Mohit Pant

Numerical simulation of adiabatic and isothermal cracks in functionally graded materials using optimized element-free Galerkin method

ABSTRACT In the present work, element-free Galerkin method (EFGM) is modified and implemented to simulate thermoelastic fracture in functionally graded materials (FGMs). By solving the simple heat transfer problem, the temperature distribution over the domain can be obtained which is later used as an input to determine the displacement and stress fields. The crack surfaces are modeled under adiabatic and isothermal conditions. To capture stress fields around the crack tip, intrinsic enrichment criterion is used. A modified conservative M-integral technique has been used to extract the stress intensity factors (SIFs) for the simulated problems. A new algorithm to ensure equal number of nodes in support domain has been suggested. The optimum size of support domain is derived by performing an optimization of predefined EFGM parameters, namely, total number of nodes in problem geometry, Gauss quadrature, and number of nodes in support domain. Taguchi L-16 orthogonal array is used to obtain optimized values of these parameters. The results of analysis by optimized EFGM (OEFG) show about 80% reduction in computational time and an improvement in accuracy over EFGM. The present analysis shows that the results obtained by OEFG are in good agreement with those available in the literature.

Fatigue Crack Growth Analysis of Functionally Graded Materials by EFGM and XFEM

The present work investigates the fatigue life of a functionally graded material (FGM) made of aluminum alloy and alumina (ceramic) under cyclic mixed mode loading. Both element free Galerkin method (EFGM) and extended finite element method (XFEM) are employed to simulate and compare the fatigue crack growth. Partition of unity is used to track the crack path in XFEM while a new enrichment criterion is proposed to track the crack path in EFGM. The fatigue lives of aluminum alloy, FGM and an equivalent composite (having the same composition as of FGM) are compared for a major edge crack and center crack in a rectangular domain. The proposed enrichment criterion not only simulates the crack propagation but it also extends the applicability and robustness of EFGM for accurate estimation of fatigue life of component.

Meshfree Methods: A Comprehensive Review of Applications

The meshfree methods in computational mechanics have been actively proposed and increasingly developed in order to overcome some drawbacks in the conventional numerical methods. Over past three decades meshfree methods have found their way into many different application areas ranging from classical astronomical problems to solid mechanics analysis, fluid flow problems, vibration analysis, heat transfer and optimization to the numerical solution of all kind of (partial) differential equation problems. The present work is an effort to provide a comprehensive review of various Meshfree methods, their classification, underlying methodology, application area along with their advantages and limitations. Key contributions of mesh free techniques to the area of fracture mechanics have been discussed with applications of element free Galerkin method (EFGM) to fracture analysis as primary concern.

Tribological Behavior of Ti3Al2.5V Alloy Sliding against EN-31 Steel under Dry Condition

ABSTRACT This article aims to study the friction and wear behavior of Ti3Al2.5V alloy sliding against EN-31 steel under dry condition using a multi-tribotester. The effect of variation in load and sliding velocity on wear rate, average coefficient of friction, and contact temperature has been studied and analysis of wear debris has been carried out. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were employed to study the morphology of the wear tracks and deduce microchemical information at the elemental level of worn samples, respectively. Results reveal that the wear rate of Ti-3Al-2.5V increases with increasing sliding velocity and increasing normal load with few exceptions. The average coefficient of friction decreases as the normal load increases with exceptions at some loads. SEM micrographs of worn samples obtained at different loads and sliding velocities show the formation of wear tracks on the surface due to ploughing and flaking of the matrix. The main mechanism responsible for wear of Ti3Al2.5V alloy sample is rupture of the matrix and abrasion. Wear debris analysis shows irregular-shaped wear particles with very sharp edges that appeared to be plastically deformed at high sliding velocity, whereas the wear debris is very loose and fine at lowest sliding velocity.

Modeling and Optimization of Friction and Wear Characteristics of Ti3Al2.5V Alloy Under Dry Sliding Condition

Modeling of dry sliding friction and wear behavior of Ti3Al2.5V alloy sliding against EN31 steel using a multi-tribotester has been presented. Mathematical model equations in the form of natural log transformation for wear rate (WR), average coefficient of friction (μa), and a square root transformation for maximum contact temperature (Tm) considering the effect of tribological variables have been developed and validated by comparing them with the experimental results. The authors claim novelty with regard to modeling and optimization of friction and wear characteristics of Ti-3Al2.5V alloy. The results reveal that the magnitude of wear rate and maximum contact temperature increases with increase in sliding velocity and increasing normal load with few exceptions. Whereas average coefficient of friction first increases with increasing sliding velocity up to 2.51 m/s, and then decreases at highest sliding velocity. The load is found to have strongest influence on both wear rate and average coefficient of friction followed by sliding velocity, whereas sliding velocity has strongest influence on the maximum contact temperature followed by load. The perturbation plot results are also in accordance with the analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis. The theoretical and experimental results have an average error of 5.06%, 1.78%, and 1.42%, respectively, for wear rate, average coefficient of friction, and maximum contact temperature. Optimization resulted in a maximum desirability of 0.508 at a load of 60 N and a sliding velocity of 1.5 m/s. For these values, the predicted minimum wear rate is 0.0001144 g/m, the coefficient of friction is 0.3181, and the tool-tip temperature is 59.03 °C.

Numerical Simulation of Fracture in Coatings Subjected to Sudden Temperature Change Using Element-Free Galerkin Method

The article presented broadens the dexterity of element-free Galerkin method (EFGM) for analysis of thermal fracture in case of materials with coatings under plane stress conditions. A conjugated modeling approach developed and employed in this work by amalgamation of jump function approach and enrichment criterion. This approach allows the successful modeling of multiple weak and strong discontinuities in one domain. To distinguish the interface of two materials, jump function methodology is used, while for capturing the stress field oscillations around the crack tip are intrinsic enrichment criterion is put to use. The interaction integral scheme for thermal fracture has been modified to compensate thermal strains for generating mode-I stress intensity factors (SIFs). The effect of mechanical properties on crack under sudden temperature change is compared using three cases in which Zinc and Steel substrates are used (Steel/Zinc/Steel configuration and Zinc/Steel/Zinc configuration) and compared with results of mono-material configuration.