Configurational forces on material defects

In micromechanical applications, the behaviour of material defects has been a great subject of interest. In this paper, the idea of Eshelby's energy momentum tensor is briefly reconsidered with respect to problems in solid mechanics. The derived configurational force balance is used to obtain the thermodynamic driving forces acting on centers of dilatation, dislocations, crack tips and interfaces of misfitting precipitates.     

Quantum: Einstein,Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality,by Manjit Kumar

The history of absolute measurements of gravity is mentioned and the reasons for making absolute measurements are indicated. The principles and main advantages and difficulties of the main method—reversible pendulum, free fall, symmetrical free motion—are discussed and examples of each method are described. Problems of comparison of different determinations and of estimating systematic errors are considered.     

A limit surface formulation for plastically compressible polymers

The tightening of industrial safety standards for structures generates a need for refined computational methods, which, among other things, must be able to describe the yield surface and the deformation behaviour of non-reinforced thermoplastics. To describe the plastic behaviour of materials, a potential formulation is suggested. This formulation contains a number of known potentials as special cases. The parameters of the model, which are obtained from test data, are restricted by the convexity condition for the potential. The new model allows one to take into account effects of the second order, for instance, the unequal behaviour under tension and compression, the plastic compressibility, and the Poynting-Swift effect. For each particular choice of the parameters, the Poisson ratio in tension is computed. If the restrictions imposed on the Poisson ratio do not hold, the application of a non-associated flow rule is necessary. A simple non-associated flow rule with different values of Poisson ratio intension and compression is proposed. Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 367–384, May–June, 2007.     

A constitutive model for thermoplastic materials subjected to high strain rates

Reliable prediction of the behaviour of structures made from polymers is a topic under considerable investigation in engineering practice. Especially, if the structure is subjected to dynamic loading, constitutive models considering the mechanical behaviour properly are not available in commercial finite element codes yet. A constitutive model is derived including important phenomena like necking, strain rate dependency, unloading behaviour and damage. In particular, different yield surfaces in compression and tension and strain rate dependent failure, the latter with damage induced erosion, is taken into account. With the present formulation, standard verification tests can be simulated successfully. Also, an elastic damage model can be used to approximate the unloading behaviour of thermoplastics adequately. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Polyphenolic compounds with biological activity in guabiroba fruits (Campomanesia xanthocarpa Berg.) by comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography

This study aimed to evaluate the polyphenolic composition along with the biological activity of guabiroba (Campomanesia xanthocarpa Berg.) fruits using comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LC × LC). A simplex centroid design comprising three solvents (methanol, 2% acetic acid, and acetonitrile) was used to optimize the extraction mixture for polyphenols from ripe and unripe guabiroba fruits. A quantitative LC × LC platform was proposed to characterize the guabiroba extracts using a RP-Amide column and a C18 column in the first and second dimensions, respectively. Antidiabetic properties, using in vitro enzyme assay models and in vivo antioxidant activity with the eukaryote model Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was measured. Total phenolics compounds were more efficiently extracted with 2% acetic acid solution and acetonitrile (50:50, v/v). A total of 37 different compounds were identified and quantified using the proposed LC × LC method (linearity ranging from 0.9990 to 0.9994, intra- and interday precision from 0.40 to 10.57% and, accuracy from 81.89 to 108.98%). Significant differences were observed between ripe and unripe guabiroba fruits, especially for the compounds geraldone and methyl galangin isomer. Guabiroba fruits showed significant antidiabetic and antioxidant properties and may be potentially adopted as part of dietary strategies in the management of early stages of type 2 diabetes and associated complications.