Engineering Science and Materials Commons^™

Assessing Mechanical Performance Of Dissimilar Steel Systems Made Via Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing, Obed Daniel Acevedo

Masters Theses

Hot stamping is part of a specific type of metalworking procedure widely used in the automotive industry. This research seeks to help make hot stamp tooling component production more cost-effective by using large-scale additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing can produce dissimilar steel components that can be more cost-effective and time-efficient and allow for complex geometries to be made. A dissimilar steel system consisting of 410 martensitic stainless steel and AWS ER70S-6 mild steel is proposed to make hot stamps, making them more cost-efficient. However, the material interface's mechanical behavior in 410SS-mild steel additively manufactured material systems is not well understood. This …

Modeling Of Dislocation Channel Formation And Evolution In Irradiated Metals, Peter James Doyle

Masters Theses

Defect-free dislocation channel formation has been reported to promote plastic instability during tensile testing via localized plastic flow, leading to a distinct loss of ductility and strain hardening in many low-temperature irradiated materials. In order to study the underlying mechanisms governing dislocation channel width and formation, the channel formation process is modeled via a simple stochastic dislocation-jog process dependent upon grain size, defect cluster density, and defect size. Dislocations traverse a field of defect clusters and jog stochastically upon defect interaction, forming channels of low defect-density. Based upon prior molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and in-situ experimental transmission electron microscopy (TEM) …

Modeling And Experimental Investigation On The Influence Of Radiation Defects On Helium Behavior In Bcc Iron, Zuya Huang

Masters Theses

Fe-based alloys are important structural materials for both fission and fusion energy. For fusion applications, the challenges of radiation-induced changes in microstructure, properties and performance is further challenged by the concomitant production of helium from (n, alpha) nuclear reactions and fusion reactions. Due to the lack of a volumetric, high flux 14-MeV neutron source, studying these phenomena require the use of computational materials modeling and novel experimental methods. In this thesis, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations was used to investigate the synergistic interactions of helium with prismatic dislocation loops characteristic of those observed in neutron irradiated iron to determine how the …

Structural Analysis Of The Tablerock Thrust Sheet, Grandfather Mountain Window, Northwestern North Carolina: Emplacement Kinematics Of A Large Horse In A Major Thrust System, Ann Elizabeth Walker

Masters Theses

The Tablerock thrust sheet is exposed along the southwestern margin of Grandfather Mountain window in northwestern North Carolina, where it separates basement and cover rocks inside the window from basement thrust sheets of the overriding Blue Ridge-Piedmont megathrust sheet. It is a complex of footwall-derived horses of rifted-margin metasedimentary rocks, including Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian Chilhowee Group quartzite and phyllite, and Shady Dolomite. Penetrative deformation throughout the Tablerock thrust sheet is defined by an extensively transposed foliation, and strong colinearity between well developed transport lineations and SE/NW-trending tight, isoclinal, and sheath folds. Centimeter- to meter-scale sheath folds are common throughout …

An Automated Finite Element Analysis Framework For The Probabilistic Evaluation Of Composite Lamina Properties, Jonathan Phillips Weigand

Masters Theses

This thesis outlines the development of computational modeling tools used to predict the elastic properties of composite lamina from representative volume elements (RVE) using numerical methods. The homogenization approach involves the use of Gauss’s Theorem to simply the average volumetric strain integral into a surface integral containing which is defined by surface displacements and their direction. Simulations of RVEs under specific loading conditions (longitudinal tension or shear and transverse tension or shear) are then performed in the software package ABAQUS to obtain the surface displacements. It was found that obtaining quality meshes and applying periodic boundary conditions for each RVE …

Effect Of Moisture Absorption On The Sinter Quality Of Central Solenoid (Cs) Coil Pack, Zeshaan Sher Mohammed

Masters Theses

Fusion energy has been said to be the solution to all the world’s energy problems. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is the flagship project to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy. The Central Solenoid (CS), an important component of the reactor, is needed to induce plasma current, initiate, ramp-up, ramp-down, and sustain plasma in a very controlled manner. In order to achieve this, the CS coil packs must be manufactured under controlled conditions. The CS conductor is an advanced cable-in-conduit Nb3Sn superconductor. The CS cable will be made in long continuous sections but with thousands of meter of cable …

Methods For Characterizing Mechanical Properties Of Wood Cell Walls Via Nanoindentation, Yujie Meng

Masters Theses

Nanoindentation is a method of contacting a material whose mechanical properties are unknown with another material whose properties are known. Nanoindentation has the advantage of being able to probe a material’s microstructure while being sensitive enough to detect variations in mechanical properties. However, nanoindentation has some limitations as a testing technique due to the specific formation and structure of some biomaterials. The main objective of this research is to identify any factors that influence the nanoindentation measurement of wood cell walls (a typical biomaterial).

The function of the embedding media in describing the properties of wood cells is poorly understood. …