Perturbation mapping method for sensitivity analysis of three-dimensional cracks near a free surface

In this study, mode I stress intensity factors for a three-dimensional finite cracked body with arbitrary shape and subjected to arbitrary loading is presented by using the boundary weight function method. The weight function is a universal function for a given cracked body and can be obtained from any arbitrary loading system. A numerical finite element method for the determination of weight function relevant to cracked bodies with finite dimensions is used. Explicit boundary weight functions are successfully demonstrated by using the least-squares fitting procedure for elliptical quarter-corner crack and embedded elliptical crack in parallelepipedic finite bodies. If the stress distribution of a cut-out parallelepipedic cracked body from any arbitrary shape of cracked body subjected to arbitrary loading is determined, the mode I stress intensity factors for the cracked body can be obtained from the predetermined boundary weight functions by a simple surface integration. Comparison of the calculated results with some available solutions in the published literature confirms the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed boundary weight function method.

On the calculation of stress intensity factors for surface cracks in welded pipe–plate and tubular joints

To estimate the uncertainty of the neutronic parameters it is required to calculate sensitivity coefficients to cross section changes. The sensitivity coefficients are usually calculated based on the diffusion theory. However, the accuracy of the sensitivity coefficients becomes doubtful because of the use of diffusion theory. The purpose of this paper is to derive the generalized perturbation theory using the transport theory, and to evaluate transport effect on the sensitivity coefficients. Sensitivity calculations were performed in 70 energy groups. The calculated sensitivity coefficients were compared with those obtained from direct transport calculations to check the accuracy of the present method, and those obtained from the generalized perturbation calculation based on the diffusion theory to investigate the transport effect on sensitivity coefficients. From the comparison, the difference was remarkably large for the neutronic parameters such as reaction rate distribution, reaction rate ratio, and reactivity worth. For example, the sensitivity coefficient of the 238U capture to 239Pu fission rate ratio in the lower core region of the under-moderated LWR core was large in the energy range 17.6–22.6 eV, and the sensitivity to 238U capture cross section calculated by the transport theory was 20% larger than that by the diffusion theory.

Stress intensity factors for axial semi-elliptical surface cracks and embedded elliptical cracks at longitudinal butt welded joints of steel-lined pressure tunnels and shafts considering weld shape

Error estimates of numerical results and empirical formulae for stress intensity factors are usually based on author's experience and on comparison of some test results with closed analytical solutions (e.g., circular and elliptical cracks in an infinite solid). Such evaluation of K~-data in three-dimensional crack problems may become insufficient, as it was demonstrated for some part-through crack configurations [1]. Another way to check the quality of K~-results [2,3] is based on the evaluation of average, or integral, errors through the calculation of energy integrals associated with a cracked body. This procedure has been developed for the error estimation of some known stress intensity factor equations for part-elliptical cracks in plates [1,3]. It can also be a useful tool for the verification of numerical results on K~-factor provided the latter are derived for a wide range of configuration parameters of a cracked body and different locations of points on the crack front. The present paper deals with the evaluation of accuracy of boundary element data on K~-distdbution for circumferential and axial part-elliptical cracks in a hollow cylinder. Average errors are estimated at different kinds of polynomial loading applied to crack faces. It is concluded that the evaluation procedure can be applied for an approximate error analysis of local K~-estimates at some characteristic points of a crack front.

Stress intensity factors for cracks in grooved rolls used for hot-rolling

Computation of stress intensity factors for interfacial cracks

Boundary element analysis of thermal stress intensity factors for interface griffith and cusp cracks

Rockwell hardness testing is a widely used hardness test, and there are many scales depending on the indenter shape and test force for corresponding to various materials. The common Rockwell indenters are the diamond sphero-conical indenter and the tungsten carbide ball indenter. The influence of indenter shape error on Rockwell hardness has been acknowledged, as this shape impacts test results. To accurately estimate this uncertainty, it is essential to understand the sensitivity coefficient, which delineates the relationship between indenter shape and Rockwell hardness. Traditionally, this coefficient has been derived experimentally, but this approach faces challenges that are attributable to the nonuniformity of hardness test blocks and indenter shape measurement errors. This study introduces the estimation of sensitivity coefficients for Rockwell indenters using finite element analysis (FEA). The FEA method offers the advantage of being unaffected by the nonuniformity of test blocks and indenter shape measurement errors. We calculated the sensitivity coefficients by assessing the influence of variations in indenter angle and tip radius for diamond indenters, and indenter diameter for ball indenters, on hardness results through FEA. The sensitivity coefficients obtained via FEA for specific scales aligned with those from previous experimental studies, affirming the validity of FEA-derived coefficients for other scales. This study demonstrates that FEA is a useful tool for estimating the sensitivity coefficients of Rockwell indenters.

In this paper, three-dimensional interface crack problems are analysed by the boundary element method. A special crack tip element is used to improve the accuracy and the complex stress intensity factors are determined by several techniques, namely the one-point stress formula, the one-point discontinuity displacement formula and an energy technique. Stress intensity factors are presented for single-edge, double-edge and centre cracks in bi-materials.

