DETERMINATION OF MATERIAL PARAMETERS FOR COMPUTER SIMULATION OF SUPERPLASTIC FORMING PROCESSES

In order to analyze and simulate the complex super-plastic forming process by computer, a method of equal height bulging for determining material parameters m and K of the superplastic alloy is presented. The formulae related to the method are deduced in this paper. The accuracy of the method is available for evaluating the examples used in simulating the superplastic sheet-metal bulging processes.

EFFECTS OF DHATATIONAL PHASE TRANSFORMATION ON TARGET STRENGTH OF CERAMIC MATERIALS

The effects of dilatational phase transformation on the target strength of ceramic materi- als are investigated based on Tate's model.The constitutive behavior of materials in different regions (elastic,cracked,plastic and phase transformation)are taken into account.It is found that,with a proper choice of material parameters,the dilatational phase transformation can increase effectively the target strength R_t.This would be of importance in penetration-resistance design.

An experimental study on fracture mechanical behavior of rock-like materials containing two unparallel fissures under uniaxial compression

Strength and deformability characteristics of rock with pre-existing fissures are governed by cracking behavior. To further research the effects of pre-existing fissures on the mechanical properties and crack coalescence process, a series of uniaxial compression tests were carried out for rock-like material with two unparallel fissures.In the present study, cement, quartz sand, and water were used to fabricate a kind of brittle rock-like material cylindrical model specimen. The mechanical properties of rock-like material specimen used in this research were all in good agreement with the brittle rock materials. Two unparallel fissures（a horizontal fissure and an inclined fissure） were created by inserting steel during molding the model specimen.Then all the pre-fissured rock-like specimens were tested under uniaxial compression by a rock mechanics servocontrolled testing system. The peak strength and Young＇s modulus of pre-fissured specimen all first decreased and then increased when the fissure angle increased from 0？to 75？.In order to investigate the crack initiation, propagation and coalescence process, photographic monitoring was adopted to capture images during the entire deformation process.Moreover, acoustic emission（AE） monitoring technique was also used to obtain the AE evolution characteristic of prefissured specimen. The relationship between axial stress, AE events, and the crack coalescence process was set up： when a new crack was initiated or a crack coalescence occurred, thecorresponding axial stress dropped in the axial stress–time curve and a big AE event could be observed simultaneously.Finally, the mechanism of crack propagation under microscopic observation was discussed. These experimental results are expected to increase the understanding of the strength failure behavior and the cracking mechanism of rock containing unparallel fissures.

Rock parameters inversion for estimating the maximum heights of two failure zones in overburden strata of a coal seam

In order to enter effective parameters of rock mass in a numerical model,the relationships between mechanical parameters of rock and rock mass were obtained by an inversion method and an orthogonal test,given our measurements of the maximum heights of two failure zones in the Longdong coal mine. Using the maximum heights of the caving zone and the water-conducting fractured zone as test indices the modulus of elasticity,the Poisson ratio,cohesion and tension strength as test factors and different values of reduction enhancement factors as test levels,an orthogonal test was designed to obtain an optimum simulation scheme.From the analysis of different values of reduction enhancement factors which affect the test indices,an optimum factor combination for modification of parameters could be inferred.By using modified parameters in our numerical simulation,the maximum heights of the caving zone and the water-conducting fractured zone in the extensive Xiyi area were determined as 15.06 m and 36.92 m.These values were almost the same as those obtained by similar material simulation（8.5 m and 37.0 m）and empirical prediction（8.4 m and 34.4 m）.These results indicate that the modification of parameters is a rational method.

