Academic literature on the topic 'Quantification of inclusions'

AbstractThe quantification of three classes of graphite inclusions in cast iron, namely, nodular, flake, and irregular, is the most important process in the foundry industry. This classification is based on the ISO 945 proposed morphology of graphite inclusions. This work presents a novel solution for automatic quantitative analysis of graphite inclusions into the three mentioned classes. The proposed work comprises three stages, namely, preprocessing of micrographs, classification of graphite inclusions, and then quantification of inclusions in each class. An effort has been made in this work to propose a minimum set of features to represent graphite inclusion morphology. The method employs just two geometric shape descriptors: the diameter ratio and the area ratio. A fuzzy rule based classifier is built using known feature values that are efficient in the classification of the three classes of graphite inclusions. The proposed method is automatic, fast, and provides the basis for determining many more morphological parameters that can be determined with the least effort. The results obtained by the proposed method are compared with the manual method. It is observed that the results obtained from the proposed method are useful in the optimization of cast iron manufacturing in the foundry industry.

Various analytical techniques have been developed to determine the solution composition of fluid inclusions, including destructive, non-destructive, single-inclusion, and bulk-inclusion methods. Cryogenic Raman spectroscopy, as a non-destructive and single-inclusion method, has emerged as a potentially powerful tool of quantitative analysis of fluid inclusion composition. A method of point analysis using cryogenic Raman spectroscopy has been previously proposed to quantitatively estimate the solute composition of H2O-NaCl-CaCl2 solutions, but there are uncertainties related to heterogeneity of frozen fluid inclusions and potential bias in the processing of Raman spectra. A new method of quantitative analysis of solute composition of H2O-NaCl-CaCl2 solutions using Raman mapping technology is proposed in this study, which can overcome the problems encountered in the point analysis. It is shown that the NaCl/(NaCl + CaCl2) molar ratio of the solution, X(NaCl, m), can be related to the area fraction of hydrohalite over hydrohalite plus antarcticite, Fhydrohalite, by the equation X(NaCl, m) = 1.1435 Fhydrohalite − 0.0884, where Fhydrohalite = hydrohalite area/(hydrohalite area + antarcticite area). This equation suggests that the molar fraction of a salt component may be estimated from the fraction of the Raman peak area of the relevant hydrate. This study has established a new way of estimating solute composition of fluid inclusions using cryogenic Raman mapping technique, which may be extended to other solutions.

Time-resolved diffuse optical tomography is a technique used to recover the optical properties of an unknown diffusive medium by solving an ill-posed inverse problem. In time-domain, reconstructions based on datatypes are used for their computational efficiency. In practice, most used datatypes are temporal windows and Fourier transform. Nevertheless, neither theoretical nor numerical studies assessing different datatypes have been clearly expressed. In this paper, we propose an overview and a new process to compute efficiently a long set of temporal windows in order to perform diffuse optical tomography. We did a theoretical comparison of these large set of temporal windows. We also did simulations in a reflectance geometry with a spherical inclusion at different depths. The results are presented in terms of inclusion localization and its absorption coefficient recovery. We show that (1) the new windows computed with the developed method improve inclusion localization for inclusions at deep layers, (2) inclusion absorption quantification is improved at all depths and, (3) in some cases these windows can be equivalent to frequency based reconstruction at GHz order.

This paper presents a practical guide to an optimized analytical procedure for the reliable quantification of trace element concentrations in fluid inclusions hosted by natural minerals, using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

