Prediction of the growth of fatigue cracks taking environmental factors into account

A model of corrosion fatigue is proposed which takes into account the main phenomena of a mechanical nature, namely, the transfer of the active agent from the month of the crack to its tip, the accumulation of mechanical damage due to cyclic loads and the breakdown of the stability conditions in the body-with-cracks — load — environment system as the reason for the propagation of the crack tip. Particular attention is devoted to the mechanism by which active agent is transferred. In addition to diffusion, convective transfer as a consequence of the change in the shape and dimensions of the crack cavity is taken into account. The results of modelling are supplemented with diagrams, which relate the rate of growth of the crack with the range of the stress intensity factor, the concentration of the agent at the mouth of the crack and the characteristics of the cycle, equal to the ratio of the extremal values of the applied stresses in each cycle. The results are compared with experimental data.     

Perturbation method for solving the nonlinear eigenvalue problem arising from fatigue crack growth problem in a damaged medium

An analytical solution of the nonlinear eigenvalue problem arising from the fatigue crack growth problem in a damaged medium in coupled formulation is obtained. The perturbation technique for solving the nonlinear eigenvalue problem is used. The method allows to find the analytical formula expressing the eigenvalue as the function of parameters of the damage evolution law. It is shown that the eigenvalues of the nonlinear eigenvalue problem are fully determined by the exponents of the damage evolution law. In the paper the third-order (four-term) asymptotic expansions of the angular functions determining the stress and continuity fields in the neighborhood of the crack tip are given. The asymptotic expansions of the angular functions permit to find the closed-form solution for the problem considered.     

A coupled stress and energy failure model for crack initiation in arbitrarily shaped adhesive lap joints

In this work, crack initiation in adhesive lap joints of arbitrary joint configuration is studied by means of a finite fracture mechanics approach. The analysis is based on a general stress solution for adhesive joints combined with a coupled stress and energy criterion. The instantaneous formation of a crack of finite size is predicted if a stress and energy criterion are satisfied simultaneously. The closed-form analytical solution of the stress field allows for an efficient evaluation of the crack initiation load and corresponding finite crack length. A comparison to experimental results from literature and to numerical results obtained with a cohesive zone model approach shows a good agreement. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A large neighbourhood search heuristic for the aircraft and passenger recovery problem

This paper introduces a large neighbourhood search heuristic for an airline recovery problem combining fleet assignment, aircraft routing and passenger assignment. Given an initial schedule, a list of disruptions, and a recovery period, the problem consists in constructing aircraft routes and passenger itineraries for the recovery period that allow the resumption of regular operations and minimize operating costs and impacts on passengers. The heuristic alternates between construction, repair and improvement phases, which iteratively destroy and repair parts of the solution. The aim of the first two phases is to produce an initial solution that satisfies a set of operational and functional constraints. The third phase then attempts to identify an improved solution by considering large schedule changes while retaining feasibility. The whole process is iterated by including some randomness in the construction phase so as to diversify the search. This work was initiated in the context of the 2009 ROADEF Challenge, a competition organized jointly by the French Operational Research and Decision Analysis Society and the Spanish firm Amadeus S.A.S., in which our team won the first prize.     

Geometrical methods for analyzing the optimal management of tipping point dynamics

Natural resources are not infinitely resilient and should not be modeled as being such. Finitely resilient resources feature tipping points and history dependence. This paper provides a didactical discussion of mathematical methods that are needed to understand the optimal management of such resources: viscosity solutions of Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equations, the costate equation and the associated canonical equations, exact root counting, and geometrical methods to analyze the geometry of the invariant manifolds of the canonical equations. Recommendations for Resource Managers

• Management of natural resources has to take into account the possible breakdown of resilience and induced regime shifts.
• Depending on the characteristics of the resource and on its present and future economic importance, either for all initial states the same kind of management policy is optimal, or the type of the optimal management policy depends on the initial state.
• Modeling should reflect the finiteness of the data.

     

Growth of arterial cracks in polymers subject to static and fatigue loading

The growth kinetics of artificial and natural cracks (the former arising from notches) are studied in viscose, di- and triacetyl cellulose, nitrocellulose, polymethylmethacrylate, polystyrene, polypropylene, and carpon films by a micro-motion-picture method over a wide temperature range under both static and cyclic (fatigue) loading. In all the cellulose materials studied, the time required to form the nuclei of visible cracks is much shorter than the total life of the sample. The initial rate of crack growth depends exponentially on the applied stress and test temperature, so that the equation for the growth rate of an arterial crack is analogous to the general life equation. The different ways in which stress and test temperature affect the parameters of the equation describing the kinetics of crack growth enable us to distinguish the effect of local heating and that of the relaxation processes in the fatigue problem.A. F. Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 2, pp. 253–265, March–April, 1970.     

