Stiffness matrix invariants to validate the characterization of composite materials with ultrasonic methods

This paper presents a method of testing the ultrasonic measurements of the stiffness matrix, and the identification of the anisotropic behaviour, of composite materials. Some linear combinations of elastic constants are invariants for a rotation around an axis of symmetry. If the stacking sequence is the only parameter which changes in a set of long-fibre composites made of the superimposition of plies, the composites must own these invariants. So, PEEK-carbon fibre composite samples were constructed in this way to measure their elastic properties by immersion and contact ultrasonic methods, and to compare the results with predicted invariants. By changing the stacking sequence of plies three anisotropic models are tested: orthotropic, hexagonal and quadratic. Measurements of ultrasonic velocities in various planes of propagation permit the identification of the elastic constant and invariants. From the invariance of these linear combinations, the precision of the three-dimensional effective moduli can be estimated.     

An ab initio study of the electronic structure and elastic properties of the newly discovered ternary carbide

The electronic structure and elastic properties of the newly discovered ternary layered carbide Ti₄GaC₃ were investigated by means of the first-principle plane-wave pseudopotential total energy calculation method based on density functional theory. The computed results, including lattice constants and internal coordinates, are in good agreement with experimental values. The elastic moduli of ideal polycrystalline Ti₄GaC₃ were predicted from the individual elastic constants by Voigt approximation. The band structure shows that the electrical conductivity is metallic and anisotropic, with a high density of states at the Fermi energy. The elastic properties are anisotropic, related to the Ti–Ga bonds being relatively weaker than the Ti–C bonds.     

单向复合纤维材料弹性系数的超声测量

本文将单向复合纤维材料视作六角对称晶体，认为其弹性特征由五个独立的弹性系数来描述。利用Christoffel方程，我们得到这一各向异性介质中不同方向的声波速度与弹性系数的关系．我们还建立了一套计算机控制的实验测量系统，通过它对纤维板样品中的声速进行测量，反演得到了五个独立的弹性系数C11、C33、C13、C14和C12。理论计算得到的声速和实验测量值吻合较好，表明我们的方法是有实用意义的。     

理论研究VTiTaNbAl_x高熵合金的结构与弹性力学性质

实验已证明VTiTaNbAl_x高熵合金(HEAs)为单相固溶体,它采用了体心立方结构.在本文中,我们使用基于密度泛函理论的饼模轨道(EMTO)结合相干势近似(CPA)方法,计算并分析了此高熵合金体系的平衡体性质,弹性常数及多晶弹性模量.结果表明:此系列高熵合金符合单相高熵合金的理论判据,具有较好的内在塑性,等摩尔比的VTiTaNb高熵合金趋于弹性各向同性.随着Al含量的增加,此系列高熵合金的弹性各向异性趋于增大,但对多晶弹性模量几乎没有影响;同时讨论了基于弹性常数计算的德拜温度.     

理论研究VTiTaNbAlx高熵合金的结构与弹性力学性质

实验已证明VTiTaNbAlx高熵合金(HEAs)为单相固溶体,它采用了体心立方结构. 在这篇文章中,我们使用基于密度泛函理论的饼模轨道(EMTO)结合相干势近似(CPA)方法,计算并分析了此高熵合金体系的平衡体性质,弹性常数及多晶弹性模量. 结果表明：此系列高熵合金符合单相高熵合金的理论判据,具有较好的内在塑性,等摩尔比的VTiTaNb高熵合金趋于弹性各向同性. 随着Al含量的增加,此系列高熵合金的弹性各向异性趋于增大,但对多晶弹性模量几乎没有影响;同时讨论了基于弹性常数计算的德拜温度.     

Mechanical properties of vanadium carbide and a ternary vanadium tungsten carbide

Ab initio total energy calculations are performed on non-stoichiometric vanadium carbide with supercells representing vacancy concentrations of V C_0.875 and V C_0.75. The V C_0.875 supercell retains a cubic symmetry whilst in the case of the V C_0.75 supercell C vacancies located in close proximity have the lowest energy configuration and the cubic lattice slightly distorts to a monoclinic symmetry. Using a stress–strain calculational procedure, the elastic constants of both the cubic and the monoclinic systems are deduced. In all cases C vacancies decrease the elastic moduli.A similar analysis is then applied to consider when W is incorporated into VC. In this case it is found that the elastic moduli increase with W content suggesting that a V-W-C alloy could have significant potential as a novel hard material.     

Dynamic properties of graphene

The phonon spectrum of graphene has been studied with the minimum set of the nearest neighbors in the Born-von Kármán model taking into account the electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions. The widths, both natural and owing to interactions with defects, of phonons have been estimated. Symmetry constraints imposed on force constants are taken into account. For symmetry reasons, vibrations with the polarization normal to the plane of the layer are not related to in-plane vibrations. The phonon frequencies at symmetry points and elastic moduli are expressed in terms of force constants.     

