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<p> This thesis deals with the analytical and experimental study of the influence of residual stress due to cold bending on the behaviour of thin-walled open sections. The residual stress distribution caused by cold forming the sections is predicted theoretically. The influence of this residual stress on the load-displacement characteristic, and load carrying capacity of similarly curved tension and compression specimens is then analyzed. A local buckling analysis based on the virtual work and incremental theories is performed to predict the collapse load of compression specimens containing residual stresses.</p> <p> The experimental work consisted of tests to confirm theoretical elastic springback strains due to cold bending of steel sheet to various radii. Tension and compression tests were then performed on various cold formed sections to observe the effects of residual stress and to confirm analytical predictions. </p> <p> Conclusions have been deduced from the theory and from these tests, and suggestions made for further research.</p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

<p> Quench-aged low carbon iron specimens, containing various distributions of carbide particles were fatigued in tension-compression under low amplitude strain control. </p> <p> Observations of the influence of second phase particles upon the development of dislocation substructure were made using transmission electron microscopy of thin foils. These observations were correlated with the cyclic mechanical response of the material, and with the response of material containing a fatigue saturation substructure of subsequent tensile overstrain. </p> <p> A rationale for the development of cyclic softening in the material is proposed, based on the requirements of continuity in plastically inhomogeneous materials. A source model for the observed instability of the cyclic substructure in tensile overstrain is described. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

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In this dissertation I present computational studies that focus on the unique characteristics of metallic nanowires. We generated virtual nanowires of nanocrystalline nickel (nc-Ni) and single crystalline silver (Ag) in order to investigate particular nanoscale effects. Three-dimensional atomistic molecular dynamics studies were performed for each sample using the super computer System X located at Virginia Tech. Thermal grain growth simulations were performed on 4 nm grain size nc-Ni by observing grain sizes over time for temperatures from 800K to 1450K and we discovered grain growth to be linearly time-dependant, contrary to coarse grained materials with square root dependence. Strain induced grain growth studies consisted of straining the nanostructures in tension at a strain rate of 3.3 x 10^8 s⁻¹. Grain boundary movement was recorded to quantify grain boundary velocities and grain growth. It was shown that during deformation, there is interplay between dislocation-mediated plasticity and grain boundary accommodation of plasticity through grain boundary sliding. To further understand the effect of stress on nanocrystalline materials we performed tensile tests at different strain rates, varying from 2.22 x 10⁷ s⁻¹ to 1.33 x 10⁹ s⁻¹ for a 5 nm grain size nc-Ni nanowire with a 5 nm radius. The activation volume was given as ~2b³, where b is the Burger's vector and is consistent with a grain boundary dominate deformation mechanism. We expanded our research to 10 nm grain size nc-Ni nanowires with radii from 5 nm to 18 nm. Each wire was deformed 15% in tension or compression at a strain rate of 3.3 x 10⁸ s⁻¹. Asymmetry was observed for all radii, in which larger radii produced higher flow stresses for compression and small radii yielded higher flow stresses in tension. A cross over in the tension-compression asymmetry is found to occur at a radius of ~9 nm. A change in the dominate deformation mechanism in combination with the ease of grain boundary sliding contributes to the phenomena of the asymmetry. In the final chapter we focus on the energetic stability of multi-twinned Ag nanorods at the nanoscale. We used a combination of molecular statics and dynamics to find the local minimum energies for the multi-twinned nanorods and the non-twinned "bulk" materials and concluded that the stability of multi-twinned nanorods is highly influenced by the size of the sample and the existence of the ends. Using an analytical model we found the excess energy of the nanorods with ends and determined the critical aspect ratio below which five-twinned nanorods are stable. / Ph. D.

Although the tensile mechanical properties of tendon have been well characterised, the viscoelastic and anisotropic properties remain uncertain. This thesis addresses the anisotropic and viscoelastic material properties of tendon. A method to characterise the three-dimensional shape of tendon is reported and experiments to characterise the fibre-aligned and fibre-transverse viscoelastic properties of tendon are presented. The cross-sectional profiles of bovine digital extensor tendons were determined by a laser-slice method. Linear dimensions were measured within 0.15 mm and cross-sectional areas within 1.7 mm². Tendons were compressed between two glass plates in creep loading at multiple loads. Compression was then modelled in a finite element environment. Tendon was found to be nearly incompressible and reproduction of its isochronal load-displacement curve was achieved with a neo-Hookean material model (E ≃ 0.3 MPa). The fibre-aligned tensile mechanical properties were described using a Quasi-Linear Viscoelastic model. The model was effective at reproducing cyclic loading; however, it was ineffective at predicting stress relaxation outside the scope of data used to fit the model. When all experimental results are considered together, two significant conclusions are made: (1) tendon is much stiffer in fibre-aligned tension than in fibre-transverse compression and (2) the fibre-aligned tensile response is strain dependant, while the transverse response is not.

