abstract: Woven fabric composite materials are widely used in the construction of aircraft engine fan containment systems, mostly due to their high strength to weight ratios and ease of implementation. The development of a predictive model for fan blade containment would provide great benefit to engine manufactures in shortened development cycle time, less risk in certification and fewer dollars lost to redesign/recertification cycles. A mechanistic user-defined material model subroutine has been developed at Arizona State University (ASU) that captures the behavioral response of these fabrics, namely Kevlar® 49, under ballistic loading. Previously developed finite element models used to validate the consistency of this material model neglected the effects of the physical constraints imposed on the test setup during ballistic testing performed at NASA Glenn Research Center (NASA GRC). Part of this research was to explore the effects of these boundary conditions on the results of the numerical simulations. These effects were found to be negligible in most instances. Other material models for woven fabrics are available in the LS-DYNA finite element code. One of these models, MAT234: MAT_VISCOELASTIC_LOOSE_FABRIC (Ivanov & Tabiei, 2004) was studied and implemented in the finite element simulations of ballistic testing associated with the FAA ASU research. The results from these models are compared to results obtained from the ASU UMAT as part of this research. The results indicate an underestimation in the energy absorption characteristics of the Kevlar 49 fabric containment systems. More investigation needs to be performed in the implementation of MAT234 for Kevlar 49 fabric. Static penetrator testing of Kevlar® 49 fabric was performed at ASU in conjunction with this research. These experiments are designed to mimic the type of loading experienced during fan blade out events. The resulting experimental strains were measured using a non-contact optical strain measurement system (ARAMIS). / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2012

Shear thickening fluids have the potential to improve the effectiveness of fabric materials in body armor applications as they have shown to increase the puncture and ballistic resistance of Kevlar fabrics. However, the effect of using STFs with natural fabrics such as flax has never been studied. The rheology of STFs at varying concentrations of nanosilica dispersed in polyethylene glycol PEG was studied at different temperatures and it was found that the STFs behave as a non-Newtonian fluid in response to changes in shear rate. In this study the effectiveness on the puncture and ballistic resistance of impregnating flax fabric with STF of nanosilica in PEG were investigated. The effect of hybridization of flax and Kevlar was also investigated. The puncture and ballistic resistance of the samples treated with STFs was found to increase significantly and can be controlled by STF concentration.

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Concevoir des moyens de mobilité plus sûrs et plus légers est un défi majeur des constructeurs automobiles. Dans ce contexte, l'intégration des matériaux dans le pneumatique a elle aussi été soumise à de nouvelles exigences : concilier performances et économie d'énergie. Les renforts traditionnels à forte densité comme les tréfilés d'acier sont peu à peu et en partie remplacés par des matériaux polymères hautes-performances plus légers tel que le para-aramide. Le Kevlar® est le nom industriel du composé polyamide aromatique : poly(paraphénylène téréphtalamide), intégré à l'architecture du pneumatique sous forme d'un fil torsadé. La structure rigide et fortement orientée de l'aramide confère à ce polymère de hautes performances mécaniques, telles qu'un module élevé dans la direction longitudinale, de l'ordre de 85GPa, et une grande résistance mécanique de plus de 2.8GPa. Les hautes performances de cette fibre de 15 micromètres de diamètre sont dues à son organisation multi-échelles isotrope transverse avec des liaisons covalentes dans la direction longitudinale et des liaisons de plus faibles énergies dans la direction radiale. L'objectif de cette étude est de comprendre, à l'échelle de la fibre unitaire, les corrélations entre l'architecture microstructurale et la réponse mécanique dans les directions longitudinale et transverse. Une approche expérimentale multi-échelle a été adoptée (Extensometrie Raman, DRX, MEB, caractérisation mécanique sur fibre unitaire), couplée à l'outil numérique afin d'apporter des nouveaux éclairages sur les micro-mécanismes de dissipation. Ce travail a mené à une identification expérimentale du comportement mécanique anisotrope ainsi qu'à établir une limite de plasticité transverse. De plus, grâce à l'approche numérique, une architecture cœur/peau a été mise en avant en modélisant le comportement par une loi viscoélasto-viscoplastique anisotrope. Enfin, des éléments sur le couplage thermo-mécanique sont apportés en vue de mieux comprendre le cycle de vie de la fibre au sein du pneumatique. / Designing safer and lighter vehicles is a major challenge for manufacturers. Nowadays, a vehicle needs to be eco-friendly and conciliate efficiency and energy-saving. Considering these requirements, tire materials are subject to change: high performance polymers are a good replacement, in terms of weight and dissipation, for traditional reinforcements such as drawn steel. For instance, aramid strands (1000 fibres) are used because the single fibre exhibits good mechanical properties such as its high modulus (85 GPa) conferred by its anisotropy or its high temperature resistance. The mechanical performance of a Kevlar® fibre is due to its different scale organisation : the primary (molecular chains held by covalent bonds), the secondary (pleated sheets held by interactions) and the tertiary structure (sheets stacked together). Because of the cooling thermodynamics during the fabrication process, the 15 microns diameter fibre seems to have a skin/core structure with punctual more or less critical defects. To go further in the understanding of the complex structure, the contribution of the skin/core structure in the mechanical performance in the longitudinal and the transverse directions is investigated through a multi-disciplinary approach made of a numerical and an experimental study. During its use, an aramid single fibre undergoes cyclic multiaxial loading and harmful thermal treatments, at the origin of structural and mechanical properties modifications but also dissipative behaviour evolution, still misunderstood. To deal with these change in depth, an experimental and numerical multi-scale characterisation is used. Mechanical and thermal treatments are realised and their impact on the microstructure, on the deformation micromechanisms and on the mechanical properties including the dissipative behaviour are investigated. Limiting use values in terms of temperature, longitudinal and transverse stresses are highlighted in this work in order to understand modifications enhanced by the fibre life cycle.

