Constitutive Modelling of Resins in the Compliance Domain

A rheological HWKK/H model for resins is developed taking into consideration the up-to-date analyses of experimental results. Constitutive compliance equations of linear are formulated for this model in the shear/bulk form, which describes, among other things, the first-rank reversible isothermal creep. The shear (distorsional) deformations are simulated with three independent stress history functions of fractional and normal exponential types. The volume deformations are simulated as perfectly elastic. The model is described by two elastic and six viscoelastic constants, namely three long-term creep coefficients and three retardation times.The constitutive compliance equations of viscoealsticity for resins are also formulated in the coupled form. Formulae for converting the constants of shear/bulk (uncoupled) viscoelasticity into the constants of coupled viscoelasticity are given too.An algorithm for identifying the material constants, based on the creep of uniaxially tensioned bar samples, is formulated in a way that gives unique results. The material constants are fiund for Epidian 53 epoxy and Polimal 109 polyester resins. The creep processes, simulated based on the experimental data, are presented graphically for both the resins examined.     

An extended tube model for thermo-viscoelasticity of rubberlike materials: Parameter identification and examples

The extended tube-model was presented by KALISKE & HEINRICH (RCT 72, 602-632) in 1999 as a novel approach for isothermal hyperelasticity of rubberlike materials. This contribution is dedicated to its further development to finite non-linear thermo-viscoelasticity. A non-linear evolution law and a thermo-mechanical coupled free energy formulation are the kernel of the phenomenological approach where the elastic material response is inspired by statistical-mechanical theory. The representation of viscoelasticity is based on a multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient. The Helmholtz free energy of the material is formulated in terms of isothermal free energy functions multiplicatively coupled with non-linear temperature evolution functions. The non-linear evolution law for the viscous material branch is solved by applying a predictor-corrector algorithm with an exponential mapping scheme. In today's literature, several sophisticated thermo-mechanical material models are available. However, they are built upon a considerable number of material parameters governing the mechanical and thermal material response which need to be identified for practical application. Therefore, particular emphasis is given to an appropriate parameter identification technique for the thermal field. For the latter, a uniaxial extension test is carried out where the recorded data of the temperature field of the rubber specimen under cyclic loading is used for parameter identification. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Use of the results of auxiliary experiments in solving problems in the linear theory of viscoelasticity

The approximate method of solving problems of the theory of linear viscoelasticity with arbitrary creep and relaxation kernels, proposed in [2], is substantiated and generalized. The essence of this method consists in the approximation of the functions depending on the Laplace — Carson transforms of the mechanical characteristics of a viscoelastic body by means of certain combinations of the transforms of the creep and relaxation kernels. The expressions obtained as a result of the approximation enable the inverse transforms of the unknown functions to be found without difficulty.Moscow Lomonosov State University. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 4, No. 6, pp. 963–969, November–December, 1968.     

Quasilinear theory of viscoelasticity

By postulating equal contributions the number of kernels in the principal cubic theory of viscoelasticity and in the theory with regular kernels of two arguments is reduced to three. For certain quasilinear relations all the kernels and functions are determined from creep, relaxation, and simple loading and deformation tests. In the case of simple loading and deformation the problems for a viscoelastic incompressible material reduce to problems of the theory of small elastoplastic deformations of an incompressible material. Several problems relating to this case are considered.Moscow M. V. Lomonosov State University. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 4, pp. 603–611, July–August, 1969.     

