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As an approach towards more rough industrial laser welding applications, the Nd:YAG laser welding process has been coupled to the plasma powder welding process for the first time. Process stabilities have been achieved by such hybrid welding which are even better than those known from previous coupling of the laser process with gas metal arc welding (GMAW), for instance.
The present contribution focuses on the technology and potentials of the novel laser hybrid welding technique and addresses the realisation and the perspectives for practical applications. The experimental results demonstrate that the new process coupling enables welding of austenitic stainless steels in the thickness range between 3 mm and 8 mm at various weld geometries and joint configurations and at welding speeds exceeding 2 m/min. In addition it has been proven that the laser plasma powder arc welding (LPPAW) technique can also be applied to out-of-position conditions. Continuous advancement of the welding equipment ensures a high gap bridging ability and levelling of misalignment due to higher powder feeding rates. The recent development of a new plasma powder torch even provides a higher efficiency of powder feeding and guarantees smoth weld surfaces. Up to the present, the investigations demonstrated that the novel laser plasma powder hybrid welding technique offers all perspectives for application in pipe fabrication, ship building and offshore as well as transportation industry.
The increasing application of supermartensitic steels for welded pipelines is an economical alternative to the hitherto used higher-alloyed materials in the North Sea oil and gas indus-try. Failure in such constructions must at any rate be excluded for economical and ecologi-cal reasons. The application of these steels for the transport of corrosive mixtures may, however, involve hydrogen pickup with subsequent hydrogen-assisted stress corrosion cracking. It is therefore necessary not only to assure the weldability, but particularly to have best possible knowledge of the service behaviour and of the failure risk. In order to ensure the transferability of test results to real joined components, innovative test methods are in-creasingly required to be incorporated into a closed test sequence. It will be demonstrated how it is possible to gain significant advantages from the direct comparison between ex-perimentally determined results from component weld tests on the one hand and material-specific data from small-scale tests on the other hand and numerical simulations. These data that have now been made available are of major importance for industrial applications and are considered to provide a sound basis for realistic lifetime assessments.
In the last decade, high-strength fine grained steels and welding consumables have gained a strong raise of application ranging from mobile cranes to bridge constructions. However, the cracking susceptibility of these steels increases significantly in correspondence with the achieved improvements in yield strength and the loss in plastic deformation reserves.
In order to determine this behavior a series of different standardized cold cracking tests has been developed. One remaining major problem of these tests is the uncertainty about the quantitative intensity of the restraint conditions as well as the corresponding welding residual stresses.
Consequently, the comparison of different tests and welding conditions as well as the transferability of the results onto real parts is difficult at best. The main topic of this paper is the analysis of the restraint conditions and their link with the welding induced residual stresses. The importance of the given standardized selfrestrained tests and first results about the transferability of
results onto real parts are discussed. The influence of the test specimen geometry on the restraint conditions of the test is investigated for a selected test with numerical Simulation using commercial FEA software. Additionally, the residual stresses caused by the welding process are measured and linked with the restraint conditions which are defined mainly by the geometry parameters.
Finally the transferability of the selected cold cracking test results is validated experimentally. The test results of a multilayer weld on high-strength fine grained steel of real size weldments are investigated. For these experiments a 16 MN large scale testing facility is used which is capable of applying the high reaction forces and clamping conditions found at large scale demonstrator parts.
The results show the importance of the quantitative knowledge of the restraint conditions and the welding residual stresses on the cold cracking resistance.
Within the last decade, silicon drift detectors (SDD) systems have become more and more popular in the field of energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The main characteristic of the SDDs is their extremely high pulse load capacity of up to 750,000 counts per second at good or reasonable energy resolution (<123eV Mn-Kα, <46eV C-Kα at 100.000 cps). These properties in conjunction with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) techniques and modern data processing make a range of innovative analysis options possible, not only high speed mapping but also hyperspectral imaging techniques.
The use of energetic materials as a main fuel in high temperature process
industries are not known to the scientific community as such. This paper
highlights some of the features and advantages of using organic peroxides
especially di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP) in high temperature process industries.
The feasibility of using DTBP as a main or supporting fuel in process industries
have also been justified with the help of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
simulations. For peroxides requirement of less fuel and air for the same amount
of heat flux has been shown. The resulted emission from the combustion of
DTBP is also discussed.
Meteorites are a unique and inspiring material for microstructural studies because if their very specific genesis. Iron meteorites have been formed under unimaginable cooling rates of a few ten Kelvins per million years so that the observable transformation of the formerly huge Fe-Ni single crystals of taenite occurred under nearly-equilibrium conditions. Octahedrites (meteorites having a Ni content between 6...15%) are characterized by ribbons of the low-temperature Fe-Ni phase kamacite separated by rims of residual taenite. This very specific feature is known as Widmanstaetten structure and has been investigated by synchrotron radiation in order to cover a higher volume fraction for a statistically relevant description of orientation relationships. However, plessite – a microstructure mainly consisting of the same phases – reflects the orientation relationship between kamacite and taenite as well. For their characterization, a scanning electron microscope is very suitable in order to investigate crystal orientations or identify phases. Despite the apparently ideal formation circumstances of iron meteorites, Ni concentration profiles prove non-equilibrium conditions. Combined EDS (energy dispersive spectroscopy) and EBSD (electron backscatter diffraction) measurements at a selected plessitic region of the Cape York iron shows that a correlation exists between Ni-concentration and the locally detected orientation relationship.
This study focuses on concrete flow in presence of obstacles and develops a mathematical model and a computational approach for SCC flow through reinforced formworks. In order to decrease high computational times needed to simulate castings through reinforced elements, an innovative approach to model the reinforced sections as porous media is proposed here. In the previous work, this numerical model is proved able to simulate the free-surface flow of non-Newtonian fluids through the reinforcement networks. In the present study, the applicability of the model on the concrete flow will finally be proved. The large-scale form-filling experiments with SCC will be conducted and the experiments will be simulated using the proposed numerical model. The numerical model will then be validated through the comparison of the experimental results and the results of the numerical simulations.
Fibre Reinforced Plastics (e.g. CFRP, GFRP) characteristically show nonlinear stress-strain behaviour due to intralaminar shear loading. The determination of the in-plane shear stiffness and strength for this class of material is difficult and common test standards and methods of analysis are partially inaccurate. The identification of the in-plane shear properties was made with an especial designed “picture frame test device” which enables shear loading up to 950N/mm. Therefore the strength limit can be reached at specimens with adequate thickness and a high safety factor against buckling. Due to the chosen design the maximum of the shear loading and the final failure occur in the centre of the specimen. The experiments match with the numerical analysis.
Today’s light weight design trends lead to a growing application of high-strength structural steels (yield strength ≥ 690 MPa). The mechanical properties of the weld and the component safety have to meet the increased requirements of these steel grades. However, high residual stresses in welded components are detrimental to their safety and integrity. Analyses concerning weld stresses in high-strength steels welded under component related restraint conditions revealed that heat control significantly affects global and local stresses. This occurs especially in highly restrained joints due to superimposing local and global stresses and may cause crack-critical stress-levels. In this study weld tests were performed with plates of high-strength steel in a special test facility. The experimental setup allowed transferring defined restraint conditions to the test welds similarly to real components. Temperature and reaction forces due to restraint were observed online while welding and cooling of multilayer-component MAG-welds. Mobile X-ray diffraction was used for local stress determination in the weld seam areas of the restrained specimens. It was found that interpass temperature has a major influence on the local and global welding forces and stresses. Thus, among the analysed results especially transverse residual stresses of the heat affected zone were strongly affected.
Emergency response units increasingly use pressure cylinders made from fibre composites for breathing air as elements of personal protective equipment (PPE). Such applications expose the composite cylinders to harsh temperature and handling conditions. At least in Europe, standards have been used for certifying PPE, which are designed and mandatory for the approval of pressure receptacles for the transport of dangerous goods. Therefore, service conditions specific to PPEs are not accounted for in these standards. In this paper, BAM (Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing) investigates the residual safety of a composite cylinder design at the end of their designated service life of 15 years. The cylinders (test pressure PH 450 bars; 6.8 Litres) are of one design type with aluminium liner and fully wrapped with carbon fibres, which is commonly considered a “Type III” cylinder. All cylinders were used as PPE by the Berlin fire department and randomly picked in three samples of 25 cylinders each before tested.
At BAM, the cylinder samples underwent hydraulic load cycle tests (LCT), conventional burst tests (BT) and so called slow burst tests (SBT). A concept for quantification of strength degradation already introduced by BAM was applied. This concept is based on a probabilistic assessment of the average strength and scatter of each sample of cylinders. The strength distributions of the used PPEcylinders is shown and analysed. Some unexpected effects are shown and a refinement of the statistical assessment is introduced.
Nanotechnology is one of the key technologies of the 21st century. The exploitation of 'new' effects that arise from materials structured on the nano-scale has also been proposed successfully for flame retardancy of polymers since the end of the 90s. Of all of the approaches these include, at this time the use of nanocomposites offers the best potential for industrial application, also some other ideas are sketched, such as using electrospun nanofibers mats or layer-by-layer deposits as protection coatings, as well as sub-micrometer multilayer coatings as effective IR-mirrors. The general phenomena, inducing a flow limit in the pyrolysing melt and changing the fire residue, are identified in nanocomposites. Key experiments are performed such as quasi online investigation of the protection layer formation to understand what is going on in detail. The flame retardancy mechanisms are discussed and their impact on fire behaviour quantified. With the latter, the presentation pushes forward the state of the art. For instance, the heat shielding is experimentally quantified for a layered silicate epoxy resin nanocomposite proving that it is the only import mechanism controlling the reduction in peak heat release rate in the investigated system for different irradiations. The flame retardancy performance is assessed comprehensively illuminating not only the strengths but also the weak points of the concepts. Guidelines for materials development are deduced and discussed. Apart from inorganic fillers (layered silicate, boehmite, etc.) not only carbon nanoobjects such as multiwall carbon nanotubes, multilayer graphene and graphene are investigated, but also nanoparticles that are more reactive and harbor the potential for more beneficial interactions with the polymer matrix.
Laser welding is a widely established manufacturing process in many industry sectors. Solidification cracking represents one of the most inadequately solved problems in welding and has major economic implications. The avoidance of hot crack forms for most fusion welding processes poses a key challenge for an important range of metallic construction materials and affects not only the manufacturers of welding equipment and material manufacturers, but also a large number of customers using welding technologies, as well as welding technical standardization and research. Solidification cracking susceptibility was examined with the help of the Controlled Tensile Weldability Test (CTW) developed by Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin. The test is based on the fact that hot crack formation depends on a critical strain that emerges within a critical temperature range, the so called brittle temperature range (BTR). Using this test and defined investigation programme a centreline solidification crack was generated. By controlling the applied strain during the laser beam welding process, it was possible to determine the critical strain and strain rate that led to solidification cracking formation. The hot cracking susceptibility of the tested stainless steels was qualified and quantified. The results demonstrate that the crack length increases with increasing applied strain. Furthermore, the strain rate has a significant influence on the formation of the solidification crack.
