Advanced materials research for long-haul aircraft turbine engines
The status of research efforts to apply low to intermediate temperature composite materials and advanced high temperature materials to engine components is reviewed. Emerging materials technologies and their potential benefits to aircraft gas turbines were emphasized. The problems were identified, and the general state of the technology for near term use was assessed.
Progress in advanced high temperature materials technology
Significant progress has recently been made in many high temperature material categories pertinent to such applications by the industrial community. These include metal matrix composites, superalloys, directionally solidified eutectics, coatings, and ceramics. Each of these material categories is reviewed and the current state-of-the-art identified, including some assessment, when appropriate, of progress, problems, and future directions.
Study of the effect of substrate roughness on adhesive joints by SEM image analysis
The effect of adherend surface roughness on epoxy bonded aluminium joints has been studied. Several epoxy adhesives were tested to evaluate the influence of adhesive nature on the roughness effect. The aluminium pre-treatments applied were abrasion and impression processes, generating different texture levels. The abrasion with grinding papers of different grain sizes provides surfaces with high density of low summits. In contrast, the surfaces subjected to impression process present low density of very deep valleys. The roughness measurements were made by image analysis of micrographs obtained by Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM). In addition to the average roughness, other surface descriptors were determined to characterise completely the surfaces, allowing to evaluate the influence on the adhesive strength of different texture variables, such as the height, shape and density of the peaks and valleys which constitute the roughness profile. An optimum value of surface roughness was found for the joint strength measured by the lap shear tensile test. An increase of adherend roughness causes an increase of effective area but, at the same time, decreases the ability for adhesive penetration. It has also been shown that the joint strength depends on the main characteristics of the adherend surface, such as the density and depth of the protuberances. Finally, it has been found that the roughness effect seems be influenced by the adhesive nature. Different epoxy adhesives with similar mechanical properties present different joint strengths due to their different penetration abilities.