Matching Items (8)
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- All Subjects: Aerospace Engineering
- Creators: Dai, Lenore
Description
Although high performance, light-weight composites are increasingly being used in applications ranging from aircraft, rotorcraft, weapon systems and ground vehicles, the assurance of structural reliability remains a critical issue. In composites, damage is absorbed through various fracture processes, including fiber failure, matrix cracking and delamination. An important element in achieving reliable composite systems is a strong capability of assessing and inspecting physical damage of critical structural components. Installation of a robust Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system would be very valuable in detecting the onset of composite failure. A number of major issues still require serious attention in connection with the research and development aspects of sensor-integrated reliable SHM systems for composite structures. In particular, the sensitivity of currently available sensor systems does not allow detection of micro level damage; this limits the capability of data driven SHM systems. As a fundamental layer in SHM, modeling can provide in-depth information on material and structural behavior for sensing and detection, as well as data for learning algorithms. This dissertation focusses on the development of a multiscale analysis framework, which is used to detect various forms of damage in complex composite structures. A generalized method of cells based micromechanics analysis, as implemented in NASA's MAC/GMC code, is used for the micro-level analysis. First, a baseline study of MAC/GMC is performed to determine the governing failure theories that best capture the damage progression. The deficiencies associated with various layups and loading conditions are addressed. In most micromechanics analysis, a representative unit cell (RUC) with a common fiber packing arrangement is used. The effect of variation in this arrangement within the RUC has been studied and results indicate this variation influences the macro-scale effective material properties and failure stresses. The developed model has been used to simulate impact damage in a composite beam and an airfoil structure. The model data was verified through active interrogation using piezoelectric sensors. The multiscale model was further extended to develop a coupled damage and wave attenuation model, which was used to study different damage states such as fiber-matrix debonding in composite structures with surface bonded piezoelectric sensors.
ContributorsMoncada, Albert (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Rajadas, John (Committee member) / Yekani Fard, Masoud (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This research focuses on the benefits of using nanocomposites in aerospace structural components to prevent or delay the onset of unique composite failure modes, such as delamination. Analytical, numerical, and experimental analyses were conducted to provide a comprehensive understanding of how carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can provide additional structural integrity when they are used in specific hot spots within a structure. A multiscale approach was implemented to determine the mechanical and thermal properties of the nanocomposites, which were used in detailed finite element models (FEMs) to analyze interlaminar failures in T and Hat section stringers. The delamination that first occurs between the tow filler and the bondline between the stringer and skin was of particular interest. Both locations are considered to be hot spots in such structural components, and failures tend to initiate from these areas. In this research, nanocomposite use was investigated as an alternative to traditional methods of suppressing delamination. The stringer was analyzed under different loading conditions and assuming different structural defects. Initial damage, defined as the first drop in the load displacement curve was considered to be a useful variable to compare the different behaviors in this study and was detected via the virtual crack closure technique (VCCT) implemented in the FE analysis.
Experiments were conducted to test T section skin/stringer specimens under pull-off loading, replicating those used in composite panels as stiffeners. Two types of designs were considered: one using pure epoxy to fill the tow region and another that used nanocomposite with 5 wt. % CNTs. The response variable in the tests was the initial damage. Detailed analyses were conducted using FEMs to correlate with the experimental data. The correlation between both the experiment and model was satisfactory. Finally, the effects of thermal cure and temperature variation on nanocomposite structure behavior were studied, and both variables were determined to influence the nanocomposite structure performance.
Experiments were conducted to test T section skin/stringer specimens under pull-off loading, replicating those used in composite panels as stiffeners. Two types of designs were considered: one using pure epoxy to fill the tow region and another that used nanocomposite with 5 wt. % CNTs. The response variable in the tests was the initial damage. Detailed analyses were conducted using FEMs to correlate with the experimental data. The correlation between both the experiment and model was satisfactory. Finally, the effects of thermal cure and temperature variation on nanocomposite structure behavior were studied, and both variables were determined to influence the nanocomposite structure performance.
