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At least 163 records · Page 9

Cyclic hot firing results of tungsten-wire-reinforced, copper-lined thrust chambers

An advanced thrust liner material for potential long life reusable rocket engines is described. This liner material was produced with the intent of improving the reusable life of high pressure thrust chambers by strengthening the chamber in the hoop direction, thus avoiding the longitudinal cracking due to low cycle fatigue that is observed in conventional homogeneous copper chambers, but yet not reducing the high thermal conductivity that is essential when operating with high heat fluxes. The liner material produced was a tungsten wire reinforced copper composite. Incorporating this composite into two hydrogen-oxygen test rocket chambers was done so that its performance as a reusable liner material could be evaluated. Testing results showed that both chambers failed prematurely, but the crack sites were perpendicular to the normal direction of cracking indicating a degree of success in containing the tremendous thermal strain associated with high temperature rocket engines. The failures, in all cases, were associated with drilled instrumentation ports and no other damages or deformations were found elsewhere in the composite liners.

Kazaroff, John M.↗

Compression behavior of TiB2-particulate-reinforced composites of Al22Fe3Ti8

The compression behavior of both the monolithic L1(2) compound Al22Fe3Ti8 and discontinuous composites obtained by incorporating about 1 micron TiB2 particles was studied for various volume percent reinforcements as a function of temperature and at high temepratures as a function of strain rate. In this study, by varying the Fe and Ti contents, the nature and volume fraction of the minor phases coexisting with the dominant L1(2) phase were changed and were examined with and without TiB2 reinforcement. At high strain rates, the TiB2 reinforcements significantly enhance ambiant and warm-temperature strength, although a crossover is observed at about 1000 K, above which the monolithic material is stronger than the composite. At slow strain rates representative of creep conditions, however, the TiB2-containing composites retain their superiority at least up to 1200 K.

Dipietro, M. S.↗

Hi-Nicalon Fiber-Reinforced Celsian Matrix Composites: Influence of Interface Modification

Unidirectional celsian matrix composites having 42-45 vol % of uncoated or BN-SIC coated Hi-Nicalon fibers were tested in three-point bend at room temperature. The uncoated fiber-reinforced composites showed catastrophic failure with strength of 210 35 MPa and a flat fracture surface. In contrast, composites reinforced with coated fibers exhibited graceful failure with extensive fiber pullout. Values of first matrix cracking stress and strain were 435 +/- 35 MPa and 0.27 +/- 0.01%, respectively, with ultimate strength as high as 960 MPa. The elastic Young modulus of the uncoated and coated fiber-reinforced composites were 184 +/- 4 GPa and 165 +/- 5 GPa, respectively. Fiber push-through tests and microscopic examination indicated no chemical reaction at the uncoated or coated fiber-matrix interface. The low strength of composite with uncoated fibers is due to degradation of the fiber strength from mechanical damage during processing. Because both the coated- and uncoated-fiber-reinforced composites exhibited weak interfaces, the beneficial effect of the BN-SIC dual layer is primarily the protection of fibers from mechanical damage during processing.

Bansal, Narottam P.↗

Effects of Interface Modification on Mechanical Behavior of Hi-Nicalon Fiber-Reinforced Celsian Matrix Composites

Unidirectional celsian matrix composites having approx. 42 volume percent of uncoated or BN/SiC-coated Hi-Nicalon fibers were tested in three-point bend at room temperature. The uncoated fiber-reinforced composites showed catastrophic failure with strength of 210 +/- 35 MPa and a flat fracture surface. In contrast, composites reinforced with BN/SiC-coated fibers exhibited graceful failure with extensive fiber pullout. Values of first matrix cracking stress and strain were 435 +/- 35 MPa and 0.27 +/- 0.01 %, respectively, with ultimate strength as high as 960 MPa. The elastic Young's modulus of the uncoated and BN/SiC-coated fiber-reinforced composites were measured as 184 q 4 GPa and 165 +/- 5 GPa, respectively. Fiber push-through tests and microscopic examination indicated no chemical reaction at the uncoated or coated fiber-matrix interface. The low strength of the uncoated fiber-reinforced composite is probably due to degradation of the fibers from mechanical surface damage during processing. Because both the coated and uncoated fiber reinforced composites exhibited weak interfaces, the beneficial effect of the BN-SiC dual layer is primarily the protection of fibers from mechanical damage during processing.

