Description of the elastic deformation and degradation of elastic properties of dispersedly failing isotropic materials

A model is put forward for describing the elastic deformation of a quasi-homogeneous isotropic material capable of accumulating scattered microdamages during loading, which eventually leads to its total failure. The degree of damage of the material at a point is characterized by a centrosymmetric scalar function on the unit sphere, named the damage function, whose values depend on a dimensionless equivalent stress. This function is approximated by a fourth-rank tensor, which is used to construct a constitutive relation between stresses and strains in a differential form. By way of example, the elastic deformation of concrete and the degradation of its linearly elastic properties are described, and the basic three-dimensional sections of the corresponding strength surface are constructed. __________ Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 193–208, March–April, 2006.     

Composites in offshore technology in the next century

The advisability of application of advanced composites in deep-water offshore technology is shown using risers and tendons as examples. Numerical estimations of the parameters of multilayered metal-composite risers are obtained. Two new processes of spatial braiding for creating the external jackets of compound tendons are considered. Advanced composites are the only possible choice for exploitation of deposits at depths greater than 1500 m. That is why they are the most promising structural materials for offshore technology in the next century. This report was presented at the Symposium “Composites for the Next Millennium” in honor of Stephen Tsai's 70th birthday, Tours, France, 2–3 July, 1999. Institute of Polymer Mechanics, University of Latvia, Riga, LV-1006 Latvia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 35, No. 5, pp. 549–560, September–October, 1999.     

Influence of the synergistic effect on formation of the first crack in ferrocement

An empirical approach is proposed for assessing the influence of the synergistic effect on the increase in strength and the strain limit of a cement matrix at the moment of formation of the first crack. Riga Technical University, Riga, LV-1047, Latvia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 32, No. 5, pp. 663–667, September–October, 1996.     

The Gabriel–Roiter Measure for Right Pure Semisimple Rings

We show how the Gabriel–Roiter measure, introduced by Ringel in (Bull Sci Math 129:726–748, 2005 and Contemp Math 406:105–135, 2006), applies to indecomposable modules of finite length over right pure semisimple rings, and in particular to the study of the open problem whether any right pure semisimple ring is of finite representation type. Dedicated to the memory of Andrey Vladimirovich Roiter. Professor A. V. Roiter has died on 26 July 2006 in Riga, Latvia. He was born in 1937.     

Effect of flame retardants on the properties of monolithic and foamed polyurethanes at low temperatures

The dependence of physical and mechanical properties of monolithic and foamed rigid polyurethanes on the content of flame retardants was investigated at 293 and 98 K. The character of the influence of the content of trichloroethyl phosphate on the ultimate tensile elongation and the coefficient of linear thermal expansion for monolithic and foamed polyurethanes at a temperature of 98 K was established. Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga, LV-1006 Latvia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 35, No. 5, pp. 671–676, September–October, 1999.     

Deformation of sandwich panels in cylindrical bending by point forces. 1. Analytical construction

A refined model for bending of a three-layered panel with a soft filler is proposed. The modified model permits us to consider the asymmetry of elastic properties and thickness of the outer layer relative to the middle plane of the panel in a composite sandwich structure. In constructing the deformation mechanism, a heterogeneous kinematic model was adopted, which, in contrast to the assumptions for the deformation of the whole stack of layers, features four degrees of displacement freedom permitting consideration of the separate nature of the deformation of the outer layers in bending and of the intermediate layer in transverse compression combined with shear. This approach is postulated according to an energetic evaluation of the deformation of the layers [2]. The specific features of the stress from point forces in cylindrical bending are considered using the operational Laplace method, which avoids the additional difficulties in analyzing the solution convergence arising when it is represented by a series of eigenfunctions of the boundary value problem. The fundamental functions of a twelfth-order set of equations are used to construct the boundary problem reduced to a Cauchy problem. Various boundary effects of the point stress are described using a generalized Dirac function. Variants are examined for the limiting transformation of the model parameters leading to a qualitative change in its kinematics and the corresponding simplified bending models. Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Latvian Academy of Sciences, LV-1006 Riga, Latvia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 5, pp. 588–611, September–October, 1996.     

Anisotropic stress-softening model for compressible solids

A general constitutive theory for anisotropic stress softening in compressible solids is presented. The constitutive equation describes anisotropic strain induced behaviour of an initially “isotropic” virgin material. Parameters which characterise damage are proposed together with a concept of damage function. In order to develop an anisotropic stress-softening theory for compressible materials in close parallel to a recent incompressible anisotropic theory, the right stretch tensor is decomposed into its isochoric and dilatational parts. The ’free’ energy is expressed as a function of the dilatation, modified principal stretches, a volume change parameter and invariants of the dyadic products of the principal directions of the right stretch tensor and two structural tensors. A class of free energy functions is discussed and a special form of this class which satisfies the Clausius–Duhem inequality is proposed. Results of the theory applied to uniaxial tension, bulk compression and simple shear deformations are given. A sequence of deformations involving shear, hydrostatic-compression and hydrostatic-tension deformations is also investigated. In the case of hydrostatic-tension deformation, the stress softening is due to cavitation damage. The theoretical results obtained are consistent with expected behaviour and compare well with experimental data.     

