Correlation of Cooperatively Localized Rearrangement on the ＂Fluidized Domain＂ of Polymers to Their Nonexponentially Viscoelastic Behaviors at Double Aging Processes （I）： A Set of Reduced Universal Equations on the Stress Relaxation Modulus and Creep Comp

Based on the structure of glass （or liquid） polymers consisting of α-domain, β-co-domain, and entanglement constituent chain networks, and the nonexponentially viscoelastic behavior, a “heterophase fluctuation” model was proposed. It was found that the dynamics of cooperative rearrangement on the “fluidized domain” has a great shear rate, domain size, and temperature dependences. When the shear rate, domain size, and temperature dependences were taken account into the cooperatively localized rearrangement on the fluidized domain by the degradation of primary α-domain and the reformation of secondary β-co-domain constituent chains. A new dynamic theory of cooperatively localized rearrangement on the fluidized domain constituent chains with different size and different network chain length during physical and mechanical aging was established. The total viscoelastic free en-ergy of deformation resulting from the change in conformations of α-domain, β-co-domain, crytallite, crosslinked, and trapped entanglement constituent chains during aging processes was calculated by the combining method of kinetics and statistical mechanics. The constitu- tive equations and reduced stress relaxation modulus and creep compliances for three types of polymers were also derived. Finally, two reduced universal equations on creep compliance and stress relaxation modulus with a non-linear and two nonexponential parameters α and β were theoretically derived from the dynamic theory and a statistically extended mode coupling theory for double aging effects of polymers was developed. Results show that the two reduced universal equations have the same form as Kohlraush-Williams-Watts （K-W-W） stretched exponential function. The nonlinearity and the nonexponentiality are, respectively, originated from the memory effects of nonthermal and thermal history. The correlation of nonlinearity, α and β to the aging time, aging temperature, and the mesomorphic structure of fluidized domains was also established.

MICROSTRUCTURE AND THERMAL STRESS RELAXATION OF ZrO_2－Ni FUNCTIONALLY GRADED MATERIAL

ＭＩＣＲＯＳＴＲＵＣＴＵＲＥＡＮＤＴＨＥＲＭＡＬＳＴＲＥＳＳＲＥＬＡＸＡＴＩＯＮＯＦＺｒＯ_２－ＮｉＦＵＮＣＴＩＯＮＡＬＬＹＧＲＡＤＥＤＭＡＴＥＲＩＡＬ￥ＺｈｕＪｉｎｇｃｈｕａｎ；ＹｉｎＺｈｏｎｇｄａ；ＬａｉＺｈｏｎｇｈｏｎｇ；ＬｉＪｉａｎ（Ｓｃｈｏ?..

Uniqueness of rate-dependency, creep and stress relaxation behaviors for soft clays

This work focuses on the uniqueness of rate-dependency, creep and stress relaxation behaviors for soft clays under one-dimensional condition. An elasto-viscoplastic model is briefly introduced based on the rate-dependency of preconsolidation pressure. By comparing the rate-dependency formulation with the creep based formulation, the relationship between rate-dependency and creep behaviors is firstly described. The rate-dependency based formulation is then extended to derive an analytical solution for the stress relaxation behavior with defining a stress relaxation coefficient. Based on this, the relationship between the rate-dependency coefficient and the stress relaxation coefficient is derived. Therefore, the uniqueness between behaviors of rate-dependency, creep and stress relaxation with their key parameters is obtained. The uniqueness is finally validated by comparing the simulated rate-dependency of preconsolidation pressure, the estimated values of secondary compression coefficient and simulations of stress relaxation tests with test results on both reconstituted Illite and Berthierville clay.

Stress Relaxation and Creep of Straw Bales

Loading ability of straw bales was tested by using an Electronical Testing Machine. Linear regression models were proposed to describe the loading ability as a function of failure density and compressing energy. Based on an exponent model, the testing compression coefficients of straw bales were estimated by using the Levenberg-Marquardt Method. Results showed that the relation among failure density, loading ability and compressing energy was linear in the phase of high density, Loading ability of straw bales could meet the requirement for building bills .

