Centrifugal casting processes of manufacturing in situ functionally gradient composite materials of Al-19Si-5Mg alloy

Cylindrical components of in situ functionally gradient composite materials of Al-19Si-5Mg alloy were manufactured by centrifugal casting. Microstructure characteristics of the manufactured components were observed and the effects of the used process factors on these characteristics were analyzed. The results of observations shows that, in thickness, the components possess microstructures accumulating lots of Mg2Si particles and a portion of primary silicon particles in the inner layer, a little MgzSi and primary silicon particles in the outer layer, and without any Mg2Si and primary silicon particle in the middle layer. The results of the analysis indicate that the rotation rate of centrifugal casting, mould temperature, and melt pouring temperature have evidently affected the accumulation of the second phase particles. Also, the higher the centrifugal rotation rate, mould temperature, and melt pouring temperature are, the more evident in the inner layer the degree of accumulation of Mg2Si and primary silicon particles is.

ON MEROMORPHIC SOLUTIONS OF A TYPE OF SYSTEM OF COMPOSITE FUNCTIONAL EQUATIONS

In this article, we mainly investigate the growth and existence of meromorphic solutions of a type of systems of composite functional equations, and obtain some interesting results. It extends some results concerning functional equations to the systems of functional equations.

Nonlinear vibration of functionally graded graphene platelet-reinforced composite truncated conical shell using first-order shear deformation theory

In this study,the first-order shear deformation theory(FSDT)is used to establish a nonlinear dynamic model for a conical shell truncated by a functionally graded graphene platelet-reinforced composite(FG-GPLRC).The vibration analyses of the FG-GPLRC truncated conical shell are presented.Considering the graphene platelets(GPLs)of the FG-GPLRC truncated conical shell with three different distribution patterns,the modified Halpin-Tsai model is used to calculate the effective Young’s modulus.Hamilton’s principle,the FSDT,and the von-Karman type nonlinear geometric relationships are used to derive a system of partial differential governing equations of the FG-GPLRC truncated conical shell.The Galerkin method is used to obtain the ordinary differential equations of the truncated conical shell.Then,the analytical nonlinear frequencies of the FG-GPLRC truncated conical shell are solved by the harmonic balance method.The effects of the weight fraction and distribution pattern of the GPLs,the ratio of the length to the radius as well as the ratio of the radius to the thickness of the FG-GPLRC truncated conical shell on the nonlinear natural frequency characteristics are discussed.This study culminates in the discovery of the periodic motion and chaotic motion of the FG-GPLRC truncated conical shell.

“Toolbox”for the Processing of Functional Polymer Composites

Functional polymer composites(FPCs)have attracted increasing attention in recent decades due to their great potential in delivering a wide range of functionalities.These functionalities are largely determined by functional fillers and their network morphology in polymer matrix.In recent years,a large number of studies on morphology control and interfacial modification have been reported,where numerous preparation methods and exciting performance of FPCs have been reported.Despite the fact that these FPCs have many similarities because they are all consisting of functional inorganic fillers and polymer matrices,review on the overall progress of FPCs is still missing,and especially the overall processing strategy for these composites is urgently needed.Herein,a"Toolbox"for the processing of FPCs is proposed to summarize and analyze the overall processing strategies and corresponding morphology evolution for FPCs.From this perspective,the morphological control methods already utilized for various FPCs are systematically reviewed,so that guidelines or even predictions on the processing strategies of various FPCs as well as multi-functional polymer composites could be given.This review should be able to provide interesting insights for the field of FPCs and boost future intelligent design of various FPCs.

RICCATI-TYPE RESULT FOR MEROMORPHIC SOLUTIONS OF SYSTEMS OF COMPOSITE FUNCTIONAL EQUATIONS

By use of Nevanlinna value distribution theory, we will investigate the properties of meromorphic solutions of two types of systems of composite functional equations and obtain some results. One of the results we get is about both components of meromorphic solutions on the system of composite functional equations satisfying Riccati differential equation, the other one is property of meromorphic solutions of the other system of composite functional equations while restricting the growth.

