Continuous measurement of material damping during fatigue tests

An experimental procedure for continuously measuring strain level, temperature, and energy-dissipation rate during resonant fatigue tests is described. The technique is based on a previous method for measuring loss factor (Ref. 3) using base-excited cantilever-beam specimens vibrating at resonance. The amplitude and frequency dependence of loss factor is therefore included directly in the measurement. For beams vibrating in vacuum, energy-dissipation rate and temperature measurements provide a basis for irreversible thermodynamic analysis of fatigue. This procedure provides a continuous measurement of energy-dissipation rate during fatigue-crack nucleation, and is the basis for experimental study of the hypothesis that the entropy gained during fatigue failure is a material constant.     

A technique for cyclic-plastic notch-strain measurement

The interferometric strain/displacement gage was used to measure local strains of approximately ± 1 percent strain near a central notch in specimens undergoing completely reversed loading. Two notch geometries were tested: a circular hole and a keyhole slot with theoretical stress-concentration factors of 3.1 and 5.9 respectively. Measurements were made at both room and elevated temperatures (149° and 260°C) on three materials having different cyclic properties. This paper describes the experimental techniques for making the notch-strain measurements. The results of this series of tests are used in evaluating Neuber's cyclic rule.     

A damping term based on material properties for the volume-based contact dynamics model

The Gonthier et al. volume-based contact dynamics model addressed many different phenomena that influence the force of contact between two objects. This work extends Gonthier et al.'s work by proposing an alternate damping model based on material properties. The normal contact force based on volumetric interference information is derived using principles of mechanics of materials. The volume of interference and its rate of change are shown to be analogues to the material deformation and deformation rate. Simulations of the free direct central impact between two identical spheres are run using the proposed model, the Hunt–Crossley model and the Gonthier et al. model; these are compared to experimental data from the literature. This is followed by a discussion of those models.     

Experimental material damping estimation for planar isotropic laminate structures

A three-dimensional material damping estimation methodology is proposed for planar isotropic material symmetry by using a constitutive viscoelastic vibration model. The proposed material model is verified, via finite-element techniques, on three laminate structures. The first one is a numerical test structure composed by stacked aluminium and plexiglas plates. In this case the effective three-dimensional planar isotropic material properties are given in terms of homogeneous material damping functions in connection with homogenised elastic laminate properties. Comparisons made between the results from the detailed (layer-wise) model of the laminate and the effective three-dimensional model show that the estimated homogenised model is reasonably accurate, in terms of predicted vibration responses. Finally, estimations of planar isotropic material damping are done for two practically interesting experimental structures, a carbon fibre–epoxy laminate structure and an aluminium laminate including a constrained viscoelastic layer damping treatment. In this context, it is found that the dominating damping mechanisms are different in these two cases. The dynamic homogenisation process, with damping included, is evaluated quantitatively in terms of predicted forced vibration response for the laminate structure, using effective planar isotropic frequency dependent material properties. The dynamic three-dimensional effective homogeneous material models, for these two cases, are found to be close to measurements in a frequency interval corresponding to the first 17 modes.     

A sandwich-transducer technique for measurement of internal dynamic stress

A technique for the measurement of internal dynamic stresses in rods is described and experimental results are presented. The technique utilized a piezoelectricquartz-crystal disk with a concentric guard ring scribed on each side through conductive plating. The transducer was sandwiched with epoxy adhesive in a Hopkinson-pressure-bar arrangement to compare its output from the center electrode area with surface-mounted strain gages. Preliminary tests showed good peak-stress agreement between the two and pulse shapes were also found to be identical. The effect of bonding on the piezoelectric constant was also investigated. This constant was found to be about 8 percent greater than the accepted value for alpha quartz. This difference was attributed to radial effects.     

A laser Doppler anemometry technique for Reynolds stresses measurement

A technique is described for the measurement of all components of mean velocity and Reynolds stresses, in a complex turbulent flow where achieving coincidence data acquisition is difficult. The method is based on data recorded using four orientations of the laser probe. It is shown that the measurement errors are not the same for all the components of the Reynolds tensor, but they are sufficiently small to give a good accuracy. An application to a turbomachinery flow is given to illustrate the method.     

