Experimental and Numerical Analysis of the Shear Properties of Honeycomb Cores Produced Using Additive Technologies

An approach to the experimental and computational study of the shear properties of honeycomb cores (HC) produced using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology is proposed. The experimental approach is based on a new sample type for testing HCs for shear. This sample contains two HCs and three steel plates. Shear tests are carried out in the TiraTest 2300 universal tensile testing machine. The HCs are made of ULTEM 9085 and PLA with FDM technology, which is implemented in the 3D Fortus 900 system. The tests resulted in obtaining the shear properties of the HCs by averaging the stress-strain curves of five samples. As follows from the analysis of the experimental results, brittle destruction of an HC is observed. Before its destruction, the value of shear deformation for samples made of PLA was 0.0134, and for samples made of ULTEM, 0.0257. The experimental analysis was accompanied by numerical finite element (FE) modeling of shear experiments, taking into account the deformation of the equipment. With the FE modeling of the experiments, to describe the behavior of the samples, it is necessary to take into account the influence, on the measurements of the shear properties, of the equipment and the deformation of each honeycomb cell. The deformation of three plates was taken into account; the elastic properties of the adhesive joint were not taken into account. A computer model of the deformation of the HCs with equipment was built using ANSYS Design Modeler. With FE modeling, only the elastic behavior of the HCs was considered.

Evaluation of Damage Limit State for RC Frame Based on FE Modeling

Many damage limit states have been defined to characterize the extent of damages occurred in RC frame. Some of the damage limit states are defined by models that relate the limit states with the control points. Both control points and the limit state are expressed in term of response quantities. This research aims to evaluate the validity of such models by identifying the defined damage limit state with the corresponding damage based on FE modeling. The FE modeling provides a direct link between the damage and the response quantities. This link can be exploited as a basis for the evaluation. Based on the evaluation, this study proposed modified damage limit states. The response quantities with its corresponding progressive damage from FE simulation will also be used to inspect whether damage that can be expected to occur in the model structure is within the range estimated by the code based approach (CBA) damage limit state. Finally, fragility curves are constructed to assess the probability of the expected damage in the model structure under Design Basis Earthquake (DBE) and Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE) scenarios. Utilizing the proposed damage limit states, the most probable damage in the structure falls in the category of slight if an earthquake at a level of DBE or MCE strikes the structure. However, at MCE level the probability of moderate damage attains 35%, or an increase by 23% compared to the DBE level.

Selective Laser Melting of Pre-Alloyed NiTi Powder: Single-Track Study and FE Modeling with Heat Source Calibration

Unique functional properties such as the low stiffness, superelasticity, and biocompatibility of nickel–titanium shape-memory alloys provide many applications for such materials. Selective laser melting of NiTi enables low-cost customization of devices and the manufacturing of highly complex geometries without subsequent machining. However, the technology requires optimization of process parameters in order to guarantee high mass density and to avoid deterioration of functional properties. In this work, the melt pool geometry, surface morphology, formation mode, and thermal behavior were studied. Multiple combinations of laser power and scanning speed were used for single-track preparation from pre-alloyed NiTi powder on a nitinol substrate. The experimental results show the influence of laser power and scanning speed on the depth, width, and depth-to-width aspect ratio. Additionally, a transient 3D FE model was employed to predict thermal behavior in the melt pool for different regimes. In this paper, the coefficients for a volumetric double-ellipsoid heat source were calibrated with bound optimization by a quadratic approximation algorithm, the design of experiments technique, and experimentally obtained data. The results of the simulation reveal the necessary conditions of transition from conduction to keyhole mode welding. Finally, by combining experimental and FE modeling results, the optimal SLM process parameters were evaluated as P = 77 W, V = 400 mm/s, h = 70 μm, and t = 50 μm, without printing of 3D samples.

Effects of sedan wheelbase size on left rear-seat occupant injury risk in small offset crashes

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of sedan wheelbase size on the kinematics and injury severity of left rear-seat occupants by using the finite element (FE) modeling method. A total of 270 cases with detailed accidental information records were analyzed to define the influence laws of wheelbase size and impact speed on the injury of left rear-seat occupants. First, the THUMS (Ver. 4.0.2) FE model was used to reconstruct two small offset collisions with different wheelbases size and unbelted left rear-seat occupants, and the effectiveness of the accident model was verified. Then, seatbelts were added to the left rear-seat occupant models. Finally, LS-DYNA software was used to study the correlation among head and chest injury and five sedan wheelbases sizes (2300, 2450, 2600, 2750, and 2905 mm) at three impact velocities (54, 64, and 74 km/h). The results showed that the occupants’ chest injuries showed an upward trend at the impact velocity of 64 and 74 km/h when the wheelbases sizes was reduced to 2300 mm. This research illustrated that at higher impact velocities, excessively small wheelbases might increase the chest injury severity of left rear-seat occupants.