Rheological Behaviour for Polymer Melts and Concentrated SolutionsPart Ⅱ: Material Function with Nagai Chain Constraints and Determination of Their Parameters from Flow Curves

An integral constitutive equation and a set of material functions for describing the strain history of polymer melts were formulated in terms of the Cauchy-Green and Finger tensors. A simple memory function and the dependence of ηo and τt on M3.4 were derived from the theory of non-linear viscoelasticity with constraints of entanglements for polymer melts and substituted into the Oldroye-Walters-Fredickson constitutive equation. An integral constitutive equation for polymer melts was consequently obtained. Some material functions of the constitutive equation related to certain 'test flow' are examined as follows : (1) simple steady shear flow; (2) steady elongation flow; (3) small-amplitude oscillatory shear flow; (4) stress growth upon the inception of steady shear elongation flow; (5) stress relaxation (modulus and compllance). These theoretical relations for simple steady shear flow were compared with experimental data from our laboratory and references for various polymer melts and concentrated solutions. A good agreement between the theory and experiment was achieved.

A METHOD OF ESTIMATING THE INFLUENCE OF EXPERIMENTAL ERRORS ON THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS OF MATERIAL PARAMETERS AND THE CRITERIA TO VALUE THIS INFLUENCE

In this paper the main sources causing the scatter of the experimental results of the material parameters are discussed. They can be divided into two parts: one is the experimental errors which are introduced because of the inaccuracy of experimental equipment, the experimental techniques, etc., and the form of the scatter caused by this source is called external distribution. The other is due to the irregularity and inhomogeneity of the material structure and the randomness of deformation process. The scatter caused by this source is inherent and then this form of the scatter is called internal distribution. Obviously the experimental distribution of material parameters combines these two distributions in some way; therefore, it is a sum distribution of the external distribution and the internal distribution. In view of this , a general method used to analyse the influence of the experimental errors on the experimental results is presented, and three criteria used to value this influence are defined. An example in which the fracture toughness KIC is analysed shows that this method is reasonable, convenient and effective.

Material Parameters of a Structural Steel with Plastic Strain Memory

The present work is concerned with the characterization of hardening parameters for an elasto-plastic continuum model, taking into account the memory effect of plastic strain amplitude, in order to predict the hysteretic responses of a ferritic steel. This elasto-plastic three-dimensional model is based on the internal thermodynamic variables which composed of the nonlinear kinematic hardening and isotropic hardening with the plastic strain memorization. The emphasis is put on the determination of strain memory parameters along with other material parameters of the proposed model in order to better simulate the behavior of the material at different strain range. The material parameters are calibrated with the experimental stabilized loops of stress-strain curves available in the literature. The predicted stabilized loops from the simulation with the determined parameters show good agreement with the experimental results signifying the validity of the considered model.

Dynamic Characteristics Analysis and Vibration Experiment of Upper-time of Flight Counter (U-ToFC)

The dynamic characteristic parameters of Up-time of Flight Counter （U-ToFC） are important for research of structure optimization and reliability. However, the current simulation is performed based on homogenous material and simplified constraint model, the correct and reliability of results are difficult to be guaranteed. The finite element method based on identification of material parameters is proposed for this investigation on dynamic analysis, simulation and vibration experiment of the U-ToFC. The structure of the U-ToFC is complicated. Its＇ outside is made of aluminum alloy and inside contains electronic components such as capacitors, resistors, inductors, and integrated circuits. The accurate material parameters of model are identified difficultly. Hence, the parameters identification tests are performed to obtain the material parameters of this structure. On the basis of the above parameters, the experiment and FEA are conducted to the U-ToFC. In terms of the flight acceptance test level, and two kinds of joints condition between the U-ToFC and fixture are considered. The natural frequencies, vibration shapes and the response of the power spectral density of the U-ToFC are obtained. The results show simulation which is based on parameters identification is similar with vibration experiment in natural frequencies and responses. The errors are less than 10%. The vibration modes of simulation and experiment are consistent. The paper provides a more reliable computing method for the dynamic characteristic analysis of large complicated structure.

