M E Shashi Kumar

Mechanical characterization and fracture toughness of electroplated cadmium coating of Al –Zn alloy, T6

Fracture toughness, Hardness and Tensile Strength of the Aluminum alloy 7075-T6 coated with Cadmium with varying thickness of 10µ and 20µ were investigated. Electroplating Cadmium coating process gives excellent corrosion resistance, provides low coefficient of friction which increases the surface hardness of the material. It also provides a uniform and dense coating, in many cases, maintains surface finish as it was before plating. The specimens prepared in line with ASTM E-8M and E-399 standard were subjected to various tests. The results shows thatthe hardness of the EC coted specimens has increased by 10% and increases with increase in thickness, butthe thicker the EC coating, more brittle is the material. The Ultimate Tensile Strength also increased by 5% compared to the uncoated counterpart. There was a steep increase in plain strain fracture toughness with the increase in the coating thickness for the Aluminum 7075–T6 alloy in TL orientation. The crack growth was Unstable due to the strong adhesion...

Finite Element Model Development for Structural Integrity of Shafts with Circumferential and Arbitrary Oriented Cracks

Tubular drive shafts are subjected to combined axial tension, torsional moment and bending moment. The structural integrity of the driveshaft is investigated by evaluating the change in strength, stiffness and the life of the driveshaft with the change in the crack length. A review of driveshaft failure analysis case histories identifies circumferential crack and arbitrarily oriented cracks to be critical. The singular stress field around a crack tip in a general shell structure is characterized by mixed mode membrane and bending stress intensity factors. Accurate determination of these stress intensity factors (less than 1%) are carried out by a subprogram named as 3MBSIF. The validation of Finite element model using ABAQUS and post processing subprogram 3MBSIF together is carried out using benchmarks, a set of standard test problems with known target solutions. Further SIFs are derived for cylindrical shell and the driveshaft under the action of bending moment. To quantify the change in the compliance of cylindrical shell and the driveshaft with change in crack lengths is studied by performing Modal Analysis. It was observed that the variation in frequency is higher for smaller crack angles.

Modal Analysis of Annular Plate with Crack and its Effect on Natural Frequency

The study of the dynamic behavior of annular plates with circumferential cracks can find many applications in several machine components such as flywheels, clutch plates, compact discs etc. A crack on a structural member introduces a local increase of flexibility in that region then; this affects the static and dynamic characteristics. The effects of cracks on the dynamic characteristics of structures, especially on the natural frequencies and modes, were extensively studied. In this study, the natural frequencies of annular plates with circumferential cracks are investigated by using finite element method. The cracks were non-propagating and open. The annular plate with different cracks was subjected to different boundary conditions and final variation in the natural frequency was obtained, which was compared with the theoretical frequency and the change in the natural frequency was studied. The results of this study with improved elements are compared with the theoretical results in the literature. It is observed that the location and the number of cracks have various effects on the natural frequencies related to the vibration modes.