External motion resistance caused by rut sinkage of a tracked vehicle

This paper deals with the external motion resistance of a tracked vehicle caused by rut formation (sinkage) or compression of soil under the tracks. It is shown that the relationship between the applied load and the sinkage for a loading test using a plate is represented by a hyperbola. Based on the above relationship, the external motion resistance caused by the rut formation of a tracked vehicle is estimated by considering the work done by overcoming the ground pressure and the resistance. Further, measurements of the external motion resistance were carried out by using a tracked vehicle and the experimental results are compared with the theoretical ones, and the reliability of the above method is confirmed experimentally.     

Heterogeneous deformation in ductile FCC single crystals in biaxial stretching: the influence of slip system interactions

The heterogeneity of deformation in ductile FCC single crystals is investigated by both numerical simulations and an analytic approach. The constitutive behaviour is based on a generalized storage recovery model and takes into account the interactions between slip systems previously obtained by dislocation dynamics simulations. In biaxial stretching, the simulations show the activation of a large number of slip systems and their localization in mutually excluding zones. As a result, a microstructure of lamellar type is formed in the early stages of the deformation. These numerical results are complemented by a linear stability analysis showing that the heterogeneous deformation pattern is triggered by instability modes of the single crystal. Furthermore, the interaction matrix is playing a key role as the partition is found to originate from slip system interactions. The partition is driven by the strongest interaction, which is in most cases the collinear interaction. A comparison with an experimental study in simple shear yields useful information about how to check the respective strength of some interactions. The collinear interaction is not involved in that case, but its effect can be verified by reproducing the experiment on a crystal with a different orientation.     

A self- similar solution of a shock propagation in a mixture of a non-ideal gas and small solid particles

Similarity solutions are obtained for unsteady, one-dimensional self-similar flow behind a strong shock wave, driven by a moving piston, in a dusty gas. The dusty gas is assumed to consist of a mixture of small solid particles and a non-ideal gas, in which solid particles are continuously distributed. It is assumed that the equilibrium flow-condition is maintained and variable energy input is continuously supplied by the piston. Solutions are obtained under both the isothermal and adiabatic conditions of the flow-field. The spherical case is worked out in detail to investigate to what extent the flow-field behind the shock is influenced by the non-idealness of the gas in the mixture as well as by the mass concentration of the solid particles, by the ratio of density of the solid particles to the initial density of the mixture and by the energy input due to moving piston. A comparison is also made between isothermal and adiabatic cases.     

A finite difference method for 3D flows about bodies of complex geometry in rectangular co-ordinate systems

A finite difference simulation method is developed for 3D flow about a body of complex geometry. The Navier–Stokes equation is approximated by a high-order-accurate difference scheme in the framework of rectangular co-ordinate systems. The configuration of the 3D body is represented by use of both surface porosity and volume porosity and the no-slip body boundary conditions are approximately implemented on the boundary cells. The validity of the method is demonstrated by a numerical test of flow past a sphere at a Reynolds number of 1000. The complicated structure of separated vortices is well revealed by this test computation. The versatility of the method is shown by application to an ocean-engineering problem of flow about a bay with an island.     

A micromechanical model for porous materials with a reinforced matrix

In this study a micromechanical model is proposed for ductile porous material whose matrix is reinforced by small inclusions. The solid phase is described by a pressure sensitive plastic model. Based on works of Maghous et al. [6], a macroscopic plastic criterion is firstly obtained by using a two-step homogenization procedure. The effect of porosity at the mesoscale and the influence of inclusions at the microscale are taken into account simultaneously by this criterion. With a non-associated plastic flow rule, the micro-macro model is applied to modeling of mechanical behavior of a cement paste. In particular, we have considered at the microscopic scale the formation of calcite grains by carbonation process in the solid matrix. The studied cement paste is then seen as a reinforced matrix–pore system. Comparisons between numerical results and experimental data show that the proposed model is able to capture the main features of the mechanical behavior of the studied material.     

