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At least 757 records · Page 42

Fracture Analysis of Semi-Elliptical Surface Cracks in Ductile Materials

Accurate life assessment of structural components may require advanced life prediction criteria and methodologies. Structural components often exhibit several different types of defects, among the most prevalent being surface cracks. A semi-elliptical surface crack subjected to monotonic loading will exhibit stable crack growth until the crack has reached a critical size, at which the crack loses stability and fracture ensues (Newman, 2000). The shape and geometry of the flaw are among the most influential factors. When considering simpler crack configurations, such as a through-the-thickness crack, a three-dimensional (3D) geometry may be modeled under the approximation of two-dimensional (2D) plane stress or plane strain. The more complex surface crack is typically modeled numerically with the Finite Element Method (FEM). A semi-elliptical surface crack is illustrated in Figure 1-1.

Daniewicz, S. R.↗

The Development of Environmental Barrier Coating Systems for SiC-SiC Ceramic Matrix Composites: Environment Effects on the Creep and Fatigue Resistance

Topics covered include: Environmental barrier coating system development: needs, challenges and limitations; Advanced environmental barrier coating systems (EBCs) for CMC airfoils and combustors; NASA EBC systems and material system evolutions, Current turbine and combustor EBC coating emphases, Advanced development, processing, testing and modeling, EBC and EBC bond coats: recent advances; Design tool and life prediction of coated CMC components; Advanced CMC-EBC rig demonstrations; Summary and future directions.

Environmental Barrier Coatings↗

Some Observations on Damage Tolerance Analyses in Pressure Vessels

AIAA standards S080 and S081 are applicable for certification of metallic pressure vessels (PV) and composite overwrap pressure vessels (COPV), respectively. These standards require damage tolerance analyses with a minimum reliable detectible flaw/crack and demonstration of safe life four times the service life with these cracks at the worst-case location in the PVs and oriented perpendicular to the maximum principal tensile stress. The standards require consideration of semi-elliptical surface cracks in the range of aspect ratios (crack depth a to half of the surface length c, i.e., (a/c) of 0.2 to 1). NASA-STD-5009 provides the minimum reliably detectible standard crack sizes (90/95 probability of detection (POD) for several non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods (eddy current (ET), penetrant (PT), radiography (RT) and ultrasonic (UT)) for the two limits of the aspect ratio range required by the AIAA standards. This paper tries to answer the questions: can the safe life analysis consider only the life for the crack sizes at the two required limits, or endpoints, of the (a/c) range for the NDE method used or does the analysis need to consider values within that range? What would be an appropriate method to interpolate 90/95 POD crack sizes at intermediate (a/c) values? Several procedures to develop combinations of a and c within the specified range are explored. A simple linear relationship between a and c is chosen to compare the effects of seven different approaches to determine combinations of aj and cj that are between the (a/c) endpoints. Two of the seven are selected for evaluation: Approach I, the simple linear relationship, and a more conservative option, Approach III. For each of these two Approaches, the lives are computed for initial semi-elliptic crack configurations in a plate subjected to remote tensile fatigue loading with an R-ratio of 0.1, for an assumed material evaluated using NASGRO (registered 4) version 8.1. These calculations demonstrate that for this loading, using Approach I and the initial detectable crack sizes at the (a/c) endpoints in 5009 specified for the ET and UT NDE methods, the smallest life is not at the two required limits of the (a/c) range, but rather is at an intermediate configuration in the range (a/c) of 0.4 to 0.6. Similar analyses using both Approach I and III with the initial detectable crack size at the (a/c) endpoints in 5009 for PT NDE showed the smallest life may be at an (a/c) endpoint or an intermediate (a/c), depending upon which Approach is used. As such, analyses that interrogate only the two (a/c) values of 0.2 and 1 may result in unconservative life predictions. The standard practice may need to be revised based on these results.

