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At least 127 records · Page 7

An analysis of fiber-matrix interface failure stresses for a range of ply stress states

A graphite/bismaleimide laminate was prepared without the usual fiber treatment and was tested over a wide range of stress states to measure its ply cracking strength. These tests were conducted using off-axis flexure specimens and produced fiber-matrix interface failure data over a correspondingly wide range of interface stress states. The absence of fiber treatment, weakened the fiber-matrix interfaces and allowed these tests to be conducted at load levels that did not yield the matrix. An elastic micromechanics computer code was used to calculate the fiber-matrix interface stresses at failure. Two different fiber-array models (square and diamond) were used in these calculations to analyze the effects of fiber arrangement as well as stress state on the critical interface stresses at failure. This study showed that both fiber-array models were needed to analyze interface stresses over the range of stress states. A linear equation provided a close fit to these critical stress combinations and, thereby, provided a fiber-matrix interface failure criterion. These results suggest that prediction procedures for laminate ply cracking can be based on micromechanics stress analyses and appropriate fiber-matrix interface failure criteria. However, typical structural laminates may require elastoplastic stress analysis procedures that account for matrix yielding, especially for shear-dominated ply stress states.

Crews, J. H.↗

Modulating the Pseudoelastic Response of Nitinol Using Ion Implantation

This work explores whether ion beam modification can be used to modulate the austenite to martensite phase transformation in Nickel-Titanium (NiTi), thereby achieving novel or localized transformation properties in near-surface regions. We report this could provide alternatives to laser shot peening or other surface treatment methods and possibly expand applications in biomedical, aerospace, and other fields. Irradiation induces defects and internal stress that can serve as nucleation and/or pinning sites for the phase transformation. Thus, it can augment more convention- al approaches, including alloying, severe mechanical work, grain size reduction, and precipitation of coherent precipitates. A range of outcomes is possible in principle, including a shift of the critical stress or temperature for onset of the transformation, linearization, reduction of hysteresis, stabilization, and extent of transformation strain.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Stratigraphy‐Induced Localization of Microseismicity During CO 2 Injection in Illinois Basin

Abstract Subsurface fluid injection stimulates complex hydromechanical interaction, necessitating the integration of geomechanical data across spatial and temporal scales to consider the sophisticated behavior. Induced seismic response is usually associated with the complex reservoir architecture and pre‐existing features that are three‐dimensional, such as local stratigraphy, fractures, faults, and other discontinuities. This study encompasses laboratory characterization of the coupled hydromechanical response of cores extracted from rock formations in Illinois Basin: reservoir ‐ Mt. Simon sandstone, basal seal ‐ Argenta sandstone, and crystalline basement ‐ Precambrian rhyolite. High‐resolution numerical modeling allows considering the three‐dimensional complexity of the Illinois Basin Decatur Project with spatial resolution comparable to one of the active seismic surveys. A detailed reconstruction of the evolving state of stress in formations lacking direct stress measurements is achieved by numerical modeling that integrated laboratory‐derived hydromechanical properties, a porosity‐permeability relationship, active seismic data, and an inverted three‐dimensional porosity distribution. It appears that the microseismic clusters, mainly observed in the crystalline basement during the injection, are linked to zones experiencing more critically stressed conditions prior to injection. These zones have a potential for reactivation during the injection and are attributed to the specific local stratigraphy of the injection site, as well as transfer of triggering perturbations during the injection.

Bondarenko, N. [University of Illinois Urbana‐Cham↗

Low cycle fatigue behavior of polycrystalline NiAl at 300 and 1000 K

The low cycle fatigue behavior of polycrystalline NiAl was determined at 300 and 1000 K - temperatures below and above the brittle- to-ductile transition temperature (BDTT). Fully reversed, plastic strain-controlled fatigue tests were conducted on two differently fabricated alloy samples: hot isostatically pressed (HIP'ed) prealloyed powder and hot extruded castings. HIP'ed powder (HP) samples were tested only at 1000 K, whereas the more ductile cast-and-extruded (C+E) NiAl samples were tested at both 1000 and 300 K. Plastic strain ranges of 0.06 to 0.2 percent were used. The C+E NiAl cyclically hardened until fracture, reaching stress levels approximately 60 percent greater than the ultimate tensile strength of the alloy. Compared on a strain basis, NiAl had a much longer fatigue life than other B2 ordered compounds in which fracture initiated at processing-related defects. These defects controlled fatigue life at 300 K, with fracture occurring rapidly once a critical stress level was reached. At 1000 K, above the BDTT, both the C+E and HP samples cyclically softened during most of the fatigue tests in air and were insensitive to processing defects. The processing method did not have a major effect on fatigue life; the lives of the HP samples were about a factor of three shorter than the C+E NiAl, but this was attributed to the lower stress response of the C+E material. The C+E NiAl underwent dynamic grain growth, whereas the HP material maintained a constant grain size during testing. In both materials, fatigue life was controlled by intergranular cavitation and creep processes, which led to fatigue crack growth that was primarily intergranular in nature. Final fracture by overload was transgranular in nature. Also, HP samples tested in vacuum had a life three times longer than their counterparts tested in air and, in contrast to those tested in air, hardened continuously over half of the sample life, thereby indicating an environmentally assisted fatigue damage mechanism. The C+E samples were tested only in air. At 1000 K, NiAl exhibited a superior fatigue life when compared to most superalloys on a plastic strain basis, but was inferior to most superalloys on a stress basis.

Lerch, Bradley A.↗

Stress analyses of B-52 pylon hooks

The NASTRAN finite element computer program was used in the two dimensional stress analysis of B-52 carrier aircraft pylon hooks: (1) old rear hook (which failed), (2) new rear hook (improved geometry), (3) new DAST rear hook (derated geometry), and (4) front hook. NASTRAN model meshes were generated by the aid of PATRAN-G computer program. Brittle limit loads for all the four hooks were established. The critical stress level calculated from NASTRAN agrees reasonably well with the values predicted from the fracture mechanics for the failed old rear hook.

Ko, W. L.↗

An analytical and experimental study of crack extension in center-notched composites

The normal stress ratio theory for crack extension in anisotropic materials is studied analytically and experimentally. The theory is applied within a microscopic-level analysis of a single center notch of arbitrary orientation in a unidirectional composite material. The bulk of the analytical work of this study applies an elasticity solution for an infinite plate with a center line to obtain critical stress and crack growth direction predictions. An elasticity solution for an infinite plate with a center elliptical flaw is also used to obtain qualitative predictions of the location of crack initiation on the border of a rounded notch tip. The analytical portion of the study includes the formulation of a new crack growth theory that includes local shear stress. Normal stress ratio theory predictions are obtained for notched unidirectional tensile coupons and unidirectional Iosipescu shear specimens. These predictions are subsequently compared to experimental results.

Beuth, Jack L., Jr.↗

Mode interaction in stiffened composite shells under combined mechanical and thermal loadings

Stiffened shells of various configurations fabricated out of composite materials find extensive applications in aircraft structures. Two distinctive modes of buckling dominate structural response of stiffened panels, viz. the short-wave local mode in which the shell skin buckles essentially between the stiffeners and the long-wave overall mode in which the shell skin buckles carrying the stiffeners with it. In optimized designs, the critical stresses corresponding to these modes of buckling would be close to each other. This leads to a nonlinear mode interaction which is recognized to be the principal cause of the failure of stiffened structures. If the structure is subjected to through-the-thickness thermal gradients, then large-wave bending effects would begin to occur well below the overall critical load and these would play the role of overall imperfections. The load carrying capacity would be significantly diminished as a result of interaction of local buckling with overall thermal distortions. The analysis of this problem using standard finite element techniques can be shown to be prohibitively expensive for design iterations. A concept which would greatly facilitate the analysis of mode interaction is advanced. We note that the local buckling occurs in a more or less periodic pattern in a structure having regular spacings of stiffeners. Thus it is a relatively simple matter to analyze the local buckling and the second order effects (which are essential for modeling postbuckling phenomena) using a unit cell of the structure. Once analyzed, these dormations are embedded in a shell element. Thus, a shell element could span several half-waves of local buckling and still be able to depict local buckling effects with requisite accuracy. A major consequence of the interaction of overall buckling/bending is the slow variation of the local buckling amplitude across the structure - the phenomenon of 'amplitude modulation' - and this is accounted for in the present model by letting the scaling parameter of the local mode vary according to a 'slowly varying' function. The construction of the analytical model involves essentially two stages and these are described briefly.

Sridharan, Srinivasan↗

A phase-field model of quasi-brittle fracture for pressurized cracks: Application to UO 2 high-burnup microstructure fragmentation

Here, in this paper, we present a phase-field model of quasi-brittle fracture with pressurized cracks, with dedicated applications for polycrystalline materials. The model is formulated as a minimization problem within the variational framework. The external work done by pressure on the crack surfaces is included in the objective function. Several careful modeling choices lead to a regularization-length-independent critical strength. The model is constructed to give a softening response with an underlying linear traction-separation law. The pressure-dependent softening response and the regularization of the prescribed pressure are demonstrated with a (quasi) one-dimensional numerical analysis. In a two-dimensional numerical analysis under plane strain assumptions, the critical stress corresponding to crack propagation (as predicted by our quasi-brittle fracture model) is compared with linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) analytical solutions. Our model is further utilized to simulate fission-gas-induced fragmentation of the UO 2 high-burnup structure (HBS). Simulation results show that pressurized bubbles can cause crack nucleation and propagation, and that the bubble size and the surrounding external pressure affect the critical pressure corresponding to crack nucleation. Simulations of a partial HBS at different recrystallization stages show that different grain structures (due to recrystallization) also influence crack paths and fragmentation morphology.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

On the origin of internal obstacles to dislocation glide in single-phase NiFe random alloys

Over the past decade, a new class of unconventional alloys, where several constitutive elements are presented in close to equal concentrations, is considered as promising structural materials in many applications. Properties and behavior of many concentrated solid solution alloys (CSSAs) under different conditions, including mechanical loading, differs from that of conventional alloys and has been the subject of intensive studies by different techniques. A key feature of these materials is that there is no clear distinction between solute and solvent species of atoms, which is the conventional approach to considering dislocation motion in alloys. To understand this regime, we have recently reported on the glide of a screw dislocation glide in a simple equiatomic NiFe alloy and reported the two-mode character. At low applied stress, the dislocation motion is similar to a glide through a field of obstacles. In this work, we report the results of a detailed study on the nature of these internal obstacles. We demonstrate that these are not conventional localized “obstacles” but is the result of significantly different energies of instantaneous dislocation configurations over the alloy bulk. The strong pinning positions are associated with composition changes in the partial dislocation cores, while observing no significant composition changes along the stacking faults. Local energies can vary significantly, as demonstrated using simulations of short-periodicity dislocation lines. Therefore, the critical stress to move a dislocation under such conditions is not a constant Peierls stress but represents a wide spectrum of barriers between different non-straight valleys that the dislocation line accommodates in the bulk at particular stress/strain conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Three-dimensional solutions for the thermal buckling and sensitivity derivatives of temperature-sensitive multilayered angle-ply plates

Analytic three-dimensional thermoelasticity solutions are presented for the thermal buckling of multilayered angle-ply composite plates with temperature-dependent thermoelastic properties. Both the critical temperatures and the sensitivity derivatives are computed. The sensitivity derivatives measure the sensitivity of the buckling response to variations in the different lamination and material parameters of the plate. The plates are assumed to have rectangular geometry and an antisymmetric lamination with respect to the middle plane. The temperature is assumed to be independent of the surface coordinates, but has an arbitrary symmetric variation through the thickness of the plate. The prebuckling deformations are accounted for. Numerical results are presented, for plates subjected to uniform temperature increase, showing the effects of temperature-dependent material properties on the prebuckling stresses, critical temperatures, and their sensitivity derivatives.

Noor, A. K.↗

Protein Crystals Grow Purer in Space: Physics of Phenomena

This presentation will summarize the quantitative experimental and theoretical results obtained by B.R. Thomas, P.G. Vekilov, D.C. Carter, A.M. Holmes, W.K. Widierow and the Author, the team with expertise in physics, biochemistry, crystallography and engineering. Impurities inhomogeneously trapped by a growing crystal - e.g., producing sectorial structure and/or striations - may induce macroscopic internal stress in it if an impurity molecule has slightly (less than 10%) different shape or volume than the regular one(s) they replace. We tested for the first time plasticity and measured Young modulus E of the triclinic, not cross-linked lysozyme by triple point bending technique. Triclinic lysozyme crystals are purely elastic with E similar or equal to 1/5 (raised dot) 10 (exp 9) partial derivative yn/sq cm. The strength limit, sigma (sub c) similar or equal to 10 (exp -3)E similar or equal to Epsilon (sub c), where sigma (sub c) and epsilon (sub c) are critical stress and strain, respectively. Scaling E and sigma (sub c) with the lattice spacing suggests similar binding stiffness in inorganic and biomolecular crystals. The inhomogeneous internal stress may be resolved in these brittle crystals either by cracking or by creation of misoriented mosaic blocks during, not after growth. If each impurity molecule induces in the lattice elementary strain epsilon (sub 0) similar or equal to 3 (raised dot) 10 (exp -2) (this is maximal elementary strain that can arise at the supersaturation DELTA mu/kT similar or equal to 2 and macroscopic molecular concentration difference between subsequent macrolayers or growth sectors is partial derivativeC similar or equal to 5 (raised dot) 10 (exp -3), the internal strain epsilon similar or equal to epsilon (sub 0) partial derivative C similar or equal to 10 (exp -4). Mosaic misorientation resolving such strain is approximately 30 arcsec. Tenfold increase of impurity concentration may cause cracking. Estimates of stress in an isometric sectorial crystal show that lysozyme crystals can tolerate the stress till the size of 0.5mm. Dissolving mosaic lysozyme crystal shows that the mosaicity, indeed, is absent below that size.

Chernov, Alex A.↗

High-temperature superconducting CORC ® wires with record-breaking axial tensile strain tolerance present a breakthrough for high-field magnets

Cuprate high-temperature superconductors (HTS), such as RE-Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7–δ (REBCO, RE = rare earth), (Bi,Pb) 2 Sr 2 Ca 2 Cu 3 O 10–x and Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8–x , have enabled the development of high-field superconducting magnets capable of generating magnetic fields far exceeding 20 T. The brittle nature of HTS requires elaborate means to protect them against the high stresses and strains associated with high-field magnet operation, and so far, has prevented reliable high-field HTS magnets from becoming a reality. Here we report a more than tenfold increase in the irreversible strain limit under axial tension (epsilonirr) to over 7% in optimized high-current conductor on round core (CORC®) conductors, compared to the REBCO tapes from which the CORC® conductor is wound. Minimizing the tape winding pitch of the helical wind mechanically decouples the brittle REBCO film from the overall conductor. The REBCO tapes behave as springs, limiting the rate at which applied strain is transferred to the ceramic film. In addition, high-strength alloy cores allow the critical stress (ϵ crit ) under axial tension at which initial degradation of CORC® conductors occurs to exceed 600 MPa, making them one of the strongest superconductors available. Mechanically decoupling the ceramic REBCO films from the overall CORC® conductor allows effective protection against the high operating stresses in high-field magnets. Furthermore, this breakthrough presents a monumental shift for HTS magnet technology, bringing reliable high-field superconducting magnets for compact fusion machines, the next generation of particle accelerators, and 40–60 T research solenoids within reach.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Limited Dynamic Earthquake Triggering in Nevada

Dynamic triggering occurs when seismic waves from distant large earthquakes temporarily alter stress conditions along faults, potentially triggering new earthquakes hundreds to thousands of kilometers away from the source. Previous studies have linked triggered seismicity to anthropogenic activities such as geothermal, oil, and gas production. Although these activities are present in Nevada, little work has been conducted to explore dynamically triggered seismicity in Nevada. Here, we analyze a newly published, high-resolution earthquake catalog for Nevada to identify local seismicity dynamically triggered by teleseismic events (Mw≥7) from 2008 to 2023. We identify 94 dynamically triggered earthquakes concentrated in four distinct regions, which qualitatively show a modest positive correlation with geothermal well locations. Triggered seismicity in Nevada is predominantly delayed, with some instantaneously triggered by Rayleigh waves. The prevalence of delayed triggering indicates that pore fluid interactions may play a critical role in controlling dynamic triggering susceptibility in Nevada. Our results demonstrate that dynamic triggering can provide valuable insight to help identify critically stressed regions.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Shallow Aseismic Slip in the Delaware Basin Determined by Sentinel-1 InSAR

The Delaware Basin, Texas is currently a hot-spot of induced seismicity and ground deformation due to fluid extraction and injection associated with horizontal drilling techniques; however, the driving mechanism behind the seismicity and deformation remains under debate. Here, using vertical and east-west horizontal surface deformation measurements derived from Sentinel-1 interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), we show that the subsurface responds differently to oil and gas activity in the northern and southeastern portions of the basin. In the north, where there is little seismicity, deformation patterns display long-wavelengths and equidimensional patterns. In contrast, the southeast region hosts most of the seismicity and displays spatial deformation patterns with narrow linear features that strike parallel to the maximum principal horizontal stress and to trends in seismicity, suggesting movement along normal faults. We model a linear deformation feature using edge dislocations and show that the InSAR observations can be reproduced by slip on normal faults contained within the Delaware Mountain Group (DMG), the formation that hosts local wastewater injection and the majority of earthquakes. Our model consists of three parallel, high-angle normal faults, with two dipping toward one another in a graben structure. Slip magnitudes reach up to 25 cm and are spatially correlated with injection wells. Measured seismicity can only explain ~2% of the fault motion predicted by our fault model, suggesting that slip leading to the deformation is predominantly aseismic. We conclude that seismic and aseismic fault motion in the southeastern Delaware Basin is likely driven by wastewater injection near critically-stressed normal faults within the DMG.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Phase-field dislocation modeling of cross-slip

The phase-field dislocation dynamics (PFDD) model is extended to simulate cross-slip in body-centered cubic materials. The model makes use of a non-orthogonal, body-centered cubic numerical grid such that all calculable points lie on dislocation glide planes. We demonstrate that the advanced PFDD model predicts a low-energy, non-planar core for screw dislocations and a planar core for edge dislocations. These core differences result in screw-edge character dependence in the critical stress to initiate glide and dislocation drag coefficients. Finally, we show that this model can be used to study the propensity of screw dislocations to cross-slip around or transmit through a coherent, crystallographic obstacle, depending on obstacle strength.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Phase-field modeling of the interactions between an edge dislocation and an array of obstacles

Obstacles, such as voids and precipitates, are prevalent in crystalline materials. They strengthen crystals by serving as barriers to dislocation glide. Here in this work, we develop a phase-field dislocation dynamics (PFDD) technique for investigating the interactions between dislocations and second-phase obstacles, which can be either voids or precipitates. The PFDD technique is constructed to account for elastic heterogeneity, elastic anisotropy, dissociation of the dislocation, and dislocation transmission across bicrystalline interfaces. Within the framework, we present a model for “pseudo-voids”, which are voids shearable by dislocations, in contrast to unphysical, unshearable voids in conventional phase-field dislocation formulations. We employ the PFDD technique to investigate the in-plane interactions between an edge dislocation and an array of nano-scale obstacles with different spacings. In this application, the interactions take place in glide planes of either a face-centered cubic (FCC) Cu or a body-centered cubic (BCC) Nb matrix, while the precipitates have a Cu 1-x Nb x composition, with x varying from 0.1 to 0.9. Our atomistic simulations find that the alloy precipitates can have an FCC, an amorphous, or a BCC phase, depending on the compositional ratio between Cu and Nb, i.e., value of x. Among all types of obstacles, the critical stresses for dislocation bypass are the highest for unshearable amorphous precipitates, followed by shearable crystalline precipitates, and then the pseudo-voids.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Delamination-informed lifecycle decisions: A dielectric and machine learning framework for composite sorting and recycling

Composite materials are widely used in aerospace, marine, and automotive sectors due to their high strength-to-weight ratio and durability. However, their long-term reliability can be compromised by damage accumulation. Specifically, delamination initiation serves as a precursor to structural failure, which is often difficult to detect during damage inspection. Identifying and sorting delamination initiation in samples not only increases operational safety while providing critical information for end-of-life decisions, which influences both the service life extension value and the efficiency of fiber extraction during recycling. This research addresses two challenges: (1) developing a nondestructive, ex-situ framework to sort composite materials based on damage severity, particularly delamination, and (2) understanding how damage in composites influences resin removal during pyrolysis. Both experimental work and finite element analysis were performed to predict critical stress levels that are associated with delamination onset. Based on these results, three loading levels 50 %, 75 %, and 90 % of maximum stress, were selected for controlled experiments, generating composite samples with varying extents of damage for machine learning model training. Microscopic imaging of these samples confirmed the damage progression from matrix cracking to delamination, validating the computational predictions. We explored supervised machine learning using dielectric measurements to classify damage states. Preliminary results show an artificial neural network can identify early delamination which is a potential precursor to failure, with 94.44 % accuracy on our dataset. A parallel investigation into the effect of damage severity on pyrolysis recycling showed that heavily delaminated samples required significantly less energy for comparable matrix removal than undamaged samples.

dielectric variables↗

Field-scale fault reactivation experiments by fluid injection highlight aseismic leakage in caprock analogs: Implications for CO 2 sequestration

Observations on tens-of-meter scale experiments of fault activation by fluid injection conducted in shales allow exploring how aseismic and seismic events may jeopardize the integrity of a sealing caprock overlying a CO 2 sequestration reservoir. We contrast the behavior of shale faults with another set of experiments conducted in carbonates. Significant fluid leakage occurs along the initially low-permeability shale faults when rupture is activated. Most of the leakage pathway closes when fluid injection ceases and fluid pressure drops. Dilatant slip on the fault plane alone does not explain the observed leakage behavior, which is also caused by fault opening favored by the softness of the shale, and by the structure of the fault zone that prevents fluids from diffusing into the adjacent damage zone. Experiments show a large amount of aseismic deformation. Small-magnitude seismicity (M w < -2.5) is observed outside the pressurized leakage patch. Stress transferred from this aseismic deformation patch can build up to stress-criticality and favor seismicity. Thus, in terms of fault activation in caprocks, aseismic fault slip leading to increased permeability and a loss of seal integrity is of great concern.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