Génie mécanique
Improvement the surface hardness of XC38 steel by heat treatment - Approach by factorial plans
The surface hardness plays an important role in the service life of a mechanicals parts subjected to friction and wear. It can be improved by mechanical treatments or heat treatments. The latter occupy an important place in steel metallurgy, they aim to improve the performance of mechanicals properties of materials such as resilience and hardness and consequently they contribute in a visible way to the good resistance to fatigue and wear treated pieces. This work aims to predict the surface hardness Hv as a function of heat treatment parameters in this case the treatment temperature and holding time. therefore thermals treatments have been envisaged following the methodology of factorial plans 22 where two parameters have been considered, the temperature "T" and the holding time "t" where each parameter at two levels (min, max). These treatments were applied on forged XC38 steel samples, the obtained results have resulted in a mathematical model evaluating the surface hardness "Hv" as a function of treatment temperature and holding time. The experimental results indicate for this steel that holding time minimum and temperature minimum (t = 2h, T = 850 ° c) have an apparent significant effect where "Hv" achieved the value of 750 (Hvi = 179). Voir les détails
Mots clés : heat treatment, superficial hardness, factorial designs, Mathematical model
Study of reliability index for high-density polyethylene based on pipestandard dimension ratio and fracture toughness limits
The reliability of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes remains a central issue for gas transportation and distribution net-works. The objective of this study is to investigate the estimation of reliability index ( β) for a plastic pipe using the critical stressintensity factor ( KIC) as the maximum limit for safe operating conditions. Simulations are performed as a function of operatingpressure, crack length, and standard dimension ratio (SDR) for three fracture toughness levels (low, moderate, and high). Inaddition, the study compares results from three hoop stress calculations methods (thin, thick, and ISO plastic pipe equation).Based on design recommendation for reliability index, it is found that both operating pressure and crack length show comparablebehaviors. However, the thick wall pipe results overestimate (β) for every KIClevel. In all cases, it is found that the higher thecritical stress intensity factor, the better the reliability index. Results obtained with the standard ISO pipe formula are morerealistic, as they are usually around the design recommendation, i.e., SDR basis indicates that it is a true conservative designapproach incorporating both upper and lower thickness limits. The importance of all variables (thickness, diameter, crack length,pressure, and fracture toughness) is also discussed Voir les détails
Mots clés : HDPE pipe . Critical stress intensity factor . Standard dimension ratio (SDR) . Crack length . Reliability index . Importance of variables
A method for mechanical property assessment across butt fusion weldedpolyethylene pipes
The use of high-density polyethylene pipes in gas and water distribution networks is steadily growing worldwide. If the resistanceof plain pipes is at present time well established using appropriately designed standards, welding issues continue to be globallyapproached equally in terms of structure and mechanical properties. Consequently, further practical investigations should beaimed at studying mechanical properties in the weld region which includes the melt zone and its heat-affected zones. This workpresents a method based on removing layers in order to assess localized variances in mechanical properties throughout the weldseam in both radial and circumferential directions. An experimental plan based on specific machining operations allowed testing39 standard specimens representing the weld volume matter in three concentric layers for given pipe dimensions and theircounterpart standard unwelded ones. The typical stress–strain behavior of semi-crystalline materials is preserved in weldedand unwelded specimens but with different characteristic limits. At the weld inner layers, properties such as elastic modulus,yield, and failure stresses displayed lower values, whereas in welded outer layers, the tendency is inversed. The cold drawingextend remained approximately steady for unwelded and welded cases across the pipe wall. This property is less affected by thepresence of the weld as it described a constant material flow which is mostly a function of available material quantity for yielding.The approach developed in this study gives consistent indications on welding quality around the pipe weld and across thethickness. Accordingly, outermost and innermost welded layers may exhibit lower or even bad-quality welds as imperfectionscan concentrate stresses at the joint interface because of cold weld problems. Such method enabled detecting 23% of failures atthe weld seam from outer and inner layers while the middle layer did not reveal any failure at the weld. The causes of thisbehavior are approached using crystallinity evolution in welded and unwelded pipes. Voir les détails
