Image-based Stress Analysis of Materials

Structural materials are used in several infrastructural applications, including nuclear power plants in stainless steel materials. Due to their critical operating environments, these materials are subjected to stress cracking. The goal of this research was to investigate the stress environment that leads to cracks in structural materials under severe operating environments. CAD models were developed based on microstructural images and then imported to ANSYS, a finite element analysis software for stress analysis. After importing the models, material properties and boundary conditions were specified to analyze for stresses/strains. The locations of maximum stresses/strains were given an indication at which material fails. Multiple analyses with various parameters to estimate the conditions where the material will fail are being conducted.

For more details, please see the poster at Image-based Stress Analysis of Materials.