Phase field modeling of ferroelastic variant switching in yttria-stabilized t'zirconia with strain gradient elasticity and interface tension

The 6–8 wt%yttria-stabilized zirconia with a tetragonal structure(t’-YSZ)is extensively employed in thermal barrier coatings.The exceptional fracture toughness of t’-YSZ can be attributed to its distinctive ferroelastic toughening mechanism.Microstructure and interface tension play a critical role in ferroelastic variant switching at the micro-and nano-scale.This paper presents an original thermodynamically consistent phase field(PF)theory for analyzing ferroelastic variant switching at the micro-and nano-scale of t’-YSZ.The theory incorporates strain gradient elasticity using higher-order elastic energy and interface tension tensor via geometric nonlinearity to represent biaxial tension resulting from interface energy.Subsequently,a mixed-type formulation is employed to implement the higher-order theory through the finite element method.For an interface in equilibrium,the effects of strain gradient elasticity result in a more uniform distribution of stresses,whereas the presence of interface tension tensor significantly amplifies the stress magnitude at the interface.The introduction of an interface tension tensor increases the maximum value of stress at the interface by a factor of 4 to 10.The nucleation and evolution of variants at a pre-existing crack tip in a mono-phase t’-YSZ have also been studied.The strain gradient elasticity is capable of capturing the size effect of ferroelastic variant switching associated with microstructures in experiments.Specifically,when the grain size approaches that of the specimen,the critical load required for variant switching at the crack tip increases,resulting in greater dissipation of elastic energy during ferroelastic variant switching.Moreover,the interface tension accelerates the evolution of variants.The presented framework exhibits significant potential in modeling ferroelastic variant switching at the micro-and nano-scale.

In vitro Blood Compatibility of Polyethylene Terephthalate with Covalently Bounded Hirudin on Surface

Polyethylene terephthalate （PET,Dacron） was modified by surface immobilization of hirudin with glutaraldehyde（GA） as coupling reagent to improve the blood compatibility.Hirudin-immobilized PETs were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and contact angle measurements.The blood compatibility of the PETs was evaluated by platelet adhesion evaluation and fibrinogen conformational change measurements in vitro.The results showed the decrease of platelet adhesion and activation on hirudin-immobilized PET with increasing of glutaraldehyde concentration.Fibrinogen experiment showed that fibrinogen adherence and conformational changes of PET-HRD were less than those of untreated PET,which made the materials difficult to form thrombus.The proper reason of blood compatibility improvement was low interface tension between hirudin-immobilized PETs and blood,as well as blood proteins,and low ratio of dispersive/polar component of the surface energy（γsd/γsp） and high hydrophilicity.

Particles dispersion on fluid-liquid interfaces

This paper is concerned with the dispersion of particles on the fluid-liquid interface. In a previous study we have shown that when small particles, e.g., flour, pollen, glass beads, etc., contact an air-liquid interface, they disperse rapidly as if they were in an explosion. The rapid dispersion is due to the fact that the capillary force pulls particles into the interface causing them to accelerate to a large velocity. In this paper we show that motion of particles normal to the interface is inertia dominated; they oscillate vertically about their equilibrium position before coming to rest under viscous drag. This vertical motion of a particle causes a radially-outward lateral （secondary） flow on the interface that causes nearby particles to move away. The dispersion on a liquid-liquid interface, which is the primary focus of this study, was relatively weaker than on an air-liquid interface, and occurred over a longer period of time. When falling through an upper liquid the particles have a slower velocity than when falling through air because the liquid has a greater viscosity. Another difference for the liquid-liquid interface is that the separation of particles begins in the upper liquid before the particles reach the interface. The rate of dispersion depended on the size of the particles, the densities of the particle and liquids, the viscosities of the liquids involved, and the contact angle. For small particles, partial pinning and hysteresis of the three-phase contact line on the surface of the particle during adsorption on liquid-liquid interfaces was also important. The frequency of oscillation of particles about their floating equilibrium increased with decreasing particle size on both air-water and liquid-liquid interfaces, and the time to reach equilibrium decreased with decreasing particle size. These results are in agreement with our analysis.

Simulating molten pool features of shipbuilding steel subjected to submerged arc welding

Submerged arc welding process has been simulated to investigate the molten pool features of EH36 shipbuilding steel.One case only involved the surface tension model,and another one involved both the surface tension model and the interface tension model.The role of interface tension during welding is revealed,and the evolution of molten pool morphology is understood by comparing the surface temperature distribution,surface tension and interface tension distribution,and the streamline of the molten pool for the two cases.When the interface tension model is disregarded,a flow conducive to the outward expansion is formed in the surface area of the molten pool,resulting in a small weld depth-to-width ratio.After applying the interface tension model,the expanding outward flow is restrained,which leads to a deep penetration morphology with a large weld depth-to-width ratio due to the inward flow governed by the Marangoni forces.The simulation results involving the interface tension model have been verified with satisfactory predictability.