Hydrogen embrittlement risk of high strength galvanized steel in contact with alkaline media

The critical conditions for hydrogenembrittlement (HE) risk of highstrengthgalvanizedsteel (HSGS) wires and tendons exposed to alkaline concrete pore solutions have been evaluated by means of electrochemical and mechanical testing. There is a relationship between the hydrogenembrittlementrisk in HSGS and the length of hydrogen evolution process in alkalinemedia. The galvanizedsteel suffers anodic dissolution simultaneously to the hydrogen evolution which does not stop until the passivation process is completed. HSGS wires exposed to a very highalkalinemedia have showed HE risk with loss in mechanical properties only if long periods with hydrogen evolution process take place with a simultaneous intensive galvanized coating reduction.

Effects of hydrogen assisted stress corrosion on damage tolerance of a high-strength duplex stainless steel wire for prestressing concrete

The study brings new insights on the hydrogen assisted stress corrosion on damage tolerance of a high-strength duplex stainless steel wire which concerns its potential use as active reinforcement for concrete prestressing. The adopted procedure was to experimentally state the effect of hydrogen on the damage tolerance of cylindrical smooth and precracked wire specimens exposed to stress corrosion cracking using the aggressive medium of the standard test developed by FIP (International Prestressing Federation). Stress corrosion testing, mechanical fracture tests and scanning electron microscopy analysis allowed the damage assessment, and explain the synergy between mechanical loading and environment action on the failure sequence of the wire. In presence of previous damage, hydrogen affects the wire behavior in a qualitative sense, consistently to the fracture anisotropy attributable to cold drawing, but it does not produce quantitative changes since the steel fully preserves its damage tolerance.

On loader productivity, rock strength and explosive energy in metal mining

Twenty production blasts in two open pit mines were monitored, in rocks with medium to very high strength. Three different blasting agents (ANFO, watergel and emulsion blend) were used, with powder factors ranging between 0.88 and 1.45 kg/m3. Excavators were front loaders and rope shovels. Mechanical properties of the rock, blasting characteristics and mucking rates were carefully measured. A model for the calculation of the productivity of excavators is developed thereof, in which the production rate results as a product of an ideal, maximum, productivity rate times an operating efficiency. The maximum rate is a function of the dipper capacity and the efficiency is a function of rock density, strength, and explosive energy concentration in the rock. The model is statistically significant and explains up to 92 % of the variance of the production rate measurements.

Laser Shock Processing: An Emerging Technique for the Enhancement of Surface Properties and Fatigue Life of High Strength Metal Alloys

Profiting by the increasing availability of laser sources delivering intensities above 10 9 W/cm 2 with pulse energies in the range of several Joules and pulse widths in the range of nanoseconds, laser shock processing (LSP) is being consolidating as an effective technology for the improvement of surface mechanical and corrosion resistance properties of metals and is being developed as a practical process amenable to production engineering. The main acknowledged advantage of the laser shock processing technique consists on its capability of inducing a relatively deep compression residual stresses field into metallic alloy pieces allowing an improved mechanical behaviour, explicitly, the life improvement of the treated specimens against wear, crack growth and stress corrosion cracking. Following a short description of the theoretical/computational and experimental methods developed by the authors for the predictive assessment and experimental implementation of LSP treatments, experimental results on the residual stress profiles and associated surface properties modification successfully reached in typical materials (specifically steels and Al and Ti alloys) under different LSP irradiation conditions are presented

Monte Carlo simulation on a system of hard cylinders at a very high packing fraction

Using the Monte Carlo method the behavior of a system of true hard cylinders has been studied. Values of the length-to-breadth ratio L/D and packing fraction η have been chosen similar to those of real nematic liquid crystals. Results include radial distribution function g(r), structure factor S(k), and orientational order parameter M. These results lead to the conclusion that the hard cylinder model may be a useful reference for real mesomorphic phases.