Quantification of inclusions is important since it is correlated to the steel’s fatigue properties. One method that could be further developed for detection of inclusions in steel is ultrasonic testing (UST). The aim of this study is to investigate what type of inclusions, in terms of size, morphology and chemical composition, that can be detected with 25 MHz UST, and what type of inclusion that cannot be detected. This was done by firstly scanning 74 steel samples with 25 MHz UST, and then fatigue test the same samples until fracture. The inclusion that caused the fracture was then analysed with microscopy and compared with the results from the 25 MHz UST. It was found that Mn-Mg-sulphides, Ca-sulphides, oxy sulphides and complex oxides are difficult to detect with 25 MHz UST. Globular oxides can be detected with 25 MHz UST, at least down to an area of 8300 μm2 and if they are not too fragmented due to rolling. The results indicate that oxy sulphide stringers can be detected with 25 MHz UST if the inclusion have oxides in direct contact with the steel matrix, rather than oxides encapsulated by sulphides.<br>Kvantifiering av inneslutningar är viktigt då det korrelerar med stålets utmattningsegenskaper. En metod som kan utvecklas för detektering av inneslutningar i stål är ultraljudstestning (UT). Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka vilken typ av inneslutningar, med avseende på storlek, morfologi och kemisk sammansättning, som kan detekteras med 25 MHz UT, och vilken typ av inneslutningar som inte kan detekteras. Detta gjordes genom att först skanna 74 stålprover med 25 MHz UT och sedan utmattningstesta samma prover tills de gick till brott. Inneslutningen som orsakade brottet analyserades sedan med mikroskopi och jämfördes med resultaten från 25 MHz UT. Det visade sig att Mn-Mg-sulfider, Ca-sulfider, oxisulfider och komplexa oxider är svåra att upptäcka med 25 MHz UT. Globulära oxider kan upptäckas, åtminstone ner till en area på 8300 μm2 och om den inte har blivit för fragmenterad av valsning. Resultaten indikerar att oxisulfider kan detekteras om oxiderna är i direkt kontakt med stålmatrisen, i stället för att oxiderna är inkapslade av sulfider.

La presence d'inclusions non metalliques a souvent un effet nuisible sur les proprietes physiques et mecaniques des aciers. La maitrise des procedes d'elaboration passe par la mise au point de techniques de caracterisation des inclusions de plus en plus performantes et transferables sur site. La spectrometrie d'emission optique a source etincelles avec comptage des impulsions (seo-cdi) est particulierement appropriee du fait de sa robustesse, sa rapidite et l'interet qu'elle suscite aupres des industries siderurgiques mondiales. Ce travail de these vise a etablir un modele physique des interactions plasma-matiere en seo-cdi servant de base au developpement d'un modele de quantification des inclusions dans les aciers. Ainsi, les intensites lumineuses mesurees pourront etre transposees en donnees necessaires a l'exploitation metallurgique. Nous montrons que le mecanisme d'extraction des inclusions varie en fonction de leur taille. La mise en mouvement de l'echantillon en cours d'analyse permet la caracterisation des macroinclusions, alors que la seo-cdi classique est limitee a l'etude des inclusions de desoxydation. L'etude des rendements d'extraction et d'emission permet de determiner les conditions operatoires pour lesquelles leur quantification est possible. Nous mettons en evidence les similitudes de comportement dans le plasma d'argon de l'aluminium provenant des inclusions d'oxydes et de l'aluminium en solution solide dans la matrice ferreuse. Ceci nous a conduit a developper une demarche de quantification qui consiste a etalonner les signaux inclusionnaires en utilisant les signaux d'al dissous dans la matrice. Les resultats tendent a rapprocher les performances de la technique seo-cdi de celles de la methode de determination de l'oxygene par fusion reductrice, avec une duree de mise en uvre similaire, et l'avantage de pouvoir obtenir des informations supplementaires (nombre, nature, taille et cartographies de repartition surfacique des inclusions).

