BMWi, BMU, BMI, BMG) vergleichend untersucht. Als Ergebnis kann festgehalten werden, dass Effekte vertikaler Europäisierung stark von der Unterstützung nationaler Entscheidungsträger abhängen. Effekte horizontaler Europäisierung in den deutschen Ministerialverwaltungen werden hingegen vom Engagement der einzelnen Akteure bestimmt. Hier entstehen neue Kontakte und Netzwerke, die auf Formen neuartigen Regierens in der EU hinweisen (European Governance). / In the course of the fifth European Union enlargement of twelve new member states, the EU Commission introduced the instrument of institutional partnerships. The so-called twinning comprises projects in which civil servants from EU member state administrations are delegated to partner administrations in accession countries to support the implementation of the acquis communitaire. Contrary to the existing research literature focusing on Europeanization of accession countries, the author of this research paper argues that Twinning projects also contribute to the Europeanization of the involved German administrations. Using the tools of neo-institutionalism, the author develops the central thesis that Twinning projects enlarge the scope of action within the European dimension of all actors involved. In how far material and immaterial resources provided by the EU Commission under PHARE programme have been used by these actors has been analysed by comparing four German federal ministries (Economy, Environment, Home Affairs, Health). As a matter of fact, effects of vertical Europeanization heavily depend on the support of national key decision makers. Effects of horizontal Europeanization in German ministries arise, however, from activities of individual actors. As a result, contacts and policy networks evolve and shed light on new forms of governance within the European Union (European Governance).

Les méthodes conçues pour être incorporées dans des polycristaux de modélisation multi-échelles sont présentées dans ce travail en deux tâches. Ce travail contient des méthodes à moyenne échelle pour capturer les effets des interactions de dislocations de glissement rencontrant des joints de grains maclage et la croissance simultanée de plusieurs fractions de volume de grains maclage sur le durcissement mécanique et l’évolution de la texture. Celles-ci sont mises en œuvre dans un cadre de plasticité cristalline utilisant le code visco-plastic-self consistent de Los Alamos, VPSC-7. Présentés ici, les effets de la croissance simultanée de multiples variantes maclage sur l’évolution de la texture sont suivis à l’aide d’un schéma de transfert de volume double de type Kalidindi. Dans la tâche 1, la mise en œuvre de ce schéma afin de simuler la texture des aciers à plasticité induite par maclage (TWIP) soumis au pressage angulaire à canal égal (ECAP) est résumée. Dans la tâche 2, les effets de durcissement de deux types d’interaction entre les dislocations de glissement et les joints de grain maclage rencontrés, à savoir la transmutation et la dissociation de dislocation, sont capturés au moyen de la modification du modèle de durcissement basé sur la densité de dislocation de [11]. Les interactions du premier type sont présentées dans une relation constitutive calculant la quantité de densité de dislocations attribuée à un système de glissement donné contenu dans la fraction de volume maclage rencontrée à partir de chaque système de glissement en interaction dans la fraction de volume mère. La quantité transmutée à partir de chaque système de glissement en interaction décrit à l’aide de la méthode de correspondance, sur la cartographie des systèmes de glisse- ment d’un grain parent à des systèmes de glissement dans des grains maclage considérés. Des interactions du second type sont ensuite introduites dans cette relation constitutive en tant que paramètre de dissociation, dont la valeur est établie par les observations tirées des résultats des simulations de dynamique moléculaire de [8] et [53]. Ces méthodes sont implantées pour simuler le comportement de durcissement anisotrope du magnésium HCP sous plusieurs chemins de charge / Methods designed for incorporation into multiscale modeling polycrystals are presented in this work in two tasks. This work contains mesoscale methods for capturing the effects of both the interactions of slip dislocations encountering twin grain boundaries and the simultaneous growth of multiple twin grain volume fractions on mechanical hardening and texture evolution. These are implemented in a crystal plasticity framework using the Los Alamos viscoplastic self-consistent code, VPSC-7. Presented here, the effects of simultaneous growth in multiple twin variants on textural evolution is tracked using a Kalidindi-type twin volume transfer scheme. In Task 1, the implementation of this scheme in order to simulate the texture of Twinning Induced Plasticity steels (TWIP) subjected to Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) are summarized. In Task 2, the hardening effects of two types of interactions between slip dislocations and encountered twin grain boundaries, namely dislocation transmutation and dissociation, are captured by way of modifying the dislocation density based hardening model of [11]. Interactions of the first type are presented in a constitutive relation calculating the amount of dislocation density apportioned to a given slip system contained within the encountered twin volume fraction from each interacting slip system in the parent volume fraction. The amount transmuted from each interacting slip system described using the Correspondence Method, an on to mapping of slip systems in a parent grain to slip systems in considered twin grains. Interactions of the second type are then introduced into this constitutive relation as a disassociation parameter, the value of which is established by observations gleaned from the results of the molecular dynamics simulations of [8] and [53]. These methods are implanted to simulate the anisotropic hardening behavior of HCP magnesium under multiple load paths

Hexagonal close packed (hcp) crystal structures, such as magnesium and titanium, provide formidable strength in relation to density. Current interests in reducing CO2 emissions, hold magnesium as a contender to lightweight passenger vehicles. Although significant decreases in mass could be achieved through magnesium, poor formability and energy absorption capacity limit the possibility for cost-effective production. This Master’s thesis aims to observe the microstructure and micro texture evolution induced by twinning using interrupted electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) characterization in order to determine potential mechanisms causing early failure of magnesium alloys. This study revealed {10-11} contraction twins at stress levels contrary to the basic hypothesis of the Schmid effect revealing the importance of non-Schmid effects in damage. Furthermore, it was observed that crack nucleation occurs in magnesium alloys, due mainly to interaction between twins and microstructure defects and form inside contraction twins, causing cleavage-like terraces in the fracture surface.

