An experimental study on seepage behavior of sandstone material with different gas pressures

The seepage evolution characteristic of brittle rock materials is very significant for the stability and safety of rock engineering. In this research, a series of conventional triaxial compression and gas seepage tests were carried out on sandstone specimens with a rock mechanics servo-controlled testing system. Based on the experimental results, the relationship between permeability and deformation is firstly analyzed in detail. The results show that the permeability–axial strain curve can be divided into the following five phases: the phase of micro-defects closure, the phase of linear elastic deformation, the phase of nonlinear deformation, the phase of post-peak stress softening and the phase of residual strength. The seepage evolution characteristic is also closely correlated with the volumetric deformation according to the relationship between permeability and volumetric strain. It is found that the gas seepage pressure has a great effect on the permeability evolution, i.e. permeability coefficients increase with increasing gas seepage pressures. Finally, the influence of gas seepage pressures on the failure behavior of brittle sandstone specimens is discussed.     

A PIECEWISE LINEAR MODEL FOR ANALYZING THIN FILM/SUBSTRATE STRUCTURE IN FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS

The conventional analytical method of predicting strain in a thin film under bending is restricted to the uniform material assumption, while in flexible electronics, the film/substrate structure is widely used with mismatched material properties taken into account. In this paper,a piecewise model is proposed to analyze the axial strain in a thin film of flexible electronics with the shear modification factor and principle of virtual work. The excellent agreement between analytical prediction and finite element results indicates that the model is capable of predicting the strain of the film/substrate structure in flexible electronics, whose mechanical stability and electrical performance is dependent on the strain state in the thin film.     

三层薄板的热屈曲测量及特征反演

The paper presents a new study on a tri-layer thin plate.Shadow moiré implemented with an advanced phase unwrapping technique is employed to obtain actual flexural deformation of a real-life plate sample subjected to thermal loads.An analytical model is re-formulated to provide the plate with global closed-form solutions of the plate deflection as well as the interfacial stress and strain.With the measurements and the solutions available,an inverse iterative approach is developed to evaluate and maximize th...     

Finite deformation analysis of crack tip fields in plastically compressible hardening–softening–hardening solids

Crack tip fields are calculated under plane strain small scale yielding conditions. The material is characterized by a finite strain elastic–viscoplastic constitutive relation with various hardening–softening–hardening hardness functions. Both plastically compressible and plastically incompressible solids are considered. Displacements corresponding to the isotropic linear elastic mode I crack field are prescribed on a remote boundary. The initial crack is taken to be a semi-circular notch and symmetry about the crack plane is imposed. Plastic compressibility is found to give an increased crack opening displacement for a given value of the applied loading. The plastic zone size and shape are found to depend on the plastic compressibility, but not much on whether material softening occurs near the crack tip.On the other hand, the near crack tip stress and deformation fields depend sensitively on whether or not material softening occurs. The combination of plastic compressibility and softening(or softening–hardening) has a particularly strong effect on the near crack tip stress and deformation fields.     

EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL STUDIES ON DYNAMIC COMPRESSIVE BEHAVIOR OF REACTIVE POWDER CONCRETES

Split Hopkinson pressure bar （SHPB） technique is used to determine the dynamic strength of reactive powder concretes （RPCs） with different steel-fiber contents. Two types of pulse shapers with different thicknesses are considered to reduce the high-frequency-oscillation effect and achieve a nearly constant strain rate over a certain deformation range. It is known that the compressive strength of concrete-like materials is hydrostatic-stress-dependent, and the apparent dynamic strength enhancement comes from both the effects of the hydrostatic stress and strain rate. In order to differentiate them, numerical method is used to calculate the contribution of the hydrostatic stress, and then the genuine strain-rate effect on dynamic compressive strength of RPCs is determined. In addition, the effect of steel-fibers on dynamic strength and failure mode of RPCs is discussed.     

Bending of Timoshenko beam with effect of crack gap based on equivalent spring model

Considering the effect of crack gap,the bending deformation of the Timoshenko beam with switching cracks is studied.To represent a crack with gap as a nonlinear unidirectional rotational spring,the equivalent flexural rigidity of the cracked beam is derived with the generalized Dirac delta function.A closed-form general solution is obtained for bending of a Timoshenko beam with an arbitrary number of switching cracks.Three examples of bending of the Timoshenko beam are presented.The influence of the beam’s slenderness ratio,the crack’s depth,and the external load on the crack state and bending performances of the cracked beam is analyzed.It is revealed that a cusp exists on the deflection curve,and a jump on the rotation angle curve occurs at a crack location.The relation between the beam’s deflection and load is bilinear,each part corresponding to an open or closed state of crack,respectively.When the crack is open,flexibility of the cracked beam decreases with the increase of the beam’s slenderness ratio and the decrease of the crack depth.The results are useful in identifying non-destructive cracks on a beam.     

