Effect of Heat Treatment on the Cyclic Deforming Behavior of As-Extruded ZA81M Magnesium Alloy

In the present work, the effect of heat treatment on the cyclic deformation behavior of as-extruded ZA81M magnesium alloy was investigated. Two heat treatment conditions were applied to the as-extruded ZA81M alloy: a solution treatment (T4, 653 K for 40 h and quenched with 298 K water) and a solution treatment plus artificial aging (T6, 348 K for 32 h (pre-aging at low temperature) and 453 K for 8 h (the second aging) and quenched with 353 K water). The results showed that the fine second phase precipitated after the aging treatment, the tensile yield strength of the T6-treated specimens increased, and the stress amplitude of T6-treated specimens was always higher than that of T4-treated specimens. The T6-treated specimens had a higher total strain energy density and a shorter fatigue life at a strain amplitude of 0.4%, and a lower total strain energy density and a longer fatigue life at a strain amplitude of 0.8%, compared to the T4-treated specimens. All fatigue cracks of the T4 and T6 ZA81M alloy were initiated at the second phase or along the grain boundary and propagated perpendicular to the loading direction.

Effect of the Stress State on the Adhesive Strength of an Epoxy-Bonded Assembly

The paper studies the adhesive strength of aluminum alloy specimens bonded with the use of an epoxy adhesive, under the tensile-shear stress state, depending on the testing temperature. Tension of modified Arcan specimens with load angles of 0, 22.5, 45, 67.5, and 90° with respect to the plane of adhesion is chosen as the experimental method. Experiments were performed at temperatures of −50, +23, and +50 °С. The analysis of the obtained results yields a linear fracture criterion and a fracture locus for the adhesive failure strain energy density, which takes into account the ratio of the elastic properties of the adhesive to those of the substrate. The region bounded by the fracture loci of adhesive strength and ultimate strain energy density determines the conditions for the safe loading of the bonded assembly in terms of the energy and force criteria of adhesive failure. The proposed fracture loci can be used, preferably simultaneously, to estimate the in-service strength and reliability of adhesively bonded assemblies.

Mechanical-Geometrical Modeling Of The Hyperelastic Materials At Uniaxial Stretching

Hyperelastic materials, such as rubber, occupy an important place in the design and operation of various technological equipment and machines. The article analyzed the deformation behavior of hyperelastic materials using a mechanical-geometric model. The method of mechanical-geometric modeling is a new method for obtaining constitutive relations and strain energy density functions for nonlinear elastic solids. It is based on physically and geometrically consistent prerequisites. The resulting models can describe broad classes of nonlinear elastic materials (both isotropic and anisotropic) depending on the mechanical and geometric properties “embedded” in them at the first stages of design. This paper discusses two basic types of models based on different initial geometry. The mechanical parameters of the models are constants, and the models themselves are considered in a statement corresponding to isotropic hyperelastic materials. The article presents the most common diagrams of deformation of artificial and natural rubbers, as well as steel. Hyperelastic materials, depending on the task, can be described in the nonlinear theory of elasticity as ideal incompressible, or as weakly compressible. Parameters of expressions of strain energy density functions of mechanical-geometric models obtained for cases of incompressible and weakly compressible continuous solids were identified. Stretch diagrams and diagrams of the transverse deformation function of the obtained mechanical-geometric models for the two cases mentioned above are plotted. The extension diagram for the model with parameters corresponding to the classic structural material of the steel type is also shown. Comments are given on the possibility of further paths of developing the method of mechanical-geometric modeling to obtain results not only in the field of nonlinear theory of elasticity, but also viscoelasticity.

Determination of a Strain Energy Density Function for the Tricuspid Valve Leaflets Using Constant Invariant-Based Mechanical Characterizations

The tricuspid valve (TV) regulates the blood flow within the right side of the heart. Despite recent improvements in understanding TV mechanical and microstructural properties, limited attention has been devoted to developments of TV-specific constitutive models. The objective of this work is to use the first-of-its-kind experimental data from constant invariant-based mechanical characterizations to determine a suitable invariant-based strain energy density function (SEDF). Six specimens for each TV leaflet are characterized using constant invariant mechanical testing. The data is then fit with three candidate SEDF forms: (i) a polynomial model as the transversely isotropic version of the Mooney-Rivlin model, (ii) an exponential model, and (iii) a combined polynomial-exponential model. Similar fitting capabilities were found for the exponential and polynomial forms (R2=0.92-0.99 vs. 0.91-0.97) compared to the combined polynomial-exponential SEDF (R2=0.65-0.95). Furthermore, the polynomial form had larger Pearson's correlation coefficients than the exponential form (0.51 vs. 0.30), indicating a more well-defined search space. Finally, the exponential and combined polynomial-exponential forms had notably smaller but more eccentric model parameter's confidence regions than the polynomial form. Further evaluations of invariant decoupling revealed that the decoupling of the invariant terms within the exponential SEDF leads to a less satisfactory performance. From these results, we conclude that the exponential form is better suited for the TV leaflets due to its superb fitting capabilities and smaller parameter's confidence regions.

Finite Element Analysis and Life Prediction of Pre-stressed Composed Dies in Cold Extrusion Process

Improving and stabilizing the life of the die has always been the key to increasing the output of cold precision forging products and reducing the production cost of forgings. The stress state in pre-stressed composed dies during cold extrusion process is investigated in this paper, it shows that the combined die can greatly reduce the tangential tensile stress of the inner wall of the die and reduce the strain energy density of the die, thereby improving the strength of the die and extending the life of the die. By increasing the number of pre-stressed rings, the amount of interference can be changed, which indirectly changes the pre-stress applied to the die. The relationship between the die fatigue life and the number of pre-stressed rings indicates that the design of the pre-stressed composed structure above the inflection point is an excess design, and the optimal design should be near the inflection point.

Creep-Fatigue Behaviours of Sn-Ag-Cu Solder Joints in Microelectronics Applications

Electronic manufacturing is one of the dynamic industries in the world in terms of leading technological advancements. Electronic assembly’s heart lies the ‘soldering technology’ and the ‘solder joints’ between electronic components and substrate. During the operation of electronic products, solder joints experience harsh environmental conditions in terms of cyclic change of temperature and vibration and exposure to moisture and chemicals. Due to the cyclic application of loads and higher operational temperature, solder joints fail primarily through creep and fatigue failures. This paper presents the creep-fatigue behaviours of solder joints in a ball grid array (BGA) soldered on a printed circuit board (PCB). Using finite element (FE) simulation, the solder joints were subjected to thermal cycling and isothermal ageing. Accelerated thermal cycling (ATC) was carried out using a temperate range from 40°C to 150°C, and isothermal ageing was done at −40, 25, 75 and 150°C temperatures for 45 days (64,800 mins). The solders studied are lead-based eutectic Sn63Pb37 and lead-free SAC305, SAC387, SAC396 and SAC405. The results were analysed using the failure criterion of equivalent stress, strain rate, deformation rate, and the solders’ strain energy density. The SAC405 and SAC396 have the least stress magnitude, strain rate, deformation rate, and strain energy density damage than the lead-based eutectic Sn63Pb37 solder; they have the highest fatigue lives based on the damage mechanisms. This research provides a technique for determining the preventive maintenance time of BGA components in mission-critical systems. Furthermore, it proposes developing a new life prediction model based on a combination of the damage parameters for improved prediction.