Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “yield point”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4

Corrosion Embrittlement of Duralumin VI The Effect of Corrosion Accompanied by Stress on the Tensile Properties of Sheet Duralumin

The effect of corrosion on the tensile properties of duralumin while stressed is shown in graphical form. According to the test results, duralumin sheet, coated with aluminum, maintains its initial properties unimpaired for corrosion periods as long as 60 days with an applied tensile stress as high as 20,000 lb/sq.in., which is approximately one-half the stress corresponding to the yield point as defined here. In these tests, that material which had been heat-treated by being quenched in cold water, though far inferior to similar material having the aluminum coating, was superior to the sheet material which was heat treated by being quenched in hot water. These results are in excellent agreement with the results of previous laboratory and exposure tests.

Rawdon, Henry S↗

Multiblock, Multigrid Solution Of Euler Equations

Method of numerical solution of Euler equations of three-dimensional flow of compressible fluid involves combination of multiblock and multigrid strategies. In multiblock strategy, flow field divided, into multiple smaller, more computationally-convenient zones and computational grid fitted to applicable flow boundaries generated in each block. In multigrid strategy used here, different quantities computed, variously, on finer or coarser grids. Minimizing cost of computation by using fewest grid points yielding acceptably accurate values of affected variable. Multigrid strategy found effective in accelerating convergence to steady state, while multiblock strategy provides geometric flexibility.

Melson, N. Duane↗

Residual stresses in welded plates

The purpose of this project was to develop a simple model which could be used to study residual stress. The mechanism that results in residual stresses in the welding process starts with the deposition of molten weld metal which heats the immediately adjacent material. After solidification of weld material, normal thermal shrinkage is resisted by the adjacent, cooler material. When the thermal strain exceeds the elastic strain corresponding to the yield point stress, the stress level is limited by this value, which decreases with increasing temperature. Cooling then causes elastic unloading which is restrained by the adjoining material. Permanent plastic strain occurs, and tension is caused in the region immediately adjacent to the weld material. Compression arises in the metal farther from the weld in order to maintain overall static equilibrium. Subsequent repair welds may add to the level of residual stresses. The level of residual stress is related to the onset of fracture during welding. Thus, it is of great importance to be able to predict the level of residual stresses remaining after a weld procedure, and to determine the factors, such as weld speed, temperature, direction, and number of passes, which may affect the magnitude of remaining residual stress. It was hoped to use traditional analytical modeling techniques so that it would be easier to comprehend the effect of these variables on the resulting stress. This approach was chosen in place of finite element methods so as to facilitate the understanding of the physical processes. The accuracy of the results was checked with some existing experimental studies giving residual stress levels found from x-ray diffraction measurements.

Bernstein, Edward L.↗

Scheduling for Parallel Supercomputing: A Historical Perspective of Achievable Utilization

The NAS facility has operated parallel supercomputers for the past 11 years, including the Intel iPSC/860, Intel Paragon, Thinking Machines CM-5, IBM SP-2, and Cray Origin 2000. Across this wide variety of machine architectures, across a span of 10 years, across a large number of different users, and through thousands of minor configuration and policy changes, the utilization of these machines shows three general trends: (1) scheduling using a naive FIFO first-fit policy results in 40-60% utilization, (2) switching to the more sophisticated dynamic backfilling scheduling algorithm improves utilization by about 15 percentage points (yielding about 70% utilization), and (3) reducing the maximum allowable job size further increases utilization. Most surprising is the consistency of these trends. Over the lifetime of the NAS parallel systems, we made hundreds, perhaps thousands, of small changes to hardware, software, and policy, yet, utilization was affected little. In particular these results show that the goal of achieving near 100% utilization while supporting a real parallel supercomputing workload is unrealistic.

