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Failure of metallic structures operating under shock loading is a common occurrence in engineering applications. It is difficult to estimate the response of complicated systems analytically, due to structure&rsquo / s dynamic characteristics and varying loadings. Therefore, experimental, numerical or a combination of both methods are used for evaluations. The experimental analysis of the shocks due to firing is done for 12.7mm Gatling gun and 25mm cannon. During the tests, the Gatling gun and the cannon are located on military Stabilized Machine Gun Platform and Stabilized Cannon Platform respectively. For the firing tests, ICP (integrated circuit piezoelectric) accelerometers are attached to obtain the loading history for corresponding points. Shock Response Spectrum (SRS) analysis (nCode Glypworks) is done to define the equivalent shock profiles created on test pieces and the mount of 25mm cannon by means of the gun and the cannon firing. Transient shock analysis of the test pieces and the mount are done by applying the obtained shock profiles on the parts in a finite element model (ANSYS). Furthermore, experimental stress analysis due to shock loading is performed for two different types of material and different thicknesses of the test pieces. The input data for the analysis is obtained through measurements from strain rosette precisely located at the critical location of the test pieces. As a result of the thesis, a proposal is tried to be introduced where strain energy density theory is applied to predict the shock failure at military structures.

<p>Predmet ove doktorske disertacije je definisanje metoda i procedure<br />za procenu veka konstrukcije tornja postrojenja za istraživanje nafte<br />i gasa. Dati su rezultati eksperimentalnih istraživanja radi analize<br />otpornosti prema prslinama pri statičkom i pri promenljivom<br />opterećenju eksploatisanog i novog materijala konstrkcije tornja<br />postrojenja za istraživanje nafte i gasa.</p> / <p>The topic of this doctoral dissertation is definition methods and proceduries for an<br />analysis of an assessmen life of construction derrick plant for investigation oil<br />and gas. The results of experimental investigation performed for the analysis<br />of crack resistance under static and under variable loading eksploatacion<br />and new of materials of construction derrick plant for investigation oil and gas.</p>

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Standard crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) modules are designed to continuously convert solar energy into electricity for 25 years. However, the continual generation of electricity by the PV modules throughout their designed service life has been a concern. The key challenge has been the untimely fatigue failure of solder interconnections of solar cells in the modules due to accelerated thermo-mechanical degradation. The goal of this research is to provide adequate information for proper design of solar cell solder joint against fatigue failure through the study of cyclic thermo-mechanical stresses and strains in the joint. This is carried-out through finite element analysis (FEA) using ANSYS software to develop the solar cell assembly geometric models followed by simulations. Appropriate material constitutive model for solder alloy is employed to predict number of cycles to failure of solder joint, hence predicting its fatigue life. The results obtained from this study indicate that intermetallic compound thickness (TIMC); solder joint thickness (TSJ) and width (WSJ) have significant impacts on fatigue life of solder joint. The impacts of TIMC and TSJ are such that as the thicknesses increases solder joint fatigue life decreases. Conversely, as solder joint width (WSJ) increases, fatigue life increases. Furthermore, optimization of the joint is carried-out towards thermo-mechanical reliability improvement. Analysis of results shows the design with optimal parameter setting to be: TIMC -2.5μm, TSJ -20μm and WSJ -1000μm. In addition, the optimized model has 16,264 cycles to failure which is 18.82% more than the expected 13,688 cycles to failure of a PV module designed to last for 25 years.

Tato práce je zaměřena na problematiku výpočtového a experimentálního modelování deformačně napjatostních stavů měkkých tkání se zaměřením na riziko ruptury u výdutě břišní aorty (AAA). V první části (kap. 1) je stručně nastíněn současný stav dané problematiky. Tato část shrnuje důležité poznatky publikované v dostupné literatuře. Pozornost je věnována zejména klíčovým faktorům pro stanovení rizika ruptury AAA. V další kapitole (kap. 2) je stručně popsána histologie cévní stěny a její výsledné mechanické chování, jakož i její patologie, především AAA. Druhá část práce (kap.3) je věnována experimentálnímu vyhodnocování deformačně napjatostního chování měkkých tkání, které je nutným předpokladem k věrohodnému výpočtovému modelování tohoto chování. V této kapitole je stručně popsáno experimentální zařízení speciálně vyvinuté pro testování měkkých tkání a typy zkoušek, které lze na tomto zařízení provádět. Dále jsou shrnuty klíčové faktory ovlivňující deformačně napjatostní chování měkkých tkání a experimentální ověření těchto faktorů na vzorcích z prasečích hrudních aort. V závěru této kapitoly jsou shrnuty nové poznatky vyplývající z experimentálního testování. Třetí část disertační práce (kap.4) je zaměřena na matematický popis deformačně napjatostního chování měkkých tkání, stručný popis používaných konstitutivních vztahu a postup při identifikaci parametrů pro tyto konstitutivní modely určované na základě provedených experimentálních zkoušek. Poslední část disertační práce (kap.5) je věnována výpočtovému modelování deformačně napjatostního chování AAA. V této kapitole jsou nejdříve shrnuty klíčové faktory a předpoklady pro vytváření modelů a pro vyhodnocování výsledku a dále jsou uvedeny materiálové parametry pro konstitutivní modely implementované do programu ANSYS. Byly provedeny testovací výpočty při použití hypotetické zjednodušené geometrie AAA, na kterých byly vyhodnoceny vlivy změny geometrie a vliv změny konsitutivního modelu na extrémní napětí ve stěně AAA. U reálné geometrie AAA byla navržena a otestována metoda výpočtu nezatížené geometrie z reálných CT snímků. Dále byl testován vliv zvýšení vnitřního tlaku jako rizika ruptury AAA. V závěru práce jsou shrnuty poznatky a možnosti výpočtového modelování a návrhy na další práce.

