Key Engineering Materials Vol. 827

Abstract: Carbon Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastics (CFRTP) are expected to be applied to the automotive industry instead of CFRP which require curing time, due to the expected short production cycle time of CFRTP, which is using thermoplastic as a matrix. We reported that the grafting of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the carbon fibre improves the fibre matrix interfacial shear strength. In our process to graft CNTs on carbon fibre, chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method was used and Ni, which was used as the catalyst, was electrically plated onto carbon fibres. Since commercially available carbon fibre was sized, which may affect the plating behaviour of Ni, the effects of sizing agents on CNT deposition have to be clarified. In this study, Ni for catalytic metal was plated by electrolytic plating using a watt bath on spread PAN-based carbon fibre and unsized carbon fibre, and the influence of the sizing agent to the distribution of Ni was evaluated. The morphological observation of carbon fibre and single fibre pull-out test were conducted to clarify the influence of sizing agent on the CNT deposition and the interfacial shear strength between the CNT grafted carbon fibre and Polyamide 6 (PA6). Uniform distribution of small sized Ni particles can be obtained on unsized carbon fibre and uniform Ni particles results in uniform CNT distribution. The CNT grafted unsized carbon fibre showed higher interfacial shear strength with PA6 than that of sized carbon fibre.

Abstract: Carbon nanotube (CNT) is excellent in mechanical and thermal characteristics, and are expected to be used in various fields such as nanoelectronic devices and reinforcing nanofillers for composites. It is expected that mechanical properties can be improved by adding CNT into the polymer. However, since CNT exists in a state of aggregation due to van der Waals forces, it is necessary to uniformly disperse CNT in order to fully extract the properties of CNT. In this study, CNT/polyamide 6 (PA6) composite nanofibres were fabricated by the electrospinning method. In order to disperse CNT in the CNT/PA6 nanofibres, CNT were subjected to air oxidation treatment. As a result of evaluating the dispersibility of CNT by sedimentation test, the dispersibility in pure water and HFIP is improved by oxidizing the surface of CNT. By conducting tensile tests and SEM observation of the nanofibre non-woven fabric, the influence of the surface treatment on the tensile strength of CNT/PA6 nanofibres and the dispersion of CNT was clarified. Although the addition of untreated CNT to PA6 nanofibres reduces the displacement at break, air oxidized CNT/PA6 suppressed the formation of CNT aggregates, and showed higher tensile strength and larger displacement at break than untreated CNT/PA6.

Abstract: Nanofibers have high cell affinity due to their fine structure and surface roughness, and are expected to be used as biomaterials. In particular, magnetic nanofibers containing magnetic particles are expected to be used for magnetically induced drug delivery systems and hyperthermia. However, due to the aggregation of the magnetic particles contained in the nanofibers, there is a problem that the aggregation location becomes a starting point of fracture and causes a decrease in tensile strength. In this study, to improve the dispersibility of magnetic particles in Magnetite/PLA nanofiber nonwoven fabrics for suppressing the decrease in tensile strength, magnetite is subjected to surface treatment with oleic acid or stearic acid and ultrasonic agitation. Magnetite/PLA nanofiber nonwoven fabric was prepared by the electrospinning method, and dispersion of magnetite in PLA nanofiber nonwoven fabric and tensile strength were evaluated. Magnetite dispersion was improved by the surface treatment and increasing the ultrasonic agitation time. In particular, by performing the stearic acid treatment and prolonging the ultrasonic agitation time, the magnetite dispersion tended to be improved. This treated Magnetite/PLA nanofiber nonwoven fabric showed higher tensile strength.

Abstract: This paper presents a finite element analysis of a pre-cracked freestanding gold thin film subjected to bulge test. These tests were conducted in order to determine the elasto-plastic properties and fracture toughness of the gold films. For the experimental tests, a pre-crack was introduced in the center of the film by focused ion beam (FIB) milling with a length of 10 and a width of 100nm. For the numerical fracture analysis, the problem was divided into two stages; the first stage was the development of the numerical model on the whole film without pre-crack (elasto-plastic analysis) and the second one was performed on a film portion that included the pre-crack (sub-modeling stage). Three different notches (rounded, sharp and V-sharp) were applied to calculate the stress intensity factor around the crack tip using path independent J-integral. The obtained results show that the load-deflection curves for non-cracked and pre-cracked film reproduced the experiments using the calculated elasto-plastic properties. This indicates that the proposed models presented a good correlation and robustness. Additionally, fracture toughness values were calculated between 0.288 and 0.303with J-integral values 1.037 J/m² (elastic) and 1.136 J/m² (elasto-plastic) which correspond with other calculations available in the literature.

