A direct approach to fiber and membrane reinforced bodies. Part I. Stress concentrated on curves for modelling fiber reinforced materials

An approach is outlined to the equilibrium in fiber-reinforced materials in which the fibers are modeled as curves or lines with concentrated material properties. The system of forces representing the interaction of the fibers with the bulk matter is analyzed, and equilibrium of forces is derived from global laws. The displacements of the bulk matter are assumed to have continuous extension to the fibers. This forces the set of admissible deformations superquadratically integrable. This in turn forces the energy of the bulk of superquadratic growth. The material of the bulk matrix therefore cannot be linearly elastic. The energy of fibers can have a slower growth and can be quadratic. A formal set of assumptions is given under which an equilibrium state of minimum energy exists in the given external conditions. A weak form of equilibrium equations is derived for this equilibrium state. An explicitly calculable axisymmetric example is presented with an isotropic and quadratic energy of the matrix (linear elasticity) and linearly stretchable fiber. Since the superquadratic growth assumption is not satisfied, some peculiar features of the solution arise, such as the infinite limit of the radial displacement near the fiber. Nevertheless, from the obtained solution, we can compute the normal force in the fiber and the shear stress at the interface.     

Cauchy’s stress theorem for stresses represented by measures

A version of Cauchy’s stress theorem is given in which the stress describing the system of forces in a continuous body is represented by a tensor valued measure with weak divergence a vector valued measure. The system of forces is formalized in the notion of an unbounded Cauchy flux generalizing the bounded Cauchy flux by Gurtin and Martins (Arch Ration Mech Anal 60:305–324, 1976). The main result of the paper says that unbounded Cauchy fluxes are in one-to-one correspondence with tensor valued measures with weak divergence a vector valued measure. Unavoidably, the force transmitted by a surface generally cannot be defined for all surfaces but only for almost every translation of the surface. Also conditions are given guaranteeing that the transmitted force is represented by a measure. These results are proved by using a new homotopy formula for tensor valued measure with weak divergence a vector valued measure.      

Global stability of equilibrium manifolds,and “peaking” behavior in quadratic differential systems related to viscoelastic models

We study a model inspired by the Oldroyd-B equations for viscoelastic fluids. The objective is to better understand the nonlinear coupling between the stress and velocity fields in viscoelastic flows, and thus gain insight into the reasons that cause the loss of accuracy of numerical computations at high Weissenberg number. We derive a model system by discarding the stress-advection and stress-relaxation terms in the Oldroyd-B model. The reduced (unphysical) model, which bears some resemblance to a viscoelastic solid, only retains the stretching of the stress due to velocity gradients and the induction of velocity by the stress field. Our conjecture is that such a system always evolves toward an equilibrium in which the stress builds up such to cancel the external forces. This conjecture is supported by numerous simulations. We then turn our attention to a finite dimensional model (i.e., a set of ordinary differential equations) that has the same algebraic structure as our model system. Numerical simulations indicate that the finite-dimensional analog has a globally attracting equilibrium manifold. In particular, it is found that subsets of the equilibrium manifold may be unstable, leading to a “peaking” behavior, where trajectories are repelled from the equilibrium manifold at one point, and are eventually attracted to a stable equilibrium point on the same manifold. Generalizations and implications to solutions of the Oldroyd-B model are discussed.     

Singular stress fields in masonry structures: Derand was right

The idea of a no-tension (NT) material underlies the design of masonry structures since antiquity. Based on the NT model, the safety of the structure is a problem of geometry rather than of strength materials, in the same spirit of the “rules of proportion” of the medieval building tradition. The use of singular stress fields for equilibrium problems of NT materials in 2d, has been recently proposed by Lucchesi et al. to produce statically admissible stress fields; here we introduce a simple way to construct singular stresses, based on the Airy’s stress formulation. We interpret the singular part of such stress fields as axial contact forces acting on ideal 1d structures arising inside the body, in the same spirit of Strut and Tie methods. A number of simple problems of equilibrium concerning typical walls, arches and portals, is solved in terms of stress fields having regular and singular parts, by adopting the direct and the stress function formulation. The validity of the rules of proportion described by Derand and Gil is also verified.     