Laser welding is a widely established manufacturing process in many industry sectors. Solidification cracking represents one of the most inadequately solved problems in welding and has major economic implications. The avoidance of hot crack is for most fusion welding processes a key challenge for an important range of metallic construction materials and affects not only the manufacturers of welding equipment and material manufacturers, but also a large number of customers using welding technologies, as well as welding standardization and research. In this study a new investigation programme has been developed to qualify the hot cracking susceptibility of a variety of austenitic stainless steels. The results show the possibility of using this technique to determinate the critical values that occur with initiation of solidification cracking during laser beam welding
The numerical simulations of high power laser keyhole welding at different welding positions are performed by using Volume-Of-Fluid (VOF) method. The main material is SS400. The multi-physics phenomenon is considered using several models, such as the heat flux of Gaussian heat source, the recoil pressure with Clausisus-Clapeyron equation, the Marangoni flow considering temperature gradient, the buoyancy force with Boussinesq approximation, the additional shear stress and heat source due to metallic vapor ejected through keyhole entrance, the bubble formation assumed as adiabatic bubble, and the multiple-reflection by solving proper discriminant, are used. To analyze the fluid flow pattern, the concept of streamline formed by reconstructing the value of the velocity vector is applied.
Partial and full penetration cases at different welding positions are considered. The welding position seems to have only a minor influence on bead formation characteristics in both cases. This is probably due to the fact that the recoil pressure has a major influence when compared to other driving forces. The flow characteristics and fluid velocity in weld pool are analyzed to compare the gravity direction effect at different welding positions. It is observed that the clockwise flow pattern is mainly formed by the recoil pressure on the keyhole surface in the case of partial penetration. The laser energy can't maintain the whole weld pool when the weld pool size becomes too large. And then the solidification starts from the middle part of weld pool and a necked weld pool shape is formed. In the full penetration welding, the weld pool flow patterns are affected by the leakage of laser power through the full penetration keyhole and also by surface tension. Furthermore, the numerical simulation of full penetration welding with AISI316L is also performed to analyze the effect of material properties. The weld bead shapes obtained by simulations were compared with the corresponding experimental results to confirm the validity of the process models adopted and the CFD simulation tool.
In the past few years, the share of earthen building materials used in constructions in Central Europe has increased. That is due to growing acknowledgement of its qualities regarding balancing of humidity, absorption of odours and acoustical insulation.
To regulate these (mostly indoor) uses, the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) has published norms for adobe, earth mortar for masonry and earth plaster. In addition to these traditional building materials, earthen panels have been developed. As an ecological alternative to gypsum plaster boards, they combine climatic advantages of traditional materials with economic advantages of industrial processing, i.e. prefabrication and drywall techniques. Earthen panels are a composite layered material, comparable to Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC). Most products contain an inner layer of reed tubes which improve the tensile strength and reduce the weight. Often, one or both surfaces are reinforced with a fibrous net to prevent cracks in the plastering that is usually applied on top. Additives range from straw to expanded clay. Special panels contain waxes that improve their heat storage capacity or water pipes to allow the usage as flat heating and cooling systems.
The influence of temperature and counterbody material on the tribological properties of a-C:H
coatings deposited on Cronidur 30 steel has been investigated in a lubricated ball on disk
contact situation with alpha-alumina and silicon nitride as counterbodies. The results show, that the wear volumes of the systems increase exponentially with increasing temperature, for alpha-alumina more than for silicon nitride. Two different wear mechanisms seem to have a
major influence: First, the abrasive action due to materials hardness and second, the tribo-oxidation when silicon nitride is counter material.
CONRAD-2 is an imaging instrument using low-energy (cold) neutrons. The instrument is installed at the end of a curved neutron guide which avoids the direct line of sight towards the reactor core. This ensures a very low background of high-energy neutrons and. photons at the sample position. The cold neutron beam provides a wavelength range which is suitable for phase-and diffraction-contrast imaging such as grating interferometry and Bragg edge mapping. The instrument is well suited for high resolution imaging due to the high efficiency of the very thin scintillators that can be used for the detection of cold neutrons. An instrument upgrade was performed recently as a part of an upgrade program for the cold neutron instrumentation at HZB. The parameters of the instrument as well as some research highlights will be presented.
For the design of laminates the knowledge of the failure behaviour of plies under multiaxial stresses is a necessary precondition. The strength of plies under multiaxial stresses commonly is determined by standard off-axis tests using fixed clamps. By varying the off axis angle the ratio of shear to normal stresses can be prescribed. However, by preventing the rotation a complex stress field develops which strongly varies with the off axis angle as well. While these effects are not crucial when determining the elastic material parameters since the stress state in the center of the specimen is not far from the ideal uniaxial stress state they have a great influence on the failure behaviour.
In this paper we present results of our recent efforts to understand the mechanical interface behaviour of single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) embedded in metal matrices. We conducted experimental pull-out tests of CNTs embedded in Pd or Au and found Maximum forces in the range 10 - 102 nN. These values are in good agreement with forces obtained from molecular Dynamics simulations taking into account surface functional Groups (SFGs) covalently linked to the CNT material. The dominant failure mode in experiment is a CNT rupture, which can be explained with the presence of SFGs. To qualify the existence of SFGs on our used CNT material, we pursue investigations by means of fluorescence labeling of surface species in combination with Raman imaging. We also report of a tensile test system to perform pull-out tests inside a transmission electron microscope to obtain in situ images of CNT-metal interfaces under mechanical loads at the atomic scale.
Build-up strategies for generating components of cylindrical shape with laser metal deposition
(2015)
Laser Metal Deposition LMD) as additive manufacturing process offers the potential to produce near net shape components. This reduces the amount of material and post-processing. The components are composed of individual layers. Already mall irregularities within a layer can add up over multiple layers and lead to error propagation. This paper deals with the issue of build-up strategies to minimize irregularities and prevent error propagation. Different travel paths and the influence of a changing starting point regarding to error propagation are discussed. Different deposition rates between core and peripheral area are detected and successfully compensated by adjusting the build-up sequence. Stainless steel and titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V are used in the experiments. The results are intended to illustrate the potential of an adjusted build-up strategy and provide basic information on the way to an automated deposition process. This paper is of interest for engineers in industry or science using LMD as additive manufacturing process.
Concrete of today has only little in common with the traditional concrete used a few decades ago. It has become a high performance material, which can be adjusted for high performance applications and according to ultimate user specifications. The reason for the rapid evolvement was the increasing awareness about how the rheology of concrete can be improved without negatively affecting the mechanical properties of concrete by chemical admixtures.
From the last decades the earth construction has a growing interest due to the high sustainability (low C02 emissions), thermal and acoustic performance, fire resistance and cost of the raw material (soil). In fact, earth construction can constitute a feasible solution for a more sustainable construction industry in developed countries. Nowadays the research areas on earthen construction focus from one side on the improvement of the materials for new buildings, on the other side on the Conservation of existing architectural heritage.
Historical earthen buildings are often damaged by static or dynamic loads in form of extensive cracking. All too often these cracks are insufficiently or inappropriately repaired, if at all, because of lack of knowledge and/or technology. In particular, the behaviour of crack repair by grouting poses a challenge in earthen materials and demands specific requirements for the grouting mortar, such as low water content, good water retention, low shrinkage, etc. Cracks in earthen construction can be repaired by grouting to re-establish structural continuity, and can also be used to consolidate voids and gaps, or as a complement to other strengthening techniques such as the introduction of tie-rods.
In the framework of earthen materials for new constructions, the major drawback is that traditional earthen materials are typically considered as non-standard. The great variability and heterogeneity of the properties of the available soils, the lack of quality control in the manufacturing of the earthen materials and in the construction process can be pointed out as the main reasons behind this Situation. Furthermore, only few countries issued Standards and recommendations supporting earth construction, discouraging the design of earth construction by the technical community in countries where these documents are absent.
The damage process of short glass fibre (30% weight) reinforced polyamide caused by mechanical loading was investigated from the beginning on micro cracking level to the incipient crack of mm-dimension. Based on high resolution computer tomography and the X-ray-refraction technique the inner surface due to micro-cracking at the short fibre ends and the fibre matrix debonding of the skin surface of the filament was determined quantitatively. With the knowledge of the fatigue crack propagation rate and fracture toughness of the material from former research projects, it was derived that the total inner surface due to micro cracks measured by X-ray refraction is much higher than the specimen could have withstand the load, supposed the surface is in a localized crack. Hence, the damage process could be described from micro to macro level. Accompanying fractographic investigations endorse the modelling based on the NDT-techniques.
The new standard ‘ISO 17636-2:2013: Non-destructive testing of welds — Radiographic testing — Part 2: X- and gamma-ray techniques with digital detectors’, defines the practice for radiographic inspection of welded pipes for manufacturing and in-service inspection. It is applied in Europe for inspections of pipe welds in nuclear power plants as well as in chemical plants and allows a faster inspection with digital detector arrays (DDA) than with film. Nevertheless, it does not allow the evaluation of the depth and shape of volumetric and planar indications. In 2001 a planar tomography scanner, TomoCAR, was introduced for mechanized radiographic testing (RT) inspection and non-destructive measurement of cross sections. The project TomoWELD is based on a new concept of the scan geometry, an enhanced GPU based reconstruction, and the application of a new generation of photon counting DDAs based on CdTe crystal CMOS hybrids. The new detector permits the selection of energy thresholds to obtain an optimum energy range and reduction of the influence of scattered radiation. The concept and first measurements are presented. Flaw depth and shape of volumetric and planar irregularities can be determined.
Experimental study and numerical simulation of hot crack formation for novel laser weldability test.
