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The susceptibility of Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) to hydrogen embrittlement (HE) was evaluated on selected high strength sheet steels (DP 600, TRIP 780, TRIP 980, TWIP-Al, TWIP, and Martensitic M220) and the results were compared to data on a lower strength (300 MPa tensile strength) low carbon steel. Tensile samples were cathodically charged and then immediately tensile tested to failure to analyze the mechanical properties of the as-charged steel. The effects of hydrogen on deformation and fracture behavior were evaluated through analysis of tensile properties, necking geometry, and SEM images of fracture surfaces and metallographic samples of deformed tensile specimens. The two fully austenitic TWIP steels were resistant to hydrogen effects in the laboratory charged tensile samples.

Fracture split forged steel connecting rods are utilized in many new high performance automotive engines to increase durability. Higher strength levels are needed as the power density increases. Fracture splitting without plastic deformation is necessary for manufacturability. Metallurgical design is a key for achieving the required performance levels. Several medium carbon steels containing 0.07 wt pct P, 0.06 wt pct S and various amounts of Mn, Si, V, and N were produced by vacuum induction melting laboratory heats and hot working the cast ingots into plates. The plates were cooled at varying rates to simulate typical cooling methods after forging. Microstructures were generally ferrite and pearlite as evaluated by light optical and scanning electron microscopy. Mechanical properties were determined by standard tensile tests, high strain rate notched tensile tests, and Charpy V-notch impact tests to assess “splittability”.

Quenching and partitioning (Q&P) is a novel heat treatment to produce third generation advanced high-strength steels (AHSS). The influence of carbon on mechanical properties of Q&P treated CMnSi-steels was studied using 0.3C-1.5Mn-1.5Si and 0.4C-1.5Mn-1.5Si alloys. Full austenitization followed by two-step Q&P treatments were conducted using varying partitioning times and a fixed partitioning temperature of 400 °C. The results were compared to literature data for 0.2C-1.6Mn-1.6Si, 0.2-3Mn-1.6Si and 0.3-3Mn-1.6Si Q&P treated steels. The comparison showed that increasing the carbon content from 0.2 to 0.4 wt pct increased the ultimate tensile strength by 140 MPa per 0.1 wt pct C up to 1611 MPa without significantly decreasing ductility for the partitioning conditions used. Increased alloy carbon content did not substantially increase the retained austenite fractions. The best combinations of ultimate tensile strength and total elongation were obtained using short partitioning times.

In this study, a procedure for characterizing advanced high strength steel sheets is presented in view of determining the material parameters for constitutive models that can be used for accurate prediction of springback and sidewall curl. The mechanical properties of DP980 and TRIP780 sheets were obtained experimentally, and their cyclic tension-compression behaviour was modeled with the Chaboche nonlinear kinematic hardening model and the Yoshida-Uemori two-surface plasticity model that are implemented in LS-DYNA. The unloading moduli were determined from monotonic tension tests at various prestrain levels. An inverse approach based on linear and quadratic response surfaces created by Sequential Strategy with Domain Reduction (SRSM) methodology using LS-OPT software was used and investigated to identify specific material parameters in each constitutive model.

Software systems on electronically controlled diesel truck engines typically provide diagnostic features to enable the engine mechanic to identify and debug system problems. As future systems become more sophisticated, so will the diagnostic requirements. The advantages of serviceability and accuracy found in todays electronic systems must not be allowed to degrade due to this increased sophistication. One method of maintaining a high level of serviceability and accuracy is to place an even greater priority on diagnostics and servicing in the initial design phase of the product than is done today. In particular, three major goals of future diagnostic systems should be separation of component failures from system failures, prognostication of failures and analysis of engine performance. This paper will discuss a system to realize these goals by dividing the diagnostic task into the Electronic System Diagnostics, Engine System Diagnostics and the Diagnostic Interface.

The influence of coatings on fatigue behavior has been examined for the following commercially produced sheet steels: uncoated titanium stabilized interstitial-free (IF); electrogalvanized titanium stabilized IF; hot-dip galvanized aluminum killed, drawing quality (AKDQ); and galvannealed AKDQ. Fully reversed bending fatigue tests were conducted at ambient temperature on Krouse-type flexural fatigue machines. A dependence of crack development was observed and correlated to the microstructure and properties of the different coatings. Furthermore, a functional design relationship for each material was determined through stress-life analysis. The experimentally determined fatigue properties were compared to conventional estimates based on tensile properties which ignore coating effects. The results of this work suggest that ductile coatings may enhance fatigue resistance, while brittle coatings may reduce fatigue life.

