Mechanical Engineering Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2795
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Item EMBEDDED HIGH FREQUENCY SIGNAL EFFECTS ON FAILURE MECHANISMS AND MODELS(2022) Lara, Paul; Burck, Hugh; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Embedded high frequency signal effects can have a deleterious effect on the fatigue resistance of structures. For example, ship structures can be subject to many operational loads (wind, pressure, temperature, etc.), one of which is the structural effects from the surrounding sea environment. Typically, the wave environment applies an ordinary wave component, which drives the primary bending stress of the vessel, along with a more stochastically driven element that manifest itself as wave impacts. To account for these effects, designers have relied on simplified assumptions, such as safety factors and/or margins of safety. Existing academic research centered on capturing a simplified sinusoidal response associated with the primary loading event and the embedded high frequency response, but has not addressed logarithmic decay, signal frequency, or frequency of occurrence. All these factors have associated uncertainty and cause impact on fatigue life and failure mechanisms exhibited by structures. This research effort focuses on a more fundamental understanding of the effects of embedded high frequency loading on fatigue crack propagation in Aluminum 5xxx material. Carried out by accounting for the signal’s characteristics, and through an experimental evaluation assess its impact on the local failure mechanism and life cycle models. In particular, the use of Digital Image Correlation to quantify the effects of the embedded high frequency on the plastic zone that develops ahead of the fatigue crack, and the subsequent changes in crack growth. This enabled the following four primary contributions: (1) development of a unique test configuration protocol and process to investigate HF pulse effects on fatigue crack growth in small scale specimens, (2) measured a 35% decrease in COD due to crack closure from the residual stresses associated with a larger plastic zone caused by HF loading, (3) development of a unique model that couples crack kinking and retardation behavior, and (4) elucidation on the effects of sequencing of HF pulses on crack kinking and retardation. The findings of this research can be used in future investigative efforts to develop analytical models that address secondary material effects, such as welds, provide underpinnings for high fidelity numerical modelling, and to reduce the dependency of designers on the use of safety factors and enable them to account more rigorously for failure mechanisms in digital twins.Item Airframe Integrity Based on Bayesian Approach(2006-11-29) Hurtado-Cahuao, Jose Luis; Modarres, Mohammad; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Aircraft aging has become an immense challenge in terms of ensuring the safety of the fleet while controlling life cycle costs. One of the major concerns in aircraft structures is the development of fatigue cracks in the fastener holes. A probabilistic-based method has been proposed to manage this problem. In this research, the Bayes' theorem is used to assess airframe integrity by updating generic data with airframe inspection data while such data are compiled. This research discusses the methodology developed for assessment of loss of airframe integrity due to fatigue cracking in the fastener holes of an aging platform. The methodology requires a probability density function (pdf) at the end of SAFE life. Subsequently, a crack growth regime begins. As the Bayesian analysis requires information of a prior initial crack size pdf, such a pdf is assumed and verified to be lognormally distributed. The prior distribution of crack size as cracks grow is modeled through a combined Inverse Power Law (IPL) model and lognormal relationships. The first set of inspections is used as the evidence for updating the crack size distribution at the various stages of aircraft life. Moreover, the materials used in the structural part of the aircrafts have variations in their properties due to their calibration errors and machine alignment. A Matlab routine (PCGROW) is developed to calculate the crack distribution growth through three different crack growth models. As the first step, the material properties and the initial crack size are sampled. A standard Monte Carlo simulation is employed for this sampling process. At the corresponding aircraft age, the crack observed during the inspections, is used to update the crack size distribution and proceed in time. After the updating, it is possible to estimate the probability of structural failure as a function of flight hours for a given aircraft in the future. The results show very accurate and useful values related to the reliability and integrity of airframes in aging aircrafts. Inspection data shown in this dissertation are not the actual data from known aircrafts and are only used to demonstrate the methodologies.