Modelling the viscoelasticity of cell shape changes

In the theory of linear viscoelasticity, creep and relaxation functions are the important delay kernels in the stress-strain relations. Quite recently, a creep function power law has been obtained experimentally for an isolated living cell (on the scale of the cell). The corresponding form of the relaxation function is derived using the interconversion formula. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Modelling of predeformation- and frequency-dependent material behaviour of filled rubber under large predeformations superimposed with harmonic deformations of small amplitudes

Viscoelastic materials show a significant frequency and predeformation dependent behaviour under loadings consisting of large predeformations superimposed by small harmonic deformations. Based on further material models of Haupt & Lion [1] and Lion, Retka & Rendek [2] we introduce a recently developed constitutive approach of finite viscoelasticity in the frequency domain that is able to describe the frequency and predeformation dependent material behaviour with respect to storage and loss modulus. The constitutive equations are geometrically linearised in the neighbourhood of the predeformation and will be evaluated in the frequency domain. Furthermore a formulation for incompressible material behaviour is introduced and the corresponding dynamic modulus tensors are derived. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On the direct connection of rheological elements in nonlinear continuum mechanics

The structure of complicated phenomenological material models at finite strains is often exemplified with the help of rheological elements. Thereby, simple material behaviour, i.e. elasticity or viscous and plastic flow, are composes by components. In our approach, we directly apply this concept to obtain material models at finite strains. Towards this end, the thermodynamically consistent material behaviour of single elements is defined first. Subsequently, the elements are connected by evaluation of stress equilibria equations formulated on interconnecting configurations. The basic equations of this concept are presented using the example of nonlinear viscoelasticity of Maxwell type. The model results from a series connection of an elastic and a viscous element, whereas both are formulated in a thermodynamically consistent way within the framework on nonlinear continuum mechanics. Furthermore, an approach of numerical implementation using the stress equilibria is suggested. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Fractional derivative modelling of adhesive cure

This paper considers the modelling of curing adhesive properties using fractional derivatives. A systematic approach is adopted where results can be related to a physical interpretation of the system rather than relying on a purely data-driven approach. The method relies on selecting standard integer order models based on the pre-cure and post-cure behaviour, from which fractional order derivative models are derived. Results from dynamic mechanical testing of two chemistries, a cyanoacrylate adhesive and a methacrylate resin are used to identify the parameter values for their respective fractional models. These results are then used to interpret behaviour of the adhesives during cure such as the onset of solidification.     

Electrical analogous in viscoelasticity

In this paper, electrical analogous models of fractional hereditary materials are introduced. Based on recent works by the authors, mechanical models of materials viscoelasticity behavior are firstly approached by using fractional mathematical operators. Viscoelastic models have elastic and viscous components which are obtained by combining springs and dashpots. Various arrangements of these elements can be used, and all of these viscoelastic models can be equivalently modeled as electrical circuits, where the spring and dashpot are analogous to the capacitance and resistance, respectively. The proposed models are validated by using modal analysis. Moreover, a comparison with numerical experiments based on finite difference time domain method shows that, for long time simulations, the correct time behavior can be obtained only with modal analysis. The use of electrical analogous in viscoelasticity can better reveal the real behavior of fractional hereditary materials.     

Temperature gradient in wood during grinding

Grinding is a commonly used method for producing pulps for papermaking, but its rather poor energy efficiency is a drawback. This paper focuses on developing a model dealing with temperature rise in wood during grinding. The model paves the way for the development of theoretical methods which can be used for reducing the energy consumption of the process. In grinding, wood is loaded by grits, which cause stress waves in the wood matrix. The stress waves fatigue the wood and ultimately separate fibres from the matrix, but because of wood’s viscoelasticity, part of the mechanical energy of waves is converted into heat. In order to understand the wood temperature increase in this process, a mechanistic model is developed here. The model is based on three hypotheses: a flux of mechanical energy occurs through the wood, the magnitude of the flux can be derived from the contact mechanics of the grits, and the rise in wood temperature can be determined from the dissipation of the flux. A temperature distribution in the actual grinding process was simulated with the model. The simulated temperatures were compared with a measured temperature profile obtained from the literature. The modelled and measured temperatures matched quite well. The simulations show that an increase in grit size results higher temperatures, whereas an increase in the distance between grits gives lower temperatures. The main result of the study is that the Hertz theory of contact mechanics can be considered an adequate method for analysing the effect of grits in the grinding process. The result shows that the Hertz theory is applicable when fatigue models are developed; these models can then be used to reduce the energy consumption of the process.     