ContributorsHasan, Zeaid (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Jiang, Hanqing (Committee member) / Rajadas, John (Committee member) / Liu, Yongming (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Current economic conditions necessitate the extension of service lives for a variety of aerospace systems. As a result, there is an increased need for structural health management (SHM) systems to increase safety, extend life, reduce maintenance costs, and minimize downtime, lowering life cycle costs for these aging systems. The implementation of such a system requires a collaborative research effort in a variety of areas such as novel sensing techniques, robust algorithms for damage interrogation, high fidelity probabilistic progressive damage models, and hybrid residual life estimation models. This dissertation focuses on the sensing and damage estimation aspects of this multidisciplinary topic for application in metallic and composite material systems. The primary means of interrogating a structure in this work is through the use of Lamb wave propagation which works well for the thin structures used in aerospace applications. Piezoelectric transducers (PZTs) were selected for this application since they can be used as both sensors and actuators of guided waves. Placement of these transducers is an important issue in wave based approaches as Lamb waves are sensitive to changes in material properties, geometry, and boundary conditions which may obscure the presence of damage if they are not taken into account during sensor placement. The placement scheme proposed in this dissertation arranges piezoelectric transducers in a pitch-catch mode so the entire structure can be covered using a minimum number of sensors. The stress distribution of the structure is also considered so PZTs are placed in regions where they do not fail before the host structure. In order to process the data from these transducers, advanced signal processing techniques are employed to detect the presence of damage in complex structures. To provide a better estimate of the damage for accurate life estimation, machine learning techniques are used to classify the type of damage in the structure. A data structure analysis approach is used to reduce the amount of data collected and increase computational efficiency. In the case of low velocity impact damage, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors were used with a nonlinear regression tool to reconstruct the loading at the impact site.
ContributorsCoelho, Clyde (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Wu, Tong (Committee member) / Das, Santanu (Committee member) / Rajadas, John (Committee member) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Materials with unprecedented properties are necessary to make dramatic changes in current and future aerospace platforms. Hybrid materials and composites are increasingly being used in aircraft and spacecraft frames; however, future platforms will require an optimal design of novel materials that enable operation in a variety of environments and produce known/predicted damage mechanisms. Nanocomposites and nanoengineered composites with CNTs have the potential to make significant improvements in strength, stiffness, fracture toughness, flame retardancy and resistance to corrosion. Therefore, these materials have generated tremendous scientific and technical interest over the past decade and various architectures are being explored for applications to light-weight airframe structures. However, the success of such materials with significantly improved performance metrics requires careful control of the parameters during synthesis and processing. Their implementation is also limited due to the lack of complete understanding of the effects the nanoparticles impart to the bulk properties of composites. It is common for computational methods to be applied to explain phenomena measured or observed experimentally. Frequently, a given phenomenon or material property is only considered to be fully understood when the associated physics has been identified through accompanying calculations or simulations.
The computationally and experimentally integrated research presented in this dissertation provides improved understanding of the mechanical behavior and response including damage and failure in CNT nanocomposites, enhancing confidence in their applications. The computations at the atomistic level helps to understand the underlying mechanochemistry and allow a systematic investigation of the complex CNT architectures and the material performance across a wide range of parameters. Simulation of the bond breakage phenomena and development of the interface to continuum scale damage captures the effects of applied loading and damage precursor and provides insight into the safety of nanoengineered composites under service loads. The validated modeling methodology is expected to be a step in the direction of computationally-assisted design and certification of novel materials, thus liberating the pace of their implementation in future applications.
The computationally and experimentally integrated research presented in this dissertation provides improved understanding of the mechanical behavior and response including damage and failure in CNT nanocomposites, enhancing confidence in their applications. The computations at the atomistic level helps to understand the underlying mechanochemistry and allow a systematic investigation of the complex CNT architectures and the material performance across a wide range of parameters. Simulation of the bond breakage phenomena and development of the interface to continuum scale damage captures the effects of applied loading and damage precursor and provides insight into the safety of nanoengineered composites under service loads. The validated modeling methodology is expected to be a step in the direction of computationally-assisted design and certification of novel materials, thus liberating the pace of their implementation in future applications.
