Comparison of the reliefs of fracture surfaces in PMMA under static and cyclic loading

Investigations of the relief of fracture surfaces in PMMA with the help of optical and interference microscopes have shown that there are no qualitative differences in the appearance of the fracture surfaces obtained under static and cyclic loading conditions. Quantitative studies have established that the size of the specular zone increases linearly with increase in the logarithm of the lifetime at a given test temperature. Other conditions being equal, in cyclic tests the specular zone is larger than in static tests. The results obtained are considered to be further confirmation of the validity of the theory that under any loading conditions fracture is based on the same thermo-fluctuation mechanism.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 52–59, 1966     

Nondestructive evaluation of fatigue-induced changes in the structure of composites by an ultrasonic method using a laser

Studies were conducted to nondestructively evaluate the damage to a glass-fiber-reinforced plastic during cyclic and static loading. The evaluation was made by an ultrasonic method employing a laser. In both the unloaded and loaded specimens, the ultrasound attenuation spectrum has a resonance peak attributable to the periodic nature of the structure of the composite. This peak is shifted to the low-frequency region during static loading, due to a decrease in the elastic modulus. The spectra obtained after cyclic loading have no resonance peaks, due to attenuation of the ultrasound over a broad range of frequencies by a large number of fatigue cracks. Additional static loading results in concentration of the cracks near the boundary between the glass fibers and the polymer matrix, which leads to the formation of a resonance peak in the high-frequency region of the spectrum.Paper to be presented at the Ninth International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, October, 1995).Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 405–410, May–June, 1995.     

Fracture of a glass-reinforced plastic in cyclic tension-compression

Uniaxial tension-compression tests have revealed the existence of a correlation between the static and cyclic deformation characteristics of a glass-reinforced plastic. The possibility of calculating the cyclic lifetime from the static test data using Bailey's rule and Zhurkov's equation for the time dependence of the strength has been investigated. A method of allowing for the particular characteristics of the fatigue fracture of a reinforced material, based on the correlation between the static and cyclic deformation, is proposed and is found to lead to a considerable improvement in the convergence of the theoretical and actual cyclic lifetimes.Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, Riga. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 4, pp. 654–662, July–August, 1971.     

Fatigue failure criteria and degradation rules for composites under multiaxial loadings

To develop design rules for dynamically loaded composite structures, extensive static and cyclic tension/compression-torsion tests were carried out on carbon-fibre-reinforced composites, in which especially the important influence of multiaxial loading conditions on their fatigue behaviour was investigated. Physically based failure criteria for static loadings are modified for multiaxial cyclic loadings, and a good agreement with experiments is achieved. Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 42, No. 5, pp. 631–641, September–October, 2006.     

Behavior of the supermolecular structure of oriented amorphous-crystalline polymers under cyclic loading

Equipment has been developed for investigating small-angle X-ray diffraction in various phases of the loading period in cyclically extended polymers. The behavior of the large-period structure of oriented polycaprolactam (kapron) films in cyclic extension has been studied. The results are compared with the data on the behavior of the same structure in static tests.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 195–199, 1968     

Comparison of the temperature-time dependences of polymer strength under static and cyclic loading

A comparison of the temperature-time dependences of the strength of highly oriented fibers under static and cyclic loading shows that in the region of high temperatures and low loading frequencies the static and cyclic specimen lives always coincide. The discrepancy between the static and cyclic lives observed in the region of low temperatures and higher loading frequencies is related with differences in the structural changes in the different loading regimes. These changes are relaxational in nature.The experimental data were reported at the 14th and 16th All-Union Conferences on High-Molecular Compounds (1964 and 1966).A. F. Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Leningrad. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 648–655, July–August, 1968.     

Polymer fatigue from the standpoint of the kinetic theory of fracture

A comparison of the static and cyclic lives of various polymers shows that, whatever the loading regime, fracture may be regarded from the standpoint of the thermal-fluctuation theory. Under comparable test conditions the lifetimes in different loading regimes coincide. The experimentally observed cases of a reduced cyclic as compared with static life do not conflict with the kinetic theory of fracture and can be attributed to hysteresis heating effects or to differences in the structural changes that take place in the test material in different loading regimes.From the standpoint of the kinetic theory, fracture is regarded as a certain process that develops in a body under load and not as a critical event that occurs when a critical stress — ultimate strength — is reached.A. F. Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 1, pp. 70–96, January–February, 1969.     

