Academic literature on the topic '3-point bending test'

The 20 kHz load frequency enables fatigue tests for very high cycle fatigue life, 109-1013 cycles, within conveniently short time. In automotive applications, many components are subjected to flexural loading and hence bending fatigue is an important test mode. Ultrasound fatigue test instruments have been used successfully in several assessments of fatigue strength and more commonly in uniaxial loading. Here, a 3-point bending fatigue test rig operating in resonance at 20 kHz load frequency has been designed to test plane specimens at R=0.1 loading. The test rig design and stress calculations are presented. Testing for fatigue strength was conducted using the staircase method with 15 specimens of each steel grade, specimens reaching 108 cycles were considered run-outs giving fatigue strength at 108 cycles. Additional 15 specimens of each grade were tested for S-N curves with the upper limit above 109 cycles. Two different common automotive steels, 38MnSiV5, a micro-alloyed ferritic-pearlitic steel, and 16MnCr5, a carburizing martensitic steel, were tested. The fatigue strengths achieved from the staircase testing are 340 and 419 MPa stress amplitudes for the 38MnSiV5 and 16MnCr5 steels, respectively. The S-N curves of the steels appear to be quite flat in the tested life range 107 – 109.

Presented article deals with the influence of PET fiber production on the bending strength of cement-based composite when incorporated into the fresh mortar, and comparison of results of 3-point and 4-point bending test. Cement paste samples were reinforced with 2 wt. % of primary or recycled PET fibers. The bending test was performed on prismatic samples with dimension of 40 × 40 × 160 mm. It was found that samples with recycled PET fibers, compared to primary ones, exhibit a decrease in bending strength. In the case of 4-point bending tests, the samples with recycled PET fibers exhibited higher bending strength than reference samples without any fibers. However, in the case of 3-point bending tests, the samples with recycled PET fibers had lower bending strength than the reference ones. The results suggest that recycled PET fibers could be used as an alternative to reinforce cement-based composites.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the role played by some important factors on sprinback phenomenon. This latter affects significantly the geometry of the manufactured product. Large automotive or plane body parts are specifically affected by this phenomenon which complicates the tools design. The study focuses here on specific materials with high trend to develop heterogeneous strains during forming processes. Due to its hexagonal crystalline structure, titanium has initial heterogeneous microstructure that grows stronger when plastic strain occurs. Heterogeneous microstructures induce the coexistence in the material of volumes with different mechanical properties even, in some case, with different mechanical behaviours. Therefore, accommodation between these volumes generates distributed internal stresses and important elastic energy storage. The macroscopic behaviour can be provided either by average phenomenological constitutive equation identical for all locations in the material or by integrating a set of local constitutive relations taking into account the variability of the behaviour as a function of the position in the material. In this context, experimental and numerical studies of a 3-point bending test on titanium alloy are considered.

Disertační práce se zabývala vlivem adheze mezi vláknovým (FRC) a částicovým (PFC) kompozitem a složením obou komponent na mechanické vlastnosti a způsob porušování modelových bi-materiálových kompozitních těles při statickém namáhání. Zkoumán byl také vliv způsobu přípravy bi-materiálového kompozitního tělesa na pevnost adheze mezi jeho kompozitními komponentami. K hodnocení mechanických vlastností bi-materiálových PFC/FRC těles byl použit jak 3 tak 4-bodový ohybový test za pokojové teploty a relativní vlhkosti 70%. Modifikovaný vytrhávací test byl použit k měření smykové pevnosti adheze mezi vláknovým a částicovým kompozitem. Tyto výsledky byly korelovány s výsledky ze strukturní a fraktografické analýzy (TGA, SEM). Experimentální data byla poté analyzována pomocí existujících mikromechanických modelů a byl nalezen vztah mezi tuhostí modelových bi-materiálových těles, složením a geometrií uspořádání jejich komponent a pevností adheze mezi těmito komponentami. Na základě těchto výsledků byl navržen optimální způsob vrstvení a přípravy PFC/FRC bimateriálových těles. Navržené postupy byly použity k přípravě a pre-klinickým testům nosných konstrukcí zubních můstků.

