Effects of crystal content on the mechanical behaviour of polyethylene under finite strains: Experiments and constitutive modelling

The mechanical stress-strain behaviour of polyethylene (PE) materials under finite strains is studied both experimentally and theoretically. In order to gain insight into the structure and physical properties of investigated PE materials, a series of thermal (DSC and DMTA) and microstructural (small-angle X-ray scattering and AFM) characterizations have been undertaken. The influence of crystallinity on the various features of the tensile stress-strain response is considered over a large strain range, implying thermoplastic-like to elastomer-like mechanical behaviour. A physically-based hyperelastic-viscoplastic approach was adopted to develop a pertinent model for describing the mechanical behaviour of PE materials under finite strains. The semicrystalline polymer is being treated as a heterogeneous medium, and the model is based on a two-phase representation of the microstructure. The effective contribution of the crystalline and amorphous phases to the overall intermolecular resistance to deformation is treated in a composite framework, and coupled to a molecular network resistance to stretching and chain orientation capturing the overall strain hardening response. In order to extract the individual constitutive response of crystalline and amorphous phases, a proper identification scheme based on a deterministic approach was elaborated using the tensile test data of PE materials under different strain rates. Comparisons between the constitutive model and experiments show fair agreement over a wide range of crystallinities (from 15% to 72%) and strain rates. The constitutive model is found to successfully capture the important features of the observed monotonic stress-strain response: the thermoplastic-like behaviour for high crystallinity includes a stiff initial response, a yield-like event followed by a gradual increase of strain hardening at very large strains; for the elastomer-like behaviour observed in the low crystallinity material, the strain hardening response is largely predominant. Strain recovery upon unloading increases with decreasing crystallinity: this is quantitatively well reproduced for high crystallinity materials, whereas predictions significantly deviate from experiments at low crystallinity. Model refinements are finally proposed in order to improve the ability of the constitutive equations to predict the nonlinear unloading response whatever the crystal content.     

Deformation Techniques for Sparse Systems

We exhibit a probabilistic symbolic algorithm for solving zero-dimensional sparse systems. Our algorithm combines a symbolic homotopy procedure, based on a flat deformation of a certain morphism of affine varieties, with the polyhedral deformation of Huber and Sturmfels. The complexity of our algorithm is cubic in the size of the combinatorial structure of the input system. This size is mainly represented by the cardinality and mixed volume of Newton polytopes of the input polynomials and an arithmetic analogue of the mixed volume associated to the deformations under consideration. Research was partially supported by the following grants: UBACyT X112 (2004–2007), UBACyT X847 (2006–2009), PIP CONICET 2461, PIP CONICET 5852/05, ANPCyT PICT 2005 17-33018, UNGS 30/3005, MTM2004-01167 (2004–2007), MTM2007-62799 and CIC 2007–2008.     

A finite strain contact model for mixed lubricated surfaces in forming processes

For an accurate simulation of forming processes, it is of paramount importance to model the different lubrication regimes that can develop at the contact interface. These might vary from zone to zone of the forming piece, and from one regime to another, resulting in forces of different nature and magnitude. In these cases, the use of the classical Coulomb friction law will be clearly not sufficient to capture, in a suitable manner, the variety of forces applied on the forming piece.     

On the Painlevé Property of Isomonodromic Deformations of Fuchsian Systems

We give a review of the modern theory of isomonodromic deformations of Fuchsian systems discussing both classical and modern results, such as a general form of the isomonodromic deformations of Fuchsian systems, their differences from the classical Schlesinger deformations, the Fuchsian system moduli space structure and the geometric meaning of new degrees of freedom appeared in a non-Schlesinger case. Using this we illustrate some general relations between such concepts as integrability, isomonodromy and Painlevé property. The work is supported by N.Sh.-6849.2006.1 and RFBR 07-01-00526 grants.     