ContributorsSubramanian, Nithya (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Jiao, Yang (Committee member) / Liu, Yongming (Committee member) / Rajadas, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
With the maturity of advanced composites as feasible structural materials for various applications there is a critical need to solve the challenge of designing these material systems for optimal performance. However, determining superior design methods requires a deep understanding of the material-structure properties at various length scales. Due to the length-scale dependent behavior of advanced composites, multiscale modeling techniques may be used to describe the dominant mechanisms of damage and failure in these material systems. With polymer matrix fiber composites and nanocomposites it becomes essential to include even the atomic length scale, where the resin-hardener-nanofiller molecules interact, in the multiscale modeling framework. Additionally, sources of variability are also critical to be included in these models due to the important role of uncertainty in advance composite behavior. Such a methodology should be able to describe length scale dependent mechanisms in a computationally efficient manner for the analysis of practical composite structures.
In the research presented in this dissertation, a comprehensive nano to macro multiscale framework is developed for the mechanical and multifunctional analysis of advanced composite materials and structures. An atomistically informed statistical multiscale model is developed for linear problems, to estimate and scale elastic properties of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRPs) and carbon nanotube (CNT) enhanced CFRPs using information from molecular dynamics simulation of the resin-hardener-nanofiller nanoscale system. For modeling inelastic processes, an atomistically informed coupled damage-plasticity model is developed using the framework of continuum damage mechanics, where fundamental nanoscale covalent bond disassociation information is scaled up as a continuum scale damage identifying parameter. This damage model is coupled with a nanocomposite microstructure generation algorithm to study the sub-microscale damage mechanisms in CNT/CFRP microstructures. It is further integrated in a generalized method of cells (GMC) micromechanics model to create a low-fidelity computationally efficient nonlinear multiscale method with imperfect interfaces between the fiber and matrix, where the interface behavior is adopted from nanoscale MD simulations. This algorithm is used to understand damage mechanisms in adhesively bonded composite joints as a case study for the comprehensive nano to macroscale structural analysis of practical composites structures. At each length scale sources of variability are identified, characterized, and included in the multiscale modeling framework.
In the research presented in this dissertation, a comprehensive nano to macro multiscale framework is developed for the mechanical and multifunctional analysis of advanced composite materials and structures. An atomistically informed statistical multiscale model is developed for linear problems, to estimate and scale elastic properties of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRPs) and carbon nanotube (CNT) enhanced CFRPs using information from molecular dynamics simulation of the resin-hardener-nanofiller nanoscale system. For modeling inelastic processes, an atomistically informed coupled damage-plasticity model is developed using the framework of continuum damage mechanics, where fundamental nanoscale covalent bond disassociation information is scaled up as a continuum scale damage identifying parameter. This damage model is coupled with a nanocomposite microstructure generation algorithm to study the sub-microscale damage mechanisms in CNT/CFRP microstructures. It is further integrated in a generalized method of cells (GMC) micromechanics model to create a low-fidelity computationally efficient nonlinear multiscale method with imperfect interfaces between the fiber and matrix, where the interface behavior is adopted from nanoscale MD simulations. This algorithm is used to understand damage mechanisms in adhesively bonded composite joints as a case study for the comprehensive nano to macroscale structural analysis of practical composites structures. At each length scale sources of variability are identified, characterized, and included in the multiscale modeling framework.