Ovako products are in many cases used in high fatigue applications. Currently Ovako use ultrasonic evaluation at 10 MHz as a volumetric method for inclusion control. This study intends to investigate two new methods for quantification of micro inclusions.The aim of this study is to develop a method for large area scanning by creating a polishing method that allows you to polish away a specified amount of material, in this case 60 μm. This method will be used to capture the true distribution of critically sized non-metallic inclusions by creating a 3D image out of several 2D scans from the light optical microscope. These results will be compared to the results of high frequency ultrasonic testing at 125 MHz to get a quantitative idea of what can be captured by the high frequency ultrasonic investigation.Two different steel grades were studied, named Grade A and Grade B, with one sample of each. Both grades have similar composition, except that Grade B contains more sulphur. Both grades are of approximately the same hardness. The two steel samples were scanned with a scanning acoustic microscope at the same time as a method to polish away 60 μm was developed. After this, the method was used to scan several layers with an image recognition program in the light optical microscope. The results from both methods were then compared.After testing, it was concluded that the inclusion distribution pattern was completely different for the two steel grades, however the same pattern could be seen for each grade in the LOM and in the ultrasonic. This indicates that the same types of inclusions could be found. It was also found that the ultrasonic enlarges the indications by a severe amount making it hard to take any measurements directly from the ultrasonic images in this study. What is possible to see in the ultrasonic images are the distribution of inclusions and the inclusion placement in the sample. A result of 10 % matching inclusions between both methods is found, which is to say that the same 50 inclusions out of the 500 largest indications from each method in the steel sample is found. These 10 % is however not sufficient enough to conclude by how much the ultrasonic enlarges the indications compared to the light optical microscope.<br>Ovako i Hofors tillverkar stål för komponenter som kräver hög utmattningshållfasthet. För närvarande utför Ovako ultraljudsundersökningar på 10 MHz som en volymetrisk testmetod för inneslutningskontroll. Den har studien kommer att undersöka två nya testmetoder för kvantifiering av mikroinneslutningar.Syftet med denna studie är att skapa en slipmetod för att polera bort 60 μm material som sedan kan användas för att bygga en 3D bild från ett flertal 2D scanningar i ett ljusoptiskt mikroskop. Detta resultat kommer att jämföras med resultatet från högfrekvens ultraljud på 125 MHz för att få en kvantitativ uppfattning av vad ett högfrekvens ultraljud kan undersöka.Två stålsorter, ett prov av vardera, används i undersökningen, dessa benämns Prov A och Prov B. Båda stålsorterna har ungefär samma hårdhet och sammansättning. Skillnaden i sammansättningen finns i svavelhalten, där Prov B innehåller mer svavel än Prov A. De två stålproverna skannades med ett akustiskt mikroskop samtidigt som en slipmetod för att polera bort 60 μm skapades. Därefter användes metoden för att skanna flera lager med ett bildigenkänningsprogram i det ljusoptiska mikroskopet. Resultatet från både metoderna jämfördes sedan.Ett resultat av studien är att samma inneslutningsmönster kan ses i ultraljudsresultaten och de ljusoptiska resultaten, detta trots att de två olika stålsorterna uppvisade helt olika mönster i sig. Ultraljudet tenderar att förstora upp inneslutningar vilket gör det svårt att mäta inneslutningens storlek direkt från ultraljudsbilden i den här studien. Däremot går det att se fördelningen och placeringen av inneslutningarna direkt i bilden. Ett resultat av 10 % matchning av inneslutnings-indikationer mellan ultraljud och ljusoptiskt hittades. Med detta resultat så går det i denna undersökning inte att jämföra samma inneslutning på ett bra sätt mellan ultraljud och ljusoptiskt för att hitta en faktor av hur mycket ultraljudet förstorar inneslutningarna.