Ο χαρακτηρισμός της ποιότητας των χυτών κραμάτων αλουμινίου , γίνεται μέχρι σήμερα μέσω του χαρακτηρισμού της ποιότητας της μικροδομής, μετρήσεων σκληρότητας και πειραμάτων κρούσης και σε μικρότερο βαθμό, δοκιμών εκφυλισμού. Στην παρούσα διατριβή, προτείνεται ένας νέος εμπειρικός δείκτης για τον ποσοτικοποιημένο χαρακτηρισμό της ποιότητας χυτών κραμάτων αλουμινίου. Ο προτεινόμενος δείκτης αξιολογεί την ποιότητα ενός υλικού από την πλευρά του μηχανικού που σχεδιάζει ένα κατασκευαστικό στοιχείο και επομένως την αξιολογεί ως την ικανότητα του υλικού για μηχανικές επιδόσεις. Για την αξιολόγηση αυτή ο προτεινόμενος δείκτης συνεκτιμά την αντοχή και την ολκιμότητα του υλικού σε εκφυλισμό. Παράλληλα, για το χαρακτηρισμό της ποιότητας, ο δείκτης παίρνει υπόψη τη δυσθραυσότητα του υλικού καθώς και τη διασπορά των μηχανικών ιδιοτήτων του υλικού. Η διατύπωση του δείκτη στηρίχτηκε σε έναν ευρείας έκτασης πειραματικό χαρακτηρισμό της μηχανικής συμπεριφοράς σε εφελκυσμό καθώς και της μικροδομής των κυριότερων αεροπορικών χυτών κραμάτων αλουμινίου σε συνάρτηση με τη μεταβολή α) της χημικής σύστασης, β) του ρυθμού στερεοποίησης και γ) της θερμικής κατεργασίας αυτών καθώς και στη διατύπωση εμπειρικών συναρτήσεων για την εξάρτηση των μηχανικών ιδιοτήτων των κραμάτων που εξετάστηκαν από τις παραπάνω μεταβολές των παραμέτρων χύτευσης. Προκειμένου να διευκολυνθεί η αξιοποίηση του δείκτη, διατυπώθηκαν απλουστευμένες προσεγγιστικές εκφράσεις που επιτρέπουν τον υπολογισμό του από δεδομένα των απλών πειραμάτων της σκληρομέτρησης και της κρούσης. Τέλος προτάθηκε μεθοδολογία δημιουργίας χαρτών ποιότητας με βάση τον προταθέντα δείκτη για την υποστήριξη της επιλογής υλικού όταν είναι γνωστές οι απαιτήσεις σε μηχανικές επιδόσεις συγκεκριμένων κατασκευαστικών στοιχείων. / Quality evaluation of cast aluminum alloys is currently made mainly by means of the met- allographic characterization of the alloy’s niicrostructure, hardness measurements, impact tests and, to a lesser extend, tensile tests, are involved, as well. Yet, the overall decision is not a straight forward procedure, relies heavily on the experience of the quality engineer and involves an appreciable amount of subjective judgment. In the present Thesis, a new empirical quality index for the quantitative evaluation of the quality of cast aluminum alloys is introduced. The proposed index evaluates quality which is regarded as the ability of a material for mechanical performance. The index evaluates the quality of a cast alloy on the basis of a balance between the material’s tensile strength and ductility with regard also to the material’s toughness. In the proposed index the scatter in mechanical properties is also accounted. The formulation of the index has been based on an extensive experimental characterization of the tensile behavior and the microstructural features of the main aircraft aluminum cast alloys by varying chemical composition, solidification rate and artificial aging treat- ment. To facilitate the wide spread use of the index, simplified approximate expressions of the index have been formulated as well. These expressions allow for the calculation of the proposed quality index based on hardness measurements and impact test results. The index has been also exploited to devise quality maps, which may be used to support material selection with regard to the mechanical properties required by the design office for a certain application.

