Cavitation in brittle metallic glasses – Effects of stress state and distributed weak zones

Experimental studies and atomistic simulations have shown that brittle metallic glasses fail by a cavitation mechanism whose origin has been traced to the presence of intrinsic atomic density fluctuations which give rise to weak zones with reduced yield strength. It has been shown recently through continuum analysis that the presence of these zones can lower the cavitation stress considerably under equibiaxial loading. The objective of the present work is to study the effect of the applied stress state on the cavitation behavior of such a heterogeneous plastic solid with distributed weak zones. To this end, 2D plane strain finite element simulations are performed by subjecting a unit cell containing a weak zone to different (biaxiality) stress ratios. The volume fraction and yield strength of the weak zone are varied over a wide range. The results show that unlike in a homogeneous plastic solid, the cavitation stress of the heterogeneous aggregate does not reduce appreciably as the stress ratio decreases from unity when the yield strength of the weak zone is low. It is found that a non-dimensional parameter characterizing the stress state prevailing in the weak zone and its yield properties uniquely control the cavitation stress. The nature of cavitation bifurcation may change from unstable bifurcation to the left at sufficiently low stress ratio to one involving snap cavitation at high stress ratio.     

Prediction of stress–strain and fracture behaviour of an 8-Harness satin weave ceramic matrix composite

A computationally economic finite-element-based approach has been developed to predict the stress–strain and fracture behaviour of an 8-Harness satin woven ceramic matrix composite with strain-induced damage. The finite element analysis utilises a solid element to model the behaviour of the homogenised orthotropic uni-directional tow and its matrix. The underpinning models of the tow and matrix, (Tang et al., 2009) capture the physics of the interactions between fibres and matrix; and, in this way, permit modelling that bridges the length scales of the fibres and full-scale components. The non-linear multi-axial stress–strain behaviour of the composite has been discretised by multi-linear elastic curves; and the latter has been used as input to a user defined subroutine, UMAT, in the commercial finite element package, ABAQUS. A partial unit cell model has been constructed of the 8-Harness satin weave composite of carbon fibres embedded in an amorphous carbon matrix, HITCO C/C. Predictions of the global stress–strain curve, which include the effects of fibre waviness, have been made for two failure modes: the first by deformation localisation, and the second by dynamic tow failure on fibre fracture, triggered by instantaneous pull-out deactivation. Comparisons have been made between the predictions and experimental data that exhibit two classes of fracture behaviour: brittle and quasi-ductile. The predicted results, both with and without tow waviness, compare well with the experimental data; however, the predictions for waviness are slightly better. The two extremes of experimental behaviour have been found to correspond with the two tow fracture criteria modelled.     

A non-local implicit gradient-enhanced model for unstable behaviors of pseudoelastic shape memory alloys in tensile loading

In this paper, a gradient-enhanced 3-D phenomenological model for shape memory alloys using the non-local theory is developed based on a 1-D constitutive model. The method utilizes a non-local field variable in its constitutive framework with an implicit gradient formulation in order to achieve results independent of the finite element discretization. An efficient numerical approach to implement the non-local gradient-enhanced model in finite element codes is proposed. The model is used to simulate stress drop at the onset of transformation, and its performance is evaluated using different experimental data. The potential of the presented numerical approach for behavior of shape memory alloys in eliminating mesh-dependent simulations is validated by conducting various localization problems. The numerical results show that the developed model can simulate the observed unstable behaviors such as stress drop and deviation of local strain from global strain during nucleation and propagation of martensitic phase.     

Elastic field in an infinite medium of one-dimensional hexagonal quasicrystal with a planar crack

This present work is concerned with planar cracks embedded in an infinite space of one-dimensional hexagonal quasicrystals. The potential theory method together with the general solutions is used to develop the framework of solving the crack problems in question. The mode I problems of three common planar cracks (a penny-shaped crack, an external circular crack and a half-infinite crack) are solved in a systematic manner. The phonon and phason elastic fundamental fields along with some important parameters in crack analysis are explicitly presented in terms of elementary functions. Several examples are given to show the applications of the present fundamental solutions. The validity of the present solutions is discussed both analytically and numerically. The derived analytical solutions of crack will not only play an important role in understanding the phonon–phason coupling behavior in quasicrystals, but also serve as benchmarks for future numerical studies and simplified analyses.     

