Experiments and numerical simulations of new biaxially loaded specimens to characterize the behavior of thin metal sheets

The paper deals with the development of new biaxially loaded specimens to study the damage behavior of ductile metals under different loading conditions. Based on numerical simulations newly designed biaxial specimens are developed and numerically studied while an experimental program has been realized in continuation. The experimental results have been evaluated by digital image correlation (DIC) and compared with the results of finite element simulations. By concideration of different biaxial loading conditions it is possible to cover a wide range of stress triaxialities and Lode parameters in tension, shear and compression domains and consequently the newly proposed specimens facilitate a controlled study of damage and fracture at different stress states. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A study of the vestigial records of cosmic rays in lunar rocks using a thick section technique

An experimental technique has been developed for systematic measurements of fossil tracks along selected planes cut from grains and rocks. With controlled etching, the technique allows successive revelation of tracks in different minerals in the same section, a typical sequence being olivine, anorthite, clinopyroxene. It thus becomes possible to study precisely the cosmic ray track density variations over dimensions much greater than those of individual crystals. The technique also provides accurate information on the relative recording characteristics of different minerals present in a rock and cosmic ray tracks can be studied with a minimum interference of tracks due to spontaneous fission of uranium and transuranic elements. Continuous chains of sections, each section measuring approximately 1 cm., have been cut along several different planes in fifteen rocks from Mare Tranquillitatis, Oceanus Procellarum and Fra Mauro region. The cosmic ray track measurements from these sections have provided dramatic evidence for a number of processes affecting lunar rocks. The statistical, and non-uniform nature of erosion by micrometeorite bombardment can be seen in sections intersecting exposed surface which show regions of very steep track density gradients interspersed with eroded regions having lower track densities. The thick section technique permits determination of the energy spectrum of VH nuclei from track density gradients that extend over distances limited only by the dimensions of the rock, and, more important, in samples of identical orientation. The latter is particularly important in higher energy regions (deeper within the rock) where variations in crystal orientation cause track density differences of the same order as real changes in the gradient. Also in the near surface regions of rocks where low energy particles produce steep track density gradient, the thick section method has proved indispensable since it permits accurate depth determinations not possible in the spot sampling procedure. In this paper the technique of studying track profiles in thick sections is described. Although developed primarily for studying lunar samples, the thick section technique is also useful for similar studies in meteorites, particularly for gas-rich meteorites containing irradiated grains. In contrast to single grain studies, thick sections preserve the grain boundaries and permit accurate depth—density measurements. In addition thick section studies have revealed occasional large uniformly irradiated lithic fragments which would not have been possible to discover by spot sampling methods.     

New damage evolution model of rock material

As a kind of natural engineering material with original defects, there are distinctly nonlinear and anisotropic mechanical behaviors for rock materials. Nevertheless, the rock damage mechanics can solve this problem well. However, for the complexity of mechanical property of rock material, the mature and applicable model to describe the rock failure process and the method to determine the maximum damage value have not been established very well. To solve this problem, one new damage evolution model for rock material has been proposed. In this model, the least energy consumption principle proposed to describe the fracture process of materials is used. Using the experimental data of granite sample under uniaxial compression and the results of numerical tests under uniaxial tension and uniaxial compression, this model is verified. Moreover, the results of the new model have been compared with the results of the tests (numerical test and real test) and the traditional damage model. The comparison shows that the new model has the higher accuracy and better reflects for the fracture process of the granite sample. Moreover, the released damage energies of the new model and Mazars model are different, and the released damage energy of the new model is slightly less than that of the Mazars model.     