Abstract: Multi-parameter fracture mechanics concept has been applied to investigate crack behavior under mixed-mode loading, particularly in a semi-circular bending disc. The so-called Williams’ series expansion is used for the crack-tip stress field approximation. It has been shown that application of the generalized fracture mechanics concept can be crucial for materials with specific fracture behavior, such as elastic-plastic or quasi-brittle one, when fracture occurs not only in the very vicinity of the crack tip, but also in a more distant surrounding. Then, considering the higher-order terms of the Williams’ expansion in fracture criteria can be helpful. The attention is devoted to the analysis of the influence of various distances between the supports during the three-point bending test on the results of the further crack propagation direction.

Abstract: The need to improve the surface properties of materials, has led to the development of parts coated with hard materials deposited on substrates. In this work, by using the finite element method the AA Aluminium 6063 T6 hardness with an error less of the 5 % of the Brinell hardness (HBN), in comparison with the experimental data supplied, was determined. For this, the modelling of a spherical indentation test was carried out, in which the indentation loads and the projected contact radius are obtained from several potential adjustments. Then, using the Lessage-Pertúz model the hardness of the Ni-P coating was determined, obtaining a value of 4.86 GPa.

Abstract: Stress-controlled fatigue tests were conducted on round-bar specimens to understand the fatigue behavior of precipitate-strengthened Cu–6Ni–1.5Si alloy. The cracks were initiated at the grain boundaries, followed by growth along the crystallographic slip planes in the adjacent grains. The crack growth data of plain specimens exhibited a large scatter, resulting in a difficulty of the measurement of crack growth rate. To evaluate the small-crack growth rate of the alloy, the plain specimens with a small blind hole as the crack starter were fatigued. The crack growth rate of small cracks from the hole was uniquely determined by a term σ_a ⁿl and the material constant, n, was 5.3. The term σ_a ⁿl with n = 5.3 was applied to the plain specimen, showing good applicability of the term to small cracks in the plain specimen.

Abstract: The contribution deals with modelling and prediction of failure of mechanically loaded open cell ceramic foam structures by using 3D volume FE models constructed from CT scans of real foam specimens. The condition for crack initiation in particular struts comes from the coupled stress-energy criterion which combines two fracture-mechanics parameters of the investigated material – tensile strength and its fracture toughness. By combining of both stress and energy condition one obtains information about the crack initiation length which is later used (together with the tensile strength) for determination of the strut failure in the complex 3D FE model of the ceramic foam structure. The crack onset is considered in the critical location at the moment when the (tensile) principal stress under the strut surface (in a depth corresponding to the crack initiation length) exceeded the tensile strength of the strut. Such approach enables us to define failure also on relatively coarse meshes of the FE models where potential stress concentrations are not described precisely and therefore it is not possible to decide about the failure just based upon the value of tensile stress on the strut surface.

Abstract: The Brazilian disc test with central notch is widely used to evaluate mixed mode I/II fracture resistance of brittle materials such as rocks and concrete. An analytical evaluation is used based on the maximum tangential stress (MTS) criterion and the generalised maximum tangential stress (GMTS) criterion. In this contribution two concrete types, a C 50/60 and a high strength concrete, were compared using the GMTS criterion. Also, the influence of critical distance r_C on the fracture resistance under the mixed mode I/II was studied.

Abstract: In present paper the effect of inclusions with irregular shapes on the elastic material properties of two-phase composites is studied. The irregular shapes of the real inclusions were approximated using smooth three-dimensional structures. For this needs the images of the microscopic particles were numerically approximated through smooth structures using methods of the computer algebra and were used for the following FE studies. The reference elements with typical inclusions with irregular shapes were determined and used for calculation of the effective material properties.