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This work demonstrates that an artificial scaffold structure can be designed to exhibit mechanical properties close to the ones of real bone tissue, thus highly reducing the stress-shielding phenomenon. In this study the scan of lumbar vertebra fragment was reproduced to create a numerical 3D model (this model was called the reference bone sample). New nine 3D scaffold samples were designed and their numerical models were created. Using the finite element analysis, a static compression test was performed to assess the effective Young modulus of each tested sample. Also, two important metrics of each sample were assessed: relative density and surface area. Each new designed 3D scaffold sample was analyzed by considering two types of material properties: metal alloy properties (Ti-6Al-4V) and ABS polymer properties. Numerical analysis results of this study confirms that 3D scaffold used to design a periodic structure, either based on interconnected beams (A, B, C, D, E and F units) or made by removing regular shapes from base solid cubes (G, H, I units), can be refined to obtain mechanical properties similar to the ones of trabecular bone tissue. Experimental validation was performed on seven scaffolds (A, B, C, D, E, F and H units) printed from ABS material without any support materials by using Fused Deposition Modeling (FMD) technology. Results of experimental Young modulus of each printed scaffold are also presented and discussed.

Eddy current (EC) sensors placed in the vicinity of a rail track and sensitive to passing train components are safety-critical components commonly used in the railway sector. From the engineering point of view they form a system with numerous variables including their geometry, the lift-off, magnetic properties of the applied materials, the operating frequency and electrical characteristics of the built-in circuits. Although some simple configurations of the EC devices have been studied experimentally, numerically and analytically, there have so far been no universal algorithm allowing for predicting, understanding and optimizing output signals for arbitrarily device/track/wheel characteristics. A significant step towards such an universal algorithm is presented in this work, combining a linear 3D finite element modelling and a set of analytical formulas derived directly from the constants of the resonance circuit. Functions correlating the magnetic induction space/time characteristics with the circuit outputs are proposed and validated against experiment in three stages: (a) by determination of the signal from a flat thin FeSi plate (i.e. in fully controlled laboratory conditions), (b) by laboratory measurements of a highly degraded rail with uncertain material properties, (c) by tests of a commercial EC wheel detector, with reference to averaged service data. The proposed methodology can be extended to any NDT field where EC devices are applied.

There is an ever growing industrial demand for quantitative assessment of fatigue endurance of critical structural details. Although FEA-based calculations have become a standard in engineering design, problems involving the Low-To-Medium cycle range (101-104) remain challenging. This paper presents an attempt to optimally choose material data, meshing density and other algorithm settings in the context of recent design of the large offshore windfarm installation vessel, VIDAR. In this study, an attempt is made to assess default FEA-based procedures in RADIOSS software by comparing an experimental test against numerical analyses. Standard slender cylindrical (“I”) samples as well as originally designed “Z”-shaped samples made of A90 (S690)-grade steel have been loaded at various nominal stress ranges with or without local yielding. A good correlation has been found between FEA results and experimental cycles-to-failure in I-shaped samples, provided the softwarematerial data generator is avoided and Smith-Watson-Topper mean stress correction is used. In the case of Z-shaped samples, the calculated cycles-to-initiation of macro-crack is significantly lower (factor of 3) from the experiment. The observed discrepancy is argued to be due to stress gradient influence.

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) distribution for three configurations of samples has been investigated in order to study the influence of notch and plastic deformation separately as well as together. Samples have been made of S355 steel. The MFL signal measurements were carried out along the longest dimension of the sample over a length of 120 mm. Two components of magnetic field were measured: 1) tangential to the main axis and 2) normal to the largest surface of the sample. Study has shown that geometrical effect, related to the notch presence, as well as plastic deformation with associated compressive macroresidual stresses, together are responsible for the specific MFL distribution above the sample. In order to confirm the assumption that the decrease of the permeability in the central part of the sample and the change of cross section are the main sources of the MFL anomaly, disrupting flux from demagnetization field, a series of simulations has been made. Simulation results coincide with those obtained experimentally and thus confirming the above hypothesis.

The effect of various combinations of conditions, i.e., presence of the Earth's magnetic field during and after deformation on the distribution of stray magnetic field of S355 steel sample, which is locally deformed, was investigated. Some of the stages of the experiment were carried out in zero magnetic field. Compensation of the Earth's magnetic field was obtained by the application of a pair of Helmholtz coils. These coils are able to produce homogeneous field compensating Earth's magnetic field over the full length of the sample. Stray magnetic field measurements were carried out along the longest dimension of the sample using the probe consisting of mutually perpendicular sensors allowing the simultaneous measurement of two magnetic field components, i.e., tangential and normal to a surface of the sample. Research has shown that there is a correlation between the level of plastic deformation of the investigated sample and the distribution of stray magnetic field. It was found that the nature of stray magnetic field of the sample depends on presence of external magnetic field during unloading. An attempt was also made, with the finite-element analysis, to verify experimentally obtained stray magnetic field distribution of undeformed sample.

