Search Results for finite element analysis

In this brief case study, finite element analysis and linear elastic fracture mechanics are used to evaluate new weld designs for large marine engines.

Ultrasound is widely used for nondestructive evaluation, structural health monitoring, acoustic emission, sound navigation ranging, and in sensors for automobiles, medicine, and many other applications. Next-generation, small-form-factor sensors have been achieved through advances in piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs) that can be positioned on either a flexible polymer or a silicon substrate to form an array. This article describes a materials and design optimization study that used finite element analyses to improve designs for robust and practical PMUT sensor arrays.

A new design and welding process may extend the life of furnace rolls in hot-dip coating lines, which often fail in less than one year. This article is a case study of analysis of a failed furnace roll that led to a proposed improved design to extend component life.

Researchers at MIT have evaluated a wide range of helmet liner designs and materials for potential use in the U.S. Army's advanced combat helmet (ACH). To measure the effectiveness of candidate materials, the investigators rely on finite-element simulations that are validated by shock tube testing at Purdue University. Of the various filler materials examined, glass beads, glycerin, and water show the most promise for blast attenuation.

Computer simulation is an important tool for medical device companies and designers to reduce expensive prototyping and testing. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Device and Radiological Health (CRY) is seeing a growing number of submissions for medical devices that include a simulation-data component.

This article discusses the capabilities of two software tools, one optimized for design the other for FEA, and explains how they work together to optimize airframe structures incorporating metallic and composite components.

Digital image correlation data and Bayesian inference used together facilitate rigorous quantification of the uncertainty in material input parameters for finite element simulations of superelastic deformation.

By using modeling tools, a lightning protection conductor is tuned to manage strike damage on a semiconductive composite skin and provide conductive paths in the desired orientation with optimized weight.

Nitinol fatigue fracture surfaces generally exhibit similar features to most engineering alloys, including a flat fracture plane, ratchet marks, radial lines, beachmarks, and striations.

Developments in titanium technology and opportunities for increased use in several markets were highlighted at the 13th World Conference on Titanium. This article reviews some of the key technical topics covered at the conference, including new alloy development and innovative characterization methods.

Engineers at the Ford Motor Co. are using integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) tools, allowing them to accurately simulate the heat treatment of gears and predict phase transformation kinetics and distortion.

Simulating bird-plane collisions helps aviation engineers design safer aerostructures and reduce physical testing.

Modeling and simulation are used to solve the problem of folded grooves, a common occurrence during aluminum wheel forging.

4D printing enables fabrication of complex objects that transform over time (the fourth dimension) when subjected to external stimuli. 4D printing of metallic functional materials is of special interest due to their capacity for self-assembly and multifunctionality, with the added benefit of higher actuation capability, in comparison with polymeric materials.

Manufacturing data together with heat treating knowledge can be synthesized with physics and data-based modeling approaches in a closed loop to provide insight for improving process efficiency and product quality for overall reduction in operating and energy costs. This article provides case studies of data analytics for coil batch annealing and batch carburizing.

Finite element representations of crash test dummies are widely used in the simulation of vehicle safety systems. The biofidelity of such models is strongly dependent on the accurate representation of the nonlinear behavior of constituent rubber, plastic, and foam materials. This article presents a simulation workflow in which material parameters are more easily optimized and demonstrates its use in the calibration of a viscoelastic model for the behavior of rubber-like materials in a side-impact dummy.

This article reports on a multifaceted testing and modeling approach to investigate the fatigue life of medical grade Nitinol to one billion cycles. The goal of a the research is to understand the mechanism of Nitinol ultra-high cycle fatigue and to eventually be able to predict when fracture will occur.

Using virtual tools to study aluminum cylinder head quenching processes delivers valuable information for process design and optimization. In this study, cooling curves and temperature gradients generated by air and water quench modeling methods were used to evaluate quenching performance for various quenching configurations.

An industry pioneer shares a historical overview of the early days of single crystal superalloy development.

The largest and heaviest component in a car is the body structure, so it was only natural to make this the focus of advanced R&D in the 1970s and 1980s for aluminum auto body applications.