Soar, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1745-9443 (2022) Integrating structural mechanics Into microstructure solidification modelling. PhD thesis, University of Greenwich.

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Abstract

The objective of this work is to investigate how the development of a solidifying microstructure can be altered by the consideration of structural mechanical behaviour. To this end a bespoke structural mechanics code utilising a staggered grid finite volume method was developed and verified before being coupled to pre-existing solidification models.

Concurrently resolving the physical processes of structural mechanics and microstructure solidification within a combined modelling framework required considerations of how to identify the solid structure, how to keep track of the extant deformation and investigation of how the calculated deformations can alter both the growth orientation and physical position of a solidifying dendrite. Once fully coupled, this numerical method was used to generate results which demonstrate physical mechanisms which could not be simulated using models which neglect the concurrent interactions between microstructure solidification and structural mechanics.

The importance of this behaviour is highlighted in the literature, with there being a wide selection of practical experiments which showcase how developing dendritic microstructures are fundamentally altered due to structural mechanical phenomena. Given that the macroscopic material properties of manufactured alloys are highly dependent on the morphology of the underlying microstructure, if the understanding of these phenomena can be improved there is potential for materials with more desirable properties to ultimately be produced. This provides the motivation for this work, as while the interdependence between structural mechanics and microstructure solidification is known of in industry, it remains an under-explored field with no numerical models currently existing which can capture these behaviours on a scale relevant to industrial processes.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	structural mechanics, solidification, microstructure, finite volume, cellular automata, numerical modelling
Subjects:	T Technology > T Technology (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences (CMS)
Last Modified:	07 Mar 2024 15:25
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/38828

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