Wavelet method applied to specific adhesion of elastic solids via molecular bonds

We propose a wavelet method to analyze the stochastic-elastic problem of specific adhesion between two elastic solids via ligand-receptor bond clusters, which is governed by a nonlinear integro-differential equation with a singular Cauchy kernel to describe the mean-field coupling between deformation of elastic materials and stochastic behavior of the molecular bonds. To solve this problem, Galerkin method based on a wavelet approximation scheme is adopted, and special treatment which transforms the singular Cauchy kernel into a smooth one has been proposed to avoid the cumbersome calculation of singular integrals. Numerical results demonstrate that the method is fully capable of solving the specific adhesion problems with complex nonlinear and singular equations. Based on the proposed method, investigations are performed to reveal the relation between steady-state pulling force and mean surface separation under different stress concentration indexes, which is crucial for assembling the overall constitutive relations for multicellular tumor spheroids and polymer-matrix microcomposites.     

Scattering of monochromatic elastic waves on a planar crack of arbitrary shape

Scattering of monochromatic elastic waves on an isolated planar crack of arbitrary shape is considered. The 2D-integral equation for the crack opening vector is discretized by Gaussian approximating functions. For such functions, the elements of the matrix of the discretized problem have forms of standard one-dimensional integrals that can be tabulated. For regular grids of approximating nodes, the matrix of the discretized problem has the Toeplitz structure, and the corresponding matrix–vector products can be calculated by the fast Fourier transform technique. The latter strongly accelerates the process of iterative solution of the discretized problem. Examples of calculations of crack opening vectors, dynamic stress-intensity factors, and differential cross-sections of circular (penny-shaped) and non-circular cracks for various incident wave fields are presented. For a penny-shaped crack and longitudinal incident waves normal to the crack plane, an efficient semi-analytical method of the solution of the scattering problem is developed. The results of both methods are compared in a wide frequency region of the incident field.     

Far-field properties of nonparaxial Gaussian beams with a pair of vortices

The analytical far-field expressions for the TE and TM terms and energy flux distributions of nonparaxial Gaussian beams with a pair of vortices are derived by using vector angular spectrum representation and stationary phase method. The far-field properties including phase singularities and energy flux distributions of the TE and TM terms and whole beam are studied in detail. It is shown that there exist a saddle point and phase singularities that depend on the off-axis distance, waist width, and propagation distance. By suitably varying the off-axis distance, the motion and variation of topological charge of phase singularities may take place. The results are interpreted and compared with the previous work.     

离轴高斯涡旋光束的深聚焦特性

基于德拜矢量衍射积分理论,对离轴高斯涡旋光束经过大数值孔径透镜后聚焦场的特性进行了研究,获得了离轴高斯涡旋光束深聚焦后复振幅分布函数,在此基础上对离轴高斯涡旋光束深聚焦场的光强和相位分别进行了分析.数值模拟结果表明:离轴距离的改变对高斯涡旋光束在焦平面上的光强分布和相位分布会产生影响,离轴距离的增加会加剧聚焦场光强在y轴方向上分布的差异,而离轴距离的符号决定了光强集中区域的方向.另一方面,与一阶离轴涡旋光束不同,高阶离轴涡旋光束经过深聚焦后会发生暗核分裂现象,出现多个相位奇点,奇点个数等于原始光束对应的拓扑荷数,且分裂后的奇点具有明显的对称性.研究表明,这种暗核分裂现象由大数值孔径透镜深聚焦引起.     

Asymptotic symmetry and local behavior of solutions of higher order conformally invariant equations with isolated singularities

We prove sharp blow up rates of solutions of higher order conformally invariant equations in a bounded domain with an isolated singularity, and show the asymptotic radial symmetry of the solutions near the singularity. This is an extension of the celebrated theorem of Caffarelli-Gidas-Spruck for the second order Yamabe equation with isolated singularities to higher order equations. Our approach uses blow up analysis for local integral equations, and is unified for all critical elliptic equations of order smaller than the dimension. We also prove the existence of Fowler solutions to the global equations, and establish a sup ? inf type Harnack inequality of Schoen for integral equations.     

Effects of Uniaxial Stress on X-ray Diffraction Spectra

Uniaxial stress is a typical drawback of solid pressure transmitting medium, at low temperature, which affects experimental spectra by shifting and broadening the diffraction peaks. Corrections to this effects have been proposed in the past only for the systematic shifts. We presented a simple model based on elasticity theory which rationalizes both peak shifts and broadening observed in X-ray diffraction. Our results are compared to the popular Singh model.