ELASTIC-PLASTIC CRACK GROWTH ON PLANE STRAIN BIMATERIAL INTERFACE

Finite element computations are carried out to simulate plane strain crack growth on a bimaterial interface under the assumption of small scale yielding.The modified Guron constitutive equation and the element vanish technique introduced by Tvergaard et al.are used to model the final formation of an open crack.It is found from the calculation that the critical fracture toughness for crack growth is much low- er in bimaterials than that in homogeneous material.The critical fracture toughness is strongly dependent on material properties of the bimaterial pair and the mixed mode of remote loads.The interface crack grows in the more compliant(lower hardening)material or in the weaker(lower yield strength)material.In Mode-Ⅰ loading,the crack grows zigzag along the interface.

Kinetics of Spherical Interface in Crystal Growth

The growth kinetics of spherical NiAl and CuZr crystals are studied by using molecular dynamics simulations. The growth rates of crystals are found to increase with the grain radius. The simulations show that the interface thickness and the Jackson α-faetor increase as the growth proceeds, indicating that the interface becomes increasingly rough during growth. Due to the increasing interface roughening, the fraction of repeatable growth sites at interface f is proposed to actually increase in growth. An attachment rate, which is defined as the fraction of atoms that join the crystal interface without leaving, is used to approximate f, displaying a linear increase. With this approximation, we predict the growth rates as a function of the crystal radius, and the results qualitatively agree with those from the direct simulations.

Synthesis of hierarchical sieve-like mesoporous silica nanoparticle aggregates via centrifugal method for drug delivery system

A facile approach towards the synthesis of a novel hierarchical sieve-like structure of mesoporous silica nanoparticle aggregates(hsMSNA) is reported using a centrifugal method at room temperature, based on the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and soft-template method. The developed approach is simple and can potentially be applied for scaled-up preparation. Importantly, scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy, small-angle X-ray diffraction, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption experiments characterize the mesoporous silica as hsMSNA consisting of 40-100 nm mesoporous silica nanoparticles piled at 1-2 μm cylindrical pores in sieve-like tissues. Further, various pore sizes and sievemesh-, and vesicular-like structures can be obtained by adjusting the reaction conditions. The BrunauerEmmett-Teller specific surface area is as large as 500 m~2/g with a 47 cm~3/g pore volume, facilitating easy drug loading and delivery. Cytotoxicity assays show that the samples are not cytotoxic under a high concentration of 200μg/mL. Finally, the high drug encapsulation efficiency and sustained release behaviors indicats the considerable potential of the hsMSNA as a drug delivery system in the field of nanomedicine.

Current development in quantitative phase-field modeling of solidification

The quantitative phase-field simulations were reviewed on the processes of solidification of pure metals and alloys.The quantitative phase-field equations were treated in a diffuse thin-interface limit,which enabled the quantitative links between interface dynamics and model parameters in the quasi-equilibrium simulations.As a result,the quantitative modeling is more effective in dealing with microstructural pattern formation in the large scale simulations without any spurious kinetic effects.The development of the quantitative phase-field models in modeling the formation of microstructures such as dendritic structures,eutectic lamellas,seaweed morphologies,and grain boundaries in different solidified conditions was also reviewed with the purpose of guiding to find the new prospect of applications in the quantitative phase-field simulations.

Microstructure and secondary phases in epitaxial LaBaCo_2O_(5.5 + δ) thin films

Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy was employed to investigate the microstructures and secondary phases in LaBaCo2O5.5＋δ（LBCO） thin films grown on SrTiO3 （STO） substrates. The as-grown films showed an epitaxial growth on the substrates with atomically sharp interfaces and orientation relationships of [100]LBCO//[100]STO and （001）LBCO//（001）STO. Secondary phases were observed in the films, which strongly depended on the sample fabrication conditions. In the film prepared at a temperature of 900 ℃, nano-scale CoO pillars nucleated on the substrate, and grew along the [001] direction of the film. In the film grown at a temperature of 1000 ℃, isolated nano-scale C0304 particles appeared, which promoted the growth of {111 } twinning structures in the film. The orientation relationships and the interfaces between the secondary phases and the films were illustrated, and the growth mechanism of the film was discussed.