Measurement of viscoelastic properties for polymers by nanoindentation

A new method has been proposed and verified to measure the viscoelastic properties of polymers by nanoindentation tests. With the mechanical response of load–displacement curves at different loading rates, the parameters of creep compliance and relaxation modulus are calculated through the viscoelastic contact model. Dynamic thermomechanical analysis (DMA) tests are conducted to compare the results by the proposed technique. The results show that the correlation coefficients between DMA tests and the new method are above 0.9 in the entire range, which verified the feasibility of the method. The loading curves fitted by the model are identical to the experimental curves within the discrete points and so it shows that this technique is more suitable for general linear viscoelastic materials. Numerical creep tests are carried out to examine the effectiveness of the proposed method by input the Prony series calculated by the three-element Maxwell model and the viscoelastic contact model. The good agreement shows that the proposed technique can be applied in practice.     

A finite element method based comparative fracture assessment of carbon black and silica filled elastomers: Reinforcing efficacy of carbonaceous fillers in flexible composites

This study is focused on numerical investigation on fracture behaviors of carbon black (CB) and silica filled elastomeric composites. Finite element analysis (FEA) in compliance with multi-specimen method is used to calculate J-integral and geometry factor of the rubber composites up to a displacement of 20 mm for single edge notch in tension (SENT) and double edge notch in tension (DENT) specimens. An empirical relationship between crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and crack advancement is established depending on notch to width ratio (NWR). The stress contours across the notches for SENT and DENT specimens is discussed briefly. It is found that fracture propagation resistance of CB filled elastomer is 125% more than that of silica filled elastomer. Although, Silica filled elastomer have good tensile strength and crosslink density but it fails to replace carbon black in terms of fracture properties. The critical J-integral for CB filled elastomer is 18.7% and 32.2% more than silica filled elastomer for SENT and DENT specimens respectively. The effect of specimen type on various fracture properties is also explored. The factor of safety is found to be significantly more in case of CB filled elastomers making them less vulnerable to crack propagation and catastrophic failure.     

Design of interdigital transducers for crack detection in plates

Interdigital transducers (IDT) for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of cracks in plates are designed based on an analytical model established previously. Key considerations include mode selectivity, excitation strength, collimation of wave and cost. The advantage of mode selectivity of IDT over PZT patch is presented both analytically and experimentally. Effects of parameters, namely finger spacing, width, length, number of fingers, and the size of IDT, on the excitation strength and mode selectivity are considered. This led to the design of a mobile double-sided IDT as an efficient device where excitation strength is strong and focused. The device was fabricated in-house using commercially available piezoelectric ceramics and used to develop a procedure for accurate identification of the direction and extent of cracks in plates. Three aluminum plates, one with a linear deep crack, another with a piecewise linear shallower crack and the third with a curved crack, were used to illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of both the proposed device and procedure for effective NDE.     

The influence of surface geometry and topography on the fatigue cracking behaviour of laser hybrid welded eccentric fillet joints

Laser hybrid welding of an eccentric fillet joint causes a complex geometry for fatigue load by 4-point bending. The weld surface geometry and topography were measured and studied in order to understand the crack initiation mechanisms. The crack initiation location and the crack propagation path were studied and compared to Finite Element stress analysis, taking into account the surface macro- and micro-geometry. It can be explained why the root and the upper weld toe are uncritical for cracking. The cracks that initiate from the weld bead show higher fatigue strength than the samples failing at the lower weld toe, as can be explained by a critical radius for the toe below which surface ripples instead determine the main stress raiser location for cracking. The location of maximum surface stress is related to a combination of throat depth, toe radius and sharp surface ripples along which the cracks preferably propagate.     

Behavior of a PZT ring under non-uniform mechanical stress

Ring-shaped lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric vibrators were subjected to non-uniform mechanical stress applied by bolt clamping. The effect of mechanical stress on the effective electromechanical coupling factor (k_eff) and mechanical quality factor (Q_m) of the thickness and wall thickness modes was studied by an equivalent electric circuit analysis. The initiation and propagation of cracks under mechanical stress were also discussed based on the resonance method and the indentation technique. k_eff for both the thickness and wall thickness modes decreased with increase in mechanical stress due to de-poling of the PZT. Q_m of the thickness mode dropped sharply with increase in mechanical stress while Q_m of the wall thickness mode remained almost unchange. Existence of microcracks in a PZT vibrator can be detected by the occurrence of spurious vibrations at the wall thickness mode in the electrical impedance vs. frequency spectra.     

