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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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At least 1,279 records · Page 71

Modelling of Fiber/Matrix Debonding of Composites Under Cyclic Loading

The micromechanics theory, generalized method of cells (GMC), was employed to simulate the debonding of fiber/matrix interfaces, within a repeating unit cell subjected to global, cyclic loading, utilizing a cyclic crack growth law. Cycle dependent, interfacial debonding was implemented as a new module to the available GMC formulation. The degradation of interfacial stresses, with applied load cycles, was achieved via progressive evolution of the interfacial compliance. A periodic repeating unit cell, representing the fiber/matrix architecture of a composite, was subjected to combined normal and shear loadings, and degradation of the global transverse stress in successive cycles was monitored. The obtained results were compared to values from a corresponding finite element model. Reasonable agreement was achieved for combined normal and shear loading conditions, with minimal variation for pure loading cases. The local effects of interfacial debonding, and fatigue damage will later be combined as sub-models to predict the experimentally obtained fatigue life of Ti-15-3/Sic composites at the laminate level.

Naghipour, Paria↗

Effects of SiC nanoparticles orally administered in a rat model: Biodistribution, toxicity and elemental composition changes in feces and organs

Background: Silicon carbide (SiC) presents noteworthy properties as a material such as high hardness, thermal stability, and photoluminescent properties as a nanocrystal. However, there are very few studies in regard to the toxicological potential of SiC NPs. Objectives: To study the toxicity and biodistribution of silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles in an in vivo rat model after acute (24 h) and subacute (28 days) oral administrations. The acute doses were 0.5, 5, 50, 300 and 600 mg·kg{sup −1}, while the subacute doses were 0.5 and 50 mg·kg{sup −1}. Results: SiC biodistribution and elemental composition of feces and organs (liver, kidneys, and spleen) have been studied by Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE). SiC and other elements in feces excretion increased by the end of the subacute assessment. SiC did not accumulate in organs but some elemental composition modifications were observed after the acute assessment. Histopathological sections from organs (stomach, intestines, liver, and kidneys) indicate the absence of damage at all applied doses, in both assessments. A decrease in the concentration of urea in blood was found in the 50 mg·kg{sup −1} group from the subacute assessment. No alterations in the urine parameters (sodium, potassium, osmolarity) were found. Conclusion: This is the first study that assesses the toxicity, biodistribution, and composition changes in feces and organs of SiC nanoparticles in an in vivo rat model. SiC was excreted mostly in feces and low traces were retrieved in urine, indicating that SiC can cross the intestinal barrier. No sign of toxicity was however found after oral administration. -- Highlights: ► SiC nanoparticles were orally administered to rats in acute and subacute doses. ► SiC was found in low traces in urine. It is mostly excreted in feces within 5 days. ► SiC excretion rate, feces and organ elemental composition change with time. ► No morphological alteration were found on GI tract, liver, kidneys, or spleen. ► Urea increased in blood in the subacute assessment. No change in urine properties.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

A thermodynamics-based damage model for the non-linear mechanical behavior of SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composites in irradiation and thermal environments

A damage model is developed and validated with experimental data for the non-linear mechanical behavior of SiC/SiC composite materials in nuclear applications. Cyclic thermal and mechanical loading associated with neutron irradiation effects of these composites leads to wide-spread and progressive micro-cracking that leads to loss of thermal conductivity and further enhancement of thermo-mechanical damage. A physics-based model of wide-spread micro-cracking is developed within the thermodynamic framework of continuum damage mechanics. Evolution equations for damage parameters that describe the growth of continuum damage are developed, where the material variables are obtained from experiments. The model novelty is in coupling mechanical, thermal, and irradiation damage through a consistent thermodynamic framework, including loss of thermal conductivity due to the evolution of mechanically induced micro-cracks. A number of thermo-mechanical experiments were conducted to confirm model assumptions. The model is shown to be validated with out-of-pile experiments, and then implemented using commercial finite element code COMSOL to the fuel cladding problem with normal and high radiation dose cases.

