Investigation of the Fracture Behaviour of Al-CFRP Cross-Lap Joint Fabricated by Coaxial One-Side Resistance Spot Welding.

In the present research, coaxial one-side resistance spot welding was performed to join Al5052 and CFRP sheets with different welding currents. The mechanical performance of the cross-lap joint was clarified experimentally. The cross-section of the welded joint and the fracture surfaces was subjected to multi-scale characterization. The fracture behaviours and mechanisms of cross-lap joints are discussed in detail. The results showed that the thermal degradation of CFRP was detected on the cross-section under a 6000 A welding current and the O element was enriched in the decomposed area. The joining zone could be divided into four subregions according to their morphology, which were defined, from outside to inside, as the squeezed zone, the adhesion zone, the cohesion zone and the decomposed zone. After welding, the O-C=O bond disappeared on the CFRP surface while the O=C-N bond was detected on the Al5052 surface. The cross-lap joints demonstrated brittle and ductile fracture behaviours in a cross-tension test, which included two sub-modes: brittle-transition mode and ductile-degradation mode. The transformation of failure modes had a relationship with the heat input and corresponding joining zone composition. The maximum cross-tension load was about 1279 ± 40 N with a welding current of 5600 A.

Thermomechanical Process Simulation and Experimental Verification for Laser Additive Manufacturing of Inconel®718.

Laser cladding has emerged as a promising technique for custom-built fabrications, remanufacturing, and repair of metallic components. However, frequent melting and solidification in the process cause inevitable residual stresses that often lead to geometric discrepancies and deterioration of the end product. The accurate physical interpretation of the powder consolidation process remains challenging. Thermomechanical process simulation has the potential to comprehend the layer-by-layer additive process and subsequent part-scale implications. Nevertheless, computational accuracy and efficacy have been serious concerns so far; therefore, a hybrid FEM scheme is adopted for efficient prediction of the temperature field, residual stress, and distortion in multilayer powder-fed laser cladding of Inconel®718. A transient material deposition with powder material modeling is schematized to replicate the fabrication process. Moreover, simulation results for residual stress and distortion are verified with in-house experiments, where residual stress is measured with XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) and geometric distortion is evaluated with CMM (Coordinate Measuring Machine). A maximum tensile residual stress of 373 ± 5 MPa is found in the vicinity of the layer right in the middle of the substrate and predicted results are precisely validated with experiments. Similarly, a 0.68 ± 0.01 mm distortion is observed with numerical simulation and showed a precise agreement with experimental data for the same geometry and processing conditions. Conclusively, the implemented hybrid FEM approach demonstrated a robust and accurate prediction of transient temperature field, residual stresses, and geometric distortion in the multilayer laser cladding of Inconel®718.

Evaluation of Thermal Fatigue Life and Crack Morphology in Brake Discs of Low-Alloy Steel for High-Speed Trains.

Effective braking in high-speed trains is one of the major bottlenecks in expediting the technology and possibilities to improve speed. Although substantial progress has been made to increase operating speed, perhaps, thermal fatigue cracking in brake discs is a primary constraint so far. Thermal fatigue cracking is the major cause of brake disc failure in high-speed trains, especially trains with a speed of 350 km/h or above. In this study, new material composition is proposed for brake discs of high-speed trains. A comprehensive investigation is presented based on fatigue crack initiation and propagation, along with wear and micro-hardness characterization. Thermal fatigue tests at various thermal cycles between 20 ℃ and 700 ℃ were performed and the experimental results are compared with fatigue properties of a commercial brake disc material. An experimental trial revealed that thermal cracks normally initiate and propagate along the oxidized grain boundaries; nevertheless, crack propagation is restricted by the fine precipitates and lath structure of martensitic. Moreover, crack length at the initiation and propagation stage is predicted through crack growth rate and favorable grain size in the crack vicinity. Thermal fatigue life can be improved by dictating the microstructure and precipitate morphology of cast steel by tailoring the alloying composition.

Fast Prediction for Resistance Spot Welding Deformation Using Inherent Strain Method and Nugget Model.

In a car body, there exist thousands of resistance spot welds, which may induce large deformation during the manufacturing process. Therefore, it is expected that automotive industries will develop a method and a computing system for the fast and simple prediction of its deformation. Although the inherent strain method has been used for the fast prediction of arc welding deformation, it has not been applied to resistance spot welding so far. Additionally, the electrical-thermal-mechanical coupling analysis for the deformation induced by resistance spot welding is complicated and much more time-consuming. Therefore, in this study, a nugget model of the resistance spot weld has been developed, and the inherent strain method is extended for use in the fast prediction of resistance spot welding deformation. In addition, the deformation of a vehicle part with 23 resistance spot welds was efficiently predicted within around 90 min using the inherent strain method, displaying good accuracy compared with the measurement.

