Sharif Digital Repository

In aerospace applications, the weight of structures is considered as a major performance parameter. One of the most effective ways for weight reduction is superplastic forming. By this technique, not only the weight, but also the stress concentration, the cost, and the time of manufacturing are noticeably reduced. Additionally, the components with complicated shapes could be formed in a single manufacturing step. Due to the wide demand for whiskers reinforced metal matrix composites (MMC's) in aerospace applications, many research works have been designed to extend the boarders of superplastic forming of metals to the area of MMC manufacturing. In the present study, the FEM modeling of... 

In this paper, an innovative method is proposed for material selection. This method is based on the well-known weighting properties approach while integrating a new exponential function in the method to overcome the deficiencies of previously proposed methods. Using a maximum and minimum, in each significant aspect of the problem, for scaling, the values of material properties and achieving more realistic results by not emphasizing on any of the high and low extremes and using an exponential function that ranks the candidates regardless of their number, for improving the performance of the methodology and obtaining more absolute rankings, are some of the advantages of this method. The... 

It would be promising if one can simulate the closed-loop behavior of a smart system in an available FEM software such as "ANSYS". The ANSYS/Multiphysics software has the ability of coupling different physical domains and also modeling smart materials such as piezoelectric and piezoresistives, i.e. it has the capability of modeling smart structures. The dynamic modeling of the controlled structures is then realized by the ANSYS programming tool. This aspect highly facilitates the overall system behavior analysis and at the same time various control methods can be tested without noticing the time consuming structural analysis involved. In this research work, it is tried the mentioned idea to... 

An analytical approach is proposed for studying the elastic-plastic behavior of short fiber reinforced metal matrix composites under tensile loading. In the proposed method, a micromechanical approach is employed, considering an axi-symmetric unit cell including one fiber and the surrounding matrix. First, the governing equations and the boundary conditions are derived and the elastic solution is obtained based on some shear lag type methods. A plastic deformation is considered for the matrix under each small tensile loading step. Then, applying the successive elastic solutions method, all the plastic strain terms are obtained for the matrix. Thereafter, the elastic-plastic stress transfer... 

Cost-effective and reliable damage detection is critical for utilization of composite materials. This paper utilizes PZT piezoelectric disks to excite the first symmetric Lamb wave (S0 mode). The interaction of Lamb wave mode with a through-thickness crack of different lengths and angles in [0/45/-45/90]s CF/EP laminate plates is analyzed in terms of finite element method. This study contributes to the damage detection by developing an improved wavelet-based signal processing technique that enhances the visibility and interpretation of the Lamb wave signals related to defects. Based on the amount of energy dissipated by the damage, a damage index is defined as the function of an electric... 

The objective of this paper is to present some novel insights for solving a second stage creep problem in metal matrix composites. First, a new analytical approach is developed for obtaining some unknowns in second stage creep of short fiber composites under an applied axial load. The unknowns are the radial, circumferential, axial, shear and equivalent stresses, which are determined by approximation of creep constitutive equations and using proper assumed displacement rates. A nonlinear differential equation is solved employing suitable and correct approximate assumptions. Then, the difference of the stress components utilizing creep constitutive equations and assumed displacement rates is... 

A novel analytical model is presented for analyzing the steady-state creep in short-fiber composites under axial load utilizing the previous shear-lag theory, the imaginary fiber technique and also new approaches of Hermite polynomials, hyperbolic trigonometric functions and power series. The steady-state creep behavior of the matrix is described by an exponential law, while the fibers behave elastically. In this model, in spite of the previous researches, some unknowns such as shear stress, displacement rates, and creep strain rates are correctly determined in all regions of the unit cell without using any further assumptions. In comparison with previous analytical approaches, the results... 

A new mathematical insight based on logarithmic, polynomial mapping functions (MF), and dimensionless parameter (DP) models is presented for determination of some unknowns in the steady state creep stage of short fiber composites subjected to axial loading. These unknowns are displacement rate in outer surface of the unit cell, shear and equivalent stresses at interface and outer surface of the unit cell, and average axial stress in fiber. Dimensionless parameter technique is presented for determination of displacement rate and equivalent stress in outer surface of the unit cell. However, the polynomial mapping function is presented for determination of average axial stress in fiber. Most... 

A new analytical formulation is presented to study the steady-state creep in short fiber composites using complex variable method. In this new approach, both the fiber and matrix creep at low stresses and temperatures. To analyze the crept fiber, a plane stress model was used. Important novelties of the present analytical method are determination of displacement rates with proper boundary conditions in the crept fibers and also using the complex variable method in creep analyzing. It is noteworthy that the method can be useful to study the creep behavior in polymeric matrix composites due to their high capability of creep. Moreover, another significant application of the present method is to... 

When aircrafts reach the end of their service life,fatigue cracks are found to have developed along rivet holes andother highly stressed regions of aircrafts.In order to extend the life of these aircrafts, repairs should be made to arrest these cracks.Composite doublers or repair patches provide an innovative repair technique,which can enhance the waywhich aircrafts are maintained.Bonded repair of metallic aircraft structure is used to extend the life of flawed or under-designed components at reasonable cost.Such repairs generally have one of three objectives: fatigue enhancement,crack patching or corrosion repair.Repair of cracked structure may be performed,by bonding an external patch to... 

