Measurement of fiber/matrix interface properties of C/C composites by single fiber and fiber bundle push-out methods

Interfacial fracture stresses of carbon/carbon composites were measured by indentation methods. Two types of test methods, namely, single fiber push-out, and bundle fiber push-out tests were conducted. Both methods successfully gave fiber/matrix interface mechanical properties, especially debonding behavior. However, when the interface was strong, the single fiber push-out test encountered technical difficulty in processing the extremely thin specimen required to realize the fiber push out. On the other hand, the bundle fiber push-out test gave a good estimation of interfacial fracture stresses.     

On the use of single fibre composites testing to characterise the interface in natural fibre composites

In recent years, natural fibre composites have received considerable attention as a serious contender to replace glass fibres in composite material applications. One of the key aspects in composite materials is the interface between the reinforcing fibres and the matrix and a critical assessment of the interfacial bond is needed for a successful design of the final component. Natural fibres possess many intriguing advantages over man-made fibres such as glass, but they also present serious difficulties, especially in terms of material heterogeneity and more specifically in terms of fibre diameter. In this sense, most of the traditional methods for interfacial characterisation are difficult to apply, since the required data reduction involves the use of stress analysis or fracture mechanics approaches in which the fibre diameter is a critical parameter. In the present study, interfacial characterisation is discussed for flax fibre/polypropylene composites and a sensitivity analysis is presented for the single fibre fragmentation test. The results indicate that traditional stress analysis fails to correctly assess the interface, whilst a statistical based data analysis can overcome the fibre heterogeneity problem.     

Analysis and computation of thermal residual stresses at the fiber/matrix interface

Because of the importance of thermal residual stresses in composite materials, our study aims to compute them by the finite element method. Numerical analysis shows that these stresses need to be taken into account. The interface is affected by these stresses, particularly in the free edge. The discontinuity of the normal stresses along the interface and the shear value at the free edge influence the composite material behaviour during its use (e.g. the composite used as a patch for repairing a crack).     

Determination of the interface strength between two polymer materials by a new curved interface tensile test: Preliminary experimental results

Recently, the authors have proposed a new experimental method for the determination of adhesion strength between two different materials. A curved interface and special arrangement of materials is used for the tensile test of bimaterial specimens to avoid singular stress fields around corners and edges. The main advantage of the test consists in the fact that the strength is determined under conditions of a uniform tensile stress field normal to the interface in the region where debonding starts. The present paper presents experimental results for two bimaterial systems - PMMA/TPE and PC/TPE (two stiff standard polymers with a thermoplastic elastomer). The expected failure behaviour was observed during the experiments, thus enabling the estimation of adhesion strength by using calculated stress concentration factors. The influence of the radius of curvature is discussed in detail.     

Fibre matrix adhesion of natural fibres cotton,flax and hemp in polymeric matrices analyzed with the single fibre fragmentation test

In this research the adhesion and the resulting interfacial shear strength (IFFS) between the natural fibres flax, hemp and cotton and the polymer matrices polypropylene with coupling agent (MAPP) and polylactide acid (PLA) was surveyed with the single fibre fragmentation test (SFFT). The adhesion between MAPP and the fibres was good enough to produce fragments, whereas the adhesion between PLA and flax was too weak to transmit enough tension for fibre cracks which is clearly visible on SEM-photographs. Comparing the IFFS values of the fibres in MAPP with an equal fibre diameter shows that the IFFS value of flax is highest with 7.09 N/mm² followed by hemp 6.13 N/mm². The IFFS of cotton is a lot smaller (0.664 N/mm²). The critical fragmentation or fragmentation length of the bast fibres flax (3.16 mm) and hemp (3.20 mm) in MAPP is smaller than the critical fragmentation length of cotton (5.03 mm). The adhesion between the lignocellulosic fibres and MAPP is much better than between the lignin and pectin free cellulose fibre and MAPP. Possible reasons for this — the surface structure of the cotton fibre and its different chemical composition being made up of only cellulose, hemi-cellulose and wax with no pectin or lignin present — are discussed.     

New Concepts from the Evans Unified Field Theory. Part One: The Evolution of Curvature,Oscillatory Universe Without Singularity,Causal Quantum Mechanics,and General Force and Field Equations

No Heading The Evans field equation is solved to give the equations governing the evolution of scalar curvature R and contracted energy-momentum T. These equations show that R and T are always analytical, oscillatory, functions without singularity and apply to all radiated and matter fields from the sub-atomic to the cosmological level. One of the implications is that all radiated and matter fields are both causal and quantized, contrary to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The wave equations governing this quantization are deduced from the Evans field equation. Another is that the universe is oscillatory without singularity, contrary to contemporary opinion based on singularity theorems. The Evans field equation is more fundamental than, and leads to, the Einstein field equation as a particular example, and so modifies and generalizes the contemporary Big Bang model. The general force and conservation equations of radiated and matter fields are deduced systematically from the Evans field equation. These include the field equations of electrodynamics, dark matter, and the unified or hybrid field.     