Dynamic rotational characteristics of actinides on empirical approach

In the paper calculation of the moments of inertia for nuclei from the region 87 ≤ Z ≤ 100 and 130 ≤ N ≤ 156 was made in dependence on the angular momentum of their rotational states. The experimental values of the moments of inertia were calculated for rotational energy of the classic rotor in its quantum form, with the use of a simple formula. The moment of inertia term appearing in the formula was treated as a variable. The calculations were carried out on the basis of experimental data for the energies of the rotational levels for 51 bands built on ground states for even-even nuclei and for nuclei with odd mass number A. In addition, 30 rotational bands built on excited states were also analysed in the investigated region in case of even-even nuclei. For many bands and nuclei the considered dependence of the moment of inertia on angular momentum has been found in the analytical form by fitting polynomials to the experimental data. It turned out that obtained results for the moments of inertia made it possible to describe the energies of rotational levels with a relative deviation not greater or only slightly greater than 1%. In general, in the case of 12 bands of ground level the maximum relative deviation of obtained level energies is smaller than 1%.      

Relationship between refined Griffith criterion and power laws for cracking

Rice [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 26 (1978) 61] proposes a refined Griffith criterion, at any local crack front, where G is the Irwin's energy release rate, γ is the surface free energy and is the rate of crack advance. The refined version implies that the entropy production inequality should holds locally rather than globally from the thermodynamic point of view. Within the irreversible thermodynamic framework developed by Rice [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 19 (1971) 433; Constitutive Equations in Plasticity, 1975, p. 23], it is revealed in this paper that the entropy production inequality holds for each internal variable if its rate is a homogeneous function in its conjugate force. It is further shown that widely-used power laws for crack growth are just certain homogeneous kinetic rate laws, so it is concluded that the power laws directly lead to the refined Griffith criterion.     

A heuristic approach to microcracking and fracture for ceramics with statistical consideration

Microcracking damage and toughening are examined for ceramics. These effects have been found to depend on the material microstructure and macrocrack growth. Isotropic damage, attributed to random distribution of microcrack location, length and orientation can be associated with a disordered microstructure and a non-uniform residual stress field. When the applied stress is the main cause of cracking, the microcrack distribution is no longer random such as a system of quasi-parallel cracks. To highlight the effect of crack interaction, discrete models are advanced where damage is simulated by a distribution of microcracks. The dilute concentration assumption is invoked to simplify the analysis.The two-dimensional discrete model is based on a phenomenological approach that is statistical in character. Interactions of microcracks and with a macrocrack are considered by means of a boundary element technique (A. Brencich, A. Carpinteri, Int. J. Fracture 76 (1996) 373–389; A. Brencich, A. Carpinteri, Eng. Fract. Mech. 59 (1998) 797–814) where both isotropic and anisotropic damage could be treated. Comparisons with other results are made to show that the model can be applied to analyse the fracture behaviour of different materials.     

Closed-form solutions for a mode III radial matrix crack penetrating a circular inhomogeneity

In this research we address in detail a mode III radial matrix crack penetrating a circular inhomogeneity. One tip of the radial crack lies in the matrix, while the other tip of the radial crack lies in the circular inhomogeneity. In addition the two tips of the crack are mutually image points (or inverse points) with respect to the circular inhomogeneity-matrix interface. First we conformally map the crack onto a unit circle C_a in the new ζ-plane. Meanwhile the inhomogeneity-matrix interface is mapped onto C_b, a part of another circle in the ζ-plane. In addition C_a and C_b intersect at a vertex angle π/2. By using the method of image in the ζ-plane, closed-form solutions in terms of elementary functions are derived for three loading cases: (1) remote uniform antiplane shearing; (2) a screw dislocation located in the unbounded matrix; and (3) a radial Zener–Stroh crack.