Verkehr und Mobilität gehören in unserer Gesellschaft zu den wichtigsten Schlüsselthemen der Gegenwart und Zukunft. Um im Bereich von Spitzentechnologien auch im heute weltweit stattfindenden Wettbewerb mithalten zu können ist die Bearbeitung von Innovationsfeldern eine entscheidende Voraussetzung. Dazu zählt im Besonderen auch die Verkehrstechnik. Mobilität ist aus unserer modernen Gesellschaft nicht mehr wegzudenken. Das Verkehrswachstum wächst nach wie vor unaufhaltsam und scheinbar unbegrenzt auch in wirtschaftlich schwierigen Zeiten. Besonders dort, wo aufgrund von Massereduzierung, Energieeinsparung, Gewichtskraftverringerung oder Geschwindigkeitserhöhung bei bewegten Massen erzielt werden kann, werden immer neue Einsatzgebiete erschlossen. So ist es nicht verwunderlich, dass sich gerade die TUC und herausragende Industriepartner der Region wie die Firma Lätzsch GmbH auf der Basis eines Verbundprojektes mit der Themenstellung „Entwicklung von Herstellungstechnologien für belastungsgerechte Strukturgelege und deren Anwendung in Bauteilen der Verkehrstechnik“ befasst. Dieses Thema wurde im Rahmen des InnoRegio- Programms als Forschungsthema 10/2002 begonnen und 12/2005 zum Abschluss gebracht. Als Themenschwerpunkt in der Entwicklungstätigkeit wurden Massenverkehrsmittel wie Reisebusse und Schienenfahrzeuge im Besonderen betrachtet. Strukturkonzepte unter Einsatz von Glas- und Kohlenstofffasern haben während der Themenbearbeitung hochinteressante Einsatzfelder ergeben. So haben die in der Baugruppe verbleibenden Bauteile mehrere, multiple Aufgaben. Das Spektrum der Veränderlichkeit ist dabei recht breit gefächert und reicht von der Schwerpunktverlagerung bis zu Änderungen der Eigenfrequenz.

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This investigation completed the verification of a three-dimensional resin transfer molding/resin film infusion (RTM/RFI) process simulation model. The model incorporates resin flow through an anisotropic carbon fiber preform, cure kinetics of the resin, and heat transfer within the preform/tool assembly. The computer model can predict the flow front location, resin pressure distribution, and thermal profiles in the modeled part. The formulation for the flow model is given using the finite element/control volume (FE/CV) technique based on Darcy's Law of creeping flow through a porous media. The FE/CV technique is a numerically efficient method for finding the flow front location and the fluid pressure. The heat transfer model is based on the three-dimensional, transient heat conduction equation, including heat generation. Boundary conditions include specified temperature and convection. The code was designed with a modular approach so the flow and/or the thermal module may be turned on or off as desired. Both models are solved sequentially in a quasi-steady state fashion. A mesh refinement study was completed on a one-element thick model to determine the recommended size of elements that would result in a converged model for a typical RFI analysis. Guidelines are established for checking the convergence of a model, and the recommended element sizes are listed. Several experiments were conducted and computer simulations of the experiments were run to verify the simulation model. Isothermal, non-reacting flow in a T-stiffened section was simulated to verify the flow module. Predicted infiltration times were within 12-20 percent of measured times. The predicted pressures were approximately 50 percent of the measured pressures. A study was performed to attempt to explain the difference in pressures. Non-isothermal experiments with a reactive resin were modeled to verify the thermal module and the resin model. Two panels were manufactured using the RFI process. One was a stepped panel and the other was a panel with two `T' stiffeners. The difference between the predicted infiltration times and the experimental times was 4 to 23 percent. / Master of Science