This master’s thesis deals with ultra lightweight structural design concept of a lunar habitat. The beginning of the thesis is focused on basic properties of the Moon and different concept designs of lunar habitats and bases. Afterwards the main concept is introduced with defined loads followed by application of loads on the construction and design of main parts of the construction, especially design of an inflatable beam. Thesis is ended by manufacturing technology of an inflatable beam and design concept of main structural nodes.

High strength, light weight and flexibility have made fabrics the preferred material for personal body armor and other impact protection applications such as passenger airbags, turbine blade containment systems, military and motorcycle helmets, and space debris shields. Recently, a shear thickening fluid has been used to treat a Kevlar fabric for an additional enhancement to the ballistic resistance of the neat fabric. Motivated by this technique of dissipation augmentation to high strength fabrics, this research aims at investigating the incorporation of other energy-dissipative materials into high strength fabrics. Specifically, two magnetic field-responsive materials (a magnetorheological fluid and Terfenol-D) have been used as a dissipation augmentation of Kevlar fabrics. No previous work has reported either experimental or computational research on the impact dynamics of Kevlar fabric treated with magnetorheological fluids or magnetostrictive solids. This research has investigated both computational modeling and experimental evaluation of the impact dynamics of textile composite armor, treated with magnetic field-responsive materials. Fragment simulating projectile impact tests have been conducted for the fabricated composite targets under an applied magnetic field. A computational model based on a hybrid particle-element method has been developed, to simulate the impact dynamics of composite fabric targets embodying magnetorheological fluids. This model is a mesoscale multiphysics model which can simulate impact dynamics including complex magneto-thermo-mechanical coupling effects as well as interactions among a projectile, fabric yarns, and magnetorheological fluid particles. Computer simulations have been performed to validate the hybrid particle-element method against experimental results. The computational method developed in this research has shown good agreement with the experimental data, in terms of the ballistic limit and residual velocity of a striking projectile. As fabric impact protection systems become more complex, and more expensive materials are introduced, computation may play a more important role in design. Therefore, the hybrid particle-element model in this dissertation may contribute to the improvement of the computational capability for virtual prototyping of fabric-interstitial fluid composites. / text

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: I denna rapport har det gjorts en undersökning om vilket som är det mest lämpliga materialet/ materialen för en handske till formel 1 bilförare. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer och informationsundersökning har en kravspecifikation sammanställts med de viktigaste kraven, som förare och regelverket ställer. Reglerna är angivna i standarder till handskar för formel 1 bilförare. ! En rad olika tester har gjorts och genom det har frågeformuleringarna besvarats. De material som testades var Nomex®, Kevlar®, Trevira CS® och Nomex® III. För att sammanställa alla resultat av testerna har det värderats i två typer av matriser. Den första matrisen som gjordes var en Concept Screening Matrix, där de alternativa materialen fick värden utifrån hur väl de klarade de tre standarder som fanns. På de material som klarade denna matris gjordes sedan en mer detaljerad undersökning, där fanns även förarnas önskemål med som krav på materialen. Dessa tester sammanställdes med olika värden i en Concept Scoring Matrix, resultatet av denna tabell sammanfattar vilket/vilka material som blev svaret på frågeformuleringarna. Det material som efter testerna visade sig vara det mest lämpliga materialet för handskar till formel 1 bilförare var Nomex® och strax efter kom Nomex® III. / Program: Textil produktutveckling och entreprenörskap

Current body armor technologies need further improvements in their design to help reduce combat injuries of military and law enforcement personnel. Kevlar-based body armor systems have good ballistic resistance up to a certain ballistic threat level due to limitations such as decreased mobility and increased weight [1,2]. Kevlar fibers have been modified in this work using a nano-scale boron carbide coating and a marked increase in the puncture resistance has been experimentally observed. It is hypothesized that this improvement is due to the enhancement of the mechanical properties of the individual Kevlar fibers due to the nano-scale coatings. This study presents a comprehensive experimental investigation of individual Kevlar fibers based on nanoindentation to quantify the cause of the enhanced puncture resistance. The experimental setup was validated using copper wires with a diameter size in the same order of magnitude as Kevlar fibers. Results from nanoindentation did not show significant changes in the modulus or hardness of the Kevlar fibers. Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed that the coated fibers had a marked change in their surface morphology. The main finding of this work is that the boron carbide coating did not affect the properties of the individual fibers due to poor adhesion and non-uniformity. This implies that the observed enhancement in puncture resistance originates from the interaction between fibers due to the increase in roughness. The results are important in identifying further ways to enhance Kevlar puncture resistance by modifying the surface properties of fibers.