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Abstract: The AEROCREW mission was realized at Ny-Ålesund Arctic Base in December 2007, in the frame of the International Polar Year, and in cooperation with the French Polar Institute. The team made an original training experience, constituting an integrated space crew, including physicians, aerospace trainers and engineers, implied in a seminar with four sessions, dealing with the training capabilities of arctic bases. This kind of base constitutes a pertinent and affordable facility for aerospace teams, and the specific aerospace crew training techniques are fruitful for the polar scientists (glaciologists, geologists, specialists of the atmosphere). The sessions, given by professionals of aerospace, robotics and medicine, covered the training methods for crews, robotics for outdoor and indoor activities, engineering of embedded systems and the arrangement of crafts. The experience has shown the efficiency of a transverse visiting multidisciplinary team for training, and possible synergies with the resident scientists. In addition, the sessions were enriched by demonstrations such as mini-robot for observation, micro-helicopter and also the comparison between extra vehicular activities (EVA) Russian glove and polar suits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The nonlinear dynamic modelling of safety net systems is approached at different scales. For this purpose, the fundamental rope dynamic tests are the reference for two basic tools. One hand an analytical bidimensional model with explicit geometrical nonlinearity and bilinear material law is proposed for preliminary design. On the other hand, a nonlinear explicit finite element is defined for numerical modelling of net systems. Semi-scale and full scale dynamic tests are performed to validate complete finite element models, suitable for global qualification of safety systems. The direct applications of these tools deal with explicit certification of safety systems for high-speed sport, such as downhill competitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper analyzes the static behavior of alveoled materials that is about to be developed for dynamic optimization of structural panels. It deals precisely with materials made of elliptical thin cells, filled with polymer material. The main contribution of the paper consists in elaborating an analytical approach describing the material. The considered problem represents an unidirectional stress, the goal being to calculate the elastic energy and strain globally obtained in the material. The wall of the elementary cell is represented in accordance with the classical BRESSE’s theory of thin beams, with specific adaptation for elliptical shape. The polymer material filling the cell is modelized with ABSI’s method of equivalence, which allows a direct approximation of various continuous media by equivalent spring segments. This method is presented and discussed for the present configuration, with its specific adaptation. The final result obtained by these analytical approaches is then compared to results from a finite element model. In spite of local differences between the analytical results and numerical computation, it appears clearly that the precision obtained by the proposed analytical approach is better than 95%, which is sufficient for this kind of material. Thus, the proposed analytical calculation and methodology allows robust and quick determination of material characteristics for elementary cells of such alveoled materials. The resulting laws can then be introduced into global models of a grid of cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Microscale residual stress may develop during the manufacturing of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composites and negatively affect apparent macroscale mechanical properties. Accordingly, accurately capturing residual stress may be essential in computational methods used for composite material design. This work presents a new data-driven methodology for the evaluation of microscale residual stress in CFRPs using fiber push-out experiments with in situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging. SEM images reveal significant through-thickness matrix sink-in deformation in resin-rich areas after nearby fibers are pushed out, which is attributed to the release of microscale process-induced residual stress. The sink-in deformation is measured experimentally, and a Finite Element Model Updating (FEMU) method is used to retrieve the associated residual stress. The finite element (FE) analysis includes simulation of the curing process, test sample machining, and fiber push-out experiment. Significant out-of-plane matrix deformation larger than 1% of the specimen thickness is reported and associated with a high level of residual stress in resin-rich areas. This work emphasizes the importance of in situ data-driven characterization for integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) and material design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An inhomogeneous fluid structure waveguide reproducing passive behaviour of the inner ear is modelled with the help of the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin method. A physical setup is designed and built. Experimental results are compared with a good correlation to theoretical ones. The experimental setup is a varying width plate immersed in fluid and terminated with an acoustic black hole. The varying width plate provides a spatial repartition of the vibration depending on the excitation frequency. The acoustic black hole is made by decreasing the plate׳s thickness with a quadratic profile and by covering this region with a thin film of viscoelastic material. Such a termination attenuates the flexural wave reflection at the end of the waveguide, turning standing waves into travelling waves. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim is the fabrication and mechanical testing of sandwich structures including a new core material known as fiber network sandwich materials. As fabrication norms for such a material do not exist as such, the primary goal is to reproduce successfully fiber network sandwich specimens. Enhanced vibration testing diagnoses the quality of the fabrication process. These sandwich materials possess low structural strength as proved by the static tests (compression, bending), but the vibration test results give high damping values, making the material suitable for vibro-acoustic applications where structural strength is of secondary importance e.g., internal paneling of a helicopter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents an experimental study on the effects of multi-site damage on the vibration response of honeycomb sandwich beams, damaged by two different ways i.e., impact damage and core-only damage simulating damage due to bird or stone impact or due to mishandling during assembly and maintenance. The variation of the modal parameters with different levels of impact energy and density of damage is studied. Vibration tests have been carried out with both burst random and sine dwell testing in order to evaluate the damping estimation efficiency of these methods in the presence of damage. Sine dwell testing is done in both up and down frequency directions in order to detect structural non-linearities. Results show that damping ratio is a more sensitive parameter for damage detection than the natural frequency. Design of experiments (DOE) highlighted density of damage as the factor having a more significant effect on the modal parameters and also proved that sine dwell testing is more suitable for damping estimation in the presence of damage as compared to burst random testing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With the flourishing number of small body missions that involve surface interactions, understanding the mechanics of spacecraft – surface interactions is crucial for improving our knowledge about the landing phases of space missions, for preparing spacecraft operations, and for interpreting the results of measurements made during the surface interactions. Given their regolith-covered surfaces, the process of landing on a small body can be considered as an impact at low-velocity on to a granular material in reduced-gravity. In order to study the influence of the surface material, projectile shape, and gravity on the collision dynamics, we used two experimental configurations (one for terrestrial gravity experiments and one for reduced-gravity experiments) to perform low-velocity collisions into different types of granular materials: quartz sand, and two different sizes of glass beads (1.5 and 5 mm diameter). Both a spherical and a cubic projectile (with varying impact orientation) were used. The experimental data support a drag model for the impact dynamics composed of both a hydrodynamic drag force and quasi-static resistance force. The hydrodynamic and quasi-static contributions are related to the material frictional properties, the projectile geometry, and the gravity. The transition from a quasi-static to a hydrodynamical regime is shown to occur at lower impact velocities in reduced-gravity trials than in terrestrial gravity trials, indicating that regolith has a more fluid-like behaviour in low-gravity. The reduced quasi-static regime of a granular material under low-gravity conditions leads to a reduction in the strength, resulting in a decreased resistance to penetration and larger penetration depths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: • Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) used in cryogenic engines is too dangerous and expensive to be performed in vibratory tests. • We suggest the idea that pre-stressed grain systems maybe a surrogate materials to overcome the aforementioned issue. • Mathematical formulations of the new methodology are introduced. Abstract This paper focuses on a new methodology for substitution of Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) contained in cryogenic tank in vibration analysis by using surrogate granular materials. Our analysis is limited to a 3D tank that is supposed to be fully filled with granular grains and tries to establish a modal equivalence between (tank fully filled with LH2) and (tank fully filled with granular grains) systems. For this, we determine required pre-stresses based on a homogenization technique from properties of grains. After reviewing some important mathematical formulations of vibration and homogenization model, an example of modal equivalence between these two systems is presented. Analytical results are also compared with numerical simulations in order to prove the suitability of the new method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve our understanding of landing on small bodies and of asteroid evolution, we use our novel drop tower facility to perform low-velocity (2-40 cm s-1), shallow impact experiments of a 10 cm diameter aluminum sphere into quartz sand in low effective gravities (~0.2-1 m s-2). Using in situ accelerometers, we measure the acceleration profile during the impacts and determine the peak accelerations, collision durations and maximum penetration depth. We find that the penetration depth scales linearly with the collision velocity but is independent of the effective gravity for the experimental range tested, and that the collision duration is independent of both the effective gravity and the collision velocity. No rebounds are observed in any of the experiments. Our low-gravity experimental results indicate that the transition from the quasi-static regime to the inertial regime occurs for impact energies two orders of magnitude smaller than in similar impact experiments under terrestrial gravity. The lower energy regime change may be due to the increased hydrodynamic drag of the surface material in our experiments, but may also support the notion that the quasi-static regime reduces as the effective gravity becomes lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fatigue crack propagation test under mode II has been set up for unidirectional composite laminate characterization at high frequency. The specimen is clamped on a shaker and loaded on its first bending resonance mode. This dynamical test allows an accurate delamination extension monitoring based on the resonance frequency shift. Dynamical tests are conducted at 260 Hz and 400 Hz and their results are compared to those obtained with 10 Hz 3-ENF tests. Fatigue crack propagation results are presented taking into consideration the loading ratio difference between both test configurations. All results are collapsed in a unique propagation rate curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to their excellent properties piezoelectric actuators are studied as embedded elements for the quasi-statically active shape control of spatial optical mirrors. However, unwanted nonlinear effects in piezoelectric actuators, i.e., hysteresis and creep, severely limit their performance. This