A boundary element method for analysing non-linear phenomena on gas-liquid two-phase free surface at middle and higher Reynolds numbers has been developed. Employing this method we analyze two kinds of non-linear phenomena on gas-liquid two-phase free surface (l) Solitary wave on free falling thin liquid film. (2) Surface tension drives convective flows in open-boat type crystal-growth techniques in microgravity environment. INTRODUCTION Although some new schemes of discretizing convective terms are developed as QUICK and QUICK ER in finite difference methods[FDM] and finite element methods[FEM], but it is very difficult to avoid numerical diffusion introduced by convective discretizations, especially, at high Reynolds number. In [1], they developed a boundary element iterative scheme(BEIS) to calculate convective terms and compared the advantages of using upwind or central difference schemes and BEIS. As shown as numerical results, BEIS of the convective terms was the most accurate of the two approaches. However, computation was complex. The main objective of this research is to develop a boundary element method for analysing some non-linear phenomena on gas-liquid two-phase free surface at middle and higher Reynolds numbers. On the basis of the boundary element formulation with the pressure penalty function, the divergence theorem is applied to the non-linear convective volume integral of the boundary element formulation. Consequently, velocity gradients are eliminated, the complete formulation is written in terms of velocity. This avoids the difficulty of convective discretizations, and provides considerable reducing storage and computational requirement while improving accuracy. In order to calculate free surface, we construct shooting iterative method of free surface on the basis of normal stress balance condition Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Transactions on Modelling and Simulation vol 6, © 1993 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-355X 168 Free and Moving Boundary Problems similar to [2] [3]. The method is applied to analyze two kinds of free surface problems. (1) Solitary wave on free falling thin liquid film. This problem was researched by Wasden and Kheshgi etc. with finite difference method [4] and finite element method [5]. However, in finite difference method[4], one applied an adjustment procedure for wave velocity in order to obtain reasonable flow fields, in finite element methods[5] numerical solution was limited to low flow rates. Moreover, the upwind schemes of discretizing convective momentum terms common to FDM and FEM introduce numerical diffusion or oscillatory behavior of the wave peak region, more importantly, the upwind scheme lacks sensitivity to cross stream diffusion and source terms which are especially important in the case of a thin film. Therefore it is valuable to research a non-traditional numerical method such as BEM. (2) Surface tension drives convective flows in open-boat type crystal growth techniques in microgravity environment. The analytical or numerical study of free surface problem in crystal-growth techniques is very difficult. We shall restrict ourselves to model a problem of open-boat type crystal growth technology, and we only study the melt-gas free boundary, assume the melt-crystal interface shape is flat. The free surface problem of open-boat type is simplified as the free surface problem in open rectangular cavity. The left vertical boundary of the cavity can be interpreted as the crucible wall. The right vertical boundary of the cavity can be interpreted as the melt-crystal interface. The temperatures equal #/ and 0,., respectively. Some important numerical results are presented in paper. BASIC EQUATIONS We consider a system of steady incompressible viscous liquid in a open rectangular cavity with differentially heated lateral walls (the temperature difference is A0*). There is a gradient of surface tension on the free surface since the distribution of temperature is non-homogeneous. The gradient of surface tension drives the convection of liquid. On the basis of the basic law of fluid mechanics and Boussinesq approximation, the governing equations of these problems can be described by a tensor notation and a non-dimensional form as follow: continuity equation «,-„• = o (i) momentum equations energy equation V,-^,=0 (3) where, #,„% is the Kronecker delta symbol, m = x for solitary wave, m = y for thermocapillary convection. The lengths, velocities are scaled with respect to H, Transactions on Modelling and Simulation vol 6, © 1993 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-355X

Weight function method for three dimensional crack problems—II. Application to surface cracks at a hole in finite thickness plates under stress gradients

Stress intensity factor for an embedded elliptical crack approaching the free surface of a semi-infinite solid and subjected to a linearly varying pressure is presented in a nondimensional form as a function of position around the crack periphery, crack aspect ratio, and crack distance from the free surface. These stress intensity factors are determined numerically using an alternating technique with two solutions. The first solution deals with an elliptical crack subjected to normal loading expressible in a polynominal of x and y. The second solution involves stresses in a half space due to prescribed normal and shear stresses on the surface. Stress intensity factors for an elliptical crack approaching the free surface of a plate subjected to pure bending are then determined. Stress intensity factors for a semi-elliptical surface crack in a plate subjected to pure bending are also estimated for various crack aspect ratios and crack depth to plate thickness ratios.

Two-step Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis of alpha- and gamma-eigenvalues with the differential operator sampling method

The response and operation of a heat flux gage is studied using sensitivity analysis. Sensitivity analysis is the process by which one determines the sensitivity of a model output to changes in the model parameters. This process uses sensitivity coefficients, which are defined as partial derivatives of field variables (e.g. temperature) with respect to model parameters (e.g. thermal properties and boundary conditions). Computing sensitivity coefficients, in addition to the response of a heat flux gage, aids in identifying model parameters that significantly impact the temperature response. A control volume finite element based code is used to implement numerical sensitivity coefficient calculations, allowing general problems to be studied. Sensitivity coefficients are discussed for the well known Gardon gage.