<div>In this thesis, the role of location-specific microstructural features in the fatigue performance of the safety-critical aerospace components made of Nickel (Ni)-base superalloys and linear friction welded (LFW) Titanium (Ti) alloys has been studied using crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) simulations, energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDD), backscatter electron (BSE) images and digital image correlation (DIC).</div><div><br></div><div>In order to develop a microstructure-sensitive fatigue life prediction framework, first, it is essential to build trust in the quantitative prediction from CPFE analysis by quantifying uncertainties in the mechanical response from CPFE simulations. Second, it is necessary to construct a unified fatigue life prediction metric, applicable to multiple material systems; and a calibration strategy of the unified fatigue life model parameter accounting for uncertainties originating from CPFE simulations and inherent in the experimental calibration dataset. To achieve the first task, a genetic algorithm framework is used to obtain the statistical distributions of the crystal plasticity (CP) parameters. Subsequently, these distributions are used in a first-order, second-moment method to compute the mean and the standard deviation for the stress along the loading direction (σ_load), plastic strain accumulation (PSA), and stored plastic strain energy density (SPSED). The results suggest that an ~10% variability in σ_load and 20%-25% variability in the PSA and SPSED values may exist due to the uncertainty in the CP parameter estimation. Further, the contribution of a specific CP parameter to the overall uncertainty is path-dependent and varies based on the load step under consideration. To accomplish the second goal, in this thesis, it is postulated that a critical value of the SPSED is associated with fatigue failure in metals and independent of the applied load. Unlike the classical approach of estimating the (homogenized) SPSED as the cumulative area enclosed within the macroscopic stress-strain hysteresis loops, CPFE simulations are used to compute the (local) SPSED at each material point within polycrystalline aggregates of 718Plus, an additively manufactured Ni-base superalloy. A Bayesian inference method is utilized to calibrate the critical SPSED, which is subsequently used to predict fatigue lives at nine different strain ranges, including strain ratios of 0.05 and -1, using nine statistically equivalent microstructures. For each strain range, the predicted lives from all simulated microstructures follow a log-normal distribution; for a given strain ratio, the predicted scatter is seen to be increasing with decreasing strain amplitude and are indicative of the scatter observed in the fatigue experiments. Further, the log-normal mean lives at each strain range are in good agreement with the experimental evidence. Since the critical SPSED captures the experimental data with reasonable accuracy across various loading regimes, it is hypothesized to be a material property and sufficient to predict the fatigue life.</div><div><br></div><div>Inclusions are unavoidable in Ni-base superalloys, which lead to two competing failure modes, namely inclusion- and matrix-driven failures. Each factor related to the inclusion, which may contribute to crack initiation, is isolated and systematically investigated within RR1000, a powder metallurgy produced Ni-base superalloy, using CPFE simulations. Specifically, the role of the inclusion stiffness, loading regime, loading direction, a debonded region in the inclusion-matrix interface, microstructural variability around the inclusion, inclusion size, dissimilar coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), temperature, residual stress, and distance of the inclusion from the free surface are studied in the emergence of two failure modes. The CPFE analysis indicates that the emergence of a failure mode is an outcome of the complex interaction between the aforementioned factors. However, the possibility of a higher probability of failure due to inclusions is observed with increasing temperature, if the CTE of the inclusion is higher than the matrix, and vice versa. Any overall correlation between the inclusion size and its propensity for damage is not found, based on inclusion that is of the order of the mean grain size. Further, the CPFE simulations indicate that the surface inclusions are more damaging than the interior inclusions for similar surrounding microstructures. These observations are utilized to instantiate twenty realistic statistically equivalent microstructures of RR1000 – ten containing inclusions and remaining ten without inclusions. Using CPFE simulations with these microstructures at four different temperatures and three strain ranges for each temperature, the critical SPSED is calibrated as a function of temperature for RR1000. The results suggest that critical SPSED decreases almost linearly with increasing temperature and is appropriate to predict the realistic emergence of the competing failure modes as a function of applied strain range and temperature.</div><div><br></div><div>LFW process leads to the development of significant residual stress in the components, and the role of residual stress in the fatigue performance of materials cannot be overstated. Hence, to ensure fatigue performance of the LFW Ti alloys, residual strains in LFW of similar (Ti-6Al-4V welded to Ti-6Al-4V or Ti64-Ti64) and dissimilar (Ti-6Al-4V welded to Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr or Ti64-Ti5553) Ti alloys have been characterized using EDD. For each type of LFW, one sample is chosen in the as-welded (AW) condition and another sample is selected after a post-weld heat treatment (HT). Residual strains have been separately studied in the alpha and beta phases of the material, and five components (three axial and two shear) have been reported in each case. In-plane axial components of the residual strains show a smooth and symmetric behavior about the weld center for the Ti64-Ti64 LFW samples in the AW condition, whereas these components in the Ti64-Ti5553 LFW sample show a symmetric trend with jump discontinuities. Such jump discontinuities, observed in both the AW and HT conditions of the Ti64-Ti5553 samples, suggest different strain-free lattice parameters in the weld region and the parent material. In contrast, the results from the Ti64-Ti64 LFW samples in both AW and HT conditions suggest nearly uniform strain-free lattice parameters throughout the weld region. The observed trends in the in-plane axial residual strain components have been rationalized by the corresponding microstructural changes and variations across the weld region via BSE images. </div><div><br></div><div>In the literature, fatigue crack initiation in the LFW Ti-6Al-4V specimens does not usually take place in the seemingly weakest location, i.e., the weld region. From the BSE images, Ti-6Al-4V microstructure, at a distance from the weld-center, which is typically associated with crack initiation in the literature, are identified in both AW and HT samples and found to be identical, specifically, equiaxed alpha grains with beta phases present at the alpha grain boundaries and triple points. Hence, subsequent fatigue performance in LFW Ti-6Al-4V is analyzed considering the equiaxed alpha microstructure.</div><div><br></div><div>The LFW components made of Ti-6Al-4V are often designed for high cycle fatigue performance under high mean stress or high R ratios. In engineering practice, mean stress corrections are employed to assess the fatigue performance of a material or structure; albeit this is problematic for Ti-6Al-4V, which experiences anomalous behavior at high R ratios. To address this problem, high cycle fatigue analyses are performed on two Ti-6Al-4V specimens with equiaxed alpha microstructures at a high R ratio. In one specimen, two micro-textured regions (MTRs) having their c-axes near-parallel and perpendicular to the loading direction are identified. High-resolution DIC is performed in the MTRs to study grain-level strain localization. In the other specimen, DIC is performed on a larger area, and crack initiation is observed in a random-textured region. To accompany the experiments, CPFE simulations are performed to investigate the mechanistic aspects of crack initiation, and the relative activity of different families of slip systems as a function of R ratio. A critical soft-hard-soft grain combination is associated with crack initiation indicating possible dwell effect at high R ratios, which could be attributed to the high-applied mean stress and high creep sensitivity of Ti-6Al-4V at room temperature. Further, simulations indicated more heterogeneous deformation, specifically the activation of multiple families of slip systems with fewer grains being plasticized, at higher R ratios. Such behavior is exacerbated within MTRs, especially the MTR composed of grains with their c-axes near parallel to the loading direction. These features of micro-plasticity make the high R ratio regime more vulnerable to fatigue damage accumulation and justify the anomalous mean stress behavior experienced by Ti-6Al-4V at high R ratios.</div><div><br></div>