Variational Characterization of a Quasi-rigid Body

The rigidity of a body usually is characterized by the kinematical assumption that the mutual distance between any two of its particles remains unaltered in any possible deformation. However, from this alone nothing can be said about the internal contact forces exerted between adjacent sub-bodies. Therefore, the determination and form of an internal state of stress for a rigid body is problematical. Here, we will show that by considering such a kinematical characterization as an internal constraint for an elastic body, the constrained body inherits the mechanical structure of the elastic parent theory, i.e., the internal constraint generates an associated set of Lagrange multiplier fields which can be interpreted as an internal constraint reaction pseudo-stress field with the same structure as the state of stress in the parent elastic body. Thus, although the final deformation is the same for both the rigid body and the rigidly constrained elastic body, the latter corresponds to a richer model and, to emphasize this distinction, we refer to it as a quasi-rigid body. While in equilibrium the pseudo-stress field of a quasi-rigid body will satisfy equations identical to the equilibrium equations for the stress field in the elastic parent theory, such equations are not, in general, sufficient to assure uniqueness. In order to overcome this indeterminacy, we consider the quasi-rigid body as the limit of a sequence of deformable bodies, where each member of the sequence is identified by a material parameter such that, as this parameter tends to infinity, the body to which it refers is rigidified. Our approach is variational, i.e., we consider a sequence of minimization problems for hyperelastic bodies whose elastic strain energy is multiplied by a penalty term, say 1/ε . As ε→?0, body distortions are more and more penalized so that the sequence of the displacement fields tends to a rigid displacement field, whereas the sequence of the associated stress fields tends to a definite non-zero limit. It will be shown that among all pseudo-stress fields that satisfy the equilibrium equations for the quasi-rigid body, the unique limit of the sequence as ε→0 minimizes a functional analogous to the complementary energy functional in classical linearized elasticity. This result permits its unique determination without having to consider the whole sequence of penalty problems.     

The energy of a growing elastic surface

The potential energy of the elastic surface of an elastic body which is growing by the coherent addition of material is derived. Several equivalent expressions are presented for the energy required to add a single atom, also known as the chemical potential. The simplest involves the Eshelby stress tensors for the bulk medium and for the surface. Dual Lagrangian/Eulerian expressions are obtained which are formally similar to each other. The analysis employs two distinct types of variations to derive the governing bulk and surface equations for an accreting elastic solid. The total energy of the system is assumed to comprise bulk and surface energies, while the presence of an external medium can be taken into account through an applied surface forcing. A detailed account is given of the various formulations possible in material and current coordinates, using four types of bulk and surface stresses: the Piola-Kirchhoff stress, the Cauchy stress, the Eshelby stress and a fourth, called the nominal energy-momentum stress. It is shown that inhomogeneity surface forces arise naturally if the surface energy density is allowed to be position dependent.     

Strength certificate and the constraint equation relating stress and strain invariants for inhomogeneous rocks in bulk stress state

Mechanical models of rocks subjected to various bulk stress states are considered. The models contain the Nadai parameter, which takes into account various types of the bulk stress state, the potential energy of bulk variation, and the potential energy of variations in the shape of rock elements in the equilibrium stress-strain state. These variables permit determining the conditions under which rock massifs stay in equilibrium and the conditions under which rock can cease to be in equilibrium owing to the bulk stress state action; they also allow one to justify the physical parameters of the rock strength certificate under the bulk stress state action and determine the constraint equation relating the stress and strain invariants for inhomogeneous rocks.     