Experimental Study on Stress Relaxation and Creep Properties of Human Thoracolumbar Vertebral Bodies and Intervertebral Discs

Objective:Underwater shock can produce extremely high accelerations, resulting in severe human injuries on shipboard, and human thoraco lumbar spines are prone to suffer from injuries by ship shock motion. To observe the viscoelasticity of thoracolumbar of young fresh cadavers, and to provide biomechanical parameters for both research and clinical practice. Materials and Methods:5 fresh young male cadavers (aged 22 to 31 years) were provided, and 15 thoracolumbar spinal anatomies of 5 samples were harvested within 1 hour of death. WE-10A universal testing machine was used for creep and relaxation tests.Results:Stress relaxation and creep deformation equations are derived from the biomechanics model and the measured and simulated curves are compared. The creep in vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs exhibited significantly changes in the first 5 min and 10 min, respectively. The stress rapidly decreased in the first 2 min, and then gradually went balance during the relaxation process. Conclusion:The change in creep rate is significant at early stage,and gradually slows down.This indicates that the differences between internal pressure and local pressure are decreased until balance. The simulated curve derived from equation coincides with the experimental data to a large degree, which states that the equation is rational and reliable.

Stress Relaxation and Sensitivity Weight for Bi-Directional Evolutionary Structural Optimization to Improve the Computational Efficiency and Stabilization on Stress-Based Topology Optimization

Stress-based topology optimization is one of the most concerns of structural optimization and receives much attention in a wide range of engineering designs.To solve the inherent issues of stress-based topology optimization,many schemes are added to the conventional bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization(BESO)method in the previous studies.However,these schemes degrade the generality of BESO and increase the computational cost.This study proposes an improved topology optimization method for the continuum structures considering stress minimization in the framework of the conventional BESO method.A global stress measure constructed by p-norm function is treated as the objective function.To stabilize the optimization process,both qp-relaxation and sensitivity weight scheme are introduced.Design variables are updated by the conventional BESO method.Several 2D and 3D examples are used to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method.The results show that the optimization process can be stabilized by qp-relaxation.The value of q and p are crucial to reasonable solutions.The proposed sensitivity weight scheme further stabilizes the optimization process and evenly distributes the stress field.The computational efficiency of the proposed method is higher than the previous methods because it keeps the generality of BESO and does not need additional schemes.

Stress Relaxation Behavior of GH4169 Superalloy

GH4169 superalloy stress relaxation test was investigated to study its characteristics of stress relaxation curves at various temperatures( 550,650,and 750 ℃). These curves presented jointly two distinct stages,the stage of inner stress relaxing quickly,and the stage of inner stress relaxing slowly and closing to the stress relaxation limit. And these curves obtained could be fitted by second order exponential decay function well. Based on the experimental stress relaxation curves,the relationship between stress relaxation rate and time were derived, which showed that the higher relaxation temperature and the greater initial rate of stress relaxation. The whole process presented two different stages,the stage of stress relaxation rate falling rapidly and the stage of stress relaxation rate slowing down and tending to be constant. The relation curve between creep strain rate and stress of GH4169 superalloy can be divided into three stages,low stress stage,transition stage,and high stress stage.Both the high stage and the low stage present linear correlation.

Human amniotic epithelial cell transplantation for the repair of injured brachial plexus nerve: evaluation of nerve viscoelastic properties

The transplantation of embryonic stem cells can effectively improve the creeping strength of nerves near an injury site in animals. Amniotic epithelial cells have similar biological properties as em-bryonic stem cells; therefore, we hypothesized that transplantation of amniotic epithelial cells can repair peripheral nerve injury and recover the creeping strength of the brachial plexus nerve. In the present study, a brachial plexus injury model was established in rabbits using the C6root avulsion method. A suspension of human amniotic epithelial cells was repeatedly injected over an area 4.0 mm lateral to the cephal and caudal ends of the C6 brachial plexus injury site （1 × 106 cells/mL, 3μL/injection, 25 injections） immediately after the injury. The results showed that the decrease in stress and increase in strain at 7,200 seconds in the injured rabbit C6 brachial plexus nerve were mitigated by the cell transplantation, restoring the viscoelastic stress relaxation and creep properties of the brachial plexus nerve. The forepaw functions were also signiifcantly improved at 26 weeks after injury. These data indicate that transplantation of human amniotic epithelial cells can effec-tively restore the mechanical properties of the brachial plexus nerve after injury in rabbits and that viscoelasticity may be an important index for the evaluation of brachial plexus injury in animals.