Soil erosion in Southeastern Nigeria is assuming an unusual dimension despite efforts by successive governments to control the phenomenon. Agronomic activities on eroding surfaces can give rise to landscapes much different from the original. Research activities in erosion quantification, the findings and how their applications have contributed to soil erosion management are highlighted. A key factor is the community efforts which have been relegated to a top-down approach occasioned by land use, land tenure and technological changes. The system is often a preventive management approach which achieves ecological and economic benefits. This chapter also discusses the indigenous methods of soil conservation and proposes their inclusions for sustainable management. To manage soil erosion in the region, emphasis must be placed on preventive management rather than crisis-management. Such approach will ensure that fewer resources are expended and land is appropriately conserved. To this end, soil can play its many environmental roles adequately.

The aim of this study was to characterize the microstructure of microalloyed linepipe steels. The steels investigated were X70 (0.04 wt% C - 0.02 wt% Ti - 0.07 wt% Nb) and X80 (0.04 wt% C - 0.025 wt% Ti - 0.09 wt% Nb) steels, where the numbers refer to their specified minimum yield strength (SMYS) in ksi. This class of steels has the advantage of high strength and good toughness combined with minimal wall thickness (15.5 mm for X70 steel). These attributes result in considerable cost savings when installation of several hundreds of kilometers of pipeline is required for oil and natural gas recovery and transport. The present study focused on phase identification and quantification, distribution of alloying elements and inclusions and segregation effects. Both steels were primarily composed of a mixed ferrite structure, i.e., polygonal ferrite and acicular ferrite/bainite, with characteristic low angle grain boundaries and high dislocation densities. The proportion of acicular grains was higher for the X80 steel. Pockets of retained austenite, exhibiting a Kurdjumov-Sachs orientation relationship (KS-OR) with the adjoining ferrite, were found in both steels. Five general classes of precipitates were identified in both steels: 1) Very large (2–10 μm) cuboidal TiN particles nucleated on inclusions; 2) large (0.1–1.0 μm) cuboidal TiN particles; 3) medium sized (30–50nm), irregular shaped Nb-Ti carbonitrides; 4) fine (&lt;20nm), rounded precipitates of Nb carbonitrides with traces of Mo; 5) very fine dispersed precipitates (&lt;5 nm in size). For X80 steels many of the large TiN precipitates were observed with Nb-rich carbonitrides precipitated epitaxially on them. Inclusion content and morphology were analyzed in both steels. The inclusions in X70 steels were found to be primarily CaS with significant amounts of Al, O, Ti, Fe and Mn. They were essentially spherical in shape with small elliptical distortions along the rolling direction and across the width of the plate. The morphology of the inclusions in the X80 steel was very similar, however, they showed higher Mn levels.