Acoustic emission from interaction of a vortex ring with a sphere

Acoustic waves emitted by a vortex ring interacting with a fixed solid sphere are studied experimentally and theoretically. The experiments are carried out for two kindsof vortex-sphere arrangement: (A) a vortex ring passes over the sphere, and (B) a vortex ring passes by the sphere. The vortex motion is examined optically by means of a photosensor system, and the pressure signals of the emitted wave are detected by 1/2-inch microphones in the far field. In case A, the measured diameter of the vortex ring after passing the sphere increases from its initial diameter. The observed acoustic wave is dominated mainly by a dipole emission, and some contribution from a quadrupole radiation is present. In case B, the emitted wave is characterized by a rotating dipole emission in which the dipole axis rotates as the vortex position changes relative to the sphere.     

Three-dimensional continuum analysis for a unidirectional composite with a broken fiber

The three-dimensional problem of a periodic unidirectional composite with a penny-shaped crack traversing one of the fibers is analyzed by the continuum equations of elasticity. The solution of the crack problem is represented by a superposition of weighted unit normal displacement jump solutions, everyone of which forms a Green’s function. The Green’s functions for the unbounded periodic composite are obtained by the combined use of the representative cell method and the higher-order theory. The representative cell method, based on the triple discrete Fourier transform, allows the reduction of the problem of an infinite domain to a problem of a finite one in the transform space. This problem is solved by the higher-order theory according to which the transformed displacement vector is expressed by a second order expansion in terms of local coordinates, in conjunction with the equilibrium equations and the relevant boundary conditions. The actual elastic field is obtained by a numerical evaluation of the inverse transform. The accuracy of the suggested approach is verified by a comparison with the exact analytical solution for a penny-shaped crack embedded in a homogeneous medium. Results for a unidirectional composite with a broken fiber are given for various fiber volume fractions and fiber-to-matrix stiffness ratios. It is shown that for certain parameter combinations the use of the average stress in the fiber, as it is employed in the framework of the shear lag approach, for the prediction of composite’s strength, leads to an over estimation. To this end, the concept of “point stress concentration factor” is introduced to characterize the strength of the composite with a broken fiber. Several generalizations of the proposed approach are offered.     

Effect of Thermal Modulation on the Onset of Convection in a Viscoelastic Fluid Saturated Porous Layer

The effect of thermal modulation on the onset of convection in a horizontal, anisotropic porous layer saturated by a viscoelastic fluid is investigated by a linear stability analysis. Darcy’s law with viscoelastic correction is used to describe the fluid motion. The perturbation method is used to find the critical Rayleigh number and the corresponding wavenumber for small amplitude thermal modulation. The stability of the system characterized by a correction Rayleigh number is calculated as a function of the thermal and mechanical anisotropy parameters, the viscoelastic parameters and the frequency of modulation. It is found that the onset of convection can be delayed or advanced by the factors represented by these parameters. The results of the problem have possible implications in mantle convection.     

Pressure distribution in an elastomer confined by a long thin-walled flexible hollow cylinder under the assumption of a hydrostatic stress state

The stress distribution in a pressurized elastomer confined by a hollow cylinder is of interest in various applications of material testing and manufacturing. A relatively accurate closed form solution for the pressure distribution inside an elastomer confined by a rigid hollow cylinder was presented by Yu et al. (2001). But in many practical applications the assumption of a rigid hollow cylinder is not appropriate, because the cylinder deformations have a significant influence on the stresses inside the elastomer. Thus in this paper a solution for an elastomer confined by a deformable hollow cylinder is derived. Both axial and radial deformations of the hollow cylinder are taken into account, while the bending stiffness of the cylinder wall is neglected, i.e. the cylinder wall is treated according to the membrane theory. The accuracy of the proposed closed form solution is verified by a parametric finite element simulation.     

