Effect of surface modification on the stability of oxide scales formed on TiAl intermetallic alloys at high temperature

TiAl intermetallic alloys have many interesting potential application in the automitive and aerospace industry due to their low density and good mechanical properties. Unfortunately they have a low oxidation resistance at temperature higher than 700 °C and the improvement of their oxidation behavior is still an open issue. In this work the surface of a TiAlCrNB alloy has been modified by means of their anodic coating or cerium converison coating. Afterwards the stability of the oxide scale formed at 900 °C has been studied by analyzing crack formation and porpagatin, which is the phenomenon that con produce scale spallation during the alloy cooling

Analysis of the fracture criticality of biphasic brass

Some hydraulic brass components were subjected to in service structural failures. In the present work some case histories were analyzed and revealed that such failures were determined by the material microstructural characteristics dependent not only on the alloy composition, but also on the adopted production techniques. The study highlighted that the β phase orientation significantly affects the fracture behavior of the studied biphasic brass. Moreover the effect of different applied stresses that caused component failure was analyzed

Static and dynamic weighing of rolling stocks by mean of a customized FBG-Sensorized-Patch

The structural health monitoring (SHM) of an infrastructure is of fundamental importance for the structure and people safety. Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors allow to design for each application, a tailored array of quasi-distributed sensors integrated to the infrastructure. To ensure the structural integrity of the railways is crucial to verify that the infrastructures comply with safety requirements to carry out their task. Railways rolling stock must comply with speed limits, the maximum number of wagons, maximum weight limit distributed on each axis of the wagons and the allowed number of trains on specific routes. The identification of the vertical load acting on each wheel is fundamental for the safety of a rolling-stock moving on a railway line. This paper presents the results of a test campaign on sensitive smart patches for static and dynamic weighing of trains. The system aims to generate a gripping system based on the magnetic force of a plastoferrite patch, taking advantage of the peculiarity that the rails are made of ferritic steel. This solution has the benefit of simplifying and speeding up the installation process and enabling a fast and easy removal or change in the configuration of the sensors array on the rail

Effect of composition and heat treatment on the mechanical properties of Fe Mn Al steels

Starting from the research aimed at the development of substitute alloys for stainless steels, with the aim of replacing strategic metals such as chromium and nickel with the more available manganese, FeMnAlC alloys have been studied and developed for several years. These alloys exhibit an attractive strength/ductility combination, low density, and some of them show good oxidation behaviour at high temperatures. After a preliminary study, in this paper the effect of a solubilization treatment followed by aging in the temperature range 550 - 750 °C has been evaluated. The results of the investigation revealed that the steel characterized by the higher amount of Mn and Al shows, after heat treatment, the formation of phases that make the alloy very brittle. Considering the obtained results, it is evident that optimizing the alloy chemical composition is of paramount importance to guarantee a high fracture toughness if the steel works for limited time intervals at high temperature

fatigue behaviour of titanium dental endosseous implants

In this work two different titanium dental implants are analyzed in order to evaluate their mechanical strength. An ad-hoc designed experimental apparatus is prepared to test against fatigue these implants in a way that approximates as much as possible the actual stresses occurring during mastication motion. The results of these endurance tests are summarized in the form of Wohler-type diagrams showing the duration of a specific implant for different applied loads. These plots show a fatigue limit below which the implants could resist indefinitely. Other aspects of this research concern the influence of a potentially corrosive medium and the analysis of the deformation and failure of the specimens. During fatigue cycling, the titanium implants do not seem to be affected by a more aggressive environment, such as a saline solution. The analysis of the broken specimen allowed the crack initiation sites and the type of fracture propagation to be investigated in depth. In all the considered implants fatigue cracks were seen to initiate preferentially from sites in which the tensile stress concentration is the highest. The results of a finite element analysis performed on one of the specimens is in good agreement with the failure mode observed after the tests. The SEM fracture surface analysis shows a clear similarity between the fracture mode of the tested implants and of the actual implants broken after a certain operating period