A light attenuation technique for void fraction measurement of microbubbles

 A non-intrusive technique to measure the two-dimensional distribution of line averaged void fraction in a two-phase flow is discussed. A CCD camera is used to measure the attenuation of light as it passes through a bubbly flow, and this attenuation is related to the bubble concentration. The technique is appropriate for microbubbly flows where the bubble size is much smaller than the area imaged by a single pixel and where there are many bubbles attenuating light within each pixel. The measurement system is calibrated by using a two-dimensional line source microbubble plume as a reference. Revised: 30 March 2000/Accepted: 14 April 2000     

Effect of nonlinear material damping on whirling shafts

Summary This paper carefully investigates the precise role of internal damping on the whirling motion of an elastic shaft. Damping is introduced through a measured stress-strain law. The equations of motion are studied on an analog computer. It is shown that material damping tends to destabilize the motion.     

A novel measurement technique for the study of wire coating instabilities

A new non-intrusive investigation technique developed especially for the study of liquid film instabilities occurring in the wire coating process is presented. A laser-sheet-based probe assures high spatial resolution and high frequency response, along with robustness to wire movements and vibrations. Moreover, the calibration is easy and fast, since the calibration curve is linear. The post-processing procedure allows the detection and measurement of the most important wave characteristics, such as wavelength, wave amplitude, wave velocity, and amplification (damping) factor. Results obtained with this technique are compared with existing theories, showing good agreement. More than one wave is detected and it is found that short waves dominate at low entrainment speeds, whereas long waves dominate for high speeds, with a smooth transition from the former behavior to the latter. The trend of the amplification factor follows that predicted by the theory. Due to its simple implementation and automatic data analysis, this technique seems to be very promising, not only for research purposes, but also for industrial applications. Among those, the most straightforward would be in the control of the final surface properties during the wire coating process, in order to ensure the desired characteristics.     

A particle-image based wave profile measurement technique

Wave profile measurements are important for computing wave characteristics and for studying the aqueous boundary layer formed beneath surface waves. The measurement technique presented here made use of digital imagery and a detection algorithm referred to as the variable threshold method. The technique can measure wind generated waves as short as 10 pixels (1.44 mm) in wavelength. The average r.m.s. quantization error was found to be ±0.29 pixels (±0.04 mm) using simulated wave profiles and the average bias error was estimated to be 0.07 pixels (0.01 mm) from real still water profiles. The magnitude of all other types of random errors was estimated to be approximately ±0.64 pixels (±0.09 mm) using real wind wave profiles. A series of morphological operations, used to correct for non-uniform seed densities, improved the accuracy of the detected wave profiles by a factor of five. The variable threshold method detected real wind wave profiles 3.5 times more accurately than the standard constant threshold method and had total r.m.s. errors that ranged from ±0.7 (±0.1 mm) to ±1.1 (±0.16 mm) pixels.     

Experimental investigation of horizontal forced-vibration effect on air-water two-phase flow

In order to investigate the potential seismic vibrations effect on two-phase flow in an annular channel, experimental tests with air-water two-phase flow under horizontal vibrations were carried out. A low-speed eccentric-cam vibration module capable of operating at motor speed of 45–1200 rpm (f = 0.75–20 Hz) was attached to an annular channel, which was scaled down from a prototypic BWR fuel sub-channel with inner and outer diameters of 19.1 mm and 38.1 mm, respectively. The two-phase flow was operated in the ranges of 〈j_f〉 = 0.25–1.00 m/s and 〈j_g〉 = 0.03–1.46 m/s with 27 flow conditions, and the vibration amplitudes controlled by cam eccentricity (E) were designed for the range of 0.8–22.2 mm. Ring-type impedance void meters were utilized to detect the area-averaged time-averaged void fraction under stationary and vibration conditions. A systematic experimental database was built and analyzed with effective maps in terms of flow conditions (〈j_g〉-〈j_f〉) and vibration conditions (E-f and f-a), and the potential effects were expressed by regions on the maps. In the 〈j_g〉-〈j_f〉 maps, the void fraction was found to potentially decrease under vibrations in bubbly flow regime and relatively lower liquid flow conditions, which may be explained by the increase of distribution parameter. Whereas and the void fraction may increase at the region closed to bubbly-to-slug transition boundary under vibrations, which may be explained by the changes of drift velocity due to flow regime change from bubbly to slug flows. No significant change in void fraction was found in slug flow regime under the present test conditions.     

