Mechanical and fatigue properties of long carbon fiber reinforced plastics at low temperature

The mechanical properties of long unidirectional (UD) and crossply (CR) carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) were investigated at a low temperature (−196 °C). The CFRPs were fabricated from 60 vol.% carbon fiber and epoxy resin. The bending strength of the UD-CFRP was approximately twice that of the CR-CFRP. The high strength of the UD-CFRP was directly attributed to the amount of carbon fiber oriented along the loading direction: 60% for UD-CFRP compared with 30% for CR-CFRP. The low-temperature (−196 °C) tensile and fatigue strengths of the UD-CFRP were over 1.5 times greater than those at room temperature (20 °C). This was attributed to the increased epoxy strength at low temperatures along with the internal compressive stress arising from the different thermal expansion coefficients of the carbon fiber and epoxy. Both the epoxy strength and internal compressive strength were employed as factors in a compound law to numerically estimate the low-temperature tensile strength. This work presents a systematic analysis for changes in the CFRP material properties at low temperatures

Effects of loading contact on electric-power generation of lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric ceramic plate

To better understand the generation of electric power for piezoelectric PbZrTiO3 (PZT) ceramic plate (phi 25 mm), an attempt was made to investigate experimentally and numerically electric-power generation characteristics during cyclic bending under various loading fixtures (phi 0-phi 20 mm), i.e., different contact areas. Increasing the load-contact area on the PZT ceramic leads to a nonlinear decrease in the generated voltage. Decreasing contact area basically enhances the generated voltage, although the voltage saturates during loading when the contact area is less than phi 5 mm. A similar voltage is generated for phi 0 and phi 5 mm, which is attributed to strain status (ratio of compressive and tensile strain) and material failure due to different stress distribution in the PZT ceramic. On the basis of the obtained electric generation voltage, suitable loading conditions are clarified by loading with the phi 5 mm fixture, which generates a higher voltage and a longer lifetime of the PZT ceramic. From this approach, it is appeared that the area contact with the area ratio of 0.04 (phi 5 mm/phi 20 mm) is suitable to obtain the high efficiency of the electric voltage

Failure Characteristics of PZT Ceramic During Cyclic Loading

Failure characteristics of PbZrTiO3 (PZT) ceramic plates are investigated under cyclic loading with rods of different diameters, i.e., different contact areas (0–20 mm). The voltage generated under loading by the rod with the smallest diameter (contact area) is higher than those for the larger contact areas. This is due to the high strain induced in the PZT ceramic. However, the opposite trend is seen when the loading exceeds 60 N, i.e., the voltage obtained for the smallest contact area is lower. This is caused by failure of the PZT ceramic. The voltage generated under cyclic loading by the 5-mm, 10-mm, 15-mm, and 20-mm rods drops by about 10% in the early cyclic loading stage, but then remains constant until 10,000 cycles. The reduction in voltage is influenced mainly by 90° domain switching. In this case, many grains (about 15% of the total) are switched: a random domain orientation is switched to the ⟨100⟩ direction perpendicular to the ceramic plate, i.e., a crystalline texture is formed. In contrast, there is significant reduction in voltage under loading by the 0-mm rod (point contact). As the extent of domain switching for the 0-mm rod is similar to that for the other rods, the reduction in electrical generation can be attributed to crack generation resulting from the high deformation

Friction-Induced Martensitic Transformation and Wear Properties of Stainless Steel under Dry and Wet Conditions

The wear characteristics of SUS304 and SUS316 stainless steels were evaluated at the rotation speeds of 100 m/s, 200 m/s, and 300 m/s under dry and wet conditions. The transition of friction-induced martensite occurred in wear-affected regions of two materials, regardless of the wear test conditions. The specific wear rates (W-s) of both stainless steels increase with increasing rotation speeds, regardless of the circumstances. Moreover,W(s)of SUS304 and SUS316, obtained under dry conditions, is significantly higher than that of SUS304 and SUS316 obtained under wet conditions, respectively. This is because that the water film on the wet ring can act as a liquid lubricant between the ring and the block during the tests. After the wear tests, the hardness changes of both SUS304 and SUS316 are much higher under dry conditions, compared to those under wet conditions

Mechanical Properties of Composite Materials

An examination has been made of the mechanical and failure properties of several composite materials, such as a short and a long carbon fiber reinforced plastic (short- and long-CFRP) and metal based composite material. The short CFRP materials were used for a recycled CFRP which fabricated by the following process: the CFRP, consisting of epoxy resin with carbon fiber, is injected to a rectangular plate cavity after mixing with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin with different weight fractions of CFRP. The fatigue and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) increased with increasing CFRP content. These correlations, however, break down, especially for tensile strength, as the CFPR content becomes more than 70%. Influence of sample temperature on the bending strength of the long-CFRP was investigated, and it appears that the strength slightly degreases with increasing the temperature, due to the weakness in the matrix. Broken fiber and pull-out or debonding between the fiber and matrix were related to the main failure of the short- and long-CFRP samples. Mechanical properties of metal based composite materials have been also investigated, where fiber-like high hardness CuAl2 structure is formed in aluminum matrix. Excellent mechanical properties were obtained in this alloy, e.g., the higher strength and the higher ductility, compared tothe same alloy without the fiber-like structure. There are strong anisotropic effects on the mechanical properties due to the fiber-like metal composite in a soft Al based matrix