Ripple cancellation technique applied to a synchronous buck converter to achieve very high bandwidth and very high efficiency envelope amplifier

This work presents a single stage converter for a high bandwidth and a high efficiency envelope amplifier. The current ripple cancellation technique is applied to a synchronous buck converter to cancel the output current ripple and to decrease the switching frequency without a reduction in the large signal bandwidth. The converter is modeled and the new design with ripple cancellation circuit is detailed. The advantages of the proposed design are presented and validated experimentally. The transfer function of the output filter of the buck converter with ripple cancellation circuit has been modeled and compared to measurements, showing a good correspondence. Experimental validation is provided at 4MHz of switching frequency for DC and variable output voltage for a sinusoidal and a 64QAM signal. Additional experimental validation of the efficiency improvement is provided, compared to the equivalent design (same bandwidth and output voltage ripple) of the conventional buck converter.

La productividad en la carga, la resistencia de la roca y la energía del explosivo

Twenty production blasts in two open pit mines were monitored, in rocks with medium to very high strength. Three different blasting agents (ANFO, watergel and emulsion blend) were used, with powder factors ranging between 0.88 and 1.45 kg/m3 . Excavators were front loaders and rope shovels. Mechanical properties of the rock, blasting characteristics and mucking rates were carefully measured. A model for the calculation of the productivity of excavators is developed thereof, in which the production rate results as a product of an ideal, maximum, productivity rate times an operating efficiency. The maximum rate is a function of the dipper capacity and the efficiency is a function of rock density, strength, and explosive energy concentration in the rock. The model is statistically significant and explains up to 92 % of the variance of the production rate measurements. RESUMEN Se han analizado veinte voladuras de producción en dos minas a cielo abierto, en rocas con resistencia entre media y muy alta. Se usaron tres agentes de voladura diferentes (ANFO, hidrogel y emulsión mezcla), con consumos específicos entre 0.88 y 1.45 kg/m3 . Las excavadoras eran cargadoras frontales y palas de cables. Se midió cuidadosamente las propiedades de la roca, las características de las voladuras y las velocidades de carga, a partir de las cuales se desarrolla un modelo para el cálculo de la productividad de las excavadoras en el que ésta es función de una productividad máxima o ideal multiplicada por una eficacia operativa. La producción máxima es función de la capacidad del cazo y la eficiencia es función de la densidad y resistencia de la roca, y de la concentración energética del explosivo en la roca. El modelo tiene significación estadística y explica un 92 % de la varianza de las medidas de velocidad.

Ballistic performance of nanocrystalline and nanotwinned ultrafine crystal steel

Because of their remarkable mechanical properties, nanocrystalline metals have been the focus of much research in recent years. Refining their grain size to the nanometer range (<100 nm) effectively reduces their dislocation mobility, thus achieving very high yield strength and surface hardness—as predicted by the Hall–Petch relation—as well as higher strain-rate sensitivity. Recent works have additionally suggested that nanocrystalline metals exhibit an even higher compressive strength under shock loading. However, the increase in strength of these materials is generally accompanied by an important reduction in ductility. As an alternative, efforts have been focused on ultrafine crystals, i.e. polycrystals with a grain size in the range of 500 nm to 1 μm, in which “growth twins” (twins introduced inside the grain before deformation) act as barriers against dislocation movement, thus increasing the strength in a similar way as nanocrystals but without significant loss of ductility. Due to their outstanding mechanical properties, both nanocrystalline and nanotwinned ultrafine crystalline steels appear to be relevant candidates for ballistic protection. The aim of the present work is to compare their ballistic performance against coarse-grained steel, as well as to identify the effect of the hybridization with a carbon fiber–epoxy composite layer. Hybridization is proposed as a way to improve the nanocrystalline brittle properties in a similar way as is done with ceramics in other protection systems. The experimental campaign is finally complemented by numerical simulations to help identify some of the intrinsic deformation mechanisms not observable experimentally. As a conclusion, nanocrystalline and nanotwinned ultrafine crystals show a lower energy absorption than coarse-grained steel under ballistic loading, but under equal impact conditions with no penetration, deformation in the impact direction is smaller by nearly 40%. This a priori surprising difference in the energy absorption is rationalized by the more important local contribution of the deviatoric stress vs. volumetric stress under impact than under uniaxial deformation. Ultimately, the deformation advantage could be exploited in the future for personal protection systems where a small deformation under impact is of key importance.