Materials Science↗

Elastic-plastic analysis of AS4/PEEK composite laminate using a one-parameter plasticity model

A one-parameter plasticity model was shown to adequately describe the plastic deformation of AS4/PEEK (APC-2) unidirectional thermoplastic composite. This model was verified further for unidirectional and laminated composite panels with and without a hole. The elastic-plastic stress-strain relations of coupon specimens were measured and compared with those predicted by the finite element analysis using the one-parameter plasticity model. The results show that the one-parameter plasticity model is suitable for the analysis of elastic-plastic deformation of AS4/PEEK composite laminates.

Sun, C. T.↗

Tensile failure criteria for fiber composite materials

The analysis provides insight into the failure mechanics of these materials and defines criteria which serve as tools for preliminary design material selection and for material reliability assessment. The model incorporates both dispersed and propagation type failures and includes the influence of material heterogeneity. The important effects of localized matrix damage and post-failure matrix shear stress transfer are included in the treatment. The model is used to evaluate the influence of key parameters on the failure of several commonly used fiber-matrix systems. Analyses of three possible failure modes were developed. These modes are the fiber break propagation mode, the cumulative group fracture mode, and the weakest link mode. Application of the new model to composite material systems has indicated several results which require attention in the development of reliable structural composites. Prominent among these are the size effect and the influence of fiber strength variability.

Rosen, B. W.↗

Autonomous sputter synthesis of thin film nitrides with composition controlled by Bayesian optimization of optical plasma emission

Autonomous experimentation has emerged as an efficient approach to accelerate the pace of material discovery. Although instruments for autonomous synthesis have become popular in molecular and polymer science, solution processing of hybrid materials, and nanoparticles, examples of autonomous tools for physical vapor deposition are scarce yet important for the semiconductor industry. Here, we report the design and implementation of an autonomous workflow for sputter deposition of thin films with controlled composition, leveraging a highly automated sputtering reactor custom-controlled by Python, optical emission spectroscopy (OES), and a Bayesian optimization algorithm. We modeled film composition, measured by x-ray fluorescence, as a linear function of plasma emission lines monitored during co-sputtering from elemental Zn and Ti targets in an N 2 and Ar atmosphere. A Bayesian control algorithm, informed by OES, navigates the space of sputtering power to fabricate films with user-defined compositions by minimizing the absolute error between desired and measured optical emission signals. We validated our approach by autonomously fabricating Zn x Ti 1-x N y films that deviate from the targeted cation composition by a relative ±3.5%, even for 15 nm thin films, demonstrating that the proposed approach can reliably synthesize thin films with a specific composition and minimal human interference. Moreover, the proposed method can be extended to more difficult synthesis experiments where plasma intensity lines depend non-linearly on pressure, or the elemental sticking coefficients strongly depend on the substrate temperature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Predicting the dark matter-baryon abundance ratio

We discuss relaxation solutions to the dark matter-baryon coincidence problem in the context of QCD axion dark matter. In relaxation solutions, a moduli dynamically adjusts the mass of dark matter and baryons until their energy densities are 𝒪⁡(1) the same. Because the QCD axion is heavily connected to QCD, scanning the QCD axion mass inherently also scans the proton mass. In the context of relaxation solutions, this implies that the ratio of dark matter to baryon abundances (Ω DM /Ω B ) is a ratio of beta functions showing that these models can only accommodate discrete values of ΩDM/ΩB thereby “predicting” the ratio of the dark matter to baryon abundances. The original composite axion model has only a single integer degree of freedom 𝑁, the size of the gauge group, and we show that when 𝑁 =8 the observed value of Ω DM /Ω B =5.36 is reproduced to within its percent level error bars. Novel tests of this model include more precise measurements of Ω DM /Ω B , a better lattice determination of the dependence of the proton mass on the high energy QCD gauge coupling, as well as more traditional tests such as fifth force experiments.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Three-Dimensional Permeability of Thick-Section Glass Fabric Reinforced Polymer Composite by Vacuum-Assisted Resin Infusion Molding