Instability of the Benard–Marangoni Convection in a Porous Layer Affected by a Non-Vertical Magnetic Field

The onset of the Benard–Marangoni convection in a horizontal porous layer permeated by a magnetohydrodynamic fluid with a nonlinear magnetic permeability is examined. The porous layer is assumed to be governed by the Brinkman model; it is bounded by a rigid surface from below and by a non-deformable free surface from above and subjected to a non-vertical magnetic field. The critical effective Marangoni number and the critical Rayleigh number are obtained for different values of the effective Darcy number, Biot number, Chandrasekhar number, nonlinear magnetic parameter, and angle from the vertical axis for the cases of stationary convection and overstability. The related eigenvalue problem is solved by using the first-order Chebyshev polynomial method.     

Viscoelastic Deformation of a Reinforced Plate with a Crack

The deformation of a viscoelastic reinforced composite is studied. The composite has an axis of elastic symmetry and consists of transversally isotropic fibers and a viscoelastic matrix, which differ by the volume concentration and mechanical characteristics. The material is modeled by a transversely isotropic homogeneous linearly viscoelastic medium with some averaged characteristics. A plate fabricated from the composite in question is weakened by a through mode I crack and is subjected to constant tensile forces. The viscoelastic properties of the matrix material are described by a convolution operator. The Volterra principle is used to derive expressions for the viscoelastic characteristics and crack opening. The irrational function of the integral operator that describes the crack opening is expanded into an operator continued fraction and is represented as the sum of base operators     

Influence of imperfect bonding of the components on the mechanical properties and stability of cylindrical nanocomposite shells

An approach to determining the effective characteristics of nanocomposites with well-known methods of micromechanics is proposed. The irregular distribution of discrete bonds between a nanofiber and the polymeric matrix over the fiber circumference is taken into account. The area with a great number of bonds is modeled by a continuum and the area with a small number of bonds is modeled by a discontinuity. The dependence of the mechanical characteristics of nanocomposites on the volume fraction of the reinforcement and the size of the imperfect-bonding zone is studied. The performance of such materials in structures is demonstrated by stability design of cylindrical shells     

On stabilization of systems with delay

The optimization of the parameters of a controller of given structure for a controlled unstable scalar system with delay is studied. First, the original system with delay is approximated by a system without delay. To this end, the exponent is approximated by a fractional rational function. Since the structure of the controller is fixed, the quality of the approximation is assessed by comparing the stability domains of the original and approximating systems (in the space of controller coefficients). Next, the coefficients of the controller for the reduced system are optimized. The performance of the controller thus synthesized can be assessed by mathematically modeling the original system (with delay) whose feedback is determined by the controller coefficients found. The approach is exemplified by stabilizing an inverted mathematical pendulum with a PD controller. This example is used to examine the issue of synthesis of a robust controller __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 44, No. 10, pp. 86–100, October 2008.     

Displacement and Velocity Feedback Control of a Beam with a Deadband Region

ABSTRACT

The problem of controlling the dynamic response of a beam by means of displacement and velocity feedback is solved. The objective of the control is to prevent the maximum deflection and/or velocity of a beam from exceeding given upper and lower bounds. The control is The theory is illustrated by two numerical examples that involve displacement and velocity feedback control. An assessment is made of the effectiveness of the proposed control by defining a performance measure. It is observed that the dynamic response of the beam can be kept within specified bounds by applying a large enough control force, which also depends on the extent of the deadband region. A measure of force spent in the control process is defined and plotted against the dynamic response, which is observed to decrease rapidly as the bounds approach the values set by the uncontrolled beam.     

Coupled modeling of damage growth and permeability variation in brittle rocks

This paper presents a coupled model for anisotropic damage and permeability evolution by using a micro–macro approach. The damage state is represented by a second order tensor. The evolution of damage is determined from a crack propagation criterion. The free enthalpy function of cracked material is obtained by using micromechanical considerations. It is assumed that cracks exhibit normal aperture which is coupled with the crack growth due to asperities of crack faces. By using Darcy’s law for macroscopic fluid flow and assuming laminar flow in microcracks, the overall permeability of the RVE is obtained by a volume averaging procedure taking into account crack aperture in each orientation.     