Plant functional trait diversity and structural diversity co-underpin ecosystem multifunctionality in subtropical forests

Tree species diversity is assumed to be an important component in managing forest ecosystems because of effects on multiple functions or ecosystem multifunctionality.However,the importance of tree diversity in determining multifunctionality in structurally complex subtropical forests relative to other regulators(e.g.,soil microbial diversity,stand structure,and environmental conditions)remains uncertain.In this study,effects of aboveground(species richness and functional and structural diversity)and belowground(bacterial and fungal diversity)biodiversity,functional composition(community-weighted means of species traits),stand structure(diameter at breast height and stand density),and soil factors(pH and bulk density)on multifunctionality(including biomass production,carbon stock,and nutrient cycling)were examined along a tree diversity gradient in subtropical forests.The community-weighted mean of tree maximum height was the best predictor of ecosystem multifunctionality.Functional diversity explained a higher proportion of the variation in multifunctionality than that of species richness and fungal diversity.Stand structure-played an important role in modulating the effects of tree diversity on multifunctionality.The work highlights that species composition and maximizing forest structural complexity are effective strategies to increase forest multifunctionality while also conserving biodiversity in the management of multifunctional forests under global environmental changes.

Fast First-Order Methods for Minimizing Convex Composite Functions

Two new versions of accelerated first-order methods for minimizing convex composite functions are proposed. In this paper, we first present an accelerated first-order method which chooses the step size 1/ Lk to be 1/ L0 at the beginning of each iteration and preserves the computational simplicity of the fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding algorithm. The first proposed algorithm is a non-monotone algorithm. To avoid this behavior, we present another accelerated monotone first-order method. The proposed two accelerated first-order methods are proved to have a better convergence rate for minimizing convex composite functions. Numerical results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed two accelerated first-order methods.

A Mini-review for the Application of Bacterial Cellulose-based Composites

Countries are duly focusing more on biomass resources because of the increasing oil crisis.Owing to their excellent properties,such as natural characteristics,good mechanical performance,and outstanding chemical properties,cellulose-based materials are highly valued as promising bioderived nanomaterials,especially bacterial cellulose(BC).The main advantage lies in eliminating the problem of removing lignin and hemicellulose from woody cellulose.Moreover,the use of BC reduces the consumption of wood,the excessive use of which aggravates global warming.Herein,we summarize the applications of BC composites in filter,medical,and conductive materials,and other fields.This review contributes to further expand the applications of this renewable polymer.

Vibration characteristics of piezoelectric functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite doubly-curved shells

This paper presents an analytical solution for the free vibration behavior of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite(FG-CNTRC) doubly curved shallow shells with integrated piezoelectric layers. Here, the linear distribution of electric potential across the thickness of the piezoelectric layer and five different types of carbon nanotube(CNT) distributions through the thickness direction are considered. Based on the four-variable shear deformation refined shell theory, governing equations are obtained by applying Hamilton's principle. Navier's solution for the shell panels with the simply supported boundary condition at all four edges is derived. Several numerical examples validate the accuracy of the presented solution. New parametric studies regarding the effects of different material properties, shell geometric parameters, and electrical boundary conditions on the free vibration responses of the hybrid panels are investigated and discussed in detail.

The effect of initial geometric imperfection on the nonlinear resonance of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite rectangular plates

The purpose of the present study is to examine the impact of initial geometric imperfection on the nonlinear dynamical characteristics of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite(FG-CNTRC) rectangular plates under a harmonic excitation transverse load. The considered plate is assumed to be made of matrix and single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWCNTs). The rule of mixture is employed to calculate the effective material properties of the plate. Within the framework of the parabolic shear deformation plate theory with taking the influence of transverse shear deformation and rotary inertia into account, Hamilton’s principle is utilized to derive the geometrically nonlinear mathematical formulation including the governing equations and corresponding boundary conditions of initially imperfect FG-CNTRC plates. Afterwards, with the aid of an efficient multistep numerical solution methodology, the frequency-amplitude and forcing-amplitude curves of initially imperfect FG-CNTRC rectangular plates with various edge conditions are provided, demonstrating the influence of initial imperfection,geometrical parameters, and edge conditions. It is displayed that an increase in the initial geometric imperfection intensifies the softening-type behavior of system, while no softening behavior can be found in the frequency-amplitude curve of a perfect plate.

Density Functional Theory of Composite Fermions

We construct a density functional theory for two-dimensional electron （hole） gases subjected to both strong magnetic fields and external potentials. In particular, we are focused on regimes near even-denominator filling factors, in which the systems form composite fermion liquids. Our theory provides a systematic and rigorous approach to determine the properties of ground states in a fractional quantum Hall regime that is modified by artificial structures. We also propose a practical way to construct an approximated functional.