Abstract Determination of permeability of thick-section glass fabric preforms with fabric layers of different architectures is critical for manufacturing large, thick composite structures with complex geometry, such as wind turbine blades. The thick-section reinforcement permeability is inherently three-dimensional and needs to be obtained for accurate composite processing modeling and analysis. Numerical simulation of the liquid stage of vacuum-assisted resin infusion molding (VARIM) is important to advance the composite manufacturing process and reduce processing-induced defects. In this research, the 3D permeability of thick-section E-glass fabric reinforcement preforms is determined, and the results are validated by a comparison between flow front progressions from experiments and from numerical simulations using ansys fluent software. The orientation of the principal permeability axes were unknown prior to experiments. The approach used in this research differs from those in literature in that the through-thickness permeability is determined as a function of flow front positions along the principal axes and the in-plane permeabilities and is not dependent on the inlet radius. The approach was tested on reinforcements with fabric architectures which vary through-the-thickness direction, such as those in a spar cap of a wind turbine blade. The computational simulations of the flow-front progression through-the-thickness were consistent with experimental observations.

Engineering↗

Mathematical modeling of damage in unidirectional composites

Extending the work of Goree and Gross (1979), solutions are given for a two-dimensional region of unidirectional fibers embedded in an elastic matrix whose initial flaw may take the form of a transverse notch, a rectangular cutout, or a circular hole. Subsequent flaw-induced damage is generated by remote stresses acting parallel to the fibers. For the case of such ductile matrix composites as boron/aluminum, present results indicate that both longitudinal matrix yielding and transverse notch extension must be included in order for the model to agree with experimental results. Little difference is found for the three types of initial damage considered. In all cases, the presence of additional damage changes the nature of stress distribution through the unbroken fibers.

Goree, J. G.↗

Structural dynamic testing of composite propfan blades for a cruise missile wind tunnel model

The Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, California is currently evaluating a counter rotating propfan system as a means of propulsion for the next generation of cruise missiles. The details and results of a structural dynamic test program are presented for scale model graphite-epoxy composite propfan blades. These blades are intended for use on a cruise missile wind tunnel model. Both dynamic characteristics and strain operating limits of the blades are presented. Complications associated with high strain level fatigue testing methods are also discussed.

Elgin, Stephen D.↗

Holographic Formation of Diffraction Elements for Transformation of Light Beams in Liquid Crystal – Photopolymer Compositions

A theoretical model of holographic formation of diffractive optical elements for transformation of light beam field into Bessel-like fields in liquid crystal – photopolymer (LC–PPM) composite materials with a dyesensitizer is developed. Results of numerical modeling of kinetics ofvariation of the refractive index of a material in the process of formation with different relationships between the photopolymerization rates and diffusion processes are presented. Based on the results of numerical simulation, it is demonstrated that when the photopolarization process dominates, the diffractive element being formed is distorted. This leads to a change in the light field distribution at its output and consequently, to ineffective transformation of the reading beam. Thus, the necessity of optimizing of the recording conditions and of the prepolymeric composition to increase the transformation efficiency of light beam fields is demonstrated.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Ten-year ground exposure of composite materials used on the Bell Model 206L helicopter flight service program

Residual strength results are presented for four composite material systems that have been exposed for up to 10 years to the environment at five different locations on the North American continent. The exposure locations are near where the Bell Model 206L helicopters, which participated in a flight service program sponsored by NASA Langley Research Center and the U.S. Army, were flying in daily commercial service. The composite material systems are (1) Kevlar-49 fabric/F-185 epoxy; (2) Kevlar-49 fabric/LRF-277 epoxy; (3) Kevlar-49 fabric/CE-306 epoxy; and (4) T-300 graphite/E-788 epoxy. Six replicates of each material were removed and tested after 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 years of exposure. The average baseline strength was determined from testing six as-fabricated specimens. More than 1700 specimens have been tested. All specimens that were tested to determine their strength were painted with a polyurethane paint. Each set of specimens also included an unpainted panel for observing the weathering effects on the composite materials. A statistically based procedure has been used to determine the strength value above which at least 90 percent of the population is expected to fall with a 95-percent confidence level. The computed compression strengths are 80 to 90 percent of the baseline (no-exposure) strengths. The resulting compression strengths are approximately 8 percent below the population mean strengths. The computed short-beam-shear strengths are 83 to 92 percent of the baseline (no-exposure) strengths. The computed tension strength of all materials is 93 to 97 percent of the baseline (no-exposure) strengths.