The desire for energy and resource savings brings magnesium alloys as lightweight materials with high specific strength more and more into the focus. Most structural components are subjected to cyclic loading. In the course of computer aided product development, a numerical prediction of the fatigue life under these conditions must be provided. For this reason, the mechanical properties of the considered material must be examined in detail. Wrought magnesium semifinished products, e.g. magnesium sheet metals, typically reveal strong basal textures and thus, the mechanical behavior considerably differs from that of the well-established magnesium die castings. Magnesium sheet metals reveal a distinct difference in the tensile and compressive yield stress, leading to non-symmetric sigmoidal hysteresis loops within the elasto-plastic load range. These unusual hysteresis shapes are caused by cyclic twinning and detwinning. Furthermore, wrought magnesium alloys reveal pseudoelastic behavior, leading to nonlinear unloading curves. Another interesting effect is the formation of local twin bands during compressive loading. Nevertheless, only little information can be found on the numerical fatigue analysis of wrought magnesium alloys up to now. The aim of this thesis is the investigation of the mechanical properties of wrought magnesium alloys and the development of an appropriate fatigue model. For this purpose, twin roll cast AM50 as well as AZ31B sheet metals and extruded ME21 sheet metals were used. Mechanical tests were carried out to present a comprehensive overview of the quasi-static and cyclic material behavior. The microstructure was captured on sheet metals before and after loading to evaluate the correlation between the microstructure, the texture, and the mechanical properties. Stress- and strain-controlled loading ratios and strain-controlled experiments with variable amplitudes were performed. Tests were carried out along and transverse to the manufacturing direction to consider the influence of the anisotropy. Special focus was given to sigmoidal hysteresis loops and their influence on the fatigue life. A detailed numerical description of hysteresis loops is necessary for numerical fatigue analyses. For this, a one-dimensional phenomenological model was developed for elasto-plastic strain-controlled constant and variable amplitude loading. This model consists of a three-component equation, which considers elastic, plastic, and pseudoelastic strain components. Considering different magnesium alloys, good correlation is reached between numerically and experimentally determined hysteresis loops by means of different constant and variable amplitude load-time functions. For a numerical fatigue life analysis, an energy based fatigue parameter has been developed. It is denoted by “combined strain energy density per cycle” and consists of a summation of the plastic strain energy density per cycle and the 25 % weighted tensile elastic strain energy density per cycle. The weighting represents the material specific mean stress sensitivity. Applying the energy based fatigue parameter on modeled hysteresis loops, the fatigue life is predicted adequately for constant and variable amplitude loading including mean strain and mean stress effects. The combined strain energy density per cycle achieves significantly better results in comparison to conventional fatigue models such as the Smith-Watson-Topper model. The developed phenomenological model in combination with the combined strain energy density per cycle is able to carry out numerical fatigue life analyses on magnesium sheet metals.

Synthetic vascular grafts are useful to bypass diseased arteries. The long-term failure of synthetic grafts is primarily due to intimal hyperplasia at the anastomotic sites. The accelerated intimal hyperplasia may stem from a compliance mismatch between the host artery and the graft since commercially available synthetic conduits are much stiffer than an artery. The objective of this thesis is to design a method for fabricating a vascular graft that mechanically matches the patients native artery over the expected physiologic range of pressures. The creation of an optimized mechanical graft will hopefully lead to an improvement in patency rates. The mechanical equivalency between the graft and the host artery is defined locally by several criteria including the diameter upon inflation, the elasticity at mean pressure, and axial force. A single parameter mathematical for a thin-walled tube is used to describe of the final mechanical behavior of a synthetic graft. For the general problem, the objective would be to fabricate a mechanics-matching vascular graft for each host artery. Typically, fabrication parameters are set initially and the properties of the fabricated graft are measured. However, by modeling the entire fabrication process and final mechanical properties, it is possible to invert the situation and let the typical output mechanical values be used to define the fabrication parameters. The resultant fabricated graft will then be mechanically matching. As a proof-of-concept, several prototype synthetic grafts were manufactured and characterized by a single Invariant to match a canine artery. The resultant graft equaled the diameter upon inflation, the elasticity at mean pressure, and axial force of the native canine artery within 6%. An alternative to making an individual graft for each artery is also presented. A surgeon may choose the best graft from a set of pre-manufactured grafts, using a computer program algorithm for best fit using two parameters in a neighborhood. The design optimization problem was solved for both canine carotid and human coronary arteries. In conclusion, the overall process of design, fabrication and selection of a mechanics matching synthetic vascular graft is shown to be reliable and robust.