Mechanical properties of a porous mullite material

Modulus of rupture specimens were used to determine crack growth parameters of a porous mullite material. Strength testing was performed in ambient and moist environments. The power law crack growth rate parameters n and 1n B in 50 percent relative humidity were found to be 44.98 and 0.94, respectively. The inert strength, fracture toughness, and elastic modulus were also determined and found to be 19 MPa, 055 MPa(m) exp 1/2, and 11.6 GPa, respectively

Modeling the Fracture Strength between Fused-Deposition Extruded Roads 16

The fracture strength developed between Fused-Deposition extruded roads is modeled in terms of the wetting and thermally-driven diffusion bonding processes. Thermal histories at the road-to-road interface are obtained from a heat transfer analysis and used to develop model predictions based on reptation theory for the interdiffusion of long-chain polymer molecules. Fracture toughness data on FD-ABS plastic specimens is used to quantify the model. The results show that most of the fracture strength develops during the surface wetting stage of bonding and that slower cooling rates during solidification promote stronger bonding between the roads.Mechanical Engineerin

Factors and Connected Factors in Tough Graphs with High Isolated Toughness

In this paper, we show that every $1$-tough graph with order and isolated toughness at least $r+1$ has a factor whose degrees are $r$, except for at most one vertex with degree $r+1$. Using this result, we conclude that every $3$-tough graph with order and isolated toughness at least $r+1$ has a connected factor whose degrees lie in the set $\{r,r+1\}$, where $r\ge 3$. Also, we show that this factor can be found $m$-tree-connected, when $G$ is a $(2m+\epsilon)$-tough graph with order and isolated toughness at least $r+1$, where $r\ge (2m-1)(2m/\epsilon+1)$ and $\epsilon > 0$. Next, we prove that every $(m+\epsilon)$-tough graph of order at least $2m$ with high enough isolated toughness admits an $m$-tree-connected factor with maximum degree at most $2m+1$. From this result, we derive that every $(2+\epsilon)$-tough graph of order at least three with high enough isolated toughness has a spanning Eulerian subgraph whose degrees lie in the set $\{2,4\}$. In addition, we provide a family of $5/3$-tough graphs with high enough isolated toughness having no connected even factors with bounded maximum degree

Onset of Propagation of Planar Cracks in Heterogeneous Media

The dynamics of planar crack fronts in hetergeneous media near the critical load for onset of crack motion are investigated both analytically and by numerical simulations. Elasticity of the solid leads to long range stress transfer along the crack front which is non-monotonic in time due to the elastic waves in the medium. In the quasistatic limit with instantaneous stress transfer, the crack front exhibits dynamic critical phenomenon, with a second order like transition from a pinned to a moving phase as the applied load is increased through a critical value. At criticality, the crack-front is self-affine, with a roughness exponent $\zeta =0.34\pm 0.02$. The dynamic exponent $z$ is found to be equal to $0.74\pm 0.03$ and the correlation length exponent $\nu =1.52\pm 0.02$. These results are in good agreement with those obtained from an epsilon expansion. Sound-travel time delays in the stress transfer do not change the static exponents but the dynamic exponent $z$ becomes exactly one. Real elastic waves, however, lead to overshoots in the stresses above their eventual static value when one part of the crack front moves forward. Simplified models of these stress overshoots are used to show that overshoots are relevant at the depinning transition leading to a decrease in the critical load and an apparent jump in the velocity of the crack front directly to a non-zero value. In finite systems, the velocity also shows hysteretic behaviour as a function of the loading. These results suggest a first order like transition. Possible implications for real tensile cracks are discussed.Comment: 51 pages + 20 figur

Microstructural optimization of unalloyed ductile cast irons with a ferritic matrix used in the manufacture of wind turbine rotors

The aim of this work was the microstructural optimization of cast irons with nodular graphite for the manufacture of wind turbine hubs, paying preferential attention to the geometry and distribution of graphite spheroids to ensure the required mechanical properties for this application. The target was pursued based upon microstructure-properties correlation, in an environment of great competitiveness and exigency marked by current international standards. The methodology followed consisted of the generation of knowledge from tailor-made industrial castings, followed by the analysis of their microstructures, in order to extract valuable conclusions for the production process through the use of statistical analysis. The approach method employed was a Fractional Design of Experiments (DOE) with 7 factors, 16 experiments and resolution IV. The samples from each experiment were cubes of identical geometry, and designed to match a surface-to-volume module equal to 4 cm (1.57 in) found as the highest values in real hubs of 3 MW power wind turbines. It is concluded that the use of nodulizers with traces of lanthanum favour the reduction of the volume fraction of pearlite, although La has proved not to promote the spherical shape of primary graphite. The negative effect of pre-inoculants containing SiC on the spheroidal morphology of graphite has also been verified, and also that low-Mn bearing scrap favours graphite formation and the reduction of the volume fraction of pearlite, in spite of being a carbide forming element. The whitening effect of Mn was minimized with low carbon equivalent melts

Multi-response optimization of CO2 laser welding process of austenitic stainless steel

Recently, laser welding of austenitic stainless steel has received great attention in industry, due to its wide spread application in petroleum refinement stations, power plant, pharmaceutical industry and households. Therefore, mechanical properties should be controlled to obtain good welded joints. The welding process should be optimized by the proper mathematical models. In this research, the tensile strength and impact strength along with the joint operating cost of laser welded butt joints made of AISI304 was investigated. Design-expert software was used to establish the design matrix and to analyze the experimental data. The relationships between the laser welding parameters (laser power, welding speed and focal point position) and the three responses (tensile strength, impact strength and joint operating cost) were established. Also, the optimization capabilities in design-expert software were used to optimise the welding process. The developed mathematical models were tested for adequacy using analysis of variance and other adequacy measures. In this investigation the optimal welding conditions were identified in order to increase the productivity and minimize the total operating cost. Overlay graphs were plotted by superimposing the contours for the various response surfaces. The process parameters effect was determined and the optimal welding combinations were tabulated

Material independent crack arrest statistics

The propagation of (planar) cracks in a heterogeneous brittle material characterized by a random field of toughness is considered, taking into account explicitly the effect of the crack front roughness on the local stress intensity factor. In the so-called strong-pinning regime, the onset of crack propagation appears to map onto a second-order phase transition characterized by universal critical exponents which are independent of the local characteristics of the medium. Propagation over large distances can be described by using a simple one-dimensional description, with a correlation length and an effective macroscopic toughness distribution that scale in a non-trivial fashion with the crack front length. As an application of the above concepts, the arrest of indentation cracks is addressed, and the analytical expression for the statistical distribution of the crack radius at arrest is derived. The analysis of indentation crack radii on alumina is shown to obey the predicted algebraic expression for the radius distribution and its dependence on the indentation load