Development of Robotized Laser Welding Applications for Joining Thin Sheets

Laser Welding (LW) is more often used in manufacturing due to its advantages, such as accurate control, good repeatability, less heat input, opportunities for joining of special materials, high speed, capability to join small dimension parts etc. LW is dedicated to robotized manufacturing, and the fabrication cells are using various level of flexibility, from specialized robots to very flexible setups. This paper features several LW applications using two industrially-scaled manufacturing cells at UPM Laser Centre (CLUPM) of Polytechnical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid). The one dedicated to Remote Laser Welding (RLW) of thin sheets for automotive and other sectors uses a CO2 laser of 3500 W. The second has a high flexibility, is based on a 6-axis ABB robot and a Nd:YAG laser of 3300 W, and is meant for various laser processing methods, including welding. After a short description of each cell, several LW applications experimented at CLUPM and recently implemented in industry are briefly presented: RLW of automotive coated sheets, LW of high strength automotive sheets, LW vs. laser hybrid welding (LHW) of Double Phase steel thin sheets, and LHW of thin sheets of stainless steel and carbon steel (dissimilar joints). The main technological issues overcame and the critical process parameters are pointed out. Conclusions about achievements and trends are provided.

Comparison of V2IC control with voltage mode and current mode controls for high frequency (MHz) and very fast response applications

High switching frequencies (several MHz) allow the integration of low power DC/DC converters. Although, in theory, a high switching frequency would make possible to implement a conventional Voltage Mode control (VMC) or Peak Current Mode control (PCMC) with very high bandwidth, in practice, parasitic effects and robustness limits the applicability of these control techniques. This paper compares VMC and CMC techniques with the V2IC control. This control is based on two loops. The fast internal loop has information of the output capacitor current and the error voltage, providing fast dynamic response under load and voltage reference steps, while the slow external voltage loop provides accurate steady state regulation. This paper shows the fast dynamic response of the V2IC control under load and output voltage reference steps and its robustness operating with additional output capacitors added by the customer.

Diseño y comportamiento de uniones estructurales mecánicas y adhesivas. Condiciones superficiales y operacionales

