No Arabic abstract
The damage mechanisms and load redistribution of high strength TC17 titanium alloy/unidirectional SiC fibre composite (fibre diameter = 100 $mu$m) under high temperature (350 {deg}C) fatigue cycling have been investigated in situ using synchrotron X-ray computed tomography (CT) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) for high cycle fatigue (HCF) under different stress amplitudes. The three-dimensional morphology of the crack and fibre fractures has been mapped by CT. During stable growth, matrix cracking dominates with the crack deflecting (by 50-100 $mu$m in height) when bypassing bridging fibres. A small number of bridging fibres have fractured close to the matrix crack plane especially under relatively high stress amplitude cycling. Loading to the peak stress led to rapid crack growth accompanied by a burst of fibre fractures. Many of the fibre fractures occurred 50-300 $mu$m from the matrix crack plane during rapid growth, in contrast to that in the stable growth stage, leading to extensive fibre pull-out on the fracture surface. The changes in fibre loading, interfacial stress, and the extent of fibre-matrix debonding in the vicinity of the crack have been mapped for the fatigue cycle and after the rapid growth by high spatial resolution XRD. The fibre/matrix interfacial sliding extends up to 600 $mu$m (in the stable growth zone) or 700 $mu$m (in the rapid growth zone) either side of the crack plane. The direction of interfacial shear stress reverses with the loading cycle, with the maximum frictional sliding stress reaching ~55 MPa in both the stable growth and rapid growth regimes.
A new phenomenological technique for using constant amplitude loading data to predict fatigue life from a variable amplitude strain history is presented. A critical feature of this reversal-by-reversal model is that the damage accumulation is inherently non-linear. The damage for a reversal in the variable amplitude loading history is predicted by approximating that the accumulated damage comes from a constant amplitude loading that has the strain range of the particular variable amplitude reversal. A key feature of this approach is that overloads at the beginning of the strain history have a more substantial impact on the total lifetime than overloads applied toward the end of the cycle life. This technique effectively incorporates the strain history in the damage prediction and has the advantage over other methods in that there are no fitting parameters that require substantial experimental data. The model presented here is validated using experimental variable amplitude fatigue data for three different metals.
We report a combined experimental and theoretical study of the melting curve and the structural behavior of vanadium under extreme pressure and temperature. We performed powder x-ray diffraction experiments up to 120 GPa and 4000 K, determining the phase boundary of the bcc-to-rhombohedral transition and melting temperatures at different pressures. Melting temperatures have also been established from the observation of temperature plateaus during laser heating, and the results from the density-functional theory calculations. Results obtained from our experiments and calculations are fully consistent and lead to an accurate determination of the melting curve of vanadium. These results are discussed in comparison with previous studies. The melting temperatures determined in this study are higher than those previously obtained using the speckle method, but also considerably lower than those obtained from shock-wave experiments and linear muffin-tin orbital calculations. Finally, a high-pressure high-temperature equation of state up to 120 GPa and 2800 K has also been determined.
The microstructural features and high-temperature oxidation resistance of hybrid (TiC+TiB) networks reinforced Ti-6Al-4V composites were investigated after fabricated with reaction hot pressing technique. The inhomogeneous distribution of hybrid reinforcers resulted in a sort of stress-induced grain refinement for {alpha}-Ti matrix phase, which was further facilitated by heterogeneous nucleation upon additive interfaces. HRTEM analyses revealed the crystallographic orientation relation between TiB and alpha-Ti phases as (201)TiB//(-1100)alpha-Ti plus [11-2]//[0001] alpha-Ti, while TiC and {alpha}-Ti phases maintained the interrelation of (-200)TiC//(-2110) {alpha}-Ti and [001]TiC//[01-10] alpha-Ti. The hybridly reinforced Ti-6Al-4V/(TiC+TiB) composites displayed superior oxidation resistance to both the sintered matrix alloy and the two composites reinforced solely with TiC or TiB addition during the cyclic oxidation at 873, 973 and 1073 K respectively for 100 h. The hybrid reinforcers volume fraction was a more influential factor to improve oxidation resistance than the matrix alloy powder size. As temperature rose from 873 to 1073 K, the oxidation kinetics transferred from the nearly parabolic type through qusilinear tendency into the finally linear mode. This corresponded to the morphological transition of oxide scales from a continuous protective film to a partially damaged layer and ended up with the complete spallation of alternating alumina and rutile multilayers. A phenomenological model was proposed to elucidate the growth process of oxides scales. The release of thermal stress, the suppression of oxygen diffusion and the fastening of oxide adherence were found as the three major mechanisms to enhance the oxidation resistance of hybrid reinforced composites.
Silicon carbide silicon carbide (SiC SiC) composites are often used in oxidizing environments at high temperatures. Measurements of the thermal conductance of the oxide layer provide a way to better understand the oxidation process with high spatial resolution. We use time domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) to map the thermal conductance of the oxide layer and the thermal conductivity of the SiC SiC composite with a spatial resolution of 3 {mu}m. Heterodyne detection using a 50 kHz modulated probe beam and a 10 MHz modulated pump suppresses the coherent pick-up and enables faster data acquisition than what has previously been possible using sequential demodulation. By analyzing the noise of the measured signals, we find that in the limit of small integration time constants or low laser powers, the dominant source of noise is the input noise of the preamplifier. The thermal conductance of the oxide that forms on the fiber region is lower than the oxide on the matrix due to small differences in thickness and thermal conductivity.
Recently reported results on the long lifetime of the tungsten samples under high temperature and high stress conditions expected in the Neutrino Factory target have strengthened the case for a solid target option for the Neutrino Factory. In order to study in more details the behaviour of basic material properties of tungsten, a new method has been developed for measurement of tungsten Youngs modulus at high stress, high strain-rates (> 1000 s^-1) and very high temperatures (up to 2650 C). The method is based on measurements of the surface motion of tungsten wires, stressed by a pulsed current, using a Laser Doppler Vibrometer. The measured characteristic frequencies of wire expansion and contraction under the thermal loading have been used to directly obtain the tungsten Youngs modulus as a function of applied stress and temperature. The experimental results have been compared with modelling results and we have found that they agree very well. From the point of view of future use of tungsten as a high power target material, the most important result of this study is that Youngs modulus of tungsten remains high at high temperature, high stress and high strain-rates.