Baker, Donald J.↗

Melt extruded versus extrusion compression molded glass-polypropylene long fiber thermoplastic composites

Long fiber thermoplastic (LFT) composites are processed either with extrusion compression or fiber injection processes. The properties of LFT materials are highly influenced by processing techniques, which lead to different porosity contents, fiber length distributions, and fiber orientation distributions. It is important to understand the various LFT processing techniques and their effects on mechanical, thermal, and microscopic properties. This work considered LFT sheets processed via extrusion, which offers highly aligned fibers (referred to as “Tecnogor composites”), and LFT composites produced via extrusion compression molding (ECM), which offers a random distribution of fibers. Tecnogor composites exhibited higher flexural strength (35–65%), flexural modulus (132–172%), tensile strength (39–52%), tensile modulus (67–75%), and Izod impact resistance (195–220%) than the random LFT composites. This response was attributed to the aligned fibers in Tecnogor composites. Mathematical models including Halpin-Tsai and Lavengood-Goettler were used to predict and compare the Young’s modulus of Tecnogor and ECM composites, respectively.

mechanical testing↗

Continued Development of Meandering Winding Magnetometer (MWM (Register Trademark)) Eddy Current Sensors for the Health Monitoring, Modeling and Damage Detection of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels

Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPVs) are used in essentially all NASA spacecraft, launch. vehicles and payloads to contain high-pressure fluids for propulsion, life support systems and science experiments. Failure of any COPV either in flight or during ground processing would result in catastrophic damage to the spacecraft or payload, and could lead to loss of life. Therefore, NASA continues to investigate new methods to non-destructively inspect (NDE) COPVs for structural anomalies and to provide a means for in-situ structural health monitoring (SHM) during operational service. Partnering with JENTEK Sensors, engineers at NASA, Kennedy Space Center have successfully conducted a proof-of-concept study to develop Meandering Winding Magnetometer (MWM) eddy current sensors designed to make direct measurements of the stresses of the internal layers of a carbon fiber composite wrapped COPV. During this study three different MWM sensors were tested at three orientations to demonstrate the ability of the technology to measure stresses at various fiber orientations and depths. These results showed good correlation with actual surface strain gage measurements. MWM-Array technology for scanning COPVs can reliably be used to image and detect mechanical damage. To validate this conclusion, several COPVs were scanned to obtain a baseline, and then each COPV was impacted at varying energy levels and then rescanned. The baseline subtracted images were used to demonstrate damage detection. These scans were performed with two different MWM-Arrays. with different geometries for near-surface and deeper penetration imaging at multiple frequencies and in multiple orientations of the linear MWM drive. This presentation will include a review of micromechanical models that relate measured sensor responses to composite material constituent properties, validated by the proof of concept study, as the basis for SHM and NDE data analysis as well as potential improvements including design changes to miniaturize and make the sensors durable in the vacuum of space

Russell, Richard↗

A model for predicting damage induced fatigue life of laminated composite structural components

This paper presents a model for predicting the life of laminated composite structural components subjected to fatigue induced microstructural damage. The model uses the concept of continuum damage mechanics, wherein the effects of microcracks are incorporated into a damage dependent lamination theory instead of treating each crack as an internal boundary. Internal variables are formulated to account for the effects of both matrix cracks and internal delaminations. Evolution laws for determining the damage variables as functions of ply stresses are proposed, and comparisons of predicted damage evolution are made to experiment. In addition, predicted stiffness losses, as well as ply stresses are shown as functions of damage state for a variety of stacking sequences.