Cold spray is a novel coating method. Due to its low-temperature character, it has a potential to replace the high-temperature thermal spray processes in some applications. The presented work analyzes the microstructure and the phase composition of pure metal coatings deposited by cold spraying and evaluates selected mechanical properties. Specimens prepared by readily used HVOF industrial technology were used for comparison purposes.

碩士
國立臺北科技大學
土木與防災研究所
99
This study presents the mechanical behavior of hybrid fiber reinforced plastic (HFRP) composite beam. There are two methods to increase the stiffness of pultruded glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) beam and change the failure mode. First method is the GFRP beam filled with epoxy mortar. Second method is the GFRP beam wrapping different fiber sheet consisting of carbon fiber, basalt fiber and hybrid fiber. A series of beam tests will conduct under 3-point bending test to know the force-displacement relationship, stiffness, failure strength and failure mode of the GFRP beam. The Timoshenko beam theory and the finite element method were applied to analyze the profiles, using material properties estimated. Finally compare the experimental result, numerical and analytic result. Both results show the stiffness of GFRP beam filled with epoxy mortar is twice larger than GFRP beam, and the HFRP composite beam displays excellent strength.

碩士
國立交通大學
材料科學與工程學系所
102
In this study, we investigated the qualitative analysis of stress corrosion cracks for Mg-5wt.%Sn alloy by employing 3-point bending test which was different from slow strain rate test regarded as quantitative measurement. We focused on analyzing the correlation between pittings and stress corrosion cracks by using the method mentioned above as well as the discussion of the crack propagation path of Mg-5wt.%Sn under different concentration of Cl- (1,3.5,7wt.%). The result indicated that the route of stress corrosion crack of Mg-5wt.%Sn was obvious intergranular type. We suspected that this behavior could be attributed to the second phase Mg2Sn which was 5~10μm and distributed along the grain boundary after heat treatment. As a result, with the galvanic effect of Mg2Sn and the high chemical activity of grain boundary , we suggested that the prior stress corrosion path of Mg-5wt.%Sn could be grain boundary. The phenomenon that number of pittings for Mg-5wt.%Sn increased with increasing Cl- concentration could be observed through Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Besides, Cl- would promote the growth of pittings and accelerate the generation of cracks. The cracks of Mg-5wt.%Sn alloy would appeared with immersion in 7wt.%,3.5wt.% and 1wt.% NaCl solution for 3 hours,5hours and more than 8 hours, respectively. This outcome expressed that the incubation period of crack initiation with immersion in higher Cl- concentration could be sooner than that with immersion in lower Cl- concentration. Furthermore, the propagation rate of cracks under higher Cl- concentration was faster than that under lower Cl- concentration. It could be concluded that the number and depth of pittings, the incubation time of cracks and the propagation rate of cracks were highly sensitive to the concentration of Cl-. These results confirmed the influence of Cl- concentration on the surface passive film which was mainly composed of MgO and Mg(OH)2.