Bansal, Narottam P.↗

Fracture-tough, corrosion-resistant bearing steels

The fundamental principles allowing design of stainless bearing steels with enhanced toughness and stress corrosion resistance has involved both investigation of basic phenomena in model alloys and evaluation of a prototype bearing steel based on a conceptual design exercise. Progress in model studies has included a scanning Auger microprobe (SAM) study of the kinetics of interfacial segregation of embrittling impurities which compete with the kinetics of alloy carbide precipitation in secondary hardening steels. These results can define minimum allowable carbide precipitation rates and/or maximum allowable free impurity contents in these ultrahigh strength steels. Characterization of the prototype bearing steel designed to combine precipitated austenite transformation toughening with secondary hardening shows good agreement between predicted and observed solution treatment response including the nature of the high temperature carbides. An approximate equilibrium constraint applied in the preliminary design calculations to maintain a high martensitic temperature proved inadequate, and the solution treated alloy remained fully austenitic down to liquid nitrogen temperature rather than transforming above 200 C. The alloy can be martensitically transformed by cryogenic deformation, and material so processed will be studied further to test predicted carbide and austenite precipitation behavior. A mechanistically-based martensitic kinetic model was developed and parameters are being evaluated from available kinetic data to allow precise control of martensitic temperatures of high alloy steels in future designs. Preliminary calculations incorporating the prototype stability results suggest that the transformation-toughened secondary-hardening martensitic-stainless design concept is still viable, but may require lowering Cr content to 9 wt. pct. and adding 0.5 to 1.0 wt. pct. Al. An alternative design approach based on strain-induced martensitic transformation during cryogenic forming, thus removing the high martensitic constraint, may permit alloy compositions offering higher fracture roughness.

Olson, Gregory B.↗

Durability and Damage Development in Woven Ceramic Matrix Composites

Damage development in woven SiC/SiNC ceramic matrix composites (CMC's) under tensile and cyclic loading both at room and elevated temperatures have been investigated for the exhaust nozzle of high-efficient turbine engines. The ultimate strength, failure strain, proportional limit and modulus data at a temperature range of 23 to 1250 C are generated. The tensile strength of SiC/SiNC woven composites have been observed to increase with increased temperatures up to 1000 C. The stress/strain plot shows a pseudo-yield point at 25 percent of the failure strain (epsilon(sub r)) which indicates damage initiation in the form of matrix cracking. The evolution of damage beyond 0.25 epsilon(sub f), both at room and elevated temperature comprises multiple matrix cracking, interfacial debonding, and fiber pullout. Although the nature of the stress/strain plot shows damage-tolerant behavior under static loading both at room and elevated temperature, the life expectancy of SiC/SiNC composites degrades significantly under cyclic loading at elevated temperature. This is mostly due to the interactions of fatigue damage caused by the mechanically induced plastic strain and the damage developed by the creep strain. The in situ damage evolutions are monitored by acoustic event parameters, ultrasonic C-scan and stiffness degradation. Rate equations for modulus degradation and fatigue life prediction of ceramic matrix composites both at room and elevated temperatures are developed. These rate equations are observed to show reasonable agreement with experimental results.

Haque, A.↗

New Levels of High Angular Resolution EBSD Performance via Inverse Compositional Gauss-Newton Digital Image Correlation

Conventional high angular resolution electron backscatter diffraction (HREBSD) uses cross-correlation to track features between diffraction patterns, which are then related to the relative elastic strain and misorientation between the diffracting volumes of material. This paper adapts inverse compositional Gauss Newton (ICGN) digital image correlation (DIC) to be compatible with HREBSD. ICGN works by efficiently tracking not just the shift in features, but also the change in their shape. Modeling a shape change as well as a shift results in greater accuracy. This method, ICGN HREBSD, is applied to a simulated data set, and its performance is compared to conventional cross-correlation HREBSD, and cross-correlation HREBSD with remapping. ICGN HREBSD is shown to have about half the strain error of the best cross-correlation method with a comparable computation time.

T. J. Ruggles↗

Criteria for selecting resin matrices for improved composite strength

Criteria are presented which can be used a priori to select matrices to yield composites with improved unidirectional strength. The criteria evolved from an investigation including both theoretical and experimental efforts. Composite micromechanics were used in conjunction with suitable experiments and reference data to identify those matrix properties which influence composite strength properties. Composites of graphite fibers and low, intermediate and high-modulus resins were investigated. It was found that the area under the matrix stress/strain diagram limited to one percent strain is a good index for an a priori assessment of the matrix contribution to composite strength. The corresponding initial modulus is a useful parameter in translating matrix properties to composite properties. Matrix properties such as ultimate strength, ultimate elongation, toughness, and fracture toughness are misleading in translating matrix properties to composite strength.