Abstract The fabrication and subsequent in-service excitation of materials/structures invariably generates significant defects including cracks, voids and inclusions, spanning many length scales. The various technologies available for detecting and qualitatively describing such defects suffer from the introduction of various degrees inaccuracy when it comes to the quantification of defect geometry. This can have an adverse impact on modeling and understanding how the material/part/structure performance is effected by these defects. The main cause of this shortcoming is that aspects of the physical processes used to interrogate the material system, using monochromatic or polychromatic waves such as X-ray, mm-wave, or ultrasound, are not taken into account. These waves interact with the multiscale defect ensemble in a complex fashion that inevitably produces spurious “artifacts” in the resulting data, which cannot be removed via conventional data post-processing. These artifacts then introduce unacceptable levels of error when reconstructing defect geometry and computing the remaining lifespan of defect-bearing materials/structures. The present work introduces preliminary efforts towards a multiscale modeling and simulation framework for capturing the interactions of waves (such as X-rays) with materials bearing defect ensembles. It is shown that conventional approaches such as ray tracing are not adequate, and a more robust solution to the relevant wave equations utilizing the Finite Element discretization is employed. A general parameterization of defect geometries based on superquadratic functions is also introduced, and the interactions of defects modeled in this fashion with X-rays are investigated. It is also shown that this combination of parameterization and modeling techniques allows the recovery of true, artifact-free defect geometry utilizing classical inverse methods. The methodology is demonstrated using synthetic tomographic data, and the path forward to a more complete realization of this technology is outlined.

Optimization under uncertainty has been studied in two directions — (1) Reliability-based Design Optimization (RBDO), and (2) Robust Design Optimization (RDO). One of the crucial elements in an RBDO problem is reliability analysis. Reliability analysis is affected by different types of epistemic uncertainty, due to inadequate data and modeling errors, along with aleatory uncertainty in input random variables. When the original physics-based model is computationally expensive, a metamodel has often been used in reliability analysis, introducing additional uncertainty due to the metamodel. This work presents a framework to include statistical uncertainty and model uncertainty in metamodel-based reliability analysis. Inadequate data causes uncertainty regarding the statistics (distribution types and distribution parameters) of the input variables, and regarding the system model parameters. Model errors include model form errors, solution approximation errors, and metamodel uncertainty. Two types of metamodels have been considered in literature for reliability analysis: (1) metamodels that compute the system model output over the desired ranges of the input random variables; and (2) metamodels that concentrate only on modeling the limit state. This work focuses on the latter type, using Gaussian process (GP) metamodels for performing both component reliability (single limit state) and system reliability (multiple limit states) analyses. A systematic procedure for the inclusion of model discrepancy terms in the limit-state metamodel construction is developed using an auxiliary variable approach. An efficient single-loop sampling approach using the probability integral transform is used for sampling the input variables with statistical uncertainty. The variability in the GP model prediction (metamodel uncertainty) is also included in reliability analysis through correlated sampling of the model predictions at different inputs. Two mechanical systems — a cantilever beam with point-load at the free end and a two-bar supported panel with point load at its center, are used to demonstrate the proposed techniques.