Mots clés : HDPE pipe . Butt fusion welding . Mechanical properties . Radial direction . Circumferential direction . St ru ct ur al variances
EFFECT OF ELECTRICAL CURRENT ON FRICTION AND WEAR BEHAVIOR OF COPPER AGAINST GRAPHITE FOR LOW SLIDING SPEEDS
Copper-graphite is an important tribological material used in the applications of electrical sliding contact like generators and electrical brushes. A series of experimental tests were conducted on a pin-disc tribometer in air and dry sliding condition. The pair of material was subjected to electric current ranging from 0 to 10A, normal loads of 5 to 30N and sliding speed of 0.5m/s. The duration of each test was 30 minutes. Experimental results indicated that the friction coefficient decreases and wear rate increases with increasing load with and without applied electric current. The changes in surface chemistry and topography of the tribo-surfaces were characterized using Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). This later technique was used to analyze the transfer of pin materials to the counterface, and also to understand how copper and graphite influence the tribological properties. Results indicated that, electric current and normal load have more or less significant influence on the tribological behavior of the pair of materials and the effect of oxide layer created at interface of the pairs in contact. Voir les détails
Mots clés : friction, wear, Contact temperature, load, Electric current.
Experimental investigation of notch effect and ply number on mechanicalbehavior of interply hybrid laminates (glass/carbon/epoxy)
The great advantages of hybrid composite materials reside in the synergistic effect of their constituent materialsand that make them very attractive for advanced applications. Nevertheless, the interactive effect of the intrinsicproperties of each element further complicates understanding of their behavior. In this study, an experimentalanalysis of the mechanical behavior of interply hybrid laminates (glass/carbon/epoxy) and the estimation of thehybridization effect with respect to mono-reinforced laminates were carried out. It has been found that theincorporation of 25% carbon fibers in the glass/epoxy laminates contributes significantly to improving theirtensile mechanical properties but they degrade as the number of glass plies increase. In addition, investigationswere carried out on the sensitivity of these materials to geometric imperfections. To this end, the influence of acircular notch has been highlighted. From the results obtained, it was found that the greatest loss of properties isrecorded for the hybrid materials; however, they remain the most resistant. Voir les détails
Mots clés : Hybrid composite materials, laminates, notch, mechanical properties
Aeroelastic analysis of the air foil bearings in steady state
In recent decades, turbomachinery has known a special development with the aim of lightening rotating components of machinery and preserving the environment all for improving operating performances. The key elements in the turbomachinery are the air foil bearings that support rotors rotating at high speeds. In this paper, we are interested in the aero-elastic study of air foil bearing in stationary régime. The deformable structure contains a corrugated foils (bumps) fixed on a top-foil rigid which forms with rotor and air an elasto-aerodynamic contact. Numerical modeling was developed based on the Reynolds equation and an elastic deformation model of the bump depending on aerodynamic pressure, bump geometry and its mechanical proprieties. This problem non-linear is resolved using finite difference discretization and Newton-Raphson method. Finally, the calculations show the pressure distribution and field of film thickness as well as other fluid-structure interaction characteristics due to the functional conditions. Voir les détails
Mots clés : air bearing, aero-elastic, foil structure, film thickness, charge capacity
Experimental and numerical analysis of mode?I interlaminar fractureof composite pipes
A common industrial production process for composites is filament winding, widely used for the production of axially symmetriccomponents. In these composite components, delamination is a predominant failure mechanism. The current workfocuses on investigating experimentally the effect of the initial crack and fiber bridging length on the mode-I delaminationresistance curve (R-curve) behavior of various double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens. For this purpose, the magnitudesof initiation and propagation fracture toughness (GIC-init and GIC-prop) and the compliance C are calculated. DCB specimenswith a stacking sequence of [± 50]6 and various initial crack lengths of a0 = 33, 37, 59 and 70 mm are manufactured from areal composite pipe using filament winding process. In order to evaluate the critical energy release rate in mode-I, variousfracture tests are conducted on these specimens. The greatest bridging zone length dues to good penetration of two adjacentlayers of the delamination interface. Moreover, the results indicate that the fiber bridging length has a significant effect onthe GIC and the largest value of fiber bridging causes a large fracture toughness value. Finally, numerical simulations areperformed using finite element (FE) method and GIC-init measurements obtained experimentally are compared to the numericalfindings. The numerical displacements and GIC-init, calculated from the numerical displacements, are found to be in goodagreement compared to the experimental results. Voir les détails