Chamis, C. C.↗

Criteria for selecting resin matrices for improved composite strength.

Criteria are presented which can be used a priori to select matrices to yield composites with improved unidirectional strength. The criteria evolved from an investigation including both theoretical and experimental efforts. Composite micromechanics were used in conjunction with suitable experiments and reference data to identify those matrix properties which influence composite strength properties. Composites of graphite fibers and low, intermediate and high-modulus resins were investigated. It was found that the area under the matrix stress/strain diagram limited to one percent strain is a good index for an a priori assessment of the matrix contribution to composite strength. The corresponding initial modulus is a useful parameter in translating matrix properties to composite properties.

Chamis, C. C.↗

Advances in Thin Film Sensor Technologies for Engine Applications

Advanced thin film sensor techniques that can provide accurate surface strain and temperature measurements are being developed at NASA Lewis Research Center. These sensors are needed to provide minimally intrusive characterization of advanced materials (such as ceramics and composites) and structures (such as components for Space Shuttle Main Engine, High Speed Civil Transport, Advanced Subsonic Transports and General Aviation Aircraft) in hostile, high-temperature environments and for validation of design codes. This paper presents two advanced thin film sensor technologies: strain gauges and thermocouples. These sensors are sputter deposited directly onto the test articles and are only a few micrometers thick; the surface of the test article is not structurally altered and there is minimal disturbance of the gas flow over the surface. The strain gauges are palladium-13% chromium based and the thermocouples are platinum-13% rhodium vs. platinum. The fabrication techniques of these thin film sensors in a class 1000 cleanroom at the NASA Lewis Research Center are described. Their demonstration on a variety of engine materials, including superalloys, ceramics and advanced ceramic matrix composites, in several hostile, high-temperature test environments are discussed.

Lei, Jih-Fen↗

High Speed Thermal Imaging on Ballistic Impact of Triaxially Braided Composites

Ballistic impact experiments were performed on triaxially braided polymer matrix composites to study the heat generated in the material due to projectile velocity and penetration damage. Quantifying the heat generation phenomenon is crucial for attaining a better understanding of composite behavior and failure under impact loading. The knowledge gained can also be used to improve physics-based models which can numerically simulate impact of composites. Triaxially braided (0/+60/-60) composite panels were manufactured with T700S standard modulus carbon fiber and two epoxy resins. The PR520 (toughened) and 3502 (untoughened) resin systems were used to make different panels to study the effects of resin properties on temperature rise. Ballistic impact tests were conducted on these composite panels using a gas gun, and different projectile velocities were applied to study the effect on the temperature results. Temperature contours were obtained from the rear surface of the panel during the test through a high speed, infrared (IR) thermal imaging system. The contours show that high temperatures were locally generated and more pronounced along the axial tows for the T700S/PR520 composite specimens; whereas, tests performed on T700S/3502 composite panels using similar impact velocities demonstrated a widespread area of lower temperature rises. Nondestructive, ultrasonic C-scan analyses were performed to observe and verify the failure patterns in the impacted panels. Overall, the impact experimentation showed temperatures exceeding 525 K (485degF) in both composites which is well above the respective glass transition temperatures for the polymer constituents. This expresses the need for further high strain rate testing and measurement of the temperature and deformation fields to fully understand the complex behavior and failure of the material in order to improve the confidence in designing aerospace components with these materials.

thermal imaging↗

Influence of residual stresses on the tensile strength of composite-metal sandwich laminates

The tensile strength of boron-epoxy/aluminum sandwich laminates is discussed relative to the residual thermal stresses generated by curing and bonding at elevated temperatures. It is shown that the sandwich laminates investigated exhibit three dinstinct modes of failure, depending upon the fiber orientation of the composite. Sandwich laminates with moderate to high percentage of 0-deg fibers exhibit early failures initiated by edge effect; laminates with moderate to high percentage of 90-deg fibers fail according to a first-ply failure criterion; laminates with moderate to high percentages of plus or minus 45 deg plies fail at strains equal to or greater than the failure strain of the corresponding all-composite laminate.