A stability analysis of an oscillating body located in fluid flow using automatic differentiation

This paper presents a stability analysis of an oscillating body subjected to fluid forces located in a transient incompressible viscous flow. If the body is supported by elastic springs, oscillation will begin. If the characteristic period of the body and the excited oscillating period due to fluid forces match each other, resonance can occur. Stability analysis is therefore needed to determine the nonlinear behavior of the body. This paper presents an analysis of the changing stability of bodies by the numerical computation. To implement the computation, the motion of fluid around a body is expressed by the Navier–Stokes equation described in the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian form. The fluid influence on the body is discretized by the finite element method based on a mixed interpolation by the bubble function in space. The motion of the body is assumed to be expressed by the equations of motion. To evaluate stability, stability function is defined by the total energy of the oscillating body. The stability is judged according to a stability index, obtained by the use of the automatic differentiation (AD) of the stability function. AD is a derivative computation method that gives high accuracy. By the use of AD, the second‐order derivative matrix, which is needed to compute the stability index, can be obtained exactly. For the numerical studies, analyses of one degree of freedom and two degrees of freedom (2DOF) for a circular cylinder and 2DOF for a rectangular cylinder are carried out. A combination of a cylinder and supporting elastic spring can produce stable, neutral and unstable states. It is shown that the stability of the cylinder can be determined by the stability index. This paper shows new possibilities for stability analysis of bodies located in a fluid flow. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A full-field procedure for evaluating the elastic properties of advanced ceramics

In the present paper, a procedure is described whereby the elastic properties of a ceramic material are evaluated during a biaxial flexure test. The disk specimen is supported on three points and loaded by a uniform pressure on the opposite face. The whole displacement field undergone by the upper face, measured by a digital speckle interferometer, is approximated by a set of polynomials whose weights depend on the elastic properties. This dependence, previously determined by finite element analysis, is exploited to derive the values of the elastic properties from the displacement field experimentally detected. The procedure proposed was applied to a silicon carbide specimen.     

A simplified method for the estimation of soil thrust exerted by a tracked vehicle

A simplified method for estimating the soil thrust exerted by a tracked vehicle is proposed. The relationship between the soil shear torque curve (shear torque-deformation curve) obtained from ring shear test and the thrust curve (soil thrust-slip ratio curve) of a tracked vehicle is analyzed and it is shown that there is a transformation law between these curves. A simplified analytical method for estimating the soil thrust exerted by a tracked vehicle is developed by using the above-mentioned transformation law. Soil thrust can be estimated by using the soil shear torque curve, shear ring and vehicle parameters. It is experimentally confirmed that the soil thrust can be easily estimated by using the proposed method.     

Non-linear oscillations of a third-order differential equation

An investigation is conducted into the behavior of the solutions of a third-order non-linear differential equation which is characterized by a non-linearity depending solely upon the Euclidean norm of the associated phase space. The non-linearity represents a central restoring force, which has important applications in modern control theory. For small non-linearities, the existence of a limit cycle is established by a fixed point technique, the approach to the limit cycle is approximated by averaging methods, and the periodic solution is harmonically represented by perturbation. Computer solutions of the differential equation are provided in order to reinforce the analysis. Some related differential equations are discussed including one in which the periodic solution is explicitly prescribed.     

Analysis of a model for void growth and coalescence ahead of a moving crack tip

One mechanism for the slow, steady motion of a crack tip in plane strain is void growth and coalescence. A model of this process is formulated by isolating a geometrical cell containing a single void and extending the cell in uniaxial strain. A rigid-plastic material is assumed and the velocity field is analysed by means of a finite element procedure. From the results of the analysis, the dissipation of energy in the creation of crack surfaces is estimated as a function of the original void-size and the volume fraction of voids. Further, the shallow shape of dimples found experimentally is verified by the results of the analysis. A check on the accuracy is obtained by application of the numerical method to cases where analytical solutions are known.