Wave propagation in an inhomogeneous transversely isotropic material obeying the generalized power law model

The analytical solutions for body-wave velocity in a continuously inhomogeneous transversely isotropic material, in which Young’s moduli (E, E′), shear modulus (G′), and material density (ρ) change according to the generalized power law model, (a+b z) ^c , are set down. The remaining elastic constants of transversely isotropic media, ν, and ν′ are assumed to be constants throughout the depth. The planes of transversely isotropy are selected to be parallel to the horizontal surface. The generalized Hooke’s law, strain-displacement relationships, and equilibrium equations are integrated to constitute the governing equations. In these equations, utilizing the displacement components as fundamental variables, the solutions of three quasi-wave velocities (V _SV , V _P ,?V _SH ) are generated for the present inhomogeneous transversely isotropic materials. The proposed solutions are compared with those of Daley and Hron (Bull Seismol Soc Am 67:661–675, (1977)), and Levin (Geophysics 44:918–936, (1979)) when the inhomogeneity parameter c?=?0. The agreement between the present results and previously published ones is excellent. In addition, the parametric study results reveal that the magnitudes of wave velocity are remarkably affected by (1) the inhomogeneity parameters (a, b, c); (2) the type and degree of material anisotropy (E/E′, ν/ν′, G/G′); (3) the phase angle (θ); and (4) the depth of the medium (z). Consequently, it is imperative to consider the effects of inhomogeneity when investigating wave propagation in transversely isotropic media.     

Exact solutions for radial deformations of a functionally graded isotropic and incompressible second-order elastic cylinder

We find closed-form solutions for axisymmetric plane strain deformations of a functionally graded circular cylinder comprised of an isotropic and incompressible second-order elastic material with moduli varying only in the radial direction. Cylinder's inner and outer surfaces are loaded by hydrostatic pressures. These solutions are specialized to cases where only one of the two surfaces is loaded. It is found that for a linear through-the-thickness variation of the elastic moduli, the hoop stress for the first-order solution (or in a cylinder comprised of a linear elastic material) is a constant but that for the second-order solution varies through the thickness. The radial displacement, the radial stress and the hoop stress do not depend upon the second-order elastic constant but the hydrostatic pressure and hence the axial stress depends upon it. When the two elastic moduli vary as the radius raised to the power two or four, the radial and the hoop stresses in an infinite space with a pressurized cylindrical cavity equal the pressure in the cavity. For an affine variation of the elastic moduli, the hoop stress in an internally loaded cylinder made of a linear elastic isotropic and incompressible material at the point is the same as that in a homogeneous cylinder. Here R_in and R_ou equal, respectively, the inner and the outer radius of the undeformed cylinder and R the radial coordinate of a point in the unstressed reference configuration.     

A computational study of some rheological influences on the “splashing experiment”

In various attempts to relate the behaviour of highly-elastic liquids in complex flows to their rheometrical behaviour, obvious candidates for study have been the variation of shear viscosity with shear rate, the two normal stress differences N₁ and N₂, especially N₁, the extensional viscosity, and the dynamic moduli G′ and G″. In this paper, we shall confine attention to ‘constant-viscosity’ Boger fluids, and, accordingly, we shall limit attention to N₁, η_E, G′ and G″.We shall concentrate on the “splashing” problem (particularly that which arises when a liquid drop falls onto the free surface of the same liquid). Modern numerical techniques are employed to provide the theoretical predictions. We show that high η_E can certainly reduce the height of the so-called Worthington jet, thus confirming earlier suggestions, but other rheometrical influences (steady and transient) can also have a role to play and the overall picture may not be as clear as it was once envisaged. We argue that this is due in the main to the fact that splashing is a manifestly unsteady flow. To confirm this proposition, we obtain numerical simulations for the linear Jeffreys model.     