Hybrid Equilibrium Finite Elements for Wave Diffraction Problems

Hybrid equilibrium finite elements based on the direct approximation of the domain stress and boundary displacement fields are presented. The structure is divided into a far field, which is considered as an infinite super element, and a near field, which is in turn discretized into finite elements. The displacements in the domains of typical finite elements are obtained from the assumed domain stress field by using the dynamic equilibrium equations. The Helmholtz equation is satisfied in the domain of the infinite super element, and the domain stress fields are associated with elastic and compatible displacements. The resulting governing system is symmetric, sparse, and, if well done, positive. Numerical applications are presented to illustrate the performance of the formulation     

Couple stress based strain gradient theory for elasticity

The deformation behavior of materials in the micron scale has been experimentally shown to be size dependent. In the absence of stretch and dilatation gradients, the size dependence can be explained using classical couple stress theory in which the full curvature tensor is used as deformation measures in addition to the conventional strain measures. In the couple stress theory formulation, only conventional equilibrium relations of forces and moments of forces are used. The couple's association with position is arbitrary. In this paper, an additional equilibrium relation is developed to govern the behavior of the couples. The relation constrained the couple stress tensor to be symmetric, and the symmetric curvature tensor became the only properly conjugated high order strain measures in the theory to have a real contribution to the total strain energy of the system. On the basis of this modification, a linear elastic model for isotropic materials is developed. The torsion of a cylindrical bar and the pure bending of a flat plate of infinite width are analyzed to illustrate the effect of the modification.     

Configurational forces – morphology evolution and finite elements

A brief introduction into the theory of configurational forces is presented and two possible applications of the theory are discussed. The first application is microstructure evolution in two-phase materials. In an inclusion problem the driving force on the interface is interpreted in the context of configurational forces. The knowledge of the driving force allows the treatment of microstructure evolution and equilibrium morphologies. The second application deals with configurational forces in the framework of the Finite Element Method. The calculation of configurational forces induced by the numerical method is discussed.     

The plane elasticity problem of an isotropic wedge under normal and shear distributed loading––application in the case of a multi-material problem

The problem of a multi-material composite wedge under a normal and shear loading at its external faces is considered with a variable separable solution. The stress and displacement fields are determined using the equilibrium conditions for forces and moments and the appropriate Airy stress function. The infinite isotropic wedge under shear and normal distributed loading along its external faces is examined for different values of the order n of the radial coordinate r. The proposed solution is applied to the elastostatic problem of a composite isotropic k-materials infinite wedge under distributed loading along its external faces. Applications are made in the case of the two-materials composite wedge under linearly distributed loading along its external faces and in the case of a three-materials composite wedge under a parabolically distributed loading along its external faces.     

A direct approach to fiber and membrane reinforced bodies. Part II. Membrane reinforced bodies

The paper deals with membrane reinforced bodies with the membrane treated as a two-dimensional surface with concentrated material properties. The bulk response of the matrix is treated separately in two cases: (a) as a coercive nonlinear material with convex stored energy function expressed in the small strain tensor, and (b) as a no-tension material (where the coercivity assumption is not satisfied). The membrane response is assumed to be nonlinear in the surface strain tensor. For the nonlinear bulk response in Case (a), the existence of states of minimum energy is proved. Under suitable growth conditions, the equilibrium states are proved to be exactly states of minimum energy. Then, under appropriate invertibility condition of the stress function, the principle of minimum complementary energy is proved for equilibrium states. For the no-tension material in Case (b), the principle of minimum complementary energy (in the absence of the invertibility assumption) is proved. Also, a theorem is proved stating that the total energy of the system is bounded from below if and only if the loads can be equilibrated by a stress field that is statically admissible and the bulk stress is negative semidefinite. Two examples are given. In the first, we consider the elastic semi-infinite plate with attached stiffener on the boundary (Melan’s problem). In the second example, we present a stress solution for a rectangular panel with membrane occupying the main diagonal plane.     

Plane Deformations in Incompressible Nonlinear Elasticity

The substantially general class of plane deformation fields, whose only restriction requires that the angular deformation not vary radially, is considered in the context of isotropic incompressible nonlinear elasticity. Analysis to determine the types of deformations possible, that is, solutions of the governing systems of nonlinear partial differential equations and constraint of incompressibility, is developed in general. The Mooney-Rivlin material model is then considered as an example and all possible solutions to the equations of equilibrium are determined. One of these is interpreted in the context of nonradially symmetric cavitation, i.e., deformation of an intact cylinder to one with a double-cylindrical cavity. Results for general incompressible hyperelastic materials are then discussed. The novel approach taken here requires the derivation and use of a material formulation of the governing equations; the traditional approach employing a spatial formulation in which the governing equations hold on an unknown region of space is not conducive to the study of deformation fields containing more than one independent variable. The derivation of the cylindrical polar coordinate form of the equilibrium equations for the nominal stress tensor (material formulation) for a general hyperelastic solid and a fully arbitrary cylindrical deformation field is also given. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Elastic fields of line defects in a cracked body

Elastic fields are presented for line forces and dislocations in the vicinity of a crack tip and of a contained, double-ended planar crack. The fields of line force couples are also derived. The corresponding stress intensity factors are listed. The use of these results as two-dimensional Green functions for more general cases is discussed.     