Surface Functionalized Carbon Nanofibers and Their Effect on the Dispersion and Tribological Property of Epoxy Nanocomposites

Surface functionalization of carbon nanofibers（CNFs） was carried out, i e, CNFs were firstly oxidized and then the surface was silanized by 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane（APTES） via an assembly method. A new kind of high wear resistance s-CNFs/epoxy composite was fabricated by in-situ reaction. FTIR spectroscopy was used to detect the changes of the functional groups produced by silane on the surface of CNFs. The tribological properties and microstructures of modified and unmodified CNFs/epoxy composites were studied, respectively. The expremental results indicate that APTES is covalently linked to the surface of CNFs successfully and improves the dispersion of CNF in epoxy matrix. The friction coefficients and the wear rates of s-CNFs/epoxy composites are evidently lower than those of u-CNFs/epoxy composites under the same loads. Investigations also indicate that abrasive wear is the main wear mechanism for u-CNFs/epoxy composite, with slight adhesive wear for s-CNFs/epoxy composite under the same sliding wear condition.

Couple stress-based nonlinear primary resonant dynamics of FGM composite truncated conical microshells integrated with magnetostrictive layers

The size-dependent geometrically nonlinear harmonically soft excited oscillation of composite truncated conical microshells(CTCMs)made of functionally graded materials(FGMs)integrated with magnetostrictive layers is analyzed.It is supposed that the FGM CTCMs are subjected to mechanical soft excitations together with external magnetic fields.An analytical framework is created by a microstructuredependent shell model having the 3rd-order distribution of shear deformation based on the modified couple stress(MCS)continuum elasticity.With the aid of the discretized form of differential operators developed via the generalized differential quadrature technique,a numerical solution methodology is introduced for obtaining the couple stress-based amplitude and frequency responses related to the primary resonant dynamics of the FGM CTCMs.Jump phenomena due to the loss of the first stability branch and falling down to the lower stable branch can be seen in the nonlinear primary resonance of the FGM CTCMs.It is demonstrated that the hardening type of nonlinearity results in bending the frequency response to the right side,and the MCS type of size effect weakens this pattern.Moreover,for higher material gradient indexes,the hardening type of nonlinearity is enhanced,and the MCS-based frequency response bends more considerably to the right side.

Isogeometric nonlocal strain gradient quasi-three-dimensional plate model for thermal postbuckling of porous functionally graded microplates with central cutout with different shapes

This study presents the size-dependent nonlinear thermal postbuckling characteristics of a porous functionally graded material(PFGM) microplate with a central cutout with various shapes using isogeometric numerical technique incorporating nonuniform rational B-splines. To construct the proposed non-classical plate model, the nonlocal strain gradient continuum elasticity is adopted on the basis of a hybrid quasithree-dimensional(3D) plate theory under through-thickness deformation conditions by only four variables. By taking a refined power-law function into account in conjunction with the Touloukian scheme, the temperature-porosity-dependent material properties are extracted. With the aid of the assembled isogeometric-based finite element formulations,nonlocal strain gradient thermal postbuckling curves are acquired for various boundary conditions as well as geometrical and material parameters. It is portrayed that for both size dependency types, by going deeper in the thermal postbuckling domain, gaps among equilibrium curves associated with various small scale parameter values get lower, which indicates that the pronounce of size effects reduces by going deeper in the thermal postbuckling regime. Moreover, we observe that the central cutout effect on the temperature rise associated with the thermal postbuckling behavior in the presence of the effect of strain gradient size and absence of nonlocality is stronger compared with the case including nonlocality in absence of the strain gradient small scale effect.

SOLUTION OF DIFFERENT HOLES SHAPE BORDERS OF FIBRE REINFORCED COMPOSITE PLATES BY INTEGRAL EQUATIONS

Accurate boundary conditions of composite material plates with different holes are founded to settle boundary condition problems of complex holes by conformal mapping method upon the nonhomogeneous anisotropic elastic and complex function theory. And then the two stress functions required were founded on Cauchy integral by boundary conditions. The final stress distributions of opening structure and the analytical solution on composite material plate with rectangle hole and wing manholes were achieved. The influences on hole-edge stress concentration factors are discussed under different loads and fiber direction cases, and then contrast calculates are carried through FEM.