Raju, Ivatury S.↗

Crack Opening Displacement Behavior in Ceramic Matrix Composites

Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC) modeling and life prediction strongly depend on oxidation, and therefore require a thorough understanding of when matrix cracks occur, the extent of cracking for given conditions (time-temperature-environment-stress), and the interactions of matrix cracks with fibers and interfaces. In this work, the evolution of matrix cracks in a melt-infiltrated Silicon Carbide/Silicon Carbide (SiC/SiC) CMC under uniaxial tension was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with digital image correlation (DIC) and manual crack opening displacement (COD) measurements. Strain relaxation due to matrix cracking, the relationship between COD's and applied stress, and damage evolution at stresses below the proportional limit were assessed. Direct experimental observation of strain relaxation adjacent to regions of matrix cracking is presented and discussed. Additionally, crack openings were found to increase linearly with increasing applied stress, and no crack was found to pass fully through the gage cross-section. This observation is discussed in the context of the assumption of through-cracks for all loading conditions and fiber architectures in oxidation modeling. Finally, the combination of SEM with DIC is demonstrated throughout to be a powerful means for damage identification and quantification in CMC's at stresses well below the proportional limit.

acoustic emission↗

Development of Advanced Environmental Barrier Coatings for SiC/SiC Composites at NASA GRC: Prime-Reliant Design and Durability Perspectives

Environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) are considered technologically important because of the critical needs and their ability to effectively protect the turbine hot-section SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composite (CMC) components in harsh engine combustion environments. The development of NASA's advanced environmental barrier coatings have been aimed at significantly improved the coating system temperature capability, stability, erosion-impact, and CMAS resistance for SiC/SiC turbine airfoil and combustors component applications. The NASA environmental barrier coating developments have also emphasized thermo-mechanical creep and fatigue resistance in simulated engine heat flux and environments. Experimental results and models for advanced EBC systems will be presented to help establishing advanced EBC composition design methodologies, performance modeling and life predictions, for achieving prime-reliant, durable environmental coating systems for 2700-3000 F engine component applications. Major technical barriers in developing environmental barrier coating systems and the coating integration with next generation composites having further improved temperature capability, environmental stability, EBC-CMC fatigue-environment system durability will be discussed.

Environmental barrier coatings (EBCs)↗

Aerospace Ceramic Materials: Thermal, Environmental Barrier Coatings and SiC/SiC Ceramic Matrix Composites for Turbine Engine Applications

Ceramic materials play increasingly important roles in aerospace applications because ceramics have unique properties, including high temperature capability, high stiffness and strengths, excellent oxidation and corrosion resistance. Ceramic materials also generally have lower densities as compared to metallic materials, making them excellent candidates for light-weight hot-section components of aircraft turbine engines, rocket exhaust nozzles, and thermal protection systems for space vehicles when they are being used for high-temperature and ultra-high temperature ceramics applications. Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), including non-oxide and oxide CMCs, are also recently being incorporated in gas turbine engines for high pressure and high temperature section components and exhaust nozzles. However, the complexity and variability of aerospace ceramic processing methods, compositions and microstructures, the relatively low fracture toughness of the ceramic materials, still remain the challenging factors for ceramic component design, validation, life prediction, and thus broader applications. This ceramic material section paper presents an overview of aerospace ceramic materials and their characteristics. A particular emphasis has been placed on high technology level (TRL) enabling ceramic systems, that is, turbine engine thermal and environmental barrier coating systems and non-oxide type SiC/SiC CMCs. The current status and future trend of thermal and environmental barrier coatings and SiC/SiC CMC development and applications are described.

Thermal Barrier Coatings↗

Advanced Ceramic Matrix Composites: Science and Technology of Materials, Design, Applications, Performance and Integration