The paper contains an original comprehensive review of finite element analysis (FEA) applied by researchers to calibrate and improve existing and developing electromagnetic non-destructive testing and evaluation techniques, including but not limited to magnetic flux leakage (MFL), eddy current testing, electromagnetic-acoustic transducers (EMATs). Premium is put on the detection and modelling of magnetic field, as the vast majority of ENDT involves magnetic induction, either as a primary variable MFL or a complementary phenomenon (EC, EMATs). FEA is shown as a fit-for-purpose tool to design, understand and optimise ENDT systems, or a Reference for other modelling algorithms. The review intentionally omits the fundamentals of FEA and detailed principles of NDT. Strain-stress FEA applications in NDT, especially in ultrasonography and hole-drilling methodology, deserve as well a separate study.

Lattice materials (LM) are a novel concept stemming from the combination of crystallography and structural optimisation algorithms. Their practical applications have become real with the advent of versatile additive layer manufacturing (ALM) techniques and the development of dedicated CAD/CAE tools. This work critically reviews one of the major claims concerning LMs, namely their excellent stiffness-to-weight performance. First, a brief literature review of spatially uniform LMs is presented, focusing on specific strength of standard engineering materials as compared with novel structures. An original modelling and optimisation is carried out on a flat panel subject to combined shear and bending load. The calculated generalised specific stiffness is compared against reference values obtained for a uniform panel and the panel subjected to topological optimisation. The monomaterial, a spatially repetitive solution turns out to be poorly suited for stiff, lightweight designs, because of suboptimal material distribution. Spatially non-uniform and locally size-optimised structures perform better. However, its advantage over manufacturable, topologically-optimised conventional designs can at best be marginal (< 10%). Cubic-cell lattices cannot replace conventional bulk materials in the typical engineering use. The multi-cell-type and multi- -material lattice structures, albeit beyond the scope of this article, are more promising from the point of view of mechanical properties. The possibility of approaching the linear scaling reported in the recent litterature can make them an attractive option in ultra-low weight designs.

The magnetic Barkhausen effect is useful for assessing 1D and 2D stress states of ferromagnetic steel objects. However, its extension to technically important materials, such as duplex anisotropic steels, remains challenging. The determination of magnetisation inside the studied object and the electromagnet for various geometries, materials and magnetisation angles is a key issue. Three-dimensional, dynamic finite element analysis has been applied to reproduce time-varying fields inside and outside the prototype of a double-core magnetising setup. Useful relationships between characteristics (peak height and location) and magnetic induction vector have been proposed. The qualitative plausibility of simulation has been validated with an experiment and an analytic formula of skin depth. The angular anisotropy of magnetic Barkhausen effect (MBN) in an isotropic sample has been shown in simulation and confirmed experimentally. The numerical model, despite some limitations, seems to be an efficient tool for calibrating stress/MBN relationships at least in isotropic structural steel components.

The study concerns a flat large construction steel plate of varying thickness magnetized with a C-core magnet. Modeling of the time- and spacefield distribution inside the plate is carried out. The novelty of the approach consists in carrying out a transient solution when a driving saw-tooth voltage is used. Also new is a refined magnetoacoustic emission (MAE) signal modeling, numerically deduced for various frequencies, and compared with experimental data. The distributions of fields are indirectly compared with stray field measurements and a close agreement is found

Experimental results are shown of magneto-acoustic emission (MAE) and Barkhausen effect (BE) for two ferritic steel plates of different dimensions. The paper presents preliminary results of modelling the MAE, based on the finite element method (FEM), taking into account the key role of the eddy currents. Explanations are suggested as to the effects of MAE peak maximum growth, shift, as well as the characteristic BE profiles at the bottom of the large plates.

As creep damage degradation proceeds in 304, 321, and 347 grade stainless steel boiler tubes, the tubes develop a ferro-magnetic component depending on length of service. Incipient creep damage occurs inside the steel, involving precipitation inside the grains, with precipitates getting larger and forming mostly at or near grain boundaries as degradation continues. This incipient creep damage eventually leads further to the development of cavities at grain boundaries, which in turn lead eventually to microcracking and cracking. The amount of ferromagnetic component has been correlated (albeit in a relatively small number of exploited specimens) to the amount of incipient creep damage. The ferromagnetic component appears to be primarily associated with the formation of ferromagnetic hard oxide scale on the outer surface of the boiler tube. The ferromagnetic part of the scale has been identified, using x-rays, as magnetite. This ferromagnetic oxide surface can be easily inspected in power plants using eddy current techniques. Because of the correlation with incipient creep damage, the suggestion is that measurement of the amount of ferromagnetic component can be used to nondestructively monitor the development of incipient creep damage in austenitic steel at stages of development well before cavitation and microcracking. We have found that a processed signal can be extracted from eddy current measurements, which is directly related to the amount of ferromagnetic component. We have shown mathematically why the signal behaves as it does. This same signal has been simulated using finite element modeling (FEM). Its linear dependence on the amount of ferromagnetic component is verified experimentally, mathematically, and by FEM. In addition, we also demonstrate a way in which frequency dependence of the eddy current signal can be used to separate out effects of conductivity from effects of change in permeability due to the ferromagnetic component, thereby reducing effects of experimental error in evaluating the amount of ferromagnetic component at low amounts of degradation. In the present year, the technique is now being tested via measurements at several power plant sites.Copyright © 2007 by ASME