Determination of boundary layers in the plane problem for three-layer strips. Part 2

In the first part of this paper, we considered the exact statement of the plane elasticity problem in displacements for strips made of various materials (problem A, an isotropic material; problem B, an orthotropic material with 2G ₁₂ < √E ₁ E ₂; problem C, an orthotropic material with 2G ₁₂ > √E ₁ E ₂). Further, we stated and solved the boundary layer problem (the problem on a solution decaying away from the boundary) for a sandwich strip of regular structure consisting of isotropic layers (problem AA). In the present paper, we use the solution of the plane problem to consider the problem for sandwich strips of regular structure with isotropic face layers and orthotropic filler (problem AB).     

Youngs modulus interpreted from plane compressions of geomaterials between rough end blocks

This note derives an approximate expression of the true Youngs modulus of a rectangular solid under plane compression between two rough end blocks, provided that the Poissons ratio ν of the solid is known. The friction between the loading platens and the ends of the specimen is assumed to be large enough to restrain slippage at the contact. By using the function space concept of Prager and Synge (1947) , a correction factor λ with calculable error is obtained which can be multiplied to the apparent Youngs modulus (i.e., the one obtained by assuming uniform stress field) to yield the true Youngs modulus; it is evaluated numerically for 0 ⩽ ν ⩽ 0.49 and 0 ⩽ η ⩽ 3 (where η = b⧸h with b and h being the half width and half length of the specimen) . In general, λ increases with ν and η for both plane strain and plane stress compressions. Within this range of ν and η, λ may vary from 0.37–1.0 for the plane strain case and from 0.84–1.0 for the plane stress case. Thus, the assumption of uniform stress field may lead to erroneous interpretation of the Youngs modulus. When the special case of ν = 1⧸3 and η = 1 is considered, we obtain λ = 0.9356, which compares well with 0.9359 obtained by Greenberg and Truell, 1948 .     

Anisotropic deformation of thin films comprised of helical nanosprings

We investigate the mechanical anisotropy of thin films that consist of tantalum oxide (Ta₂O₅) helical nanosprings fabricated by dynamic oblique deposition. Not only the vertical but also the lateral stiffness of thin films is evaluated using specimens in which nanosprings are sandwiched between solid Ta₂O₅ layers. Lateral or vertical force is applied to the upper solid layer by a diamond tip built into an AFM. In particular, the lateral stiffness of a nanospring has never been reported before. Apparent shear and Young’s moduli, G′ and E′, of the thin films are 2–3 orders smaller than those of solid Ta₂O₅ film. Ratio E′/G′ of the two different nanosprings is 3.4 and 6.2, and about 2.5 for the solid film. The thin films show strong characteristic anisotropy that the solid one could hardly attain. The stiffness and its anisotropy strongly depend on nanospring shape.     

On Anisotropic Elastic Materials for which Young''s Modulus E ( n ) is Independent of n or the Shear Modulus G ( n , m ) is Independent of n and m

It is shown that, among anisotropic elastic materials, only certain orthotropic and hexagonal materials can have Young modulus E(n) independent of the direction n or the shear modulus G(n,m) independent of n and m. Thus the direction surface for E(n) can be a sphere for certain orthotropic and hexagonal materials. The structure of the elastic compliance for these materials is presented, and condition for identifying if the material is orthotropic or hexagonal is given. We also study the case in which n of E(n) and n, m of G(n,m) are restricted to a plane. When E(n) is a constant on a plane so are G(n,m) and Poisson's ratio ν(n,m). The converse, however, does not necessarily hold. A plane on which E(n) is a constant can exist for all anisotropic elastic materials. In particular, existence of such a plane is assured for trigonal, hexagonal and cubic materials. In fact there are four such planes for a cubic material. For these materials, not only E(n) is a constant, two other Young's moduli, the three shear moduli and the six Poisson's ratio on the plane are also constant.     

Arbitrary point force in arbitrarily oriented transversely isotropic body

The published traditional point force problem solutions usually orient axes of coordinates in such a way that plane xOy is parallel to the planes of isotropy. We consider here a general case: an arbitrary point force is applied inside a transversely isotropic space, with arbitrary axes orientation. We obtain the field of displacements and stresses in terms of contour integrals, which are computable, because the solution for the traditional case is known. Identification of the set of contour integrals, which look impossible to compute, is a necessary first step toward the solution of non-traditional contact and crack problems for arbitrarily oriented cracks and punches.     