Overview of NASA Transformational Tools and Technologies Project's 2700F CMC/EBC Technology Challenge J. Hurst, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH USA Key Words: ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), SiC/SiC composites, environmental barrier coatings (EBCs), CMC modeling, simulated engine testing As advanced gas turbine engine designs continue to move toward both higher operating temperatures and increased pressures, materials capable of functioning under these extreme conditions are being sought by both government and industry. As part of its mission, the NASA's Transformational Tools and Technologies Project, under the auspices of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, has been pursuing a five year Technology Challenge problem. This challenge problem has sought to develop high temperature materials for turbine engines that enable a 6% reduction in fuel burn for commercial aircraft, compared to current SOA materials. Specifically this is accomplished by the development and demonstration of a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) and environmental barrier coating (EBC) system capable of sustained performance at temperature of 2700F. The NASA Glenn Research Center has continued its two decade long interest in CMC/EBCs technology by pursuing this 2700F performance goal. This ambitious effort included an array of vendors, universities and engine companies. Included in this challenge was fiber development, fiber architecture considerations, ceramic matrix composition, environmental barrier compositions and processing routes as well as test development. Evaluation of the CMC/EBC materials included a variety of testing, from coupon testing for strength and creep resistance, to testing aimed at determining material behavior under more engine-like conditions. The development and validation of thermomechanical models and computational tools for design, analysis, and life prediction, have been an important part of this effort as well. Simulated engine testing of vane subcomponents by P&W was the final step following years of development. In addition to achieving the temperature goals and enhanced durability performance of the Tech Challenge, an additional goal achieved by this work was reaching a Technology Readiness Level of 5 for the 3-D CMC/EBC system. As this five year Technical Challenge comes to a conclusion, future development interests in environmental barrier coatings and environmental modeling are discussed.

SiC/SiC composites↗

Cryogenic Fuel Valve Testbed Development

The goal for this project is to update the cryogenic valve testbed program in LabVIEW to schedule and automate tests and experiments. By using an automated system, tens or hundreds of tests may be performed. This will ensure that accurate data is being collected for testing of the remaining useful life and end of life predictions. From the data obtained, new diagnostic and prognostic methods will be developed to manage or predict potential leaks which may occur in the future. The Cryogenic valve testbed injects controlled faults into the cryogenic fuel valve system in order to accurately determine failure behavior.

Prognostics↗

Stochastic Simulation of Mudcrack Damage Formation in an Environmental Barrier Coating

The FEAMAC/CARES program, which integrates finite element analysis (FEA) with the MAC/GMC (Micromechanics Analysis Code with Generalized Method of Cells) and the CARES/Life (Ceramics Analysis and Reliability Evaluation of Structures / Life Prediction) programs, was used to simulate the formation of mudcracks during the cooling of a multilayered environmental barrier coating (EBC) deposited on a silicon carbide substrate. FEAMAC/CARES combines the MAC/GMC multiscale micromechanics analysis capability (primarily developed for composite materials) with the CARES/Life probabilistic multiaxial failure criteria (developed for brittle ceramic materials) and Abaqus (Dassault Systèmes) FEA. In this report, elastic modulus reduction of randomly damaged finite elements was used to represent discrete cracking events. The use of many small-sized low-aspect-ratio elements enabled the formation of crack boundaries, leading to development of mudcrack-patterned damage. Finite element models of a disk-shaped three-dimensional specimen and a twodimensional model of a through-the-thickness cross section subjected to progressive cooling from 1,300 °C to an ambient temperature of 23 °C were made. Mudcrack damage in the coating resulted from the buildup of residual tensile stresses between the individual material constituents because of thermal expansion mismatches between coating layers and the substrate. A two-parameter Weibull distribution characterized the coating layer stochastic strength response and allowed the effect of the Weibull modulus on the formation of damage and crack segmentation lengths to be studied. The spontaneous initiation of cracking and crack coalescence resulted in progressively smaller mudcrack cells as cooling progressed, consistent with a fractal-behaved fracture pattern. Other failure modes such as delamination, and possibly spallation, could also be reproduced. The physical basis assumed and the heuristic approach employed, which involves a simple stochastic cellular automaton methodology to approximate the crack growth process, are described. The results ultimately show that a selforganizing mudcrack formation can derive from a Weibull distribution that is used to describe the stochastic strength response of the bulk brittle ceramic material layers of an EBC.