Obtaining confidence limits for safe creep life in the presence of multi batch hierarchical databases: An application to 18Cr–12Ni–Mo steel

The creep and creep rupture properties of 18Cr–12Ni–Mo steel tubes have been analysed using the Wilshire equations. The observed behaviour patterns are then briefly discussed in terms of the dislocation processes governing creep strain accumulation. A suitable statistical framework for analysing both the single and multi batch data available on this material is then specified. It is shown that ignoring the hierarchical nature present in many creep data bases, which has been the approach used until now when using the Wilshire equations, leads to a serious and significant underestimate of the predicted safe life for this material. The model allows accurate predictions, with associated levels of confidence, of long-term properties by extrapolation of short-term test results for this steel.     

Linear and nonlinear vibrations of fractional viscoelastic Timoshenko nanobeams considering surface energy effects

In this paper, the linear and nonlinear vibrations of fractional viscoelastic Timoshenko nanobeams are studied based on the Gurtin–Murdoch surface stress theory. Firstly, the constitutive equations of fractional viscoelasticity theory are considered, and based on the Gurtin–Murdoch model, stress components on the surface of the nanobeam are incorporated into the axial stress tensor. Afterward, using Hamilton's principle, equations governing the two-dimensional vibrations of fractional viscoelastic nanobeams are derived. Finally, two solution procedures are utilized to describe the time responses of nanobeams. In the first method, which is fully numerical, the generalized differential quadrature and finite difference methods are used to discretize the linear part of the governing equations in spatial and time domains. In the second method, which is semi-analytical, the Galerkin approach is first used to discretize nonlinear partial differential governing equations in the spatial domain, and the obtained set of fractional-order ordinary differential equations are then solved by the predictor–corrector method. The accuracy of the results for the linear and nonlinear vibrations of fractional viscoelastic nanobeams with different boundary conditions is shown. Also, by comparing obtained results for different values of some parameters such as viscoelasticity coefficient, order of fractional derivative and parameters of surface stress model, their effects on the frequency and damping of vibrations of the fractional viscoelastic nanobeams are investigated.     

Effects of Moisture and Stresses on the Structure and Properties of Polyester Resin

The results of a complex study of structural changes in a cured Norpol 440 polyester resin under the action of damp environment and mechanical loading are presented. A considerable effect of absorbed moisture on the structure and some characteristics of the material is revealed by using thermophysical methods and X-ray diffractometry. The joint effect of moisture and mechanical stress is estimated by investigating the creep in stationary and nonstationary moisture conditions. The anisotropy of the material structure formed during creep is evaluated from the results of dilatometric measurements. It is found that the degree of anisotropy of the material after creep accompanied by moisture sorption is higher than that after creep in the conditions of moisture equilibrium with atmosphere. It is established that the aftercure and relaxation of the residual creep deformation come to an end at heating to 80-85°C. At a further rise in temperature and repeated heating, changes in the material structure are not observed.     

Fractional calculus in viscoelasticity: An experimental study

Viscoelastic properties of soft biological tissues provide information that may be useful in medical diagnosis. Noninvasive elasticity imaging techniques, such as Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE), reconstruct viscoelastic material properties from dynamic displacement images. The reconstruction algorithms employed in these techniques assume a certain viscoelastic material model and the results are sensitive to the model chosen. Developing a better model for the viscoelasticity of soft tissue-like materials could improve the diagnostic capability of MRE. The well known “integer derivative” viscoelastic models of Voigt and Kelvin, and variations of them, cannot represent the more complicated rate dependency of material behavior of biological tissues over a broad spectral range. Recently the “fractional derivative” models have been investigated by a number of researchers. Fractional order models approximate the viscoelastic material behavior of materials through the corresponding fractional differential equations. This paper focuses on the tissue mimicking materials CF-11 and gelatin, and compares fractional and integer order models to describe their behavior under harmonic mechanical loading. Specifically, Rayleigh (surface) waves on CF-11 and gelatin phantoms are studied, experimentally and theoretically, in order to develop an independent test bed for assessing viscoelastic material models that will ultimately be used in MRE reconstruction algorithms.     

