Modelling of Contact Damage in Brittle Materials Based on Peridynamics

As a typical brittle material,glass is widely used in construction,transportation,shipbuilding,aviation,aerospace and other industries.The unsafe factors of glass mainly come from its rupture.Thus,establishing a set of prediction models for the cracks growth of glass under dynamic load is necessary.This paper presents a contact damage model for glass based on the ordinary state-based peridynamic theory by introducing a contact force function.The Hertz contact(nonembedded contact)problem is simulated,and the elastic contact force is determined by adjusting the penalty factor.The proposed model verifies the feasibility of penalty-based method to simulate the contact problem of glass.The failure process of glass specimen under impact is simulated,where two loading methods,the drop ball test and the split Hopkinson pressure bar are considered.Numerical results agree well with the experimental observations,thereby verifying the effectiveness of the proposed model.

Low Shear Strength and Shear-Induced Failure in Ti3SiC2

Shear strength and shear-induced Hertzian contact damage in Ti_3SiC_2 were investigated using double-notched-beam specimen and steel spherical indenter, respectively. The shear strength of 40 MPa that was only about 10% of bending strength was obtained for this novel ceramic. The SEM fractograph of specimens failed in shear test indicated a combination of intergranular and transgranular fracture. Under a contact load, plastic indent without cone crack could be formed on the surface of Ti3SiC2 sample. Optical observation on side view showed half-circle cracks around the damage zone below the indent, and the crack shape was consistent with the contrail of the principal shearing stress. The low shear strength and the shearing-activated intergranular sliding were confirmed being the key factors for failure in Ti3SiC2.

Effects of solid friction modifier on friction and rolling contact fatigue damage of wheel-rail surfaces

In railway network,friction is an important factor to consider in terms of the service behaviors of wheel-rail system.The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of a solid friction modifier(FM)in a railway environment.This was achieved by studying the friction,wear,and rolling contact fatigue(RCF)damage on the wheel-rail materials at different slip ratios.The results showed that when a solid FM was applied,the friction coefficient decreased.After the solid FM was separated from the wheel-rail interface,the friction coefficient gradually increased to its original level.With the application of the solid FM,the wear rates of the wheel-rail decreased.In addition,the thickness and hardness of the plastic deformation layers of the wheel-rail materials were reduced.The worn surfaces of the wheel-rail were dominated by pits and RCF cracks.Without the FM,RCF cracks ranged from 84 to 120μm,and subsurface cracks were generated.However,with the FM,RCF cracks ranged from 17 to 97μm and no subsurface cracks were generated.These findings indicate possible methods of improving the performance of railway rolling stock by managing friction,and reducing wear and permanent RCF damage affecting both the wheels and rails.