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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.

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All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1989

Elastic crack bridging in ceramic and intermetallic matrix composites

A micromechanics analytical model based on the consistent shear lag theory is developed for predicting the failure modes in a fiber reinforced unidirectional ceramic and intermetallic matrix composite. The model accounts for the relatively large matrix stiffness. The fiber and matrix stresses are established as functions of the applied stress, crack geometry, and most importantly, the microstructural properties of the constituents. From the predicted stress, the mode of failure is established based on the point stress criterion.

Dharani, L. R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Removal of surface loop from stitched composites can improve compression and compression-after-impact strengths

Stitching through-the-thickness (TTT) of composite materials produces a surface loop of yarn between successive penetrations. The surface loop is pressed into the surface layers of the composite material during the curing of the laminate, kinking the in-plane fibers near the surface of the material. The compression strength and compression-after-impact (CAI) strengths of carbon-epoxy specimens were measured with and without the surface loop. Removal of the surface loop had no influence on failure mode or failure mechanism, but did significantly increase the compression and CAI strengths.

Farley, Gary L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Effects of thermal and mechanical fatigue on the flexural strength of G40-600/PMR-15 cross-ply laminates

The effects of thermal and mechanical fatigue on the flexural strength of G40-600/PMR-15 cross-ply laminates with ply orientation of (0(2),90(2))2S and (90(2),0(2))2S are examined. The relative importance of shear and tensile stresses is examined by varying the span-to-depth ratios of flexural test specimens from 8 to 45. Acoustic emission signals are measured during the flexural tests in order to monitor the initiation and growth of damage. Optical microscopy is used to examine specimens for resin cracking, delamination, and fiber breaks after testing. Transverse matrix cracks and delaminations occur in all specimens, regardless of ply orientation, span-to-depth ratio, or previous exposure of specimens to thermal and mechanical fatigue. A small amount of fiber tensile fracture occurs in the outer 0 deg ply of specimens with high span-to-depth ratios. Because of the complex failure modes, the flexural test results represent the 'apparent' strengths rather than the true flexural or shear strengths for these cross-ply laminates. Thermal cycling of specimens prior to flexural testing does not reduce the apparent flexural strength or change the mode of failure. However, fewer acoustic events are recorded at all strains during flexural testing of specimens exposed to prior thermal cycling. High temperature thermal cycling (32 to 260 C, 100 cycles) causes a greater reduction in acoustic events than low temperature thermal cycling (-85 to +85 C, 500 cycles). Mechanical cycling (0 to 50 percent of the flexural strength, 100 cycles) has a similar effect, except that acoustic events are reduced only at strains less than the maximum strain applied during flexural fatigue.

Roberts, Gary D.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Capillary Pumped Heat Transfer (CHT) Experiment

The operation of Capillary Pumped Loops (CPL's) in low gravity has generally been unable to match ground-based performance. The reason for this poorer performance has been elusive. In order to investigate the behavior of a CPL in low-gravity, an idealized, glass CPL experiment was constructed. This experiment, known as the Capillary-driven Heat Transfer (CHT) experiment, was flown on board the Space Shuttle Columbia in July 1997 during the Microgravity Science Laboratory mission. During the conduct of the CHT experiment an unexpected failure mode was observed. This failure mode was a result of liquid collecting and then eventually bridging the vapor return line. With the vapor return line blocked, the condensate was unable to return to the evaporator and dry-out subsequently followed. The mechanism for this collection and bridging has been associated with long wavelength instabilities of the liquid film forming in the vapor return line. Analysis has shown that vapor line blockage in present generation CPL devices is inevitable. Additionally, previous low-gravity CPL tests have reported the presence of relatively low frequency pressure oscillations during erratic system performance. Analysis reveals that these pressure oscillations are in part a result of long wavelength instabilities present in the evaporator pores, which likewise lead to liquid bridging and vapor entrapment in the porous media. Subsequent evaporation to the trapped vapor increases the vapor pressure. Eventually the vapor pressure causes ejection of the bridged liquid. Recoil stresses depress the meniscus, the vapor pressure rapidly increases, and the heated surface cools. The process then repeats with regularity.