NEW STRAIN GRADIENT THEORY AND ANALYSIS

A new strain gradient theory which is based on energy nonlocal model is proposed in this paper, and the theory is applied to investigate the size effects in thin metallic wire torsion, ultra-thin beam bending and micro-indentation of polycrystalline copper. First, an energy nonlocal model is suggested. Second, based on the model, a new strain gradient theory is derived. Third, the new theory is applied to analyze three representative experiments.     

Contact dynamics of elasto-plastic thin beams simulated via absolute nodal coordinate formulation

Under the frame of multibody dynamics, the contact dynamics of elasto-plastic spatial thin beams is numerically studied by using the spatial thin beam elements of absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF). The inter-nal force of the elasto-plastic spatial thin beam element is derived under the assumption that the plastic strain of the beam element depends only on its longitudinal deformation. A new body-fixed local coordinate system is introduced into the spatial thin beam element of ANCF for efficient con-tact detection in the contact dynamics simulation. The linear isotropic hardening constitutive law is used to describe the elasto-plastic deformation of beam material, and the classical return mapping algorithm is adopted to evaluate the plastic strains. A multi-zone contact approach of thin beams previ-ously proposed by the authors is also introduced to detect the multiple contact zones of beams accurately, and the penalty method is used to compute the normal contact force of thin beams in contact. Four numerical examples are given to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the pro-posed elasto-plastic spatial thin beam element of ANCF for flexible multibody system dynamics.     

EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS ON SOFT MATERIAL CONTACT PROBLEMS BY DIGITAL MOIR AND EMBEDDED-GRATING METHODS

Soft material is becoming increasingly important to many industries, which leads to the demand for a better understanding of its mechanical properties under large deformation. In this paper, a technique of integrating the digital moiré method and embedded-grating approach is presented for investigating mechanical behaviors of a vulcanized silicone rubber in contact with a wedge-shaped indenter. Two distinct deformation sectors are observed from the experimental result. A simple way of computing strain is also presented by analysing grid deformation within the framework of geometrical nonlinearity. Three regions were observed from strain distribution along the horizontal direction: the contact region, the sink-in region and the far-field region.Moreover, the extent of the sticky region and that of the slippy region within the contact interface are distinguished, which can provide realistic data for theoretical modelling. Based on the finite deformation elasticity theory, the distribution of contact pressure and shear stress over the contact interface are derived for prediction of possible cracks.     

FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM WITH BREATHING CRACK USING PERTURBATION METHOD

In this paper, a new analytical method for vibration analysis of a cracked simply supported beam is investigated. By considering a nonlinear model for the fatigue crack, the governing equation of motion of the cracked beam is solved using perturbation method. The solution of the governing equation reveals the superhaxmonics of the fundamental frequency due to the nonlinear effects in the dynamic response of the cracked beam. Furthermore, considering such a solution, an explicit expression is also derived for the system damping changes due to the changes in the crack parameters, geometric dimensions and mechanical properties of the cracked beam. The results show that an increase in the crack severity and approaching the crack location to the middle of the beam increase the system damping. In order to validate the results, changes in the fundamental frequency ratios against the fatigue crack severities are compared with those of experimental results available in the literature. Also, a comparison is made between the free response of the cracked beam with a given crack depth and location obtained by the proposed analytical solution and that of the numerical method. The results of the proposed method agree with the experimental and numerical results.     