The future of the aerospace industry in large part relies on two factors: (i) development of advanced damage tolerant materials and (ii) development of advanced smart sensors with the ability to detect and evaluate defects at very early stages of component service life. Laminated composite materials, such as carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP), have emerged as the materials of choice for increasing the performance and reducing the cost and weight of aircrafts, which leads to less fuel consumption and therefore lower CO2 emissions. However, it is well known that these materials exhibit fragile behaviour, poor resistance to impact damage caused by foreign objects and require a relatively slow and labour intensive manufacturing process. These factors prevent the rapid expansion of composite materials in several industrial sectors at the current time. Inspired by the use of rope throughout history and driven by the necessity of creating a lean manufacturing process for composites and enhancing their impact properties, the first part of this work has shown that enhanced damage tolerance and pseudo-ductile behaviour can be achieved with standard CFRP by creatively arranging the fibres into a 3D twisted helical configuration. Through an extensive experimental campaign a new method to arrange fibre reinforcement was presented and its effect investigated. The second part of this PhD work focused on developing a new smart sensor. A spiral passive electromagnetic sensor (SPES) for damage detection on CFRP and glass fibre reinforced plastics (GFRP) is presented in this work. A range of defect types in glass and carbon composite has been considered, such as delamination, perforated holes and cracks. Furthermore, throughout this work, the SPES has been exploited as a multi-sensing device allowing the ability to detect temperature and humidity variation, presence of ice and act as an anti/de-icing device.

Cette thèse fait l’objet du développement d’un modèle numérique de la phase d’imprégnation d’une préforme lors du procédé de fabrication d’un matériau composite par infusion sous vide de type VARI (Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion). La caractérisation in situ du comportement mécanique dans l’épaisseur d’une préforme (essais d’infusion réels) est confrontée à sa caractérisation ex situ par une machine de traction/compression. L’effet de différents paramètres est mis en valeur sur le comportement de la préforme (type de chargement appliqué, état de saturation, influence de la viscosité du fluide et de la vitesse de déformation). Les essais ont révélé le caractère viscoélastique d’un renfort de type tissé lors de sa décompression à l’état imprégné et ont permis la définition d’une loi de comportement viscoélastique non-linéaire du renfort lors de cette phase. En vue d’étendre l’usage de cette loi de comportement mécanique à une large gamme de renforts, la même démarche expérimentale est appliquée au cas d’un renfort de type mat, au comportement élastique non-linéaire. La forme générale de la loi de comportement proposée se veut être adaptée à la description des deux types de renforts testés, où les éventuels effets viscoélastiques sont pris en compte selon le renfort étudié. Suite à l’implantation de la nouvelle loi de comportement dans un code numérique dédié à la simulation de la phase de remplissage d’un moule, la comparaison entre les résultats numériques et ceux des essais d’infusion sous vide prouve la fiabilité de ce nouveau modèle pour ces deux renforts à l’architecture bien distincte. / This thesis focuses on the development of a numerical model for the preform impregnation during the VARI (Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion) process for the manufacturing of a composite material. The in situ characterization of the mechanical behavior in the thickness direction of a preform (real infusion tests) was compared with an ex situ characterization by a universal testing machine. The preform behavior was characterized for different parameters such as loading type, saturation state, influence of fluid viscosity and strain rate. All the tests revealed the viscoelastic behavior of a woven fabric during its decompression in the impregnated state, leading to the definition of a non-linear viscoelastic constitutive law of the woven fabric during this phase. To extend the use of this mechanical constitutive law to a wide range of fabrics, the same experimental approach was applied to the case of a random mat fabric with non-linear elastic behavior. The generalized form of the constitutive law is adapted to the description of the two types of fabrics while the potential viscoelastic effects are taken into account according to the fabric type. After the implementation of the new constitutive law in a numerical code for the simulation of a mold filling process, the comparison between numerical and experimental results has proved the reliability of the new numerical model for these two reinforcements with distinct architectures.

In automotive industry, forgings are widely used especially in safety related applications, typically suspension, brake and steering systems. In this study, forging process of a steering joint used in heavy vehicles has been examined. This particular part has a non-planar parting surface and requires a series of operations, which includes fullering, bending and piercing on a forging press. Forging companies generally use trial-and-error methods during the design stage. Also to ensure complete die filling at the final stage, extra material is added to the billet geometry. However, the forging industry is becoming more competitive finding a way to improve the quality of the product while reducing the production costs. For this purpose, a method is proposed for the design of the preform dies to reduce the material wastage, number of applied strokes and production costs. The designed operations were examined by using a commercially available finite volume analysis software. The necessary dies have been manufactured in METU-BILTIR CAD/CAM Center. The designed process has been verified by the experimental work in a forging company. As a result of this study, remarkable reduction in the flash, i.e. waste of material, has been achieved with a reasonable number of forging operations. In addition to forging of the steering joint, forging of a chain bracket, which has bent sections with planar parting surface, has also been observed and analyzed during the study. An intermediate bending stage has been proposed to replace the manual hammering stage and satisfactory results have been observed in simulations.