An analytical approach is proposed for studying the elastic–plastic behavior of short-fiber-reinforced metal matrix composites under tensile loading. In the proposed research, a micromechanical approach is employed, considering an axisymmetric unit cell including one fiber and the surrounding matrix. First, the governing equations and the boundary conditions are derived and the elastic solution is obtained based on some shear-lag-type methods. Since under normal loading conditions and according to the fiber material characteristics, the metal matrix undergoes plastic deformation, while the fiber remains within the elastic region, a plastic deformation is considered for the matrix under each... 

Approximate solutions for vibrations of flexible beam-type appendages subjected to tip mass are studied while uniform and exponential profiles for arm deployment are simulated. Applying an equivalent dynamical system and following Lagrangian approach, the equations of motion of the system are derived as nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) (with time-varying coefficients), in which the effect of the tip mass can be considered as some nonlinearity added to the 'no tip mass' case dynamics. The approximate closed-form solutions are obtained through a novel methodology using a computer algorithm, in which the solutions of the 'no tip mass' case are expanded by imposing quadratic... 

Ways to reduce an airline's cost has been studied for years. In fact, in order to achieve this goal, ones need to know different types of airline's costs including; fuel and oil, maintenance, Ticketing, passenger services, etc. and their impact on the total cost of an airline. According to announcement of ICAO [1], "maintenance cost (about 11% of total cost) is the second major cost after fuel and oil". Therefore, this may attract airline owners' attention to find ways to control maintenance cost and eventually the total cost of an airline. Though, there are many systematic approaches to analyze cost reduction and making policies, in this article, SD modeling is applied to develop a... 

In this study, the energy concept along with the first- and third-order shear deformation theories (FSDT and TSDT) are used to predict the large deflection and through the thickness stress of FGM plates. These responses are studied and discussed as a function of plate thickness and the order "n" of a power law function which is considered for the through the thickness variation of the properties of the FGM plate. The results show that the energy method powered by the FSDT and FSDT is capable of predicting the effects of plate thickness on the deformation and the through the thickness stress. Here, also the effects of power "n" on the plate response is clearly depicted. Notably, the... 

The most common use of FG materials is as barrier coating against large thermal gradients. Thermal stresses in FG materials, if not released, may cause structural discontinuities in outer surfaces or even inside the material such as cracks, debonding, etc. In this research work, using Finite element method and micromechanical modeling of FG thermal barrier coatings, stresses under thermal and mechanical loadings of the same and different phases have been investigated. Also, the effect of some parameters such as refinement and offsetting of particles on stresses are studied. As for the loading, thermal cycle and in-phase and out-of-phase thermo-mechanical cyclic loadings are considered. The... 

Fiber/matrix debonding at the free surface of unidirectional composites deteriorates their performance and ultimately reduces the working life of these materials. Identifying the source, controlling the propagation and elimination of the damages has been the subject of many research attempts. The results show that the singular radial thermal residual stress at the fiber/matrix interface on the free surface of composites is the main reason for initiation of the debonding. Also, it has been experimentally and numerically proven that a thin layer of matrix-like cover on the free surface could highly help in elimination and/or reduction of the damage. However, the results were limited to the... 

A thorough investigation of the dynamics of finite-mass satellites with a deployable elastic arm is presented. This work is focused on the interaction between spacecraft rigid body motion and its flexible arm dynamics during the deployment process. The classical Newton–Euler formulation and the Lagrangian approach are applied to the study of the dynamics of spacecraft and its deploying arm. Utilizing a non-Newtonian floating frame to define the arm elastic deformation field, the interactions between the spacecraft and its moving arm have been simulated. Complete equations of motion show that the spacecraft motion induces dynamical stiffness on the arm; in addition, axial and lateral motions... 

Maintenance costs in airlines change as time passes. As airplane ages, it needs more often and more expensive checks. Due to these growing expenses, airlines are getting more interested in cost analysis. Under financial pressure, they avoid buying new airplanes and try to maintain the old ones, but sometimes try to cut the maintenance costs by ignoring or delaying some checks. In other words, they are more disposed to spend small amount of money frequently through time, than to spend a great deal on a new airplane with low maintenance costs. Therefore, in such situations, the following questions raise that what solution is more efficient as we look dynamically to the system? For answering... 

A thorough investigation of the dynamics of finite-mass satellites with a deployable elastic arm is presented. This work is focused on the interaction between spacecraft rigid body motion and its flexible arm dynamics during the deployment process. The classical Newton–Euler formulation and the Lagrangian approach are applied to the study of the dynamics of spacecraft and its deploying arm. Utilizing a non-Newtonian floating frame to define the arm elastic deformation field, the interactions between the spacecraft and its moving arm have been simulated. Complete equations of motion show that the spacecraft motion induces dynamical stiffness on the arm; in addition, axial and lateral motions... 

This paper attempts to describe the fatigue response of a foam the core sandwich composite with unsymmetrical carbon/glass face sheets under tension-tension cyclic loading. The laminate is a critical element of the structure of a light full composite airplane which was determined through the stress analyses for numerous load cases. The face sheets, over a PVC foam the core, consist of two similar woven E-glass fibers following unidirectional carbon fibers with epoxy resin. Extensive fatigue data were generated for the S-N diagram of this laminate. Based on the static FEM analyses, two designs for the configuration of foam to solid laminate bonding zone have been investigated. Hence, the...