The flexural fatigue behavior of hybrid composite rods comprised of unidirectional carbon and glass fibers was investigated. Damage was evaluated by monitoring stiffness loss as a function of cycles, and bending fatigue failure was defined in terms of strength retention. The acoustic emission technique and microscopic examination were used to characterize damage progression and failure mechanis...

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) bone cement is used as a grout to secure joint replacement prostheses into bone. It has a distinct microstructure made up of: prepolymerized beads, an interbead matrix polymer, a radiopacifier {barium sulphate (BaS04) or zirconium dioxide (Zr02)}, and pores or voids; the radiopacifier is fmmd only in the interbead matrix of the cured bone cement. The mechanism o...

Fatigue cracking is one of the most common failure modes of various load-bearing structures. Even though sensors of many different types have been developed for crack detection, very few can monitor crack growth with a high sensitivity. This paper presents an antenna sensor that is capable of monitoring the growth of fatigue cracks with a sub-millimeter resolution. According to microstrip patch...

Fatigue crack growth observed in tubular K-joint specimens, typical of tubular bridge structures, always initiates at the chord crown toe locations whether the applied stress range is tensile or compressive. Even though other locations around the weld have highest hot-spot stresses, chord crown toe locations are still the most critical. This raises the question about the relevant tensile residu...

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Minimal evidence is available concerning the appropriate thickness of each layer in bilayered ceramic systems. PURPOSE The purpose of this in vitro study was to examine the effect of core-veneer thickness ratios on the fatigue strength of a bonded bilayered ceramic system. MATERIAL AND METHODS Specimens of Ivoclar Porcelain System (IPS) e.max lithium disilicate were fab...

Fatigue properties and cracking behavior of cold-drawn commercially pure aluminum wires (CPAWs) widely used as the overhead transmission conductors were investigated. It was found that the fracture surface of the CPAWs shows an obvious four-stage fracture characteristic, i.e., crack initiation, planar crack propagation, 45°-inclined crack propagation and final rapid fracture. The crack growth m...

Metallic glasses (MGs) exhibit greater elastic limit and stronger resistance to plastic deformation than their crystalline metal counterparts. Their capacity to withstand plastic straining is further enhanced at submicrometer length scales. For a range of microelectromechanical applications, the resistance of MGs to damage and cracking from thermal and mechanical stress or strain cycling under ...

In this paper we examine the conditions for surface topography evolution and crack growth/fracture during the cyclic actuation of polysilicon microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) structures. The surface topography evolution that occurs during cyclic fatigue is shown to be stressassisted and may be predicted by linear perturbation analyses. The conditions for crack growth (due to pre-existing o...

Corrosion, stress-corrosion cracking or corrosion-initiated fatigue significantly impact maintenance downtime and structural life limitations of aging aircraft. Both legacy and new air platforms such as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), realize that corrosion will likely continue to be a structural challenge that warrants a structural health management system to provide accurate, cost effective a...

High-cycle fatigue (HCF), involving the premature initiation and/or rapid propagation of cracks to failure due to high-frequency cyclic loading, remains a principal cause of failures in gas-turbine propulsion systems. In this work, we explore the feasibility of using “grain-boundary engineering” as a means to enhance the microstructural resistance to HCF. Specifically, sequential thermomechanic...