Mechanical Behaviour and Structure Instability of Al_3Ti Alloy

Trialuminide alloys of elements such as Ti. Nb or Zr are of particular interest as materials for high temperature usage because their density is very low and specific strength and elastic rnoduli are then very high. This report concentrates on recent work on Al3Ti alloys which have been alloyed with ternary elements such that the higher symmetry ordered cubic structure is obtained, leading to somewhat easier operation of deformation mechan isms and hence improved ductility and toughness.Fine details of the crystal structure of cubic trialuminides are considered here and it is shown that the materials generally possess some remnant tetragonal chemical ordering which can affect their me chanical behaviour. In addition the compositional range over which a stable single phase is retained is shown to be extremely small, such that in most cases the materials examined show some form of microstructural instability. These instabilities affect the mechanical behaviour of the materials, for exarnple producing general strengthening. leading to precipitation hardening du ring hig h temperature testing, and causing age hardening instabilities during high temperature static or dynamic testing.Such structural instabifity feads to significant modifications at superdislocations, affecting both the dislocation cores and their associated APB's. Failure for these cubic materials still occurs at very small plastic strains and seems to be determined by difficulties of superdislocation creation near a propagating crack rather than by problems of suitable dislocation configuration and mobility. Possible ways to enhance ductility and toughness by alloying and microstructural modification will be discussed.

Structure instability forecasting and analysis of giant rock pillars in steeply dipping thick coal seams

Structure stability analysis of rock masses is essential for forecasting catastrophic structure failure in coal seam mining. Steeply dipping thick coal seams （SDTCS） are common in the Urumqi coalfield, and some dynamical hazards such as roof collapse and mining-induced seismicity occur frequently in the coal mines. The cause of these events is mainly structure instability in giant rock pillars sand- wiched between SDTCS. Developing methods to predict these events is important for safe mining in such a complex environment. This study focuses on understanding the structural mechanics model of a giant rock pillar and presents a viewpoint of the stability of a trend sphenoid fractured beam （TSFB）. Some stability index parameters such as failure surface dips were measured, and most dips were observed to be between 46° and 51°. We used a digital panoramic borehole monitoring system to measure the TSFB＇s height （△H）, which varied from 56.37 to 60.50 m. Next, FLAC^3D was used to model the distribution and evolution of vertical displacement in the giant rock pillars; the results confirmed the existence of a TSFB structure. Finally, we investigated the acoustic emission （AE） energy accumulation rate and observed that the rate commonly ranged from 20 to 40 kJ/min. The AE energy accumulation rate could be used to anticipate impeding seismic events related to structure failure. The results presented provide a useful approach for forecasting catastrophic events related to structure instability and for developing hazard prevention technology for mining in SDTCS.

Stability of roof structure and its control in steeply inclined coal seams

To improve the effectiveness of control of surrounding rock and the stability of supports on longwall topcoal caving faces in steeply inclined coal seams, the stability of the roof structure and hydraulic supports was studied with physical simulation and theoretical analysis. The results show that roof strata in the vicinity of the tail gate subside extensively with small cutting height, while roof subsidence near the main gate is relatively assuasive. With increase of the mining space, the caving angle of the roof strata above the main gate increases. The characteristics of the vertical and horizontal displacement of the roof strata demonstrate that caved blocks rotate around the lower hinged point of the roof structure, which may lead to sliding instability. Large dip angle of the coal seam makes sliding instability of the roof structure easier.A three-hinged arch can be easily formed above both the tail and main gates in steeply inclined coal seams. With the growth in the dip angle, subsidence of the arch foot formed above the main gate decreases significantly, which reduces the probability of the roof structure becoming unstable as a result of large deformation, while the potential of the roof structure's sliding instability above the tail gate increases dramatically.

On the physical model of earthquake precursor fields and the mechanism of precursors＇timespace distribution──origin and evidences of the strong body earthquake──generating model

According to the requirement of the project 'Establishment of the Physical Model of Earthquake PrecursorFields',this paper elucidates the train of thinking for research on the project and some scientific problems whichmust be studied i, the elucidation emphasizes that the core of this project is to study the conditions and processesof the generation of strong earthquakes. The paper first outlines the origin and development of the'strong-bodyearthquake-generating model' proposed by the author in the 1980;and then proves the reasonableness of themodel from three aspects, namely: deep structures, mechanical analysis and rock fracture experiments. Bystudying the tomographic image for the northern part of North China, it can be seen that the sources of strongearthquakes are all distributed in high-velocity bodies,or in the contact zone between high-velocity and lowvelocity bodies but nearer to the high-velocity body. It has been affirmed through studies of the mechanical modelsof hard and soft inclusions that the existence of a hard inclusion is an imPOrtant condition for the high concentration of large amounts of strain energy. A lot of theoretical and experimental studies have been made to investigate the conditions for rock instability; the results have consistently indicated that rock instability,sudden fracture and stress drop would be possible only if the stiffness of the source body is greater than the environmentalstiffness.

Mechanics of formation and rupture of human aneurysm

The mechanical response of the human arterial wall under the combined loading of inflation, axial extension, and torsion is examined within the framework of the large deformation hyper-elastic theory. The probability of the aneurysm formation is explained with the instability theory of structure, and the probability of its rupture is explained with the strength theory of material. Taking account of the residual stress and the smooth muscle activities, a two layer thick-walled circular cylindrical tube model with fiber-reinforced composite-based incompressible anisotropic hyper-elastic materials is employed to model the mechanical behavior of the arterial wall. The deformation curves and the stress distributions of the arterial wall are given under normal and abnormal conditions. The results of the deformation and the structure instability analysis show that the model can describe the uniform inflation deformation of the arterial wall under normal conditions, as well as formation and growth of an aneurysm under abnormal conditions such as the decreased stiffness of the elastic and collagen fibers. From the analysis of the stresses and the material strength, the rupture of an aneurysm may also be described by this model if the wall stress is larger than its strength.