Hybrid experimental–numerical analysis of basic ductile fracture experiments for sheet metals

A basic ductile fracture testing program is carried out on specimens extracted from TRIP780 steel sheets including tensile specimens with a central hole and circular notches. In addition, equi-biaxial punch tests are performed. The surface strain fields are measured using two- and three-dimensional digital image correlation. Due to the localization of plastic deformation during the testing of the tensile specimens, finite element simulations are performed of each test to obtain the stress and strain histories at the material point where fracture initiates. Error estimates are made based on the differences between the predicted and measured local strains. The results from the testing of tensile specimens with a central hole as well as from punch tests show that equivalent strains of more than 0.8 can be achieved at approximately constant stress triaxialities to fracture of about 0.3 and 0.66, respectively. The error analysis demonstrates that both the equivalent plastic strain and the stress triaxiality are very sensitive to uncertainties in the experimental measurements and the numerical model assumptions. The results from computations with very fine solid element meshes agree well with the experiments when the strain hardening is identified from experiments up to very large strains.     

Assessment of structural integrity and durability—a task of experimental mechanics

The necessity of health-monitoring and supervising structures will be justified under aspects of reliability and safety as well as with regard to economical reasons. Considering the achievements in measurement techniques combined with computer techniques, the requirements on the evolution of efficient monitoring systems will be indicated. The prerequisite will be pointed out, to conceive such systems in close co-ordination with the mathematical modelling of the structure. This is inalienable with concern to system-identification, as generally the control-parameters cannot be measured directly; they are to calculate on the basis of the mathematical model and the measurable structural response symptoms. This requires mathematical complicate solution of inverse problems. During service/operation many effects give rise for degradation of the structural resistance, reducing the safety and the life-time as well. The results of system identification enable the determination of damage indicators, which provide information on the scale of degradation in the course of time to estimate the limit of service-life and the residual life-time.     

Shear response of β-SiC bulk dependent on temperature and strain rate

The shear responses of β-SiC are investigated using molecular dynamics simulation with the Tersoff interatomic potential. Results show a clear decreasing trend in critical stress,fracture strain and shear modulus as temperature increases. Above a critical temperature, β-SiC bulk just fractures after the elastic deformation. However, below the critical temperature, an interesting pattern in β-SiC bulk emerges due to the elongation of Si-C bonds before fracture. Additionally, the shear deformation of β-SiC at room temperature is found to be dependent on the strain rate. This study may shed light on the deformation mechanism dependent on temperature and strain rate.     

Debonding analysis of FRP–concrete interface between two balanced adjacent flexural cracks in plated beams

A cohesive interface modeling approach to debonding analysis of adhesively bonded interface between two balanced adjacent flexural cracks in conventional material (e.g., concrete or wood) beams strengthened with externally bonded FRP plates is presented. Both the strengthened beam and strengthening FRP are modeled as two linearly elastic Euler–Bernoulli beams bonded together through a thin adhesive layer. A bi-linear cohesive model, which is commonly used in the literature, is adopted to characterize the stress-deformation relationship of the FRP–concrete interface. Completely different from the single-lap or double-shear pull models in which only the axial pull force is considered, the present model takes the couple moment and transverse shear forces in both the substrates into account to study the second type of intermediate crack-induced debonding (IC debonding) along the interface. The whole debonding process of the FRP–concrete interface is discussed in detail, and closed-form solutions of bond slip, interface shear stress, and axial force of FRP in different stages are obtained. A rotational spring model is introduced at locations of the two adjacent flexural cracks to model the local flexibility of the cracked concrete beam, with which the relationship between the local bond slip and externally applied load is established and the real bond failure process of the FRP-plated concrete beam with the increasing of the externally applied load is revealed. Parametric studies are further conducted to investigate the effect of the thickness of adhesive layer on the bond behavior of FRP–concrete interface. The present closed-form solution and analysis on the local bond slip versus applied load relationship for the second type of IC debonding along the interface shed light on the bond failure process of structures externally strengthened with FRP composite plates and can be used effectively and efficiently to predict ductility and ultimate load of FRP-strengthened structures.     

A finite element analysis of the morphology of the twinned-to-detwinned interface observed in microstructure of the Cu–Al–Ni shape memory alloy

A detailed morphology of the twinned-to-detwinned interface in microstructure of 2H-martensite phase of the Cu–Al–Ni shape memory alloy is observed by optical methods (optical microscopy, white-light interferometry). Based on these observations, a finite element model of the transition layer is constructed and applied to calculate the elastic stress distribution inside the observed microstructure. The results show that the real micromorphology does not correspond to the minimum of the sum of the elastic and surface energy, and that the maxima of the stress field necessary for the existence of this morphology are comparable to the elasticity limits of the 2H-martensite.     

