Acoustic emission analysis of industrial plywood materials exposed to destructive tensile load

Several plywood materials made from spruce wood and, for comparison, solid spruce wood were investigated focusing on the sub-macroscopic damage evolution during tensile loading of the specimens. The destructive tests were simultaneously monitored by the acoustic emission (AE) method and strain field deformation measurement using digital image correlation (DIC). The bilinear interpretation of exponential defect growth identified the start of significant nonlinear behavior at 70% of ultimate strength for all plywood materials. However, already the preceding and more stable damage evolution at lower stress levels has indicated a variation in intensity of the source mechanisms evaluated by AE energy of the detected events. Additional information on the formation of strain field concentration, which correlates with discrete accumulation in AE events and increased spreading in the distribution of AE energy, reveals the complexity of pre-damage due to the variation in cracks' magnitude and timescales involved. The correlation between ultimate tensile strength and damage accumulation below 70% of ultimate strength is determined, as well as the influence of layered structures on damage size shown by the percentage distribution of AE energy

Acoustic emission analysis of industrial plywood materials exposed to destructive tensile load

Several plywood materials made from spruce wood and, for comparison, solid spruce wood were investigated focusing on the sub-macroscopic damage evolution during tensile loading of the specimens. The destructive tests were simultaneously monitored by the acoustic emission (AE) method and strain field deformation measurement using digital image correlation (DIC). The bilinear interpretation of exponential defect growth identified the start of significant nonlinear behavior at 70 % of ultimate strength for all plywood materials. However, already the preceding and more stable damage evolution at lower stress levels has indicated a variation in intensity of the source mechanisms evaluated by AE energy of the detected events. Additional information on the formation of strain field concentration, which correlates with discrete accumulation in AE events and increased spreading in the distribution of AE energy, reveals the complexity of pre-damage due to the variation in cracks’ magnitude and timescales involved. The correlation between ultimate tensile strength and damage accumulation below 70 % of ultimate strength is determined, as well as the influence of layered structures on damage size shown by the percentage distribution of AE energy.ISSN:0043-7719ISSN:1432-522

Perspectives d'émergence d'une filière forêt-chimie des extractibles Points de vue des acteurs du Nord-Est de la France et du Sud-Ouest de l'Allemagne

International audienceForest biomass can be the source of molecules of interest for the purpose of substituting or supplementing molecules derived from oil. As a result, an innovative conversion of wood extractives may well present an economic, social and environmental opportunity. The aim of our study is to better assess the prospects for the emergence of a new chemical conversion of wood and wood by-products in the Grand Est region basing ourselves on opinions and feelings of players in the forestry and forest-based industry and on the chemicals sector in this region and neighbouring ones. Our results pertain to three areas: forest industry corporate strategies for processing wood by-products, the perceptions players have of the emergence of a forest/extractive chemicals industry and of the prospects for such an industry to become established in the medium term. We naturally believe these results need to be more thoroughly researched so as to more precisely spell out the conditions for such an industry to be born.La biomasse forestière peut être une source de molécules d’intérêt dans le but de substituer ou de compléter les molécules pétro-sourcées. Par conséquent, une valorisation innovante des extractibles du bois semble être une opportunité économique, sociale et environnementale. L’objectif de notre étude est de mieux cerner les perspectives d’émergence d’une nouvelle valorisation chimique des connexes bois pour la région Grand Est, à partir des avis et ressentis des acteurs de la filière forêt-bois et de la valorisation chimique de cette région ainsi que de territoires voisins. Nos résultats se portent sur trois axes : les stratégies de valorisation des connexes des entreprises de la filière forêt-bois, les perceptions des acteurs sur l’émergence d’une filière forêt-chimie, et les perspectives de mise en place d’une telle filière à moyen terme. Nous conviendrons tout de même que les résultats doivent être approfondis dans le cadre de perspectives de recherche pour préciser les conditions de la mise en œuvre de cette filière

Adhesive bond testing between composite laminates by laser shockwave loading

"Assembling materials by adhesive bonding has several advantages compared to other joining methods such as the use of fasteners or welding. Fasteners require drilling holes in the parts to be joined and both fastening and welding require significant investment in machinery. For metals, welded joints also generally produce a mechanically weaker heat affected zone. Adhesive bonding also has significant advantages for polymer-matrix composites. Drilling through composites has the drawback of cutting load-bearing fibers with adverse effects of possible delamination and excessive tool wear. It may also be economically advantageous to bond several small parts to make a large structure instead of having it co-cured. However, for all materials, the use of adhesive bonding for loadbearing structures is impeded by the absence of reliable nondestructive methods that can guarantee the strength of the joint, and in particular are able to very reliably identify the presence of near zerostrength \u201ckissing bonds\u201d [1]. Kissing bonds are undetectable by conventional ultrasonic inspection since the return echo from the interface in the pulse-echo technique does not depend upon the bond strength and only requires mechanical contact between the adherends. This is also the case for the transmitted echo. Although there have been many attempts to develop other ultrasonic approaches, such as using waves that propagate essentially along the bond line, none of these approaches has succeeded in detecting a weak bond other than those that are weakened by defects such disbonds or porosity [1-3]. These defects can be detected by the well established ultrasonic inspection technique and in the case of porosity, also by x-ray radiography. Among possible causes of weak bonds are contamination of surfaces prior to bonding, inadequate surface preparation, degradation of the adhesive from improper storage, and inadequate mixing ratio for two-part adhesives. In all these cases, there can be good mechanical contact without defects, combined with poor mechanical strength, undetectable by established ultrasonic inspection techniques. Ultrasonic techniques only apply weak stresses to the bond line and such weak stresses cannot reveal characteristics that are only apparent by applying significant stresses, like in destructive tests. Therefore, a reliable technique to identify such weak bonds requires application of a strong tensile stress across the bond line. A convenient approach that has been previously studied for evaluating the dhesion of coatings to their substrate and fibers to their matrix uses a pulsed laser to generate a large amplitude wave (shockwave) that propagates throughout the material [4-9]. This wave, being initially in compression, is converted by reflection on the back surface of the sample into a strong tensile wave that can pry apart the sample and disbond the assembly. This approach has been more recently extended to proof testing of adhesive bonds between carbon-epoxy laminates [10,11]. To probe bond strength, higher and higher tensile stress loading is applied by increasing the laser pulse energy step by step. A \u201cgood\u201d joint will be unaffected under a given stress level whereas a weaker one will be damaged, allowing this method to evaluate the bond strength. The principle of the method is described next in more detail. We then describe how the ethod is implemented, the instrumentation that has been developed and the fabrication of weak bond test specimens. Finally we present some results and indicate erspectives and future developments.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye