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At least 127 records · Page 7

Growth of Matrix Cracks During Intermediate Temperature Stress Rupture of a SiC/SiC Composite in Air

The crack density of woven Hi-Nicalon(sup TM) (Nippon Carbon, Japan) fiber, BN interphase, melt-infiltrated SiC matrix composites was determined for specimens subjected to tensile stress rupture at 815 C. A significant amount of matrix cracking occurs due to the growth of fiber-bridged microcracks even at stresses below the run-out condition. This increased cracking corresponded to time dependent strain accumulation and acoustic emission activity during the constant load test. However, the portion of the rupture specimens subjected to cooler temperatures (< 600 C than the hot section had significantly lower crack densities compared to the hotter regions. From the acoustic emission and time dependent strain data it can be inferred that most of the matrix crack growth occurred within the first few hours of the tensile rupture experiment. The crack growth was attributed to an interphase recession mechanism that is enhanced by the presence of a thin carbon layer between the fiber and the matrix as a result of the composite fabrication process. One important consequence of matrix crack growth at the lower stresses is poor retained strength at room temperature for specimens that did not fail.

Morscher, Gregory N.↗

Long-Wavelength Rupturing Instability in Surface-Tension-Driven Benard Convection

A liquid layer with a free upper surface and heated from below is subject to thermocapillary-induced convective instabilities. We use very thin liquid layers (0.01 cm) to significantly reduce buoyancy effects and simulate Marangoni convection in microgravity. We observe thermocapillary-driven convection in two qualitatively different modes, short-wavelength Benard hexagonal convection cells and a long-wavelength interfacial rupturing mode. We focus on the long-wavelength mode and present experimental observations and theoretical analyses of the long-wavelength instability. Depending on the depths and thermal conductivities of the liquid and the gas above it, the interface can rupture downwards and form a dry spot or rupture upwards and form a high spot. Linear stability theory gives good agreement to the experimental measurements of onset as long as sidewall effects are taken into account. Nonlinear theory correctly predicts the subcritical nature of the bifurcation and the selection between the dry spot and high spots.

Swift, J. B.↗

Stress-Rupture and Stress-Relaxation of SiC/SiC Composites at Intermediate Temperature

Tensile static stress and static strain experiments were performed on woven Sylramic (Dow Corning, Midland, MI) and Hi-Nicalon (Nippon Carbon, Japan) fiber reinforced, BN interphase, melt-infiltrated SiC matrix composites at 815 C. Acoustic emission was used to monitor the damage accumulation during the test. The stress-rupture properties of Sylramic composites were superior to that of Hi-Nicalon Tm composites. Conversely, the applied strain levels that Hi-Nicalon composites can withstand for stress-relaxation experiments were superior to Sylramic composites; however, at a cost of poor retained strength properties for Hi-Nicalon composites. Sylramic composites exhibited much less stress-oxidation induced matrix cracking compared to Hi-Nicalon composites. This was attributed to the greater stiffness and roughness of Sylramic fibers themselves and the lack of a carbon layer between the fiber and the BN interphase for Sylramic composites, which existed in Hi-Nicalon composites. Due to the lack of stress-relief for Sylramic composites, time to failure for Sylramic composite stress-relaxation experiments was not much longer than for stress-rupture experiments when comparing the peak stress condition for stress-relaxation with the applied stress of stress-rupture.

Morscher, Gregory N.↗

Effect of Environment on the Stress- Rupture Behavior of a C/SiC Composite Studied

Advanced reusable launch vehicles will likely incorporate fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composites (CMC's) in critical propulsion and airframe components. The use of CMC's is highly desirable to save weight, improve reuse capability, and increase performance. One of the candidate CMC materials is carbon-fiber-reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC). In potential propulsion applications, such as turbopump rotors and nozzle exit ramps, C/SiC components will be subjected to a service cycle that includes mechanical loading under complex, high-pressure environments containing hydrogen, oxygen, and steam. Degradation of both the C fibers and the SiC matrix are possible in these environments. The objective of this effort was to evaluate the mechanical behavior of C/SiC in various environments relevant to reusable launch vehicle applications. Stress-rupture testing was conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center on C/SiC specimens in air and steam-containing environments. Also, the oxidation kinetics of the carbon fibers that reinforce the composite were monitored by thermogravimetric analysis in the same environments and temperatures used for the stress-rupture tests of the C/SiC composite specimens. The stress-rupture lives obtained for C/SiC tested in air and in steam/argon mixtures are shown in the following bar chart. As is typical for most materials, lives obtained at the lower temperature (600 C) are longer than for the higher temperature (1200 C). The effect of environment was most pronounced at the lower temperature, where the average test duration in steam at 600 C was at least 30 times longer than the lives obtained in air. The 1200 C data revealed little difference between the lives of specimens tested in air and steam at atmospheric pressure.

Verrilli, Michael J.↗

ICESat Observations of Topographic Change in the Northern Segment of the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Islands Earthquake Rupture Zone

The Andaman Islands are located 120 km east of the Sunda trench in the northern quarter of the 1300 km long rupture zone of the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Islands earthquake inferred from the distribution of aftershocks. Initial field reports indicate that several meters of uplift and up to a meter of submergence occurred on the western and eastern shorelines of the Andaman Islands, respectively, associated with the earthquake (Bilham, 2005). Satellite images also document uplift of western shoreline coral reef platforms above sea level. Body-wave (Ji, 2005; Yamamaka, 2005) and tide-gauge (Ortiz, 2005) slip inversions only resolve coseismic slip in the southern one-third to one-half of the rupture zone. The amount of coseismic slip in the Andaman Islands region is poorly constrained by these inversions. The Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), a part of the NASA Earth Observing System, is being used to document the spatial pattern of Andaman Islands vertical displacements in order to constrain models of slip distribution in the northern part of the rupture zone. ICESat carries the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) that obtains elevation measurements from 80 m diameter footprints spaced 175 m apart along profiles. For surfaces of low slope, single-footprint absolute elevation and horizontal accuracies of 10 cm and 6 m (1 sigma), respectively, referenced to the ITRF 2002 TOPEX/Poseidon ellipsoid are being obtained. Laser pulse backscatter waveforms enable separation of ground topography and overlying vegetation cover. During each 33-day observing period ICESat acquires three profiles crossing the Andaman Islands. A NNE-SSW oriented track consists of 1600 laser footprints along the western side of North, Middle, and South Andaman Islands and 240 laser footprints across the center of Great Andaman Island. Two NNW-SSE tracks consist of 440 footprints across Middle Andaman Island and 25 footprints across the west side of Sentinel Island. Cloud-free profiles were acquired in the fall of 2003 and 2004. During February-March, 2005 ICESat's precise pointing capability will be used to exactly repeat these three profiles, with a cross-track accuracy of better than 100 m, providing trench- parallel and -perpendicular observations of topographic change of the Andaman Islands that will compliment geodetic field surveys. The observed elevation changes will be compared to models of coseismic deformation associated with the mainshock and large aftershocks in the Andaman Islands region.

Harding, David↗

Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel (COPV) Stress Rupture Testing

This paper reports stress rupture testing of Kevlar(TradeMark) composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) at NASA White Sands Test Facility. This 6-year test program was part of the larger effort to predict and extend the lifetime of flight vessels. Tests were performed to characterize control parameters for stress rupture testing, and vessel life was predicted by statistical modeling. One highly instrumented 102-cm (40-in.) diameter Kevlar(TradeMark) COPV was tested to failure (burst) as a single-point model verification. Significant data were generated that will enhance development of improved NDE methods and predictive modeling techniques, and thus better address stress rupture and other composite durability concerns that affect pressure vessel safety, reliability and mission assurance.

Greene, Nathanael J.↗

A Critique of a Phenomenological Fiber Breakage Model for Stress Rupture of Composite Materials

Stress rupture is not a critical failure mode for most composite structures, but there are a few applications where it can be critical. One application where stress rupture can be a critical design issue is in Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPV's), where the composite material is highly and uniformly loaded for long periods of time and where very high reliability is required. COPV's are normally required to be proof loaded before being put into service to insure strength, but it is feared that the proof load may cause damage that reduces the stress rupture reliability. Recently, a fiber breakage model was proposed specifically to estimate a reduced reliability due to proof loading. The fiber breakage model attempts to model physics believed to occur at the microscopic scale, but validation of the model has not occurred. In this paper, the fiber breakage model is re-derived while highlighting assumptions that were made during the derivation. Some of the assumptions are examined to assess their effect on the final predicted reliability.

Reeder, James R.↗

Lessons Learned from Recent Rapid Imaging of Earthquake Ruptures with Satellite Geodesy

Rapid determination of the location and extent of earthquake ruptures at the surface and at depth is helpful for disaster response, as it allows prediction of the likely area of major damage from the earthquake and can help with rescue and recovery planning. The Caltech-Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) project has responded to many recent large earthquakes to process geodetic data and help determine the location and extent of ruptures. With the increasing availability of near real-time data from the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other global navigation satellite system receivers in active tectonic regions, and with the shorter repeat times of many recent and newly launched radar satellites, geodetic data can now be obtained quickly after earthquakes or other disasters. We have been building an ARIA data system that can ingest, catalog, and process geodetic data and combine it with seismic analysis to estimate the fault rupture locations and slip distributions for large earthquakes that are on or near land.

Simons, Mark↗

Cascading Rupture of a Megathrust

Understanding variability in the size and location of large earthquakes along subduction margins is crucial for evaluating seismic and tsunami hazards. We present a coseismic slip model for the 2021 M8.2 Chignik earthquake and investigate the relationship of this earthquake to previous major events in the Alaska Peninsula region and to interseismic coupling. Stress changes from the 2020 M7.8 Simeonof event triggered the Chignik event, and together, the earthquakes partially filled an unruptured section along a 3000-km subduction margin that has experienced a series of ruptures along almost its entire length over the past century. Variations in coupling and structural characteristics may make the region more prone to nucleating M7 to M8 events rather than larger M > 8.5 earthquakes. Stress changes and rupture areas suggest that the two recent earthquakes may be part of an 80-year-long rupture cascade and may have advanced seismic hazard in the region.

Julie L. Elliott↗

Rupture Strength of Several Nickel-base Alloys in Sheet Form

The 100-hour rupture strengths of Inconel X, Inconel 700, Incoloy 901, Refractaloy 26, and R-235 at 1200 and 1350 F. in both the annealed and heat-treated conditions were determined. Inconel 700 had the highest rupture strength at both temperatures; Incoloy 901 was second strongest at 1200 F, and R-235 second strongest at 1350 F. With the exception of Incoloy 901, ductility was low. Photomicrographs show that fractures are through the grain boundaries. Results are compared with published data for other sheet alloys and bar stock.

ALLOYS, HEAT-RESISTING↗

Effect of Overheating on Creep-rupture Properties of S-816 Alloy at 1,500 F

The effects of overheats to temperatures of 1650, 1800, 1900, and 2000 F were evaluated in terms of the changes in creep-rupture characteristics at 1500 F of S-816 alloy under stresses within the range of rupture strengths of the alloy for 100 to 1000 hours. Overheat periods were predominantly of 2-minute duration and were applied cyclically at approximately 5- or 12-hour intervals. The possible damage from overheating was believed to include internal metal structure changes induced by exposure to the higher temperatures and loss of life by creep if stress was present during the overheats.

ALLOYS, HEAT-RESISTING↗

Surface Ruptures and Building Damage of the 2003 Bam, Iran, Earthquake Mapped by Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometric Correlation

We use the interferometric correlation from Envisat synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images to map the details of the surface ruptures related to the 26 December 2003 earthquake that devastated Bam, Iran. The main strike-slip fault rupture south of the city of Bam has a series of four segments with left steps shown by a narrow line of low correlation in the coseismic interferogram. This also has a clear expression in the field because of the net extension across the fault. Just south of the city limits, the surface strain becomes distributed over a width of about 500 m, probably because of a thicker layer of soft sedimentary material.

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)↗

Importance of Measuring SiC Fiber Diameter Prior to Conducting Fiber Stress Rupture / Creep Tests?