Optimization of the composition and tribological properties of high-density polyethylene-calcite-silicon nitride composites by the method of experiment planning

The tribological characteristics (wear resistance, coefficient of friction ) of a high-density-polyethylene-base composite filled with calcite and highly disperse silicon nitride produced by the plasmochemical method are investigated experimentally. The experiment plan was compiled in the form of a simplex lattice, and new points were planned in conducting the experiments. Compositions possessing appreciably elevated wear resistance (by a factor of 500) and a coefficient of friction reduced by 20% as compared with the unfilled polymer were obtained. Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, Salasplis, LV-2169. Institute of Polymer Mechanics of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, Riga, LV-1006. Riga Mechanical University, Riga, LV-1050, Latvia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozinykh Materialov, No. 5, pp. 690–695, September–October, 1996.     

A projected–gradient interior–point algorithm for complementarity problems

Interior–point algorithms are among the most efficient techniques for solving complementarity problems. In this paper, a procedure for globalizing interior–point algorithms by using the maximum stepsize is introduced. The algorithm combines exact or inexact interior–point and projected–gradient search techniques and employs a line–search procedure for the natural merit function associated with the complementarity problem. For linear problems, the maximum stepsize is shown to be acceptable if the Newton interior–point search direction is employed. Complementarity and optimization problems are discussed, for which the algorithm is able to process by either finding a solution or showing that no solution exists. A modification of the algorithm for dealing with infeasible linear complementarity problems is introduced which, in practice, employs only interior–point search directions. Computational experiments on the solution of complementarity problems and convex programming problems by the new algorithm are included.     

Asymptotic analysis of the behavior of a multichannel queueing system functioning in a Markov medium

The asymptotic behavior of some multidimensional characteristics of two Markov queueing systems, in which an incoming flow of units and their service time depend on a small parameter ɛ and the state of the Markov medium where these queueing systems function, is investigated. Bibliography: 6 titles. Translated fromObchyslyuval’na ta Prykladna Matematyka, No. 76, 1992, pp. 91–98.     

A conforming mixed finite-element method for the coupling of fluid flow with porous media flow

Salim Meddahi ^{We consider a porous medium entirely enclosed within a fluidregion and present a well-posed conforming mixed finite-elementmethod for the corresponding coupled problem. The interfaceconditions refer to mass conservation, balance of normal forcesand the Beavers–Joseph–Saffman law, which yieldsthe introduction of the trace of the porous medium pressureas a suitable Lagrange multiplier. The finite-element subspacesdefining the discrete formulation employ Bernardi–Raugeland Raviart–Thomas elements for the velocities, piecewiseconstants for the pressures and continuous piecewise-linearelements for the Lagrange multiplier. We show stability, convergenceand a priori error estimates for the associated Galerkin scheme.Finally, we provide several numerical results illustrating thegood performance of the method and confirming the theoreticalrates of convergence.}     

Characteristics of four-dimensional normal distribution of properties of composite in stochastic compromise optimization

In a numerical example of compromise optimization by computerized mathematical modeling (2000 realizations) for a known deterministic solution, in the case of an isotropic spatially reinforced porous composite, certain scatter characteristics of the optimal solution have been established, namely four standard deviations and six coefficients of linear correlation for four properties—density, modulus of elasticity, thermal conductivity, and linear thermal expansion coefficient. Of the 17 input data (parameters of the composite components), 10 are stochastic, the others deterministic. An equation is presented for the four-dimensional hyperellipsoid of normal distribution with numerical values of the coefficients, as well as all invariants and roots of the characteristic equation, the matrix of direction cosines of the principal axes of the hyperellipsoid, and the lengths of the principal semiaxes, depending on the dimensionality of the scattering region and the assigned probability P. The four-dimensional hyperellipsoid has been projected onto three-dimensional space and then onto a plane. A section of the scattering region has been constructed. Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Latvian Academy of Sciences, Riga LV-1006, Latvia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 5, pp. 625–635, September–October, 1996.     

Behavior of concrete cylinders confined by carbon-composite tapes and prestressed yarns 1. Experimental data

The results of a comprehensive test program for the mechanical behavior of round concrete specimens confined by carbon-fiber epoxy tapes and prestressed carbon yarns are reported. Five different concrete batches of compressive strength from 20 to 100 MPa and the confinement of various thickness and pretension level were investigated. The specimens, which were subjected to monotonic or repeated compressive loadings, showed a nonlinear stress-strain behavior with a significant ductility and increased ultimate strength, in contrary to the brittle behavior of plain concrete. The limit of linearity on the stress-strain diagrams of the confined concrete roughly coincided with the ultimate strength of plain concrete. Above this limit, the damage accumulation and plastic deformations proceeded in the confined specimens. This fact was evidenced by the increasing slope of deformation diagrams in unloadings and repeated loadings and by the pronounced residual strains. The limit of linearity could be raised significantly by pretension of the carbon yarns during their winding. Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 21–44, January–February, 2006.     