Hallinan, Kevin P.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Comments on the Operation of Capillary Pumped Loop Devices in Low Gravity

Hallinan, K. P.↗

NASA NTRS1961

Optimum Design of Insulated Compression Plates Subjected to Aerodynamic Heating

A method to determine the optimum thicknesses of insulation and load-carrying structure has been applied to insulated compression plates subjected to aerodynamic heating. The optimum design results in the lowest combined weight of insulation and load-carrying plate. Load parameters which included the imposed load, insulation conductivity and density, and flight time were found for design strength criteria of compressive yield, compressive buckling, and postbuckling failure. Charts of optimum total weight were prepared for 2024-T3 aluminum alloy, HK3lA magnesium alloy, 17-7 PH stainless steel, and Inconel X for each design criterion. The results show that 17-7 PH stainless steel and Inconel X are most efficient for compressive yield stress and that HK3lA magnesium is most efficient for buckling. HK31A magnesium is also most efficient for the postbuckling failure criterion except under conditions of light loading and long flight periods; under such conditions uninsulated Inconel X may be superior for environmental temperature less than 1,200 F. Insulated magnesium is more efficient than insulated aluminum because the lower density of magnesium permits the use of thick plates with large heat capacity. When more than one failure mode was applied to a design, it was found that the minimum weight structure was one in which all modes of failure occurred at the design load.

Davidson, John R.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Impact Damage and Strain Rate Effects for Toughened Epoxy Composite Structures

Structural integrity of composite systems under dynamic impact loading is investigated herein. The GENOA virtual testing software environment is used to implement the effects of dynamic loading on fracture progression and damage tolerance. Combinations of graphite and glass fibers with a toughened epoxy matrix are investigated. The effect of a ceramic coating for the absorption of impact energy is also included. Impact and post impact simulations include verification and prediction of (1) Load and Impact Energy, (2) Impact Damage Size, (3) Maximum Impact Peak Load, (4) Residual Strength, (5) Maximum Displacement, (6) Contribution of Failure Modes to Failure Mechanisms, (7) Prediction of Impact Load Versus Time, and (8) Damage, and Fracture Pattern. A computer model is utilized for the assessment of structural response, progressive fracture, and defect/damage tolerance characteristics. Results show the damage progression sequence and the changes in the structural response characteristics due to dynamic impact. The fundamental premise of computational simulation is that the complete evaluation of composite fracture requires an assessment of ply and subply level damage/fracture processes as the structure is subjected to loads. Simulation results for the graphite/epoxy composite were compared with the impact and tension failure test data, correlation and verification was obtained that included: (1) impact energy, (2) damage size, (3) maximum impact peak load, (4) residual strength, (5) maximum displacement, and (6) failure mechanisms of the composite structure.

Chamis, Christos C.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Response of Honeycomb Core Sandwich Panel with Minimum Gage GFRP Face-Sheets to Compression Loading After Impact

A compression after impact study has been conducted to determine the residual strength of three sandwich panel constructions with two types of thin glass fiber reinforced polymer face-sheets and two hexagonal honeycomb Nomex core densities. Impact testing is conducted to first determine the characteristics of damage resulting from various impact energy levels. Two modes of failure are found during compression after impact tests with the density of the core precipitating the failure mode present for a given specimen. A finite element analysis is presented for prediction of the residual compressive strength of the impacted specimens. The analysis includes progressive damage modeling in the face-sheets. Preliminary analysis results were similar to the experimental results; however, a higher fidelity core material model is expected to improve the correlation.

McQuigg, Thomas D.↗

NASA NTRS2013

On the Theory and Numerical Simulation of Cohesive Crack Propagation with Application to Fiber-Reinforced Composites

The phenomenon of crack propagation is among the predominant modes of failure in many natural and engineering structures, often leading to severe loss of structural integrity and catastrophic failure. Thus, the ability to understand and a priori simulate the evolution of this failure mode has been one of the cornerstones of applied mechanics and structural engineering and is broadly referred to as "fracture mechanics." The work reported herein focuses on extending this understanding, in the context of through-thickness crack propagation in cohesive materials, through the development of a continuum-level multiscale numerical framework, which represents cracks as displacement discontinuities across a surface of zero measure. This report presents the relevant theory, mathematical framework, numerical modeling, and experimental investigations of through-thickness crack propagation in fiber-reinforced composites using the Variational Multiscale Cohesive Method (VMCM) developed by the authors.

