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Results for “Compressive Strength”

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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At least 703 records · Page 39
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Powder Thixoforged Amorphous Ni{sub 55}Nb{sub 35}Si{sub 10}-Reinforced Al Matrix Composites

Powder thixoforging was used to produce amorphous Ni{sub 55}Nb{sub 35}Si{sub 10}-reinforced Al matrix composites from recycled Al powders obtained from ball-milled Al520 end-milled billets. The amorphous reinforcing material was uniformly dispersed in the Al matrix and bonded adequately with it without undesired interfacial reactions. The compressive yield strength of composites with 45% reinforcement content increased 248% to 794 MPa over as-cast samples. The maximum elongation and hardness of samples were 15%, and 60.4 HRA, respectively. The relative density of the unreinforced thixoforged sample was 99.8%, indicating near-perfect compaction of Al powders. The maximum elongation, hardness, and compressive yield strength of thixoforged monolithic matrix alloys were, respectively, 40%, 56.9 HRA, and 747 MPa (a 228% increase in CYS over the cast alloy). In contrast, cold-forged samples showed only 82% increase in compressive yield strength over the as-cast alloy. Powder thixoforging introduced in this study—even without reinforcement—delivers better mechanical properties compared to cold forging most likely due to the refinement and modification of the microstructure during powder ball milling.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2026

Influence of Processing Parameters on the Mechanical Properties of 3D Printed Borosilicate Particulate Reinforced Polymer Composites

Emerging composite materials are expanding the potential of additive manufacturing and enabling applications previously restricted by traditional manufacturing methods. The multi-phase nature of these composite materials combined with the complex in-ternal geometry of additively manufactured parts have enabled unique behavior, and potentially new applications. Additionally, these materials can be pyrolyzed to create dense metal, ceramic, and glass parts with geometries typically not achievable by tra-ditional processes. Additive manufacturing of borosilicate glass-based systems can open new applications in nuclear engineering, astronomy, and bone regrowth therapy. To elucidate the process-parameter relationship of borosilicate-polylactic acid (PLA) composites, mechanical testing was conducted and compared with a pure polylactic acid polymer baseline. Test specimens were fabricated by fused-filament fabrication with minimal post-processing. Yield strength, ultimate strength, and elastic modulus were calculated from stress-strain curves. Optical and scanning electron microscopy were conducted to observe the specimen microstructure before and after testing. The highest compressive yield strength for the composite was 28.22 MPa, and the highest compressive yield strength for PLA was 49.30 MPa. Print orientation was found to benefit the composite material but have a detrimental effect on the pure matrix material. An elastic modulus of 2.66 GPa was recorded for the borosilicate-PLA composite at 100% infill, 1 shell wall, and layer lines parallel to compression axis. Microscopy revealed that lower modulus composite specimens had the particulates re-distributed within the matrix. Tensile testing was done according to a polymer testing standard, which caused difficulties obtaining consistent fracture within the gauge length.

mechanical testing↗
DOE OSTI2021

Estimation of constituent properties of concrete materials with an artificial neural network based method

Multi-scale models are developed for heterogeneous concrete materials to estimate their macroscopic mechanical properties in terms of micro-structural data. One crucial challenge of those models is the identification of local properties of constituent phases. In this paper, we present an efficient method based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). Typical concrete materials are taken as example. A macroscopic analytical strength criterion is established from three steps of nonlinear homogenization procedure. The macroscopic strength of materials is determined as a function of the frictional coefficient and cohesion of solid cement particles at nanometer scale, intra-particle pores, inter-particle pores and aggregates (inclusions). The objective is to identify the nanoscopic frictional coefficient and cohesion of cement particle from measured macroscopic values of uniaxial compression and tensile strengths. For this purpose, a numerical method based on the ANN is developed. With the analytical macroscopic strength criterion, sensitivity studies are first realized to identify the most important micro-structural parameters influencing the macroscopic strength of concrete. A simplified analytical macroscopic strength criterion is then proposed. A large dataset is further constructed through the inversion of the analytical strength criterion by using the aggregates volume fraction, porosity, macroscopic uniaxial tensile and compressive strengths as input variables and the frictional coefficient and cohesion of cement particles as output unknowns. An ANN model containing four hidden layers and 100 neurons in each layer is constructed and trained by using this dataset. Various types of validation of the ANN model are performed. It is found that the proposed ANN based model can effectively predict the frictional coefficient and cohesion of porous cement paste at the microscopic scale with a very good accuracy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2003