Technical groups worldwide have been actively developing specifications and requirements for biodegradable hydraulic fluids for mobile applications. These groups have recognized that an industry-wide specification is necessary due to the increase in environmental awareness in the agriculture, construction, forestry, and mining industries, and to the increasing number of local regulations primarily throughout Europe. Caterpillar has responded to this need by publishing a requirement, Caterpillar BF-1, that may be used by Caterpillar dealers, customers, and industry to help select high-performance biodegradable hydraulic fluids. This requirement was written with the input of several organizations that are known to be involved with the development of similar types of specifications and requirements.

Engineering new technology and products challenges managers to balance design innovation and program risk. To do this, managers need methods to judge future results to avoid program and product disasters. Besides the traditional prediction tools of schedule, simulations and “iron tests”, process control standards (with measurements) can also be applied to the development programs to mitigate risks. This paper briefly discusses the theory and case history behind some new process control methods and standards currently in place at Caterpillar's Electrical & Electronics department. Process standards reviewed in this paper include process mapping, ISO9001, process controls, and process improvement models (e.g. SEI's CMMs.)

The bending fatigue performance of high temperature (1050 °C) vacuum carburized Nb modified 8620 steel, with niobium additions of 0.02, 0.06 and 0.1 wt pct, was evaluated utilizing a modified Brugger specimen geometry. Samples were heated at two different rates (20 and 114 °C min-1) to the carburizing temperature resulting in different prior austenite grain structures that depended on the specific Nb addition and heating rate employed. At the lower heating rate, uniform fine grained prior austenite grain structures developed in the 0.06 and 0.1 Nb steels while a duplex grain structure with the presence of large (>200 μm grains) developed in the 0.02 Nb steel. At the higher heating rate the propensity for abnormal grain growth was highest in the 0.02 Nb steel and complete suppression of abnormal grain growth was achieved only with the 0.1 Nb steel.

A series of bending fatigue tests were conducted and S-N data were obtained for two groups of 4320 steel samples: (1) carburized, quenched and tempered, (2) carburized, quenched, tempered and shot peened. Shot peening improved the fatigue life and endurance limit. The S-N data exhibited large scatter, especially for carburized samples and at the high cycle life regime. Sample characterization work was performed and scatter bands were established for residual stress distributions, in addition to fracture and fatigue properties for 4320 steel. Moreover, a fatigue life analysis was performed using fracture mechanics and strain life fatigue theories. Scatter in S-N curves was established computationally by using the lower bound and upper bound in materials properties, residual stress and IGO depth in the input data. The results for fatigue life analysis, using either computational fracture mechanics or strain life theory, agreed reasonably well with the test data.

Direct osmotic concentration (DOC) is an integrated membrane treatment process designed for the reclamation of spacecraft wastewater. The system includes forward osmosis (FO), membrane evaporation, reverse osmosis (RO) and an aqueous phase catalytic oxidation (APCO) post-treatment unit. This document describes progress in the third year of a four year project to advance hardware maturity of this technology to a level appropriate for human rated testing. The current status of construction and testing of the final deliverable is covered and preliminary calculations of equivalent system mass are funished.

Knowledge of the net thinning strain that occurs in a sheet as it is bent over a single radius is an important component in understanding sheet metal formability. The present study extends the initial work of Swift on thinning during plane-strain bending to sheet steels with power law stress-strain behavior and with the inclusion of friction. The experimental data come from studies on the enhanced forming limit curve on DQSK steel and analysis of the curl behavior of 590R and DP600 steels. Results for single radius bending from these studies are used in the present investigation. It has been found that the amount of net thinning strain depends on back tension, initial plane-strain yield strength, and the maximum true bending strain calculated for the neutral plane at the mid-thickness of the sheet.

Drawbeads in production stamping dies often have insufficient penetration of the male bead into the female cavity. With insufficient penetration, the actual bending radii of the sheet metal are larger than the geometrical radii of the drawbead. The actual bending radii in the sheet directly affect the force that restrains sheet movement. To predict the restraining stress due to a drawbead, it is necessary to know the actual bending radii in the sheet as it passes though the drawbead. Data from a previous study are used to develop empirical regression equations for predicting measured radii of the sheet that is bent around the radii in a drawbead. A physical model for the evolution of the sheet radii as the drawbead closes is proposed. This model is consistent with the empirical equations and the mechanics of the sheet bending process.

