Crystal orientation effects in scratch testing with a spherical indenter

Spherical scratch tests were conducted in individual grains of a randomly oriented polycrystalline body-centered-cubic (bcc) Ti-Nb alloy. For each grain, scratch tests were conducted at four different levels of normal load, which resulted in varying amounts of plastic strain during indentation. The results show a dependence of the horizontal load component on the crystallographic orientation and on the amount of plastic strain. The component of the horizontal force that resulted from plastic deformation was found to correlate with the active slip systems for the particular grain orientation. © 2010 Materials Research Society.

Ductile fracture mechanisms in a structural steel

Microstructural fracture processes in a BS4360 Grade 50D structural steel with lower sulphur content were studied in smooth tensile specimen tests and Charpy-size bend bar tests. Based on the experimental analysis, an experimental void growth relation with the plastic strain and stress triaxiality and multiplying factor on void growth were determined. Experimental results show that the void growth relation can be reasonably used to estimate the constraint in the specimens containing the notch or crack, also they can be used to evaluate the variations of the stress triaxiality in front of the notch and crack tip under general yielding condition. Side-grooves obviously increase the constraint of the CVN specimens. Strain hardening leads to increasing the stress triaxiality, and decelerating the net void growth. This is especially true for the values of stress triaxiality more than about one. Additionally, the effect of the stress triaxiality on the critical void growth corresponding to the onset of ductile tearing was preliminarily investigated. In this work, a large number of smaller specimens were tested to investigate the ductile-brittle transition behaviour of the structural steel. A void growth rate explanation was suggested for evaluating the temperature transition behaviour. The elastic-plastic fracture tough-ness values based on small specimen tests, such as pre-cracked side-grooved bending specimen and short bar tensile specimen, may give large overestimates of the plane strain fracture toughness.

Lubrication efficiency and die design in wire drawing

With the competitive challenge facing business today, the need to keep cost down and quality up is a matter of survival. One way in which wire manufacturers can meet this challenge is to possess a thorough understanding of deformation, friction and lubrication during the wire drawing process, and therefore to make good decisions regarding the selection and application of lubricants as well as the die design. Friction, lubrication and die design during wire drawing thus become the subject of this study. Although theoretical and experimental investigations have been being carried out ever since the establishment of wire drawing technology, many problems remain unsolved. It is therefore necessary to conduct further research on traditional and fundamental subjects such as the mechanics of deformation, friction, lubrication and die design in wire drawing. Drawing experiments were carried out on an existing bull-block under different cross-sectional area reductions, different speeds and different lubricants. The instrumentation to measure drawing load and drawing speed was set up and connected to the wire drawing machine, together with a data acquisition system. A die box connected to the existing die holder for using dry soap lubricant was designed and tested. The experimental results in terms of drawing stress vs percentage area reduction curves under different drawing conditions were analysed and compared. The effects on drawing stress of friction, lubrication, drawing speed and pressure die nozzle are discussed. In order to determine the flow stress of the material during deformation, tensile tests were performed on an Instron universal test machine, using the wires drawn under different area reductions. A polynomial function is used to correlate the flow stress of the material with the plastic strain, on which a general computer program has been written to find out the coefficients of the stress-strain function. The residual lubricant film on the steel wire after drawing was examined both radially and longitudinally using an SEM and optical microscope. The lubricant film on the drawn wire was clearly observed. Therefore, the micro-analysis by SEM provides a way of friction and lubrication assessment in wire drawing.

Fracture toughness of a series of high chromium abrasion resistant alloys

The fracture properties of a series of alloys containing 15% chromium and 0.8 to 3.4% carbon are investigated using strain fracture toughness testing techniques. The object of the work is to apply a quantitative method of measuring toughness to abrasion resistant materials, which have previously been assessed on an empirical basis; and to examine the relationship between microstructure and K10 in an attempt to improve the toughness of inherently brittle materials. A review of the relevant literature includes discussion of the background to the alloy series under investigation, a survey of the development of fracture mechanics and the emergence of K10 as a toughness parameter. Metallurgical variables such as composition, heat treatment, grain size, and hot working are ???? to relate microstructure to toughness, and fractographic evidence is used to substantiate the findings. The results are applied to a model correlating ductile fracture with plastic strain instability, and the nucleation of voids. Strain induced martensite formation in austenitic structures is analysed in terms of the plastic energy dissipation mechanisms operating at the crack tip. Emphasis is placed on the lower carbon alloys in the series, and a composition put forward to optimise wear resistance and toughness. The properties of established competitive materials are compared to the proposed alloy on a toughness and cost basis.