Railway overhead contact wire monitoring system by means of FBG sensors

Safety of infrastructures represents one of the most significant concerns for governments and service providers to preserve people's well-being. One of the main ways to keep in safe facilities (buildings, bridges, railways, etc.) involves the use of monitoring sensor systems in charge of measuring critical operating conditions. Those measurements together with periodical maintenance, contribute to minimize potential risks that the infrastructure faces. The paper aims at designing, developing, and testing a monitoring system for mechanical stresses acting on the overhead contact wire (OCW) to ensure the operational safety of the railway network. In this regard, the paper proposes two Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors-based solutions, relying on the ability of these sensors to allow real-time and continuous data acquisition. The first one consists in a polyimide-coated sensor bonded on an OCW clamp, the second one is a copper-coated sensor hanging between the two separated halves of an OCW clamp. Significant results have been obtained mechanically testing both solutions, trying to simulate the operative conditions

Wear surface damage of a Stainless Steel EN 3358 aeronautical component subjected to sliding

The present paper describes the failure analysis of an aircraft component subjected to severalepisodes of in service failure, resulted in loss of the aircraft safety. Modern aircrafts are provided withmechanical systems which have the task to open not pressurized hatches during landing. The components ofsuch systems are subject to considerable mechanical stresses in harsh environment (presence of moisture andpollutants, significant and sudden temperature variations). The system is constituted by a sliding piston, arelated nipple and by a locking system consisting of 4 steel spheres which are forced into a countersinkmachined on the piston when the hatches is open. The whole system is activated by a preloaded spring. Themachined parts, nipple and piston, are made of EN3358 steel (X3CrNiMo13-8-2), a precipitation hardeningstainless steel with very low content of carbon often used in the aerospace. The samples provided by themanufacturer present different types of damage all referable to phenomena relative to the sliding of the pistoninside the nipple. The present paper describes the different damage observed and the microstructure of thematerial, then are reported the results obtained from the characterization of the material of the samples bymeans of optical and electronic microscopy, carried out to define the mechanisms involved in the systemseizure. In order to define the primary cause of failure and to propose solutions to be adopted, also analyzingthe criticality of using this PH stainless steel for this application, the results of different tests were comparedwith system design and working data

Haynes 242 Alloy for Lares 2 Satellite

The satellite LARES 2 is designed to test dragging of inertial frames, or frame-dragging, predicted by Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, with accuracy of a few parts in a thousand. For this purpose, besides the typical requirements for a space construction, a high density alloy must be used. In this paper are reported the studies performed on a nickel alloy, the Haynes 242, that is considered a possible candidate for manufacturing all the metallic parts of LARES 2 and other passive geodetic satellites. Haynes 242 density and mechanical properties are compliant with the requirements of the mission. Three different casting with the nominal composition of the alloy have been prepared and tested along with a commercial bar of Haynes 242. The results of tensile and hardness tests on several specimens with different aging time are reported, along with the relevant metallographic analysis. Furthermore, a test on the machinability, performed on a screw, which is the most demanding item from the manufacturing point of view, is reported

Wear surface damage of a Stainless Steel EN 3358 aeronautical component subjected to sliding

The present paper describes the failure analysis of an aircraft component subjected to several episodes of in service failure, resulted in loss of the aircraft safety. Modern aircrafts are provided with mechanical systems which have the task to open not pressurized hatches during landing. The components of such systems are subject to considerable mechanical stresses in harsh environment (presence of moisture and pollutants, significant and sudden temperature variations). The system is constituted by a sliding piston, a related nipple and by a locking system consisting of 4 steel spheres which are forced into a countersink machined on the piston when the hatches is open. The whole system is activated by a preloaded spring. The machined parts, nipple and piston, are made of EN3358 steel (X3CrNiMo13-8-2), a precipitation hardening stainless steel with very low content of carbon often used in the aerospace. The samples provided by the manufacturer present different types of damage all referable to phenomena relative to the sliding of the piston inside the nipple. The present paper describes the different damage observed and the microstructure of the material, then are reported the results obtained from the characterization of the material of the samples by means of optical and electronic microscopy, carried out to define the mechanisms involved in the system seizure. In order to define the primary cause of failure and to propose solutions to be adopted, also analyzing the criticality of using this PH stainless steel for this application, the results of different tests were compared with system design and working data