Influence of residual surface stress on the fracture of nanoscale piezoelectric materials with conducting cracks

In this paper,we analyze the stress and electric field intensity factors affected by residual surface stress for conducting cracks in piezoelectric nanomaterials.The problem is reduced to a system of non-linear singular integral equations,whose solution is determined by iteration technique.Numerical results indicate that the residual surface stress can significantly alter the crack tip fields at nanometer length scales.Due to the residual surface stress,281he electric field can produce stress around crack tip.This suggests a strong electromechanical coupling crack tip field for nanoscale piezoelectric materials.Such a finding is considerably different from the classical fracture mechanics results.A transit electric field to stress load ratio is identified,for which influences of residual surface stresses vanish.The research is useful for the applications of nanoscale piezoelectric devices.     

Small scale effects on buckling and postbuckling behaviors of axially loaded FGM nanoshells based on nonlocal strain gradient elasticity theory

By means of a comprehensive theory of elasticity, namely, a nonlocal strain gradient continuum theory, size-dependent nonlinear axial instability characteristics of cylindrical nanoshells made of functionally graded material (FGM) are examined. To take small scale effects into consideration in a more accurate way, a nonlocal stress field parameter and an internal length scale parameter are incorporated simultaneously into an exponential shear deformation shell theory. The variation of material properties associated with FGM nanoshells is supposed along the shell thickness, and it is modeled based on the Mori-Tanaka homogenization scheme. With a boundary layer theory of shell buckling and a perturbation-based solving process, the nonlocal strain gradient load-deflection and load-shortening stability paths are derived explicitly. It is observed that the strain gradient size effect causes to the increases of both the critical axial buckling load and the width of snap-through phenomenon related to the postbuckling regime, while the nonlocal size dependency leads to the decreases of them. Moreover, the influence of the nonlocal type of small scale effect on the axial instability characteristics of FGM nanoshells is more than that of the strain gradient one.     

纳米力学的数值模拟方法

纳米力学是一支新兴学科,主要研究100nm以下尺度上物质的行为和变化规律.物质在纳米尺度上所具有的特殊效应如量子效应、微尺度效应等导致了其特异的性能和行为.人们对纳米力学行为的认识,目前主要通过试验观测和数值模拟等方法.本文概要回顾了分子动力学模拟、蒙特卡罗模拟等纳米力学计算方法的研究进展及现状,提出了以量子力学为基础、多学科交叉、多层次融合发展纳米力学研究方法的构思,并对纳米力学研究方法所面临的问题及其发展趋势做了初步展望.      

Natural vibrations in a system of nanotubes

Natural vibrations in a system of parallel micro-and nanotubes attached horizontally to an elastic substrate are analyzed. It is shown that several first eigenfrequencies corresponding to flexural vibrations of a single nanotube can be identified with the use of the linear shell theory within the frequency spectrum of an “integrated system” consisting of a substrate and nanotubes. This allows the flexural rigidity of a single nanotube to be evaluated. The resultant conclusion is supported by finite-element modeling based on the three-dimensional theory of electroelasticity. Results of a modal analysis of gallium arsenide nanotubes are presented. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 160–171, March–April, 2008.     

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A hybrid computational method coupling the lattice-Boltzmann (LB) method and a Langevin-dynamics (LD) method is developed to simulate nanoscale particle and polymer (NPP) suspensions in the presence of both thermal fluctuation and long-range many-body hydrodynamic interactions (HIs). Brownian motion of the NPP is explicitly captured by a stochastic forcing term in the LD method. The LD method is two-way coupled to the nonfluctuating LB fluid through a discrete LB forcing source distribution to capture the long-range HI. To ensure intrinsically linear scalability with respect to the number of particles, a Eulerian-host algorithm for short-distance particle neighbor search and interaction is developed and embedded to LB-LD framework. The validity and accuracy of the LB-LD approach are demonstrated through several sample problems. The simulation results show good agreements with theory and experiment. The LB-LD approach can be favorably incorporated into complex multiscale computational frameworks for efficiently simulating multiscale multicomponent particulate suspension systems such as complex blood suspensions.     