Biological conduits combining bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and extracellular matrix to treat long-segment sciatic nerve defects

The transplantation of polylactic glycolic acid conduits combining bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and extracellular matrix gel for the repair of sciatic nerve injury is effective in some respects, but few data comparing the biomechanical factors related to the sciatic nerve are available. In the present study, rabbit models of 10-mm sciatic nerve defects were prepared. The rabbit models were repaired with autologous nerve, a polylactic glycolic acid conduit ＋ bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, or a polylactic glycolic acid conduit ＋ bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells ＋ extracellular matrix gel. After 24 weeks, mechanical testing was performed to determine the stress relaxation and creep parameters. Following sciatic nerve injury, the magnitudes of the stress decrease and strain increase at 7,200 seconds were largest in the polylactic glycolic acid conduit ＋ bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells ＋ extracellular matrix gel group, followed by the polylactic glycolic acid conduit ＋ bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells group, and then the autologous nerve group. Hematoxylin-eosin staining demonstrated that compared with the polylactic glycolic acid conduit ＋ bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells group and the autologous nerve group, a more complete sciatic nerve regeneration was found, including good myelination, regularly arranged nerve fibers, and a completely degraded and resorbed conduit, in the polylactic glycolic acid conduit ＋ bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells ＋ extracellular matrix gel group. These results indicate that bridging 10-mm conduit ＋ bone marrow mesenchymal stem sciatic nerve defects with a polylactic glycolic acid cells ＋ extracellular matrix gel construct increases the stress relaxation under a constant strain, reducing anastomotic tension. Large elongations under a constant physiological load can limit the anastomotic opening and shift, which is beneficial for the regeneration and functional reconstruction of sciatic nerve. Better regeneration was found with the polylactic glycolic acid conduit ＋ bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells ＋ extracellular matrix gel grafts than with the polylactic glycolic acid conduit ＋ bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells grafts and the autologous nerve grafts.

Viscoelasticity of repaired sciatic nerve by poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) tubes

Medical-grade synthetic poly（lactic-co-glycolic acid） polymer can be used as a biomaterial for nerve repair because of its good biocompatibility, biodegradability and adjustable degradation rate. The stress relaxation and creep properties of peripheral nerve can be greatly improved by repair with poly（lactic-co-glycolic acid） tubes. ＂Fen sciatic nerve specimens were harvested from fresh corpses within 24 hours of death, and were prepared into sciatic nerve injury models by creating a 10 mm defect in each specimen. Defects were repaired by anastomosis with nerve autografts and poly（lactic-co-glycolic acid） tubes. Stress relaxation and creep testing showed that at 7 200 seconds the sciatic nerve anastomosed by poly（lactic-co-glycolic acid） tubes exhibited a greater decrease in stress and increase in strain than those anastomosed by nerve autografts. These findings suggest that poly（lactic-co-glycolic acid） exhibits good viscoelasticity to meet the biomechanical require- ments for a biomaterial used to repair sciatic nerve injury.

Human umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells and brain-derived neurotrophic factor protect injured optic nerve:viscoelasticity characterization

The optic nerve is a viscoelastic solid-like biomaterial.Its normal stress relaxation and creep properties enable the nerve to resist constant strain and protect it from injury.We hypothesized that stress relaxation and creep properties of the optic nerve change after injury.Moreover,human brain-derived neurotrophic factor or umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells may restore these changes to normal.To validate this hypothesis,a rabbit model of optic nerve injury was established using a clamp approach.At 7 days after injury,the vitreous body received a one-time injection of 50 μg human brain-derived neurotrophic factor or 1 × 106 human umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells.At 30 days after injury,stress relaxation and creep properties of the optic nerve that received treatment had recovered greatly,with pathological changes in the injured optic nerve also noticeably improved.These results suggest that human brain-derived neurotrophic factor or umbilical cord blood-derived stem cell intervention promotes viscoelasticity recovery of injured optic nerves,and thereby contributes to nerve recovery.