Polymer fractography and fracture kinetics

On the basis of an analysis of the fractographic data for two polymeric materials (polymethyl-methacrylate and polycaprolactam) it is shown that it is possible to differentiate the effects of local heating and structural changes at the end of the main crack on the reduced lifetime of polymers under cyclic as compared with static loading. A method is proposed for estimating the values of the local temperature and the structure-sensitive coefficient in the cyclic lifetime equation.For communication 2 see [3].Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 5, pp. 869–874, September–October, 1971.     

Environmental Effects on the Mechanical Properties of Glass-FRP and Aramid-FRP Rebars

In the paper, the experimental results on the effect of temperature and moisture on the mechanical properties of FRP (Fiber-Reinforced Polymer) reinforcements are presented. FRP rebars made from glass and aramid fibers were subjected to cyclic thermal actions at temperatures ranging between 20 and 70°C, typical of natural hot-climate environments. Tensile tests were also carried out on FRP rebars. The effect of moisture was investigated by cyclic wetting and drying the FRP rebars under laboratory conditions before their testing in tension. Finally, the elastic modulus and tensile strength of the FRP rebars exposed to these cyclic actions were compared with those obtained for unexposed ones, in order to evaluate the mechanical damage caused by environmental conditions.     

Creep and damage accumulation in orthotropic composites under cyclic loading

Experimental results and theoretical prediction of the response of glassfiber-reinforced polyester under quasi-static, static (creep), and cyclic (fatigue) loading are presented. The nonlinear strain component at static loading and the strain amplitude rate at cyclic off-axis loading of an orthotropic composite are shown to follow the associated flow rule with a single-parameter quadratic potential function. The influence of fatigue damage on deformation is considerable due to the reduction in the elastic modulus of the composite and is apparently negligible with respect to its effect on the parameters of the creep kernel.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 447–460, July–August, 1998.     

Cyclic Creep of Polymers and Polymer-Matrix Composites

The paper provides a state-of-the-art review of the current understanding regarding the long-term response of polymer-matrix composites subjected to cyclic loading conditions. Typically, under such conditions, the behavior of polymeric systems is characterized by much higher creep rates than those observed in the cases of static loading. In this paper, research accomplishments in the subject area are discussed. New experimental results are presented regarding the cyclic-creep response of a composite system consisting of a thin-film piezoelectric polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with thin metallic layers deposited on both surfaces of the polymer. This composite was tested under the conditions of tensile static stresses with superimposed sinusoidal oscillations. As a result, considerable acceleration of creep rates has been recorded as the mean stresses, vibration amplitudes, and frequencies of oscillations tended to increase. These effects were observed even within the linear viscoelastic deformation range at room temperature; however, the acceleration of cyclic-creep rates tended to decrease below the freezing temperature. In general, as indicated in the conclusion, the problem of cyclic creep in polymeric systems is far from being well understood and requires further studies.     

Behavior of rigid plastics under cyclic loading

Research progress on the dynamic fatigue of plastics is briefly reviewed. Attention is concentrated on the problems of damage accumulation and self-heating. The effect of various factors on the fatigue of plastics is considered. The possibility of predicting the cyclic life-time from the results of long-time static strength tests is examined. The prospects for the construction of a theory of fatigue strength in complex states of stress are weighed.Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, Riga. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 97–107, January–February, 1969.     

Accceleration of Fatigue Tests of Polymer Composite Materials by Using High-Frequency Loadings

The possibility of using high-frequency loading in fatigue tests of polymer composite materials is discussed. A review of studies on the use of high-frequency loading of organic-, carbon-, and glass-fiber-reinforced plastics is presented. The results obtained are compared with those found in conventional low-frequency loadings. A rig for fatigue tests of rigid materials at loading frequencies to 500 Hz is described, and results for an LM-L1 unidirectional glass-fiber plastic in loadings with frequencies of 17 and 400 Hz are given. These results confirm that it is possible to accelerate the fatigue testing of polymer composite materials by considerably increasing the loading frequency. The necessary condition for using this method is an intense cooling of specimens to prevent them from vibration heating.     