Image-transfer and optical technique for residual-strain measurement

The image-transfer and optical technique that was developed for the measurement of residual strain (permanent set) is herein described. This technique is mainly being used for the measurement of residual strains in metallic structures after they have been loaded at elevated temperature. Some evaluation tests on a beam and shell at room temperature and on a bar at elevated temperature are discussed. These tests indicate that the method is adequate for its intended use.     

A two-dimensional lagrangian technique for flow field measurement under high dynamic pressure

In this paper, a two-dimensional (2-D) Langrangian technique for flow field measurement under high dynamic pressure is presented, which included a set of experimental device and 2-D Lagrange composite manganin-constantan ring gages. With this kind of gage, the histories of pressure and radial displacement can be measured simultaneously at different Lagrange positions in an axisymmetric shock loading flow field. The technique has some advantages over the 1-D one, such as, simplified loading device, continuously adjustable output pressure, no restriction on sample length and the availability for the study of lateral rarefaction in shock propogation. As a preliminary application, the processes of 2-D shock initiation and attenuation in compacted TNT are measured.     

A low cost laser-speckle photographic technique for velocity measurement in slow flows

A low cost, low power laser-speckle photographic technique has been developed and is duscussed for the measurement of point velocities in slow laminar flows. The technique is particularly suitable for axisymmetric flows where the two velocity components can be easily measured. The accuracy of the technique is established by measurement of the velocity distribution for Poiseuille flow and from data obtained for acceleration of an inelastic Newtonian fluid through a four-to-one circular contraction. Preliminary results are also presented in the contracting flow field for a non shear-thinning highly elastic fluid. These data are particularly significant for verification of finite element numerical solutions currently being developed for viscoelastic fluids in circular entry flows.     

A general Struble's technique for solving an nth order weakly non-linear differential system with damping

A general formula (based on the method of variation of parameters) has been presented for determining an approximate solution of an nth order n=2,3,… weakly non-linear differential system with several damping effects. The general solution covers the under-damped, undamped and over-damped cases. The formulation as well as determination of the solution is simple. The method is illustrated by several examples.     

NONEXISTENCE OF GLOBAL SOLUTIONS OF NONLINEAR HYPERBOLIC EQUATION WITH MATERIAL DAMPING

Concerns with the nonexistence of global solutions to the initial boundary value problem for a nonlinear hyperbolic equation with material damping. Nonexitence theorems of global solutions to the above problem are proved by the energy method, Jensen inequality and the concavity method, respectively. As applications of our main results, three examples are given.     

Uniaxial material damping measurements using a fiber optic lattice: A discussion of its performance envelope

Damping is the internal transfer of kinetic energy to other forms of energy. Today, most methods use either bending or torsional vibration to measure damping. This means that the strain field in the specimen is nonhomogeneous. If the damping of the tested material is linear, strain-independent, the values acquired with these traditional methods will be equal to the intrinsic material damping of the material. If, however, the damping is strain-dependent, nonlinear, the measured value will be an average of the damping of the specimen, and not equal to its intrinsic material damping. To address this problem, a method is required to experimentally determine the damping in uniaxial tension in order to produce the same strain level in all parts of the test specimen and hence obtain a measurement of the intrinsic material damping. Using such a method, it is possible to view the material damping as the phase angle between the stress and the strain in a harmonic oscillation. In this paper, a method is suggested for measuring this phase shift in uniaxial tension to determine the material damping properties. It uses a tensile test machine, an optical fiber Bragg grating technique and a lock-in amplifier. Measurements with the phase shift technique have been suggested previously, but its performance envelope has been overestimated. In this paper, the performance envelope is discussed and restricted. It is shown that the envelope depends on the specimen length, loss factor and test frequency. An optical strain measurement method is also believed to help avoid many electrical measurement problems seen with the originally proposed method.