Stergios Goutianos

Effect of hardness of martensite and ferrite on void formation in dual phase steel

Abstract The influence of the hardness of martensite and ferrite phases in dual phase steel on void formation has been investigated by in situ tensile loading in a scanning electron microscope. Microstructural observations have shown that most voids form in martensite by evolving four steps: plastic deformation of martensite, crack initiation at the martensite/ferrite interface, crack propagation leading to fracture of martensite particles and void formation by separation of particle fragments. It has been identified that the hardness effect is associated with the following aspects: strain partitioning between martensite and ferrite, strain localisation and critical strain required for void formation. Reducing the hardness difference between martensite and ferrite phases by tempering has been shown to be an effective approach to retard the void formation in martensite and thereby is expected to improve the formability.

Modification of Glassy Carbon Surfaces by Atmospheric Pressure Cold Plasma Torch

The effect of plasma treatment on glassy carbon (GC) surfaces was studied with adhesion improvement in mind. A newly constructed remote plasma source was used to treat GC plates. Pure He and a dilute NH3/He mixture were used as feed gases. Optical emission spectroscopy was performed for plasma torch diagnostics. The treatment resulted in surface etching, substantially enhanced by NH3, as well as a roughening of the surface as measured by atomic force microscopy. Furthermore, the treated area showed an increased wettability indicating the addition of polar functional groups to the surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the introduction of several oxygen and nitrogen containing surface functional groups. The adhesion to epoxy was dramatically improved after exposure to either plasma, the effect being largest when NH3 was present in the feed gas.

Effect of Processing Conditions on Fracture Resistance and Cohesive Laws of Binderfree All-Cellulose Composites

The fracture properties of all-cellulose composites without matrix were studied using Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) sandwich specimens loaded with pure monotonically increasing bending moments, which give stable crack growth. The experiments were conducted in an environmental scanning electron microscope to a) perform accurate measurements of both the fracture energy for crack initiation and the fracture resistance and b) observe the microscale failure mechanisms especially in the the wake of the crack tip. Since the mechanical behaviour of the all-cellulose composites was non-linear, a general method was first developed to obtain fracture resistance values from the DCB specimens taking into account the non-linear material response. The binderfree all-cellulose composites were prepared by a mechanical refinement process that allows the formation of intramolecular bonds between the cellulose molecules during the drying process. Defibrilation of the raw cellulose material is done in wet medium in a paper-like process. Panels with different refining time were tested and it was found than an increase in fibre fibrillation results in a lower fracture resistance.

Plasma polymerized thin films of maleic anhydride and 1,2-methylenedioxybenzene for improving adhesion to carbon surfaces

Low power 2-phase AC plasma polymerization has been used to surface modify glassy carbon substrates that are used as an experimental model for carbon fibers in reinforced composites. In order to probe the role of carboxylic acid density on the interfacial adhesion strength a combination of different plasma powers and monomer compositions was used. Maleic anhydride (MAH) and 1,2-methylenedioxybenzene (MDOB) were plasma deposited separately and as mixtures to create layers with different surface compositions. In all cases the MAH was hydrolyzed to form carboxylic acid groups. Some carboxylic acid are present on the MDOB surface as a result of the fragmentation processes in the plasma. Chemical and physical changes were investigated as a function of plasma power at constant polymerization time. Surface chemistry analysis was performed with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and attenuated total veflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Atomic force microscopy was used to measure the thickness of the...

Comparison of fracture properties of cellulose nanopaper, printing paper and buckypaper

Cellulose nanopaper consists of a dense fibrous self-binding network composed of cellulose nanofibres connected by physical entanglements, hydrogen bonding, etc. Compared with conventional printing paper, cellulose nanopaper has higher strength and modulus because of stronger fibres and inter-fibre bonding. The aim of this paper is to investigate the fracture properties of cellulose nanopaper using double edge notch tensile tests on samples with different notch lengths. It was found that strength is insensitive to notch length. A cohesive zone model was used to describe the fracture behaviour of notched cellulose nanopaper. Fracture energy was extracted from the cohesive zone model and divided into an energy component consumed by damage in the material and a component related to pull-out or bridging of nanofibres between crack surfaces which was not facilitated due to the limited fibre lengths for the case of nanopapers. For comparison, printing paper which has longer fibres than nanopaper was tested and modelled to demonstrate the importance of fibre length. Buckypaper, a fibrous network made of carbon nanotubes connected through van der Waals forces and physical entanglements, was also investigated to elaborate on the influence of inter-fibre connections.

Surface modification of nanofibrillated cellulose films by atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge

A dielectric barrier discharge in a gas mixture of tetrafluoromethane (CF4) and O2 was used for tailoring the surface properties of nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) films. The surface chemical composition of plasma-modified NFC was characterized by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, while surface morphology was illustrated by atomic force microscopy. Wettability was characterized through the static sessile drop method. The adhesion between NFC and polylactide (PLA) laminated films was tested by the double cantilever beam technique. As a result of atmospheric pressure plasma treatment, the water contact angle of NFC films increased and the values were comparable with those of PLA films. On the other hand, surface chemical characterization revealed inhomogeneity of the plasma treatment and limited improvement in adhesion between NFC and PLA films. Further research in this direction is required in order to enhance the uniformity of the plasma treatment results.

Selective Laser Melting of Hot Gas Turbine Components: Materials, Design and Manufacturing Aspects

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) allows the design and manufacturing of novel parts and structures with improved performance e.g. by incorporating complex and more efficient cooling schemes in hot gas turbine parts. In contrast to conventional manufacturing of removing material, with SLM parts are built additively to nearly net shape. This allows the fabrication of arbitrary complex geometries that cannot be made by conventional manufacturing techniques. However, despite the powerful capabilities of SLM, a number of issues (e.g. part orientation, support structures, internal stresses), have to be considered in order to manufacture cost-effective and high quality parts at an industrial scale. These issues are discussed in the present work from an engineering point of view with the aim to provide simple quidelines to produce high quality SLM parts.

Derivation of Path Independent Coupled Mix Mode Cohesive Laws from Fracture Resistance Curves

A generalised approach is presented to derive coupled mixed mode cohesive laws described with physical parameters such as peak traction, critical opening, fracture energy and cohesive shape. The approach is based on deriving mix mode fracture resistance curves from an effective mix mode cohesive law at different mode mixities. From the fracture resistance curves, the normal and shear stresses of the cohesive laws can be obtained by differentiation. Since, the mixed mode cohesive laws are obtained from a fracture resistance curve (potential function), path independence is automatically satisfied. The effective mix mode cohesive law can have different shape and cohesive law parameters at different mode mixities so that the approach can be applied to various material failure models.