Las uniones estructurales mecánicas y adhesivas requieren la combinación de un número importante de parámetros para la obtención de la continuidad estructural que exigen las condiciones de diseño. Las características de las uniones presentan importantes variaciones, ligadas a las condiciones de ejecución, tanto en uniones mecánicas como especialmente en uniones adhesivas y mixtas (unión mecánica y adhesiva, también conocidas como uniones híbridas). Las propiedades mecánicas de las uniones adhesivas dependen de la naturaleza y propiedades de los adhesivos y también de muchos otros parámetros que influyen directamente en el comportamiento de estas uniones. Algunos de los parámetros más significativos son: el acabado superficial de los materiales, área y espesor de la capa adhesiva, diseño adecuado, secuencia de aplicación, propiedades químicas de la superficie y preparación de los sustratos antes de aplicar el adhesivo. Los mecanismos de adhesión son complejos. En general, cada unión adhesiva solo puede explicarse considerando la actuación conjunta de varios mecanismos de adhesión. No existen adhesivos universales para un determinado material o aplicación, por lo que cada pareja sustrato-adhesivo requiere un particular estudio y el comportamiento obtenido puede variar, significativamente, de uno a otro caso. El fallo de una junta adhesiva depende del mecanismo cohesión-adhesión, ligado a la secuencia y modo de ejecución de los parámetros operacionales utilizados en la unión. En aplicaciones estructurales existen un número muy elevado de sistemas de unión y de posibles sustratos. En este trabajo se han seleccionado cuatro adhesivos diferentes (cianoacrilato, epoxi, poliuretano y silano modificado) y dos procesos de unión mecánica (remachado y clinchado). Estas uniones se han aplicado sobre chapas de acero al carbono en diferentes estados superficiales (chapa blanca, galvanizada y prepintada). Los parámetros operacionales analizados han sido: preparación superficial, espesor del adhesivo, secuencia de aplicación y aplicación de presión durante el curado. Se han analizado tanto las uniones individuales como las uniones híbridas (unión adhesiva y unión mecánica). La combinación de procesos de unión, sustratos y parámetros operacionales ha dado lugar a la preparación y ensayo de más de mil muestras. Pues, debido a la dispersión de resultados característica de las uniones adhesivas, para cada condición analizada se han ensayado seis probetas. Los resultados obtenidos han sido: El espesor de adhesivo utilizado es una variable muy importante en los adhesivos flexibles, donde cuanto menor es el espesor del adhesivo mayor es la resistencia mecánica a cortadura de la unión. Sin embargo en los adhesivos rígidos su influencia es mucho menor. La naturaleza de la superficie es fundamental para una buena adherencia del adhesivo al substrato, que repercute en la resistencia mecánica de la unión. La superficie que mejor adherencia presenta es la prepintada, especialmente cuando existe una alta compatibilidad entre la pintura y el adhesivo. La superficie que peor adherencia tiene es la galvanizada. La secuencia de aplicación ha sido un parámetro significativo en las uniones híbridas, donde los mejores resultados se han obtenido cuando se aplicaba primero el adhesivo y la unión mecánica se realizaba antes del curado del adhesivo. La aplicación de presión durante el curado se ha mostrado un parámetro significativo en los adhesivos con poca capacidad para el relleno de la junta. En los otros casos su influencia ha sido poco relevante. El comportamiento de las uniones estructurales mecánicas y adhesivas en cuanto a la resistencia mecánica de la unión puede variar mucho en función del diseño de dicha unión. La resistencia mecánica puede ser tan grande que falle antes el substrato que la unión. Las mejores resistencias se consiguen diseñando las uniones con adhesivo cianoacrilato, eligiendo adecuadamente las condiciones superficiales y operacionales, por ejemplo chapa blanca aplicando una presión durante el curado de la unión. La utilización de uniones mixtas aumenta muy poco o nada la resistencia mecánica, pero a cambio proporciona una baja dispersión de resultados, siendo destacable para la superficie galvanizada, que es la que presenta peor reproducibilidad cuando se realizan uniones sólo con adhesivo. Las uniones mixtas conducen a un aumento de la deformación antes de la rotura. Los adhesivos dan rotura frágil y las uniones mecánicas rotura dúctil. La unión mixta proporciona ductilidad a la unión. Las uniones mixtas también pueden dar rotura frágil, esto sucede cuando la resistencia del adhesivo es tres veces superior a la resistencia de la unión mecánica. Las uniones híbridas mejoran la rigidez