Erscheinungsjahr 2023

The specific mechanical properties of fiber reinforced composite components are unmatched, considering their low weight. To optimize the lightweight potential of fiber reinforced composites, fiber volume contents have to be maximized and imperfections must be eliminated. However, during the production of fiber reinforced composite laminates via resin injection processes, the formation of microscopic voids is nearly inevitable. Even low amounts of imperfections can cause significant deteriorations in the mechanical properties of the material. To reduce the number of voids inside composite components, understanding the formation and transport of voids is essential. Numerous renowned models describe said formation of voids in dependence of local flow front conditions during the impregnation of textile preforms with thermoset resins. State of the art are models emphasizing the formation of meso-and microvoids in dependence of the modified capillary number. These models show plausible correlations when applied to unidirectional preforms or fabrics with constant permeability along the direction of flow. However, the formation of voids remains to be investigated at points of transitioning permeability, such as alterations in the setup of layers or abruptly changing cavity diameters. To expand the applicability of the existing models onto preforms with local changes in permeability, an experimental setup for gradually increasing cavity diameter and varying layer setup is introduced. A planar mold with three increasing levels of cavity height is used to induce changes in permeability. The rate of change in permeability is controlled by defining the slope between each level. In this study, injection pressure as well as flow front velocity were optically traced, and material data was measured. Resulting local void volume contents were quantified by calcination. It is demonstrated how alterations of diameter and layup take effect on the resulting local porosity. The observed impact on void formation is put in context to changes in tow permeability due to local differences in fiber volume content. By including the slope dependent rate of change in tow permeability into the existing model for calculation of void formation by GUEROULT ET AL., the accuracy of the model can be increased. Comparing the unaltered model to experimental results, the deviations between calculations and measurements were diminished when using the newly introduced factors. Although the error of prediction is being significantly reduced, calculations are still flawed since additional effects like overflow at level edges need to be considered. This discourse is meant to administer a starting point for considering rates of change in tow permeability into the commonly established use of shape factors of models of void formation.

We propose a Lagrangian method for simultaneous, volumetric temperature and velocity measurements. As tracer particles for both quantities, we employ encapsulated thermochromic liquid crystals (TLCs). We discuss the challenges arising from color imaging of small particles and present measurements in an equilateral hexagonal-shaped convection cell of height h = 60 mm and distance between the parallel side walls w = 10^4 mm, which corresponds to an aspect ratio Γ = 1.73. As fluid, we use a water-glycerol mixture to match the density of the TLC particles. We propose a densely-connected neural network, trained on calibration data, to predict the temperature for individual particles based on their particle image and position in the color camera images, which achieves uncertainties below 0.2 K over a temperature range of 3 K. We use Shake-the-Box to determine the 3D position and velocity of the particles and couple it with our temperature measurement approach. We validate our approach by adjusting a stable temperature stratification and comparing our measured temperatures with the theoretical results. Finally, we apply our approach to thermal convection at Rayleigh number Ra = 3.4 × 10^7 and Prandtl number Pr = 10.6. We can visualize detaching plumes in individual temperature and convective heat transfer snapshots. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our approach allows us to compute statistics of the convective heat transfer and briefly validate our results against the literature.

The electrodeposition of tantalum-titanium–based films using different tantalum and titanium halides was investigated in two ionic liquids, namely, 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis (trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl)imide ([BMP][TFSI]) and 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([BMP][OTf]). Cyclic voltammetry was used to analyse the electrochemistry of the electrolytes and potentiostatic deposition was performed to evaluate the feasibility of electrodepositing tantalum-titanium–based layers. Both the metal salts and the ionic liquid influenced the electrochemical reduction of the tantalum and titanium halides significantly. While titanium halides considerably retarded the reduction of tantalum pentahalides and inhibited electrodeposition in many electrolytes, an electrolyte composition from which tantalum and titanium-containing layers could be deposited was identified. Specifically, in TaBr5 and TiBr4 in [BMP][TFSI], TiBr4 did not inhibit the deposition of tantalum and titanium was co-deposited itself by a three-step reduction mechanism as confirmed by cyclic voltammetry and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Furthermore, [BMP][TFSI] led to smoother and more compact deposits.

Partial shielding by means of local gas supply has proven to be very effective in reducing spatter. Besides the effect of gas-induced dynamic pressure, the shielding of oxygen is also highly relevant for melt pool dynamics and spatter formation due to the growth of oxides and the influence on surface tension. Therefore, this paper addresses the effect of local supplied argon on oxide growth and seam topography during keyhole mode laser beam welding of high-alloy steel AISI 304. To determine the shielding quality, the results are compared to laser beam welding in a global argon atmosphere. The topography of the upper weld seams was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). An X-ray microanalysis (EDX) in line scan modus was performed to determine and to locate the elements which are covering the specimen surface. The chemical state of the found elements was quantified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In a last step, high-speed synchrotron X-ray imaging was performed to separate the effect of the gas-induced pressure and the gas-induced shielding on keyhole geometry. The results show that a local supply of argon contributes to a significant difference in oxide growth, affecting melt pool convection and weld seam geometry. It was further shown that the effect of gas flows at low flow rates is primarily because of oxygen shielding, as no significant difference in keyhole geometry was found by high-speed synchrotron X-ray imaging.

The adaptation of developed metrology-grade ac current source (MCS) to the velocity mode of measurements of the Planck-Balance 2 as a means for generating ac mechanical oscillations is presented. The universality in operating with the MCS unit especially practical for the Planck-Balance setup for frequencies of 0.1 Hz-20 Hz (including but not limited to the negligence of a broader range of 0.01 Hz up to several hundred Hz) and for amplitudes of up to 10 mA with 16 (offset with 14)-bit effective resolution is demonstrated. MCS allows generating complex ac waveform signals as waveform synthesizers by adding to the original signal an extra five independent harmonic components, each of which with an adjustable resolution of 10 ns for phase and 16-bit for amplitude. Additionally, the MCS is supported by an external clock at 10 MHz frequency which serves also as a common reference time base for the comparison between the direct output signal of MCS, or of the induced voltage in the coil of the Planck-Balance resulting due to the applied current by MCS, with the ac quantum voltage standard at the required accuracy levels.