On the dynamic electromechanical loading of dielectric elastomer membranes

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) have received considerable attention recently due to large voltage-induced strains, which can be over 100%. Previously, a large deformation quasi-static model that describes the out-of-plane deformations of clamped diaphragms was derived. The numerical model results compare well with quasi-static experimental results for the same configuration. With relevance to dynamic applications, the time-varying response of initially planar dielectric elastomer membranes configured for out-of-plane deformations has not been reported until now. In this paper, an experimental investigation and analysis of the dynamic response of a dielectric elastomer membrane is reported. The experiments were conducted with prestretched DEAs fabricated from 0.5 mm thick polyacrylate films and carbon grease electrodes. The experiments covered the electromechanical spectrum by investigating membrane response due to (i) a time-varying voltage input and (ii) a time-varying pressure input, resulting in a combined electromechanical loading state in both cases. For the time-varying voltage experiments, the membrane had a prestretch of three and was passively inflated to various predetermined states, and then actuated. The pole strains incurred during the inflation were as high as 25.6%, corresponding to slightly less than a hemispherical state. On actuation, the membrane would inflate further, causing a maximum additional strain of 9.5%. For the time-varying pressure experiments, the prestretched membrane was inflated and deflated mechanically while a constant voltage was applied. The membrane was cycled between various predetermined inflation states, the largest of which was nearly hemispherical, which with an applied constant voltage of 3 kV corresponded to a maximum polar strain of 28%. The results from these experiments reveal that the response of the membrane is a departure from the classical dynamic response of continuum membrane structures. The dynamic response of the membrane is that of a damped system with specific deformation shapes reminiscent of the classical membrane mode shapes but without same-phase oscillation, that is to say all parts of the system do not pass through the equilibrium configuration at the same time. Of particular interest is the ability to excite these deformations through a varying electrical load at constant mechanical pressure.     

Fatigue Loading and Life Prediction in Three Fretting Fatigue Fixtures

Three fixtures for conducting laboratory fretting fatigue tests are described and their respective testing methods and the results of the analysis are compared. Each of these fixtures has been used to investigate the effects of various parameters of interest in fretting fatigue. These fixtures include a unique apparatus in which all load applied to the specimen is transferred to the fretting pads, an apparatus similar to many found in the literature where partial load transfer occurs across the pads, and a simplified dovetail fixture in which the clamping load, P, and the shear load, Q, are varied in phase. Select test conditions from prior experiments performed on identical material and resulting in similar lives ranging from one to ten million cycles from these fixtures are identified. The various testing conditions were used to compute the unique stress field for each case. The resulting contact stresses were used to calculate crack initiation based criteria, and to calculate stress intensity factors. The three fixtures were shown to be able to accommodate a range of loads, fretting pad contours, and specimen geometries that produced a variety of stress fields. A crack-initiation-based criterion was shown to predict the failure lives of thinner specimens accurately. The stress intensity factor calculations showed the possibility of a crack arresting for a stress field that decays rapidly and the possibility of a local minimum for K as a function of depth. The fixtures are shown to be complementary in generating data for development of robust fretting fatigue models that use these criteria.     

Axisymmetric frictionless contact of functionally graded materials

The main interest of this study is a new method to solve the axisymmetric frictionless contact problem of functionally graded materials (FGMs). Based on the fact that an arbitrary curve can be approached by a series of continuous but piecewise linear curves, the FGM is divided into a series of sub-layers with shear modulus varying linearly in each sub-layer and continuous at the sub-interfaces. With this model, the axisymmetric frictionless contact problem of a functionally graded coated half-space is investigated. By using the transfer matrix method and Hankel integral transform technique, the problem is reduced to a Cauchy singular integral equation. The contact pressure, contact region and indentation are calculated for various indenters by solving the equations numerically. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Synthesis and optical properties of tetraphenylmethane-based tetrahedral fluorescent compounds and their water-soluble PEG-linked polymers

The synthesis and optical properties of tetrahedral fluorescent compounds comprising of tetraphenylmethane as the core and oligothiophenes as the chromophoric arms, and their water-soluble poly(ethylene glycol)-linked polymers are reported.     

