This article provides an outline of the issues to consider in performing a probabilistic life assessment. It begins with an historical background and introduces the most common methods. The article then describes those methods covering subjects such as the required random variable definitions, how uncertainty is quantified, and input for the associated random variables, as well as the characterization of the response uncertainty. Next, it focuses on specific and generic uncertainty propagation techniques: first- and second-order reliability methods, the response surface method, and the most frequently used simulation methods, standard Monte Carlo sampling, Latin hypercube sampling, and discrete probability distribution sampling. Further, the article discusses methods developed to analyze the results of probabilistic methods and covers the use of epistemic and aleatory sampling as well as several statistical techniques. Finally, it illustrates some of the techniques with application problems for which probabilistic analysis is an essential element.

Most modern instrumental techniques produce an output or signal that is not absolute. To obtain quantitative information, the raw output from an instrument must be converted into a physical quantity. This is done by standardizing or calibrating the raw response from an instrument and subsequently analyzing the uncertainty from both the calibration process and the measurement process. This article briefly summarizes the most common calibration and uncertainty analysis methods, namely external standard methods, abbreviated external standard methods, internal normalization, internal standard, standard addition, and serial dilution methods. In addition, it includes information on the traceability of true value of a measured quantity.

Guided wave testing (GWT) is a method of nondestructive evaluation for the inspection of pipelines. This article focuses mainly on explaining GWT as it is applied in routine established use, covered by standards, in the oil and gas industry and also introduces some of the other contexts in which its use is growing in other evolving applications. It discusses the various guided wave modes and their selection criteria. The article provides information on considerations for mode control and the sensitivity of the GWT to the defect. It also shows some examples of advanced GWT.

This article provides a comprehensive review and critical assessment of numerical modeling of heat and mass transfer in fusion welding. The different fusion welding processes are gas tungsten arc welding, gas metal arc welding, laser welding, electron beam welding, and laser-arc hybrid welding. The article presents the mathematical equations of mass, momentum, energy, and species conservation. It reviews the applications of heat transfer and fluid flow models for different welding processes. Finally, the article discusses the approaches to improve reliability of, and reduce uncertainty in, numerical models.

This article focuses on the necessary basics for thermomechanical fusion welding simulations and provides an overview of the specific aspects to be considered for a simulation project. These aspects include the required material properties, experimental data needed for validation of the simulation results, simplifications and assumptions as a prerequisite for modeling, and thermomechanical simulation. The article concludes with information on the sensitivity of the material properties data with respect to the simulation results. It also provides hints on the central challenge of having the right material properties at hand for a specific simulation task.

This article presents an approach to manage the uncertainty present in materials design. It describes inductive and deductive approaches to deal with uncertainty. The article focuses on providing an understanding of the opportunities for managing uncertainty and the decisions that influence the accuracy of the results. A design of experiments (DOE) represents a sequence of experiments to be performed, expressed in terms of factors set at specified levels. The article discusses the two types of DOEs: the full factorial design and the fractional factorial design. It explains the factors to be considered when selecting a procedure for propagating uncertainty. The article lists the categories of the popular types of uncertainty propagation methods, including simulation-based methods, local expansion methods, and numerical integration-based methods.

This article provides guidelines for the assessment of model quality in materials science and engineering. It discusses the fundamentals of model quality assessment and the calibration of mechanistic material models. The article reviews the considerations for the model verification during software implementation planning to identify suitable programs, software components, and programming languages. It describes the validity tests used in model validation, including boundary-value tests, degenerate problem tests, sensitivity tests, and benchmarking. The article also presents an example of model calibration, verification, and validation for the prediction of martensite start temperature of steels.

Neural networks permit the discovery of fundamental relationships and quantitative structure within vast arrays of ill-understood data. This article provides an overview of neural network modeling method, describing its overfitting nature. It discusses the use of neural networks in modeling noise and uncertainties in conducting experiments. The article also presents examples of the application of neural-network modeling to the behavior of metals.

This article begins with an overview of classes and applications of gray iron. It discusses the castability of gray iron in terms of section sensitivity and fluidity. The article provides information on the dimensions of prevailing sections recommended for gray irons and reviews the properties and specifications of test bar. Properties of gray iron, such as fatigue limit, pressure tightness, impact resistance, machinability, and dimensional stability, at both room and elevated temperature, are reviewed. Wear behavior of gray iron castings during sliding contact under conditions of normal lubrication is also discussed. The article evaluates the use of alloys and heat treatment to modify as-cast properties. It concludes with information on the physical properties of gray iron castings.

Shell molding is used for making production quantities of castings that range in weight from a few ounces to approximately 180 kg (400 lb), in both ferrous and nonferrous metals. This article lists the limitations or disadvantages of shell mold casting. It describes the two methods for preparation of resin-sand mixture for shell molding, namely, mixing resin and sand according to conventional dry mixing techniques, and coating the sand with resin. Shaping of shell molds and cores from resin sand mixtures is accomplished in machines. The article discusses the major steps in producing a mold or core and describes the problems most frequently encountered in shell-mold casting. The problems include mold cracking, soft molds, low hot tensile strength of molds, peelback, and mold shift. The article concludes with information on examples that provide some relative cost comparisons between shell molding and green sand molding.