A very significant amount of SiC fiber creep / stress rupture data has been generated and reported in the past by various researchers. Due to the difficulty of measuring fiber diameter and the amount of time required to make accurate measurements, researchers have quite often used an accepted average diameter value (which is fiber type-dependent) when determining the load that will be applied to a fiber to generate a specific stress during testing. Of course, this approach has less of an effect on data scatter when the individual fibers in a tow have very similar diameters (minimal fiber-to-fiber variation in diameter). NASA GRC has begun using a laser fiber diameter measurement system, and we are considering eventually characterizing each SiC fiber prior to testing in creep/stressed oxidation. The laser system will be described in this presentation, as well as examples of fiber diameter data obtained in the past at AFRL. We are currently discussing the merits of using an average diameter in testing/data analysis vs. using a measured or "known" diameter. Information about our current intermediate temperature SiC fiber stress rupture testing will also be provided.

ceramic matrix composites↗

Seismic Imaging of the Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquake Rupture Zone From Data Recorded by Dense Linear Arrays

Abstract We analyze seismograms recorded by four arrays (B1–B4) with 100 m station spacing and apertures of 4–8 km that cross the surface rupture of the 2019 Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake. The arrays extend from B1 in the northwest to B4 in the southeast of the surface rupture. Delay times between P wave arrivals associated with ∼1,200 local earthquakes and four teleseismic events are used to estimate local velocity variations beneath the arrays. Both teleseismic and local P waves travel faster on the northeast than the southwest side of the fault beneath arrays B1 and B4, but the velocity contrast is less reliably resolved at arrays B2 and B3. We identify several 1–2 km wide low‐velocity zones with much slower inner cores that amplify S waveforms, inferred as damage zones, beneath each array. The damage zones at arrays B2 and B4 also generate fault‐zone head and trapped waves. An automated detector, based on peak ground velocities and durations of high‐amplitude waves, identifies candidate fault‐zone trapped waves (FZTWs) in a localized zone for ∼600 earthquakes at array B4. Synthetic waveform modeling of averaged FZTWs, generated by ∼30 events with high‐quality signals, indicates that the trapping structure at array B4 has a width of ∼300 m, depth of 3–5 km, S wave velocity reduction of ∼20% with respect to the surrounding rock, Q ‐value of ∼30, and S wave velocity contrast of ∼4% across the fault (faster on the northeast side). The results show complex fault‐zone internal structures (velocity contrasts and low‐velocity zones) that vary along fault strike.

Qiu, Hongrui↗

Neck Rupture and Scission Neutrons in Nuclear Fission

Just before a nucleus undergoes fission, a neck is formed between the emerging fission fragments. It is widely accepted that this neck undergoes a rather violent rupture, despite the absence of unambiguous experimental evidence. The main difficulty in addressing the neck rupture and saddle-to-scission stages of fission is that both are highly nonequilibrium processes. Here, we present the first fully microscopic characterization of the scission mechanism, along with the spectrum and the spatial distribution of scission neutrons (SNs), and some upper limit estimates for the emission of charged particles. The spectrum of SNs has a distinct angular distribution, with neutrons emitted in roughly equal numbers in the equatorial plane and along the fission axis. They carry an average energy around 3±0.5 MeV for the fission of 236 U, 240 Pu, and 252 Cf, and a maximum of 16–18 MeV. We estimate a conservative lower bound of 9%–14% of the total emitted neutrons are produced at scission.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Stress rupture of SiC/SiC composite tubes under high-temperature steam

SiC-fiber–reinforced SiC matrix composite cladding for light water reactor fuel elements must withstand high-temperature steam oxidation in a loss-of-coolant accident scenario (LOCA). Current composite designs include an outer monolithic SiC layer, in part, to increase steam oxidation resistance. However, it is not clear how such a structure would behave under high-temperature steam in the case when the monolithic layer cracks and carbon interphases and SiC fibers are exposed to the environment. To fill this knowledge gap, stress-rupture tests of prototypic SiC composite cladding at 1000°C under steam and inert environments were conducted. The applied stress was ~120 MPa, which was beyond the initial cracking stress. The failure lifetime under steam was 400–1300 s, while 75% of the composite specimens did not fail after 3 h of total exposure under inert gases. Microstructural observations suggest that steam oxidation activated slow crack growth in the fibers, which led to failure of the composite. The results from this study suggest that stress rupture in steam environments could be a limiting factor of the cladding under reactor LOCA conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