Formation Mechanisms of Exit-Chippings in Rotary Ultrasonic Drilling and Conventional Drilling of Glass BK7

This paper presented a fundamental investigation on the exit-chipping formation mechanisms involved in rotary ultrasonic drilling (RUD) and conventional drilling (CD) of glass BK7. It was found that the mutual tool-material extrusion initially activated the subsurface crack with the maximum depth (incipient crack) at the margin of the machined surface, and its penetration of the undrilled thickness brought about the emergence of the exit-chipping at Region I. Subsequently, the opposite propagations of two ring-cracks along the circumferential direction of the drilled hole were conducive to the collapse of the machined cylinder, thus leading to the appearance of the exit-chipping at Region II. Ultrasonic superposition significantly decreased the actual undrilled thickness of the machined surface, while slightly increased the exit-chipping width. All the exit-chippings, generated with and without ultrasonic, exhibited the elliptic and symmetrical morphologies accompanied by the corrugated stripes winding the entire chipping surfaces. The quantitative relationship between the instantaneous extrusion pressure and the propagation direction of the incipient crack was proposed, revealing that the propagation angle was inversely proportional to the extrusion pressure. Ultrasonic superimposition augmented the extrusion pressure exerted the machined surface, which reduced the propagation angle of the incipient crack. The elliptic morphology characteristics of the exit-chipping were attributed to the parabolic variation of the additional bending moment with the circumferential spreading of the ring-crack. Ultrasonic superposition increased the propagation angle of the ring-crack, thus deteriorating the exit quality of the drilled hole.

Analysis of Ceramic Elements with Ring-Crack Defects in Lubricated Rolling Contact

The properties of ceramics, specifically low density, high hardness, high temperature capability and low coefficient of thermal expansion are of most interest to rolling element manufacturers. Surface ring cracks on lubricating rolling contact fatigue failure has been studied using numerical fracture analysis. Such cracks are very often found on ceramic bearing balls and decrease fatigue life rapidly. The numerical calculations are based on a three-dimensional model of the ring crack. The stress intensity factors along crack front are analyzed using a finite element analysis. The numerical analysis is verified by experimental studies.

An Improved Indentation Method for Estimating Limits of Fracture Toughness in Brittle Films

We previously presented an energy method for predicting the bounds of fracture toughness of brittle films on a soft substrate from nanoindentation. The method is now further improved by minimizing elastic-plastic work from the measured energy during ring crack formation. Then, we applied this method to determine the limits of fracture toughness of alumina films with a thickness of 100 nm. It was found that fracture toughness of the films is in the range of 1.8-2.2 MPa.m0.5, which is consistent with those measured by the conventional method.

Hertzian Crack Propagation in Ceramic Rolling Elements

The properties of ceramics, specifically low density, high hardness, high temperature capability and low coefficient of thermal expansion are of most interest to rolling element manufacturers. The influence of ring crack size on rolling contact fatigue failure has been studied using numerical fracture analysis. Such cracks are very often found on ceramic bearing balls and decrease fatigue life rapidly. The numerical calculation are based on a three dimensional model for the ring crack propagation. The stress intensity factors along crack front are analyzed using a three-dimensional boundary element model. The numerical analysis is verified by experimental studies.

Three-Dimensional Stress Intensity Factors for Ring Cracks and Arrays of Coplanar Cracks Emanating From the Inner Surface of a Spherical Pressure Vessel

Certain spherical pressure vessels are composed of two hemispheres joined together by a girth weld. These vessels are susceptible to multiple cracking along the weld resulting in one or more cracks developing from the inner surface of the vessel and creating either a ring (circumferential) crack, or an array of coplanar cracks on the equatorial-weld plane. In order to assess the fracture endurance and the fatigue life of such vessels it is necessary to evaluate the Stress Intensity Factors (SIF) distribution along the fronts of these cracks. However, to date, only two solutions for the SIF for an internal ring crack as well as two 3-D solutions for a single internal semi-elliptical crack prevailing in various spherical pressure vessels are available. In the present analysis, mode I SIF distributions for a wide range of ring, lunular, and crescentic cracks are evaluated. The 3-D analysis is performed, via the FE method employing singular elements along the crack front. SIFs for numerous ring cracks of different depths prevailing in thin, moderately thick, and thick spherical vessels are evaluated first. Subsequently, Three-dimensional Mode I SIF distributions along the crack fronts of a variety of lunular and crescentic crack array configurations are calculated for three spherical vessel geometries, with outer to inner radii ratios of R0/Ri = 1.01, 1.1, and 1.7 representing thin, moderately thick, and thick spherical vessels. SIFs are evaluated for arrays of density δ = 0 to 0.99; for a wide range of crack-depth to wall-thickness ratios, a/t, from 0.025 to 0.95; and for various lunular and crescentic cracks with ellipticities, i.e., the ratio of crack-depth to semi-length, a/c, from 0.2 to 1.5. The obtained results clearly indicate that the SIFs are considerably affected by the three-dimensionality of the problem and by the following parameters: the crack density of the array – δ, the relative crack depth – a/t, crack ellipticity – a/c, and the geometry of the spherical vessel – η. Furthermore, it is shown that in some cases the commonly accepted approach that the SIF for a ring crack of any given depth is the upper bound to the maximum SIF occurring in an array of coplanar cracks, of the same depth, is not universal.