AN IMPEDANCE ANALYSIS FOR CRACK DETECTION IN THE TIMOSHENKO BEAM BASED ON THE ANTI-RESONANCE TECHNIQUE

An alternative technique for crack detection in a Timoshenko beam based on the first anti-resonant frequency is presented in this paper.Unlike the natural frequency,the anti-resonant frequency is a local parameter rather than a global parameter of structures,thus the proposed technique can be used to locate the structural defects.An impedance analysis of a cracked beam stimulated by a harmonic force based on the Timoshenko beam formulation is investigated.In order to characterize the local discontinuity due to cracks,a rotational spring model based on fracture mechanics is proposed to model the crack.Subsequently,the proposed method is verified by a numerical example of a simply-supported beam with a crack.The effect of the crack size on the anti-resonant frequency is investigated.The position of the crack of the simply-supported beam is also determined by the anti-resonance technique.The proposed technique is further applied to the"contaminated"anti-resonant frequency to detect crack damage,which is obtained by adding 1-3% noise to the calculated data.It is found that the proposed technique is effective and free from the environment noise.Finally,an experimental study is performed,which further verifies the validity of the proposed crack identification technique.     

Loading direction-dependent shear behavior at different temperatures of single-layer chiral graphene sheets

The loading direction-dependent shear behavior of single-layer chiral graphene sheets at different temperatures is studied by molecular dynamics(MD) simulations.Our results show that the shear properties(such as shear stress–strain curves, buckling strains, and failure strains) of chiral graphene sheets strongly depend on the loading direction due to the structural asymmetry. The maximum values of both the critical buckling shear strain and the failure strain under positive shear deformation can be around 1.4 times higher than those under negative shear deformation. For a given chiral graphene sheet, both its failure strain and failure stress decrease with increasing temperature. In particular, the amplitude to wavelength ratio of wrinkles for different chiral graphene sheets under shear deformation using present MD simulations agrees well with that from the existing theory. These findings provide physical insights into the origins of the loading direction-dependent shear behavior of chiral graphene sheets and their potential applications in nanodevices.     

CRACK PROPAGATION IN STRUCTURES SUBJECTED TO PERIODIC EXCITATION

In the present paper,a simple mechanical model is developed to predict the dynamic response of a cracked structure subjected to periodic excitation,which has been used to identify the physical mechanisms in leading the growth or arrest of cracking.The structure under consideration consists of a beam with a crack along the axis,and thus,the crack may open in Mode I and in the axial direction propagate when the beam vibrates.In this paper,the system is modeled as a cantilever beam lying on a partial elastic foundation,where the portion of the beam on the foundation represents the intact portion of the beam.Modal analysis is employed to obtain a closed form solution for the structural response.Crack propagation is studied by allowing the elastic foundation to shorten(mimicking crack growth)if a displacement criterion,based on the material toughness,is met.As the crack propagates,the structural model is updated using the new foundation length and the response continues.From this work,two mechanisms for crack arrest are identified.It is also shown that the crack propagation is strongly influenced by the transient response of the structure.     

MESO-MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF SHAPE MEMORY ALLOY REINFORCED SMART STRUCTURE WITH DAMAGE

The mechanical behaviors of shape memory alloy (SMA) wires reinforced smart structure with damage were analyzed through the variational principle, a governing equation for the structure was derived, mathematical expressions for the meso-displacement field, stress-strain field of typical element with damage were presented, and a failure criterion for interface failure between SMA wires and matrix was established under two kinds of actuation which are dead-load and temperature, where the temperature is included in effective free restoring strain. In addition, there are some other composing factors in the failure criterion such as the interface properties, dynamical properties of SMA, initial debonding length L-l etc. The results are significant to understand structural strength self-adapted control and failure mechanism of SMA wires reinforced smart structure with damage.     

Uniaxial experimental study of the acoustic emission and deformation behavior of composite rock based on 3D digital image correlation (DIC)

In this paper, uniaxial compression tests were carried out on a series of composite rock specimens with different dip angles, which were made from two types of rock-like material with different strength. The acoustic emission technique was used to monitor the acoustic signal characteristics of composite rock specimens during the entire loading process. At the same time, an optical non-contact 3 D digital image correlation technique was used to study the evolution of axial strain field and the maximal strain field before and after the peak strength at different stress levels during the loading process. The effect of bedding plane inclination on the deformation and strength during uniaxial loading was analyzed. The methods of solving the elastic constants of hard and weak rock were described. The damage evolution process, deformation and failure mechanism, and failure mode during uniaxial loading were fully determined. The experimental results show that the θ = 0?–45?specimens had obvious plastic deformation during loading, and the brittleness of the θ = 60?–90?specimens gradually increased during the loading process. When the anisotropic angle θincreased from 0?to 90?, the peak strength, peak strain,and apparent elastic modulus all decreased initially and then increased. The failure mode of the composite rock specimen during uniaxial loading can be divided into three categories:tensile fracture across the discontinuities(θ = 0?–30?), slid-ing failure along the discontinuities(θ = 45?–75?), and tensile-split along the discontinuities(θ = 90?). The axial strain of the weak and hard rock layers in the composite rock specimen during the loading process was significantly different from that of the θ = 0?–45?specimens and was almost the same as that of the θ = 60?–90?specimens. As for the strain localization highlighted in the maximum principal strain field, the θ = 0?–30?specimens appeared in the rock matrix approximately parallel to the loading direction,while in the θ = 45?–90?specimens it appeared at the hard and weak rock layer interface.     