Singular fractional differential equations

Fractional differential equations have received increasing attention during recent years since the behavior of many physical systems can be properly described using the fractional order system theory. By fractional analog for Duhamel principle we give the existence-uniqueness result for linear and nonlinear time fractional evolution equations with singularities in corresponding norm in extended Colombeau algebra of generalized functions. In order to find the explicit solutions we use integral representation of the solution obtained via Laplace and Fourier transforms in succession and their inverses. We deal with some nonlinear models with singularities appearing in viscoelasticity and in anomalous processes, extending the results in viscoelasticity, continuum random walk, seismology, continuum mechanics and many other branches of life and science. The main task is finding existence-uniqueness results like in the case of evolution equations with entire derivatives. By examining the fractional evolution equations it turns out that they lead to till now known results from the evolution equations with entire derivatives in limiting case. They give more, behavior of the solution when order of derivatives are inside the intervals of entire points. In this way we can follow the influence of the operators generated by entire derivative in many fractional time evolution PDEs especially with singular initial data, and non-Lipschitz's nonlinear term. Apart from evolution equations we prove also an existence-uniqueness result for an initial value problem with singularities for linear and nonlinear fractional elliptic equation of Helmholtz type and fractional order α, where 1 < Re(α) ≤ 2, with respect to the one variable from R ₊. As a framework, we employ also Colombeau algebra of generalized functions containing fractional derivatives and operations among them in order to deal with the fractional equations with singularities. We apply the same techniques to the fractional Laplace and Poisson equation linear and nonlinear ones. (© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On the macroscopic material behaviour of textile reinforced concrete undertensile loading

This paper concerns with the development of the macroscopic material behaviour of textile reinforced concrete (TRC) using an analytical approach. Therefore the heterogeneous structure of TRC is modelled on the mesoscopic level. The overall material behaviour on the macroscopic level is obtained by means of the homogenisation technique. The analytical approach is based on the micro mechanical solution for a single inclusion according to Eshelby . In extension of this solution for multidirectional reinforced concrete an effective field approximation is used. This approach considers the interactions between the different orientated rovings and the micro cracks in an average sense. For the mechanical modelling of the bond behaviour between roving and matrix after initiating of the macro cracking a slip based bond model with a multiple linear shear stress-slip relation is used. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Unsteady flow of viscoelastic fluid with the fractional K-BKZ model between two parallel plates

In the present paper, we investigate the unsteady flow of a viscoelastic fluid between two parallel plates which is generated by the impulsively accelerated motion of the bottom plate. Based on the result of (Jaishankar and McKinley, 2014), the fractional K-BKZ constitutive equation is obtained from the fractional Maxwell model. Using respectively the fractional Maxwell model and fractional K-BKZ model, the unidirectional flows between two plates are simulated and compared. The velocity field and shear stress of the flows are calculated by developing efficient finite difference schemes. The results show that the fluid with the fractional Maxwell model gradually loses the viscoelasticity, but the fluid with the fractional K-BKZ model continues to preserve the viscoelasticity. The dependence of the flow velocity on various parameters of the fractional K-BKZ model is analyzed graphically.     

Magneto-Sensitive Elastomers: An Experimental Point of View

Magneto-sensitive elastomers (MSEs) are smart materials changing their shape and mechanical properties in the presence of a magnetic field. Focussing on model systems, silicone based MSEs are prepared by a multi-step mixing process and characterised using a rotational rheometer (plate-plate). Data obtained by relaxation tests is used to set-up a material model coupling the theories of viscoelasticity and magnetoelasticity. The behaviour of MSEs in quasi-static and dynamic mechanical shear experiments can be successfully predicted by the analytical model using parameters received by fitting the transient experiments. The model is validated for small shear deformations (γ = 0.02) and low magnetic fields (𝔹 = 0.2 T). (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)