Le giunzioni ibride sono giunzioni in cui coesistono due differenti tipologie di giunzione, di cui una è l’incollaggio. L’articolo mostra i risultati di una campagna sperimentale volta a caratterizzare le prestazioni di giunti incollati ibridi in confronto ad alcune tipologie di giunzioni tradizionali. Si sono prese in considerazioni come tecnologie di giunzione tradizionali la saldatura a resistenza, la rivettatura a strappo, la clinciatura e la rivettatura auto perforante. In particolare si sono studiate le prestazioni di giunti a semplice sovrapposizione per differenti condizioni geometriche del giunto (spessore aderendi, passo tra i punti di fissaggio meccanico) e condizioni ambientali (temperatura di esercizio, presenza o meno di invecchiamento). La pianificazione della campagna sperimentale, e la successiva analisi dei risultati sono state svolte mediante Design of Experiments. I risultati dei test mostrano che le giunzioni ibride conducono ad significativo un miglioramento delle prestazioni quando le due tecnologie di giunzione componenti il giunto ibrido hanno prestazioni simili, mentre forniscono prestazioni pari o inferiori a quelle delle giunzione più resistente quando vengono accoppiate tecnologie di giunzione con prestazioni molto differenti.

The reliability of printed circuit boards under dynamic loads is a key issue in the handheld electronic products industry. In order to predict the performance of the boards in their application lifetime, different tests were developed. The current industry-wide standard testing method is a board level drop test. In this test, the boards are dropped under defined conditions until a failure in the board is detected. The main failure driver is a flexural oscillation of the board due to the impact event. As this test method has a number of drawbacks, an alternative test method was evaluated in this study. A board level cyclic bend test was used and the results of both tests were compared. A very good correlation between the methods could be observed, supporting the suitability of the board level cyclic bend test for the determination of the drop test performance. The advantages of the alternative test method were shorter testing times, better adaptability and test simulations at lower computing time. In future analysis, test simulations will be used to generate Wöhler curves related to the local stresses.

Wafer bonding describes all technologies for joining two or more substrates directly or using certain intermediate layers. Current investigations are focused on so-called low temperature bonding as a special direct bonding technology. It is carried out without intermediate layers and at temperatures below 400 °C. In addition to the wafer materials, the toughness of the bonded interface also depends on the bonding process itself. It can vary for different pre-treatments. Furthermore, an increase of the annealing temperature leads to a higher toughness of the bonded interface. The fracture toughness is a suitable value to describe the damage behaviour of the bonded interface. Based on a micro-chevron-specimen, the fracture toughness can be determined either numerically or by combining numerical analysis with experimental measurement of the maximum force. The maximum force is measured during a micro-chevron-test using a Mode I loading. The minimum of the stress intensity coefficient can be determined by a FE-simulation only. One possibility to estimate the stress intensity coefficient is the compliance method. The compliance of the whole specimen increases with a growing crack. The stress intensity coefficient can be directly derived from the simulated compliance and the crack length itself. The paper is focused on the micro-chevron-test for direct bonded silicon-silicon wafers. Additional to the estimation of dimensionless stress intensity coefficient as a function of geometry, the influence of different pre-treatments and annealing temperatures on the measured maximum force are analysed and discussed.

The Space Shuttle wing-leading edge consists of panels that are made of reinforced carbon-carbon. Coating spallation was observed near the slip-side region of the panels that experience extreme heating. To understand this phenomenon, a root-cause investigation was conducted. As part of that investigation, fracture mechanics analyses of the slip-side joggle regions of the hot panels were conducted. This paper presents an overview of the fracture mechanics analyses.

It is known for long time that in a cracked plate subjected to anti-symmetric plane loading, the Poisson’s effect leads to the generation of a coupled out-of-plane singular mode (Mode O). Recent theoretical and numerical analyses have shown that this effect is present also in plates weakened by pointed V-notches and might play a role in failure initiation phenomena in plates under mode II loading particularly in the presence of large opening angle. Since the degree of singularity characterising the mode O is greater than that of mode II, the mutual incidence of the two modes depends on the component size. Dealing with circular and elliptic holes, the presence or not of the out-of-plane mode has never been discussed in the literature. The main aim of this work is to demonstrate the existence of a three-dimensional effect tied to mode O. On the basis of a large bulk of numerical results the following conclusions can be drawn: - An out-of-plane mode is present in plates weakened by U-notches and subjected to Mode II loading, as previously demonstrated for plates weakened by cracks and pointed V-notches; its intensity is not negligible also for finite values of the notch radius. - Out-of-plane mode results in a shear stress distribution symmetric with respect to the mid-plane. The intensity of this stress component strongly depends on the Poisson’s ratio ?. It increases as ? increases. - The strain energy density averaged on a given control volume which should, in principle, be material dependent is a parameter suitable for the natural of capture all three dimensional effects occurring through the plate thickness. It is surely a powerful tool in practical cases where the role played by three-dimensionality is not negligible, or is not known in detail.

High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HT PEM) fuel cell based on polybenzimidazole (PBI) polymer and phosphoric acid, can be operated at temperature between 120 °C and 180 °C. Reactants humidification is not required and CO content up to 2% in the fuel can be tolerated, affecting only marginally performance. This is what makes HT PEM very attractive, as low quality reformed hydrogen can be used and water management problems are avoided. Till nowadays, from experimental point of view, only few studies relate to the development and characterization of high temperature stacks. The aim of this work is to present the main design features and the performance curves of a 25 cells HT PEM stack based on PBI and phosphoric acid membranes. Performance curves refer to the stack operating with two type of fuels: pure hydrogen and a gas mixture simulating a typical steam reformer output. The stack voltage distribution analysis and the stack temperature distribution analysis suggest that cathode air could be used as coolant leading to a better thermal management. This could simplify stack design and system BOP, thus increasing system performance

Although the total hip replacement (THR) is a long-proven method of surgical treatment of diseases and disorders of the human hip, the surgery brings some risk of long-term instability of the joint. The aim of the research was to investigate the cemented bone-implant interface behavior. The main problems (cement layer degradation and bone-cement interface debonding) during physiological loading conditions have been investigated using a custom hip simulator. The experimental setup was designed to allow cyclic loading of the sample of pelvic bone with implanted cemented acetabular component. The hip contact force of required direction and magnitude was applied to the implant using a spherical femoral component head. The most unfavorable activity (downstairs walking) was simulated. The process of damage accumulation in the fixation was monitored by repeated scanning using high resolution micro Computed Tomography (µCT). Use of micro-focus source and large high-resolution flat panel detector allows investigation of structural changes and crack propagation both in the cement layer and the trabecular bone.