This study describes the development and characterization of novel high-temperature thermal storage media, based on inclusion of transition metal chlorides in the potassium-sodium chloride eutectic system, (K-Na)Cl (melting temperature of 657°C, latent heat of 278 J/g). At the melting temperature of (K-Na)Cl, infrared (IR) radiation can play a major role in the overall heat transfer process — 90 percent of spectral blackbody radiation falls in the range of 2 to 13 μm. The authors propose inclusion of small amounts (less than 0.2 wt %) of IR-active transition metal chlorides to increase radiative absorption and thereby enhance heat transfer rates. A new IR reflectance apparatus was developed to allow for determination of the spectral absorption coefficient of the newly formulated PCMs in the molten state. The apparatus consisted of an alumina crucible coated at the bottom with a reflective (platinum) or absorptive (graphite) surface, a heated ceramic crucible-holder, and a combination of zinc sulfide (ZnS) and zinc selenide (ZnSe) windows for containment of the salt and allowance of inert purge gas flow. Using this apparatus, IR spectra were obtained for various transition metal chloride additives in (K-Na)Cl, and improved infrared activity and radiative transfer properties were quantified. Further, thermophysical properties relevant to thermal energy storage (i.e., melting temperature, latent heat) are measured for the pure and additive-enhanced thermal storage medium.

Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM) is an evolving technology used to detect, assess, and isolate faults in complex aerospace systems to improve safety. At the conceptual design level, system-level engineers must make decisions regarding the inclusion of ISHM and the extent and type of the sensing technologies used in various subsystems. In this paper, we propose a Cost-Benefit Analysis approach to initiate the ISHM design process. The key to this analysis is the formulation of an objective function that explicitly quantifies the cost-benefit factors involved with using ISHM technology in various subsystems. Ultimately, to determine the best ISHM system configuration, an objective is formulated, referred to as Profit, which is expressed as the product of system Availability (A) and Revenue per unit Availability (R), minus the sum of Cost of Detection (CD) and Cost of Risk (CR). Cost of Detection includes the cost of periodic inspection/maintenance and the cost of ISHM; Cost of Risk quantifies risk in financial terms as a function of the consequential cost of a fault and the probabilities of occurrence and detection. Increasing the ISHM footprint will generally lower Cost of Risk while raising Cost of Detection, while Availability will increase or decrease based upon the balance of the reliability and detectability of the sensors added, versus their ability to reduce total maintenance time. The analysis is conducted at the system functional level, with ISHM allocated to functional blocks in the optimization analysis. The proposed method is demonstrated using a simplified aerospace system design problem resulting in a configuration of sensors which optimizes the cost-benefit of the ISHM system for the given input parameters. In this problem, profit was increased by 11%, inspection interval increased by a factor of 1.5, and cost of risk reduced by a factor of 2.4 over a system with no ISHM.

The expansion of steam flow and the condensation phenomena in an LP turbine depend on both the flow passage shape and the operating conditions. This paper presents the quantification of the influence of local geometrical details of the steam turbine blade including blade surface tapering, dimple inclusion and trailing edge shapes on flow expansion and condensation phenomena. For this purpose, the wet-steam model of ANSYS FLUENT, based on the Eulerian-Eulerian approach, was used. The mixture of vapor and liquid phases was solved by compressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The low inlet superheat case of White et al. [1] which is conducted with planar stator cascade was used as reference for this study. Various modifications including blade trailing edge shapes, blade shape modification via blade pressure and suction surfaces’ tapering, and addition of dimple feature to the blade pressure surface were applied to the blade profile. The presented results revealed that the applied blade shape modifications affected nucleation and droplet growth processes, shock wave structures and entropy generation rates. The influence of blade shape on loss generation was presented by calculating the Markov energy loss coefficients. The presented analysis exhibits that the blade shape alteration influences the overall loss generation that occur due to the irreversible heat and mass transfer during the condensation process.

SiC-based ceramic matrix composites (CMC) in turbine engine applications must sustain certain foreign object impacts that might occur in services. Experiments and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) have illustrated good correlations between impact energy and foreign object damage (FOD) assessed using electrical resistivity (ER), acoustic emission (AE), and microscopy. In this paper, a progressive failure dynamic analysis (PFDA) method is explored in understanding and predicting the damage states, electrical resistivity, and residual strength after impact of CMCs. In general, CMCs are modeled using effective fiber, matrix, and interface constitutive behaviors, from which the lamina stiffness and strengths can be derived. Similarly, the electrical resistivity of a lamina is homogenized based on the percolation theory for inclusion/discontinuities dispersion in a matrix for voids and Si particles, as well as fibers, and damages after impact. To accurately correlate the damage state with ER, the PFA tool has been improved to incorporate the physical damage mechanisms in CMCs, which are matrix microcrack density due to both longitudinal and transverse tensile loads and the fiber breakage due to probabilistic fiber strength distribution. The predicted damage states and ER are correlated with the measurement of FOD and validated with tension after impact tests using high temperature ER. The PFDA tool has demonstrated a great potential for CMCs’ FOD and residual strength predictions.