Analysis of Guided Lamb Wave Propagation (GW) in Honeycomb Sandwich Panels

The paper aims to introduce the guided lamb wave propagation (GW) in a honeycomb sandwich panels to be used in the health monitoring applications. Honeycomb sandwich panels are well-known as lightweight structures with a good stiffness behavior and a wide range of applications in different industries. Due to the complex geometry and complicated boundary conditions in such a structure, the development of analytical solutions for describing the wave propagation and the interaction of waves with damages is hardly possible. Therefore dimensional finite element simulations have been used to model GW for different frequency ranges and different sandwich panels with different geometrical properties. The waves, which are highly dispersive, have been excited by thin piezoelectric patches attached to the surface of the structure. In the first step, the honeycomb panel has been simplified as an orthotropic layered continuum medium. The required material data have been calculated by applying a numerical homogenization method for the honeycomb core layer. The wave propagation has been compared in the homogenized model with the real geometry of a honeycomb sandwich panel. Such calculations of high frequency ultrasonic waves are costly, both in creating a proper finite element model as well as in the required calculation time. In this paper the influence of changes in the geometry of the sandwich panel on the wave propagation is presented. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Simulation of Two-Phase Steels based on Statistically Similar Representative Volume Elements

An increasing number of engineering structures in the fields of light weight constructions or automotive applications makes use of advanced high-strength steels. To optimize the overall mechanical behavior computer simulations taking into account the micro-heterogeneity of these materials have been becoming the major tool. Direct micro-macro-transition procedures, also known as the FE²-method, provide a suitable numerical framework. The main problem of these methods applied to large random microstructures turns out to be the high computational cost with respect to both, the amount of memory and the computation time. In this context the definition of a representative volume element (RVE) plays an important role. Therefore, we focus on the construction of statistically similar RVEs (SSRVEs), which are characterized by a much less complexity than usual random RVEs and which represent still the mechanical response of the real material. For the construction of these SSRVEs we select several statistical measures of the microstructure of a two-phase steel and assume them to be as similar as possible to the ones computed for the SSRVE. These measures are included in a least-square functional, which has to be minimized. The accuracy of this method is presented by some representative numerical simulations, where the response of the real microstructure of the considered two-phase steel and the SSRVEs is compared to each other. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Modelling and Simulation of Degassing Process

This work deals with the modelling and simulation of a degassing process mainly used for extruders in polymer industry. The numerical simulations are done with finite-volume method using OpenFOAM for a 2D single screw extruder. The material parameters have been all chosen for a PDMS-Pentane polymer mixture so that the results could be compared with the available experiments already performed for this mixture [1]. In addition to experiments, the numerical results will be compared with an analytical solution derived from Danckwerts' model [2][3]. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Deep drawing of a layered composite: material characterization and finite-element simulation

Composite materials are widely used in different industrial fields, because of their good formability and their high strength to weight ratio. In the present work a triple-layered sandwich composite is investigated. Experimental tests at room temperature are carried out for the materials constituting the composite. A finite element model of a deep-drawing process of the composite is performed, where a finite strain constitutive model for the metal part, with material parameters calibrated to uniaxial tensile tests, has been implemented. Experimental results are compared to the numerical simulations in view of validation purposes. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Modelling of composite plates including damage

The paper is concerned with the modelling and numerical simulation of fibre-composite plates in the nonlinear range due to large strains and damage. The layer-wise approach is applied. Each layer is treated as elastic-brittle and assumed to be orthotropic in the local material coordinate system. The appearance of damage is controlled according to the failure criteria [1,2,3,4]. When the failure condition is satisfied, the mechanical properties of the material are modified appropriately, depending on the type of damage (fibre breakage, matrix crack, fibre-matrix shear). We have programmed the model as a user subroutine within the ABAQUS environment and carried out a number of numerical simulations. The obtained numerical results are compared with the experimental data available in the literature [3]. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Application and evaluation of hyper- and hypoelastic-based plasticity models in the FE simulation of metal forming processes

Metal forming processes are usually accompanied by large plastic strains and rotations of the material elements which emphasizes the need for reliable finite strain elastoplasticity models in corresponding FE simulations. In this work, two specific finite strain hyper- and hypoelastic-based plasticity models with combined nonlinear isotropic and kinematic hardening are presented and compared in numerical FE simulations. Although both models led to remarkably different results in a shear-dominated single element deformation test, the structural simulation of a standard deep drawing process delivered nearly congruent results which suggests that both models are equally well-suited for modeling metals in common forming processes. (© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A material model of nonlinear fractional viscoelasticity