In-situ fabrication of Al(Zn)-Al_2O_3 graded composite using the aluminothermic reaction during hot pressing

In INs study, the fabrication of multilayer AI（Zn）-A1203 with different volume fractions of A1203 was investigated. A1 and ZnO powders were milled by a plaaetaxy ball mill, after which five-layer functionally graded samples were produced flarough hot pressing at 580~C and 90 MPa pressure for 30 min. Formation of reinforcing A1203 particles occurred in the aluminum matrix via the aluminolkermic reaction. Determination of the ignition temperature of the aluminolkennic reaction was accomplished using differential lkermal and lkermo- gravimelric amlyses. Scaaming electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffractometery amlyses were utilized to characterize the specimens. The lkermal amlysis results showed that the ignition temperatures for the aluminolkennic reaction of layers with the highest and lowest ZnO contents were 667 and 670~C, respectively. Microslxuctural observation and chemical amlysis confirmed the fa- brication of AI（Zn）-A1203 functionally graded materials composites with precipitation of additional Zn in the matrix. Moreover, nearly dense functionally graded samples demonstrated minimum and maximum hacdness values of HV 75 and HV 130, respectively.

Conformal Human–Machine Integration Using Highly Bending‑Insensitive,Unpixelated,and Waterproof Epidermal Electronics Toward Metaverse

Efficient and flexible interactions require precisely converting human intentions into computer-recognizable signals,which is critical to the breakthrough development of metaverse.Interactive electronics face common dilemmas,which realize highprecision and stable touch detection but are rigid,bulky,and thick or achieve high flexibility to wear but lose precision.Here,we construct highly bending-insensitive,unpixelated,and waterproof epidermal interfaces(BUW epidermal interfaces)and demonstrate their interactive applications of conformal human–machine integration.The BUW epidermal interface based on the addressable electrical contact structure exhibits high-precision and stable touch detection,high flexibility,rapid response time,excellent stability,and versatile“cut-and-paste”character.Regardless of whether being flat or bent,the BUW epidermal interface can be conformally attached to the human skin for real-time,comfortable,and unrestrained interactions.This research provides promising insight into the functional composite and structural design strategies for developing epidermal electronics,which offers a new technology route and may further broaden human–machine interactions toward metaverse.

Superior anti-corrosion and self-healing bi-functional polymer composite coatings with polydopamine modified mesoporous silica/graphene oxide

In this article,graphene oxide(GO)and benzotriazole-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles(BTA/MSNs)are combined on micro scale through the in situ polymerization of polydopamine(PDA),preparing a selfhealing bi-functional GO(fGO)used as nano-fillers for anti-corrosion enhancement of waterborne epoxy(WEP)coatings.Scanning electronic microscopy(SEM)images show that the BTA/MSNs are uniformly distributed on the surface of high aspect ratio GO nanosheets to endow GO nanocontainer characteristics.UV-vis profiles demonstrate that fGO has p H-controlled release function.Modulus at lowest frequency is generally used for comparing the corrosion resistance of organic coatings.Modulus at lowest frequency(1.42×10^(5)Ωcm^(2))after 30 days immersion in 3.5 wt.%Na Cl solution revealed 2 orders of magnitude higher that of blank WEP(1.17×10^(7)Ωcm^(2)).With artificial cracks on its coatings,fGO/WEP had no obvious rust compared with blank WEP after 240 h of immersion.We anticipate that self-healing and physical barrier bi-functional nanocontainers improve the traditional anticorrosion coating efficiency with better,longer-lasting performance for shipping,oil drilling or bridge maintenance.

Observer-based Adaptive Iterative Learning Control for Nonlinear Systems with Time-varying Delays

An observer-based adaptive iterative learning control （AILC） scheme is developed for a class of nonlinear systems with unknown time-varying parameters and unknown time-varying delays. The linear matrix inequality （LMI） method is employed to design the nonlinear observer. The designed controller contains a proportional-integral-derivative （PID） feedback term in time domain. The learning law of unknown constant parameter is differential-difference-type, and the learning law of unknown time-varying parameter is difference-type. It is assumed that the unknown delay-dependent uncertainty is nonlinearly parameterized. By constructing a Lyapunov-Krasovskii-like composite energy function （CEF）, we prove the boundedness of all closed-loop signals and the convergence of tracking error. A simulation example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the control algorithm proposed in this paper.

Optimization of Mechanical and Wear Properties of Functionally Graded Al6061/SiC Nanocomposites Produced by Friction Stir Processing(FSP)

The objective of present work is to apply the friction stir processing （FSP） to fabricate functionally graded SiC particulate reinforced Al6061 composite and investigate the effect of SiC particle mass fraction distribution on the mechanical properties and wear behavior ofAl6061/SiC composite. Regarding the obtained results in this work, with increasing SiC mass fraction, elongation decreased, but hardness enhanced. However, the optimized functionally graded composite with the highest tensile strength and wear resistance was achieved for composite with 10 wt% surface SiC. Also, the results showed that wear resistance and tensile strength decreased for composite with 13 wt% surface SiC, due to reinforcement particle clustering depending on high SiC mass fraction.