Bones are multifunctional passive organs of movement that supports soft tissue and directly attached muscles. They also protect internal organs and are a reserve of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. Each bone is covered with periosteum, and the adjacent bone surfaces are covered by articular cartilage. Histologically, the bone is an organ composed of many different tissues. The main component is bone tissue (cortical and spongy) composed of a set of bone cells and intercellular substance (mineral and organic), it also contains fat, hematopoietic (bone marrow) and cartilaginous tissue. Bones are a tissue that even in adult life retains the ability to change shape and structure depending on changes in their mechanical and hormonal environment, as well as self-renewal and repair capabilities. This process is called bone turnover. The basic processes of bone turnover are: • bone modeling (incessantly changes in bone shape during individual growth) following resorption and tissue formation at various locations (e.g. bone marrow formation) to increase mass and skeletal morphology. This process occurs in the bones of growing individuals and stops after reaching puberty • bone remodeling (processes involve in maintaining bone tissue by resorbing and replacing old bone tissue with new tissue in the same place, e.g. repairing micro fractures). It is a process involving the removal and internal remodeling of existing bone and is responsible for maintaining tissue mass and architecture of mature bones. Bone turnover is regulated by two types of transformation: • osteoclastogenesis, i.e. formation of cells responsible for bone resorption • osteoblastogenesis, i.e. formation of cells responsible for bone formation (bone matrix synthesis and mineralization) Bone maturity can be defined as the completion of basic structural development and mineralization leading to maximum mass and optimal mechanical strength. The highest rate of increase in pig bone mass is observed in the first twelve weeks after birth. This period of growth is considered crucial for optimizing the growth of the skeleton of pigs, because the degree of bone mineralization in later life stages (adulthood) depends largely on the amount of bone minerals accumulated in the early stages of their growth. The development of the technique allows to determine the condition of the skeletal system (or individual bones) in living animals by methods used in human medicine, or after their slaughter. For in vivo determination of bone properties, Abstract 10 double energy X-ray absorptiometry or computed tomography scanning techniques are used. Both methods allow the quantification of mineral content and bone mineral density. The most important property from a practical point of view is the bone’s bending strength, which is directly determined by the maximum bending force. The most important factors affecting bone strength are: • age (growth period), • gender and the associated hormonal balance, • genotype and modification of genes responsible for bone growth • chemical composition of the body (protein and fat content, and the proportion between these components), • physical activity and related bone load, • nutritional factors: – protein intake influencing synthesis of organic matrix of bone, – content of minerals in the feed (CA, P, Zn, Ca/P, Mg, Mn, Na, Cl, K, Cu ratio) influencing synthesis of the inorganic matrix of bone, – mineral/protein ratio in the diet (Ca/protein, P/protein, Zn/protein) – feed energy concentration, – energy source (content of saturated fatty acids - SFA, content of polyun saturated fatty acids - PUFA, in particular ALA, EPA, DPA, DHA), – feed additives, in particular: enzymes (e.g. phytase releasing of minerals bounded in phytin complexes), probiotics and prebiotics (e.g. inulin improving the function of the digestive tract by increasing absorption of nutrients), – vitamin content that regulate metabolism and biochemical changes occurring in bone tissue (e.g. vitamin D3, B6, C and K). This study was based on the results of research experiments from available literature, and studies on growing pigs carried out at the Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences. The tests were performed in total on 300 pigs of Duroc, Pietrain, Puławska breeds, line 990 and hybrids (Great White × Duroc, Great White × Landrace), PIC pigs, slaughtered at different body weight during the growth period from 15 to 130 kg. Bones for biomechanical tests were collected after slaughter from each pig. Their length, mass and volume were determined. Based on these measurements, the specific weight (density, g/cm3) was calculated. Then each bone was cut in the middle of the shaft and the outer and inner diameters were measured both horizontally and vertically. Based on these measurements, the following indicators were calculated: • cortical thickness, • cortical surface, • cortical index. Abstract 11 Bone strength was tested by a three-point bending test. The obtained data enabled the determination of: • bending force (the magnitude of the maximum force at which disintegration and disruption of bone structure occurs), • strength (the amount of maximum force needed to break/crack of bone), • stiffness (quotient of the force acting on the bone and the amount of displacement occurring under the influence of this force). Investigation of changes in physical and biomechanical features of bones during growth was performed on pigs of the synthetic 990 line growing from 15 to 130 kg body weight. The animals were slaughtered successively at a body weight of 15, 30, 40, 50, 70, 90, 110 and 130 kg. After slaughter, the following bones were separated from the right half-carcass: humerus, 3rd and 4th metatarsal bone, femur, tibia and fibula as well as 3rd and 4th metatarsal bone. The features of bones were determined using methods described in the methodology. Describing bone growth with the Gompertz equation, it was found that the earliest slowdown of bone growth curve was observed for metacarpal and metatarsal bones. This means that these bones matured the most quickly. The established data also indicate that the rib is the slowest maturing bone. The femur, humerus, tibia and fibula were between the values of these features for the metatarsal, metacarpal and rib bones. The rate of increase in bone mass and length differed significantly between