Molecular dynamics study on temperature and strain rate dependences of mechanical tensile properties of ultrathin nickel nanowires

Based on the EAM potential, a molecular dynamics study on the tensile properties of ultrathin nickel nanowires in the （100〉 orientation with diameters of 3.94, 4.95 and 5.99 nm was presented at different temperatures and strain rates. The temperature and strain rate dependences of tensile properties were investigated. The simulation results show that the elastic modulus and the yield strength are gradually decreasing with the increase of temperature, while with the increase of the strain rate, the stress--strain curves fluctuate more intensely and the ultrathin nickel nanowires rupture at one smaller and smaller strain. At an ideal temperature of 0.01 K, the yield strength of the nanowires drops rapidly with the increase of strain rate, and at other temperatures the strain rate has a little influence on the elastic modulus and the yield strength. Finally, the effects of size on the tensile properties of ultrathin nickel nanowires were briefly discussed.

Extension of Flow Behaviour and Damage Models for Cast Iron Alloys with Strain Rate Effect

Cast iron alloys with low production cost and quite good mechanical properties are widely used in the automotive industry.To study the mechanical behavior of a typical ductile cast iron(GJS-450)with nodular graphite,uni-axial quasi-static and dynamic tensile tests at strain rates of 10^(-4),1,10,100,and 250 s^(-1)were carried out.In order to investigate the influence of stress state on the deformation and fracture parameters,specimens with various geometries were used in the experiments.Stress strain curves and fracture strains of the GJS-450 alloy in the strain rate range of 10^(-4)to 250 s^(-1)were obtained.A strain rate-dependent plastic flow model was proposed to describe the mechanical behavior in the corresponding strain-rate range.The available damage model was extended to take the strain rate into account and calibrated based on the analysis of local fracture strains.Simulations with the proposed plastic flow model and the damage model were conducted to observe the deformation and fracture process.The results show that the strain rate has obviously nonlinear effects on the yield stress and fracture strain of GJS-450 alloys.The predictions with the proposed plastic flow and damage models at various strain rates agree well with the experimental results,which illustrates that the rate-dependent plastic flow and damage models can be used to describe the mechanical behavior of cast iron alloys at elevated strain rates.The proposed plastic flow and damage models can be used to describe the deformation and fracture analysis of materials with similar properties.

Atomic Simulation of Structure and Deformation＇s Influence on the Mechanical Properties of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes

Tensile deformation behaviors and the Poisson＇s ratio of single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWCNTs） are numerically studied, using the molecular dynamics （MD） inethod. Effects of several structural features of crystal cells of SWCNTs, i.e., the size, chirality and strain, on their mechanical properties are analyzed systematically. The simulations indicate that Armchair SWCNTs （8, 8）-（22, 22） and Zigzag SWCNTs （9,0）- （29,0） can be stretched by 35%-38% and 20%-27% without sign of plasticity, respectively. The Young＇s modulus of SWCNTs under tension ranges from 960 GPa to 750 GPa as their radii increase. The Young＇s modulus of zigzag SWCNTs is higher than that of armchair SWCNTs. Additionally, three SWCNTs （9,9）, （12,6） and （16,0） are investigated to obtain their Poisson＇s ratio under tensile and compressive loading. The results show that the Poisson＇s ratio of nanotubes decreases generally as the strain increases. Under the same tensile strain, the Poisson＇s ratio decreases as the chiral angles of SWCNTs decrease, while their Polsson＇s ratios increase under the same compressive strain.

Hot deformation behavior and constitutive relationship of Q420qE steel

Isothermal compression tests at temperatures from 1 273 to l 423 K and strain rates from 0.1 to 10 s-q were carried out to investigate the flow behaviors of Q420qE steel. Stress-strain data collected from the tests were employed to establish the constitutive equation, in which the influence of strain was incorporated by considering the effect of strain on material constants Q, n, a, and lnA. The results show that the flow stress curves are dependent on the strain, strain rate and deformation temperature. They display typical dynamic recrystallization behavior and consist of three stages, i.e., hardening stage, softening stage and steady stage. The flow stress decreases with increasing the deformation temperature and decreasing the strain rate. In addition, the flow stress data predicted by the proposed constitutive model agree well with the corresponding experimental results, and the correlation coefficient and the average absolute relative error between them are 0.990 3 and 3.686%, respectively.

Significant strain-rate dependence of sensing behavior in Ti0_(2)@carbon fibre/PDMS composites for flexible strain sensors

Carbon fibre(CF)embedded into elastomeric media has been attracting incredible interest as flexible strain sensors in the application of skin electronics owing to their high sensitivity in a very small strain gauge.To further improve the sensitivity of CF/PDMS composite strain sensor,the relatively low temperature prepared TiO_(2) nanowire via hydrothermal route was employed herein to functionalize CF.The results showed a significant increase in the sensitivity of the TiO_(2)@CF/PDMS composite strain sensors which was reflected by the calculated gauge factor.As the prepared TiO_(2) nanowire vertically embraced the surroundings of the CF,the introduced TiO_(2) nanowire contributed to a highly porous structure which played a predominant role in improving the sensitivity of strain sensors.Moreover,the significant strain rate dependent behavior of TiO_(2)@CF/PDMS strain sensor was revealed when performing monotonic tests at varied strain rate.Therefore,introducing TiO_(2) nanowire on CF offers a new technique for fabricating flexible strain sensors with improved sensitivity for the application of flexible electronics.

Viscosity Transient Phenomenon in Drop Impact Testing of Soft Material

The authors carried out drop impact tests for several soft materials under a flat frontal impact condition in which a drop hammer with a flat bottom surface strikes a plate-like soft material in the normal direction. The experimental results indicated that the impact force waveforms of soft materials consisted of a thorn-shaped waveform and a subsequent mountain-shaped waveform. The thorn-shaped waveform was strongly affected by the strain rate. In the present study, the occurrence mechanism of this distinctive waveform was discussed from the viewpoint of the viscosity transient phenomenon. A standard linear solid (SLS) model in which the viscosity transient phenomenon was considered was applied to the simulation. Some features of the impact force waveform of soft materials could be explained by the SLS model. Furthermore, the thorn-shape waveform could also be observed in the impact force waveforms of human skin and free-falling hollow balls.

Non-uniqueness of critical solid fraction considering boundary conditions and strain-rate effects

The critical solid fraction(ϕJ),which marks the transition between the solid and liquid phases in the jamming diagram,is influenced by several factors.In this study,the dependency ofϕJ on strain rate and boundary conditions is examined through discrete element method simulations considering a frictionless polydisperse granular system.Different approaches are used to determineϕJ.The observed boundary effect is due to the nonuniform solid fraction distribution induced by the clustering of particles close to rigid-wall boundaries at high compression rates.The solid fraction distribution within the sample in the rigid-wall simulations approaches that in the periodic-boundary simulations as the compression rate decreases.With increasing compression rate,the major force transmission network contains fewer mechanically stable particles and a less stable force transmission network.This causes jamming of the granular assembly at a lower solid fraction.These force transmission networks,however,are fragile and disintegrate quickly upon relaxation.