Jones, James Patton↗

Durability and Damage Development in Woven Ceramic Matrix Composites

Damage development in woven SiC/SiNC ceramic matrix composites (CMC's) under tensile and cyclic loading both at room and elevated temperatures have been investigated for the exhaust nozzle of high-efficient turbine engines. The ultimate strength, failure strain, proportional limit and modulus data at a temperature range of 23 to 1250 C are generated. The tensile strength of SiC/SiNC woven composites have been observed to increase with increased temperatures up to 1000 C. The stress/strain plot shows a pseudo-yield point at 25 percent of the failure strain (epsilon(sub r)) which indicates damage initiation in the form of matrix cracking. The evolution of damage beyond 0.25 epsilon(sub f), both at room and elevated temperature comprises multiple matrix cracking, interfacial debonding, and fiber pullout. Although the nature of the stress/strain plot shows damage-tolerant behavior under static loading both at room and elevated temperature, the life expectancy of SiC/SiNC composites degrades significantly under cyclic loading at elevated temperature. This is mostly due to the interactions of fatigue damage caused by the mechanically induced plastic strain and the damage developed by the creep strain. The in situ damage evolutions are monitored by acoustic event parameters, ultrasonic C-scan and stiffness degradation. Rate equations for modulus degradation and fatigue life prediction of ceramic matrix composites both at room and elevated temperatures are developed. These rate equations are observed to show reasonable agreement with experimental results.

Haque, A.↗

Laboratory Analysis of Polymer Thin Films for Planetary Balloons and Gossamer Structures

Commercially available polymer thin fdms with thickness of 15 microns or less were evaluated for potential application as the gas envelope material of balloons and other inflated vehicles. Films on this thickness scale are of interest for Earth and Mars ballooning as well as many gossamer space structures. Due to the uniqueness of these missions relative to typical uses of these materials, application-specific materials properties measurements were made. We evaluated numerous polymer chemistries, plus a few variations within one chemistry. The data show that there are often trade-offs among the different materials, such as with polyesters and polyimides having greater stiffness (modulus) but lower tear propagation resistance than polyethylene. Sections of polyethylene films can be joined by heat sealing, while adhesives and their accompanying mass penalty must be used with polyesters and polyimides. When the analysis temperature is reduced to 190 K, polyethylenes display dramatically increased stiffness and yield point, while the increase for other materials is more modest. The data also show that manufacturing processes can significantly affect film properties. To emphasize the need for application-specific properties assessment, we discuss two recent applications using these materials.

Sterling, Jerry↗

On Bayesian Inductive Inference & Predictive Estimation

We investigate Bayesian inference and the Principle of Maximum Entropy (PME) as methods for doing inference under uncertainty. This investigation is primarily through concrete examples that have been previously investigated in the literature. We find that it is possible to do Bayesian inference and PME inference using the same information, despite claims to the contrary, but that the results are not directly comparable. This is because Bayesian inference yields a probability density function (pdf) over the unknown model parameters, whereas PME yields point estimates. If mean estimates are extracted from the Bayesian pdfs, the resulting parameter estimates can differ radically from the PME values and also from the Maximum Likelihood values. We conclude that these differences are due to the Bayesian inference not assuming anything beyond the given prior probabilities and the data, whereas PME implicitly assumes that the given constraints are the only constraints that are operating. Since this assumption can be wrong, PME values may have to be revised when subsequent data shows evidence for more constraints. The entropy concentration previously "proved" by E. T. Jaynes is shown to be in error. Further, we show that PME is a generalized form of independence assumption, and so can be a very powerful method of inference when the variables being investigated are largely independent of each other.

Cheeseman, Peter↗

Origin of the Eumetazoa: testing ecological predictions of molecular clocks against the Proterozoic fossil record

Molecular clocks have the potential to shed light on the timing of early metazoan divergences, but differing algorithms and calibration points yield conspicuously discordant results. We argue here that competing molecular clock hypotheses should be testable in the fossil record, on the principle that fundamentally new grades of animal organization will have ecosystem-wide impacts. Using a set of seven nuclear-encoded protein sequences, we demonstrate the paraphyly of Porifera and calculate sponge/eumetazoan and cnidarian/bilaterian divergence times by using both distance [minimum evolution (ME)] and maximum likelihood (ML) molecular clocks; ME brackets the appearance of Eumetazoa between 634 and 604 Ma, whereas ML suggests it was between 867 and 748 Ma. Significantly, the ME, but not the ML, estimate is coincident with a major regime change in the Proterozoic acritarch record, including: (i) disappearance of low-diversity, evolutionarily static, pre-Ediacaran acanthomorphs; (ii) radiation of the high-diversity, short-lived Doushantuo-Pertatataka microbiota; and (iii) an order-of-magnitude increase in evolutionary turnover rate. We interpret this turnover as a consequence of the novel ecological challenges accompanying the evolution of the eumetazoan nervous system and gut. Thus, the more readily preserved microfossil record provides positive evidence for the absence of pre-Ediacaran eumetazoans and strongly supports the veracity, and therefore more general application, of the ME molecular clock.

