Identification of material model of TiN using numerical simulation of nanoindentation test

The development of the model of the multistep nanoindentation test with Berkovich indenter, accounting for the residual stress distribution, is one of the aims of the present paper. The specimen is unloaded in the intervals between the deformation steps. Substrate, which is composed of a ferritic steel and biocompatible pulsed laser deposition TiN coating, is considered. The selection of the TiN was inspired by its perspective application as the coating for a constructional element of the heart prosthesis (blood chamber and aortic valves). Sensitivity analysis of the model predictions with respect to its parameters is presented in the present paper. The theory of elastic-plastic deformations is used in the finite element model, which simulates both loading and unloading phases, accounting for the real geometry of the indent. The main goal of the present paper was to inversely analyse the tests for coating/substrate system. Square root error between measured and predicted forces is the objective function in the analysis. Results of the inverse calculations, which are presented in the present paper, may be helpful in simulations of the behaviour of TiN deposited on substrate in various applications as bionanomaterials.     

Numerical simulation of residual stresses in diamond coating on Ti-6Al-4V substrate

In this paper, we present numerical simulations of the residual stresses developed between diamond coatings and Ti-6Al-4V substrates when using chemical vapour deposition technique. The large difference in thermal expansion coefficients of diamond and titanium alloys results in high residual stresses in the diamond film. This could lead to interfacial cracking and material failure. The finite element method was used to simulate the cooling process of diamond films at various thicknesses and deposited at temperatures ranging from 600 °C to 900 °C. The influence of different parameters such as temperature, film thickness, material characteristics, geometry and edge effects are investigated for different case geometries. The film debonding and cracking is discussed and numerical results are compared with existing experimental and numerical results. Finally, some propositions are made to enhance the experimental process in order to reduce the residual stress intensities and the possible material degradation.     

On the effect of substrate properties on the indentation behaviour of coated systems

The indentation behaviour of an elastoplastic coating–substrate system is investigated using a combination of dimensional and finite element analyses. Scaling functions relating the indentation load–depth curves to coating and substrate mechanical properties are given. Based on these scaling functions, the indentation behaviour of various coated systems is examined. The critical indentation depth to coating thickness ratio below which the substrate material has a negligible effect on the indentation response of the coated system is identified for various generic coating–substrate systems. Such ratio is given in terms of the yield strength and Young’s modulus of the coating and substrate, i.e. σ_yc/σ_ys and E_c/E_s. The results of parametric studies revealed that the commonly used rule that the maximum indentation depth should be less than 10% of the coating thickness, is applicable only when σ_yc/σ_ys<10. However, indentation experiments should be carried out up to a maximum depth of 5% of the film thickness to avoid any influence from the substrate when σ_yc/σ_ys≥10 and E_c/E_s>0.1.     

Numerical predictions and experimental measurements of residual stresses in fatigue crack growth specimens

Controlling macro residual stress fields in a material while preserving a desired microstructure is often a challenging proposition. Processing techniques which induce or reduce residual stresses often also alter microstructural characteristics of the material through thermo-mechanical processes. A novel mechanical technique able to generate controlled residual stresses was developed. The method is based on a pin compression approach, and was used to produce well-controlled magnitudes and distributions of residual stresses in rectangular coupons and compact tension specimens typically used in fatigue crack growth testing. Residual stresses created through this method were first computationally modeled with finite element analysis, and then experimentally reproduced with various levels of pin compression. The magnitudes and distributions of residual stresses in experimental specimens were independently assessed with fracture mechanics methods and good correspondence was found between residual stresses produced using the pin compression and processing techniques. Fatigue crack growth data generated from specimens with low residual stresses, high residual stresses resulting from processing, and high residual stresses introduced through the new pin compression technique were compared and validated. The developed method is proposed to facilitate the acquisition and analysis of fatigue crack growth data generated in residual stresses, validate residual stress corrective models, and verify fatigue crack growth simulations and life predictions in the presence of residual stresses.     

Numerical and experimental analysis of residual stresses for fatigue crack growth

In this paper computational and experimental results are presented concerning residual stress effects on fatigue crack growth in a Compact Tension Shear (CTS) specimen under cyclic mode I loading. For a crack of constant length it is found that hardly any compressive residual stresses or crack closure effects are generated along the crack surfaces behind the crack tip through the considered cyclic mode I loading with a load ratio of R=0.1. Only if fatigue crack growth is modelled during the simulation of the cyclic loading process these well-known effects are found. On the other hand it is shown that they have hardly any influence on the residual stresses ahead of the crack tip and thus on further fatigue crack growth. For all cases considered the computational finite element results agree well with the experimental findings obtained through X-ray diffraction techniques.     