de la junta, sobre todo se aprecia un aumento importante en las uniones mixtas realizadas con adhesivos flexibles, pudiendo decirse que para todos los adhesivos la rigidez de la unión híbrida es superior. ABSTRACT The mechanical and adhesive structural joints require the combination of a large number of parameters to obtain the structural continuity required for the design conditions. The characteristics of the junctions have important variations, linked to performance conditions, in mechanical joints as particular in mixed adhesive joints (mechanical and adhesive joints, also known as hybrid joints). The mechanical properties of the adhesive joints depend of the nature and properties of adhesives and also of many other parameters that directly influence in the behavior of these joints. Some of the most significant parameters are: the surface finished of the material, area and thickness of the adhesive layer, suitable design, and application sequence, chemical properties of the surface and preparation of the substrate before applying the adhesive. Adhesion mechanisms are complex. In general, each adhesive joint can only be explained by considering the combined action of several adhesions mechanisms. There aren’t universal adhesives for a given material or application, so that each pair substrate-adhesive requires a particular study and the behavior obtained can vary significantly from one to another case. The failure of an adhesive joint depends on the cohesion-adhesion mechanism, linked to the sequence and manner of execution of the operational parameters used in the joint. In the structural applications, there are a very high number of joining systems and possible substrates. In this work we have selected four different adhesives (cyanoacrylate, epoxy, polyurethane and silano modified) and two mechanical joining processes (riveting and clinching). These joints were applied on carbon steel with different types of surfaces (white sheet, galvanized and pre-painted). The operational parameters analyzed were: surface preparation, thickness of adhesive, application sequence and application of pressure during curing. We have analyzed individual joints both as hybrid joints (adhesive joint and mechanical joint). The combination of joining processes, substrates and operational parameters has resulted in the preparation and testing of over a thousand specimens. Then, due to the spread of results characteristic of adhesive joints, for each condition analyzed we have tested six samples. The results have been: The thickness of adhesive used is an important variable in the flexible adhesives, where the lower the adhesive thickness greater the shear strength of the joint. However in rigid adhesives is lower influence. The nature of the surface is essential for good adherence of the adhesive to the substrate, which affects the shear strength of the joint. The surface has better adherence is preprinted, especially when there is a high compatibility between the paint and the adhesive. The surface which has poor adherence is the galvanized. The sequence of application has been a significant parameter in the hybrid junctions, where the best results are obtained when applying first the adhesive and the mechanical joint is performed before cured of the adhesive. The application of pressure during curing has shown a significant parameter in the adhesives with little capacity for filler the joint. In other cases their influence has been less relevant. The behavior of structural mechanical and adhesive joints in the shear strength of the joint can vary greatly depending on the design of such a joint. The shear strength may be so large that the substrate fails before the joint. The best shear strengths are achieved by designing the junctions with cyanoacrylate adhesive, by selecting appropriately the surface and operating conditions, for example by white sheet applying a pressure during curing of the joint. The use of hybrid joints no increase shear strength, but instead provides a low dispersion of results, being remarkable for the galvanized surface, which is the having worst reproducibility when performed bonded joints. The hybrid joints leading to increased deformation before rupture. The joints witch adhesives give brittle fracture and the mechanics joints give ductile fracture. Hybrid joint provides ductility at the joint. Hybrid joint can also give brittle fracture, this happens when the shear strength of the adhesive is three times the shear strength of the mechanical joint. The hybrid joints improve stiffness of joint, especially seen a significant increase in hybrid joints bonding with flexible adhesives, can be said that for all the adhesives, the hybrid junction stiffness is higher.