This article illustrates the simulation procedure of casting process. It describes important elements and points of the simulations. These include the setting of clear simulation objectives, selection of proper simulation code, hints in modeling of shape and phenomena, initial and boundary conditions, physical properties, enmeshing, and evaluation of simulation results. The article also provides some insights into the application of models to real world problem for foundry process engineers.

This article provides information on metals that can be cast in permanent molds. It describes the advantages, disadvantages, applications, and design of permanent castings. Following a discussion on the factors considered in mold design and material selection, the article details the application of mold coatings and examines the effects of major processing variables on mold life. The variables that determine mold temperature and measures for controlling it are reviewed, and the effects of short-term and long-term variables on the dimensional accuracy of permanent mold castings are explained. The article concludes with a discussion on the factors influencing the surface finish on permanent mold castings.

This article discusses the production of blanks from low-carbon steel sheet and strip in dies in a mechanical or hydraulic press. It describes the cutting operations that are done by dies in presses to produce blanks. The applications of blanking methods are described with examples. The article reviews the characteristics of blanked edges and explains how to calculate the forces and the work involved in blanking. Factors affecting the processing of blanks are discussed. The article provides information on the selection of work metal form, the effect of work metal thickness on the selection of material for dies and related components, as well as the selection of die type and design. The article illustrates the construction and use of short-run dies and conventional dies. It concludes with information on the shaving and deburring methods for blanking.

Contour roll forming is a continuous process for forming metal from sheet, strip, or coiled stock into desired shapes of uniform cross section by feeding the stock through a series of roll stations equipped with contoured rolls. This article discusses the materials, roll-forming machines, tooling, and auxiliary equipment used in contour roll forming and its process variables. Tooling used in roll forming includes forming rolls and dies for punching and cutting off the material. The article discusses the additional tooling required in tube mills to weld, size, and straighten the tubes as they are produced on the machine. It describes the roll design for tube rolling and reviews the seam welding operations of pipe and tubing. The article discusses cross-sectional tolerances, the reshaping of round tubing, and factors that affect the quality, accuracy, and surface finish.

Metalworking is one of the three major technologies used to fabricate metal products. This article tabulates the classification of metal forming processes. It discusses different types of metalworking equipment, including rolling mills, ring-rolling machines, and thread-rolling and surface-rolling machines. The article outlines the significant characteristics of pressing-type machines: load and energy characteristics, time-related characteristics, and accuracy characteristics. It summarizes different specialized processes such as advanced roll-forming methods, equal-channel angular extrusion, incremental forging, and microforming. The article describes the thermomechanical processing of nickel- and titanium-base alloys and concludes with information on the advancements in process simulation.

Cold heading is typically a high-speed process where a blank is progressively moved through a multi-station machine. This article discusses various cold heading process parameters, such as upset length ratio, upset diameter ratio, upset strain, and process sequence design. It describes the various components of a cold-heading machine and the tools used in the cold heading process. These include headers, transfer headers, bolt makers, nut formers, and parts formers. The article explains the operations required for preparing stock for cold heading, including heat treating, drawing to size, machining, descaling, cutting to length, and lubricating. It lists the advantages of the cold heading over machining. Materials selection criteria for dies and punches in cold heading are also described. The article provides examples that demonstrate tolerance capabilities and show dimensional variations obtained in production runs of specific cold-headed products. It concludes with a discussion on the applications of warm heading.

The design of forging operations; consisting of dies, fixturing, and parts; requires a consistent and unambiguous method for representing critical dimensions and tolerances. This article presents a dimensioning process, based on tooling points and datum planes, with the potential to simplify geometries while minimizing tolerance stack-ups. The method also facilitates inspection liaison between vendors and users because fixturing is easy to duplicate and tooling points are consistent from forging to finish-machined part. The article focuses on the most common dimensional tolerances for closed-die forgings, including finish allowances for machining, length and width tolerances, die-wear tolerance, match tolerances, die-closure or thickness tolerances, straightness and flatness tolerances, radii tolerances, flash-extension tolerances, and surface tolerances. It also contains a convenient summary in the form of a checklist.

This article reviews the main theoretical and practical aspects of sequence normally followed in digital image-acquisition, processing, analysis, and output for material characterization. It discusses the main methods of digital imaging, image processing, and analysis, as applied to microscopy of materials. The article describes the basic concepts of sampling and resolution and quantization of light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. It discusses the acquisition of a digital image that accurately represents the sample under observation and output of the image to a printer. The methods used to enhance the digital image and to extract quantitative information are also described. Different types of image segmentation, namely, adaptive segmentation and contour-based segmentation, are reviewed. The article also presents case studies on the application of image processing and analysis to materials characterization.

This article introduces the concepts of electron and light microscopy with some general features of imaging systems and the ideas of magnification, resolution, depth of field, depth of focus, and lens aberrations as they apply to simple and familiar light-optical systems. In addition, it describes the differences between electron and light in the context of their respective microscopy techniques.

This article provides information on the basic components of a light microscope, including the illumination system, collector lens, and optical and mechanical components. It describes optical performance in terms of image aberrations, resolution, and depth of field. The article discusses the examination of specimen surfaces using polarized light, phase contrast, oblique illumination, dark-field illumination, bright-field illumination, interference-contrast illumination, and phase contrast illumination. Special techniques and devices that may be used with the optical microscope, to obtain additional information, are also described. The article concludes with information on photomicroscopy and macrophotography.