the examined bones, but in all cases it was lower (coefficient b <1) than the growth rate of the whole body of the animal. The fastest growth rate was estimated for the rib mass (coefficient b = 0.93). Among the long bones, the humerus (coefficient b = 0.81) was characterized by the fastest rate of weight gain, however femur the smallest (coefficient b = 0.71). The lowest rate of bone mass increase was observed in the foot bones, with the metacarpal bones having a slightly higher value of coefficient b than the metatarsal bones (0.67 vs 0.62). The third bone had a lower growth rate than the fourth bone, regardless of whether they were metatarsal or metacarpal. The value of the bending force increased as the animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, the highest values were observed for the humerus, tibia and femur, smaller for the metatarsal and metacarpal bone, and the lowest for the fibula and rib. The rate of change in the value of this indicator increased at a similar rate as the body weight changes of the animals in the case of the fibula and the fourth metacarpal bone (b value = 0.98), and more slowly in the case of the metatarsal bone, the third metacarpal bone, and the tibia bone (values of the b ratio 0.81–0.85), and the slowest femur, humerus and rib (value of b = 0.60–0.66). Bone stiffness increased as animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, the highest values were observed for the humerus, tibia and femur, smaller for the metatarsal and metacarpal bone, and the lowest for the fibula and rib. Abstract 12 The rate of change in the value of this indicator changed at a faster rate than the increase in weight of pigs in the case of metacarpal and metatarsal bones (coefficient b = 1.01–1.22), slightly slower in the case of fibula (coefficient b = 0.92), definitely slower in the case of the tibia (b = 0.73), ribs (b = 0.66), femur (b = 0.59) and humerus (b = 0.50). Bone strength increased as animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, bone strength was as follows femur > tibia > humerus > 4 metacarpal> 3 metacarpal> 3 metatarsal > 4 metatarsal > rib> fibula. The rate of increase in strength of all examined bones was greater than the rate of weight gain of pigs (value of the coefficient b = 2.04–3.26). As the animals grew, the bone density increased. However, the growth rate of this indicator for the majority of bones was slower than the rate of weight gain (the value of the coefficient b ranged from 0.37 – humerus to 0.84 – fibula). The exception was the rib, whose density increased at a similar pace increasing the body weight of animals (value of the coefficient b = 0.97). The study on the influence of the breed and the feeding intensity on bone characteristics (physical and biomechanical) was performed on pigs of the breeds Duroc, Pietrain, and synthetic 990 during a growth period of 15 to 70 kg body weight. Animals were fed ad libitum or dosed system. After slaughter at a body weight of 70 kg, three bones were taken from the right half-carcass: femur, three metatarsal, and three metacarpal and subjected to the determinations described in the methodology. The weight of bones of animals fed aa libitum was significantly lower than in pigs fed restrictively All bones of Duroc breed were significantly heavier and longer than Pietrain and 990 pig bones. The average values of bending force for the examined bones took the following order: III metatarsal bone (63.5 kg) <III metacarpal bone (77.9 kg) <femur (271.5 kg). The feeding system and breed of pigs had no significant effect on the value of this indicator. The average values of the bones strength took the following order: III metatarsal bone (92.6 kg) <III metacarpal (107.2 kg) <femur (353.1 kg). Feeding intensity and breed of animals had no significant effect on the value of this feature of the bones tested. The average bone density took the following order: femur (1.23 g/cm3) <III metatarsal bone (1.26 g/cm3) <III metacarpal bone (1.34 g / cm3). The density of bones of animals fed aa libitum was higher (P<0.01) than in animals fed with a dosing system. The density of examined bones within the breeds took the following order: Pietrain race> line 990> Duroc race. The differences between the “extreme” breeds were: 7.2% (III metatarsal bone), 8.3% (III metacarpal bone), 8.4% (femur). Abstract 13 The average bone stiffness took the following order: III metatarsal bone (35.1 kg/mm) <III metacarpus (41.5 kg/mm) <femur (60.5 kg/mm). This indicator did not differ between the groups of pigs fed at different intensity, except for the metacarpal bone, which was more stiffer in pigs fed aa libitum (P<0.05). The femur of animals fed ad libitum showed a tendency (P<0.09) to be more stiffer and a force of 4.5 kg required for its displacement by 1 mm. Breed differences in stiffness were found for the femur (P <0.05) and III metacarpal bone (P <0.05). For femur, the highest value of this indicator was found in Pietrain pigs (64.5 kg/mm), lower in pigs of 990 line (61.6 kg/mm) and the lowest in Duroc pigs (55.3 kg/mm). In turn, the 3rd metacarpal bone of Duroc and Pietrain pigs had similar stiffness (39.0 and 40.0 kg/mm respectively) and was smaller than that of line 990 pigs (45.4 kg/mm). The thickness of the cortical bone layer took the following order: III metatarsal bone (2.25 mm) <III metacarpal bone (2.41 mm) <femur (5.12 mm). The feeding system did not affect this indicator. Breed differences (P <0.05) for this trait were found only for the femur bone: Duroc (5.42 mm)> line 990 (5.13 mm)> Pietrain (4.81 mm). The cross sectional area of the examined bones was arranged in the following order: III metatarsal bone (84 mm2) <III metacarpal bone (90 mm2) <femur (286 mm2). The feeding system had no effect on the value of this bone trait, with the exception of the femur, which in animals fed the dosing system was 4.7% higher (P<0.05) than in pigs fed ad libitum. Breed differences (P<0.01) in the coross sectional area were found only in femur and III metatarsal bone. The value of this indicator was the highest in Duroc pigs, lower in 990 animals and the lowest in Pietrain pigs. The cortical index of individual bones was in the following order: III metatarsal bone (31.86) <III metacarpal bone (33.86) <femur (44.75). However, its value did not significantly depend on the intensity of feeding or the breed of pigs.