Effects of Impact Damage in Midplane Asymmetric Sandwich Composites

Several structural sandwich composites arc in service on military and commercial aerospace vehicles, however, these components have been limited to secondary structures partly because the impact damage and damage tolerance of these composites have not been extensively characterized. To improve durability, safety, and life cycle performance of PMCs while reducing maintenance costs, combined analysis, and test methods that provide a means of predicting critical engineering properties after impact damage of the structure, must be developed. A key enabling technology here is the establishment of the correlation between the impact test results conducted in the laboratory and the mechanics-based phenomenological solutions. This research was undertaken to investigate the compression and flexural properties following low velocity impact of a nomex/phenolic honeycomb core, fiberglass/epoxy facesheet, midplane asymmetric sandwich composite. One facesheet (thin side) was composed of two plies of the fiberglass/epoxy (0/90), while the other facesheet (thick side) was composed of four plies (0/90/0/90) of fiberglass/epoxy. Due to the differences in facesheet thickness, impact damage was separately induced on the thick side as well as the thin side. The compression and flexural strength properties for each damage arrangement were compared using different levels of impact energy ranging from 0 to 452 Joules. In all cases, higher impact energy resulted in decreased compression and flexural strength. Impact on the thin side showed slightly more retention of compression strength at low impact levels, whereas higher residual compressive strength was observed from impact on the thick side at higher impact levels. Different facesheet thicknesses or midplane asymmetry, played an important role in the flexural strength, however, low velocity impact on the both the thick and thin fiberglass/epoxy facesheet side showed an almost linear loss of flexural strength to saturation.

Meador, Michael↗
DOE OSTI2023

Deformation Strengthening of Uranium and Dilute Uranium Alloys

The strength and ductility of uranium and dilute uranium alloys can be substantially improved by deformation strengthening. The yield strength of unalloyed uranium can be nearly doubled by rolling in the vicinity of 250°C. The embrittling effect of hydrogen is also overcome, eliminating the need for vacuum outgassing to obtain good ductility. Significant differences in longitudinal versus transverse tensile properties result, in part, from texture introduced by unidirectional rolling. Warm rolling of U-2.3%Nb results in both traditional strain hardening and a significant Bauschinger effect, resulting in differences between tensile and compressive yield strength. A similar combination of strain hardening and Bauschinger effect also occurs in deformation strengthened U-0.75%Ti. Warm rolling of U-0.75%Ti results in significantly better combinations of tensile yield strength and ductility than can be obtained by conventional age hardening. Warm rolling prior to aging also reduces the loss of ductility which typically accompanies conventional age hardening. Here, an approach is developed in which the effects of prior deformation on tensile and compressive yield strengths are analyzed in terms of texture, long-range dislocation, and Bauschinger effects. The Bauschinger effect is shown to vary in sign with the type of deformation, thus providing opportunities to tailor tensile and compressive properties.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS1939

Compressive Tests of a Monocoque Box

A monocoque box specimen of aluminum alloy was subjected to end compression and the strains in the stringers were measured up to loads at which permanent set became noticeable. The stringer strains at low loads agreed closely with those computed from the assumption of uniform stress distribution. Buckling of the 0.026-inch sheet between stringers and of the 0.075-inch shear web took place at stresses in accord with theoretical values. Permanent set became noticeable at a load of 115,200 pounds, corresponding to an average stringer stress of about 16,000 pounds per square inch. The measured average strain above the first buckling load was within 2 percent of the theoretical strain as calculated from the dimensions of the box and effective width formulas due to Marguerre and to Cox.

BOXES, MONOCOQUE - STRENGTH, COMPRESSIVE↗
DOE OSTI2019

A Biomedical Ti-35Nb-5Ta-7Zr Alloy Fabricated by Powder Metallurgy

Ti-35Nb-5Ta-7Zr alloy for biomedical applications with a reduced Young’s modulus of less than 10 GPa, being comparable to that of human bones, was successfully fabricated by powder metallurgy method. The microstructure, compressive and tensile behavior were studied. Results indicate that Ti-rich and Ta-rich phases co-exist in β-matrix. Ti-35Nb-5Ta-7Zr alloys yield at about 10% in compression, with increasing in the content of process control agent, the resultant compressive yield strength and Young’s modulus increase from 650 ± 46 to 1055 ± 90 MPa and from 6.3 ± 0.03 to 8.24 ± 0.04 GPa, respectively. The tensile fractography of alloy with 9.7 GPa tensile Young’s modulus, 433 MPa UTS at the 5.5% elongation consists of cleavage fracture and ductile fracture with dimples. The failure mechanism has been discussed taking the intrinsic microstructural features into consideration.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Compression behavior of microcrystalline cellulose spheres: Single particle compression and confined bulk compression across regimes

Particle characteristics can drastically influence the process-structure-property-performance aspects of granular materials in compression. In this study, we aim to computationally simulate the mechanical processes of stress redistribution in compacts including the kinematics of particle rearrangement during densification and particle deformation leading to fragmentation. Confined compression experiments are conducted with three sets of commercial microcrystalline cellulose particles nearly spherical in shape with different mean particle size. Experimentally measured compression curves from tall powder columns are fitted with the Kenkre et al. (J. of American Chemical Society, Vol. 79, No. 12) model. This model provides a basis to derive several common two-parameter literature models and as a framework to incorporate statistical representations of critical particle behaviors. We focus on the low-stress compression data and the model comparisons typically not discussed in the literature. Furthermore, additional single particle compressions report fracture strength with particle size for comparison to the apparent particle strength extracted from bulk compression data.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Initial assessment of alternative carbon fiber geometries for design of cost-effective compressive performance: Size effect studies