Characterizing permanent deformation and fracture of asphalt mixtures by using compressive dynamic modulus tests

Permanent deformation and fracture may develop simultaneously when an asphalt mixture is subjected to a compressive load. The objective of this research is to separate viscoplasticity and viscofracture from viscoelasticity so that the permanent deformation and fracture of the asphalt mixtures can be individually and accurately characterized without the influence of viscoelasticity. The undamaged properties of 16 asphalt mixtures that have two binder types, two air void contents, and two aging conditions are first obtained by conducting nondestructive creep tests and nondestructive dynamic modulus tests. Testing results are analyzed by using the linear viscoelastic theory in which the creep compliance and the relaxation modulus are modeled by the Prony model. The dynamic modulus and phase angle of the undamaged asphalt mixtures remained constant with the load cycles. The undamaged asphalt mixtures are then used to perform the destructive dynamic modulus tests in which the dynamic modulus and phase angle of the damaged asphalt mixtures vary with load cycles. This indicates plastic evolution and crack propagation. The growth of cracks is signaled principally by the increase of the phase angle, which occurs only in the tertiary stage. The measured total strain is successfully decomposed into elastic strain, viscoelastic strain, plastic strain, viscoplastic strain, and viscofracture strain by employing the pseudostrain concept and the extended elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle. The separated viscoplastic strain uses a predictive model to characterize the permanent deformation. The separated viscofracture strain uses a fracture strain model to characterize the fracture of the asphalt mixtures in which the flow number is determined and a crack speed index is proposed. Comparisons of the 16 samples show that aged asphalt mixtures with a low air void content have a better performance, resisting permanent deformation and fracture. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Controlling the properties of microstructured plastic optical fiber Bragg gratings using acousto-optic excitation

A fine control of the mPOF Bragg grating spectrum properties, such as maximum reflected power and 3dB bandwidth, through acousto-optic modulation (AOM) using flexural regime is presented. A numerical comparison of the strain field along mPOFBG - AOM and the similar structure with SMFBG-AOM was presented, showing that the strain field amplitude is higher along the mPOFBG due to its smaller mechanical stiffness. The obtained results can be used in the development of fine-tuned optical filters using low voltage sources and low frequency regimes, to obtain tunable optical filters and to control the shape of the spectrum. Studies of the behavior in different gratings (such as phase shifted and long period gratings) for photonic applications, such as tunable notch filters or tunable cavities, are in progress. It can potentially be applied on tunable optical filters for POF transmission. © 2012 IEEE.

Dynamic strain sensor using a vcsel and a polymer fiber bragg grating in a multimode fiber

We have implemented a dynamic strain sensor using a Polymer Optical Fiber Bragg Grating (POFBG). In this paper, we have investigated an approach for making such systems cheaper through the use of easy to handle multimode fiber. A Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser is used to decrease the cost of the interrogation system and a photodetector converts the reflected light into an electrical signal.

Embedding silica and polymer fibre Bragg gratings (FBG) in plastic 3D-printed sensing patches

This paper reports the first demonstration of a silica fibre Bragg grating (SOFBG) embedded in an FDM 3-D printed housing to yield a dual grating temperature-compensated strain sensor. We also report the first ever integration of polymer fibre Bragg grating (POFBG) within a 3-D printed sensing patch for strain or temperature sensing. The cyclic strain performance and temperature characteristics of both devices are examined and discussed. The strain sensitivities of the sensing patches were 0.40 and 0.95 pm/μϵ for SOFBG embedded in ABS, 0.38 pm/μμ for POFBG in PLA, and 0.15 pm/μμ for POFBG in ABS. The strain response was linear above a threshold and repeatable. The temperature sensitivity of the SOFBG sensing patch was found to be up to 169 pm/°C, which was up to 17 times higher than for an unembedded silica grating. Unstable temperature response POFBG embedded in PLA was reported, with temperature sensitivity values varying between 30 and 40 pm/°C.