ContributorsRai, Ashwin (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Jiang, Hanqing (Committee member) / Rajadas, John (Committee member) / Fard, Masoud Yekani (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
In recent years, a new type of ionic salt based solid propellant, considered inert until the application of an electric current induces an electro-chemical reaction, has been under investigation due to its broad range of possible uses. However, while many electric propellant formulations and applications have been explored over the years, a fundamental understanding of the operational mechanisms of this propellant is necessary in order to move forward with development and implementation of this technology. It has been suggested that the metallic additive included in the formulation studied during this investigation may be playing an additional, currently unknown role in the operation and performance of the propellant. This study was designed to examine variations of an electric propellant formulation with the purpose of investigating propellant bulk volume electrical resistivity in order to attempt to determine information regarding the fundamental science behind the operation of this material. Within a set of fractional factorial experiments, variations of the propellant material made with tungsten, copper, carbon black, and no additive were manufactured using three different particle size ranges and three different volume percentage particle loadings. Each of these formulations (a total of 21 samples and 189 specimens) were tested for quantitative electrical resistivity values at three different pulse generator input voltage values. The data gathered from these experiments suggests that this electric propellant formulation’s resistivity value does change based upon the included additive. The resulting data has also revealed a parabolic response behavior noticeable in the 2D and 3D additive loading percentage versus additive particle size visualizations, the lowest point of which, occurring at an approximately 2.3% additive loading percentage value, could be indicative of the effects of the percolation phenomena on this material. Finally, the investigation results have been loosely correlated to power consumption testing results from previous work that may indicate that it is possible to relate propellant electrical resistivity and operating requirements. Throughout this study, however, it is obvious based on the data gathered that more information is required to be certain of these conclusions and in order to fully understand how this technology can be controlled for future use.
ContributorsBrunacini, Lauren (Author) / Middleton, James (Thesis advisor) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Langhenry, Mark T (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Iodide-based ionic liquids have been widely employed as sources of iodide in electrolytes for applications utilizing the triiodide/iodide redox couple. While adding a low-viscosity solvent such as water to ionic liquids can greatly enhance their usefulness, mixtures of highly viscous iodide-containing ILs with water have never been studied. Thus, this paper investigates, for the first time, mixtures of water and the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide ([BMIM][I]) through a combined experimental and molecular dynamics study. The density, melting point, viscosity and conductivity of these mixtures were measured experimentally. The composition region below 50% water by mole was found to be dramatically different from the region above 50% water, with trends in density and melting point differing before and after that point. Water was found to have a profound effect on viscosity and conductivity of the IL, and the effect of hydrogen bonding was discussed. Molecular dynamics simulations representing the same mixture compositions were performed. Molecular ordering was observed, as were changes in this ordering corresponding to water content. Molecular ordering was related to the experimentally measured mixture properties, providing a possible explanation for the two distinct composition regions identified by experiment.
ContributorsNgan, Miranda L (Author) / Dai, Lenore (Thesis director) / Nofen, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Stochastic multiscale modeling and statistical characterization of complex polymer matrix composites
Description
There are many applications for polymer matrix composite materials in a variety of different industries, but designing and modeling with these materials remains a challenge due to the intricate architecture and damage modes. Multiscale modeling techniques of composite structures subjected to complex loadings are needed in order to address the scale-dependent behavior and failure. The rate dependency and nonlinearity of polymer matrix composite materials further complicates the modeling. Additionally, variability in the material constituents plays an important role in the material behavior and damage. The systematic consideration of uncertainties is as important as having the appropriate structural model, especially during model validation where the total error between physical observation and model prediction must be characterized. It is necessary to quantify the effects of uncertainties at every length scale in order to fully understand their impact on the structural response. Material variability may include variations in fiber volume fraction, fiber dimensions, fiber waviness, pure resin pockets, and void distributions. Therefore, a stochastic modeling framework with scale dependent constitutive laws and an appropriate failure theory is required to simulate the behavior and failure of polymer matrix composite structures subjected to complex loadings. Additionally, the variations in environmental conditions for aerospace applications and the effect of these conditions on the polymer matrix composite material need to be considered. The research presented in this dissertation provides the framework for stochastic multiscale modeling of composites and the characterization data needed to determine the effect of different environmental conditions on the material properties. The developed models extend sectional micromechanics techniques by incorporating 3D progressive damage theories and multiscale failure criteria. The mechanical testing of composites under various environmental conditions demonstrates the degrading effect these conditions have on the elastic and failure properties of the material. The methodologies presented in this research represent substantial progress toward understanding the failure and effect of variability for complex polymer matrix composites.
ContributorsJohnston, Joel Philip (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Liu, Yongming (Committee member) / Jiang, Hanqing (Committee member) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Rajadas, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016