Experimental validation of a fracture model for pearlitic steel bars based on the cohesive zone model

Steel is, together with concrete, the most widely used material in civil engineering works. Not only its high strength, but also its ductility is of special interest, since it allows for more energy to be stored before failure. A better understanding of the material behaviour before failure may lead to better structural safety strategies.

Nonlinear seismic behaviour of concrete arch bridges

Arch bridge structural solution has been known for centuries, in fact the simple nature of arch that require low tension and shear strength was an advantage as the simple materials like stone and brick were the only option back in ancient centuries. By the pass of time especially after industrial revolution, the new materials were adopted in construction of arch bridges to reach longer spans. Nowadays one long span arch bridge is made of steel, concrete or combination of these two as "CFST", as the result of using these high strength materials, very long spans can be achieved. The current record for longest arch belongs to Chaotianmen bridge over Yangtze river in China with 552 meters span made of steel and the longest reinforced concrete type is Wanxian bridge which also cross the Yangtze river through a 420 meters span. Today the designer is no longer limited by span length as long as arch bridge is the most applicable solution among other approaches, i.e. cable stayed and suspended bridges are more reasonable if very long span is desired. Like any super structure, the economical and architectural aspects in construction of a bridge is extremely important, in other words, as a narrower bridge has better appearance, it also require smaller volume of material which make the design more economical. Design of such bridge, beside the high strength materials, requires precise structural analysis approaches capable of integrating the combination of material behaviour and complex geometry of structure and various types of loads which may be applied to bridge during its service life. Depend on the design strategy, analysis may only evaluates the linear elastic behaviour of structure or consider the nonlinear properties as well. Although most of structures in the past were designed to act in their elastic range, the rapid increase in computational capacity allow us to consider different sources of nonlinearities in order to achieve a more realistic evaluations where the dynamic behaviour of bridge is important especially in seismic zones where large movements may occur or structure experience P - _ effect during the earthquake. The above mentioned type of analysis is computationally expensive and very time consuming. In recent years, several methods were proposed in order to resolve this problem. Discussion of recent developments on these methods and their application on long span concrete arch bridges is the main goal of this research. Accordingly available long span concrete arch bridges have been studied to gather the critical information about their geometrical aspects and properties of their materials. Based on concluded information, several concrete arch bridges were designed for further studies. The main span of these bridges range from 100 to 400 meters. The Structural analysis methods implemented in in this study are as following: Elastic Analysis: Direct Response History Analysis (DRHA): This method solves the direct equation of motion over time history of applied acceleration or imposed load in linear elastic range. Modal Response History Analysis (MRHA): Similar to DRHA, this method is also based on time history, but the equation of motion is simplified to single degree of freedom system and calculates the response of each mode independently. Performing this analysis require less time than DRHA. Modal Response Spectrum Analysis (MRSA): As it is obvious from its name, this method calculates the peak response of structure for each mode and combine them using modal combination rules based on the introduced spectra of ground motion. This method is expected to be fastest among Elastic analysis. Inelastic Analysis: Nonlinear Response History Analysis (NL-RHA): The most accurate strategy to address significant nonlinearities in structural dynamics is undoubtedly the nonlinear response history analysis which is similar to DRHA but extended to inelastic range by updating the stiffness matrix for every iteration. This onerous task, clearly increase the computational cost especially for unsymmetrical buildings that requires to be analyzed in a full 3D model for taking the torsional effects in to consideration. Modal Pushover Analysis (MPA): The Modal Pushover Analysis is basically the MRHA but extended to inelastic stage. After all, the MRHA cannot solve the system of dynamics because the resisting force fs(u; u_ ) is unknown for inelastic stage. The solution of MPA for this obstacle is using the previously recorded fs to evaluate system of dynamics. Extended Modal Pushover Analysis (EMPA): Expanded Modal pushover is a one of very recent proposed methods which evaluates response of structure under multi-directional excitation using the modal pushover analysis strategy. In one specific mode,the original pushover neglect the contribution of the directions different than characteristic one, this is reasonable in regular symmetric building but a structure with complex shape like long span arch bridges may go through strong modal coupling. This method intend to consider modal coupling while it take same time of computation as MPA. Coupled Nonlinear Static Pushover Analysis (CNSP): The EMPA includes the contribution of non-characteristic direction to the formal MPA procedure. However the static pushovers in EMPA are performed individually for every mode, accordingly the resulted values from different modes can be combined but this is only valid in elastic phase; as soon as any element in structure starts yielding the neutral axis of that section is no longer fixed for both response during the earthquake, meaning the longitudinal deflection unavoidably affect the transverse one or vice versa. To overcome this drawback, the CNSP suggests executing pushover analysis for governing modes of each direction at the same time. This strategy is estimated to be more accurate than MPA and EMPA, moreover the calculation time is reduced because only one pushover analysis is required. Regardless of the strategy, the accuracy of structural analysis is highly dependent on modelling and numerical integration approaches used in evaluation of each method. Therefore the widely used Finite Element Method is implemented in process of all analysis performed in this research. In order to address the study, chapter 2, starts with gathered information about constructed long span arch bridges, this chapter continuous with geometrical and material definition of new models. Chapter 3 provides the detailed information about structural analysis strategies; furthermore the step by step description of procedure of all methods is available in Appendix A. The document ends with the description of results and conclusion of chapter 4.