Rudraraju, Siva Shankar↗

DOE OSTI2018

RISK-INFORMED EXTERNAL HAZARDS ANALYSIS BY EEVE TOOLKIT

Introducing risk-informed safety analyses for external events can bring sensible benefits to the nuclear power industry easing the regulatory burden introduced in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident. In the framework of the US-DOE Light-Water Reactor Sustainability program, Risk-Informed Margin Characterization project (LWRS-RISMC), research activities were conducted at INL for developing and applying a toolkit for performing risk-informed external hazards analysis. The “EEVE” (External EVEnts) toolkit, a chain of INL and state-of-the-art codes, was set-up and applied for simulating earthquake-induced transients with internal flooding in a PWR. This was done using methodology set-up for evaluating new data and determining critical areas that would benefit most from advanced analysis methods. The methodology is agnostic and it can be applied to other external hazards than just seismic and flooding (e.g., high winds, intense precipitation, etc.). The first step was the deterministic calculations for evaluating the propagation of a set of earthquakes and for determining the effects on a fire suppression system in an auxiliary building. These deterministic calculations were performed using the LS-DYNA and the OPENSEE structural mechanics codes. Probability failures and event trees of a generic 3-loops Westinghouse PWR were derived from a generic SAPHIRE model. Seismically induced Loss of Offsite Power, Station Blackout, and fire suppression piping failure events were considered. SAPHIRE code allowed a pre-screening of all possible branches of the event tree and a selection of those with the largest Core Damage Frequency increase for further analysis using dynamic PRA methods. INL's EMRALD code performed dynamic PRA calculations of the identified sequences, integrating risk analysis with on-line deterministic safety analysis results (seismically-induced internal flooding calculations by NEUTRINO code and system analysis by RELAP5-3D code). RELAP5-3D Best-Estimate calculations coupled with RAVEN statistical code were used for deriving limit surfaces as function of relevant transient parameters. This data was used by EMRALD for determining the final core status (core damage/core safe). Finally, the coupling of seismic, flooding, system thermal-hydraulic, uncertainty quantification and probabilistic risk analysis for an advanced risk-informed external hazards analysis was demonstrated. Results showed the sensible decrease in the level of conservatism achieved using the developed risk-informed methodology, which allowed also improving the evaluation of the failure modes and failure probabilities of different components.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2019

Roller Sliding in Wind Turbine Gearbox High-Speed-Shaft Bearings

Failures in gearbox bearings have been a primary source of reliability issues for wind turbine drivetrains, leading to costly downtime and unplanned maintenance. The most common failure mode is attributed to so-called white-etching cracks (WECs). This mode of failure can occur at 5%-20% of the predicted design life and has been observed in many other industries, bearing locations, bearing types, bearing parts, and steel types. The main drivers for the creation of WECs in steel specimens have been identified and verified by material testing. In a full-scale wind turbine gearbox, however, the conditions leading to WECs, the process by which this failure culminates, and the reasons for their apparent prevalence are all still highly debated. In a collaborative project, Flender Corporation, SKF and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have instrumented a commercial drivetrain, installed it in a wind turbine, and operated the turbine for over a year. In this report, these measurements are used to validate two different modelling approaches for bearing sliding, one analytical dynamic model and one multi-body model. Once validated, these models can then be used to evaluate the roller slip losses or cumulative frictional energy that are each considered as potential driving factors for wind turbine gearbox bearing failures by WEC.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND REDESIGN OF THE TUNER WITH-OUT SPRING FINGERS FOR THE LEReC WARM CAVITY

A folded coaxial tuner without spring fingers was de-signed for the Low Energy Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) electron Cooler (LEReC) 2.1 GHz warm cavity. During RHIC run 2019, this tuner was found to cause cavity trips via different failure modes. After analyzing these failure modes, a new straight coaxial tuner without spring fingers was proposed and was installed. We show the operational experience of the new tuner in this paper.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