Carbon fiber provides opportunity to reduce weight in structural composites, including wind turbine blades, due to the material's superior specific stiffness and specific strength compared to alternatives. Despite these advantages, cost and compressive performance are considered weaknesses for carbon fiber products available today. Studies to produce low-cost carbon fiber alternatives, including the use of textile-derived precursor systems, have shown progress and merit through the DOE/ORNL low-cost carbon fiber initiatives. Here, this work focuses on enabling increases in compressive strength through design of the carbon fiber geometry, applicable to both textile and conventional precursor systems, while also providing opportunities to reduce carbon fiber processing costs. Fiber-resin interface and fiber alignment are among the most frequently cited factors controlling composite compressive performance. However, it is believed that there is opportunity in traditionally unexplored routes to increasing compressive strength through alteration of the carbon fiber geometry by increasing the fiber area moment of inertia and/or the fiber perimeter and interfacial area. This paper presents initial results from manufacturing carbon fiber materials to assess the impacts of carbon fiber size on tested composite compressive performance with projected neutral or even beneficial impact on fiber and composite manufacturing economics. Carbon fiber systems with increasing size illustrate a favorable correlation for compressive performance greater than predicted from a micromechanical failure model. The manufacturing and mechanical test results support the hypothesis of this work that alterations to fiber geometry can be used to produce improvements of the compressive strength of carbon fiber reinforced polymers and provide incentive for related work in designing alternative shapes to further enhance compressive performance.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1998

Influence of Impactor Mass on the Damage Characteristics and Failure Strength of Laminated Composite Plates

The results of an experimental study of the effect of impactor mass on the low-speed impact response of laminated flat composite plates is presented. Dropped weight impact response, damage characteristics, and residual strengths of quasi-isotropic flat plates are presented for a range of energy levels by systematically varying the mass of the impactor. Measured contact forces and damage areas are also presented. The results indicate that the contact force and damage area are nonlinear functions of the impactor mass and vary considerably over the entire range of energy levels considered. The different damage levels induced in a plate specimen when impacted at a given energy level with impactors of different masses significantly influence its compressive residual strength. The results provide clear and consistent trends in contact force, damage area, and compression-after-impact strength when the data are expressed as a function of the impactor momentum.

Ambur, Damodar R.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Metal Foam Analysis: Improving Sandwich Structure Technology for Engine Fan and Propeller Blades

The Life Prediction Branch of the NASA Glenn Research Center is searching for ways to construct aircraft and rotorcraft engine fan and propeller blades that are lighter and less costly. One possible design is to create a sandwich structure composed of two metal faces sheets and a metal foam core. The face sheets would carry the bending loads and the foam core would have to resist the transverse shear loads. Metal foam is ideal because of its low density and energy absorption capabilities, making the structure lighter, yet still stiff. The material chosen for the face sheets and core was 17-4PH stainless steel, which is easy to make and has appealing mechanical properties. This material can be made inexpensively compared to titanium and polymer matrix composites, the two current fan blade alternatives. Initial tests were performed on design models, including vibration and stress analysis. These tests revealed that the design is competitive with existing designs; however, some problems were apparent that must be addressed before it can be implemented in new technology. The foam did not hold up as well as expected under stress. This could be due to a number of issues, but was most likely a result of a large number of pores within the steel that weakened the structure. The brazing between the face sheets and the foam was also identified as a concern. The braze did not hold up well under shear stress causing the foam to break away from the face sheets. My role in this project was to analyze different options for improving the design. I primarily spent my time examining various foam samples, created with different sintering conditions, to see which exhibited the most favorable characteristics for our purpose. Methods of analysis that I employed included examining strut integrity under a microscope, counting the number of cells per inch, measuring the density, testing the microhardness, and testing the strength under compression. Shear testing will also be done to examine the strengths of different types of brazes.

Fedor, Jessica L.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Magnetic measurements of the solar wind interaction with the moon

The magnetic signature of the interaction between the moon and the solar wind (as observed by the Apollo 15 subsatellite) is an enhanced field directly behind the moon, bounded on either side by two dips in the field strength. On occasion, compressions of the field strength are observed external to either one or sometimes both of these dips. Theories of the interaction postulate either that these compressions are a general feature of the solar wind-moon interaction modulated by changes in the solar wind parameters or that they are associated with the appearance of specific lunar regions at the limbs. The measurements of the lunar magnetic field with the Apollo 15 and 16 subsatellites, the mapping of projected source positions of limb compressions onto the lunar surface, and the study of the persistence of limb compressions supports the hypothesis that limb compressions are formed when regions of high magnetization are at the lunar limbs.

Lichtenstein, B. R.↗