Recently, the 3-D or stacked-die packages are increasingly popular for packaging ICs into a system or subsystem to satisfy the needs of low cost, small form factor, and high performance. For the applications of these packages, IC wafers have to be ground to be relatively thin through the wafers thinning processes (such as grinding, polishing, and plasma etching). The strength of dies has to be determined for the design requirement and thus assuring reliability of the packages. From the published data, there still exist some issues including a large scatter existed in die strength data, and difficulties with differentiating the causes of the low strength from the grinding or die sawing either by three-point bending or four-point bending test. The purposes of this study is to develop new, reliable and simple test methods for determination of die strength to improve the data scatter and also provide a solution for differentiating the factors that affect the variability of die strength, in order to find out the causes of the weakness of the die strength. In this study, two new test methods, point-loaded circular plate with simple supports test (PLT-I) and point-loaded plate on elastic foundation test (PLT-II) are proposed and evaluated by testing two groups of silicon dies with different surface conditions. The surface conditions (roughness) of the specimens are determined by atomic force microscopy and correlated to failure strength. The failure forces from both tests have to be modified by using maximum stress obtained from theory or finite element analysis to get the failure strength. The test results are compared with each other and further with widely-used four-point bending test. The results suggest that, unlike the four-point bending test, both methods provide very consistent data with a small scatter for these two groups of specimens, and indicated the die strength is highly dependent on the surface roughness. Accordingly, these two methods can provide not only a (bi-axial) stress field similar to temperature-loaded die in the packages, but also simple, feasible, reliable and chipping-free tests for silicon dies of dummy or real IC chips, without strict geometrical limitation, such as beam-type geometry for three-point or four-point bending test.