NASA Discipline Evolutionary Biology↗

Some Observations of Solder Joint Failure Under Tensile-Compressive Stress

It has long been known that solder joints under mechanical stress are subject to failure. In early electronic systems, such failures were avoided primarily by avoiding the use of solder as a mechanical structural component. The rule was to first make sound wire connections that did not depend mechanically on solder, and only then to solder them. Careful design and miniaturization in modern electronic systems limits the mechanical stresses exerted on solder joints to values less than their yield points, and these joints have become integral parts of the mechanical structures. Unfortunately, while these joints are strong enough when new, they have proven vulnerable to fatigue failures as they age.Details of the fatigue process are poorly understood, making predictions of expected lifetimes difficult.

solder joints fatigue failure thermal cycling test↗

Thermal Cycling Fatigue in DIPs Mounted with Eutectic Tin-Lead Solder Joints in Stub and Gullwing Geometries

It has long been known that solder joints under mechanical stress are subject to failure. In early electronic systems, such failures were avoided primarily by avoiding the use of solder as a mechanical structural component. The rule was first to make sound wire connections that did not depend mechanically on solder, and only then to solder them. Careful design and miniaturization in modern electronic systems limits the mechanical stresses exerted on solder joints to values less than their yield points, and these joints have become integral parts of the mechanical structures. Unfortunately, while these joints are strong enough when new, they have proven vulnerable to fatigue failures as they age. Details of the fatigue process are poorly understood, making predictions of expected lifetimes difficult.

fatigue failure solder joints failure mechanisms s↗

Multilayer Composite Pressure Vessels

A method has been devised to enable the fabrication of lightweight pressure vessels from multilayer composite materials. This method is related to, but not the same as, the method described in gMaking a Metal- Lined Composite-Overwrapped Pressure Vessel h (MFS-31814), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 29, No. 3 (March 2005), page 59. The method is flexible in that it poses no major impediment to changes in tank design and is applicable to a wide range of tank sizes. The figure depicts a finished tank fabricated by this method, showing layers added at various stages of the fabrication process. In the first step of the process, a mandrel that defines the size and shape of the interior of the tank is machined from a polyurethane foam or other suitable lightweight tooling material. The mandrel is outfitted with metallic end fittings on a shaft. Each end fitting includes an outer flange that has a small step to accommodate a thin layer of graphite/epoxy or other suitable composite material. The outer surface of the mandrel (but not the fittings) is covered with a suitable release material. The composite material is filament- wound so as to cover the entire surface of the mandrel from the step on one end fitting to the step on the other end fitting. The composite material is then cured in place. The entire workpiece is cut in half in a plane perpendicular to the axis of symmetry at its mid-length point, yielding two composite-material half shells, each containing half of the foam mandrel. The halves of the mandrel are removed from within the composite shells, then the shells are reassembled and bonded together with a belly band of cured composite material. The resulting composite shell becomes a mandrel for the subsequent steps of the fabrication process and remains inside the final tank. The outer surface of the composite shell is covered with a layer of material designed to be impermeable by the pressurized fluid to be contained in the tank. A second step on the outer flange of each end fitting accommodates this layer. Depending on the application, this layer could be, for example, a layer of rubber, a polymer film, or an electrodeposited layer of metal. If the fluid to be contained in the tank is a gas, then the best permeation barrier is electrodeposited metal (typically copper or nickel), which can be effective at a thickness of as little as 0.005 in (.0.13 mm). The electrodeposited metal becomes molecularly bonded to the second step on each metallic end fitting. The permeation-barrier layer is covered with many layers of filament-wound composite material, which could be the same as, or different from, the composite material of the inner shell. Finally, the filament-wound composite material is cured in an ov

DeLay, Tom↗

Addressing Failures in Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage Tank for Central Receiver Concentrating Solar Power Plants