Nemeth, Noel N.↗

Residual Strength of Hypervelocity Impacted Silica

Windows in the International Space Station are subjected to on-going micrometeoroid and orbital debris damage (MMOD). The reliability of the windows is being ensured by monitoring of damage, life prediction, and measurement of the residual strength of man-made and natural hypervelocity impact damage. The residual strength of man-made craters and MMOD craters harvested from space shuttle windows were used to estimate strength as a function of damage dimensions and thereby derive design allowables for U.S. and Russian fused silicas used in the ISS. US and Russian silica exhibit similar mechanical properties. An effect of impact angle is apparent, with 0o impacts exhibiting the lowest strength for Russian quartz-derived silica. The crater morphology for fused silica consists of a central pit, crush zone, shallow rings and radial cracks dividing petaloids. Morphology of alkaline glass is different from than that of fused silica, with a more distinct pit and pulverized region, and bell and tail-like features below the pit.

Silicia↗

NASA Ground-based Layered Pressure Vessels Materials Report

A significant portion of Layered Pressure Vessels (LPVs) manufactured for NASA in the 1950s and ’60s are of non-code construction. These vessels were constructed to the standards of individual manufacturers rather than an industry or consensus standard and often contain legacy or proprietary materials, which have poor or no characterization. Obtaining correct material properties is the first step in assuring vessel safety and predicting life and critical failure modes before they happen. This report details the efforts of the LPV Project related to material properties and characterization. The goal in testing materials from deconstructed vessels was to provide material characterization utilizing modern test methods that would give a strong probabilistic base as an option for future analysis. ASTM E1820, Standard Test Method for Measurement of Fracture Toughness was used for fracture toughness; ASTM E1921, Standard Test Method for Determination of Reference Temperature, T0, for Ferritic Steels in the Transition Range for transition temperature; and ASTM E647, Standard Test Method for Measurement of Fatigue Crack Growth Rates for fatigue crack growth. Particular focus was placed on determination of transition temperature through evaluation of the T0 reference temperature in accordance with ASTM E1921. Transition temperature testing allows for a probabilistic analysis of vessel materials that may be operating at temperatures below the transition from ductile tearing to brittle cleavage failure. This test method was not available at the time of construction and has proved invaluable to the characterization of older ferritic steels. The values reported are specific to the largest body of materials found in the current NASA fleet, but do not claim to be all inclusive. As demonstrated in this report, some materials contain extreme lot-to-lot variability. In some cases, this can be comfortably bounded by worst case probabilistic methods, however it is always recommended that vessel specific data be collected in as much depth as possible to ensure correct assumptions and avoid unduly restricting vessel usage.

Layered Pressure Vessel↗

A Novel Ultrasonic Fully Reversible Bending Fatigue Test Specimen for Simulated Gear Tooth Bending Fatigue

Gears in vertical lift applications will typically experience greater than 107bending fatigue cycles over their design lifetime. Currently, fatigue life prediction of gears exceeding 107cycles are based on empirical correlations, since collection of fatigue data beyond 107 cycles is impractical with traditional fatigue testing methods. Ultrasonic fatigue testing enables fatigue testing in excess of 109cycles in as few as 14 hours. In this paper, a novel specimen design for ultrasonic fatigue testing to accurately represent the geometry, stress profile, and residual stress of gear teeth in reversible bending fatigue is presented. The specimen design is discussed in detail, testing is performed to validate operating principles, and an initial fatigue data set of 8 specimens is presented.

Single Tooth Bending Fatigue↗

A Novel Ultrasonic Fully Reversible Bending Fatigue Test Specimen for Simulated Gear Tooth Bending Fatigue

Gears in vertical lift applications will typically experience greater than 107bending fatigue cycles over their design lifetime. Currently, fatigue life prediction of gears exceeding 107cycles are based on empirical correlations, since collection of fatigue data beyond 107 cycles is impractical with traditional fatigue testing methods. Ultrasonic fatigue testing enables fatigue testing in excess of 109cycles in as few as 14 hours. In this paper, a novel specimen design for ultrasonic fatigue testing to accurately represent the geometry, stress profile, and residual stress of gear teeth in reversible bending fatigue is presented. The specimen design is discussed in detail, testing is performed to validate operating principles, and an initial fatigue data set of 8 specimens is presented.