Smaller locomotives often use mechanical transmissions instead of diesel-electric drive systems typically used in larger locomotives. This paper discusses how Model Based Design was used to develop the complete drive train control system for a 24 ton sugar cane locomotive. A complete MATLAB Simulink machine model was built to fully test and verify the shift control logic, traction control, vehicle speed limiting, and braking control for this locomotive application before it was commissioned. The model included the engine, torque converter, planetary transmission, drive line, and steel on steel driving surface. Simulation was used to debug all control code and test and refine control strategies so that the initial field commissioning in remote Australia was executed very quickly with minimal engineering support required.

With the increased use of tubular steel products, especially for automotive hydroforming applications, there is increased interest in understanding the mechanical properties measured by tensile tests from specimens of different orientations in the tube. In this study, two orientations of tensile specimens were evaluated -- axial specimens with and without flattening and flattened circumferential specimens. Three steels were evaluated -- two thicknesses of aluminum killed drawing quality (AKDQ) steel and one thickness of high strength low alloy (HSLA) steel. Mechanical property data were obtained from the flat stock, conventional production tubes and quasi tubes. Quasi tubes were produced from the flat stock on a 3-roll bender, but the quasi tube was not welded or sized.

The response of HSLA steel, 590R, and dual-phase steel, DP-600, to non-uniform deformation imposed in a laboratory Bending-Under-Tension (BUT) test apparatus was evaluated. Samples were deformed with both low and high back tension forces at bend angles of 45 and 90 degrees, and evaluated to determine the “side-wall curl”, i.e. the curvature in the sheet section in contact with the die. The results indicate that there are no consistent differences between the two steels, 590R and DP-600. It was found that back tension, tensile strength and sheet thickness were the primary factors affecting curl. The bend angle has an influence on curl, with the curl radius at a 90° bend angle being greater than the curl radius at a 45° bend angle.

This paper presents the damping effectiveness of free-layer damping materials through standard Oberst bar testing, solid plate excitation (RTC3) testing, and prediction through numerical schemes. The main objective is to compare damping results from various industry test methods to performance in an automotive body structure. Existing literature on laboratory and vehicle testing of free-layer viscoelastic damping materials has received significant attention in recent history. This has created considerable confusion regarding the appropriateness of different test methods to measure material properties for damping materials/treatments used in vehicles. The ability to use the material properties calculated in these tests in vehicle CAE models has not been extensively examined. Existing literature regarding theory and testing for different industry standard damping measurement techniques is discussed.

The induction hardening process involves a complex interaction of electromagnetic heating, rapid cooling, metallurgical phase transformations, and mechanical behavior. Many factors including induction coil design, power, frequency, scanning velocity, workpiece geometry, material chemistry, and quench severity determine a process outcome. This paper demonstrates an effective application of a numerical analysis tool for understanding of induction hardening. First, an overview of the Caterpillar induction simulation tool is briefly discussed. Then, several important features of the model development are examined. Finally, two examples illustrating the use of the computer simulation tool for solving induction-hardening problems related to cracking and distortion are presented. These examples demonstrate the tool's ability to simulate changes in process parameters and latitude of modeling steel or cast iron.

Most of the history of systems engineering has been focused on processes for engineering a single complex system. However, most large enterprises design, manufacture, operate, sell, or support not one product but multiple product lines of related but varying systems. They seek to optimize time to market, costs of development and production, leverage of intellectual assets, best use of talented human resources, overall competitiveness, overall profitability and productivity. Optimizing globally across multiple product lines does not follow from treating each system family member as an independently engineered system or product. Traditional systems engineering principles can be generalized to apply to families. This article includes a multi-year case study of the actual use of a generic model-based systems engineering methodology for families, Systematica™, across the embedded electronic systems products of one of the world's largest manufacturers of heavy equipment.

The effectiveness of three different techniques, designed to improve the bending fatigue life in comparison to conventionally processed gas-carburized 8620 steel, were evaluated with modified Brugger bending fatigue specimens and actual ring and pinion gears. The bending fatigue samples were machined from forged gear blanks from the same lot of material used for the pinion gear tests, and all processing of laboratory samples and gears was done together. Fatigue data were obtained on standard as-carburized parts and after three special processing histories: shot-peening to increase surface residual stresses; double heat treating to refined austenite grain size; and vacuum carburizing to minimize intergranular oxidation. Standard room-temperature S-N curves and endurance limits were obtained with the laboratory samples. The pinions were run as part of a complete gear set on a laboratory dynamometer and data were obtained at two imposed torque levels.