Une nouvelle approche appelée “Approche Pseudo Inverse” (API) est développée pour la modélisation du procédé de forgeage à froid des pièces axisymétriques. L'API est basée sur la connaissance de la forme de la pièce finale. Certaines configurations intermédiaires « réalistes » ont été introduites dans l'API pour considérer le chemin de déformations. Elles sont créées géométriquement sans traitement de contact et ensuite corrigées par la méthode de surface libre afin de respecter l'équilibre, les conditions aux limites et la condition d'incompressibilité. Un nouvel algorithme direct de plasticité est développé, conduisant à une méthode d'intégration plastique très rapide, précise et robuste même dans le cas de très grands incréments de déformations. Un modèle d'endommagement en déformation, est couplé à la plasticité et implémenté dans l'API. Les validations numériques montrent que l'API donne des résultats très proches des résultats de l'approche incrémentale mais en utilisant beaucoup moins de temps de calcul.L'API est adoptée comme solveur du forgeage pour la conception et l'optimisation des préformes du forgeage multi-passes. La rapidité et la robustesse de l'API rendent la procédure d'optimisation très performante. Une nouvelle technique est développée pour générer automatiquement le contour initial d'un outil de préforme pour la procédure d'optimisation. Les variables de conception sont les positions verticales des points de contrôle des courbes B-spline définissant les formes des outils de préforme. Notre optimisation multi-objectif consiste à minimiser la variation de la déformation plastique équivalente dans la pièce finale et la force du poinçon au cours du forgeage. Un algorithme génétique et un algorithme de recuit simulé sont utilisés pour trouver les points d'optimum de Pareto. Pour réduire le nombre de simulations de forgeage, un méta-modèle de substitution basé sur la méthode de krigeage est adopté pour établir une surface de réponse approximative. Les résultats obtenus par l'API en utilisant les outils de préforme optimaux issues de l'optimisation sont comparés à ceux obtenus par les approches incrémentales classiques pour montrer l'efficacité et les limites de l'API. La procédure d'optimisation combinée avec l'API peut être un outil numérique rapide et performant pour la conception et l'optimisation des outillages de préforme. / A new method called “Pseudo Inverse Approach” (PIA) is developed for the axi-symmetrical cold forging modelling. The PIA is based on the knowledge of the final part shape. Some « realistic » intermediate configurations are introduced in the PIA to consider the deformation path. They are created geometrically without contact treatment, and then corrected by using a free surface method in order to satisfy the equilibrium, the boundary conditions and the metal incompressibility. A new direct algorithm of plasticity is proposed, leading to a very fast, accurate and robust plastic integration method even in the case of very large strain increments. An isotropic damage model in deformation is coupled with the plasticity and implemented in the PIA. Numerical tests have shown that the Pseudo Inverse Approach gives very close results to those obtained by the incremental approach, but using much less calculation time.The PIA is adopted as forging solver for the design and optimization of preform tools in the multi-stage forging process. The rapidity and robustness of the PIA make the optimization procedure very powerful. A new method is developed to automatically generate the initial preform tool shape for the optimization procedure. The design variables are the vertical positions of the control points of B-spline curves describing the preform tool shape. Our multi-objective optimization is to minimize the equivalent plastic strain in the final part and the punch force during the forging process. The Genetic algorithm and Simulated Annealing algorithm are used to find optimal Pareto points. To reduce the number of forging simulations, a surrogate meta-model based on the kriging method is adopted to build an approximate response surface. The results obtained by the PIA using the optimal preform tools issued from the optimization procedure are compared to those obtained by using the classical incremental approaches to show the effectiveness and limitations of the PIA. The optimization procedure combined with the PIA can be a rapid and powerful tool for the design and optimization of the preform tools.