(2015)
Laser beam welding is a widely established manufacturing process in several industries. The solidification cracking seriously effecting the safety of welded joints could arise during the beam welding of stainless steels caused by high solidification rates. In this study the controlled tensile weldability test (CTW) was used to investigate the solidification cracking susceptibility the fully austenitic stainless steels CrMnNi (1.4376), CrNi (1.4301), CrNiMo (1.4404) and CrNiSi (1.4828) during laser beam welding. The test facility allows welding of specimens with simultaneous application of tensile load along or cross to the welding direction while the speed of tensile force application is either constant or increases linearly. The tensile force increment and/or the displacement are set by means of a CNC controller. Trials were conducted by varying the ultimate tensile strain and cross-head speed while keeping the welding parameters constant. By observing the crack-no crack behaviour and estimating the generated crack length for each trail using a new optimized experimental procedure the influence of the two important conditions (the strain and the strain rate) for the formation of solidification cracks can be investigated, the critical values of strain and strain rate that are responsible for solidification cracking formation have been determined. In the present study a three-dimensional FEM using the contact element technique was developed to simulate the solidification cracking during laser full penetration welding under external load conditions for the steel 1.4376 in order to get a better understanding of the mechanisms of hot crack initiation and the theoretical results were compared to the experimental ones. By comparing the resulting solidification crack with simulated crack, it is possible to determine the critical condition of solidification crack formation in the region where the strains and the strain rates cannot be measured due to the high temperature. The results show a good agreement between numerical calculation and experiment. It is proposed that the solidification cracking susceptibility may be predicted by FEM analysis by using the correct mechanical and thermo-physical constants of the materials.
The stress vs. strain curve of materials is affected the rate of imposed straining. Among the methods for dynamic testing the technique known as 'split Hopkinson pressure bar' (SHPB) has evolved into the most widely used one to exert high-speed straining. The theory behind it comprises simple equations to compute stress and strain. The reliability of the strain analysis can be assessed by digital image correlation (DIC). The present results indicate that the visually observed strain is smaller than predicted by theory.
The knowledge of dissolution processes of aggregates and supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) in alkaline solutions can help to describe the expansion of concretes caused by alkali-silica reaction (ASR) and the effects to avoid ASR by using SCMs in more details. Therefore, dissolution experiments in alkaline solutions under different pH values and different temperatures were performed using aggregates in the original grain size and SCMs in different ratios. The concentrations of soluble silica and additionally alumina were determined by ICP-OES. The investigations showed that up to now the “best” conditions to explain the damage behavior of concrete structures are a pH value of 13 (e.g. 0.1 M KOH solution) and a temperature of 80 °C. The evaluation bases on the parameter “excess silica” which is calculated from the dissolved silica and alumina of the aggregates and the SCMs. It was demonstrated that SCMs reduce and sometimes stop the dissolution of aggregates. The efficiency of the SCMs depends on their amount and chemical composition.
The use of supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) added to concrete mixtures can avoid the alkali-silica reaction. Such materials have a wide range of composition and therefore the inhibition mechanisms can be very differently.
The effectiveness of SCMs which provide silica and alumina into the alkaline solution cannot only be explained by reducing the OH--concentration of the pore solution. From dissolution experiments in potassium hydroxide solutions, an interaction was noted between the aggregate and five SCMs via the alkaline solution. Under specific conditions, no silica is released from the aggregate grains.
Mineralogical investigations (XRD, SEM+EDX) of the grain surfaces confirm that quartz is the main source of silica. In the presence of alumina providing SCMs, the quartz dissolution is strongly reduced or even sometimes stopped. On surfaces of grains a very thin layer can be observed which is probably responsible for reduction or stopping of the silica dissolution and therefore for the inhibition of ASR.
Full penetration high power bead-on-plate laser beam welding tests of up to 20 mm thick 2205 duplex steel plates were performed in PA position. A contactless inductive electromagnetic (EM) weld pool support system was used to prevent gravity drop-out of the melt. Welding experiments with 15 mm thick plates were carried out using IPG fiber laser YLR 20000 and Yb:YAG thin disk laser TruDisk 16002. The laser power needed to achieve a full penetration was found to be 10.9 and 8.56kW for welding velocity of 1.0 and 0.5 m min(-1), respectively. Reference welds without weld pool support demonstrate excessive root sag. The optimal value of the alternating current (AC) power needed to completely compensate the sagging on the root side was found to be approximate to 1.6 kW for both values of the welding velocity. The same EM weld pool support system was used in welding tests with 20 mm thick plates. The laser beam power (TRUMPF Yb:YAG thin disk laser TruDisk 16002) needed to reach a full penetration for 0.5 m min(-1) was found to be 13.9 kW. Full penetration welding without EM weld pool support is not possible-the surface tension cannot stop the gravity drop-out of the melt. The AC power needed to completely compensate the gravity was found to be 2 kW. (C) 2016 Laser Institute of America
An electromagnetic weld pool support system for 20 mm thick duplex stainless steel AISI 2205 was investigated numerically and compared to experiments. In our former publications, it was shown how an AC magnetic field below the process zone directed perpendicular to the welding direction can induce vertically directed Lorentz forces. These can counteract the gravitational forces and allow for a suppression of material drop-out for austenitic stainless steels and aluminum alloys. In this investigation, we additionally adopted a steady-state complex magnetic permeability model for the consideration of the magnetic hysteresis behavior due to the ferritic characteristics of the material. The model was calibrated against the Jiles-Atherton model. The material model was also successfully tested against an experimental configuration before welding with a 30 mm diameter cylinder of austenitic stainless steel surrounded by duplex stainless steel. Thereby, the effects of the Curie temperature on the magnetic characteristics in the vicinity of the later welding zone were simulated. The welding process was modelled with a 3D turbulent steady-state model including heat transfer and fluid dynamics as well as the electromagnetic field equations. Main physical effects, the thermo-capillary (Marangoni) convection at the weld pool boundaries, the natural convection due to gravity as well as latent heat of solid–liquid phase transitions at the phase boundaries were accounted for in the model. The feedback of the electromagnetic forces on the weld pool was described in terms of the electromagneticinduced pressure. The FE software COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2 was used in this investigation. It is shown that the gravity drop-out associated with the welding of 20 mm thick duplex stainless steel plates due to the hydrostatic pressure can be prevented by the application of AC magnetic fields between around 70 mT and 90 mT. The corresponding oscillation frequencies were between 1 kHz and 10 kHz and the electromagnetic AC powers were between 1 kW and 2.3 kW. In the experiments, values of the electromagnetic AC power between 1.6 kW and 2.4 kW at oscillation frequencies between 1.2 kHz and 2.5 kHz were found to be optimal to avoid melt sagging or drop-out of melt in single pass fullpenetration laser beam welding of 15 mm and 20 mm thick AISI 2205.
In order to estimating the amount and kind of emissions from polymeric sporting tracks a laboratory test was developed in BAM that combines artificial weathering and subsequent batch and column tests [1, 2, 3]. The goal consisted in nvestigating a possible change of emissions into soil and groundwater of a new sporting ground as a function of ageing and egradation of the system. At various stages of the weathering, the samples were removed and subjected to especially designed column extraction tests for the solid samples. Both these extracts and the accumulated rainwater run-off of the weathering device were subjected to analytical tests of their ingredients. The overall aim of the test consisted in developing ontrollable, reproducible, and standardisable conditions and methods of investigation that would allow an estimation of the emissions in the course of outdoor application of about five years.
Structuring of LTCC substrates by a combination of pressure-assisted sintering and hot-embossing
(2015)
A novel technology for the structuring of LTCC surfaces is introduced. The material is shaped in a zero-shrinkage process by embossing a glassy carbon mold into the softened LTCC directly after termination of the shrinkage. Three commercially available LTCC compositions (Ceramtape GC, Heratape CT707, and DP951) were tested. Diverse raised and lowered structures including rings, grids, and characters were fabricated. Different material behavior was observed for the tested compositions. Promising results were achieved with Ceramtape GC. Embossing of precise, 40 µm deep circular cavities and 50 µm high raised characters is demonstrated. Processing of 100 × 100 mm² substrates is possible. DP951 showed very good moldability, but also unwanted material displacement due to evaporating lead. A high displacement capacity but uneven heights of embossed structures were observed on CT707 samples. SEM investigations proved the precise transfer of surface contours from the mold to the LTCC. Thereby, the high potential of the hot-embossing process for micro-patterning of LTCC is illustrated.
Characterization of multiphase metal matrix composites by means of CT and neutron diffraction
(2016)
The present study examines the relationship between the microstructure of multiphase metal matrix composites and their damage mechanisms. The matrix AlSi12CuMgNi was combined with 15% vol. Al₂O₃ (short fibers), and with 7% vol. Al₂O₃ + 15% vol. SiC (short fibers and whiskers, respectively). The experimental approach encompasses 3D microstructure characterization by means of computed tomography of samples (a) as-cast, (b) after heat treatment, and (c) after compression tests at room temperature. The volume fraction of different phases, their distribution, their orientation, and the presence of defects and damage are studied.
The influence of the addition of SiC particles on mechanical properties of composite was investigated. Phase-specific load partition analysis for samples with fiber plane parallel to load was performed by using neutron diffraction (ND) during in-situ compression. ND results show damage in the Si phase, while Al₂O₃ short fibers carry load without damage until failure. The computed tomography observations confirm the load partition analysis.
For pulse laser materials processing often optical step index and gradient index multimode fibers with core diameters ranging from 100 to 600 μm are used. The design of a high power fiber transmission system must take into account limitations resulting from both surface and volume damage effects. Especially, breakdown at the fiber end faces and self-focusing in the fiber volume critically influence the fiber performance. At least operation charts are desirable to select the appropriate fiber type for given laser parameters.
In industry-relevant studies the influence of fiber core diameter and end face preparation on laser-induced (surface) damage thresholds (LIDT) was investigated for frequently used all-silica fiber types (manufacturer LEONI). Experiments on preform material (initial fiber material) and compact specimens (models of the cladding and coating material) accompanied the tests performed in accordance with the relevant LIDT standards ISO 21254-1 and ISO 21254 2 for 1-on-1 and S-on-1 irradiation conditions, respectively. The relation beam diameter vs. LIDT was investigated for fused silica fibers. Additionally, laser-induced (bulk) damage thresholds of fused silica preform material F300 (manufacturer Heraeus) in dependence on external mechanical stress simulating fiber bending were measured. All experiments were performed with 10-ns laser pulses at 1064 and 532 nm wavelength with a Gaussian beam profile.