Abstract The purpose of this investigation is to study the effects of perimeter inflation on the dynamic behavior of a flexible / rigid multi-material interface. The results of this study can be applied to applications where there is a need for low cost, multi-material 3D printed parts which have both flexibility and strength at the material interfaces designed to undergo simultaneous axial strain and flexural strain. A non-homogeneous 3D printed structure with the desired static and dynamic mechanical behavior was designed using a flexible thermoplastic polyurethane substrate (NinjaFlex) and stiff ABS segment. The multi-material part was printed using a consumer grade dual extruder desktop FDM 3D printer. This project focused on the evaluation of the mechanical behavior of the 3D multi-material due to delamination at the interfaces between the materials undergoing simultaneous flexural and axial loading. In order to reduce the occurrences of delamination, overlap at the interfaces was imposed by using perimeter inflation of both the two different materials. The purpose of the project was to develop a test methodology for the evaluation of the use of perimeter inflation in order to improve the behavior of the multi-material fused deposition printed parts. A modified 3 point bending test was developed to measure the equivalent stiffness and internal damping of the material interface. As a result of this testing, increasing the perimeter inflation was found to cause a modest increase in the stiffness of the interface, with little effect on the internal damping of the interface.

Continuous-Bending-Under-Tension (CBT) is an experimental technique that has been shown to increase elongation-to-fracture by over 100% in aluminum alloys and over 300% in steel as compared to uniaxial tensile tests [1]. This procedure is a modified form of a tensile test in which a specimen experiences 3 point plastic bending, induced by traversing 3 rollers back and forth over the gauge length, while simultaneously being pulled in tension. This process is able to delay the occurrence of necking in pure tension by suppressing the instability. Thus, significantly more elongation is achieved in the specimen prior to fracture. In this paper, an experimental investigation of key process parameters, i.e., bending depth and pulling speed, during CBT testing of AA6022-T4 is presented. The load cycle during a CBT test will also be discussed along with the strain induced throughout the gauge length.

3D printing technology has become more affordable than ever before. Today 3D printers are not only used for making prototypes but are also being used to make good quality 3D parts for different purposes. A wide variety of filament materials are used in the market. Finding bending stiffness of different plastic filaments is the particular interest in the current study. The purpose of the project is to investigate the bending stiffness of different 3D printed beam samples. A series of samples for performing bending tests were designed using a solid modeling tool. These samples were printed with four different plastic filaments on a 3D printer in the engineering Lab of Southern Arkansas University. The samples were tested for flexural stiffness (bending) using a materials testing system. A popular 3-point bending test was conducted for this purpose. The force vs. deflection data was obtained to obtain the flexural stiffness of the beam samples. The results were discussed in detail in the result section of this paper.

This paper documents the result of dynamic stress analysis correlated with bending test for an automotive rear-wheel-drive driveline system. Good correlation is achieved. The procedure developed in this paper consists of three steps. Step 1 is to generate Finite Element Analysis (FEA) models of the components and subsystems, and analyze the system’s natural frequencies, mode shapes and driving point frequency response functions using Nastran software. Step 2 is to develop the propshaft model that includes manufacturing variation and simulated dynamic balancing. Step 3 is to run the dynamic stress analysis in ADAMS software. The objective of developing the analytical procedure of driveline dynamic system is to reduce the number of tests required under driveline design stage. This project also serves as a case study to graduate students in predicting dynamic stress of a real industrial part.

As well known, the corrosion resistance and durability of the material are always considered in the safety design of the materials. In this study, the jute fabric from recycled coffee bags was used to fabricate ecologically friendly composites. Jute fabrics with two kinds of different moisture contents were used to fabricate the natural fiber reinforced composites, and the hot water immersion properties have been evaluated. Additionally, the effects of the hybridization with glass woven fabric laminated structures were also investigated. Jute/Jute laminated composite, Jute/Jute/Glass, and Glass/Jute/Glass laminated hybrid composites had been fabricated by hand lay up method. A preliminary investigation on the effect of moisture contents of the jute fabric on the mechanical properties of the jute and jute/glass hybrid composites was discussed based on the results of 3 point bending test. Moreover, the durability of the composites in the hot water immersion was also evaluated. The effects of hot water immersion on the mechanical properties were investigated by the way of 3 point bending test. The specimens were immersed in hot water maintained at 80°C with the immersion time of 24, 120 and 240 hours. Specimens were taken out from the hot water at the same time and repeated the 3 point bending test after each immersion time and the weight changes had been measured. Results showed that the Jute/Jute composite absorbed water easily, and it could be noted that all of the natural dried composites showed comparable higher water absorbed value to the deeply dried ones. The bending strength after aging decreased remarkably. In particularly, all of the natural dried composites showed higher bending strength than the deeply dried one before aging. However, after 120 hours aging, on the contrary, almost the deeply dried composites showed comparable higher value to the natural dried ones. That could be due to the better bonding between fiber and matrix for the deeply dried composites which decreased the water absorption of the composites. Additionally, the hybrid structure is effective in protecting the composites from water absorbing especially for the Glass/Jute/Glass hybrid one.

A novel approach to continuous health monitoring of polymeric composite materials and structural elements using embedded Extrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometers (EFPI) is proposed and validated. The proof of concept includes several consecutive steps. First, it is verified that simple optical wave guides survived a regular 3-D weaving process. Then EFPI sensor assemblies are manually incorporated into the preforms and it is verified that they are functional. Next step is resin infusion of instrumented preforms using VARTM method, followed by investigation of possible mechanical damage to sensor leads. Finally, test specimens are fabricated, and four-point bending tests are performed. The internal strain monitoring results provided by the embedded fiber optic sensors are compared to the data from surface foil gages. The developed approach validates, particularly, the possibility of continuous through-thickness strain monitoring, which is crucial for composite bonded and bolted joints, components with holes, openings, stiffeners, and other cases of high strain gradients.