The superficial tangential zone (STZ) plays a significant role in normal articular cartilage’s ability to support loads and retain fluids. To date, tissue engineering efforts have not replicated normal STZ function in cartilage repairs. Finite element models were developed to examine the STZ’s role in normal and repaired articular surfaces under different contact conditions. Models were developed by incrementally adding improvements which culminated in contact loading of curved models by permeable and impermeable rigid surfaces and a normal cartilage layer. In the normal STZ, permeability was strain-dependent on volumetric strain; tension-compression nonlinearity modeled collagen behavior. Nonlinear geometry accounted for finite deformation. Results showed that STZ properties of sufficient quality maybe critical for the survival of transplanted constructs in vivo. As compared to rigid surfaces, loading via normal cartilage provided more physiologic results. These models can provide guidance in identifying critical features for the design of tissue engineered articular cartilage constructs.

<p>In this licentiate thesis the work done in the project KME410 will be presented. The overall objective of this project is to evaluate and develop tools for designing against fatigue in single-crystal nickel-base superalloys in gas turbines. Experiments have been done on single-crystal nickel-base superalloy specimens in order to investigate the mechanical behaviour of the material. The constitutive behaviour has been modelled and verified by simulations of the experiments. Furthermore, the  microstructural degradation during long-time ageing has been investigated with  respect to the component’s yield limit. The effect has been included in the  constitutive model by lowering the resulting yield limit. Finally, the fatigue crack  initiation of a component has been analysed and modelled by using a critical plane approach.</p><p>This thesis is divided into three parts. In the first part the theoretical framework, based upon continuum mechanics, crystal plasticity and the critical plane approach, is derived. This framework is then used in the second part, which consists of three included papers. Finally, in the third part, details are presented of the used  numerical procedures.</p>

In this licentiate thesis the work done in the project KME410 will be presented. The overall objective of this project is to evaluate and develop tools for designing against fatigue in single-crystal nickel-base superalloys in gas turbines. Experiments have been done on single-crystal nickel-base superalloy specimens in order to investigate the mechanical behaviour of the material. The constitutive behaviour has been modelled and verified by simulations of the experiments. Furthermore, the  microstructural degradation during long-time ageing has been investigated with  respect to the component’s yield limit. The effect has been included in the  constitutive model by lowering the resulting yield limit. Finally, the fatigue crack  initiation of a component has been analysed and modelled by using a critical plane approach. This thesis is divided into three parts. In the first part the theoretical framework, based upon continuum mechanics, crystal plasticity and the critical plane approach, is derived. This framework is then used in the second part, which consists of three included papers. Finally, in the third part, details are presented of the used  numerical procedures.

Hexagonal closed packed (hcp) materials, in contrast to cubic materials, possess several processing challenges due to their anisotropic structural response, the wide variety of deformation textures they exhibit, and limited ductility at room temperature. The aim of this work is to investigate, both experimentally and theoretically, the effect os severe plastic deformation, ultrafine grain sizes, crystallographic textures and number of phases on the flow stress anisotropy and tension compression asymmetry, and the mechanisms responsible for these phenomena in two hcp materials: AZ31B Mg alloy consisting of one phase and Zn-8wt.% Al that has an hcp matrix with a secondary facecentered cubic (fcc) phase. Mg and its alloys have high specific strength that can potentially meet the high demand for light weight structural materials and low fuelconsumption in transportation. Zn-Al alloys, on the other hand, can be potential substitutes for several ferrous and non-ferrous materials because of their good mechanical and tribological properties. Both alloys have been successfully processed using equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) following different processing routes in order to produce samples with a wide variety of microstructures and crystallographic textures for revealing the relationship between microstructural parameters, crystallographic texture and resulting flow stress anisotropy at room temperature. For AZ31B Mg alloy, the texture evolution during ECAE following conventional and hybrid ECAE routes was successfully predicted using visco-plastic self-consistent (VPSC) crystal plasticity model. The flow stress anisotropy and tension-compression (T/C) asymmetry of the as received and processed samples at room temperature were measured and predicted using the same VPSC model coupled with a dislocation-based hardening scheme. The governing mechanisms behind these phenomena are revealed as functions of grains size and crystallographic texture. It was found that the variation in flow stress anisotropy and T/C asymmetry among samples can be explained based on the texture that is generated after each processing path. Therefore, it is possible to control the flow anisotropy and T/C asymmetry in this alloy and similar Mg alloys by controlling the processing route and number of passes, and the selection of processing conditions can be optimized using VPSC simulations. In Zn-8wt.% Al alloy, the hard phase size, morphology, and distribution were found to control the anisotropy in the flow strength and elongation to failure of the ECAE processed samples.