NASA NTRS1995

A Systematic Approach to Hardware Qualification

A systematic approach for the development of a hardware qualification approach is described. This approach stems from the need to break the "Catch-22" of not being able to fly new technology because it hasn't flown. A physics of failure approach is used to identify failure modes and the impact and likelihood of these failures on the mission requirements is plotted in a Requirements Matrix. These same failure modes are plotted against the effectiveness of the available Preventions, Analyses, Control and Tests (PACTs) at screening for, or eliminating, these failure modes in a Test Effectiveness Matrix. Matrix multiplication results in a ranked set of PACTs which can be sorted according to cost and redundancy with other PACTs. This, and other information which results from the process, will allow project managers to make more informed decisions regarding the cost and risk tradeoffs inherent in any qualification program.

hardware↗

NASA NTRS2017

Verification and Validation Process for Progressive Damage and Failure Analysis Methods in the NASA Advanced Composites Consortium

The Advanced Composites Consortium is a US Government/Industry partnership supporting technologies to enable timeline and cost reduction in the development of certified composite aerospace structures. A key component of the consortium's approach is the development and validation of improved progressive damage and failure analysis methods for composite structures. These methods will enable increased use of simulations in design trade studies and detailed design development, and thereby enable more targeted physical test programs to validate designs. To accomplish this goal with confidence, a rigorous verification and validation process was developed. The process was used to evaluate analysis methods and associated implementation requirements to ensure calculation accuracy and to gage predictability for composite failure modes of interest. This paper introduces the verification and validation process developed by the consortium during the Phase I effort of the Advanced Composites Project. Specific structural failure modes of interest are first identified, and a subset of standard composite test articles are proposed to interrogate a progressive damage analysis method's ability to predict each failure mode of interest. Test articles are designed to capture the underlying composite material constitutive response as well as the interaction of failure modes representing typical failure patterns observed in aerospace structures.

Wanthal, Steven↗

NASA NTRS1982

Accelerated fatigue durability of a high performance composite

The fatigue behavior of multidirectional graphite-epoxy laminates was analyzed theoretically and experimentally in an effort to establish an accelerated testing methodology. Analysis of the failure mechanism in fatigue of the laminates led to the determination of the failure mode governing fracture. The nonlinear, cyclic-dependent shear modulus was used to calculate the changing stress field in the laminate during the fatigue loading. Fatigue tests were performed at three different temperatures: 25 C, 74 C, and 114 C. The prediction of the S-N curves was made based on the artificial static strength artificial static strength at a reference temperature and the fatigue functions associated with them. The prediction of an S-N curve at other temperatures was performed using shifting factors determined for the specific failure mode. For multidirectional laminates, different S-N curves at different temperatures could be predicted using these shifting factors. Different S-N curves at different temperatures occur only when the fatigue failure mode is matrix dominated. It was found that whenever the fatigue failure mode is fiber dominated, temperature, over the range investigated, had no influence on the fatigue life. These results permit the prediction of long-time, low temperature fatigue behavior from data obtained in short time, high temperature testing, for laminates governed by a matrix failure mode.

Rotem, A.↗

NASA NTRS2010

An Experimental Investigation of Silicone-to-Metal Bond Strength in Composite Space Docking System Seals

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is currently developing a new universal docking mechanism for future space exploration missions called the Low Impact Docking System (LIDS). A candidate LIDS main interface seal design is a composite assembly of silicone elastomer seals vacuum molded into grooves in an electroless nickel plated aluminum retainer. The strength of the silicone-tometal bond is a critical consideration for the new system, especially due to the presence of small areas of disbond created during the molding process. In the work presented herein, seal-to-retainer bonds of subscale seal specimens with different sizes of intentional disbond were destructively tensile tested. Nominal specimens without intentional disbonds were also tested. Tension was applied either uniformly on the entire seal circumference or locally in one short circumferential length. Bond failure due to uniform tension produced a wide scatter of observable failure modes and measured load-displacement behaviors. Although the preferable failure mode for the seal-to-retainer bond is cohesive failure of the elastomer material, the dominant observed failure mode under the uniform loading condition was found to be the less desirable adhesive failure of the bond in question. The uniform tension case results did not show a correlation between disbond size and bond strength. Localized tension was found to produce failure either as immediate tearing of the elastomer material outside the bond region or as complete peel-out of the seal in one piece. The obtained results represent a valuable benchmark for comparison in the future between adhesion loads under various separation conditions and composite seal bond strength.