Effects of brachial plexus injury anastomosis simulation on biomechanical properties of adult brachial plexus

BACKGROUND： Previous studies of peripheral nerve mechanical properties in animals have utilized one-dimensional drawing methods. OBJECTIVE： To analyze the effects of brachial plexus injury anastomosis simulation on biomechanical properties of adult brachial plexus by observing tensile mechanical properties, stress relaxation, and creep deformation of the brachial plexus in normal human cadavers and brachial plexus from simulated brachial plexus injury anastomosis samples. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： The in vitro experiment was performed at the Mechanics Experimental Center, Jilin University, China from April to May 2007. MATERIALS： A total of six adult, male cadavers, who had died from acute trauma, and were aged 20-29 years, were supplied by the Research Room of Anatomy, Medical Department, Jilin University, China. AG-10TA Universal Material Testing Machine （Shimadzu, Japan） was used in this study. METHODS： A total of 36 samples of fresh brachial plexus were collected from the cadavers, comprising 12 C5 nerve roots, 12 C6 nerve roots at the left and right sides of the superior truck, and 12 C7 nerve roots at the middle truck. The C5 and C6 nerve roots were processed into 50 samples and the C7 nerve roots into 24 samples. A total of 36 C5 and C6 nerve root samples were randomly assigned to a non-surgery control group （n = 18） and brachial plexus injury anastomosis simulation group （n = 18）. Brachial plexus injury simulation anastomosis samples underwent an incision in the middle, and then received anastomosis. Samples in both groups underwent a tension test at 5 mm/min on the AG-10TA universal material testing machine. A total of 24 samples from the C6 superior trunk and C7 middle trunk of the brachial plexus were subjected to stress relaxation and creep tests. Test duration was 7 200 seconds. A total of 100 data points were collected and analyzed using a normalization method. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： The following parameters were measured： tension maximum displacement, maximum load, maximum stress, maximum strain and stress-strain curve, stress relaxation at 7 200 seconds, creep deformation at 7 200 seconds, stress relaxation, and creep curve in the non-surgery control group and brachial plexus injury simulation anastomosis group. RESULTS： The tension maximum load of brachial plexus was （140.36 ± 30.50） N, maximum stress was （10.67 ± 2.52） MPa, maximum displacement was （7.78 ± 1.48） mm, and maximum strain was （31.64 ± 5.32）% in the non-surgery control group. The tension maximum load of brachial plexus was （93.23 ± 20.65） N, maximum stress was （7.09 ± 1.57） MPa, maximum displacement was （6.13 ± 0.86） mm,and maximum strain was （24.55 ± 3.45）% in the brachial plexus injury simulation anastomosis group. The above-mentioned indices were greater in the non-surgery control group than in the brachial plexus injury simulation anastomosis group （P 〈 0.01）. Stress relaxation at 7 200 seconds was 2.07 MPa and 2.11 MPa, respectively, in the non-surgery control and brachial plexus injury simulation anastomosis groups. Creep deformation at 7 200 seconds was 4.68% and 3.52%, respectively, in the non-surgery control and brachial plexus injury simulation anastomosis groups. CONCLUSION： Decreased tension maximum load, maximum displacement, maximum stress, maximum strain, and creep deformation at 7 200 seconds affected the biomechanical properties of the brachial plexus following brachial plexus injury.

