CORDIS provides links to public deliverables and publications of HORIZON projects.
Links to deliverables and publications from FP7 projects, as well as links to some specific result types such as dataset and software, are dynamically retrieved from OpenAIRE .
Deliverables
The collection of material data was performed systematically throughout the project as a measure for the efficiency of changes of the matrix alloy composition, process parameters and post processing. Special attention was given to following data:
Mechanical Properties:
- Ultimate tensile strength (0°/90°).
- Yield strength.
- Compressive strength (0°/90°).
- Strain-to-failure.
- Fatigue strength.
Physical Properties:
-Young's modulus (0°/90°).
- Poisson's ratioc.CTE (0°/90°).
Physico-Chemical Properties:
- Corrosion behaviour.
- Especially stress corrosion cracking.
- Effectiveness of different corrosion protection methods.
Due to the anisotropic behaviour of the MMC material the coefficient of thermal expansion CTE (0°/90°), was measured in both directions, longitudinal and transversal to the direction of fibres.
Thus a complete set of basic material data necessary for an engineer to assess the usability of the MMC for a given application and for the design of a component is available.
The FIBRECAST II partners decided to contribute their material properties data to MMC-ASSESS, an EC thematic network with the aim of establishing a Europe-wide database of MMC material properties, available at http://mmc-assess.tuwien.ac.at. The emphasis of the MMC-ASSESS database is on commercially available materials, but other materials are not excluded.
Tomography:
Tests have been carried out to assess whether the ceramic fibres will be distinguishable from the surrounding matrix material by means of cone beam tomography. The existing equipment has been upgraded for higher resolution and added with better visualization tools to detect single fibres. A new reconstruction algorithm has been developed and extended with a feature to measure and reconstruct longer objects. The general conclusion is that the current equipment will be in error by at least 20% when trying to reconstruct real densities without calibration material. This effect is due to scattering effects in materials that contribute to the measurement data from unknown origin. The positional accuracy is much higher depending on the diameter of the object for projection magnification. Detecting single fibres can only succeed with very small samples (<3mm). For quality assurance the system can visualise and localise density differences above 4% and can therefore be used for comparing a good and an unknown sample.
Ultrasonic:
In the search for non-destructive methods to investigate fibre-reinforced materials for flaws in infiltration, lamination or bonding some techniques were reviewed and tested. A method based on ultrasonic showed good potential for finding flaws in a partly reinforced object. To investigate the differences between samples of different quality, the acoustical impedance of reinforced samples was measured. This impedance is a function of the material properties and is influenced by the quality of the infiltration. The reinforced material acts as a homogeneous material as far as ultrasound is concerned, because the diameter of the fibres is much smaller than the minimum wavelength of the ultrasound The use of a new device using very high frequencies allowed the detection of much smaller defects (around 0.3mm as opposed to 1mm) such as inclusions and variations in thickness of the samples, due to the shorter wavelength.
Both methods proved to be fast and usable in a production environment.
SPICA-tests (thermal expansion):
When a "rough" surface is illuminated and recorded with a monochrome CCD camera, the image shows an irregular pattern of dark and white areas (speckles). When strain is applied the object -or in this case if the object is heated - the pattern strains as well. Two images before and after are compared by image-correlation. Several measurements were done while heating up to 600° and cooling down. General conclusion is that the CTE can be determined for any direction and the MMC's have a characteristic temperature behavior for the change in thermal expansion in the direction of the fibres.
Other common ND-test methods:
2D-X-ray testing and crack penetration testing were performed on specimens and components and showed good usability within their verified resolution.
Based on the minimum material requirements defined with regard to the intended applications investigations on the most suitable fibre/matrix combination were performed. Based on the experiences gathered during the FIBRECAST (BE-5258) project, the choice of materials was narrowed to four matrix alloys and two alumina-based multifilament fibres.
A preliminary series of tensile tests showed that only the Al-Zn-Mg alloys within the selection were able to fulfil the defined property goals both in the reinforced and unreinforced condition. Detailed investigations on microstructure, mechanical properties and the fibre/matrix interface showed that for the investment casting process a combination of Sumitomo ALTEX SN fibres and the AlZn6Mg1Ag1 alloy is particularly suitable.
Extensive optimisation of heat treatment, melt preparation and casting parameters in contribution to the matrix alloy and additional investigations on corrosion, corrosion protection and mechanical testing in a wide field accumulated a sophisticated knowledge of the MMC for design and application. As an overall result the usability of the ALTEX-ALZn6Mg1Ag1-composite in the fields of aeronautics, offshore and mechanical engineering was proven.
The recycling of the material is easily possible in conventional recycling plants as long as its relative amount in the scrap stream remains low (1-3%). The feasibility of a process for high amounts of fibre materials has also been demonstrated.
During the project a rib structure component was defined to verify the process techniques developed and the material data measured with smaller specimens. The design of this component was based on existing aeronautic parts actually produced in titanium alloys by machining.
Mechanical testing showed sufficient mechanical properties of the MMC to substitute the original titanium component. Additionally a cost calculation of a series production of the MMC rib structure component was performed. Within this calculation the following data were considered:
- Term, quantity and lot sizes like with the titanium component.
- For calculating the cost of processing which uses the series production and series quality assurance equipment the existing integrated cost calculation system of BLANK was used.
- For calculation of additional costs caused by special efforts of the FIBRECAST process (e. g. fibre preform production, additional manually applied ceramic layers etc.) typical cost rates were used.
- The developed and adapted 3D cone beam X-ray for MMC's tomography was taken into account for random sample quality inspection.
- The results of this cost calculation and the weight of the component were compared to the data of the existing titanium component.
Results are based on a lot size of 50 and a total quantity of 2000.
Rib structure component:
The titanium version costs 460 euros per part including production, material and quality assurance at a weight of 0.383kg/part. The MMC version costs 319 euros per part including production, material and quality assurance at a weight of 0.282kg/part. Saving through MMC vs. titanium is 31% at costs and 26% at weight.
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