Residual stresses and structural changes generated at different steps of the manufacturing of gears: Effect of banded structures

Banded ferrite-pearlite structures, and in general chemically inhomogeneous structures, react non uniformly to elevated temperatures during forging and/or subsequent heat treatment processes, affecting the final stress state (plastic deformation is required to accommodate dissimilar thermal expansion behavior for each phase) and consequently leading to distortions. These unpredicted distortions are one of the major causes of rejected components and components that need to be reworked, leading to production losses.The aim of the present research work is to study the effect of forging and different thermal treatments (normalizing, quenching and tempering), i.e., the effect of different steps of the manufacturing of gears, on the final residual stress state, microstructure and hardness of AISI 4140 steel, a material that frequently presents ferrite-pearlite banded structures coming from segregation of alloying elements (such as chromium and carbon). With this purpose, portions of a forged AISI 4140 steel ring have been subjected to different thermal treatments. Residual stresses, hardness and microstructure after each treatment (forging, normalizing, quenching and tempering) have been studied experimentally and compared with the predictions of FEM simulations of heat treatment processes.     

Determination of creep parameters from indentation creep experiments: a parametric finite element study for single phase materials

Abstract

This paper explores the possibilities of determining creep parameters for a simple Norton law material from indentation creep testing. Using creep finite element analysis the creep indentation test technique is analysed in terms of indentation rates at constant loads. Emphasis is placed on the evolving stress distribution in front of the indenter during indentation creep. Moreover the role of indenter geometry, size effects and of macroscopic constraints is explicitly considered. A simple procedure is proposed to translate indentation creep results into constitutive creep equations for cases where the dimensions of the tested material are significantly larger than the indenter. The influence of macroscopic constraints becomes important when the size of the indenter is of the same order of magnitude as the size of the testing material. As a striking example for size effects and for macroscopic constraints the indentation creep process in a thin film is analyzed. The results contribute to a better mechanical understanding of indentation creep testing.     

Damage and Residual Life Assessment of Bends for X20CrMoV12.1 Main Steam Pipe after Long-Term Service

The bent sections from a main steam pipe in a thermal power plant in Shanghai were examined after 165,000 h service at 550 °C under 13.73 MPa pressure. The residual life of the bend sections is determined by evaluation of the service stresses and testing to obtain creep rupture data. Metallographic analysis and tensile, impact, and hardness tests are also conducted. These combined tests show that the properties of the steel deteriorated during service, displaying embrittlement tendencies; the corresponding microstructures exhibit grain boundary weakening and creep damage characteristics. However, considering no evidence of localized damage in the form of creep cavitation or surface cracks was observed in the examined parts, considering the residual life of the bends at service condition, they are adequate for an additional 44,000 h of operation. It is recommended that a health assessment should be taken after 25,000 h service exposure for safety reasons.     

Effects of oxide thickness, Al2O3 interlayer and interface asperity on residual stresses in thermal barrier coatings

During high temperature operation, the thermally grown oxide (TGO) usually forms along the bondcoat/topcoat interface in thermal barrier coating (TBC) and was characterized as a driving force for the failure of the coating system. The effects of TGO thickness and Al₂O₃ interlayer applied as an oxygen barrier layer between the bondcoat and topcoat on the magnitude of residual stresses in TBC during cooling process were interpreted using concentric-circle model. The results were coupled with finite element method. The influences of interface asperity and interface topography on the distribution of residual stresses normal to interfaces in TBC were also discussed.     

The effect of substrate temperature on the structural, optical and electrical properties of vacuum deposited ZnTe thin films

The present paper reports the effect of substrate temperature on the structural, optical and electrical properties of vacuum deposited zinc telluride (ZnTe) thin films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the films, deposited on glass substrates, revealed that they have cubic structure with strong (111) texture. Room temperature deposits are tellurium rich and an increase in the substrate temperature up to 553 °K results in stoichiometric films. Electrical conductivity has been observed to increase with the increase in substrate temperature, accompanied by increase in the carrier concentration and the mobility of the carriers. The optical bandgap energy and the thermal activation energy of the films have also been evaluated.     