Effects of test levels on creep and relaxation characteristic parameters of stem for rice seedlings grown in plastic cell tray

Creep and relaxation characteristics of stem for rice seedlings grown in plastic cell tray were studied by static tensile testing,in order to determine the relationship between characteristic parameters(rheological model parameters,stress components and strain components)and test levels(stress levels and strain levels).Rice seedling stem specimen used in the test was 40 mm in length.And the applied test values for the creep and relaxation test ranged from 1.0-3.0 MPa and 1.5%-3.5%,respectively,each for 5 levels.The results indicated that elastic modulus in the creep and relaxation model was not affected by test levels.However,except that viscosity coefficientηkv was a constant andηm1 decreased with the increase of test levels,other viscosity coefficient and rheological time nonlinearly increased as the test levels increased.And strain components in the creep model and stress components in the relaxation model significantly increased as the test levels increased.

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF Ti_3SiC_2 AT HIGH TEMPERATURE

Creep and stress relaxation behavior, the elastic modulus and fracture toughness of machinable Ti3SiC2 at various temperatures from 20 to 1250℃ were investigated by means of three-point bending tests. The experiments were performed respectively at: (i) fixed stress and changed temperatures, and (ii) fixed temperature and changed stresses. A creep resistance parameter that represents the probability of creep deformation in a given condition was defined as a function of both applied stress and the threshold stress, varying in a range from 0 to 1. Elastic modulus at high temperatures was measured through comparing relative slopes of loading curves in cyclic loading curve. The fracture toughness measured by SENB method showed a stable value in the range of 25-1000℃, but over 1000℃, it declined abruptly from -6.7MPa·m1/2 to -2.0MPa·m1/2 at 1200℃.

Novel experimental techniques to assess the time-dependent deformations of geosynthetics under soil confinement

A new experimental approach to assess the impact of soil confinement on the long-term behavior of geosynthetics is presented in this paper.The experimental technique described herein includes a novel laboratory apparatus and the use of different types of tests that allow generation of experimental data suitable for evaluation of the time-dependent behavior of geosynthetics under soil confinement.The soil-geosynthetic interaction equipment involves a rigid box capable of accommodating a cubic soil mass under plane strain conditions.A geosynthetic specimen placed horizontally at the mid-height of the soil mass is subjected to sustained vertical pressures that,in turn,induce reinforcement axial loads applied from the soil to the geosynthetic.Unlike previously reported studies on geosynthetic behavior under soil confinement,the equipment was found to be particularly versatile.With minor setup modifications,not only interaction tests but also in-isolation geosynthetic stress relaxation tests and soil-only tests under a constant strain rate can be conducted using the same device.Also,the time histories of the reinforcement loads and corresponding strains are generated throughout the test.Results from typical tests conducted using sand and a polypropylene woven geotextile are presented to illustrate the proposed experimental approach.The testing procedure was found to provide adequate measurements during tests,including good repeatability of test results.The soilegeosynthetic interaction tests were found to lead to increasing geotextile strains with time and decreasing reinforcement tension with time.The test results highlighted the importance of measuring not only the time history of displacements but also that of reinforcement loads during testing.The approach of using different types of tests to analyze the soilegeosynthetic interaction behavior is an innovation that provides relevant insight into the impact of soil confinement on the time-dependent deformations of geosynthetics.

Surface deformation-dependent mechanical properties of bending nanowires:an ab initio core-shell model

An ab initio core-shell model is proposed to evaluate the surface effect in bending nanowires,in which the elastic modulus depends on the surface relaxation and deformation induced by external loading.By using first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory(DFT),the surface and bulk properties are calculated for Ag,Pb,and Si nanowires.The obtained theoretical predictions of the effective Young’s modulus of nanowires agree well with the experimental data,which shows that the fixed-fixed nanowire is stiffened and the cantilevered nanowire is softened as the characteristic size of the cross section decreases.Furthermore,the contrastive analysis on the two kinds of nanowires demonstrates that increasing the nanowire aspect ratio would enhance the surface effect.The present results could be helpful for understanding the size effect in nanowires and designing nanobeam-based devices in nanoelectromechanical systems(NEMSs).