In recent years the German motorway network has seen an increase in the occurrence of damage to concrete road surfaces which can be attributed to the alkali-silica reaction (ASR). In view of the often drastically reduced life expectancy of road surfaces due to ASR, research activity in this field has notably increased. Alongside preventative measures in concrete technology, the main research focus up to now has been the development of performance-oriented testing procedures for ASR prevention. This included more specifically the accelerated simulation of climatic effects and external alkali penetration on road surfaces. The effects of mechanical pre-damage resulting from cyclic traffic loading and climatic impact had previously not been taken into consideration. Since 2011, the five-partner research group 1498 sponsored by the German Research Foundation (DFG) has been pursuing research on how simultaneous cyclic loading and external alkali penetration impacts destructive ASR in road surface concretes. The depiction of the myriad degradation and transport processes necessary for an understanding of these effects requires close interaction between experiments and their multi-scale modelling. This paper aims to focus on the aforementioned experiments by means of innovative testing techniques. The research is founded on a series of cyclic fatigue tests performed on large-format beams, both with and without previous application of a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution, with simultaneous tracking of crack development. Subsequently, smaller test specimens were extracted from the pre-damaged beams for further experiments. These included the spatial visualization and quantification of fatigue-induced cracks using micro X-ray 3D-computed tomography (3D-CT). Additionally, the effects of fatigue-induced cracks on alkali transport were investigated using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). Subsequent storage of the small-format test specimens, with and without cyclic pre-damage, in an ASR-conducive environment then provided initial findings on the influence of fatigue-induced predamage on the ASR.
The susceptibility of different aggregate types used in concrete to ASR is strongly associated with their petrography. The aim of this study is to assess the influence of the aggregate size on the ASR potential, in particular applied to the sand fractions in the size range of 0.125-4 mm. The investigation concept is based on the hypothesis that at a specific particle size reactive aggregates could change their characteristic influence in mitigating ASR instead of promoting it. For the study of the size dependent behaviour mortars are prepared, considering aggregates of different reactivity, including very reactive, slow-late and quasi non-reactive types. The analysis is based on a stepwise substitution concept, in which mortars with a constant overall grain size distribution are compared, while only one size fraction of the non-reactive base aggregate is substituted by a reactive aggregate type of this specific size fraction. For the expansion experiments an accelerated mortar bar test (80°C, immersed in NaOH solution) was applied. The results show that the slow-late reactive greywacke yielded a strong reduction of the expansion below an aggregate size in the range of 0.5-1 mm. On the other side with the very reactive borosilicate glass, the expansions increased steadily with decreasing size. To validate if the acquired expansions were caused by ASR, thin sections were analysed. Mainly, higher expansion values were consistent with extensively more amounts of ASR indicators.
The goal of the present study is to assess the feasibility to develop a first reliable database of materials parameters for Earth Block Masonry (EBM). The database is crucial when defining the materials safety factors. In the first part an experimental campaign of compressive tests were carried out on two types of earth block and two types of earth mortar. The results showed that the mean variation of the compressive strength was remarkably less than expected. This low variation is related to a production with high quality standards of the materials employed. In the second part a partial safety factor for EBM under uniaxial compression was determined through the reliability method. The results proved the reliability of a common calculation method for EBM based on partial safety factors following the current standards.
The recent experience of Italian seismic events provided wide observational information about typical behaviour, damage patterns and intrinsic vulnerability of monumental buildings. Evidence indicates that historical constructions are by far the most vulnerable from the seismic point of view. As a consequence, they demand for the definition of urgent strategies for the protection of cultural heritage from seismic hazard. The main goal of an in-depth knowledge of the structure should help to avoid inadequate, unsuitable or dangerous rehabilitation operations, as well as to select non-invasive and reversible techniques for the best exploitation of material and technology features. The definition of reliable models and methods for seismic risk assessment of historical constructions is today a very important topic. Typical problems of masonry structures concern aspects like inherent structural lacks, material degradation, geotechnical problems, buckling behaviour of slender elements and dynamic loading vulnerability. Modelling the mechanical behaviour of masonry may play an important role, due to both inherent material complexity and great scatter in mechanical properties. Effective procedures for the identification of the structural parameters from static and dynamic testing are thus required. In particular, dynamic measurements may be very useful for the identification of mechanical properties and soil restraints and, consequently, for the calibration of advanced numerical finite element models. The paper addresses two case studies of structural monitoring and seismic assessment of medieval masonry towers in Italy: the bell tower of Aversa and the bell tower of Capua. These monuments, placed in the Campania region, were monitored by means of full-scale environmental vibration testing. Measured responses are then used for modal identification with a typical finite element model updating technique based on vibration test results. Parameters optimization is carried out on the basis of a criterion which minimises a weighted error on modal properties. A satisfactory improvement in the determination of modal parameters is thus obtained, resulting in a close agreement between the modal properties observed in dynamic tests and those calculated from numerical model. Seismic assessment is finally performed based on nonlinear static analysis of the tower under multimodal distributions of lateral loads. Results from nonlinear analysis indicate the potential collapse mechanisms and evidence dangerous structural weakness which may play a role in the seismic vulnerability of the towers.
UHPC-AAC/CLC composite panels with self-cleaning properties. Materials and production technology
(2016)
The aim of this study is to show the development of a façade composite panel combining either an autoclaved aerated concrete or a cellular lightweight concrete insulation layer with a box-type external ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) supporting layer. The paper presents the materials characteristics of the different components and the production technology of the panel. The efficiency of surface modifications of the materials forming the external shell of the panel is reported. The activation of self-cleaning properties is described. The test results showed that the most efficient way to use the water-repellent agent is its application on the substrate before the concrete cast. Concerning the production technology, the preliminary studies showed more advantages of a twostep manufacturing procedure of the UHPC boxes than a one-step procedure.
One of the unique advantages of polymer optical fibres (POF) is that they can be used to measure very high strain values up to 100 % and beyond exceeding the strain limits of silica fibre-based sensor principles. In this paper the distributed strain measurement capabilities of POF based on backscatter change evaluation are summarized and distributed backscatter measurement technologies are intro-duced. Application examples in the structural health monitoring (SHM) field are presented: a promising approach is the integration into technical textiles for high-strain measurement in earthwork structures and crack detection in buildings. The potential of POF for future applications in SHM such as distributed relative humidity sensing is discussed.
Earth, timber, fibre boards and insulation materials based on wooden and other natural fibres offer a variety of properties beneficial for eco innovative constructions that are able to improve the energy and resource efficiency of buildings.
Due to their porosity, natural building materials are vapour active and are able to buffer moisture. In combination with highly insulated and airtight but vapour permeable building envelopes, modern earth-timber constructions provide stable indoor humidity levels and can therefore be naturally ventilated while achieving highest energy efficiency standards. Experimental evidence suggests that monitored pilot buildings in Berlin do show healthy indoor air humidity levels (around 50%) in wintertime, while mechanically ventilated buildings demonstrate significantly lower values (around 25%), which have to be considered as uncomfortable and unhealthy.
The application of building materials being poor in chemical emissions, particularly volatile organic compounds (VOC) and radon, improves the indoor air quality further, so that intermittent ventilation twice a day will be sufficient to provide healthy indoor air quality. The air quality in critical rooms (e.g. small bedrooms), demonstrating a smaller air volume, should be monitored if appropriate ratios of room size to occupancy level cannot be realised.
Through night time ventilation in summer, vapour active earth-timber constructions provide evaporative cooling (humidity adsorption at night time and desorption during the day). As a result, indoor temperatures of earth-timber buildings range around 8 °C below the outside temperature peak, when an appropriate glazing ratio is reflected. The EU funded research project H-house is investigating various construction materials regarding water vapour adsorption as well as emission and absorption of harmful substances. Based on this investigation new wall constructions are designed to provide a healthier indoor environment.
In respect of modern approaches in material sciences and highly increased
requirements on materials on safety relevant components, quality management
and non-destructive testing reclaims a steadily increased meaning. The
destructive meaning of measuring the degree of purity is defined in DIN EN 10247
through metallurgical investigations, especially microsections.
For and comparable, but non-destructive testing due ultrasonic testing, the material
the SEP 1927 is a well-defined industry standard. A novel and alternative way
of reference block construction was focused by this work. The proposed amendments,
regarding the manufacturing and machining, are less time and cost consuming.
Verified by measurements the presented reference block fits the same acoustical
characteristics and the requirements of the guideline.
The current state in the field of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS, ripples) is reviewed. Their formation mechanisms are analyzed in ultrafast experiments (time-resolved diffraction and polarization controlled double-pulse experiments) and technological applications are demonstrated.
Most VVOC were rarely considered in the evaluation of construction products. (Salthammer, 2014) In Germany this will change because the latest version of the German AgBB scheme for health evaluation (2015) now include VVOC, e.g. ethyl acetate and ethanol. In this study selected compounds were tested with the procedure described in ISO 16017 and a method for measuring VVOC with thermal desorption was developed.
Three different adsorbents Tenax TA, Carbograph 5TD and Carbopack X were tested to analyse VVOC according to ISO 16017. For the tested VVOC, Carbograph 5TD showed the best results under the chosen analytical conditions.
Amongst various other NDT methods, within the EMRP-project
‘VITCEA’ active thermography is validated for testing of CFRP and
GFRP structures constructed for energy application. In this
contribution, the optical and thermal properties of CFRP and GFRP
reference defect artefact (RDA) and natural defects artefact (NDA)
test specimens are characterized. Different excitation techniques
and techniques for data analysis are compared for optimizing the
number of detected defects.
Several restoration projects of stained-glass windows have been performed in Lower Silesia (Poland) since 2010. The aim of the projects was to protect stained-glass windows against environmental impact of industial pollutants and acid rain by installing a protective glazing. The usefulness of protective glazing has been proved by climate measurements and determination of environmental impact before and after installation.
The canister for the permanent storage of spent nuclear fuel used by SKB in Sweden consists of a cast iron insert surrounded by a five centimetre thick shell of copper. It is a safety critical component and in order to secure long-term structural integrity non-destructive methods are used to inspect 100% of the volume of each canister, before it is disposed of in the repository. One of the critical components that requires inspection is a sealing weld, joining the copper tube and the lid. The friction stir weld is inspected using an ultrasonic phased array system. The area of the weld is inspected with several inspection channels with different angles and varying coverage. To make sure that no defects that might occur in the weld are overseen, the reliability of the inspection must be quantified. The reliability of NDT is usually quantified with the probability of detection curves. The influence of the parameters that might influence the POD of the flaws in the weld is investigated analysing the experimental results, as well as with a help of a numerical simulation of the inspection.
Reliability analysis of the ultrasonic inspection system for the inspection of hollow railway axles
(2016)
Axles are safety critical train components that are subjected to significant cyclic loading during operation. If the crack is initiated in the axle, cyclic loading will lead to crack propagation. To maintain structural integrity, axles must be periodically inspected for fatigue cracks in the material. Deutsche Bahn uses mechanized ultrasonic inspection system to inspect hollow railway axles. The inspections are performed from the bore surface, using several conventional transducers with different incident angles, inspecting the axle along the entire length. As with the every safety critical system, the reliability of these inspections must be determined with regard to their flaw detection capabilities. Traditionally this is done according to the relevant standards for railway vehicles. To investigate the capability of the NDT system more thoroughly, we want to evaluate the capability of the inspection system to detect flaws by means of probability of detection (POD) curves. It will be shown that other parameters, beside the size of the crack, for example crack position in the axle, influence the detection of the crack. The influence of these parameters was evaluated using ultrasonic simulation. The evaluation served as an input for the manufacturing of the flaws in the real scale axle. Once these axles are inspected and the data evaluated, using data from both measurement and simulation, we will express the POD of the crack as function of influencing parameters using the multiparameter POD model.