Experimental Investigation into the Fatigue Damage Performance of a GRP Mortar Pipe Culvert

Mechanics of Composite Materials - The fatigue damage evolution in glass-fiber-reinforced (GRP) mortar pipes under cyclic loading were investigated. Based on the results of fatigue tests, a...     

Role of heating in connection with the reduced life of cyclically stressed polymers

An investigation of the effect of heating connected with cyclic deformation on the life of three polymer materials has shown that the measured heating cannot account for the experimentally observed reduction in fatigue life as compared with static loading.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 483–488, 1968     

低频交变磁场对于刚性直圆管中脉动流的影响*

本文通过求解灾变磁场作用下刚性直圆管脉动流的运动方程,得到了它的分析解.计算了流速分布及阻抗.计算结果对于深入了解低频磁场对于血液动力学的影响以及它的临床应用具有一定参考价值.     

Discrete and dynamic versus continuous and static loading policy for a multi-compartment vehicle

In this paper, we address the problem of loading non-intermixable products in a vehicle consisting of compartments of different sizes. The demands of the products are different but uniform over time. The objective is to meet product demands and minimize setup rate (that is, the number of deliveries per unit time). Two approaches, namely, dynamic and static, are investigated and their performances are compared with each other. In the dynamic approach, deliveries are made in several discrete periods and, then, repeated in a cyclic fashion. In each of these deliveries, the allocation of products to compartments can be different. The static approach, on the other hand, assumes a continuous time scale and determines a single assignment of products to compartments that maximizes the time in which the product demands are fully satisfied by this single delivery. The comparison between the two approaches shows that the dynamic approach is superior to the static approach when a discrete time scale is considered. However, even when the discrete time scale constraint is relaxed, the dynamic approach still provides better results for relatively long cycle times.     

Low-cycle fatigue of a composite substance containing a dispersed filler in cyclic compression

Conclusions 1. The lifetime of a composite material having a dispersed filler has been examined under conditions of low-cycle compression.2. It has been shown that, in distinction from materials of fibrous structure, the lifetime of this material is determined, not by a breakdown in the continuity of structure, but the deformability of the polymer matrix.3. The absence of a correlation between the static and fatigue strengths of composite mateials from cold and hot curing is caused by the different effect of the structure of the cured binder as a component of the material on the ultimate static characteristics and creep, whose relaxation character is more clearly expressed.4. Creep of the binder and the strength of the microspheres are the main factors which determine the lifetime of the material in question in cyclic compression.All-Union Scientific-Research Institute of Synthetic Resins, Vladimir. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 4, pp. 653–657, July–August, 1978.     

Simulation of direct chill casting under the influence of a low-frequency electromagnetic field

A comprehensive, multiphysics, meshless, numerical model is developed for the simulation of direct chill casting under the influence of a low-frequency electromagnetic field. The model uses mixture-continuum-mass, momentum and energy-conservation equations to simulate the solidification of axisymmetric aluminium-alloy billets. The electromagnetic-induction equation is coupled with the fluid flow and used to calculate the Lorentz force. The involved partial-differential equations are solved with the meshless-diffuse-approximate method by employing second-order polynomial shape functions and a 13-noded local support. An explicit time-stepping scheme is used. The boundary conditions for the heat transfer involve the effects of hot-top, mould chill and direct chill. The use of a meshless method and the automatic node-arrangement generation made it possible to investigate the complicated flow structures in geometrically complex inflow conditions, including sharp and curved edges, in a straightforward way. A time-dependent adaptive computational node arrangement is used to decrease the calculation time. The model is demonstrated by casting an Al-5.25wt%Cu aluminium alloy billet with a radius of 120 mm. Results on simplified and realistic inflow geometry are considered and compared. The effect of the low-frequency electromagnetic force on the temperature, liquid fraction and fluid flow are investigated under different current densities and frequencies.     

A new component mode synthesis method: Quasi-static mode compensation

A new component mode synthesis method is presented in this paper that combines the computational efficiency of the well-known constraint mode approach with the dynamic compensation accuracy obtained by higher-order expansion methods. Instead of employing static constraint modes, quasi-static modes are used to capture inertial effects of the truncated modes. The method is ideally suited for mid-band frequency analysis in which both high-frequency and low-frequency modes may be omitted. A tuning parameter, designated as the centering frequency, controls the dynamic range of the quasi-static modes. Numerical examples are provided which demonstrate the improved accuracy of the proposed method.