The thermal energy storage (TES) system is a critical component in concentrated solar power (CSP) plants that increases the plant's capacity factor and economic competitiveness by reducing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) while simultaneously increasing the value of the delivered energy. Failures including molten-salt leaks and diverse localized cracking after several months to a few years of operation have been reported in hot tanks for CSP plants operating around the world. A model of a molten salt thermal energy storage tank was developed and validated to analyze the impact of different tank design features on the temperature and stress distributions as a function of typical plant operation conditions. Design features included the floor plate thicknesses, friction coefficients between the tank floor and the foundation, and the sparger ring location. Maximum stresses in the tank floor frequently surpassed the yield point of the material during operation, leading to a detriment of the tank's lifetime. Recommendations on design features to improve the reliability of new molten salt tanks for CSP plants are provided.

concentrating solar power↗

Spatially and Temporally Resolved Velocimetry for Hypersonic Flows

The development of new hypersonic flight vehicles is limited by the physical understanding that may be obtained from ground test facilities. This has motivated the present development of a temporally and spatially resolved velocimetry measurement for Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (HWT) using Femtosecond Laser Electronic Excitation Tagging (FLEET). First, a multi-line FLEET technique has been created for the first time and tested in a supersonic jet, allowing simultaneous measurements of velocities along multiple profiles in a flow. Secondly, two different approaches have been demonstrated for generating dotted FLEET lines. One employs a slit mask pattern focused into points to yield a dotted line, allowing for two- or three-component velocity measurements free of contamination between components. The other dotted-line approach is based upon an optical wedge array and yields a grid of points rather than a dotted line. Two successful FLEET measurement campaigns have been conducted in SNL’s HWT. The first effort established optimal diagnostic configurations in the hypersonic environment based on earlier benchtop reproductions, including validation of the use of a 267 nm beam to boost the measurement signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with minimal risk of perturbing the flow and greater simplicity than a comparable resonant technique at 202 nm. The same FLEET system subsequently was reconstituted to demonstrate the ability to make velocimetry measurements of hypersonic turbulence in a realistic flow field. Mean velocity profiles and turbulence intensity profiles of the shear layer in the wake of a hypersonic cone model were measured at several different downstream stations, proving the viability of FLEET as a hypersonic diagnostic.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Universal and Automated Monte Carlo Method Code for Uncertainty Propagation in Metrology Databases

A method of providing transformed target points for integrating a component into an assembly includes collecting a set of component target points, collecting a set of assembly target points, identifying target points common to the set of component target points and the set of assembly target points; performing a specified number of Monte Carlo transformations of selected ones of the common target points to yield a set of transformed target points and vectors and an associated uncertainty value for each transformed target point and vector, and using certain ones of the transformed target points for integrating the component into the assembly based on the associated uncertainty value for each of the transformed target points.

Hayden, Joseph↗

Theoretical characterization of the potential energy surface for H + N2 yields HN2. II - Computed points to define a global potential

A previous calculation for H + N2 (Walch et al., 1989) focused on the minimum energy path (MEP) region of the potential energy surface and on estimates of the lifetime of the HN2 species. In this paper, energies computed at geometries selected to permit a global representation of the potential energy surface (PES) are reported. As in the previous work, the calculations were performed using the complete active space self-consistent field/externally contracted configuration interaction method. The surface was characterized using the same basis set as in the previous paper except that an improved contraction of the H s-basis is used. Calculations with a larger basis set were carried out along an approximate MEP obtained with the smaller basis set. The new PES exhibits a sharp curvature, which was not present in the previous calculations, and has a slightly narrower and smaller barrier to dissociation. Saddle points for H atom exchange via collinear and T shaped HN2 complexes are also reported.

Walch, Stephen P.↗

MP2 Studies of Relativistic Effects on the Linear Stationary Points of the H+Cl2 Yields HCl+Cl and Cl+HCl Yields ClH+Cl Reactions

The influence of relativistic effects on the linear stationary points of the potential energy surfaces of the ClHCl and HCl2 systems is studied. Scalar relativistic effects have little influence on the geometries and the energies of these points. Spin-orbit effects have no influence on the barrier of the forward reaction of H with Cl2, but increase the reaction energy. The total relativistic effect is an increase of the reaction energy by 2.3 kJ /mol. The barrier for the iso-energetic exchange reaction of HCl with Cl is decreased by 0.5 kJ /mol due to the scalar relativistic effects. This small decrease is cancelled by the larger increase of 2.5 kJ /mol due to spin-orbit effects, giving a total relativistic effect of 2.0 kJ /mol.

Visscher, L.↗