Stability and asymmetric vibrations of pressurized compressible hyperelastic cylindrical shells

Cylindrical shells of arbitrary wall thickness subjected to uniform radial tensile or compressive dead-load traction are investigated. The material of the shell is assumed to be homogeneous, isotropic, compressible and hyperelastic. The stability of the finitely deformed state and small, free, radial vibrations about this state are investigated using the theory of small deformations superposed on large elastic deformations. The governing equations are solved numerically using both the multiple shooting method and the finite element method. For the finite element method the commercial program ABAQUS is used.¹ The loss of stability occurs when the motions cease to be periodic. The effects of several geometric and material properties on the stress and the deformation fields are investigated.     

The inhomogeneous strain distributions within finite cylinders under the axial point load tests and the effects on the valence band of Si1−xGex alloy

An exact solution for inhomogeneous strain and stress distributions within a finite cubic isotropic cylinder of Si_1?xGe_x alloy under the axial Point Load Strength Test (PLST) is analytically derived. Lekhnitskii’s stress function is used to uncouple the equations of equilibrium, and a new expression for the stress function is proposed so that all of the governing equations and boundary conditions are satisfied exactly. The solution for isotropic cylinders under the axial PLST is covered as a special case. Numerical results show that the strain and stress distributions in the central region within half height and radius are relatively homogeneous, but strain and stress concentrations are usually developed near the point loads. The largest tensile strain and stress are always induced along the line joining the point loads, which gives theoretical explanation why most of the cylindrical specimens are split apart along the line joining the point loads under the axial PLST. In addition, by using envelope-function method, the effect of strain on the valence-band structure of Si_1?xGe_x alloy is analyzed. It is found that strain changes the band quantum gap and the shape of constant energy surfaces of the heavy-hole and the light-hole bands of Si_1?xGe_x alloy.     

A note on duality in finite elasticity

The duality between stress and deformation fields for plane deformations of a compressible isotropic hyperelastic material established by J. M. Hill [1]is generalized to deformations of a homogeneous elastic material without the restrictions of isotropy and hyperelasticity. At the same time a clarification of Hill's results is achieved.     

Optimal lower bounds on the hydrostatic stress amplification inside random two-phase elastic composites

Composites made from two linear isotropic elastic materials are subjected to a uniform hydrostatic stress. It is assumed that only the volume fraction of each elastic material is known. Lower bounds on all rth moments of the hydrostatic stress field inside each phase are obtained for r?2. A lower bound on the maximum value of the hydrostatic stress field is also obtained. These bounds are given by explicit formulas depending on the volume fractions of the constituent materials and their elastic moduli. All of these bounds are shown to be the best possible as they are attained by the hydrostatic stress field inside the Hashin-Shtrikman coated sphere assemblage. The bounds provide a new opportunity for the assessment of load transfer between macroscopic and microscopic scales for statistically defined microstructures.     

Stability,bifurcation and post-critical behavior of a homogeneously deformed incompressible isotropic elastic parallelepiped subject to dead-load surface tractions

We study the equilibrium homogeneous deformations of a homogeneous parallelepiped made of an arbitrary incompressible, isotropic elastic material and subject to a distribution of dead-load surface tractions corresponding to an equibiaxial tensile stress state accompanied by an orthogonal uniaxial compression of the same amount. We show that only two classes of homogeneous equilibrium solutions are possible, namely symmetric deformations, characterized by two equal principal stretches, and asymmetric deformations, with all different principal stretches. Following the classical energy-stability criterion, we then find necessary and sufficient conditions for both symmetric and asymmetric equilibrium deformations to be weak relative minimizers of the total potential energy. Finally, we analyze the mechanical response of a parallelepiped made of an incompressible Mooney–Rivlin material in a monotonic dead loading process starting from the unloaded state. As a major result, we model the actual occurrence of a bifurcation from a primary branch of locally stable symmetric deformations to a secondary, post-critical branch of locally stable asymmetric solutions.     