Herakovich, C. T.↗

Bend stress relaxation and tensile primary creep of a polycrystalline alpha-SiC fiber

Understanding the thermomechanical behavior (creep and stress relaxation) of ceramic fibers is of both practical and basic interest. On the practical level, ceramic fibers are the reinforcement for ceramic matrix composites which are being developed for use in high temperature applications. It is important to understand and model the total creep of fibers at low strain levels where creep is predominantly in the primary stage. In addition, there are many applications where the component will only be subjected to thermal strains. Therefore, the stress relaxation of composite consituents in such circumstances will be an important factor in composite design and performance. The objective of this paper is to compare and analyze bend stress relaxation and tensile creep data for alpha-SiC fibers produced by the Carborundum Co. (Niagara Falls, NY). This fiber is of current technical interest and is similar in composition to bulk alpha-SiC which has been studied under compressive creep conditions. The temperature, time, and stress dependences will be discussed for the stress relaxation and creep results. In addition, some creep and relaxation recovery experiments were performed in order to understand the complete viscoelastic behavior, i.e. both recoverable and nonrecoverable creep components of these materials. The data will be presented in order to model the deformation behavior and compare relaxation and/or creep behavior for relatively low deformation strain conditions of practical concern. Where applicable, the tensile creep results will be compared to bend stress relaxation data.

Hee Man, Yun↗

Property Evaluation and Damage Evolution of Environmental Barrier Coatings and Environmental Barrier Coated SiC/SiC Ceramic Matrix Composite Sub-Elements

This paper describes recent development of environmental barrier coatings on SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composites. The creep and fatigue behavior at aggressive long-term high temperature conditions have been evaluated and highlighted. Thermal conductivity and high thermal gradient cyclic durability of environmental barrier coatings have been evaluated. The damage accumulation and complex stress-strain behavior environmental barrier coatings on SiCSiC ceramic matrix composite turbine airfoil subelements during the thermal cyclic and fatigue testing of have been also reported.

Creep and fatigue↗

A laser interferometer dilatometer for thermal expansion measurements of composites

A high precision Fizeau type, laser interferometer dilatometer system has been developed for low expansion composite materials. The strain resolution is about 1 microstrain. The system is automated to operate over a large temperature range and record data during the test in real time. A technique has been developed to reduce the fringe data in real time to length changes. The dilatometer system is described and thermal expansion measurements for several fiber-reinforced and particle filled composites are presented.

Tompkins, S. S.↗

Recommended Strain Gage Application Procedures for Various Langley Research Center Balances and Test Articles

The NASA Langley Research Center uses more than 10000 strain gages per year in supporting its various research programs. The character of the testing at LaRC is such that the types of strain gage installations, the materials they are applied to, and the test environments encountered, require many varied approaches for installing strain gages. These installations must be accomplished in the most technically discerning and appropriate manner. This technical memorandum is offered as an assisting guide in helping the strain gage user to determine the appropriate approach for a given strain gage application requirement. Specifically, this document offers detailed recommendations for strain gaging the following: LaRC-Designed balances, LARC custom transducers, certain composite materials and alloys, high-temperature test articles, and selected non-typical or unique materials or test conditions.

Moore, Thomas C., Sr.↗

Discontinuously reinforced intermetallic matrix composites via XD synthesis

A review is given of recent results obtained for discontinuously reinforced intermetallic matrix composites produced using the XD process. Intermetallic matrices investigated include NiAl, multiphase NiAl + Ni2AlTi, CoAl, near-gamma titanium aluminides, and Ll2 trialuminides containing minor amounts of second phase. Such mechanical properties as low and high temperature strength, compressive and tensile creep, elastic modulus, ambient ductility, and fracture toughness are discussed as functions of reinforcement size, shape, and volume fraction. Microstructures before and after deformation are examined and correlated with measured properties. An observation of interest in many of the systems examined is 'dispersion weakening' at high temperatures and high strain rates. This behavior is not specific to the XD process; rather similar observations have been reported in other discontinuous composites. Proposed mechanisms for this behavior are presented.

Kumar, K. S.↗

Numerical Validation of Composite Panel Impact Tests

Researchers have met the challenge of modeling impact events involving composite targets for a variety of applications in a variety of ways. In this paper, the theory and implementation details of an orthotropic visco-elastic-visco-plastic material model with strain rate dependence are discussed. The model is driven by experimental data from quasi-static as well as high strain rate tests, and the data is used in defining the deformation, damage and failure sub-models. Validation data is generated by shooting a hollow 50 g Al-2024 projectile at different velocities against a flat panel target made of unidirectional composite material in a 16-ply [(0/90/45/-45)_(2)]_(S) layup. Explicit dynamic finite element analyses of four high speed tests involving one contained (projectile rebounded) and three uncontained (projectile penetrated) impact tests show that the developed material model and modeling techniques yield reasonable and acceptable predictions.

Orthotropic Composite↗