Interaction of cracks with bonds between their faces in an isotropic medium reinforced by a regular system of stringers

A problem of an elastic isotropic medium with a system of foreign (transverse with respect to crack alignment) rectilinear inclusions is considered. The medium is assumed to be attenuated by a periodic system of rectilinear cracks with zones where the crack faces interact with each other. These zones are assumed to be adjacent to the crack tips, and their sizes can be commensurable with the crack size. Interaction between the crack faces in the tip zone is modeled by introducing bonds (adhesion forces) between the cracks with a specified strain diagram. The boundary-value problem of the equilibrium of a periodic system of cracks with bonds between their faces under the action of external tensile loads and forces in the bonds is reduced to a nonlinear singular integrodifferential equation with a kernel of the Cauchy kernel type. The condition of critical equilibrium of the cracks with the tip zones is formulated with allowance for the criterion of critical tension of the bonds. A case of a stress state of the medium containing zones where the crack faces interact with each other is considered.     

One case of the equilibrium of a system of radial cracks

The plane-elasticity problem of the equilibrium of a system of uniformly distributed cracks of equal length intersecting in a single point is considered. The system is located with concentrated forces applied to the tips of the wedges cut out by the cracks and acting along the bisectrices of the wedges. An analytical expression is found for the singularity coefficient of the stress field at the tip of the cracks.     

Bounding principles for two-phase flow systems

For two classes of multiphase flow problems, upper and lower bounding principles are constructed for the rate of dissipation of mechanical energy as the result of viscous forces both in the bulk fluid and in the phase interface. These principles are developed for simple classes of non-linear constitutive equations for the bulk stress tensor and for the surface stress tensor. The integral mechanical energy balance relates these bounds to quantities that are subject to direct experimental evaluation.     

Equilibrium theory for magnetic elastomers and magnetoelastic membranes

A theory for the equilibrium response of magnetoelastic membranes under pressure and applied magnetic fields is formulated on the basis of three-dimensional magnetoelasticity. A variational principle admitted by the three-dimensional theory is used to generate a model for membranes regarded as thin three-dimensional bodies. Minimum energy considerations in the presence of applied magnetic fields are used to motivate a direct theory of magnetoelastic membranes which does not require information about bulk properties. The theory is applicable to conventional elastomers magnetized through infusion with uniformly dispersed ferrous particles.     

水的汽液界面系统中势能与力的EMD模拟研究

分子间势能作用是研究分子界面行为的一个重点所在. 采用平衡态分子动力学 模拟(equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation, EMDS)方法,对由水分子 构成的汽液界面系统进行了模拟和研究. 分析统计结 果符合势能分布在液相区和气相区内存在明显落差的已知结论,并发现不同种力对分子穿越 两相区时所起的作用不同,Lennard-Jones(简写L-J)力阻碍分子凝结,而静电力则推动分子凝结并且在合力中起 主要作用. 同时,着重对发生相变行为的典型分子进行了追踪和分析,从能量的角度显 示了凝结(蒸发)相变过程对应着一个气态(液态)分子由高(低)势能位落入势阱(翻越 势垒)的能量降落(抬升)过程.     

Plane-stress crack-tip stress fields for orthotropic perfectly-plastic materials

Under the hypothesis that the stress components of crack-tip fields are only thefunctions ofθ,the differential equations of plane-stress crack-tip stress fields fororthotropic perfectly-plastic materials are obtained by using Hill’s yield condition andequilibrium equations.By combining the general analytical expression with the numericalmethod the crack-tip stress fields for orthotropic perfectly-plastic materials for plane stressare presented.