The phenomenon of creep of structural steel in fire engineering is gaining more and more interest. Due to shortcomings of the EC3 constitutive model and other approaches based on classical creep theory an alternative approach mainly based on the ideas of Krempl is proposed. Due to this so-called operator approach the material as well as the constitutive model is looked upon as an operator. The application of this view serves as a guide through the analysis of the relationship between experimental facts and constitutive theory especially in the context of transient creep.
The validation of the plasma compatibility of particles is a prerequisite for their application in plasma dispersion layers. The goal is the realization of functional add-on features on surfaces, in films and coatings. Although intended applications primarily address nanoparticles, the compatibility tests were carried out at first with particles in the lower micrometer range in order to investigate material-, fluorescent marker- or surface-based degradation effects in a simple manner.
Plasma compatibility implies at least the short-term acceptance of charged species, plasma-UV radiation, vacuum and elevated temperatures. Otherwise, effects on geometrical dimensions, chemical bonds, fluorescence efficiency and plastic-elastic properties are expected.
The plasma compatibility of monodisperse fluorescent-labeled particles to microwave excitation was evaluated by means of microscopic and spectroscopic investigation methods (light, fluorescence, confocal, atomic force microscopy and FTIR). This study comprises particles of different materials (SiO2, PMMA, PS, MF) and sizes (from 50 nm to 10 μm).
A special preparation technique ensures that smallest geometry changes of particles can be measured by atomic force microscopy. For the selected plasma conditions (P = 600 W, f = 2.46 GHz, d = 10 cm) and an exposure time of 10 minutes, the geometry of SiO2 particles (approx. 1.7 μm) remains nearly unchanged, whereas PS particles shrink in diameter by 6% and PMMA particles by 11%. For selected core-particles (SiO2, MF) with fluorescencemarked (rhodamine) shell-polyelectrolytes no remarkable plasma degradation of the fluorescence intensity was observed for the above mentioned plasma conditions, however a doubling of exposure time already results in a significant decrease in intensity. Two different injection systems have been studied for the particle injection into the plasma deposition process.
One of the selected systems also proves process compatibility regarding the expected pressure differences upon injection.
A fracture mechanics model which shall be applied to the fatigue strength determination of weldments has to focus on various aspects such as: (a) the description of mechanical and physical short fatigue crack extension which is characterised by yielding conditions which do not permit the application of the common ΔK concept and by the gradual build-up of the crack closure effect, (b) a consistent methodology for determining the initial crack size, (c) based on this, the determination of a fatigue limit, (d) the treatment of multiple crack propagation at load levels above this limit, (e) the variation of the local geometry along the weld toe, and (f) statistical effects.The paper gives alimited overview of the work the authors did in this field during the last years within the German project cluster IBESS. A model is presented and briefly discussed which covers the questions above.
Thermal treatment improves the excellent properties of UHPC. Recent studies have shown that an increase in compressive strength of more than 30 % is possible. However, the accurate conditions of thermal treatment for a maximal strength are considered as yet undetermined. A multitude of parameters can be varied: temperature, pressure, water saturation, and duration of the process steps. These parameters influence the phase development and in consequence the macroscopic properties of UHPC. The primary objective of the presented study was the optimisation of the conditions for thermal treatment, concerning compressive strength. It focuses on pre-storage time and duration of the treatment at defined temperatures and pressures (90 °C and 185 °C/1.1MPa).
As expected, experimental results showed a fundamental change of phase composition in hydrothermally treated UHPC in comparison to standard cured UHPC: Ettringite decomposes at higher temperatures and is absent after thermal treatment; the amount of portlandite and clinker phases decreases. The change of phase composition is accompanied by increased compressive strength.
Experimental studies of calcium-silicate-systems at hydrothermal conditions predict the formation of the crystalline C-S-H phase tobermorite. In fact, this is a typical phase occurring in other hydrothermally treated calcium-silicate-systems like Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC). Commonly, high strength is attributed to the presence of tobermorite; however, in the presented study tobermorite was not detected in the hydrothermally treated UHPC. Therefore, tobermorite cannot be responsible for the increased strength of hydrothermally treated UHPC.
In conclusion the development of phases and strength of UHPC at hydrothermal conditions differs fundamentally from AAC and the experimental studies with water saturation. Results of these systems cannot be transferred to UHPC. In thermally treated UHPC, the hydration of clinker is enhanced and the puzzolanic reaction is intensified. Hence, more C-S-H is formed that fills pores and cracks, leading to a denser structure and finally to higher strength.
Self-compacting concrete typically contains a higher content of powder materials than normal concrete. Furthermore it is assumed that the use of superplasticizers yields a more homogenous microstructure in the hardened paste. Both aspects generate a very dense microstructure, which can be assumed to cause material behaviour that differs from than normal concrete when it is exposed to elevated temperatures. However, the paste volumes in SCC can vary significantly based on the mixture composition. At a low paste volumes SCC can be very similar to normal concrete at hardened state while it can vary greatly at higher paste volumes. Since the high temperature behaviour of concrete is strongly affected by the different physical behaviour of the paste and the aggregates, it is likely that the high temperature behaviour is consequently strongly affected by the ratio of these mixture components. In the present study different SCC mixtures were observed with similar mechanical properties, but with significantly differing paste to aggregate ratios. Based on observations of the heat evolution at the fire exposed surface and at different depths inside the specimens as well as based on photogrammetric observations of the spalled dimensions, the results indicate that with increasing paste volumes the heat conductivity is reduced and as a result concrete with higher paste to aggregate ratios shows less spalling.
Chemical admixtures like superplasticisers or stabilising agents are of ever increasing importance for modern concrete technology. They liberate the workability of concrete from its dependency on water content, and thus, open the gate towards innovative and future oriented concrete technologies such as self-compacting concrete.
Today, admixture addition has become common practice in concrete technology, but the understanding of their highly complex mode of operation is extremely difficult and demands for understanding of processes within the range between nanometres and centimetres.
Due to its complex time-dependent, multi-phase and multi-scale behaviour, flowable concrete systems are highly complicated and cannot be described comprehensively by simple models. It is therefore extremely challenging to identify the relevant parameters that predominantly control flow phenomena on different size scales, since these may occur on any scale between the nano scale (e.g. superplasticizer adsorption) and macro scale (e.g. grading of the aggregates). The present study discusses fundamental mechanisms at the interface between particle or hydrate surfaces and the fluid phase at a very early stage of concrete formation, and links these effects to macroscopic flow phenomena. Methods are discussed that appear promising interdisciplinary tools for enhancement of the understanding of the relevant interactions that are responsible for the macroscopic flow of flowable concrete.
South Africa and recently Nigeria are the only net exporter of cement in Africa, yet cements are imported into the country mainly on the basis of price competitiveness. This poses potential for scatter in the properties of the cements in the South African market as pricing seems to be the only determining factor that affects Portland cements imported. A survey of cements of grade 42.5N in the South African cement market was carried out to identify major players in the industry. The identified cements, which included four locally produced and one imported cement were then analysed for both chemical composition and physical properties in line with the Eurocode EN 196. Tests carried out include loss on ignition, chloride content, sulphate content, specific surface (Blaine), standard consistence, initial setting time, final setting time, soundness and flexural and compressive strength at 2, 7 and 28 days. The testing program was initiated as part of on-going Africa-wide cement testing competency program in partnership with BAM and PTB in Germany. The performance of the identified cements from the different local manufacturers and the imported cement were analysed and are presented in this paper. These results reveal some similarities and differences in the properties. Particularly of interest is the marked difference in the 28 days compressive strength of the cements. This paper shows that there is need for further tests across the cement industry as some of the cements failed to meet certain requirement as set by EN 196. The paper also recommends the use of proficiency testing schemes in the cement industry of the country to ensure the cement laboratories are providing results of high quality and at the same time act as a check to make sure these laboratories are not failing to meet standard requirements.
Radiation in the spectral ranges of UV and VIS are environmental impact factors that can cause ageing of many materials or products. The reason for this is that especially organic materials, such as food or many pharmaceutical, are subject to photochemical degradation. Of course, suited transparent packaging material may give protection against such impact for radiation sensitive fillings. But for this, it is necessary to know about the spectral range of the fillings sensitivity as well as about the radiation impact of the radiation sources that are relevant during the life time of the product.
The spectral irradiance for characterizing the emission of various radiation sources is easily measured by means of a spectroradiometer. The spectral sensitivity of a filling's property can be determined by spectrally dispersed irradiation, where the positions on a sample are related to the different wavelengths. Thus, the damaging effect of the different wavelengths can be directly evaluated. A lateral measurement of the relevant property change shows the activation spectrum, which is the product of the spectral radiant exposure and the spectral sensitivity. By measuring the spectral irradiance for each sample position, the spectral sensitivity of the ageing property can be calculated.
Comparing the fillings spectral sensitivity and the spectral irradiance of a potential radiation source during later transport and storage, conclusions can be drawn about necessary spectral absorption of a (partly) transparent packaging to give sufficient protection.
The setup for such investigation will be shown and several illustrating samples from daily food experience will be given.
Chemical admixtures like superplasticisers or stabilising agents are of ever increasing importance for modern concrete technology. They liberate the workability of concrete from its dependency on water content, and thus, open the gate towards innovative and future oriented concrete technologies such as selfcompacting concrete. Meanwhile admixtures have become common practice in concrete technology, but the understanding of these highly complex polymers in the entire concrete system lags far behind their application. Due to its complex time-dependent, multi-phase and multi-scale behaviour, flowable concrete systems are highly complicated and cannot be described comprehensively by simple models. It is therefore extremely challenging to identify the relevant parameters that predominantly control flow phenomena on different size scales, since these may occur on any scale between the nano scale (e.g. superplasticizer adsorption) and macro scale (e.g. grading of the aggregates). The present study discusses fundamental mechanisms at the interface between particle or hydrate surfaces and the fluid phase at a very early stage of concrete formation, and links these effects to macroscopic flow phenomena. Methods are discussed that appear promising interdisciplinary tools for enhancement of the understanding of the relevant interactions that are responsible for the macroscopic flow of flowable concrete.