The Availability and Hazard of a System Under a Cumulative Damage Process With Replacements

Zacks (Failure distribution associated with general renewal damage processes. In: Nikulin M, Commenges D, Haber C (eds) Probability statistics and modelling in public health. Springer, Berlin, pp 465–475, 2006) studied the reliability function, the hazard function and the distribution of the failure time when a system is subject to a cumulative, compound renewal damage process. The failure occurs when the damage process crosses a threshold β. In the present paper these results are generalized to the model where the system is replaced after failures. Two cases are considered: instant replacement and random positive replacement time. The distribution of the age of the current renewal cycle, as well as its excess life, and the availability function are studied. We derive also the distribution of total time in (0, t) at which the system has been operational.     

Fast computation of the field of a vertical magnetic dipole above a layered medium

We consider the direct problem of aeroelectrosounding for a layered medium. The specific feature of this problem is that its solution is representable as a Bessel transform of a function ƒ of a certain type. We have developed and implemented a method for fast computation of the Bessel transform of such functions. The method relies on the approximation of ƒ by a linear combination of exponentials with prespecified exponents. The Bessel transform of the original function ƒ is computed analytically as the Bessel transform of the approximating linear combination. Numerical computations have been carried out. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Matematika i Informatika, No. 26, pp. 39–48, 2007.     

Skew quantum Murnaghan–Nakayama rule

We extend recent results of Assaf and McNamara on a skew Pieri rule and a skew Murnaghan–Nakayama rule to a more general identity, which gives an elegant expansion of the product of a skew Schur function with a quantum power sum function in terms of skew Schur functions. We give two proofs, one completely bijective in the spirit of Assaf–McNamara’s original proof, and one via Lam–Lauve–Sotille’s skew Littlewood–Richardson rule. We end with some conjectures for skew rules for Hall–Littlewood polynomials.     

Non-monotone trust region methods for nonlinear equality constrained optimization without a penalty function

 We propose and analyze a class of penalty-function-free nonmonotone trust-region methods for nonlinear equality constrained optimization problems. The algorithmic framework yields global convergence without using a merit function and allows nonmonotonicity independently for both, the constraint violation and the value of the Lagrangian function. Similar to the Byrd–Omojokun class of algorithms, each step is composed of a quasi-normal and a tangential step. Both steps are required to satisfy a decrease condition for their respective trust-region subproblems. The proposed mechanism for accepting steps combines nonmonotone decrease conditions on the constraint violation and/or the Lagrangian function, which leads to a flexibility and acceptance behavior comparable to filter-based methods. We establish the global convergence of the method. Furthermore, transition to quadratic local convergence is proved. Numerical tests are presented that confirm the robustness and efficiency of the approach. Received: December 14, 2000 / Accepted: August 30, 2001 Published online: September 27, 2002 Key words. nonmonotone trust-region methods – sequential quadratic programming – penalty function – global convergence – equality constraints – local convergence – large-scale optimization Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 65K05, 90C30     

Investigation of the tangency of front sets of two transversal waves in transversely isotropic elastic media

A special case of a transversely isotropic elastic medium is considered. This medium is excited by a point force perpendicular to the anisotropy axis. The wave field in this medium is constructed and investigated. The front sets of SV and SH waves are in contact with one another at a point. In order to investigate a neighborhood of this point, we derive simpler expressions for the wave field and establish a special function describing the tangency of two front sets. Bibliography: 8 titles. __________ Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 342, 2007, pp. 206–216.     

Estimation of the long-term strength of polymer materials under arbitrary loading histories

A nonlinear version of the phenomenological theory of long-term strength of polymer materials (viscoelastic bodies) is proposed. It is based on the introduction of a function accounting for the damage accumulation connected with changes in the load intensity. The form of this function may be determined from the results of testing the material with a load changing with time in a certain way, for instance, periodically. As a parameter, the function contains the rate of the changing load or the frequency for periodic loads. For a quasi-isotropic material, the basic relationships of the theory proposed are generalized to the case of combined stresses. The durability (failure time) calculations of the material based on this theory are compared with experimental data for a number of polymer and composite materials in a wide range of loading modes. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 35, No. 5, pp. 585–594, September–October, 1999.     

Stability of a dynamical system with semi-Markov switchings under conditions of diffusion approximation

We obtain sufficient conditions for the stability of a dynamical system in a semi-Markov medium under the conditions of diffusion approximation by using asymptotic properties of the compensation operator for a semi-Markov process and properties of the Lyapunov function for an averaged system. __________ Translated from Ukrains’kyi Matematychnyi Zhurnal, Vol. 59, No. 9, pp. 1290–1296, September, 2007.