Mots clés : Filament wound composite, Critical energy release rate, Propagation energy release rate, DCB specimen, Fiber bridging
Computational study of droplet breakup in a trapped channel configurationusing volume of fluid method
Computational Fluid Dynamics is performed to numerically investigate the droplet breakup of water in oil intrapped channel configuration. The volume-of-fluid (VOF) method based the commercial code FLUENT isadopted to track the interface. Two designs are suggested to study the effect of flow conditions parameters andouter channel size on the droplet breakup mode, droplet generation frequency and size. As a function of thevelocity ratio, droplets are formed in two modes, dripping mode: droplets were generated closed to the nozzle, itwas identified at low capillary number (Ca<0.005) and jetting mode: droplets were produced after a long jet,where the capillary number Ca varies from 0.01 to 0.025. The numerical results indicated the collection channeldiameter plays potential role in the determination of droplet size and droplet generation frequency, the shearforces excreted by the continuous phase on the dispersed thread are reduced in the wider model leading to havedroplets much bigger than the narrow model, the latter produced small droplets due the high shear stressgenerated in the confinement region. Furthermore, the droplet frequency and size are found to be stronglydependent on the capillary velocity ratio. However, increasing the flow velocity ratio in both models leadsdroplets to be generated in high frequency, while the droplet length was decreasing. This work also demonstratesthat the VOF method is an effective way to simulate the droplets breakup in trapped channel geometry. Voir les détails
Mots clés : T. Chekifi
DAMAGE MODELLING IN THERMOPLASTIC LAMINATES REINFORCED WITH STEEL AND GLASS FIBRES UNDER QUASI-STATIC INDENTATION LOADING AT LOW-VELOCITY
This paper deals with experimental and numerical investigations of the composites damages with ductile and fragile reinforcement under quasi-static indentation loading. The main goal of the work is to increase the postdamage residual strength and ductility of thermoplastic composite. Two types of composite laminates with polypropylene (PP) matrix are tested: glass fibre laminate (GFPP) and steel fine wire mesh laminate (SWPP). The specimens are [0° 90°]2s stacking sequence and prepared by using a compression moulding technique. Quasi-static indentation tests were performed with two distinct penetration scales under low velocity (1.2 mm/min). The diameter of the hemispherical indenter is 16 mm. The failure mechanisms of composite layers were examined by the field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results show that the failure mode of SWPP laminates is principally dominated by the plastic deformation component. In contrast, the GFPP laminate exhibits a fragile behaviour which is related to the fragile failure of glass fibres. In addition, the SEM shows that matrix cracking, fibre breakage, debonding and fibre pull out are the major damages observed around the indentation area. A model based on the combined use of plasticity, damage and fracture, was developed and applied to simulate quasi-static indentation behaviour and predict the resulting damage. Voir les détails
Mots clés : Indentation, laminates, damage, modelling, thermoplastics, energy absorption
Identification of the elasto-viscoplastic parameters for a thermoplastic polymer by instrumented indentation
The indentation test is a simple, fast and reliable tool that allows the determination of the materials mechanical properties from experimental load-penetration curves using the inverse computation methods. Through this approach and using the Berkovich indenter, the creep and elasto-plastic properties of the polymers were estimated. Simulations of the elasto-viscoplastic behaviour of the studied polymers under nanoindentation tests were performed. A finite element analysis was carried out to simulate the mechanical behaviour of polymers which can be defined by the Young's modulus E and the parameters (K and n) that describe the materials hardening for large deformations. The obtained functions from the numerical simulations were validated by nanoindentation and compression tests for the studied polymers. Voir les détails
Mots clés : Nano-indentation, polymers, inverse computation methods