W. W. Bose Filho

Thermal, Mechanical, and Hygroscopic Behavior of Sisal Fiber/Polyurethane Resin-based Composites

This work reports hygroscopic, thermal, and mechanical properties of biomass composites comprising sisal fiber reinforcing castor oil PU resin. The effects of reinforcement geometry and alkaline treatment of fibers were evaluated. In general, alkaline treatment improved quasi-static tensile properties of composites with short randomly oriented and long aligned sisal fibers, respectively. On the other hand, an adverse effect of alkaline treatment was observed in the mechanical behavior of the composite with bidirectional fabric architecture. The outstanding influence of moisture on thermo-mechanical properties of biomass composites was confirmed through thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry techniques. Dynamical-mechanical thermal analysis showed increased storage modulus (i.e., stiffness) and decreased damping properties of biomass composites as compared to neat PU matrix. Dynamical-mechanical testing also detected unexpected decrease on glass transition temperature of composites in regard to the neat polymer resin; resin plasticization due to moisturized fibers and/or alkaline treatment residues was identified as probably the culprit.

SLOT MACHINING EFFECTS ON RESIDUAL STRESS MEASUREMENTS USING THE CRACK COMPLIANCE METHOD

The main aim of this paper was to evaluate the practical aspects and compare two of the most common machining techniques employed in the crack compliance (incremental slitting) method for the determination of residual stresses, namely wire electrodischarge machining (WEDM) and circular abrasive saws. For the circular saws, the effect of the rotational speed and blade thickness was also evaluated. Results show that the associated level of errors introduced during thin saw machining can be as low as the results obtained by WEDM machining. However, for practical reasons, WEDM machining offers a better control of cut increment length than sawing techniques. Additionally, higher rotational saw speeds are likely to introduce larger errors in strain readings probably due to higher frictional heat and plasticity generation ahead of the slot tip.

Grain-size effects in the quasi-static fracture resistance of a thermally embrittled RPV steel (quenched and tempered microstructures)

The elastic-plastic fracture toughness and crack extension behavior under the quasi-static loading regimen of several thermally embrittled conditions of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steel were assessed on the basis of microstructural parameters. It was discovered that the bainite packet size is the fracture properties controlling parameter of single-phase quenched and tempered microstructures. Results were found in close agreement to those obtained in a parallel study with dual-phase annealed microstructures derived from the same low alloy steel. Similarly, it was concluded that a Hall-Petch type relationship correlates J-fracture mechanics criteria to the grain size.

Effect of salt-water fog on fatigue crack nucleation of Al and Al-Li alloys

Fatigue and corrosion-fatigue tests were performed to quantify the fatigue properties of AA2524-T3 and AA2198-T851 Al alloys. High cycle axial fatigue tests were carried out under air and salt-water fog conditions. In air, the specimens were fatigue tested at a frequency of 50 Hz, using specimens with and without preconditioning in a salt spray chamber, and for the corrosion fatigue condition, the tests took place at a frequency of 30 Hz in a salt-water fog condition. In all cases it was used a sinusoidal waveform and a stress ratio (R) of 0.1. The results indicate that the saline environment had a deleterious effect on the fatigue life of the two aluminum alloys. AA2524-T3 exhibited a better fatigue strength than AA2198-T851 when fatigue tested in air. However, considering the corrosion fatigue test in a saline fog environment an inverse behavior was observed with the AA2198-T851 exhibiting higher fatigue strength.

Evaluating the Berkovitz Method to Predict Fatigue Loads in Mechanical Failure Investigations

This article evaluates a proposed analytical-experimental methodology by which the fatigue load levels leading to failure of structural components is inferred. The so-called Berkovitz method is recognized to depend fundamentally on a 1:1 relationship of micro- and macroscopic crack propagation rates. Compact tensile specimens of a high-strength aluminum alloy were fatigue tested at room temperature according to ASTM-E647, in plane-stress and plane-strain conditions, respectively. Unloading elastic compliance and low-magnification visual techniques monitored crack propagation rates. Topographical survey of fractured surfaces was carried out in a scanning electron microscope to measure striation spacing at constant-ΔK locations. By inputting these values in the Berkovitz model, the load spectrum applied during the fatigue testing could be derived. Research results have shown that, if correctly and carefully used, the assessed procedure provides accurate estimation of fatigue loads, so constituting a powerful tool during failure analysis of mechanical components operating in constant amplitude loading conditions.

Modeling of Stress Ratio Effect on Al Alloy SAE AMS 7475-T7351: Influence of Loading Direction

The main goal of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of Walker’s equation in collapsing the fatigue crack propagation data of a SAE AMS 7475-T7351 aluminum alloy loaded either longitudinally (L-T) or transversely (T-L) to the rolling direction. T-L orientation testpieces presented lower ductility and fracture toughness values than L-T orientation. As a consequence, during the fatigue crack propagation tests, T-L testpieces exhibited a stronger influence of monotonic modes of fracture, resulting in higher Paris exponent values,m. Walker’s model was able to collapse fatigue crack propagation data of L-T test pieces at different applied stress ratios,R. However, for the T-L orientation, due to theR ratio dependency onm andC, simply averaging ofm values for the calculations of Walker’s exponent proved to be inefficient. A simple analytical procedure was proposed by the authors to modify Walker’s model to take into account such effect. For T-L test pieces, when Walker’s model is modified by considering both Paris’s exponent as well the coefficient as a function of theR ratio, the fatigue crack growth data collapses within a narrow band, thus allowing predictions to be made satisfactorily. The collapsed band is even narrower if the empirical relationm=a+blogC is used instead of simple polynomial equations due to a better correlation coefficient.