Mechanical elastic constants and diffraction stress factors of macroscopically elastically anisotropic polycrystals: the effect of grain-shape (morphological) texture

The effect of the grain-shape (‘morphological’) texture of a polycrystal on the mechanical elastic constants and diffraction (X-ray) stress factors is investigated. To this end, the Eshelby–Kröner grain interaction model originally devised for polycrystals consisting of spherical grains is extended to ellipsoidal grain morphology. Results obtained for the mechanical elastic constants show that a polycrystal consisting of ellipsoidal grains with their principal axes aligned along common directions (i.e. when an ideal grain-shape texture occurs) is macroscopically elastically anisotropic. Also the diffraction (X-ray) stress factors are affected by the grain-shape texture; they reflect the macroscopic elastic anisotropy by resulting in nonlinear so-called sin²?ψ plots. In general, a grain-shape texture can have a moderate effect on the mechanical elastic constants and a pronounced effect on the diffraction elastic constants, depending on the crystal symmetry and single-crystal elastic anisotropy.     

Ab initio investigation of the pressure influence on elastic properties of the GaS layered compound

From first principles, in the pressure range of 0–20 GPa, taking into account the structural phase transition at 3 GPa, all independent elastic constants of GaS compound have been calculated. From obtained data, the pressure dependences of the velocities of propagation of elastic waves in different symmetry directions have been determined. The values of averaged elastic moduli, Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio and their pressure dependence have also been calculated..     

Prediction of Pressure-Induced Structural Transition and Mechanical Properties of Mg Y from First-Principles Calculations

Using the particle swarm optimization algorithm on crystal structure prediction,we first predict that Mg Y alloy undergoes a first-order phase transition from Cs Cl phase to P4/NMM phase at about 55 GPa with a small volume collapse of 2.63%.The dynamical stability of P4/NMM phase at 55 GPa is evaluated by the phonon spectrum calculation and the electronic structure is discussed.The elastic constants are calculated,after which the bulk moduli,shear moduli,Young's modui,and Debye temperature are derived.The brittleness/ductile behavior,and anisotropy of two phases under pressure are discussed in details.Our results show that external pressure can change the brittle behavior to ductile at10 GPa for Cs Cl phase and improve the ductility of Mg Y alloy.As pressure increases,the elastic anisotropy in shear of Cs Cl phase decreases,while that of P4/NMM phase remains nearly constant.The elastic anisotropic constructions of the directional dependences of reciprocals of bulk modulus and Young's modulus are also calculated and discussed.     

Effective elastic moduli under hydrostatic stress—I. quasi-harmonic theory

Fourth-order finite strain expressions for the effective elastic moduli of a solid under hydrostatic stress are derived from a general expression for effective elastic moduli. Expressions in terms of the strain tensors E and η are given. The expressions are then written in terms of the moduli and their pressure derivatives evaluated at an arbitrary reference state. The temperature dependence of these expressions is derived from the fourth-order quasi-harmonic expression for the lattice vibrational energy. Some general thermodynamic relations are derived between the parameters which specify the thermal effects and the pressure and temperature derivatives of the elastic moduli at the reference state. General relations between isothermal and isentropic elastic moduli and their pressure and temperature derivatives are also given. Much of the development is valid for materials of arbitrary symmetry, but the complete development is given only for materials of cubic symmetry.     

Acoustical method for the determination of the elastic and piezoelectric constants of crystals of classes 6mm and 4mm

An acoustical method is proposed for the determination of the elastic and piezoelectric constants of crystals of classes 6mm and 4mm. The method is based on the technique developed for orthorhombic crystals of class mm2 and described in the previous paper [9]. Only three samples are required for the determination of all elastic and piezoelectric constants of crystals belonging to the two symmetry classes of interest; for the crystals of class 6mm, only two samples are necessary. The proposed method can be used only when the signs of the piezoelectric constants are known beforehand. Knowing the sign of electrostriction for the crystals under study, the relative signs of the piezoelectric constants can be uniquely determined in accordance with the data reported earlier [10]. This approach allows one to extend the method used in the previous paper [9] to crystals of classes 6mm and 4mm.     