Dynamic rupture of polymer–metal bilayer plates

Recent theoretical assessments of metal/polymer bilayers indicate a potentially significant delay in the onset of ductile failure modes, especially under dynamic loading, due to strain hardening of the polymer. The response of copper/polyurethane bilayers under dynamic and quasi-static loadings is investigated via static tensile, static bulge forming and dynamic bulge forming tests. Two polyurethanes PU1 and PU2 were chosen with a significant contrast in stiffness and ductility: PU1 has a glass transition temperature T_g close to ?56 °C and at room temperature it has a low modulus, low strength and a high tensile failure strain. In contrast, PU2 has a T_g of 49 °C and at room temperature it has a high modulus and strength but a much smaller tensile failure strain. In most of the tests, the polymer coatings were approximately twice the thickness of the metal layer. Under static loadings (tensile and bulge forming) the PU2 bilayer outperformed the uncoated metal plate of equal mass while the PU1 bilayer had a performance inferior to the equivalent uncoated plate. We attribute this to the fact that the PU2 retards the necking of the copper layer and thus increases its energy absorption capacity while the PU1 coating provides no such synergistic effect. The dynamic bulge forming tests indicate that on an equal mass basis, the dynamic performance of the PU2 bilayers with a weakly bonded polymer coating were comparable to the uncoated plates but intriguingly, when the PU2 was strongly adhered to the copper plates the performance of these bilayers was inferior to that of the uncoated plates. Thus, the coatings do not provide dynamic performance benefits on an equal mass basis. However, it is shown that increasing the mass of a plate by adding a polyurethane layer can improve the performance for a given total blast impulse. Given the ease of applying polyurethane coatings they may provide a practical solution to enhancing the blast resistance of existing metallic structures.     

Determination of the effective elastic–plastic response of metal–ceramic composites

The mechanical response of metal–ceramic composites is analysed through a homogenization model accounting for the mechanical behaviour of the constituent materials. In order to achieve this purpose a nonlinear homogenization method based on the phase field approach has been suitably implemented into a numerical code. A prescribed homogenized strain state is applied to a unit volume element of a metal–ceramic composite with proportional loading in which all components of the strain tensor are proportional to one scalar parameter. The mechanical response of the material has been modeled by considering a von Mises plasticity model for the metal phase and a Drucker–Prager associative elastic–plastic material model for the ceramic phase. A two stages plasticity has been obtained in which inelastic strain develops in the metal phase followed by a fully plastic response. A comparison with a finite element model of the stress–strain response of an axisymmetric unit cell has been carried out with the purpose to validate the homogenization based modeling presented in the paper. Plastic parameters of a Drucker–Prager yield surface for the homogenized composite have been calculated at different materials compositions. Associative Drucker–Prager plasticity has been found to be accurate for high ceramic content.     

Dynamical deformation of a flat liquid–liquid interface

The passage of solid spheres through a liquid–liquid interface was experimentally investigated using a high-speed video and PIV (particle image velocimetry) system. Experiments were conducted in a square Plexiglas column of 0.1 m. The Newtonian Emkarox (HV45 50 and 65% wt) aqueous solutions were employed for the dense phase, while different silicone oils of different viscosity ranging from 10 to 100 mPa s were used as light phase. Experimental results quantitatively reveal the effect of the sphere’s size, interfacial tension and viscosity of both phases on the retaining time and the height of the liquid entrained behind the sphere. These data were combined with our previous results concerning the passage of a rising bubble through a liquid–liquid interface in order to propose a general relationship for the interface breakthrough for the wide range of Mo ₁/Mo ₂ ∈ [2 × 10⁻⁵–5 × 10⁴] and Re ₁/Re ₂ ∈ [2 × 10⁻³–5 × 10²].     