The thermal effects at elevated temperatures mostly exist for pressure vessel and pipe (PVP) applications. The technologies for diagnosis and prognosis of PVP systems need to take the thermal effect into account and compensate it on sensing and monitoring of PVP structures. One of the extensively employed sensor technologies has been permanently installed piezoelectric wafer active sensor (PWAS) for in-situ continuous structural health monitoring (SHM). Using the transduction of ultrasonic elastic waves into voltage and vice versa, PWAS has been emerged as one of the major SHM sensing technologies. However, the dynamic characteristics of PWAS need to be explored prior its installation for in-situ SHM. Electro-mechanical impedance spectroscopy (EMIS) method has been utilized as a dynamic descriptor of PWAS and as a high frequency local modal sensing technique by applying standing waves to indicate the response of the PWAS resonator by determining the resonance and anti-resonance frequencies. Another SHM technology utilizing PWAS is guided wave propagation (GWP) as a far-field transient sensing technique by transducing the traveling guided ultrasonic waves (GUW) into substrate structure. The paper first presents EMIS method that qualifies and quantifies circular PWAS resonators under traction-free boundary condition and in an ambience with increasing temperature. The piezoelectric material degradation was investigated by introducing the temperature effects on the material parameters that are obtained from experimental observations as well as from related work in literature. GWP technique is also presented by inclusion of the thermal effects on the substrate material. The MATLAB GUI under the name of Wave Form Revealer (WFR) was adapted for prediction of the thermal effects on coupled guided waves and dynamic structural change in the substrate material at elevated temperature. The WFR software allows for the analysis of multimodal guided waves in the structure with affected material parameters in an ambience with elevated temperature.

A numerical second law analysis is performed to determine the entropy production due to irreversibilities in condensing steam flows. In the present work the classical approach to calculate entropy production rates in turbulent flows based on velocity and temperature gradients is extended to two-phase condensing flows modeled within an Eulerian-Eulerian framework. This requires some modifications of the general approach and the inclusion of additional models to account for thermodynamic and kinematic relaxation processes. With this approach, the entropy production within each mesh element is obtained. In addition to the quantification of thermodynamic and kinematic wetness losses, a breakdown of aerodynamic losses is possible to allow for a detailed loss analysis. The aerodynamic losses are classified into wake mixing, boundary layer and shock losses. The application of the method is demonstrated by means of the flow through a well known steam turbine cascade test case. Predicted variations of loss coefficients for different operating conditions can be confirmed by experimental observations. For the investigated test cases, the thermodynamic relaxation contributes the most to the total losses and the losses due to droplet inertia are only of minor importance. The variation of the predicted aerodynamic losses for different operating conditions is as expected and demonstrates the suitability of the approach.

The quantification of storm surge is vital for flood hazard assessment in communities affected by coastal storms. The astronomical tide is an integral component of the total still water level needed for accurate storm surge estimates. Coastal hazard analysis methods, such as the Coastal Hazards System and the StormSim Coastal Hazards Rapid Prediction System, require thousands of hydrodynamic and wave simulations that are computationally expensive. In some regions, the inclusion of astronomical tides is neglected in the hydrodynamics and tides are instead incorporated within the probabilistic framework. There is a need for a rapid, reliable, and accurate tide prediction methodology to provide spatially dense reconstructed or predicted tidal time series for historical, synthetic, and forecasted hurricane scenarios. A methodology is proposed to combine the tidal harmonic information from the spatially dense Advanced Circulation hydrodynamic model tidal database with a rapid tidal reconstruction and prediction program. In this study, the Unified Tidal Analysis program was paired with results from the tidal database. This methodology will produce reconstructed (i.e., historical) and predicted tidal heights for coastal locations along the United States eastern seaboard and beyond and will contribute to the determination of accurate still water levels in coastal hazard analysis methods.