The Ford Motor Company Human Body Finite Element Model (FHBM) was validated against rib dynamic tension and 3-point bending tests. The stress-strain and moment-strain data from the tension and bending simulations respectively were compared with human rib specimen test data. The model used represented a 50th percentile adult male. It was used to compare chest deflection and chest acceleration as thoracic injury indicator in blunt impact and belted occupants in front sled impact simulations. A 150 mm diameter of 23.4 kg impactor was used in the blunt impact simulations with impact speeds of 2, 4, and 8 m/s. In the Front sled impact simulations, single-step acceleration pulses with peaks of 10, 20, and 30 g were used. The occupants were restrained by 3-point belt system, however neither pretensioner nor shoulder belt force limiter were used. The external force, head acceleration, chest deflection, chest acceleration, and the maximum values of Von Mises stress and plastic strain were the model outputs. The results showed that the external contact force, head acceleration, chest deflection, and chest acceleration in the blunt impact simulations varied between 1.5–7 kN, 5–28 g, 18–80 mm, and 8–40 g respectively. The same responses varied between 7–24 kN, 13–40 g, 15–50 mm, and 16–46 g respectively in the front sled impact simulations. The maximum Von Mises stress and plastic strain were 50–127 MPa, and 0.04–2% respectively in the blunt impact simulations and 72–134 MPa, and 0.13–3% respectively in the sled impact simulations.

ADIMEW (Assessment of Aged Piping Dissimilar Metal Weld Integrity) was a three-year collaborative research programme carried out under the EC 5th Framework Programme. The objective of the study was to advance the understanding of the behaviour and safety assessment of defects in dissimilar metal welds between pipes representative of those found in nuclear power plant. ADIMEW studied and compared different methods for predicting the behaviour of defects located near the fusion boundaries of dissimilar metal welds typically used to join sections of austentic and ferritic piping operating at high temperature. Assessment of such defects is complicated by issues that include: severe mis-match of yield strength of the constituent parent and weld metals, strong gradients of material properties, the presence of welding residual stresses and mixed mode loading of the defect. The study includes the measurement of material properties and residual stresses, predictive engineering analysis and validation by means of a large-scale test. The particular component studies was a 453mm diameter pipe that joins a section of type A508 Class 3 ferritic pipe to a section of type 316L austentic pipe by means of a type 308 austentic weld with type 308/309L buttering laid on the ferritic pipe. A circumferential, surface-breaking defect was cut using electro discharge machining into the 308L/309L weld buttering layer parallel to the fusion line. The test pipe was subjected to four-point bending to promote ductile tearing of the defect. This paper presents the results of TWI contributions to ADIMEW including: fracture toughness testing, residual stress measurements and assessments of the ADIMEW test using elastic-plastic, cracked body, finite element analysis.

Within the framework of the FP7 European project STYLE, a large scale experiment has been performed at EDF on a cladded ferritic pipe. The objective of such an experiment was to investigate transferability of material properties from small specimens to large scale components. The large scale experiment involves applying 4-point bending under displacement control at room temperature to a clad ferritic steel pipe with an internal surface crack. The goal of the experiment is to initiate ductile crack growth and track the resulting stable crack growth until the surface flaw fails by producing a through-wall crack. The test specimen is representative from a surge line consisting of a clad ferritic pipe with an outer diameter of 420 mm, length of 520 mm, and base metal wall thickness of 31 mm, with an internal austenitic stainless steel cladding layer of thickness 5 mm. The base metal is a low alloy 20MnMoNi55 steel (corresponding to the specifications of an SA 508 Grade 3, Class 1 steel), and the necessary extensions are made of a high strength ferritic steel. A wide range of instrumentation was implemented to provide data for mock-up behavior understanding and detect the ductile tearing initiation during the test. The test has been conducted with full success on the EDF 4 point bending test facility. After the experiment, samples have been taken from the mock-up for full SEM fractographic examinations of the fracture surface for identification of failure modes. The present paper describes the large scale experiment and presents the main experimental results and data. A synthesis of SEM fractographic examinations is also presented, to better understand the rupture behavior during the test.