Advanced Structural Health Monitoring Method by Integrated Isogeometric Analysis and Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing.

Attempts in digital management of structures are among the most popular topics in the trend of Information of Things (IoT). However, the implementation lags behind. This work recognized that Computer Aided Design (CAD) comprises the core of modern engineering; thus, most digital information can be available if CAD is used not only in design but also for life cycle structural health monitoring (SHM). Based on this concept, the newly designed method utilizes the isogeometric analysis (IGA) tool to include the Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing (DFOS) information by proposing a fiber mesh model. The IGA model can be obtained directly from CAD, and the boundary conditions can be provided directly or indirectly from DFOS in real time and remotely. Hence a practical method of SHM is able to achieve highly efficient and accurate numerical model creation, which can even accommodate non-linear constitutive property of materials. The proposed method was applied to a pipe deformation model as an example. The inverse analysis method is also shown to determine the contact force for loading on the pipe, which shows the potential for many engineering applications.

Material Model Development of Magnesium Alloy and Its Strength Evaluation.

A new material model of magnesium alloys, combining both Hill'48 yield function and Cazacu'06 yield function, was developed and programmed into LS-DYNA using user subroutine, in which both slip dominant and twinning/untwinning dominant hardening phenomena were included. First, a cyclic load test was performed, and its finite element analysis was carried out to verify the new material model. Then, the deformation behaviors of the magnesium crash box subjected to the compressive impact loading were investigated using the developed material model. Compared with the experimental results, the new material model accurately predicted the deformation characteristics of magnesium alloy parts. Additionally, the effect of the thickness distribution, initial deflection and contact friction coefficient in simulation models on deformation behaviors were investigated using this validated material model.

Investigation of the Residual Stress in a Multi-Pass T-Welded Joint Using Low Transformation Temperature Welding Wire.

We investigated whether low transformation temperature (LTT) welding materials are beneficial to the generation of compressive residual stress around a weld zone, thus enhancing the fatigue performance of the welded joint. An experimental and numerical study were conducted in order to analyze the residual stress in multi-pass T-welded joints using LTT welding wire. It was found that, compared to the conventional welded joint, greater tensile residual stress was induced in the flange plate of the LTT welded joints. This was attributed to the reheat temperature of the LTT weld pass during the multi-pass welding. The formerly-formed LTT weld pass with a reheat temperature lower than the austenite finish temperature converted the compressive residual stress into tensile stress. The compressive residual stress was generated in the regions with a reheat temperature higher than the austenite finish temperature, indicating that LTT welding materials are more suitable for single-pass welding.

Influence of Scanning Speed on Microstructure and Properties of Laser Cladded Fe-Based Amorphous Coatings.

Fe-based amorphous alloys with excellent mechanical properties are suitable for preparing wear resistant coatings by laser cladding. In this study, a novel Fe-based amorphous coating was prepared by laser cladding on 3Cr13 stainless steel substrates. The influence of scanning speeds on the microstructures and properties of the coatings was investigated. The microstructure compositions and phases were analyzed by scanning electron microscope, electron probe microanalyzer, and x-ray diffraction respectively. Results showed that the microstructures of the coatings changed significantly with the increase of scanning speeds. For a scanning speed of 6 mm/s, the cladding layer was a mixture of amorphous and crystalline regions. For a scanning speed of 8 mm/s, the cladding layer was mainly composed of block grain structures. For a scanning speed of 10 mm/s, the cladding layer was composed entirely of dendrites. Different dilution rates at the bonding zones were the main reasons for the microstructure change for different claddings. For all three scanning speeds, the coatings had higher hardness and wear resistance when compared with the substrate; as the scanning speed increased, the hardness and wear resistance of the coatings gradually decreased due to the change in microstructure.

Finite Element Analysis and In-Situ Measurement of Out-of-Plane Distortion in Thin Plate TIG Welding.

Transient distortion of thin plate in the welding process usually has a complicated mode and large magnitude. Quantitative measurement and prediction of full-field distortion are challenging and rarely reported up to now. In this study, the out-of-plane distortion of a thin plate during the Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding process was measured using the digital image correlation (DIC) method. A simulation model based on thermal elastic⁻plastic finite element method (FEM) and DIC measured geometric imperfection were developed for accurate prediction of the transient welding distortion. The numerical results and experimental data agreed very well in both out-of-plane deformation modes and magnitudes of the plate at different stages of welding. The maximum out-of-plane distortion was larger than 4 mm during welding which can cause instability of arc length and heat input. The distance change between welding torch and plate surface was investigated under different initial deflections of the plate before welding. The plate with flat geometry shows the minimum transient and final gap change. In addition, the relationship between heat input and welding distortion was clarified through a series of numerical analyses. Optimization of welding heat input can be performed based on numerical results to avoid excessive welding distortion.