Single Tooth Bending Fatigue↗

Residual Strength of Hypervelocity Impacted Silica

Windows in the International Space Station (ISS) are subject to ongoing micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) damage. The reliability of the windows is ensured by monitoring of damage, life prediction, and measurement of the residual strength of man-made and natural hypervelocity impacted window materials. Information on the residual strength of man-made craters and MMOD craters harvested from space shuttle windows was used to estimate strength as a function of damage dimensions and thereby derive design allowables for U.S. and Russian fused silicas used in the ISS. An effect of impact angle is apparent, with 0° impacts exhibiting the lowest strength for Russian quartz-derived silica. The crater morphology for fused silica consists of a central pit, crush zone, shallow rings, and radial cracks dividing shallow, petal-like lateral cracks (petaloids). The morphology of alkaline glass differs from that of fused silica, with a more distinct pit and pulverized region, and bell-shaped and tail-like features below the pit.

International space station,↗

Electrical Endurance to Extrinsic Aging of Polyphenylsulfone-Boron Nitride Composite Insulation for Aeronautical Power Systems

Various insulating materials which can be potentially used in energy application, especially in electrified transportation, are investigated in this paper. They are based on Polyphenylsulfone matrix filled by macro and nano hexagonal Boron-nitride particles. Our study focuses on electrical properties, particularly endurance to partial discharges. Upon developing an original testing procedure and adequate partial discharge inception modeling, it is shown that that the h-BN micron and nano fillers can significantly improve the dielectric strength and resistance of PPSU to extrinsic aging, even in comparison with the insulating material typically used for electrified transportation, i.e., corona resistant polyimide. Also, a new diagnostic marker, extracted from partial discharge monitoring and analytics obtained by an innovative software, i.e., the likelihood surface discharge identification, seems to be very promising for dynamic residual life prediction for an insulation system subjected to surface discharges.

Polyphenylsulfone (PPSU)↗

Experimental Considerations for Estimating Degradation in PV Modules

Carefully controlled laboratory experiments and measurements can enable the determination of acceleration factors suitable for extrapolation to durability and performance of a fielded PV module. Ideally, a single mechanism can be identified with appropriate acceleration factors for extrapolation to the field. However, even with a single mechanism, the inherent uncertainty in these factors leads to uncertainty in the extrapolation which is greater the higher the acceleration factor. This course will explain how because of the wide range of acceleration factors for a given degradation mode, utilizing acceleration factors greater than about 10x will typically lead to unacceptable uncertainty in the results. Therefore, if even just a rank ordering of materials is desired, acceleration factors must be minimized which requires a good general understanding of the scale of the different acceleration factors for the degradation mode of interest. In this tutorial we will discuss what the different purposes are for many of the accelerated stress tests used today. E.g., what is a qualification test, a highly accelerated stress test, a rank ordering test, or a service life prediction test. We will discuss how one can understand the relationship between test results and expected field performance. A single accelerated stress test condition cannot duplicate outdoor exposure for all possible degradation pathways; therefore, one must use targeted evaluation of material properties at different stress levels to determine the relevant acceleration factors and fit it to a model. We will also discuss how to interpret the results of experiments understanding what is relevant/not relevant, or not e valuated in a test. There are many common error people make in their test interpretations because they push the stress levels to be too harsh. This creates biases and can mask the relevant failure modes and mechanisms or will erroneously lead one to over design materials against things that aren't relevant. Several case studies will be presented to illustrate appropriate interpretation of accelerated stress testing results.

degradation↗

Description of a computerized method for predicting thermal fatigue life of metals

A computer program called TFLIFE is described which can be used to predict the thermal fatigue life of metals and structural components from conventional metal properties. This program is used as a subroutine with a main program supplied by the user. The main program calculates input cycles of temperature and total strain for TFLIFE which then calculates a stress cycle, creep and plastic strain damage, and cyclic life. A unique feature of TFLIFE is that it calculates lives according to several different failure criteria for the same input data. These criteria are surface crack initiation, interior crack initiation, and complete fracture of both unnotched and notched fatigue specimens. Results are presented for two typical problems: thermal-mechanical fatigue of bar specimens of the tantalum alloy T-111 and thermal-stress fatigue of wedge specimens of the nickel alloy B-1900. The computer program is now ready for more extensive evaluation on structural components and additional laboratory specimens.

Spera, D. A.↗