Smart Energy Materials of PZT Ceramics

To better understand the material properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics, the domain-switching characteristics and electric power generation characteristics have been investigated during loading and unloading by using various experimental techniques. Furthermore, the influence of oscillation condition on the electrical power generation properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric ceramics has been investigated. It is found that the power generation is directly attributed to the applied load and wave mode. The voltage rises instantly to the maximum level under square-wave mode, although the voltage increases gradually under triangular-wave mode. After this initial increase, there is a rapid fall to zero, followed by generation of increasingly negative voltage as the applied load is removed for all wave modes. Variation of the electric voltage is reflected by the cyclic loading at higher loading frequencies. On the basis of the obtained experimental results for the wave modes, the electrical power generation characteristics of PZT ceramics are proposed, and the voltages generated during loading and unloading are accurately estimated. The electric generation value is decrease with increasing the cyclic number due to the material failure, e.g., domain switching and crack. The influence of domain switching on the mechanical properties PZT piezoelectric ceramics is clarified, and 90 degree domain switching occurs after the load is applied to the PZT ceramic directly. Note that, in this paper, our experimental results obtained in our previous works were introduce

Material Properties of Various Cast Aluminum Alloys Made Using a Heated Mold Continuous Casting Technique with and without Ultrasonic Vibration

This work was carried out to develop high-quality cast aluminum alloys using a new casting technology. For this purpose, commercial Al alloys were created by heated mold continuous casting (HMC) with ultrasonic vibration (UV). With the HMC process, the grain size and the crystal orientation of the Al alloys were controlled, i.e., fine grains with a uniformly organized lattice formation. In addition, an attempt was made to modify the microstructural formation by cavitation. These microstructural characteristics made excellent mechanical properties. Using UV in the continuous casting process, more fine and spherical grains were slightly disordered, which was detected using electron backscattered diffraction. The mechanical properties of the UV HMC Al alloys were slightly higher than those for the related cast Al alloys without UV. Moreover, the severe vibration caused higher mechanical properties. The lattice and dislocation characteristics of the cast samples made with and without UV processes were analyzed systematically using electron backscattered diffraction

Mechanical Properties of Composite Materials

An examination has been made of the mechanical and failure properties of several composite materials, such as a short and a long carbon fiber reinforced plastic (short- and long-CFRP) and metal based composite material. The short CFRP materials were used for a recycled CFRP which fabricated by the following process: the CFRP, consisting of epoxy resin with carbon fiber, is injected to a rectangular plate cavity after mixing with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin with different weight fractions of CFRP. The fatigue and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) increased with increasing CFRP content. These correlations, however, break down, especially for tensile strength, as the CFPR content becomes more than 70%. Influence of sample temperature on the bending strength of the long-CFRP was investigated, and it appears that the strength slightly decreases with increasing the temperature, due to the weakness in the matrix. Broken fiber and pull-out or debonding between the fiber and matrix were related to the main failure of the short- and long-CFRP samples. Mechanical properties of metal based composite materials have been also investigated, where fiber-like high hardness CuAl2 structure is formed in aluminum matrix. Excellent mechanical properties were obtained in this alloy, e.g., the higher strength and the higher ductility, compared tothe same alloy without the fiber-like structure. There are strong anisotropic effects on the mechanical properties due to the fiber-like metal composite in a soft Al based matrix

Smart Energy Materials of PZT Ceramics

To better understand the material properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics, the domain-switching characteristics and electric power generation characteristics have been investigated during loading and unloading by using various experimental techniques. Furthermore, the influence of oscillation condition on the electrical power generation properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric ceramics has been investigated. It is found that the power generation is directly attributed to the applied load and wave mode. The voltage rises instantly to the maximum level under square-wave mode, although the voltage increases gradually under triangular-wave mode. After this initial increase, there is a rapid fall to zero, followed by generation of increasingly negative voltage as the applied load is removed for all wave modes. Variation of the electric voltage is reflected by the cyclic loading at higher loading frequencies. On the basis of the obtained experimental results for the wave modes, the electrical power generation characteristics of PZT ceramics are proposed, and the voltages generated during loading and unloading are accurately estimated. The electric generation value is decrease with increasing the cyclic number due to the material failure, e.g., domain switching and crack. The influence of domain switching on the mechanical properties PZT piezoelectric ceramics is clarified, and 90 degree domain switching occurs after the load is applied to the PZT ceramic directly. Note that, in this paper, our experimental results obtained in our previous works were introduced [1,2]

Fatigue properties of a nanocrystalline titanium based bulk metallic glassy alloy

To obtain a better understanding of the fatigue properties and crack growth characteristics of a nanocrystalline titanium based bulk metal glasses (Ti-BMG) made by vacuumed casting process, the fatigue failure mechanisms of Ti-BMG have been investigated via S – N and da/dN – ΔK tests. For comparison, the crystalline Ti alloy Ti-Al6V4 was also employed. The fatigue strength in the early fatigue stage was high for Ti-BMG due to the high tensile strength. However, the fatigue strength decreased significantly in the late fatigue stage. The higher slope of S – N relation was detected for Ti-BMG, which crossed that for the Ti-Al6V4 sample around 5 × 103 cycles. In the higher Region II, the fatigue crack growth rate was of similar level for both Ti-BMG and Ti-Al6V4 due to their similar strain energy. In the lower Region II, however, the lower crack growth resistance was obtained for Ti-BMG, as compared to Ti-Al6V4. This was attributed to the high crack driving force for Ti-BMG, caused by the weak roughness-induced crack closure. Such crack closing characteristics of Ti-BMG were systematically investigated by various experimental techniques. Keywords: Crack closure, Metallic glass, Titanium, Crack growth, Fatigue failure mechanis