Nanoscale interfibrillar adhesion in UHMWPE fibers

The goal of this research is to quantify the fibrillar adhesive energy in ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene fibers, characteristic of nanoscale fibril interactions. Quantification of these energies is vital to the understanding of fibrillar deformation mechanisms that have been shown to play an important role in fiber performance. This is achieved through the development and implementation of a nanosplitting technique developed through the use of AFM‐enabled nanoindentation. This technique allows the quantification of nanoscale adhesive energies through careful monitoring of load and unload curves as well as examination of the residual split through high‐resolution AFM images. Results indicate that the average nanoscale fibril adhesive energy is over 3 times larger than the energy expected from van der Waals interactions alone. This indicates that a significant degree of physical interactions exist between fibrils, beyond van der Waals interactions, in the form of tie‐molecules, fibrillar network junctions, and bridging lamellar crystals. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018 , 56, 391–401     

Nanomechanical properties in ultrathin polymer films: Measurement on rectangular versus circular bubbles

Prior studies of inflation of circular membranes of ultrathin polystyrene (PS) films have evidenced a reduced glass transition temperature (T_g) and rubbery stiffening, whose origins remain unclear. Here, we describe results from inflation of rectangular, ultrathin films of the same PS material. The bubble shapes obtained from the experiment are consistent with finite element (FE) simulations. The accuracy of three approximate solutions for modulus obtained from the inflation of the thin, rectangular films was evaluated by comparison with FE analysis. The best among the three solutions was used to determine the creep compliance and rubbery stiffness of the thin films. It is found that the reduction of T_g and the rubbery stiffening for rectangular bubbles are consistent with results obtained using circular bubbles, although there is some indication that the rectangular bubbles give somewhat greater rubbery stiffening. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012     

Deformation of micron-sized aluminium bi-crystal pillars

The deformation of micron-sized single-crystals is jumpy and stochastic, and this may pose potential formability and reliability problems if components for future micro-machines are to be made from small metal volumes. In this work, micron-sized bi-crystal pillars were fabricated by focussed ion-beam milling from grain-boundary regions in coarse-grained polycrystalline aluminium. Each bi-crystal pillar contained a grain boundary intersecting its top surface, and was subjected to compression using a flat-ended nanoindenter tip. Their deformation was found to have smaller strain bursts, fewer periods of strain hardening at elastic-like rates, as well as greater work-hardening rate and flow stress, than single-crystal pillars of similar sizes. Transmission electron microscopy revealed severe dislocation accumulation in the deformed bi-crystal pillars, whereas the residual dislocation density remained low in single-crystal micro-pillars of similar dimensions after deformation to comparable strains. The results suggest that a grain boundary inside a micro-specimen can trap dislocations inside the specimen, leading to a significant rise in the strain-hardening rate as well as to smoother deformation.     

Mechanical Properties of WS2 Nanotubes

Their mesoscopic dimensions (including a nanometer scale diameter and a micrometer scale length) make nanotubes a unique and attractive object of study, including the study of their mechanical properties and fracture in particular. The investigation of the mechanical properties of individual WS₂ nanotubes is a challenging task due to their small size. Hence, various microscopy based techniques were used to overcome this challenge. The Young’s modulus was studied by techniques like atomic force microscope (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM); it was also calculated by using the density-functional-based tight-binding (DFTB) method. Tensile tests and bending tests of individual WS₂ nanotubes were performed as well. Furthermore, the shock wave resistance of these nanotubes was tested. The Young’s modulus of WS₂ nanotubes was found to be in the range of 150–170 GPa, which is in good agreement with DFTB calculations. WS₂ nanotubes also showed tensile strength as high as 16 GPa and fracture strain of 14%. These results indicate the high quality of these nanotubes which reach their theoretical strength. The interlayer shear (sliding) modulus was found to be ca. 2 GPa, this value is in good agreement with DFTB calculations. Moreover, the nanotubes were able to withstand shock waves as high as 21 GPa.     

NANO SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING IN SOLID MECHANICS

According to National Science Foundation （NSF） Director A. Bement, ‘Transformative research is... research driven by ideas that stand a reasonable chance of radically changing our understanding of an important existing scientific concept or leading to the creation of a new paradigm or field of science is also characterized by its challenge to current understanding or its pathway to new frontiers.＇ Nanotechnology is one of such frontiers. It is the creation of new materials, devices and systems at the molecular level--phenomena associated with atomic and molecular interactions strongly influence macroscopic material properties with significantly improved mechanical, optical, chemical, electrical... properties. Former NSF Director Rita Colwell in 2002 declared, ‘nanoscale technology will have an impact equal to the Industrial Revolution＇. The transcendent technologies include nanotechnology, microelectronics, information technology and biotechnology as well as the enabling and supporting mechanical and civil infrastructure systems and materials. These technologies are the primary drivers of the twenty first century and the new economy. Mechanics is an essential eleraent in all of the transcendent technologies. Research opportunities, education and challenges in mechanics, including experimental, numerical and analytical methods in nanomechanics, carbon nano-tubes, bio-inspired materials, fuel cells, as well as improved engineering and design of materials are presented and discussed in this paper.