Saint-Venant end effects for plane deformations of linear piezoelectric solids

The recent developments in smart structures technology have stimulated renewed interest in the fundamental theory and applications of linear piezoelectricity. In this paper, we investigate the decay of Saint-Venant end effects for plane deformations of a piezoelectric semi-infinite strip. First of all, we develop the theory of plane deformations for a general anisotropic linear piezoelectric solid. Just as in the mechanical case, not all linear homogeneous anisotropic piezoelectric cylindrical solids will sustain a non-trivial state of plane deformation. The governing system of four second-order partial differential equations for the two in-plane displacements and electric potential are overdetermined in general. Sufficient conditions on the elastic and piezoelectric constants are established that do allow for a state of plane deformation. The resulting traction boundary-value problem with prescribed surface charge is an oblique derivative boundary-value problem for a coupled elliptic system of three second-order partial differential equations. The special case of a piezoelectric material transversely isotropic about the poling axis is then considered. Thus the results are valid for the hexagonal crystal class 6mm. The geometry is then specialized to be a two-dimensional semi-infinite strip and the poling axis is the axis transverse to the longitudinal direction. We consider such a strip with sides traction-free, subject to zero surface charge and self-equilibrated conditions at the end and with tractions and surface charge assumed to decay to zero as the axial variable tends to infinity. A formulation of the problem in terms of an Airy-type stress function and an induction function is adopted. The governing partial differential equations are a coupled system of a fourth and third-order equation for these two functions. On seeking solutions that exponentially decay in the axial direction one obtains an eigenvalue problem for a coupled system of fourth and second-order ordinary differential equations. This problem is the piezoelectric analog of the well-known eigenvalue problem arising in the case of an anisotropic elastic strip. It is shown that the problem can be uncoupled to an eigenvalue problem for a single sixth-order ordinary differential equation with complex eigenvalues characterized as roots of transcendental equations governing symmetric and anti-symmetric deformations and electric fields. Assuming completeness of the eigenfunctions, the rate of decay of end effects is then given by the real part of the eigenvalue with smallest positive real part. Numerical results are given for PZT-5H, PZT-5, PZT-4 and Ceramic-B. It is shown that end effects for plane deformations of these piezoceramics penetrate further into the strip than their counterparts for purely elastic isotropic materials.     

Finite deformations of fibre-reinforced elastic solids with fibre bending stiffness

In the conventional theory of finite deformations of fibre-reinforced elastic solids it is assumed that the strain-energy is an isotropic invariant function of the deformation and a unit vector A that defines the fibre direction and is convected with the material. This leads to a constitutive equation that involves no natural length. To incorporate fibre bending stiffness into a continuum theory, we make the more general assumption that the strain-energy depends on deformation, fibre direction, and the gradients of the fibre direction in the deformed configuration. The resulting extended theory requires, in general, a non-symmetric stress and the couple-stress. The constitutive equations for stress and couple-stress are formulated in a general way, and specialized to the case in which dependence on the fibre direction gradients is restricted to dependence on their directional derivatives in the fibre direction. This is further specialized to the case of plane strain, and finite pure bending of a thick plate is solved as an example. We also formulate and develop the linearized theory in which the stress and couple-stress are linear functions of the first and second spacial derivatives of the displacement. In this case for the symmetric part of the stress we recover the standard equations of transversely isotropic linear elasticity, with five elastic moduli, and find that, in the most general case, a further seven moduli are required to characterize the couple-stress.     

Bounds for effective elastic moduli of disordered materials

Recently P.H. Dederichs and R. Zeller (1973) have developed a formal theory of the bounds of odd order n for the effective elastic moduli of linearly elastic, disordered materials. The bounds are established by use of statistical information given in terms of correlation functions up to order n (= 1, 3, 5,…). This theory is extended to include the bounds of even order n. It is indicated how these bounds can be made optimum under the given statistical information. The results for bounds of even and odd order are obtained in forms which resemble Neumann series, containing multiple integrals up to order (n?1). These integrals can be calculated for certain materials which are classified in terms of a gradual statistical homogeneity, isotropy and disorder. Materials which possess these properties up to the correlation functions of nth order are called overall grade n materials. The optimum bounds for overall grade 2 and grade 3 materials are given explicitly. Optimum bounds for materials which are of grade ∞ in homogeneity and isotropy (i.e. (statistically) perfectly homogeneous and isotropic) and, at the same time, disordered of grade 2 or 3 are also derived. Those for grade 2 in disorder are the Z. Hashin and S. Shtrikman's (1963) bounds. Those for grade 3 are the narrowest, explicit bounds so far derived for random elastic materials. They contain within themselves the so-called self-consistent elastic moduli.     