Allen, David H.↗

Synthesis of Correct Digital Controller Models from Specifications by Model Transformation (21-0320)

The design of high consequence controllers (in weapons systems, autonomy, etc.) that do what they are supposed to do is a significant challenge. Testing simply does not come close to meeting the requirements for assurance. Today circuit designers at Sandia (and elsewhere) typically capture the core behavior of their components using state models in tools such as STATEFLOW. They then check that their models meet certain requirements (e.g. “The system bus must not deadlock” or “both traffic lights at an intersection must not be green at the same time”) using tools called model checkers. If the model checker returns “yes” then the property is guaranteed to be satisfied by the model. However, there are several drawbacks to this industry practice: (1) there is a lot of detail to get right, this is particularly challenging when there are multiple components requiring complex coordination (2) any errors returned by the model checker have to be traced back through the design and fixed, necessitating rework, (3) there are severe scalability problems with this approach, particularly when dealing with concurrency. All this places high demands on the designers who now face not only an accelerated schedule but also controllers of increasing complexity. This report describes a new and fundamentally different approach to the construction of safety-critical digital controllers. Instead of directly constructing a complete model and then trying to verify it, the designer can start with an initial abstract (think “sketch”) model plus the requirements, from which a correct concrete model is automatically synthesized. There is no need for post-hoc verification of required functional properties. Having tool to carry this out will significantly impact the nation’s ability to ensure the safety of high-consequence digital systems. The approach has been implemented in a prototype tool, along with a suite of examples, including ones that reflect actual problems faced by designers. Our approach operates on a variant of Statecharts developed at Sandia called Qspecs. Statecharts are a widely used formalism for developing concurrent reactive systems, supporting scalability through allowing state models containing composite states, which are the serial or parallel composition of substates which can themselves contain statecharts. Statecharts enable an incremental style of development, in which states are progressively refined to incorporate greater detail in an incremental model of software development. Our approach formulates a set of constraints from the structure of the models and the requirements and propagates these constraints to a fixpoint. The solution to the constraints is an inductive invariant along with guards on the transitions. We also show how our approach extends to implementation refinement, decomposition, composition, and elaboration. We currently handle safety requirements written in LTL (Linear Temporal Logic)

42 ENGINEERING↗

Modeling of the Influence of Thermally Grown Oxide (TGO) Layers on the Driving Forces in Environmental Barrier Coating Systems

Environmental barrier coatings (EBC) are an enabling technology for the successful application of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) in air-breathing gas turbine engines. EBCs are susceptible to several failure modes including oxidation/delamination, recession, chemical attack and dissolution, thermomechanical degradation, erosion, and foreign object impact damage in a combustion environment. Spallation of environmental barrier coating (EBC), induced by a thermally grown oxide (TGO) layer, is a key EBC failure mode. The TGO layer, resulting from steam oxidation, grows either from a silicon bond coat layer (if present) or from a silicon carbide (SiC) based substrate itself. The TGO layer evolves (i.e., thickness increases with time) as water vapor and oxygen gradually diffuse through the EBC, and the EBC spalls off once the TGO layer reaches some critical thickness. The critical thickness of the TGO layer for failure is in the range of 20-30 microns, with the actual value depending upon exposure temperature, microstructure, etc. Current work at NASA Glenn Research Center, under the Transformative Tools and Technology (TTT) subproject is aimed at addressing associated failure modes in EBC systems and developing robust analysis tools to aid in the design/analysis of these systems. The objective of the current work is to conduct a sensitivity study to examine the influence of uniformly and non-uniformly grown oxide layers on the associated driving forces leading to spallation of the EBC when subjected to isothermal loading. The effect of damage in the TGO layer on the resulting stress states is also assessed both in uniform and non-uniform TGO layers.

Coatings↗