Over the course of the last decades, concrete construction has significantly changed from mass application towards sophisticated more innovative, future oriented, and performance based materials technology. Today concrete no longer consists of cement, water, and aggregates, but can be enhanced significantly by using supplementary additions and chemical admixtures. Advancements in admixtures eventually facilitated the development of new concrete types such as self-compacting concrete (SCC) and high performance concrete (HPC) by uncoupling the workability from the water-cement ratio (w/c).
While for traditional concrete types the major mixture parameter for the workability and strength were the w/c and the grading of the aggregates, for SCC and HPC the performance parameters are more complicated and the performance depends highly on the powder components. This makes the system more sophisticated and in parallel more prone to scatter during the production. The complexity and difficulty to predict the effects of changes in the process and mixture makes it very difficult to identify the right potentials for savings.
Within the last years the use of feasible alternative energy sources has risen and is going to replace fossil resources more and more. Nevertheless, service conditions in solar facilities are due to the chemical composition of heat transmission media and temperatures, in many cases, extreme in terms of corrosion. Since the construction of power plants shall be economical with maximum life service, materials selection based on preliminary material qualification is essential to guarantee a secure and reliable operation of those facilities.
The materials selection depends on the operation temperature of a power plant on the chemical composition of the transmission fluid used. In high corrosive environments Ni-based alloys are often used as an all-round solution for the construction of corrosion resistant parts, because of their good corrosion properties. However, there might be limits for their use regarding their corrosion behavior, with which this contribution deals.
By means of electrochemical measurements and exposure tests the suitability of two high alloyed materials X8NiCrSi38 18 and NiCr25FeAlYB in molten nitrate salt (60 % NaNO3/40 % KNO3) was characterized at 600 °C.
Since geothermal wells are a feasible energy source to replace fossil fuel supply, many technologies have been developed to take advantage of geothermal energy. Nevertheless, service conditions in geothermal facilities are due to the chemical composition of hydrothermal fluids and temperatures, in many cases, extreme in terms of corrosion. Therefore, materials selection based on preliminary material qualification is essential to guarantee a secure and reliable operation of the facilities.
This contribution deals with the evaluation of the corrosion behavior of duplex steel S31803 (318LN, X2CrNiMoN22-5-3, 1.4462) conducted by electrochemical measurements and exposure tests in artificial geothermal waters simulating the conditions in different locations with geothermal potential in Germany.
The duplex steel S31803 shows limited suitability for applications in artificial geothermal waters due to its susceptibility to pitting and crevice corrosion.
For low saline geothermal waters it can be considered suitable at moderate temperatures. Slight crevice corrosion susceptibility needs to be considered.
Results are being incorporated into a materials catalogue for geothermal applications which shall provide basic information for designers and users of geothermal facilities.
Currently at Deutsche Bahn (DB) ultrasonic inspections in maintenance procedures for wheelset axles with a bore hole are, to the greatest possible extent, carried out using automated ultrasonic inspection system. Although the acceptance levels are in accordance with DIN 27201 part 7, the testing results have shown in recent years that in the case of true indications, the effective defect sizes were far below the level of acceptance. Due to this experience it can be assumed that the automated ultrasonic inspection systems are testing substantially more sensitively than required. This increased sensitivity leads to an increase in false indications, generally resulting in the unnecessary demounting of wheelsets. In Research cooperation between Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and DB the effective flaw detection sensitivity of existing automated ultrasonic inspection system will be determined and the true/false indication ratio optimised. Through systematic investigations with the Probability of Detection method on the existing automated ultrasonic inspection system the results could be directly applied to the optimisation of existing ultrasonic inspections of wheelset axles with a bore hole in maintenance procedures and the level of reliability can be considerably increased.
The multiple-sample approach by means of centrifugal adhesion testing (CAT-technology) allows the determination of bonding strength of adhesive-bonded joints on a statistical basis of up to eight samples. Therefore, it is obvious to ensure the continuous handling and identical processing of an octet of samples within the entire process chain of wet-chemical cleaning, plasma-chemical pre-treatment, bonding of samples, and testing of bonding strength. Within the multiple-sample bonding set-up (MPKV-technology) a defined bonding pressure can be adjusted regardless the actual number of samples. A comparison of single- and multiple-sample approach is made for bonding strength of selected adhesives, double-sided adhesive tapes and different material combinations [stainless steel (V2A) vs. stainless steel, polyamide (PA), or polypropylene (PP)]. It is shown that both technologies improve reliability of results
Over the past couple of decades Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) has seen a significant increase in the use of automation. In addition to increased reliability, objectivity, consistency, repeatability, productivity, and so on, automating parts of the process is expected to decrease the potential for human error. However, the literature on human-automation interaction suggests that automation is not only associated with benefits, but also with new risks and risk sources. First, this paper will present the methodology used to identify—for the first time—possible risks associated with mechanised data acquisition and corresponding data evaluation. Moreover, it will highlight possible risks, their causes, consequences, and ways of preventing them. Second, those preventive measures will be further analysed by examining new risks that can arise from their implementation, i.e. potential for failure that can arise from (a) working with automated defect-detection and sizing aids, (b) implementing human redundancy, and (c) improvement of the inspection procedures without due consideration of the procedure users. And third, some optimisations strategies will be provided. The purpose of this work is to show that mechanised testing is associated with potential for failure and that the sources of those risks go beyond single inspectors and need to be looked at in the interaction of people with other systems, i.e. the technology, the team and, most importantly, the organisation.
Many engineering structures are made of composite materials or metal foam. To simulate the deformational behaviour of these structures often requires a high number of discretisation elements. This in turn yields a very large system of linear equations that are extremely time and memory consuming or practically impossible to solve. It is therefore desirable to find an approach to overcome this obstacle.
This contribution will show that gel-type electrolytes influence protective layers on zinc coatings considerably less than typical bulk electrolytes. Different zinc coatings are investigated, their naturally formed protective layers are electrochemically characterized and corrosion relevant values are determined by using a gel pad based on polysaccharide. From the results it is evident that gel-type electrolytes represent a viable and promising field in corrosion research.
This work presents the use of limited experimental measurements to develop a set of calibrated Simulation parameters that can then be used for reliable simulation of subsea pipeline inspections. The modelling software aRTist is used as the simulation tool, and the calibration is through comparison with experimental images of a well characterised sample in a water tank. Image Quality parameters such as signal-to-noise ratio, contrast and basic spatial resolution are compared with the aim of matching simulated values to experimental results. Currently the model is partially calibrated, with signal-to-noise ratio successfully matched while differences are still found in contrast-to-noise ratio comparisons. This means that measurements depending on absolute intensity are not accurate enough in the simulation at this stage. However, the simulation is found to be accurate for wall thickness measurements in tangential images, which are not based on absolute intensity, with simulated and experimental cases producing similar results.
This article presents the latest results of an ongoing national research project on improved models for the prediction of welding residual stresses of thick-plated welded I-girders. The experimental program is presented and the importance of different influencing factors on the residual stresses is discussed in detail. All results are compared for mild (S355J2+N) and high strength (S690QL) steel. Finally, conclusions for further works are drawn.
Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) has been proposed as a promising technology for the mitigation of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere from fossil-fuel-operated power generation plants. As the reliability and cost effectiveness of the pipeline transport network is crucial to the overall operability and resilience of the CCUS system, it is vital to realize the possible corrosion risks of the employed pipeline steels corresponding to the impurity level of the gas source.
Recent studies have shown that even the high alloyed materials might be susceptible to general and/or localized corrosion by the condensates forming from the impurities such as SOx, NOx, CO, O2 and water [1]. Up to now, however, there is no regulation procedure which defines the maximum acceptable level of impurities and the combination of them for each employed pipeline steels. Herein, systematic experiment series were conducted by mixing pure CO2 gas with varying concentration of each impurity and with the varying combination of them. Each time, the mixture was then fed (1 L/min) into the reactor containing 12 specimens for 120-600 h at 5°C (to simulate the sub-level pipeline transport). The resulted condensate was collected and analyzed by ionic chromatography and atomic absorption spectroscopy to determine the chemical composition. In this study, the “worst-case scenario” gas mixture, containing 2.5 % H2O, 1.8 % O2, 1000 ppm NO2, and 220 ppm SO2 as impurities, resulted in the condensate containing H2SO4 0.114 M and HNO3 0.0184 M (pH 2.13). This “original” condensate was then re-produced to carry out exposure tests and electrochemical characterization including corrosion potentials and impedance spectroscopy in CO2 saturated condition for 7-14 days at the same temperature. The corrosion rate was also measured by mass loss method.
We can conclude that, at the initial stage, HNO3 plays the dominant role in Fe dissolution process, while H2SO4 is responsible for the pit initiation followed by pitting corrosion. Future studies will be focused on the combination effect from the impurities and the exposure test under the regularly changing condensate to mimic the real CO2 pipeline system.
Since geothermal wells are a feasible energy source to replace fossil fuel supply, many technologies have been developed to take advantage of geothermal energy. Nevertheless, service conditions in geothermal facilities are due to the chemical composition of hydrothermal fluids and temperatures, in many cases, extreme in terms of corrosion. Therefore, materials selection based on preliminary material qualification is essential to guarantee a secure and reliable operation of the facilities.
The corrosion behavior of different high-alloyed metals including duplex and austenitic stainless steels as well as a nickel alloy have been evaluated in artificial geothermal fluids simulating the conditions in some locations with geothermal potential in Germany as well as two sites in Indonesia.
The suitability of carbon steel 25CrMo4, stainless steels X2CrNiMo17-12-2, X2CrNiMo-22-5, X2CrNiMoCuWN25-7-4 and super austenitic steel X1CrNiMoCu32-28-7 in these geothermal fluids obtained by electrochemical measurements and exposure tests is limited. The nickel alloy NiCr23Mo16Al shows an excellent corrosion resistance against pitting corrosion. Excluding its high cost, it is a very good alternative to be used in the construction of geothermal facilities having highly saline brines. Stainless and duplex steels exhibit a limited corrosion resistance concerning pitting and crevice corrosion.
Beside of the higher alloyed materials, also the low-alloyed steel 25CrMo4 could be employed as a constructional material for the geothermal power plant in stagnant highly acidic non saline environments, as long as the wall thickness of the material vs. corrosion rate is taken into account.