Elastic constants measurement of anisotropic Olivier wood plates using air-coupled transducers generated Lamb wave and ultrasonic bulk wave

A hybrid elastic wave method is applied to determine the anisotropic constants of Olive wood specimen considered as an orthotropic solid. The method is based on the measurements of the Lamb wave velocities as well as the bulk ultrasonic wave velocities. Electrostatic, air-coupled, ultrasonic transducers are used to generate and receive Lamb waves which are sensitive to material properties. The variation of phase velocity with frequency is measured for several modes propagating parallel and normal to the fiber direction along a thin Olivier wood plates. A numerical model based mainly on an optimization method is developed; it permits to recover seven out of nine elastic constants with an uncertainty of about 15%. The remaining two elastic constants are then obtained from bulk wave measurements. The experimental Lamb phase velocities are in good agreement with the calculated dispersion curves. The evaluation of Olive wood elastic properties has been performed in the low frequency range where the Lamb length wave is large in comparison with the heterogeneity extent. Within the interval errors, the obtained elastic tensor doesn’t reveal a large deviation from a uniaxial symmetry.     

Theoretical Study of Elastic Properties of Tungsten Disilicide

The plane-wave pseudopotential method using the generalized gradient approximation within the framework of density functional theory is applied to analyse the lattice parameters, elastic constants, bulk moduli, shear moduli and Young's moduli of WSi₂. The quasi-harmonic Debye model, using a set of total energy versus cell volume obtained with the plane-wave pseudopotential method, is applied to the study of the elastic properties and vibrational effects. The athermal elastic constants of WSi₂ are calculated as a function of pressure up to 35GPa. The relationship between bulk modulus and temperature up to 1200K is also obtained. Moreover, the Debye temperature is determined from the non-equilibrium Gibbs function. The calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Measurements of Young’s and shear moduli of rail steel at elevated temperatures

The design and modelling of the buckling effect of Continuous Welded Rail (CWR) requires accurate material constants, especially at elevated temperatures. However, such material constants have rarely been found in literature. In this article, the Young’s moduli and shear moduli of rail steel at elevated temperatures are determined by a new sonic resonance method developed in our group. A network analyser is used to excite a sample hanged inside a furnace through a simple tweeter type speaker. The vibration signal is picked up by a Polytec OFV-5000 Laser Vibrometer and then transferred back to the network analyser. Resonance frequencies in both the flexural and torsional modes are measured, and the Young’s moduli and shear moduli are determined through the measured resonant frequencies. To validate the measured elastic constants, the measurements have been repeated by using the classic sonic resonance method. The comparisons of obtained moduli from the two methods show an excellent consistency of the results. In addition, the material elastic constants measured are validated by an ultrasound test based on a pulse-echo method and compared with previous published results at room temperature. The measured material data provides an invaluable reference for the design of CWR to avoid detrimental buckling failure.     

First-principles calculations of elastic and thermo-physical properties of Al, Mg and rare earth lanthanide elements

The elastic constants of the Al, Mg and rare earth (RE) lanthanide elements have been calculated at T=0 K by using the projector augmented-wave (PAW) method within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The bulk moduli, shear moduli, Young's moduli and Poisson's ratio of poly-crystalline solid are estimated from the calculated elastic constants of single crystal. Based on the quasi-harmonic Debye model, the Debye temperature, heat capacity, Grüneisen parameter and linear thermal expansion coefficient are also estimated. The present calculated results are in reasonable agreement with the available experimental data and other theoretical results. The present calculation of elastic constants for Ce also indicates that the PAW potential (named “Ce_3”), for which one f electron is kept frozen in the core and hence fix the valency of Ce to three (Ce_3) does not yield good results for the elastic constants.     

An Analytical Method for Calculating P-SV Acoustical Field Excited by a Piezoelectric Strip with Finite Width and Thickness

A piezoelectric strip with finite width and thickness is placed on top of an isotropic elastic half-space. Acoustical field can be excited when a voltage is across the piezoelectric strip. An analytical method is presented to calculate the acoustical field by the dynamics characteristics of the piezoelectric strip. Considering the piezoelectric strip as an anisotropic material of the 6 mm-type crystal system, we study the two-dimensional P-SV acoustical fields inside the piezoelectric strip and the isotropic half-space. The displacement and stress distributions are analysed thoroughly. The effects of the width and thickness of the piezoelectric strip and other parameters on the acoustical field are also analysed.     

Elastic properties of mono- and polycrystalline ( and Lu) under pressure effect

The structural and elastic properties of perovskite-type RCRh₃, with R=Sc, Y, La and Lu, under pressure effects have been investigated using the pseudo-potential plane-wave method based on the density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation. For monocrystalline RCRh₃, the optimized lattice constants, elastic constants and directional elastic wave velocities are calculated and analyzed in comparison with the available experimental and theoretical data. An increase in the lattice constant has been found with increasing atomic size of the R element and a corresponding decrease in the hardness. The anisotropic elastic constants and directional elastic wave velocities increase linearly with increasing pressure. A set of elastic parameters and related properties, namely bulk and shear moduli, Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, Lamé’s coefficients, average sound velocity and Debye temperature are predicted in the framework of the Voigt–Reuss–Hill approximation for polycrystalline RCRh₃. We have found that the toughness of RCRh₃ compounds can be improved at high pressure.