Análisis del comportamiento a fatiga de uniones adhesivas de acero recubierto

Los adhesivos se conocen y han sido utilizados en multitud de aplicaciones a lo lago de la historia. En la actualidad, la tecnología de la adhesión como método de unión de materiales estructurales está en pleno crecimiento. Los avances científicos han permitido comprender mejor los fenómenos de adhesión, así como, mejorar y desarrollar nuevas formulaciones poliméricas que incrementan el rango de aplicaciones de los adhesivos. Por otro lado, el desarrollo de nuevos materiales y la necesidad de aligerar peso, especialmente en el sector transporte, hace que las uniones adhesivas se introduzcan en aplicaciones hasta ahora reservadas a otros sistemas de unión como la soldadura o las uniones mecánicas, ofreciendo rendimientos similares y, en ocasiones, superiores a los aportados por estas. Las uniones adhesivas ofrecen numerosas ventajas frente a otros sistemas de unión. En la industria aeronáutica y en automoción, las uniones adhesivas logran una reducción en el número de componentes (tales como los tornillos, remaches, abrazaderas) consiguiendo como consecuencia diseños más ligeros y una disminución de los costes de manipulación y almacenamiento, así como una aceleración de los procesos de ensamblaje, y como consecuencia, un aumento de los procesos de producción. En el sector de la construcción y en la fabricación de equipos industriales, se busca la capacidad para soportar la expansión y contracción térmica. Por lo tanto, se usan las uniones adhesivas para evitar producir la distorsión del sustrato al no ser necesario el calentamiento ni la deformación de las piezas cuando se someten a un calentamiento elevado y muy localizado, como en el caso de la soldadura, o cuando se someten a esfuerzos mecánicos localizados, en el caso de montajes remachados. En la industria naval, se están desarrollando técnicas de reparación basadas en la unión adhesiva para distribuir de forma más uniforme y homogénea las tensiones con el objetivo de mejorar el comportamiento frente a fatiga y evitar los problemas asociados a las técnicas de reparación habituales de corte y soldadura. Las uniones adhesivas al no requerir importantes aportes de calor como la soldadura, no producen modificaciones microestructurales indeseables como sucede en la zona fundida o en la zona afectada térmicamente de las uniones soldadas, ni deteriora los recubrimientos protectores de metales de bajo punto de fusión o de naturaleza orgánica. Sin embargo, las uniones adhesivas presentan una desventaja que dificulta su aplicación, se trata de su durabilidad a largo plazo. La primera causa de rotura de los materiales es la rotura por fatiga. Este proceso de fallo es la causa del 85% de las roturas de los materiales estructurales en servicio. La rotura por fatiga se produce cuando se somete al material a la acción de cargas que varían cíclicamente o a vibraciones durante un tiempo prolongado. Las uniones y estructuras sometidas a fatiga pueden fallar a niveles de carga por debajo del límite de resistencia estática del material. La rotura por fatiga en las uniones adhesivas no se produce por un proceso de iniciación y propagación de grieta de forma estable, el proceso de fatiga va debilitando poco a poco la unión hasta que llega un momento que provoca una rotura de forma rápida. Underhill explica este mecanismo como un proceso de daño irreversible de los enlaces más débiles en determinados puntos de la unión. Cuando se ha producido el deterioro de estas zonas más débiles, su área se va incrementando hasta que llega un momento en que la zona dañada es tan amplia que se produce el fallo completo de la unión. En ensayos de crecimiento de grieta realizados sobre probetas preagrietadas en viga con doble voladizo (DCB), Dessureault identifica los procesos de iniciación y crecimiento de grietas en muestras unidas con adhesivo epoxi como una acumulación de microfisuras en la zona próxima al fondo de grieta que, luego, van coalesciendo para configurar la grieta principal. Lo que supone, igualmente, un proceso de daño del adhesivo en la zona de mayor concentración de tensiones que, posteriormente, conduce al fallo de la unión. La presente tesis surge con el propósito de aumentar los conocimientos existentes sobre el comportamiento a fatiga de las uniones adhesivas y especialmente las realizadas con dos tipos de adhesivos estructurales aplicados en aceros con diferentes acabados superficiales. El estudio incluye la obtención de las curvas de tensión frente al número de ciclos hasta el fallo del componente, curvas SN o curvas de Wöhler, que permitirán realizar una estimación de la resistencia a la fatiga de un determinado material o estructura. Los ensayos de fatiga realizados mediante ciclos predeterminados de carga sinusoidales, de amplitud y frecuencia constantes, han permitido caracterizar el comportamiento a la fatiga por el número de ciclos hasta la rotura, siendo el límite de fatiga el valor al que tiende la tensión cuando el número de ciclos es muy grande. En algunos materiales, la fatiga no tiende a un valor límite sino que decrece de forma constante a medida que aumenta el número de ciclos. Para estas situaciones, se ha definido la resistencia a la fatiga (o límite de resistencia) por la tensión en que se produce la rotura para un número de ciclos predeterminado. Todos estos aspectos permitirán un mejor diseño de las uniones y las condiciones de trabajo de los adhesivos con el fin de lograr que la resistencia a fatiga de la unión sea mucho más duradera y el comportamiento total de la unión sea mucho mejor, contribuyendo al crecimiento de la utilización de las uniones adhesivas respecto a otras técnicas. ABSTRACT Adhesives are well-known and have been used in many applications throughout history. At present, adhesion bonding technology of structural materials is experiencing an important growth. Scientific advances have enabled a better understanding of the phenomena of adhesion, as well as to improve and develop new polymeric formulations that increase the range of