Multiscale methods are frequently used in the design process of textile reinforced composites. In addition to the models for the local material structure it is necessary to formulate appropriate material models for the constituents. While experiments have shown that the reinforcing fibers can be assumed as linear elastic, the material behavior of the polymer matrix shows certain nonlinearities. These effects are mainly due to strain rate dependent material behavior. Fractional order models have been found to be appropriate to model this behavior. Based on experimental observations of Polypropylene a one-dimensional nonlinear fractional viscoelastic material model has been formulated. Its parameters can be determined from uniaxial, monotonic tensile tests at different strain rates, relaxation experiments and deformation controlled processes with intermediate holding times at different load levels. The presence of a process dependent function for the viscosity leads to constitutive equations which form nonlinear fractional differential equations. Since no analytical solution can be derived for these equations, a numerical handling has been developed. After all, the stress-strain curves obtained from a numerical analysis are compared to experimental results. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A one shot method for divertor target shape optimization

Shape optimization methods, as commonly applied in aerodynamic design applications, have recently been adapted for use in nuclear fusion divertor target design. The resulting algorithms are very efficient compared to the standard use of numerical edge plasma simulations as analysis tools only. In this paper, we highlight some numerical aspects of the underlying algorithm, focusing on a correct, nine-point discretization of the fluxes and the need for an adjoint pressure correction equation. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

基于PCA-GA-SVM的火成岩分类方法研究

在地质科学中,正确的岩石分类有助于研究岩石的成因、形成条件、演化过程和工程设计等.由于地质条件的多样性、变异性及复杂性,人们很难对岩石样本进行准确的分类.通过主成分分析法(PCA)从影响火成岩分类的众多氧化物评价指标中提取出主成分,用遗传算法(GA)优化支持向量机参数,并采用支持向量机方法(SVM)对实际火成岩公开数据进行训练,建立了火成岩岩石分类的PCA-GA-SVM模型,同时结合火成岩实际数据将预测结果和基于Levenberg-Marquardt算法改进的BP神经网络模型(LM-BP)的预测结果做了比较.结果表明:基于PCA-GA-SVM模型得到的火成岩分类预测结果精度较LM-BP神经网络有很大的提高,与实际分类相符,有广泛的应用前景.     

Micro‐ and nanoscale modelling of dry friction with application to the wheel/rail contact

Friction is a phenomenon involving elastic interactions, plastic deformation and failure processes at different length scales. A model of dry friction is established based on the method of Movable Cellular Automata (MCA). The influence of material and loading parameters has been investigated within a large number of numerical simulations. The new friction law is applied to the calculation of stresses, deformations and tractive forces in wheel/rail contact with rough surfaces. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Analysis of Calving Events in Antarctic Ice Shelves Using Configurational Forces

Previous studies on the sensitivity of cracks in ice shelves with different boundary conditions, stress states and density profiles revealed the need for further analyses. As the transfer of boundary conditions from dynamic ice flow simulations to the linear elastic fracture analyses proved to be a critical point in previous studies, a new approach to relate viscous and elastic material behaviour is proposed. The numerical simulations are conducted using Finite Elements utilizing the concept of configurational forces. To show the applicability of the approach, a 2-dimensional plane stress geometry with volume loads due to the ice shelf flow is analyzed. The resulting crack path is compared to available crack paths from satellite images. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Simulation Based Determination of Piezoelectric Material Parameters