Copper is one of the most important components in brake pads and its amount can reach up to 14%. In spite of a number of positive features copper usage in brake pad formulations has recently become the subject of considerable discussions, primarily due to concerns about potential risks related to environmental impacts of copper particles. So, for developing new pad formulations with possible replacements of copper content, it is very important to understand the functionality of copper additions to brake friction materials. In the paper theoretical investigation of the role of copper as a pad ingredient was carried out on the basis of modelling by the method of movable cellular automata (MCA). Our previous studies show that copper as a constituent of the tribofilm formed during braking provides smooth sliding by forming a granular layer of mechanically mixed materials from the friction layers. In the present study the concentration of copper particles in a Fe3O4-matrix was varied systematically in the range 5.5-28 vol. % and compared to mixtures with the same amount of graphite nanoparticles. The sliding simulations were performed while assuming material properties at 500°C in order to assess the beneficial role of copper during severe braking conditions corresponding to fading cycles during dynamometer testing.
The method of movable cellular automata (MCA) and method of molecular dynamics (MD) were applied to simulate the friction and sliding behavior of model-tribofilms formed from a nanocomposite consisting of an epoxy matrix, 10 vol % micron-sized carbon fibers and 5 vol. % silica nanoparticles. Whereas MCA considered the tribofilm as an agglomerate of silica nanoparticles released from the composite and mixed with graphite particles, MD simulated the sliding behavior of an amorphous silica layer supported by stiff crystalline substrates on both sides. The MCA model provided reasonable quantitative results which corroborate experimental findings at moderate stressing conditions. The very low coefficient of friction observed experimentally under severe stressing conditions was not explained by this model. This could be attributed to the lack of mechanical data at the high temperature expected under these conditions. Although based on a simpler assumption of the tribofilm composition, MD-modelling could be easily applied to the expected high flash temperature and was able to predict friction reduction and smooth sliding under these conditions.
This article addresses the imperfections caused by the weld assembly in I-shape sections made of two structural steel grades. Load influencing imperfections are assumed as deviations from the ideal shape (e.g. bending distortion) and longitudinal residual stresses. The quality of a numerically aided design of components exposed to either compression and/or bending is significantly affected, depending on these parameters. The Eurocode (EC3) provides robust simplified models. As a result, the Ultimate Limit State (ULS) is approached on a conservative basis. The following investigations are aimed at providing further guidance on these values in component-like specimens. The long term goal is an improved understanding of the load-bearing capacity of such sections. As a first step in this process, the experimental and corresponding numerical studies are presented.
The presentation will discuss the difference between EU and US standards for the determination of explosion (flammability) limits and limiting oxygen concentration. Small differences observed in measured values can be traced back to the different test apparatuses and criteria. The discrepancies can be much greater in the case of limiting oxygen concentration because of the high amount of inert gases and the corresponding low laminar burning velocities. The paper describes some examples and the influence of the chosen criteria on the results. The European and US standards use the criteria of flame propagation in open test vessels and of pressure rise in closed ones. The examples discussed show that flame propagation is still possible at very small pressure rise values, as observed much below the pressure rise criterion of usual standards. However, flame propagation in a process plant can cause an accident or explosion and must be avoided. Therefore, the flame propagation criterion is recommended to be used in chemical safety engineering. The European safety database CHEMSAFE contains expert-evaluated safety data for cases where the determination method and criteria are known. Flammability characteristics based on the pressure rise criterion may suffice in certain cases, e.g. for explosion protection in closed vessels without any connecting pipes.
The premise for the development of improved failure criteria for fiber reinforced composites is the understanding of the failure processes on microscale. On microscale the local behaviour of the matrix polymer is crucial. It significantly differs from that found in macroscopic measurements. The present study is focused on the plastic material behaviour of a standard epoxy resin. Local plastic strains are measured in tensile test by using digital image correlation. A multilinear plastic law is implemented by the experimental data. The stress field arising in an idealised representative volume element of a unidirectional ply is analysed by finite element calculations. The change of the stress and strain field due to plastic deformation according to the multilinear plastic law is shown. The change leads to a shift of the critical locations where failure is likely to initiate. In addition, the failure type changes from stress based to strain based failure. The dominant role of the shear strains is shown.
The failure of composites is initiated by imperfections on microscale. The interface between fiber and matrix is a key parameter concerning failure initiation. In order to get an improved understanding of local failure processes a fracture mechanical analysis of interfacial failure in a composite ply under transverse stresses is performed. The mixed mode energy release rate is calculated. In addition the failure of interfaces under cyclic loading is studied on a single fiber model. The quasistatic debonding process is compared with the interfacial failure under fatigue loading. It is shown that the tan delta can be used as an indicator for the damage propagation.
Niobium carbide (NbC) is an alternative cutting material. The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and the Institute for Machine Tools and Factory Management (IWF) of the TU Berlin assessed the cutting suitability of NbC with cobalt (Co)-binder compared to WC with Co-binder in the machining of a wide range of materials.
The nonlinear behaviour of epoxy resins is studied on standard tensile tests. A strain field measurement system is applied (Aramis) in order to monitor local strains. The residual strain is measured by recovering the specimens for up to 68 hours after unloading. The time span the specimen is exposed to load has a large influence on the creeping process and the residual strain after recovering. This is studied by comparison of instantaneous unloading with keeping the specimen under permanent load for thirty minutes. It is shown that moderate differences in the initial strain can lead to large differences in the creep behaviour as well as in the residual strain.
Besides carbon, metal sulphides are used in every standard brake pad formulation as friction stabilisers. In order to investigate their impact, various powder mixtures were tribologically stressed in a pin-on-disc device in order to produce and test artificial third bodies. containing the three main components of a real friction film, namely magnetite, graphite and a metal sulphide of interest. Since the sliding behaviour is influenced by the relative humidity the powder mixtures are tested at low, medium and high moisture levels. The tests revealed that the presence of graphite dominates the friction behaviour as well as the humidity sensitivity.
The powders were prepared by either manual mixing or high energy ball-milling. Interestingly, all ball-milled blends provided coefficients of friction within the desired range for braking, which was attributed to the effect of zirconia particles from wear debris of the milling balls. The zirconia particles prevent the formation of solid lubricant films on the surfaces and support a homogeneous mixture of all constituents of the powder. Optimum brake performance is gained by an optimum combination of solid lubricants and abrasives.
Substitution of tungsten carbide by niobium carbide as cutting materials and for wear protection
(2016)
Several phases, like Nb₄ C₃ , Nb₆C₅ and other short and long range ordered phases occur in the region of homogeneity of NbCₓ (0.75 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) in the binary phase diagram. Properties, like micro-hardness, hot hardness, sliding wear resistance, elastic modulus and toughness can be tailored by the C/Nb ratio, the addition of secondary carbides and the type of binder. Supporting results from different grades with varying C/Nb ratio or binder types were illuminated. Thus, the NbC system offers to producers a wider process window, than WC. The impact of these tailored properties on sliding wear and cutting performance was illuminated by tribological and machining results.
Niobium is today largely available. NbC can be synthesized by carbothermal conversion of Nb₂O₅ or be metallurgically grown and leached out, provides comparably low friction in many relevant tribo-contacts and displays low wear. NbC and Nb₂O₅ have so far no REACH classification related to human toxicology and are not listed as substances of very high concern contrary to WO₃ and Co₃ O₄ .
With increased usage of highly demanded, modern materials on safety
relevant parts (e.g. railway wheel sets, generator shafts, turbine disks, medical
implants, etc.) comprehensive analyses regarding the quality of the material are
requested. This gives a focus to non-destructive methods using ultrasound immersion
tank testing for classifying the degree of purity. Two autonomous standards,
ASTM E588 and SEP 1927, have been established for the definition, execution and
evaluation for this high resolution ultrasonic measurements on steel products.
The propagation of ultrasonic waves and the resulting sound field are strongly
dependent on the acoustical properties of the inspected material and the geometry
of probes and specimen. The definition of the measurement setup and the evaluation
methods appear to differ significantly in the given standards. ASTM E588 and
SEP 1927 prescribe the requirement for surface roughness and probe selection, are
using threshold based methods for cleanliness detection, but differ in computation
for the degree of purity. This has been the motivation for a comparison between
both standards with the main focus on amplitude depth dependency and overall spatial
resolution taking the influence of different material characteristics, geometry of
the specimen and sound fields into account.
A performance comparison between the use of non-focusing and focusing probes
respective to the threshold based detection will be presented in this contribution. In
addition, the usage of complex reconstruction algorithms (e.g. SAFT, echo tomography)
is compared with the traditional approaches of inclusion detection and
estimation of the degree of purity
The current knowledge about fatigue behavior of concrete is still incomplete. This concerns especially the progress of fatigue which precedes the fatigue failure. Therefore, the process of fatigue itself under cyclic compressive loading was investigated in a systematic and comprehensive way. The aim of this investigation was to obtain a deeper insight and to provide a better understanding of the damage process occurring within the material during fatigue loading. Concrete cylinders were tested with a number of cycles to failure between 106 and 107. To investigate macroscopic and microscopic changes in the material, various methods of non-destructive and destructive testing were used. One main result was, in contrast to other authors, that the investigated changes in macroscopic material behavior could not be explained only by a development of micro-cracks. The results indicated rather, that the related changes in the fatigue behavior are mainly a result of viscous processes in the hardened cement paste, similar to the processes of creep. Based on the experimental results a description of the possible processes was derived which take place in the material structure during fatigue loading and also leads to the observed macroscopic changes in the material behavior. In this context, the results have shown that in case of isotropic material behavior a stiffness reduction related to a scalar value could not capture the damage effect on the stress-strain-relationship caused by fatigue.
Grating interferometric set-ups have been established in the last decade. They are promising candidates to obtain enhanced image contrast from weakly absorbing micro and nano structures. They are based on X-ray refraction and near-field diffraction using the Talbot effect.
At the expense of taking multiple images, Talbot-Lau grating interferometry allows separating the absorption, refraction, and scattering contributions by analysing the disturbances of a phase grating interference pattern. Contrary to other refraction enhanced methods, this technique can be applied using conventional X-ray tubes (divergent, polychromatic source). This makes it attractive to solve typical non-destructive testing problems.
We investigated the efficiency of phase gratings, i.e. the visibility (the amplitude of oscillations) upon variation of propagation distance and phase grating rotation around an axis parallel to the grid lines. This grating rotation changes the grating shape (i.e. the distributions of phase shifts). This can yield higher visibilities than derived from rectangular shapes.
Our study includes experimental results obtained from synchrotron radiation, as well as simulations for monochromatic radiation. The advantages of Talbot-Lau interferometry are demonstrated at the example of glass capillaries.