A dislocation dynamics study of the strength of stacking fault tetrahedra. Part I: interactions with screw dislocations

We present a comprehensive dislocation dynamics (DD) study of the strength of stacking fault tetrahedra (SFT) to screw dislocation glide in fcc Cu. Our methodology explicitly accounts for partial dislocation reactions in fcc crystals, which allows us to provide more detailed insights into the dislocation–SFT processes than previous DD studies. The resistance due to stacking fault surfaces to dislocation cutting has been computed using atomistic simulations and added in the form of a point stress to our DD methodology. We obtain a value of 1658.9 MPa, which translates into an extra force resolved on the glide plane that dislocations must overcome before they can penetrate SFTs. In fact, we see they do not, leading to two well differentiated regimes: (i) partial dislocation reactions, resulting in partial SFT damage, and (ii) impenetrable SFT resulting in the creation of Orowan loops. We obtain SFT strength maps as a function of dislocation glide plane-SFT intersection height, interaction orientation, and dislocation line length. In general SFTs are weaker obstacles the smaller the encountered triangular area is, which has allowed us to derive simple scaling laws with the slipped area as the only variable. These laws suffice to explain all strength curves and are used to derive a simple model of dislocation–SFT strength. The stresses required to break through obstacles in the 2.5–4.8-nm size range have been computed to be 100–300 MPa, in good agreement with some experimental estimations and molecular dynamics calculations.     

A dislocation dynamics study of the strength of stacking fault tetrahedra. Part II: interactions with mixed and edge dislocations

In this paper we present the sequel to Part I and present a comprehensive dislocation dynamics study of the strength of stacking fault tetrahedra to mixed and edge dislocation glides in fcc Cu.     

Effect of surface treatment on mode I interlaminar fracture behaviour of plain glass woven fabric composites: Part I. Report of the 2nd round-robin test results

A round-robin test programme has been carried out to characterise the mode I interlaminar fracture behaviour of E-glass woven fabric reinforced vinyl ester matrix composites. Special emphasis has been placed on the effect of silane coupling agent on the stability of interlaminar crack propagation and fracture toughness. Sixteen laboratories participated in this programme. Each laboratory was supplied with composite laminates of thicknesses of its own choice and conducted the tests according to its own procedures. The results showed that variations in interlaminar fracture toughness between laboratories were very large in spite of slight differences in the test procedures used, such as specimen dimensions, test speed and data reduction schemes. Nevertheless, the general trends were clearly identified with respect to different silane coupling agents. Other observations and the implications are discussed.     

Effects of surface treatment and weave structure on interlaminar fracture behaviour of plain glass woven fabric composites: Part II. Report of the 2nd round robin test results

This paper reports the second part of the results from the round robin test program proposed by the Society of Interfacial Materials Science (SIMS) to characterise the interlaminar fracture behaviour of E-glass woven fabric reinforced vinylester composites. Special emphasis was placed on the study of loading direction (i.e. weft and warp directions) effect on interlaminar shear strength and fracture toughness. Ten laboratories worldwide participated in this test (Table 1). Each laboratory was supplied with composite laminates and conducted the tests according to its own procedure. The results showed that although there were large variations in absolute magnitude between laboratories, a general trend was established with higher interlaminar fracture resistance in the weft direction than in the warp direction for a given silane agent. The larger number of strands running in the warp direction with rougher, more undulating areas perpendicular to the direction of crack propagation was mainly responsible for this result. The results also confirmed the previous finding that the mode I interlaminar fracture toughness increased with increasing silane agent concentration.     

The effects of aircraft on climate and pollution. Part I: Numerical methods for treating the subgrid evolution of discrete size- and composition-resolved contrails from all commercial flights worldwide

This paper provides and evaluates mass conservative, positive-definite, unconditionally-stable, and non-iterative numerical techniques for simulating the evolution of discrete, size- and composition-resolved aerosol and contrail particles in individual aircraft exhaust plumes in a global or regional 3-D atmospheric model and coupling the subgrid exhaust plume information to the grid scale. Such treatment represents a new method of simulating the effects of aircraft on climate, contrails, and atmospheric composition. Microphysical processes solved within each plume include size-resolved coagulation among and between aerosol and contrail particles and their inclusions, aerosol-to-hydrometeor particle ice and liquid nucleation, deposition/sublimation, and condensation/evaporation. Each plume has its own emission and supersaturation, and the spreading and shearing of each plume’s cross-section are calculated as a function of time. Aerosol- and contrail-particle core compositions are tracked for each size and affect optical properties in each plume. When line contrails sublimate/evaporate, their size- and composition-resolved aerosol cores and water vapor are added to the grid scale where they affect large-scale clouds. Algorithm properties are analyzed, and the end-result model is evaluated against in situ and satellite data.     

Vibronic spectra, ab initio calculations, and structures of conformationally non-rigid molecules of oxalyl halides in the ground and lowest excited electronic states. Part III: Theoretical investigation of oxalyl fluoride

We present a theoretical investigation of oxalyl fluoride (COF)₂ in the ground and the four lowest excited (two singlet and two triplet) electronic states of the n,π∗-type mainly with the CASPT2(8-6)/cc-pVTZ method. Geometries, vibrational frequencies, potential energy functions of internal rotation, and adiabatic electronic transition energies were obtained. The conformer energy difference and the barrier to internal rotation in the ground electronic state were extrapolated to the complete basis set limit. The planar trans and cis conformations were the most stable configurations for all five electronic states under study. We found that the allowed electronic transition of the cis conformer has a transition energy that is significantly higher than that predicted in previous studies. For the excited states, the internal rotation was found to be accompanied by significant non-planar distortion of both carbonyl fragments, indicating strong coupling between these molecular motions.