Monitoring micro-mechanical changes in electronic circuit boards with digital holographic interferometry

The micrometric changes over the size of the objects produced by the temperature variations can create deleterious effects; the decoupling of soldering points in electronic circuits is one of them. In this work, we present a system based on digital holographic interferometry to quantify the magnitude of the changes produced on an electronic circuit board as it operates at very low electric currents. For the system to work, two digital holograms of the object are registered for different temperatures. These holograms are reconstructed numerically in a computer by using Fresnel's approximation to make a phase difference map. This map is converted into micrometer size variations by means of a lookup table. The implemented system allows for determining mechanical deformations in the range of 0.5–4 μm for a regular electronic circuit board drawing an electric current from 10 μA to 50 μA.     

Efficient meshless SPH method for the numerical modeling of thick shell structures undergoing large deformations

The objective of this paper is to present an extension of the Lagrangian Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method to solve three-dimensional shell-like structures undergoing large deformations. The present method is an enhancement of the classical stabilized SPH commonly used for 3D continua, by introducing a Reissner–Mindlin shell formulation, allowing the modeling of moderately thin structure using only one layer of particles in the shell mid-surface. The proposed Shell-based SPH method is efficient and very fast compared to the classical continuum SPH method. The Total Lagrangian Formulation valid for large deformations is adopted using a strong formulation of the differential equilibrium equations based on the principle of collocation. The resulting non-linear dynamic problem is solved incrementally using the explicit time integration scheme, suited to highly dynamic applications. To validate the reliability and accuracy of the proposed Shell-based SPH method in solving shell-like structure problems, several numerical applications including geometrically non-linear behavior are performed and the results are compared with analytical solutions when available and also with numerical reference solutions available in the literature or obtained using the Finite Element method by means of ABAQUS^© commercial software.     

A Model of Arterial Adaptation to Alterations in Blood Flow

Mechanisms of arterial adaptation to changes in blood flow rates were tested by comparing the predictions of a proposed theoretical model with available experimental data. The artery was modeled as an elastic membrane made of a nonlinear, incompressible, elastic material. Stimulation of the vascular smooth muscle was modeled through the generation of an active component of circumferential stress. The muscular tone was modulated by flow-induced shear stress sensed by the arterial endothelium, and is responsible for the vasomotor adjustment of the deformed arterial diameter in response to changes in blood flow. This study addresses the hypothesis that the synthetic and proliferative activity of smooth muscle cells, leading to a change in arterial dimensions, is shear stress dependent and is associated with changes in the contractile state of the smooth muscle cells and changes in the circumferential wall stress. Remodeling to a step change in flow was formulated as an initial-value problem for a system of first order autonomous differential equations for the evolution of muscular tone and evolution of arterial geometry. The governing equations were solved numerically for model parameters identified from experimental data available in the literature. The model predictions for the time variation of the geometrical dimensions and their asymptotic values were found to be in qualitative agreement with available experimental data. Experiments for validating the introduced hypotheses and further generalizations of the model were discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Deformations of duality-symmetric theories

We prove that a sum of free non-covariant duality-symmetric actions does not allow consistent, continuous and local self-interactions that deform the gauge transformations. For instance, non-abelian deformations are not allowed, even in 4 dimensions where Yang–Mills type interactions of 1-forms are allowed in the non-manifestly duality-symmetric formulation. This suggests that non-abelian duality should require to leave the standard formalism of perturbative local field theories. The analyticity of self-interactions for a single duality-symmetric gauge field in four dimensions is also analyzed.     

Superposition of large butt-end and coaxial torsional and axial shear deformations of homogeneous and fiber-reinforced thick-wall cylinders

A mathematical model of superposition of large butt-end and coaxial torsional and axial shear deformations of homogeneous and fiber-reinforced thick-wall cylinders is constructed. The macroscopic stresses of the reinforced material are additively determined by matrix stresses and by tensile or constrained compression stresses in the reinforcing fibers. The model is based on the numerical solution of two boundary-value problems, one of which corresponds to the butt-end torsion and the other to the coaxial torsion and axial shear. The boundary-value problem on joint deformations is solved with the use of the displacement field determined from the solution to the boundary-value problem on butt-end torsion. The results obtained by applying this method to homogeneous and axially-radially reinforced thick-wall cylinders subjected to butt-end torsion with subsequent coaxial torsion and axial shear are presented. __________ Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 465–492, July–August, 2007.