A fast numerical method of introducing the strengthening effect of residual stress and strain to tensile behavior of metal matrix composites

Thermal residual stress and strain (TRSS) in particle reinforced metal matrix composites (PRMMCs) are believed to cause strengthening effects,according to previous studies.Here,the representative volume element (RVE) based computational homogenization technique was used to study the tensile deformation of PRMMCs with different particle aspect ratios (AR).The influence of TRSS was assessed quantitatively via comparing simulations with or without the cooling process.It was found that the strengthening effect of TRSS was affected by the particle AR.With the average strengthening effect of TRSS,a fast method of introducing the strengthening effect of TRSS to the tensile behavior of PRMMCs was developed.The new method has reduced the computational cost by a factor 2.The effect of TRSS on continuous fiber-reinforced metal matrix composite was found to have a softening-effect during the entire tensile deformation process because of the pre-yield effect caused by the cooling process.     

FE macro/micro analysis of thermal residual stresses and failure behaviour under transverse tensile load of VE/CF – fibre bundle composites

This paper presents a finite element analysis of a transverse fibre bundle test (TFT) using carbon fibres embedded in a vinylester urethane hybrid matrix. The evolution of thermal residual stresses, due to the cooling phase of the curing process of the model-composite and the subsequent mechanical load transverse to the fibre direction, has been investigated. The applied displacement coupling technique allowed to transfer the boundary conditions from a global model (macro model) via an intermediate model to a micro model. As a result it could be shown that the larger fraction of the total stress build up until failure occurred was due to the implicated thermal residual stresses. The micro model offered more accurate and detailed results with regard to the stress distributions on critical locations such as the fibre/matrix interface region. Generally, the results of the global model were in good agreement with the experimental data obtained. Further, the parabolic failure criterion based on experimental data of the pure matrix was used to predict time and place of failure initiation.     

Interaction effect of a main crack emanating from a semicircular notch and a microcrack

The study of morphology of fracture surfaces cannot only answer the whole of the problems arising from the damage of microcracking. This damage generates energy dissipation and a stress field redistribution which contributes to the dissipation of the energy stored in the structure, and favours the stable propagation of the main crack. In this work, the finite element method is used to analyze the interaction effect of a main crack emanating from semicircular notch and a microcrack in order to understand the different mechanisms induced by this interaction and in particular the effects of reduction and/or amplification of the stress field between the macro and the microcrack. Two cases were considered: transverse and longitudinal displacement of the microcrack compared to the main crack. This kind of approach makes it possible to predict the predominating fracture mode, either by coalescence, or by deflection in the direction of mode II.     

Development of viscoelastic/rate-sensitive-plastic constitutive law for fiber-reinforced composites and its applications Part II: Numerical formulation and verification

The viscoelastic/rate-sensitive plastic constitutive law to describe the non-linear, anisotropic/asymmetric and time/rate-dependent mechanical behavior of fiber-reinforced (sheet) composites were developed as discussed in Part I along with experimental procedures to obtain the material parameters for the woven fabric composite. Here, numerical formulations were developed. For verification purposes, finite element simulation results based on the proposed constitutive law were compared with experiments for the time-dependent springback in rate-dependent three point bending tests.     

Optimization of the structural, microstructural and optical properties of nanostructured Cr:ZnSe films deposited by magnetron co-sputtering for mid-infrared applications

In order to obtain optimally adherent films having the highest mid-infrared photoluminescence efficiency, nanostructured Cr²⁺:ZnSe films were deposited at room temperature on various substrates by magnetron radiofrequency co-sputtering of a SiO₂ target covered by a given number of ZnSe and Cr chips, at different Argon pressures and radiofrequency powers. The deposition parameter effect on the compositional, structural, microstructural and optical properties of the films has been investigated using X-ray reflectivity and diffraction, optical transmission spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and photoluminescence studies. The corresponding films are composed by highly textured cubic and hexagonal ZnSe phases and exhibit strong tensile in-plane residual stresses. The evolution of the tensile residual stress and porosity values are consistent with the optical properties of the layers, and in particular the evolutions of both optical gap and refractive index. The room temperature mid-infrared (2-3 μm) photoluminescence measurements under direct excitation (1850 nm) revealed that chromium has been incorporated in the Cr²⁺ active state, and the corresponding fluorescence efficiency for an optimized thin film is only two times smaller than the one of a Cr²⁺:ZnSe reference bulk single crystal.