The exact numerical simulation of piezoelectric transducers needs the knowledge of all material tensors that occur in the piezoelectric constitutive relations. The determination of these tensors is achieved by a simulation based algorithm which adjusts the 3D - FEM simulated data with electrical measurements of a piezoelectric transducer. Its advantage compared to the standards (see [1], [2]) lies in the fact that a determination of the complete set of material parameters from one arbitrarily shaped specimen with a high precision is possible. The reconstruction of the material tensors is formulated as a parameter identification problem for a system of PDEs. Since unique solvability of this inverse problem may hardly be verified, the system of equations we have to solve for recovering the material tensor entries can be rank deficient and therefore requires application of appropriate regularization strategies. For this purpose, we use inexact Newton methods. The material parameters are assumed to be complex-valued which allows to account for mechanical, dielectric and piezoelectric losses. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Numerical analysis for phase field simulations of moving interfaces with topological changes

Phase field methods are a widely accepted tool for the approximation of moving free interfaces in sharp interface problems. Topological changes in the solution, such as nucleation or vanishing of particles or merging or pinching of interfaces, lead to singularities in the free boundary. In the sharp interface model, these singularities cause both numerical and theoretical problems, whereas they are handled “automatically” in phase field simulations. Phase field models contain a length scale ε > 0 that vanishes in the sharp interface limit. Therefore, when ε → 0, practical numerical methods have to be robust in the sense that error estimates may only depend polynomially on ε^-1, not exponentially. We show that robust error control is possible past the occurrence of topological changes and without restrictive assumptions on the initial data. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A ternary phase bi-scale FE-model for diffusion-driven dendritic alloy solidification processes

It is of high interest to describe alloy solidification processes with numerical simulations. In order to predict the material behavior as precisely as possible, a ternary phase, bi-scale numerical model will be presented. This paper is based on a coupled thermo-mechanical, two-phase, two-scale finite element model developed by Moj et al. [2], where the theory of porous media (TPM) [1] has been used. Finite plasticity extended by secondary power-law creep is utilized to describe the solid phase and linear visco-elasticity with Darcy's law of permeability for the liquid phase, respectively. Here, the microscopic, temperature-driven phase transition approach is replaced by the diffusion-driven 0D model according to Wang and Beckermann [3]. The decisive material properties during solidification are captured by phenomenological formulations for dendritic growth and solute diffusion processes. A columnar as well as an equiaxial solidification example will be shown to demonstrate the principal performance of the presented model. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Experimental validation of a viscoelastic material model for numerical simulation of the extrusion process of rubber blends

The goal of this contribution is the validation of a viscoelastic material model, which allows consideration of the interaction of the typical swelling behavior of viscoelastic fluids and the shear rate dependent viscosity of industrial used rubber blends in the context of an extrusion process. With this knowledge more realistic numerical simulations of the die swell phenomenon and its influence on the resulting profile geometry are possible. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Experiments and Identifications for Finite Polymer Inelasticity

The constitutive theories intended to quantitatively account for the complicated material response exhibited by polymers include, in general, adjustable material parameters. These must be identified from experimental data obtained from the material under consideration. This contribution presents the complete procedure studying the behavior of polymers at large strains in three basic steps: i) Accomplishment of homogeneous and 3-D inhomogeneous experiments under different deformation conditions. ii) Identification of the material parameters of a constitutive model by means of gradient–based optimization methods with respect to the homogeneous experimental data. iii) Validation of the identified material parameters by comparing 3-D FE simulations to the inhomogeneous experimental data. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Multiscale Modelling of the Effective Viscoplastic Material Behaviour of Textile-Reinforced Polymers Using XFEM

In this contribution a modelling approach using numerical homogenisation techniques is applied to predict the effective nonlinear material behaviour of composites from simulations of a representative volume element (RVE). Numerical models of the heterogeneous material structure in the RVE are generated using the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) which allows for a regular mesh. Suitable constitutive relations account for the material behaviour of the constituents. The influence of the nonlinear matrix material behaviour on the composite is studied in a physically nonlinear FE simulation of the local material behaviour in the RVE ­ effective stress-strain curves are computed and compared to experimental observations. The approach is currently augmented by a damage model for the fibre bundle. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)