Maintenance, repair and overhaul of components are of increasing interest for parts of high complexity and expensive manufacturing costs. In this paper a production process for laser metal deposition is presented, and used to repair a gas turbine burner of Inconel 718. Different parameters for defined track geometries were determined to attain a near net shape deposition with consistent build-up rate for changing wall thicknesses over the manufacturing process. Spot diameter, powder feed rate, welding velocity and laser power were changed as main parameters for a different track size. An optimal overlap rate for a constant layer height was used to calculate the best track size for a fitting layer width similar to the part dimension. Deviations in width and height over the whole build-up process were detected and customized build-up strategies for the 3D sequences were designed. The results show the possibility of a near net shape repair by using different track geometries with laser metal deposition.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a combination of laser ablation and optical emission spectroscopy. Due to the possibility of direct measurements on the sample surface with a minimum of sample preparation investigations of building materials can be conducted quite fast. In combination with a scanning technique (translation stage or scanning mirrors head) 2D element distributions of harmful species like chlorides and alkalis are evaluated with a sub-mm resolution. By scanning a surface of typically 100 mm x 100 mm the heterogeneity of the material may be considered. LIBS is capable to identify hot spots in element concentration with a resolution of 0.1 mm or even smaller. A LIBS-system for the on-site application on building materials is, in cooperation with system developers and companies which will use this technique for investigation on real structures, under test at BAM. We present an example. Further work will focus on providing guidelines to establish LIBS as a standard procedure for chemical investigations of building materials.
Pre-Inca civilizations like the coastal cultures Moche and Nazca (Early Intermediate) and the inland culture Wari (Middle Horizon) were agrarian societies which supported indigenous elites of impressive wealth, power, and organization. With the expansion of the Wari Empire, the polychrome style and technique of Nazca propagated to the other cultures. High status burials, most of the Late Moche Fine Line ceramics and a large corpus of ceramics with Wari-derived decoration have been recovered in San José de Moro since 1991. The degree of transfer of procedures in this highly interactive scenario is of special interest: is there a limitation to decoration or is it adopted by the local potters also regarding the formulation of the ceramic bodies? In this context the relative amount, size and type of incorporated non-plastic inclusions as temper are important.
Crystal structures that show a broken symmetry in their cubic and hexagonal modifications are of great relevance for optoelectronic and photonic applications. This is why methods which are sensitive to non-centrosymmetric structures are important for analysis of these materials in technological applications.
High-power laser beam welding became new stimuli within the last 10 years due to the availability of a new generation of high brightness multi kilowatt solid state lasers. In the welding research new approaches have been developed to establish reliable and praxis oriented welding processes meeting the demands of modern industrial applications during this time. The paper focuses on some of the current scientific and technological aspects in this research field like hybrid laser arc welding, simulation techniques, utilization of electromagnetic fields or reduced pressure environment for laser beam welding processes, which contributed to the further development of this technology or will play a crucial role in its further industrial implementation.
The future commercial prospects for adhesive tapes are very good and its application range is very broad. From every-day-use in office, packaging, maintenance, and quick repair in workshops, it ranges from handicraft work, medical purposes and cosmetics up to workmanship. The study describes a new multi-sample approach in adhesive tape testing from theoretical background, preparation of test specimen for tensile as well as shear testing, detailed measurement procedures up to analysis and result interpretation. Various types of single and double-sided pressure sensitive adhesive tapes supplied by different manufacturers were investigated and compared
Analyzing the reliability of non-destructive tests using the modular modell - a practical approach
(2016)
Non-destructive testing is an important tool to guarantee the safety of railway traffic.
The infrastructure with tracks, switches and sleepers is regularly tested, the
locomotives and wagons with their wheels, bogies and axles as well. Many years of experience and some events lead in Germany to a good practice in testing the railway components. Now, European authorities are drafting a system of common requirements and standards for the European Railway Market. The German practice combines an intensive training of the NDT-personnel including sufficient time for practical exercises with organizational measures of the companies, responsible for rolling stock and infrastructure. Through the example of UT-testing of railway axles it will be shown, how training and organizational measures influence the reliability of such testing.
The usefulness and purpose of evaluating nondestructive testing (NDT) systems and their capabilities has changed in the last decade. The conventional method of simply applying a familiar statistical algorithm to say whether the system is usable for the tasks is history.
Nowadays, multiple parameter methods which describe the probabilities of detection (POD) of different systems or real defects need new characteristics and a broader variety of statistical models to describe the true system behaviour. The appraisal of the NDT system involves diverse departments within a company (engineering, NDT-operators, and statisticians), but is, at the same time, more needed and requested than in the past. In this article, an approach is discussed in which professionals from different fields worked well together, accomplishing cost-intensive metallographic studies in correlation with well-understood physical behaviour of NDT-methods as well as deep-discussed mathematical methods to create a holistic evaluation of the technical reliability for a specific radiographic testing (RT) equipment. The first part of the publication will show the comparison between metallographic grinding and the RT indications. An essential innovation over past evaluation methods was the use of a multi-scale smoothing algorithm, which describes physical parameters, which were not used in evaluation like the POD in this way in the past.
In the second part the statistical requirements for the POD take the focus. It can often be hard to make significant statements; especially in the case where only a small amount of data is available. The combination of data and the use of knowledge from simulations are essential. One possible solution will be shown for the RT evaluation. The methodology is used for evaluating the digital RT system for the inspection of electron-beam welds, which was method considered to seal the Finnish copper canisters for the final deposit of spent nuclear fuel.
Ultrasonic phased array is, currently, the technology which is being applied as the solution to a lot of inspection problems. The perceived benefits are seen to be worth the outlay on equipment and specialised personnel. Yet, there is a source of knowledge, freely available, which can also deliver immediate benefits, through more reliable inspection results, and consequently increased client confidence, but which is largely ignored by the greater part of the NDT community. This talk will review the latest Human Factors knowledge and provide practical illustrations of how companies can use it to improve their competitive edge.
The General Guidance in the Swedish regulations state that the safety assessment for a final repository for spent nuclear fuel should be 1 million years after closure. SKB developed the KBS-3 method, according to which the spent nuclear fuel is protected by three barriers. It is encapsulated in canisters with a diameter of 1 metre and a length of 5 metres. The canister consists of a cast iron insert surrounded by a 5 centimetre thick shell of copper. The canisters are disposed in the bedrock at a depth of about 500 meters surrounded by bentonite clay. In order to assess the safety over this extremely long period, an extensive quality control programme is applied to the canisters before deposit. In this programme, the use of
non-destructive testing (NDT) is vital. The safety assessment of the canister in turn places high demands on the coverage, detectability, and reliability of the applied NDT inspections of the canister parts, i.e. cast iron insert, copper base, tube and lid, and the copper friction stir welds (FSW). This paper presents the extensive full-scale inspection development programme that runs at the Canister Laboratory in Oskarshamn (Sweden). In order to fulfil the high demands, phased array ultrasonic inspection techniques are developed using practical trials aided by ultrasonic modelling. The techniques apply, for example, different frequencies, inspection angles, focus depths, and both longitudinal and shear waves. Increased inspection reliability of the FSW is achieved by applying digital X-ray technique using a 9 MeV linear accelerator and a line detector. To complete the coverage, complementary surface inspections methods, i.e. eddy current array, magnetic flux sensor techniques and magnetic particle inspection, are applied. The canister safety assessment was the driving force to include reliability studies during the NDT development. Initially, the technical reliability was considered, resulting in development of advanced POD models (probability of detection). In combination with human factors studies, these models were implemented as tools in the development of the NDT techniques. Human factors studies were also applied to improve the inspection procedures to be more user-friendly enabling reliable inspections.
Accurate and reliable detection of subsea Pipeline corrosion is required in order to verify the integrity of the pipeline. A laboratory trial was conducted with a representative pipe sample. The accurate measurement of the wall thickness and corrosion was performed with high energy X-rays and a digital detector array. A 7.5 MV betatron was used to penetrate a stepped pipe and a welded test pipe of 3 m length and 327 mm outer diameter, with different artificial corrosion areas in the 24 mm thick steel wall. The radiographs were taken with a 40 x 40 cm² digital detector array, which was not large enough to cover the complete pipe diameter after magnification. A C-arm based geometry was tested to evaluate the potential for automated inspection in field. The primary goal was the accurate measurement of wall thickness conforming to the standard. The same geometry was used to explore the ability of a C-arm based scanner in asymmetric mode for computed tomography (CT) measurement, taking projections covering only two thirds of the pipe diameter. The technique was optimized with the modelling Software aRTist. A full volume of the pipe was reconstructed and the CT data set was used for reverse engineering, providing a CAD file for further aRTist simulations to explore the technique for subsea inspections.
The friction and wear properties of polyetherimide composites under dry oscillating sliding condition at room temperature (RT) as well as at elevated temperature (120 °C) was investigated. The polymer specimens were made to oscillate against steel cylinder as a counterpart. The friction and wear properties of PEI and composites were strongly influenced by the temperature. In case of carbon fiber composite abrasive action of carbon fibers has severely damaged the counterpart and resulted in accelerated wear of the composite at RT. Solid lubricants filled (PTFE, MoS2, graphite) along with glass fiber is beneficial in improving the friction and wear performance of the PEI composite at RT, whereas at elevated temperature wear performance was deteriorated.
The complex microstructure and the advanced mechanical properties of AHSS steel types lead to an increased susceptibility to weld cracking, especially during resistance spot welding under ‘rough’ manufacturing conditions.
Various activities have been conducted in recent years at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and the Fraunhofer IPK on this matter. Understandings about the safe spot weldability and the process of crack-forming itself were gained, and solutions for handling this issue given.
The performed work includes investigations on the influence of initial gaps as well as restraint intensity. An experimental method for the determination of the general cracking susceptibility, i.e. a material ranking of AHSS in respective to current restraints was developed. Coupled mechanical and thermal simulations of the welding process show the present internal stress-strain-conditions and values responsible for the formation of cracks, deepening the understanding of the process.
By using this easy to perform and material-independent method for the determination of the cracking susceptibility in resistance spot welded joints, small and medium sized companies can profit by rapidly evaluating the joinability of their handled material combinations as well as OEMs.
The Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM) is a federal institute for materials research and testing in Germany and has been involved in the qualification and safety evaluation procedures of metal seals from the early beginning of the interim storage licensing procedures for radioactive materials, stored in dual purpose casks. Regarding this subject, BAM investigates the long-term behavior of metal seals under the influence of temperature using experimental data and analytical approaches. The development of numerical models is in progress as well. Systematic experimental investigations performed by BAM indicate a continuous decrease of the remaining seal force and the usable resilience considering the leak tightness. Hence, there is a fundamental interest of describing time and temperature dependency to gain predictable values for the long-term behavior and to achieve reliable results with help of short-term tests.
The paper gives an overview about the sealing principle, test program and test results of metal seals of the type HELICOFLEX® HN200. The aging effect, respectively the long-term behavior in dependency of time and temperature, are introduced for two different outer liner materials, aluminum and silver.