Geometric nonlinear dynamic analysis of curved beams using curved beam element

Instead of using the previous straight beam element to approximate the curved beam,in this paper,a curvilinear coordinate is employed to describe the deformations,and a new curved beam element is proposed to model the curved beam.Based on exact nonlinear strain-displacement relation,virtual work principle is used to derive dynamic equations for a rotating curved beam,with the effects of axial extensibility,shear deformation and rotary inertia taken into account.The constant matrices are solved numerically utilizing the Gauss quadrature integration method.Newmark and Newton-Raphson iteration methods are adopted to solve the differential equations of the rigid-flexible coupling system.The present results are compared with those obtained by commercial programs to validate the present finite method.In order to further illustrate the convergence and efficiency characteristics of the present modeling and computation formulation,comparison of the results of the present formulation with those of the ADAMS software are made.Furthermore,the present results obtained from linear formulation are compared with those from nonlinear formulation,and the special dynamic characteristics of the curved beam are concluded by comparison with those of the straight beam.     

THE USE OF VISCO-ELASTOPLASTIC DAMAGE CONSTITUTIVE MODEL TO SIMULATE NONLINEAR BEHAVIOR OF CONCRETE

A visco-elastoplastic damage constitutive model is proposed for simulating nonlinear behavior of concrete. Based on traditional plastic theory, the irreversible deformation is simulated in effective stress space. In order to reflect different stiffness degradation mechanism of concrete under tensile and compressive loading conditions, both tensile and compressive damage variables are introduced, and then on the basis of energy release rate, the model is firmly derived within the concept of irreversible thermodynamics. The rate-dependent model is considered by introducing viscous regularization into the inelastic strain and damage variable, and combined with an additional elastic condition. Fully implicit backward-Euler algorithm is used to perform constitutive integration. Results of numerical examples using the proposed model agree well with test results for specimens under uniaxial tension and compression, biaxial loading and triaxial loading. Failure processes of single-edge-notched (SEN) beam and double-edge-notched (DEN) specimen are also simulated to further validate the proposed model.     

Spinodal surface instability of soft elastic thin films

When the thicknesses of thin films reduce to microns or even nanometers, surface energy and surface interaction often play a significant role in their deformation behavior and surface morphology. The spinodal surface instability induced by the van der Waals force in a soft elastic thin film perfectly bonded to a rigid substrate is investigated theoretically using the bifurcation theory of elastic structures. The analytical solution is derived for the critical condition of spinodal surface morphology instability by accounting for the competition of the van der Waals interaction energy, elastic strain energy and surface energy. Detailed examinations on the effect of surface energy, thickness and elastic properties of the film show that the characteristic wavelength of the deformation bifurcation mode depends on the film thickness via an exponential relation, with the power index in the range from 0.749 to 1.0. The theoretical solution has a good agreement with relevant experiment results.     

THEORETIC SOLUTION OF RECTANGULAR THIN PLATE ON FOUNDATION WITH FOUR EDGES FREE BY SYMPLECTIC GEOMETRY METHOD

The theoretic solution for rectangular thin plate on foundation with four edges free is derived by symplectic geometry method. In the analysis proceeding, the elastic foundation is presented by the Winkler model. Firstly, the basic equations for elastic thin plate are transferred into Hamilton canonical equations. The symplectic geometry method is used to separate the whole variables and eigenvalues are obtained simultaneously. Finally, according to the method of eigen function expansion, the explicit solution for rectangular thin plate on foundation with the boundary conditions of four edges frees are developed. Since the basic elasticity equations of thin plate are only used and it is not need to select the deformation function arbitrarily. Therefore, the solution is theoretical and reasonable. In order to show the correction of formulations derived, a numerical example is given to demonstrate the accuracy and convergence of the current solution.