A criterion for the growth of cracks with bonds in the end zone

A fracture criterion which takes account of the work done in the deformation of bonds in the end zone of a crack is proposed for analysing the quasistatic growth of a crack with bonds in the end zone. The energy condition that the deformation energy release rate at the crack tip is equal to the rate of deformation energy consumption by the bonds in the end zone of the crack (the first fracture condition) corresponds to the state of limit equilibrium of the crack tip. The rupture of bonds at the trailing edge of the end zone is determined by the condition for their limiting traction (the second fracture condition). Starting from these two conditions, the processes of subcritical and quasistatic crack growth are considered for the case of a rectilinear crack at interface of materials and the two basic fracture parameters, the critical external load and the size of the end zone of the crack in the state of limit equilibrium, are determined. Analytical expressions are obtained for the deformation energy release rate at the crack tip and the rate of deformation energy consumption by the bonds and, also, the dependences of the critical external load and size of the end zone of the crack on the crack length in the case of a rectilinear crack in a homogeneous body with bond tractions which are constant and independent of the external load. The limit cases of a crack which is filled with bonds and a crack with a short end zone are considered.     

Approximate decomposition methods for the analysis of multicommodity flow routing in generalized queuing networks

In this study we deal with network routing decisions and approximate performance evaluation approaches for generalized open queuing networks (OQN), in which commodities enter the network, receive service at one or more arcs and then leave the network. Exact performance evaluation has been applied for the analysis of Jackson OQN, where the arrival and service processes of the commodities are assumed to be Poisson. However, the Poisson processes’ hypotheses are not a plausible or acceptable assumption for the analysis of generalized OQN, as their arrival and service processes can be much less variable than Poisson processes, resulting in overestimated system performance measures and inappropriate flow routing solutions. In this paper we merge network routing algorithms and network decomposition methods to solve multicommodity flow problems in generalized OQN. Our focus is on steady-state performance measures as average delays and waiting times in queue. The main contributions are twofold: (i) to highlight that solving the corresponding multicommodity flow problem by representing the generalized OQN as a Jackson OQN may be a poor approximation and may lead to inaccurate estimates of the system performance measures, and (ii) to present a multicommodity flow algorithm based on a routing step and on an approximate decomposition step, which leads to much more accurate solutions. Computational results are presented in order to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Approximate analysis of unreliable transfer lines with splits in the flow of material

This paper presents a Markov process model and an approximate decomposition technique for a discrete material transfer line with limited buffer capacity. A fraction of the parts processed at some stations in the line may be scrapped or reworked at dedicated machines to meet product quality requirements. Reworked parts are not sent back into the main line. This leads to splits in the flow of material. Processing times are deterministic and identical for all machines and are taken as the time unit. Machine specific times to failure and to repair are geometrically distributed. The model is analyzed through a decomposition into twomachine systems. We develop new decomposition equations for machines performing split operations. Production rates and inventory levels are computed and compared to simulation results. The results indicate that the method produces useful results for a variety of systems.     

隐变量交互效应分析方法的比较与评价

本文通过一个实例,比较了分析隐变量交互效应的主要方法,包括用隐变量的因子得分做回归分析、分组线性结构方程模型分析、加入乘积项的结构方程模型分析和两步最小二乘回归分析,并评价了这些方法的优缺点。     

Analysis of crack formation in bonded lap joints using finite fracture mechanics on the basis of linear elasticity solutions.

In this work, crack formation and the corresponding failure load of bonded lap joints is analyzed. The analysis is based on linear elasticity solutions for bonded lap joints and makes use of the finite fracture mechanics. A hybrid criterion is applied that states the spontaneous formation of a crack of finite size if a stress and an energy criterion are fulfilled simultaneously. The stress distribution of a linear elasticity solution is used for the stress criterion and for the calculation of the incremental energy release rate which is necessary for definition of the energy criterion. The resulting fracture criterion is compared to literature results and shows a good agreement. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Approximate solution methods for the Cauchy problem with the use of solution operators and the taylor formula

To find an approximate solution of the Cauchy problem

Stability and growth estimates for electric fields in non-conducting material dielectrics

Employing results derived by the author for solutions of an abstract integrodifferential equation in Hilbert space, we obtain stability and growth estimates for electric fields in nonconducting material dielectrics. It is assumed that a linear constitutive equation of Maxwell-Hopkinson type relates the electric field and the electric displacement field in the dielectric; specific results for a simple memory function of exponential type are given.     

Approximate methods based on order reduction for the periodic solutions of nonlinear third-order ordinary differential equations

Four approximate methods based on order reduction, the introduction of a book-keeping parameter and power series expansions for the solution and the frequency of oscillation are used to analyze three autonomous, nonlinear, third-order ordinary differential equations which have analytical periodic solutions. The first method introduces the velocity in both sides of the equation if this (linear) term is not present. The second one is based on the first one but employs a new independent variable, whereas, in the third and fourth techniques, a term equal to the velocity times the square of the unknown frequency of oscillation is introduced in both sides of the equation. The third method uses the original independent variable, whereas the fourth one employs a new independent variable which depends linearly on the unknown frequency of oscillation. It is shown that the second method provides accurate solutions only for initial velocities close to unity, whereas the third one is found to yield very accurate results for the first and second equations considered here and only for large initial velocities for the third one. The fourth technique provides as accurate results as or more accurate results than parameter-perturbation techniques which deal with the third-order equations directly and are based on the expansion of certain constants that appear in the differential equations in terms of a book-keeping parameter.