Browsing by Author "Fonte, Manuel."
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- Determination of the rotary fatigue life of NiTi alloy wiresPublication . Carvalho, André.; Montalvão, Diogo.; Freitas, Manuel.; Reis, Luis; Fonte, Manuel.Nickel-Titanium (NiTi) alloys with superelastic properties have been increasingly introduced as a substitute to more conventional alloys, such as stainless steel, in a variety of applications. In Dentistry, NiTi alloys are used in tools such as Endodontic rotary files, allowing the file to follow teeth root canals more easily than their stainless steel counterparts. Nevertheless, during surgery, the file is subjected to cyclic bending loading, since it is rotating while being deformed inside the curved canals and is prone to fracture due to fatigue, without showing any visible signals of degradation. Following a systematic approach, this work presents the results of rotary fatigue tests for several NiTi wires from different manufacturers (Memry and Euroflex). The formulation is presented, where the material strength reduction can be quantified from the determination of the strain and the number of cycles until failure. Experimental tests as well as numerical Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulations are presented to better understand the fatigue fracture mechanisms present in NiTi alloys, showing that there is good agreement between the predicted strains (difficult to measure in such small wires) and the cycles to failure.
- Development of a Very High Cycle Fatigue (VHCF) multiaxial testing devicePublication . Vieira, M.; Freitas, M.; Reis, L.; Ribeiro, A.M.R.; Fonte, Manuel.The very high cycle region of the S-N fatigue curve has been the subject of intensive research on the last years, with special focus on axial, bending, torsional and fretting fatigue tests. Very high cycle fatigue can be achieved using ultrasonic exciters which allow for frequency testing of up to 30 kHz. Still, the multiaxial fatigue analysis is not yet developed for this type of fatigue analyses, mainly due to conceptual limitations of these testing devices. In this paper, a device designed to produce biaxial fatigue testing using a single piezoelectric axial exciter is presented, as well as the preliminary testing of this device. The device is comprised of a horn and a specimen, which are both attached to the piezoelectric exciter. The steps taken towards the final geometry of the device are presented. Preliminary experimental testing of the developed device is made using thermographic imaging, strain measurements and vibration speeds and indicates good behaviour of the tested specimen.