Cracking analysis of fracture mechanics by the finite element method of lines （FEMOL）

The Finite Element Method of Lines (FEMOL) is a semi-analytic approach and takes a position between FEM and analytic methods. First, FEMOL in Fracture Mechanics is presented in detail. Then, the method is applied to a set of examples such as edge-crack plate, the central-crack plate, the plate with cracks emanating from a hole under tensile or under combination loads of tensile and bending. Their dimensionless stress distribution, the stress intensify factor (SIF) and crack opening displacement (COD) are obtained, and comparison with known solutions by other methods are reported. It is found that a good accuracy is achieved by FEMOL. The method is successfully modified to remarkably increase the accuracy and reduce convergence difficulties. So it is a very useful and new tool in studying fracture mechanics problems. The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

Description of liquid–gas phase transition in the frame of continuum mechanics

A new method of describing the liquid–gas phase transition is presented. It is assumed that the phase transition is characterized by a significant change of the particle density distribution as a result of energy supply at the boiling point that leads to structural changes but not to heating. Structural changes are described by an additional state characteristics of the system—the distribution density of the particles which is presented by an independent balance equation. The mathematical treatment is based on a special form of the internal energy and a source term in the particle balance equation. The presented method allows to model continua which have different specific heat capacities in liquid and in gas state.     

Temperature–strain rate deformation conditions of aluminum alloys

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of the deformation and structural parameters of 1561 anisotropic alloy. It has been found that the lowest anisotropy factor corresponds to the formation of an ultrafine-grained equiaxed structure under temperature–strain rate conditions of superplasticity.     

The homogenization method of Bakhvalov–Pobedrya in the composite mechanics

The role of Professor Pobedrya in the development of the homogenization method in the mechanics of composite materials with periodic structure is discussed. A generalization of the homogenization method is proposed to the case of heterogeneous bodies whose structure is not periodic.     

Fracture mechanics analysis on Smart-Cut^R technology. Part 2： Effect of bonding flaws

In Part 2 of the paper on the Smart-Cut process, the effects of bonding flaws characterized by the size and internal pressure before and after splitting are studied by using fracture mechanics models. It is found that the bonding flaws with large size are prone to cause severe deviation of defect growth, leading to a non-transferred area of thin layer when splitting. In a practical Smart-Cut process where the internal pressure of bonding flaws is very small, large interfacial defects always promote defect growth in the splitting process. Meanwhile, increasing the internal pressure of the bonding flaws decreases the defect growth and its deviation before splitting. The mechanism of relaxation of stiffener constraint is proposed to clarify the effect of bonding flaws. Moreover, the progress of the splitting process is analyzed when bonding flaws are present. After splitting, those bonding flaws with large size and high internal pressure are vulnerable for the blistering of the thin film during high-temperature annealing.     

Simulation of an optically induced asymmetric deformation of a liquid–liquid interface

Deformations of liquid interfaces by the optical radiation pressure of a focused laser wave were generally expected to display similar behavior, whatever the direction of propagation of the incident beam. Recent experiments showed that the invariance of interface deformations with respect to the direction of propagation of the incident wave is broken at high laser intensities. In the case of a beam propagating from the liquid of smaller refractive index to that of larger one, the interface remains stable, forming a nipple-like shape, while for the opposite direction of propagation, an instability occurs, leading to a long needle-like deformation emitting micro-droplets. While an analytical model successfully predicts the equilibrium shape of weakly deformed interface, very few work has been accomplished in the regime of large interface deformations. In this work, we use the Boundary Integral Element Method (BIEM) to compute the evolution of the shape of a fluid–fluid interface under the effect of a continuous laser wave, and we compare our numerical simulations to experimental data in the regime of large deformations for both upward and downward beam propagation. We confirm the invariance breakdown observed experimentally and find good agreement between predicted and experimental interface hump heights below the instability threshold.     

An experimental study of circular sand–water wall jets

Laboratory experiments were carried out to study the effects of sand particles on circular sand–water wall jets. Mean and turbulence characteristics of sand particles in the sand–water wall jets were measured for different sand concentrations c_o ranging from 0.5% to 2.5%. Effects of sand particle size on the centerline sand velocity of the jets were evaluated for sand size ranging from 0.21 mm to 0.54 mm. Interesting results with the range of measurements are presented in this paper. It was found that the centerline sand velocity of the wall jets with larger particle size were 15% higher than the jets with smaller particle size. Concentration profiles in the vertical direction showed a peak value at x/d = 5 (where x is the longitudinal distance from the nozzle and d is the nozzle diameter) and the sand concentration decreased linearly for x/d > 5. Experimental results showed that the turbulence level enhanced from the nozzle to x/d = 10. For sand–water wall jets with a higher concentration (c_o = 1.5–2.5%), the turbulence intensity became smaller than the corresponding single-phase wall jets by 34% due to turbulent modulation. A modified logarithmic formulation was introduced to model the longitudinal turbulent intensity at the centerline and along the axis of the jet.