applications. On the other hand, the development of new materials and the need to save weight, especially in the transport sector, have promote the use of adhesive bonding in many applications previously reserved for other joining technologies such as welded or mechanical joints, presenting similar or even higher performances. Adhesive bonding offers many advantages over other joining methods. For example, in the aeronautic industry and in the automation sector, adhesive bonding allows a reduction in the number of components (such as bolts, rivets, clamps) and as consequence, resulting in lighter designs and a decrease in handling and storage costs, as well as faster assembly processes and an improvement in the production processes. In the construction sector and in the industrial equipment manufacturing, the ability to withstand thermal expansion and contraction is required. Therefore, adhesion bonding technology is used to avoid any distortion of the substrate since this technology does not require heating nor the deformation of the pieces when these are exposed to very high and localized heating, as in welding, or when are subjected to localized mechanical stresses in the case of riveted joints. In the naval industry, repair techniques based in the adhesive bonding are being developed in order to distribute stresses more uniform and homogeneously in order to improve the performance against fatigue and to avoid the problems associated with standard repair techniques as cutting and welding. Adhesive bonding does not require the use of high temperatures and as consequence they do not produce undesirable microstructural changes, as it can be observed in molten zones or in heat-affected zones in the case of welding, neither is there damage of the protective coating of metals with low melting points or polymeric films. However, adhesive bonding presents a disadvantage that limits its application, the low longterm durability. The most common cause of fractures of materials is fatigue fracture. This failure process is the cause of 85% of the fracture of structural materials in service. Fatigue failure occurs when the materials are subjected to the action of cyclic loads or vibrations for a long period of time. The joints and structures subjected to fatigue can fail at stress values below the static strength of the material. Fatigue failure do not occurs by a static and homogeneous process of initiation and propagation of crack. The fatigue process gradually weakens the bond until the moment in which the fracture occurs very rapidly. Underhill explains this mechanism as a process of irreversible damage of the weakest links at certain points of the bonding. When the deterioration in these weaker zones occurs, their area increase until the damage zone is so extensive that the full failure of the joint occurs. During the crack growth tests performed on precracked double-cantilever beam specimen, (DCB), Dessureault identified the processes of crack initiation and growth in samples bonded with epoxy adhesive as a process of accumulation of microcracks on the zone near the crack bottom, then, they coalesced to configure the main crack. This is a damage process of the adhesive in the zone of high stress concentration that leads to failure of the bond. This thesis aims to further the understanding of the fatigue behavior of the adhesive bonding, primarily those based on two different types of structural adhesives used on carbon-steel with different surface treatments. This memory includes the analysis of the SN or Wöhler curves (stress vs. number of cycles curves up to the failure), allowing to carry out an estimation of the fatigue strength of a specific material or structure. The fatigue tests carried out by means of predetermined cycles of sinusoidal loads, with a constant amplitude and frequency, allow the characterisation of the fatigue behaviour. For some materials, there is a maximum stress amplitude below which the material never fails for any number of cycles, known as fatigue limit. In the other hand, for other materials, the fatigue does not tend toward a limit value but decreases constantly as the number of cycles increases. For these situations, the fatigue strength is defined by the stress at which the fracture occurs for a predetermined number of cycles. All these aspects will enable a better joint design and service conditions of adhesives in order to get more durable joints from the fatigue failure point of view and in this way contribute to increase the use of adhesive bonding over other joint techniques.

Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) as novel photodetectors for PET

Next generation PET scanners should fulfill very high requirements in terms of spatial, energy and timing resolution. Modern scanner performances are inherently limited by the use of standard photomultiplier tubes. The use of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) is proposed for the construction of a 4D-PET module of 4.8×4.8 cm2 aimed to replace the standard PMT based PET block detector. The module will be based on a LYSO continuous crystal read on two faces by Silicon Photomultipliers. A high granularity detection surface made by SiPM matrices of 1.5 mm pitch will be used for the x–y photon hit position determination with submillimetric accuracy, while a low granularity surface constituted by 16 mm2 SiPM pixels will provide the fast timing information (t) that will be used to implement the Time of Flight technique (TOF). The spatial information collected by the two detector layers will be combined in order to measure the Depth of Interaction (DOI) of each event (z). The use of large area multi-pixel Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) detectors requires the development of a multichannel Data Acquisition system (DAQ) as well as of a dedicated front-end in order not to degrade the intrinsic detector capabilities and to manage many channels. The paper describes the progress made on the development of the proof of principle module under construction at the University of Pisa.