Volume 26, Issue 3-4

In this paper, the governing equations of an incompressible rotating orthotropic elastic medium are formulated and are solved to obtain Rayleigh surface wave solutions in a particular half-space. The surface of half-space is subjected to impedance boundary conditions, in which normal and tangential stresses are proportional to frequency times normal and tangential displacement components, respectively. A secular equation for Rayleigh surface wave is obtained. With the help of MATLAB, the secular equation is solved numerically to obtain non-dimensional wave speed. The dependence of non-dimensional wave speed on non-dimensional material constant, rotation parameter and impedance parameters is shown graphically.

A method was presented for multi-objective optimization of material distribution of simply supported functionally graded (FG) sandwich panel, and sensitivity analyses of optimal designs were also conducted based on design variables and objective functions. The material composition was assumed to vary only in the thickness direction. Piecewise cubic interpolation of volume fractions was used to calculate volume fractions of constituent material phases at a point; these fractions were defined at a limited number of evenly spaced control points. The effective material properties of the panel were obtained by applying the linear rule of mixtures. The behavior of FG sandwich panel was predicted by Reddy’s assumptions of third-order shear deformation theory. Exact solutions for deflections and stresses of simply supported sandwich panel were presented using the Navier-type solution technique. The volume fractions at control points, material, and thickness of the faces which were selected as decision variables were optimized by a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm known as the fast and elitist multi-objective genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). The mass and deflection of the model were considered the objective functions to be minimized with stress constraints. This model was optimized to verify the capability and efficiency of the proposed model under mechanical loading. The framework proposed for designing FG sandwich panel under pure mechanical conditions was furnished by the results.

In this work, an improved shear lag model was developed to investigate the interfacial characteristics of three-phase hybrid nanocomposite which is reinforced with microscale fibers augmented with carbon nanotubes on their circumferential surfaces. The shear lag model accounts for (i) radial and axial deformations of different transversely isotropic constituents, (ii) thermomechanical loads on the representative volume element (RVE), and (iii) staggering effect of adjacent RVEs. The results from the current newly developed shear lag model are validated with the finite element simulations and found to be in good agreement. This study reveals that the reduction in the maximum value of the axial stress in the fiber and the interfacial shear stress along its length become more pronounced in the presence of applied thermomechanical loads on the staggered RVEs. The existence of shear tractions along the RVE length plays a significant role in the interfacial characteristics and cannot be ignored.

The objective of the present study is to determine the threshold stress level of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in AA7075-T651 aluminium alloy by suitable experimentation. The test was carried out using a circumferential notch specimen in a horizontal-type constant load SCC setup in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. The time to failure by SCC was determined at various loading conditions. The threshold stress of AA7075-T651 alloy was found to be 242 MPa in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. The various regions of the fractured surface specimen such as machined notch, SCC region and final overload fracture area were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to identify the SCC mechanism.

In this investigation, an attempt has been made to optimize the laser hardfacing (LH) parameters such as power, powder feed rate (PFR), travel speed and defocusing distance to maximize hardness of Ni-based hardfacing surfaces. Statistical tools such as the design of experiments (DoE), analysis of variance (ANOVA) are used to develop the empirical relationship to predict the hardness of the deposits at the 95% confidence level. Response graphs and contour plots are constructed using response surface methodology (RSM) concept. From this investigation, it is found that the maximum hardness of 820.48 HV could be achieved for the deposit made using a power of 1314 W, PFR of 9 g/min, a travel speed of 366 mm/min, and a defocusing distance of 32 mm.

An effort has been made to develop a new composition of AlMgNiCrTi high entropy alloy (HEA) with a distinct properties includes squat density, intense strength and hardness, superior corrosion resistance, better oxidation resistance, high temperature resistance, fatigue load and crack resistance to congregate the necessity of aircraft applications. The equivalent atomic percentage for the above defined composition is established using analytical correlation for molar and atom renovation by trial and error method. The alloy is synthesized by powder metallurgy technique through mechanical alloying. Succeeding to mechanical alloying it is elucidated that the metal powder is primarily composed of single BCC solid solution with crystallite magnitude <10 nm. It is also observed that the alloy is thermally stable at prominent temperature about 800°C as it is retained its nanostructure which was revealed using differential scanning caloriemetry (DSC). This alloy powder was consolidated and sintered using spark plasma sintering at 800°C with 50 Mpa pressure to a density of 98.83%. Subsequent to sintering, Titanium carbide FCC phase evolved along with the BCC phase. The alloying behavior and phase transformation were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The homogeneity of the composition is confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The hardness of the alloy is found to be 710±20 HV. The evolutions of the phases and hardness imply that this alloy is apposite for both high strength and high temperature applications.

Even though friction stir welding was invented long back (1991) by TWI England, till now there has no method or procedure or approach developed, which helps to obtain quickly optimum or exact parameters yielding good or sound weld. An approach has developed in which an equation has been derived, by which approximate rpm can be obtained and by setting range of rpm ±100 or 50 rpm over approximate rpm and by setting welding speed equal to 60 mm/min or 50 mm/min one can conduct FSW experiment to reach optimum parameters; one can reach quickly to optimum parameters, i.e. desired rpm, and welding speed, which yield sound weld by the approach. This approach can be effectively used to obtain sound welds for all similar and dissimilar combinations of materials such as Steel, Al, Mg, Ti, etc.