paper aims at developing a control methodology to compensate hysteresis and creep in a piezoelectric actuator simultaneously for quasi-static space active applications. In the methodology developed, hysteresis and creep behaviors are successively compensated by open-loop control. First, a derivative Preisach model is proposed to accurately portray the hysteresis while requiring relatively few measurements and describing the detachment between major and minor loops. The inverse derivative Preisach model is derived and inserted in open-loop to achieve hysteresis compensation. Then, the creep in the hysteresis compensated piezoelectric actuator is described by the use of a nonlinear viscoelastic model and a low pass filter is suggested to eliminate the effect of the inverse derivative Preisach model on the step reference input. To invert the creep model, the concept of “input relaxation” is implemented and an inverse multiplicative structure allows identifying the parameters of the inverse model while circumventing the difficulty of a mathematical computation. Finally, by cascading the low pass filter, the inverse model of creep and the inverse derivative Preisach model one after the other with the single piezoelectric actuator, the simultaneous compensation of hysteresis and creep is achieved. Experimental results show that in the case of step-like reference signals the hysteresis and the creep in a piezoelectric actuator can be significantly reduced at the same time. It implies that the developed methodology is effective and feasible in space active optics applications for which quasi-static distortions need to be compensated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Piezoelectric actuators (PEAs) exhibit hysteresis nonlinearity in open-loop operation, which may lead to unwanted inaccuracy and limit system performance. Classical Preisach model is widely used for representing hysteresis but it requires a large number of first-order reversal curves to ensure the model accuracy. All the curves may not be obtained due to the limitations of experimental conditions, and the detachment between the major and minor loops is not taken into account. The purpose of this paper is to propose a modified Preisach model that requires relatively few measurements and that describes the detachment, and then to implement the inverse of the modified model for compensation in PEAs. Design/methodology/approach – The classical Preisach model is modified by adding a derivative term in parallel. The derivative gain is adjusted to an appropriate value so that the measured and predicted hysteresis loops are in good agreement. Subsequently, the new inverse model is similarly implemented by adding another derivative term in parallel with the inverse classical Preisach model, and is then inserted in open-loop operation to compensate the hysteresis. Tracking control experiments are conducted to validate the compensation. Findings – The hysteresis in PEAs can be accurately and conveniently described by using the modified Preisach model. The experimental results prove that the hysteresis effect can be nearly completely compensated. Originality/value – The proposed modified Preisach model is an effective and convenient mean to characterize accurately the hysteresis. The compensation method by inserting the inverse modified Preisach model in open-loop operation is feasible in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Piezoelectric actuators (PEAs) exhibit hysteresis nonlinearity in open-loop operation, which may lead to unwanted inaccuracy and limit system performance. Classical Preisach model is widely used for representing hysteresis but it requires a large number of first-order reversal curves to ensure the model accuracy. All the curves may not be obtained due to the limitations of experimental conditions, and the detachment between the major and minor loops is not taken into account. The purpose of this paper is to propose a modified Preisach model that requires relatively few measurements and that describes the detachment, and then to implement the inverse of the modified model for compensation in PEAs. Design/methodology/approach – The classical Preisach model is modified by adding a derivative term in parallel. The derivative gain is adjusted to an appropriate value so that the measured and predicted hysteresis loops are in good agreement. Subsequently, the new inverse model is similarly implemented by adding another derivative term in parallel with the inverse classical Preisach model, and is then inserted in open-loop operation to compensate the hysteresis. Tracking control experiments are conducted to validate the compensation. Findings – The hysteresis in PEAs can be accurately and conveniently described by using the modified Preisach model. The experimental results prove that the hysteresis effect can be nearly completely compensated. Originality/value – The proposed modified Preisach model is an effective and convenient mean to characterize accurately the hysteresis. The compensation method by inserting the inverse modified Preisach model in open-loop operation is feasible in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impact resistance of different types of composite sandwich beams is evaluated by studying vibration response changes (natural frequency and damping ratio). This experimental works will help aerospace structural engineer in assess structural integrity using classification of impact resistance of various composite sandwich beams (entangled carbon and glass fibers, honeycomb and foam cores). Low velocity impacts are done below the barely visible impact damage (BVID) limit in order to detect damage by vibration testing that is hardly visible on the surface. Experimental tests are done using both burst random and sine dwell testing in order to have a better confidence level on the extracted modal parameters. Results show that the entangled sandwich beams have a better resistance against impact as compared to classical core materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The search for life in the solar system requires sub-surface exploration capabilities of extra-terrestrial bodies like the Moon and Mars. To do so different techniques are being developed: from the classical rotary drilling techniques widely used on Earth to more original techniques like ultrasonic drilling. Dual-reciprocating drilling (DRD) is a bio-mimetic drilling principle inspired by the manner wood-wasps drill into wood to lay its eggs. It was proposed as an efficient extra-terrestrial drilling technique requiring low over-head force. To deepen the understanding of this novel drilling technique, DRD has been tested for the first time in planetary regolith simulants. These experiments are reported here. To do so a new test bench was built and is presented. The soil forces on the drill bit are analysed and the final depth reached by the DRD system is compared to the final depth reached by static penetration. The experiments have shown very high levels of slippage (defined here specifically for DRD). The observations of the surface deformations and the importance of slippage lead to the proposal of DRD penetration mechanics in regoliths. Finally a re-evaluation of previous DRD experiments conducted on low compressive strength rocks also show the high levels of slippage during DRD. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: To qualify hardware for space flight, great care is taken to replicate the environment encountered in space. Emphasis is focused on presenting the hardware with the most extreme conditions it might encounter during its mission lifetime. The same care should be taken when regolith simulants are prepared to test space system performance. Indeed, the manner a granular material is prepared can have a very high influence on its mechanical properties and on the performance of the system interacting with it. Three regolith simulant preparation methods have been tested and are presented here (rain, pour, vibrate). They should enable researchers and hardware developers to test their prototypes in controlled and repeatable conditions. The pour and vibrate techniques are robust but only allow reaching a given relative density. The rain technique allows reaching a variety of relative densities but can be less robust if manually controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This work focuses on the development of a damage detection and localization tool using the topology optimization feature of MSC.Nastran. This approach is based on the correlation of a local stiffness loss and the change in modal parameters due to damages in structures. The loss in stiffness is accounted by the topology optimization approach for updating undamaged numerical models towards similar models with embedded damages. Hereby, only a mass penalization and the changes in experimentally obtained modal parameters are used as objectives. The theoretical background for the implementation of this method is derived and programmed in a Nastran input file and the general feasibility of the approach is validated numerically, as well as experimentally by updating a model of an experimentally tested composite laminate specimen. The damages have been introduced to the specimen by controlled low energy impacts and high quality vibration tests have been conducted on the specimen for different levels of damage. These supervised experiments allow to test the numerical diagnosis tool by comparing the result with both NDT technics and results of previous works (concerning shifts in modal parameters due to damage). Good results have finally been achieved for the localization of the damages by the topology optimization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim is to study the impact toughness of two types of entangled sandwich materials (heavy and light) with the help of vibration testing. A simple case of symmetrical impacts is studied in this article as no literature is available regarding impact tests on entangled sandwich materials. The variation of modal parameters with two levels of damage (BVID and Damage not apparent on the surface) is studied. Vibration test results show that the light entangled specimens possessing good damping capabilities seem more sensitive to impact damage than the heavy ones. Furthermore, damping is found to be more sensitive to damage than the stiffness variations, so it is reasonable to assume that damping may be used instead of natural frequency as a damage indicator tool for structural health monitoring purposes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of this paper is the fabrication and mechanical testing of entangled sandwich beam specimens and the comparison of their results with standard sandwich specimens with honeycomb and foam as core materials. The entangled sandwich specimens have glass fiber cores and glass woven fabric as skin materials. The tested glass fiber entangled sandwich beams possess low compressive and shear modulus as compared to honeycomb and foam sandwich beams of the same specifications. Although the entangled sandwich beams are heavier than the honeycomb and foam sandwich beams, the vibration tests show that the entangled sandwich beams possess higher damping ratios and low vibratory levels as compared to honeycomb and foam sandwich beams, making them suitable for vibro-acoustic applications where structural strength is of secondary importance, e.g., internal paneling of a helicopter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Modal equivalence between (Tank–Fluid and Granular materials) systems by pre-stress. • Evolution of natural frequencies of Tank-Granular system as a function of pre-stress. • Comparison between analytical and experimental methods. This paper focuses on the experimental validation of a new methodology for substitution of Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) on a simplified model of launcher cryogenic tank in vibration analysis by using pre-stressed grains as surrogate materials. The objective of the experiments presented here is to analyze the modal behavior of the (Tank and Granular materials) system during pre-stress procedure. In these experimental tests, a cylindrical tank is fully filled with granular materials and vibrated under swept sine and random excitations. Then, the natural frequency of each vibration mode is measured at different levels of pre-stress. The results obtained from the tests show the evolution of each flexural mode as a function of applied pre- stress. Nonlinear behavior of the analyzed system during vibration was also observed. These experimental values carried out with Tank-Granular material system (TGM) are compared with numerical and analytical results to prove the potential of the new methodology. Finally, based on obtained experimental results, some solutions are proposed in order to improve the new methodology for vibration analysis of cryogenic tank which is an important thematic in aerospace engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]