Experimental and statistical assessments of the mechanical strength reliability of gamma alumina catalyst supports

The mechanical strength of solid catalysts is considered an important factor in terms of ensuring the reliable performance of industrial reactors. In this work, a pelletizing method was used to form gamma alumina support for catalysts. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to analyze and model the effects of various manufacturing parameters on the crushing strength of the supports. These parameters were binder concentration, compaction pressure, calcination temperature, and drying mode. The suggested model was verified by applying an analysis of variance to assess its validity with regard to crushing strength. The mechanical reliability of various supports was also determined by calculating their Weibull modulus values through linear regression of the Weibull equation. The material with the highest mechanical strength reliability will have both a high mean crushing strength and a high Weibull modulus, and the best values obtained for a support in this work were 70.7 MPa and 6.63, respectively. The conditions used to form this sample were: 20 mass% binder concentration, 861 MPa compaction pressure, 466 °C calcination temperature, and gentle drying.     

结构系统静强度与断裂的综合可靠性分析

基于疲劳载荷作用下裂纹扩展的随机性,建立了结构系统综合考虑静强度和断裂的可靠性分析方法,该方法给出了元件静强度失效时所对应的当量寿命,并建立了元件综合失效判别准则,分析了元件静强度失效和断裂失效之间的相关性.算例表明,随使用年限的增加,元件静强度失效和断裂失效之间的相关性也在增加;在不同的使用年限内,结构系统主要失效路径是不同的,并且在结构系统主要失效路径中既有元件静强度失效又有元件断裂失效;若只考虑静强度或断裂的结构可靠性分析,分析结果偏于危险.     

The mechanical strength of polysilicon films: Part 2. Size effects associated with elliptical and circular perforations

A systematic study of failure initiation in small-scale specimens has been performed to assess the effect of size scale on “failure properties” by drawing on the classical analysis of elliptically perforated specimens. Limitations imposed by photolithography restricted the minimum radii of curvature of the specimen perforations to one micron. By varying the radius of curvature and the size of the ellipses, the effects of domain size and stress concentration amplitude could be assessed separately to the point where the size of individual grains becomes important. The measurements demonstrate a strong influence of the domain size under elevated stress on the “failure strength” of MEMS scale specimens, while the amplitude, or the variation, of the stress concentration factor is less significant. In agreement with probabilistic considerations of failure, the “local failure strength” at the root of a notch clearly increases as the radius of curvature becomes smaller. Accordingly, the statistical scatter also increases with decreasing size of the (super)stressed domain. When the notch radius becomes as small as the failure stress increases on average by a factor of two relative to the tension values derived from unnotched specimens. This effect becomes moderate for larger radii of curvature, up to a radius of (25 times the grain size), for which the failure stress at the notch tip closely approaches the value of the tensile strength for un-notched tensile configurations. We deduce that standard tests, performed on micron-sized, non-perforated, tension specimens, provide conservative strength values for design purposes. In addition, a Weibull analysis shows for surface-micromachined specimens a dependence of the strength on the specimen length, rather than the surface area or volume, which implies that the sidewall geometry, dimensions and surface conditions can dominate the failure process.     

杆系结构静强度和疲劳失效机理及可靠性分析

根据疲劳载荷造成的疲劳累积损伤对结构极限承载力的影响情况,讨论了结构系统承载能力的可靠度计算方法,分析了结构系统中每一个单元在静载和疲劳载荷作用下的两种失效模式,并考虑了二者之间的相关性对该单元可靠性的影响,具体分析了结构系统在这两种载荷作用下的失效机理,给出了在这两种载荷作用下结构系统的可靠性分析方法. 算例表明,在不同的使用年限内,静载和疲劳载荷对结构系统可靠性的影响是不同的;在结构系统主要失效路径中既有单元静强度失效又有单元疲劳失效,这是符合结构系统使用真实情况的.     

Scaling laws of nanoporous gold under uniaxial compression: Effects of structural disorder on the solid fraction,elastic Poisson's ratio,Young's modulus and yield strength

In this work the relationship between the structural disorder and the macroscopic mechanical behavior of nanoporous gold under uniaxial compression was investigated, using the finite element method. A recently proposed model based on a microstructure consisting of four-coordinated spherical nodes interconnected by cylindrical struts, whose node positions are randomly displaced from the lattice points of a diamond cubic lattice, was extended. This was done by including the increased density as result of the introduced structural disorder. Scaling equations for the elastic Poisson's ratio, the Young's modulus and the yield strength were determined as functions of the structural disorder and the solid fraction. The extended model was applied to identify the elastic–plastic behavior of the solid phase of nanoporous gold. It was found, that the elastic Poisson's ratio provides a robust basis for the calibration of the structural disorder. Based on this approach, a systematic study of the size effect on the yield strength was performed and the results were compared to experimental data provided in literature. An excellent agreement with recently published results for polymer infiltrated samples of nanoporous gold with varying ligament size was found.