S. Baragetti¹, F. Tordini²

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.3, No.3, pp. 165-176, 2007, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2007.003.165

Abstract The effect of a TiN PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) coating on the fatigue behaviour of the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V was investigated. Fatigue tests were performed on coated and uncoated, both smooth and 120° V-notched, specimens in order to evaluate the influence of the coating on the substrate fatigue resistance. Numerical analyses were carried out in order to determine the stress distributions below the specimen surface and on the coating. Several coating elastic moduli were used in such calculations. The residual stress gradient induced by the coating process deposition and the substrate plasticization were also taken More >

Jean-Jacques Sinou¹

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.3, No.3, pp. 133-164, 2007, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2007.003.133

Abstract This paper aims to establish a damage identification methodology, called the Frequencies' Ratio Surfaces Intersection method (FRSI-method), for predicting not only the location and depth of the crack but also the crack orientation in a circular cross section beam. Two new criterions %Δ_i^cracked and %ψ_i,j^cracked that consider only the ratio of the natural frequencies of the cracked beam are introduced and discussed in order to detect the crack parameters. In order to avoid worse diagnostic, it is demonstrated that a robust identification of crack location is possible by investigating the emergence of extra antiresonance peaks… More >

S.P.L. Leme¹, M.H. Aliabadi², L.M. Bezerra¹, P.W. Partridge¹

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.3, No.3, pp. 121-132, 2007, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2007.003.121

Abstract The coupled electromechanical behaviour of a thin piezoceramic sensor bonded to a stiffened panel subjected to membrane mechanical loadings is examined. The sensor is characterised by an electrostatic line model bonded to a damaged panel modelled by the dual boundary element method. Numerical results obtained demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of modelling changes in the signal output due to presence of cracks. Also presented is a numerical model for detecting fatigue crack growth in a stiffened panel using piezoceramic sensors. More >

P.H. Wen¹, M.H. Aliabadi²

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.3, No.2, pp. 107-120, 2007, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2007.003.107

Abstract In the last decade, meshless methods for solving differential equations have become a promising alternative to the finite element and boundary element methods. Based on the variation of potential energy, the element-free Galerkin method is developed on the basis of finite element method by the use of radial basis function interpolation. An enriched radial basis function is formulated to capture the stress singularity at the crack tip. The usual advantages of finite element method are retained in this method but now significant improvement of accuracy. Neither the connectivity of mesh in the domain by the More >

Ralf G. Cuntze¹

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.3, No.2, pp. 87-106, 2007, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2007.003.087

Abstract The paper deals with the application of phenomenological, invariant-based strength conditions (fracture failure) and their interrelationships. The conditions have been generated and are just applied here for a variety of materials. These might possess a dense or a porous consistency, and belong to brittle and ductile behaving isotropic materials, brittle unidirectional laminae and brittle woven fabrics. The derivation of the conditions was based on the author's so-called Failure Mode Concept (FMC) which basically builds up on the hypotheses of Beltrami and Mohr-Coulomb.
Essential topics of the paper are: 'global fitting' versus 'failure mode fitting', a short… More >

J. Mohan¹, D. Carolan¹, N. Murphy¹, A. Ivankovic¹, D. Dowling¹

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.3, No.2, pp. 81-86, 2007, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2007.003.081

Abstract The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of a variety of plasma treatments on the surface properties of an epoxy-based composite material and to establish a relationship between these properties and the subsequent mechanical behaviour of adhesively bonded joints. To this end, specimens were subjected to three different types of plasma treatment: two short treatments (2min) of He and He plus O₂, and one long treatment (15min) of He plus O₂. The variation in surface energy of the composite specimens was examined in each case over a period of up to 3 days… More >

W. Brocks¹, I. Scheider¹

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.3, No.2, pp. 69-80, 2007, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2007.003.069

Abstract Cohesive models are used for numerical crack extension analyses in order to predict the mechanical behavior of structures in cases of crack path bifurcation. Possible applications range from the macroscopic to the microscopic scale. As an example of applications to macroscopic engineering structures, simulations of a stiffened cylindrical shell under internal pressure are presented, where a skin crack may penetrate the rib or deviate. On the micro-scale, unit-cell calculation for a fiber-reinforced material is performed, where the fiber may debond or break. More >

Kamran Nikbin¹

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.3, No.1, pp. 51-68, 2007, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2007.003.051

Abstract Weldments and welded regions of components are likely to see failure at elevated temperatures earlier than homogenous parent material. In some cases variable loading could also introduce creep/fatigue crack growth. These weld regions not only contain variable creep properties but are likely to contain residual stresses which could relax in time. There are three key factors which may determine a successful outcome for remaining life assessment of engineering components containing residual stresses in the vicinity of welds. The first is standardized testing and measurement procedures. The second is the development of appropriate and accurate correlating… More >

M. Kumosa¹

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.3, No.1, pp. 35-50, 2007, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2007.003.035

Abstract This paper deals with the structural integrity and durability of suspension composite (non-ceramic, polymer) insulators widely used in power transmission systems around the world. Under certain conditions, the insulators can fail in-service both electrically and mechanically resulting in the drop of energized transmission lines and power outages. In this work, predominantly mechanical failures of the insulators are discussed. In particular, the most important characteristics of a catastrophic failure process called brittle fracture are described. Subsequently, two examples of insulator failures by brittle fracture are shown and their causes explained. Finally, several recommendations on how to More >

C.P. Providakis¹

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.3, No.1, pp. 29-34, 2007, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2007.003.029

Abstract Actuators are structures that give micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) the ability to interact with their environment rather than just passively sensing it. Recent studies of MEMS thermal micro-actuators have shown that simple in design and production devices can provide deflection of the order of 10 μm at low voltages. Recently, metals and single-crystal silicon materials were included in the range of materials used for thermal actuators since they operate at lower temperatures than the commonly used (poly)silicon devices. These actuators are liable to meet the loads in service, so the corresponding integrity and stability analysis constitutes a… More >