Gaier, James R.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Investigation of advanced fault insertion and simulator methods

The cooperative agreement partly supported research leading to the open-literature publication cited. Additional efforts under the agreement included research into fault modeling of semiconductor devices. Results of this research are presented in this report which is summarized in the following paragraphs. As a result of the cited research, it appears that semiconductor failure mechanism data is abundant but of little use in developing pin-level device models. Failure mode data on the other hand does exist but is too sparse to be of any statistical use in developing fault models. What is significant in the failure mode data is that, unlike classical logic, MSI and LSI devices do exhibit more than 'stuck-at' and open/short failure modes. Specifically they are dominated by parametric failures and functional anomalies that can include intermittent faults and multiple-pin failures. The report discusses methods of developing composite pin-level models based on extrapolation of semiconductor device failure mechanisms, failure modes, results of temperature stress testing and functional modeling. Limitations of this model particularly with regard to determination of fault detection coverage and latency time measurement are discussed. Indicated research directions are presented.

Dunn, W. R.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Coupled Thermomechanical Micromechanics Modeling of the Influence of Thermally Grown Oxide Layer in an Environmental Barrier Coating System

Environmental Barrier Coatings (EBCs) have emerged as a promising means of protecting critical components for high temperature applications (e.g., aircraft engines). EBCs are often used to protect an underlying material (substrate) from extreme thermal/chemical environments. However, systems that utilize EBCs are susceptible to a number of failure modes including oxidation/delamination. Environmental Barrier Coatings (EBCs) have emerged as a promising means of protecting silicon based ceramic matrix composite (CMC) components for high temperature applications (e.g., aircraft engines). EBCs are often used to protect an underlying material (substrate) such as silicon carbide from extreme thermal/chemical environments. In a typical CMC/EBC system, an EBC may or may not be adhered to an underlying substrate with a bond coat (e.g., silicon). Irrespective, systems that utilize EBCs are susceptible to a number of failure modes including oxidation/delamination, recession, chemical attack and dissolution, thermo-mechanical degradation, erosion, and foreign object damage. Current work at NASA Glenn Research Center is aimed at addressing these failure modes in EBC systems and developing robust analysis tools to aid in the design process. The Higher-Order Theory for Functionally Graded Materials (HOTFGM), a precursor to the High-Fidelity Generalized Method of Cells micromechanics approach, was developed to investigate the coupled thermo-mechanical behavior of functionally graded composites and will be used herein to assess the development and growth of a low-stiffness thermally grown oxide (TGO) layer in EBC/CMC systems without a silicon bond coat. To accomplish this a sensitivity study is conducted to examine the influence of uniformly and non-uniformly grown oxide layer on the associated driving forces leading to mechanical failure (spallation) of EBC layer when subjected to isothermal loading, recession, chemical attack and dissolution, thermomechanical degradation, erosion, and foreign object damage. Current work at NASA Glenn Research Center is aimed at addressing these failure modes in EBC systems and developing robust analysis tools to aid in the design process. The Higher-Order Theory for Functionally Graded Materials (HOTFGM), a precursor to the High-Fidelity Generalized Method of Cells micromechanics approach, was developed to investigate the coupled thermo-mechanical behavior of functionally graded composites (Aboudi et al., 1999, Composites B). For example, HOTFGM was previously used (Arnold et al, 1995, NASA CP 10178, paper 34), to assess interlaminar stresses (including free edge effects) in a substrate with a thermal barrier coating (TBC). In this study, HOTFGM micromechanics analyses will be used to assess the development and growth of a low-stiffness thermally grown oxide (TGO) layer between a silicon carbide substrate and a ytterbium disilicate EBC. In order to realistically simulate TGO growth, an evolution law will be incorporated into HOTFGM. In addition, the effect of TGO roughness will be explored consistent with previous TBC work (Pindera et al., 2000. Material Science and Engineering, A284, pp. 158-175). This model represents a first step in developing a robust analysis tool that can ultimately be used to design durable EBC systems. Additional failure modes will be considered as part of a future work.

environmental barrier coating↗