Extrema of Young’s modulus for cubic and transversely isotropic solids

For a homogeneous anisotropic and linearly elastic solid, the general expression of Young’s modulus E(n), embracing all classes that characterize the anisotropy, is given. A constrained extremum problem is then formulated for the evaluation of those directions n at which E(n) attains stationary values. Cubic and transversely isotropic symmetry classes are dealt with, and explicit solutions for such directions n are provided. For each case, relevant properties of these directions and corresponding values of the modulus are discussed as well. Results are shown in terms of suitable combinations of elements of the elastic tensor that embody the discrepancy from isotropy. On the basis of such material parameters, for cubic symmetry two classes of behavior can be distinguished and, in the case of transversely isotropic solids, the classes are found to be four. For both symmetries and for each class of behavior, some examples for real materials are shown and graphical representations of the dependence of Young’s modulus on direction n are given as well.     

An inclusion problem

An inclusion is a special region in a material, and this region experiences a transformation of the following nature. If the inclusion were free, then it would acquire a certain deformation with no stress arising in it; but since the inclusion is “pasted” into the material, this prevents free deformations and causes stresses arising in the inclusion itself and in the environment. Three systems of equations describing the problem are derived. For a space with a homogeneous isotropic matrix, an equivalent system of integral equations is obtained whose solution, for a homogeneous anisotropic ellipsoidal inclusion, is reduced to a system of linear algebraic equations. For the case where the moduli of elasticity in the inclusion and the homogeneous matrix coincide, an explicit solution for an inclusion of arbitrary shape is obtained.     

Elastic properties of model random three-dimensional open-cell solids

Most cellular solids are random materials, while practically all theoretical structure-property relations are for periodic models. To generate theoretical results for random models the finite element method (FEM) was used to study the elastic properties of open-cell solids. We have computed the density (ρ) and microstructure dependence of the Young's modulus (E) and Poisson's ratio (ν) for four different isotropic random models. The models were based on Voronoi tessellations, level-cut Gaussian random fields, and nearest neighbour node-bond rules. These models were chosen to broadly represent the structure of foamed solids and other (non-foamed) cellular materials. At low densities, the Young's modulus can be described by the relation E∝ρⁿ. The exponent n and constant of proportionality depend on microstructure. We find 1.3<n<3, indicating a more complex dependence than indicated by periodic cell theories, which predict n=1 or 2. The observed variance in the exponent was found to be consistent with experimental data. At low densities we found that ν≈0.25 for three of the four models studied. In contrast, the Voronoi tessellation, which is a common model of foams, became approximately incompressible (ν≈0.5). This behaviour is not commonly observed experimentally. Our studies showed the result was robust to polydispersity and that a relatively large number (15%) of the bonds must be broken to significantly reduce the low-density Poission's ratio to ν≈0.33.     

Thermal stress analysis of a three-dimensional anticrack in a transversely isotropic solid

A three-dimensional analysis is performed for an infinite transversely isotropic elastic body containing an insulated rigid sheet-like inclusion (an anticrack) in the isotropy plane under a remote perpendicularly uniform heat flow. A general solution scheme is presented for the resulting boundary-value problems. Accurate results are obtained by constructing suitable potential solutions and reducing the thermal problem to a mechanical analog for the corresponding isotropic problem. The governing boundary integral equation for a planar anticrack of arbitrary shape is obtained in terms of a normal stress discontinuity. As an illustration, a complete solution for a rigid circular inclusion is obtained in terms of elementary functions and analyzed. This solution is compared with that corresponding to a penny-shaped crack problem.