Path Integrals in Noncommutative Quantum Mechanics

We consider an extension of the Feynman path integral to the quantum mechanics of noncommuting spatial coordinates and formulate the corresponding formalism for noncommutative classical dynamics related to quadratic Lagrangians (Hamiltonians). The basis of our approach is that a quantum mechanical system with a noncommutative configuration space can be regarded as another effective system with commuting spatial coordinates. Because the path integral for quadratic Lagrangians is exactly solvable and a general formula for the probability amplitude exists, we restrict our research to this class of Lagrangians. We find a general relation between quadratic Lagrangians in their commutative and noncommutative regimes and present the corresponding noncommutative path integral. This method is illustrated with two quantum mechanical systems in the noncommutative plane: a particle in a constant field and a harmonic oscillator.     

On Publications on the Brittle Fracture Mechanics of Prestressed Materials

The paper analyzes new publications on the brittle fracture mechanics of prestressed materials. It is found out that new scientific results published in the International Journal of Solids and Structures in 2002 are a particular case of the results obtained at the Institute of Mechanics 20 years ago     

非保守力和非完整约束对Hamilton系统Lie对称性的影响

研究非保守力和非完整约束对Hamilton系统的Lie对称性和守恒量的影响.分别研究了Hamilt on系统受到非保守力和非完整约束作用时，系统的Lie对称性保持不变的条件，同时给出了 系统的结构方程和守恒量保持不变的条件.以著名的Emden方程和Appell-Hamel模型为例进行 了分析讨论. 关键词： 分析力学 Hamilton系统 非保守力 非完整约束 对称性 守恒量     

A Reality Proof in PT-Symmetric Quantum Mechanics

We review the proof of a conjecture concerning the reality of the spectra of certain PT-symmetric quantum mechanical systems, obtained via a connection between the theories of ordinary differential equations and integrable models. Spectral equivalences inspired by the correspondence are also discussed.     

Classical Limit of Expectation Values in a Wave Packet Involving Few Stationary States

Expectation values of physical quantities in a wave packet involving few stationary states in an infinite square well are calculated. Explicit results show that the expectation values in the classical limit go over to the corresponding classical quantity in the form of the arithmetic mean (in mathematical term, the Fejér's average) of the partial Fourier series converging to the classical quantity. The number of the stationary states is that of the partial Fourer series in the Fejér's average. The quantum uncertainty is then demonstrated to have a classical counterpart.     

转动系统的相对论性分析力学理论

本文讨论了转动相对论力学理论，主要是建立转动系统的相对论性分析力学理论·构造转动系统的相对论性广义动能函数Ｔｒ＝∑ｎｉ＝１Ｉ０ｉΓｉ２（１－１－θ·２ｉ／Γｉ２）和广义加速度能量函数Ｓｒ＝１２∑ｎｉ＝１Ｉｉ（θ·ｉ·θ¨ｉ）２Γｉ２－θ·２ｉ＋θ¨２ｉ，给出其Ｈａｍｉｌｔｏｎ原理和三种不同形式的Ｄ′Ａｌｅｍｂｅｒｔ原理；对于完整约束系统，建立了转动系统的相对论性Ｌａｇｒａｎｇｅ方程、Ｎｉｅｌｓｅｎ方程、Ａｐｐｅｌ方程和Ｈａｍｉｌｔｏｎ正则方程；对于非完整约束系统，建立了转动系统的相对论性Ｒｏｕｔｈ方程、Чаплыгин方程、Ｎｉｅｌｓｅｎ方程和Ａｐｐｅｌ方程；并给出转动系统的相对论性Ｎｏｅｔｈｅｒ守恒律