高模低缩型聚酯工业丝凝聚态结构与应用特性的关联机制

高模低缩(HMLS)型聚酯工业丝的凝聚态结构对其在特定应力和受热条件下应用特性的影响尚不明确。对3种HMLS聚酯工业丝的蠕变、应力松弛、热收缩等性能进行测试,通过广角X射线衍射等方法对其凝聚态结构进行研究,分析结晶度、晶区和非晶区取向以及晶粒尺寸等参数与HMLS聚酯工业丝应用特性的关联性。结果表明,结晶度和非晶区取向度的协同作用对HMLS聚酯工业丝的蠕变、应力松弛和热收缩性能有重要影响。HMLS2的高结晶度抑制了应力作用和热收缩过程中分子链的滑移,适中的非晶区取向度减少了分子链的收缩解取向。HMLS2在60%的平均断裂载荷作用下蠕变回复率高达83.98%,60 s的应力松弛率为14.65%,195℃热处理后强度损失仅为8%,抗蠕变和热稳定性均较好。

不同温度下胶乳复合垫片蠕变松弛特性分析

螺栓法兰接头的垫片在高温下长期使用,会发生蠕变松弛。垫片的蠕变松弛会导致接头内部流体泄漏,因此建立一种预测密封垫片蠕变和应力松弛的方法尤为重要。利用三参量开尔文流体模型建立一种预测垫片高温蠕变残余应力随时间变化的解析模型,并对胶乳复合垫片进行不同温度、不同应力载荷的蠕变松弛实验。研究结果表明:胶乳复合垫片在相同应力载荷下温度越高残余应力整体下降越明显,且应力载荷越大,损失的应力越多,随时间的推移,残余应力下降逐渐平缓;垫片的高温蠕变松弛行为会导致垫片质量和厚度下降,但随着垫片应力载荷的继续增加,垫片质量和厚度下降的趋势会有所减缓,而随温度的增加,质量和厚度持续降低,且下降趋势不会变缓。三参量开尔文流体模型的预测值与实验数据非常接近,最大误差为4.104%,该模型可以准确地描述垫片的力学行为以及垫片由于蠕变松弛引起的应力载荷损失。

GH4169合金的中温应力松弛行为与蠕变本构方程的修正

对GH4169合金开展了温度为450~550℃、时间为600 h、初始应力为800 MPa的应力松弛试验,分析了其应力松弛行为,利用三次延迟函数拟合出应力与时间的关系;引入槛应力对Arrhenius蠕变本构模型进行修正,采用未修正和修正后的模型模拟了应力松弛曲线,并与试验结果进行对比。结果表明:GH4169合金在应力松弛试验后的剩余应力随温度的升高呈先减小后增大的趋势,450,500,550℃下的应力松弛量分别约为12,18,15 MPa。构建的三次延迟函数可以准确描述GH4169合金应力与时间的关系,拟合相关系数均大于0.999。基于引入槛应力修正的Arrhenius模型模拟得到的GH4169合金中温应力松弛曲线与试验结果吻合较好,最大相对误差为0.02%,而基于未修正Arrhenius模型模拟得到的500℃和550℃应力松弛结曲线与试验结果偏差较大,最大相对误差为0.1%。修正Arrhenius模型可以更好地预测GH4169合金的中温应力松弛行为。

7050铝合金试样尺寸对淬火后时效应力松弛率的影响

通过有限元仿真和实验验证方法,研究了7050铝合金在4 h和165℃条件下时效过程中不同倍数H形试样的应力松弛行为。结果表明,模拟结果与实验结果吻合性较好,误差在8.81%以内;尺寸效应主要通过几何特征和淬火应力对时效应力松弛率产生影响;在实验范围内,若不考虑初始应力的影响,试样的倍数对时效应力松弛率不构成影响。在实际淬火应力下,A、B、C、D和H点的应力松弛率随试样倍数增大呈对数增加,E、F和G点则在0.44倍试样时出现应力松弛率的极大值,主要原因是试样在0.2~1.5倍区间时淬火应力随试样尺寸发生变化,影响了应力松弛过程;当试样在1.5~5倍区间时,淬火应力趋于稳定,使得时效过程的应力松弛率趋于稳定,尺寸效应减弱。