No description available.

Zirconium and its alloys are used extensively in the nuclear industry. In the Canadian Deuterium Uranium reactor, the primary containment in the primary coolant system is composed of Zr-2.5wt%Nb in the form of a pressure tube. The permissible chemical composition of Zr-2.5wt%Nb for use in the pressure tube in nuclear reactors is dictated by ASTMB353. Oxygen and iron are the highest content controlled elements in the standard alloy, after zirconium and niobium. Oxygen is an alpha-stabilizer, and diffuses preferentially to the alpha phase, leading to a well established increase in the yield strength of the alpha phase. Iron is a beta-stabilizer, and is concentrated in the beta phase, as well as near alpha-beta grain boundaries. While the mechanical properties of standard Zr-2.5wt%Nb alloy are well understood, there is a dearth of knowledge on the individual effect of these alloying additions, especially at non-standard concentrations. Additionally, the experimental evidence that does exist does not directly take into account the two-phase nature of the alloy, or the effect of impurities on specific deformation modes. Notably absent is experimental evidence on the effect of interstitial impurities on twinning in the hexagonal close-packed alpha phase. This work seeks to complement the present understanding of these phenomena. Mechanical tests have been performed on three specially prepared Zr-2.5wt%Nb alloys to clarify the contributions of oxygen and iron to Zr-2.5wt%Nb deformation properties. Traditional mechanical measurements were complemented by in situ and ex situ diffraction measurements. Tests were performed at a range of temperatures (77K - 673K) and strain rates (quasi-static to 10^-2/s). Increasing oxygen content from 1176wppm to 3300wppm increases the macroscopic yield stress at room temperature, and results in a transition in work hardening behaviour at low strain rates. Increasing iron content from 547wppm to 1080wppm has no effect on the macroscopic yield stress, but increases the work hardening rate at room temperature. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-10-11 20:06:57.655

Neutron diffraction is a widely used technique for measuring internal stresses inside polycrystalline materials. By examining the diffraction patterns collected during in situ uniaxial deformation, the lattice strains along various crystallographic directions can be calculated. These lattice strains give insight into the active deformation mechanisms active within the material during plastic deformation. This is most commonly done by fitting model results to the experimentally measured lattice strains through an iterative process of refining the model parameters. A numerical optimization technique was successfully applied to the problem of refining the input parameters of an elastoplastic self-consistent (EPSC) model. The results were found to be comparable to those obtained by a past researcher manually refining the model parameters and subjectively judging the fit to the experimental data. The numerical optimization method was able to reach an acceptable result much faster than is possible by a human being (days as opposed to weeks or months), meaning that it has the potential to reduce the turn-around time from data collection to interpretation/publication significantly. At the same time, common experimental techniques for conducting diffraction experiments during uniaxial deformation tests were examined. It is common to use an interrupted loading scheme where the sample is brought to a certain loading condition and then held steady while the neutron data is collected, a processes that often takes several minutes. This interrupted loading may be done such that the sample is held at constant stress, strain, or simply by having the load frame stay in a constant position. Each of these different loading modes results in a particular type of relaxation within the sample as it is being held, so a series of experiments were conducted to investigate any impact these different relaxation types may have on the measured values of the lattice strains. Overall it was found that both qualitative and quantitative differences in the recorded data can arise as a result of the different loading modes, and that such differences tend to manifest themselves at or near the point at which the material begins to yield macroscopically. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-03-05 19:37:19.995

Zircaloy-2 is used extensively in the nuclear industry as a structural material for the reactor core in both light and heavy water reactors. The intergranular strains and texture greatly affect the mechanical properties of the material while in operation. Understanding the plastic deformation of Zircaloy-2 will improve on current plastic deformation models, particularly for twinning mechanisms, which are more active at lower temperatures, and are not yet well understood. For this study, neutron diffraction was used to track the lattice spacing and peak intensity in warm-rolled and recrystallized Zircaloy-2 slab for various crystallographic orientations at 77 K. Tests were performed in all three principle directions under tension and compression. The texture was measured for the deformed samples to help interpret the dominant deformation systems and then Electron Back Scattering Diffraction was used to identify and image the active twinning modes. Prism <a> slip, basal <a> slip, {10-12} and {11-2 1} tensile twinning, and {11-2 2} compression twinning were found to be contributing deformation systems in Zircaloy-2 at 77K. In this study, the diffraction elastic constants for Zircaloy-2 at room temperature and 77K are reported for the first time in open literature. These values will be useful in future experimental work by allowing a conversion between lattice spacing and residual stress. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-24 13:41:25.371

This study examines the franchising relationships between an institution of higher education in Malaysia (the franchisor) and its overseas/offshore partner institutions (the franchisees) as the latter deliver academic programmes that carry the franchisor's ownership and name. / Thesis (DBusinessAdministration)--University of South Australia, 2008.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on July 15, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Materials Engineering, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.