This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students. 

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Description
Interstitial impurity atoms can significantly alter the chemical and physical properties of the host material. Oxygen impurity in HCP titanium is known to have a considerable strengthening effect mainly through interactions with dislocations. To better understand such an effect, first the role of oxygen on various slip planes in titanium

Interstitial impurity atoms can significantly alter the chemical and physical properties of the host material. Oxygen impurity in HCP titanium is known to have a considerable strengthening effect mainly through interactions with dislocations. To better understand such an effect, first the role of oxygen on various slip planes in titanium is examined using generalized stacking fault energies (GSFE) computed by the first principles calculations. It is shown that oxygen can significantly increase the energy barrier to dislocation motion on most of the studied slip planes. Then the Peierls-Nabbaro model is utilized in conjunction with the GSFE to estimate the Peierls stress ratios for different slip systems. Using such information along with a set of tension and compression experiments, the parameters of a continuum scale crystal plasticity model, namely CRSS values, are calibrated. Effect of oxygen content on the macroscopic stress-strain response is further investigated through experiments on oxygen-boosted samples at room temperature. It is demonstrated that the crystal plasticity model can very well capture the effect of oxygen content on the global response of the samples. It is also revealed that oxygen promotes the slip activity on the pyramidal planes.

The effect of oxygen impurity on titanium is further investigated under high cycle fatigue loading. For that purpose, a two-step hierarchical crystal plasticity for fatigue predictions is presented. Fatigue indicator parameter is used as the main driving force in an energy-based crack nucleation model. To calculate the FIPs, high-resolution full-field crystal plasticity simulations are carried out using a spectral solver. A nucleation model is proposed and calibrated by the fatigue experimental data for notched titanium samples with different oxygen contents and under two load ratios. Overall, it is shown that the presented approach is capable of predicting the high cycle fatigue nucleation time. Moreover, qualitative predictions of microstructurally small crack growth rates are provided. The multi-scale methodology presented here can be extended to other material systems to facilitate a better understanding of the fundamental deformation mechanisms, and to effectively implement such knowledge in mesoscale-macroscale investigations.
ContributorsGholami Bazehhour, Benyamin (Author) / Solanki, Kiran N (Thesis advisor) / Liu, Yongming (Committee member) / Oswald, Jay J (Committee member) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Committee member) / Jiao, Yang (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
Dissimilar metal joints such as aluminum-steel joints are extensively used in automobile, naval and aerospace applications and these are subjected to corrosive environmental and mechanical loading resulting in eventual failure of the structural joints. In the case of aluminum alloys under aggressive environment, the damage accumulation is predominantly due to

Dissimilar metal joints such as aluminum-steel joints are extensively used in automobile, naval and aerospace applications and these are subjected to corrosive environmental and mechanical loading resulting in eventual failure of the structural joints. In the case of aluminum alloys under aggressive environment, the damage accumulation is predominantly due to corrosion and is accelerated in presence of other metals. During recent years several approaches have been employed to develop models to assess the metal removal rate in the case of galvanic corrosion. Some of these models are based on empirical methods such as regression analysis while others are based on quantification of the ongoing electrochemical processes. Here, a numerical model for solving the Nernst- Planck equation, which captures the electrochemical process, is implemented to predict the galvanic current distribution and, hence, the corrosion rate of a galvanic couple. An experimentally validated numerical model for an AE44 (Magnesium alloy) and mild steel galvanic couple, available in the literature, is extended to simulate the mechano- electrochemical process in order to study the effect of mechanical loading on the galvanic current density distribution and corrosion rate in AE44-mild steel galvanic couple through a multiphysics field coupling technique in COMSOL Multiphysics®. The model is capable of tracking moving boundariesy of the corroding constituent of the couple by employing Arbitrary Langrangian Eulerian (ALE) method.Results show that, when an anode is under a purely elastic deformation, there is no apparent effect of mechanical loading on the electrochemical galvanic process. However, when the applied tensile load is sufficient to cause a plastic deformation, the local galvanic corrosion activity at the vicinity of the interface is increased remarkably. The effect of other factors, such as electrode area ratios, electrical conductivity of the electrolyte and depth of the electrolyte, are studied. It is observed that the conductivity of the electrolyte significantly influences the surface profile of the anode, especially near the junction. Although variations in electrolyte depth for a given galvanic couple noticeably affect the overall corrosion, the change in the localized corrosion rate at the interface is minimal. Finally, we use the model to predict the current density distribution, rate of corrosion and depth profile of aluminum alloy 7075-stainless steel 316 galvanic joints, which are extensively used in maritime structures.
ContributorsMuthegowda, Nitin Chandra (Author) / Solanki, Kiran N (Thesis advisor) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Committee member) / Jiao, Yang (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
Niobium is the primary material for fabricating superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities. However, presence of impurities and defects degrade the superconducting behavior of niobium twofold, first by nucleating non-superconducting phases and second by increasing the residual surface resistance of cavities. In particular, niobium absorbs hydrogen during cavity fabrication and promotes precipitation

Niobium is the primary material for fabricating superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities. However, presence of impurities and defects degrade the superconducting behavior of niobium twofold, first by nucleating non-superconducting phases and second by increasing the residual surface resistance of cavities. In particular, niobium absorbs hydrogen during cavity fabrication and promotes precipitation of non-superconducting niobium hydride phases. Additionally, magnetic flux trapping at defects leads to a normal conducting (non-superconducting) core which increases surface resistance and negatively affects niobium performance for superconducting applications. However, undelaying mechanisms related to hydride formation and dissolution along with defect interaction with magnetic fields is still unclear. Therefore, this dissertation aims to investigate the role of defects and impurities on functional properties of niobium for SRF cavities using first-principles methods.

Here, density functional theory calculations revealed that nitrogen addition suppressed hydrogen absorption interstitially and at grain boundaries, and it also decreased the energetic stability of niobium hydride precipitates present in niobium. Further, hydrogen segregation at the screw dislocation was observed to transform the dislocation core structure and increase the barrier for screw dislocation motion. Valence charge transfer calculations displayed a strong tendency of nitrogen to accumulate charge around itself, thereby decreasing the strength of covalent bonds between niobium and hydrogen leading to a very unstable state for interstitial hydrogen and hydrides. Thus, presence of nitrogen during processing plays a critical role in controlling hydride precipitation and subsequent SRF properties.

First-principles methods were further implemented to gain a theoretical perspective about the experimental observations that lattice defects are effective at trapping magnetic flux in high-purity superconducting niobium. Full-potential linear augmented plane-wave methods were used to analyze the effects of magnetic field on the superconducting state surrounding these defects. A considerable amount of trapped flux was obtained at the dislocation core and grain boundaries which can be attributed to significantly different electronic structure of defects as compared to bulk niobium. Electron redistribution at defects enhances non-paramagnetic effects that perturb superconductivity, resulting in local conditions suitable for flux trapping. Therefore, controlling accumulation or depletion of charge at the defects could mitigate these tendencies and aid in improving superconductive behavior of niobium.
ContributorsGarg, Pulkit (Author) / Solanki, Kiran N (Thesis advisor) / Jiao, Yang (Committee member) / Oswald, Jay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019