Spheroidization of molybdenum powder by radio frequency thermal plasma

To control the morphology and particle size of dense spherical molybdenum powder prepared by radio frequency（RF） plasma from irregular molybdenum powder as a precursor, plasma process parameters were optimized in this paper. The effects of the carrier gas flow rate and molybdenum powder feeding rate on the shape and size of the final products were studied. The molybdenum powder morphology was examined using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy. The powder phases were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The tap density and apparent density of the molybdenum powder were investigated using a Hall flow meter and a Scott volumeter. The optimal process parameters for the spherical molybdenum powder preparation are 50 g/min powder feeding rate and 0.6 m^3/h carrier gas rate. In addition, pure spherical molybdenum powder can be obtained from irregular powder, and the tap density is enhanced after plasma processing. The average size is reduced from 72 to 62 μm, and the tap density is increased from 2.7 to 6.2 g/cm^3. Therefore, RF plasma is a promising method for the preparation of high-density and high-purity spherical powders.

Nonsingularity in two-dimensional cylindrical invisible cloaks

The method of designing electromagnetic invisible cloaks is usually based on the form-invariance of Maxwell＇s equations in coordinate transformation. The exterior boundary of a cylindrical invisible cloak is unchanged and the interior boundary is extended from that of a point to that of a cylindrical region in coordination transformation. This transformation process makes perfect cloaks, but it causes singularity in the constitutive material parameters of cloaks. This singularity makes the cloaks impossible to realize in practice. In order to remove this singularity, this paper sets a small cylindrical region replacing a point in the space transformation. The cylindrical region is so small that it does not affect the invisibility effects, but it can remove the singularity for material parameters. Full wave simulations based on the finite element method were used to verify the designed cloaks.

Multi-window invisible cloaks

This paper reports that a general method of designing invisible cloaks is using variant constitutive material parameters to realize the space transformation. A hollow region can be hidden after this transformation. It was recently shown （Ma H, Qu S B, Xu Z and Wang J F 2009 Appl. Phys. Lett. 94 103501） that when the original point moves to the boundary of a cloak, the cloak can be designed to be open. Based on this theory, we propose multi-window invisible cloaks which can conceal a group of objects. Full wave simulations for invisible cloaks with regular and irregular shapes verified this method.

The Third-Order Viscoelastic Acoustic Model Enables an Ice-Detection System for a Smart Deicing of Wind-Turbine Blade Shells

The present work is based on the third-order partial differential equation (PDE) of acoustics of viscoelastic solids for the quasi-equilibrium (QE) component of the average normal stress. This PDE includes the stress-relaxation time (SRT) for the material and is applicable at any value of the SRT. The notion of a smart deicing system (SDS) for blade shells (BSs) of a wind turbine is specified. The work considers the stress in a BS as the one caused by the operational load on the BS. The work develops key design issues of a prospective ice-detection system (IDS) able to supply an array of the heating elements of an SDS with the element-individual spatiotemporal data and procedures for identification of the material parameters of atmospheric-ice (AI) layer accreted on the outer surfaces of the BSs. Both the SDS and IDS flexibly allow for complex, curvilinear and space-time-varying shapes of BSs. The proposed IDS presumes monitoring of the QE components of the normal stresses in BSs. The IDS is supposed to include an array of pressure-sensing resistors, also known as force-sensing resistors (FSRs), and communication hardware, as well as the parameter-identification software package (PISP), which provides the identification on the basis of the aforementioned PDE and the data measured by the FSRs. The IDS does not have hardware components located outside the outer surfaces of, or implanted in, BSs. The FSR array and communication hardware are reliable, and both cost- and energy-efficient. The present work extends methods of structural-health/operational-load monitoring (SH/OL-M) with measurements of the operational-load-caused stress in closed solid shells and, if the prospective PISP is used, endows the methods with identification of material parameters of the shells. The identification algorithms that can underlie the PISP are computationally efficient and suitable for implementation in the real-time mode. The identification model and algorithms can deal with not only the single-layer systems such as the BS layer without the AI layer or two-layer systems but also multi-layer systems. The outcomes can be applied to not only BSs of wind turbines but also non-QE closed single- or multi-layer deformable solid shells of various engineering systems (e.g., the shells of driver or passenger compartments of ships, cars, busses, airplanes, and other vehicles). The proposed monitoring of the normal-stress QE component in the mentioned shells extends the methods of SH/OL-M. The topic for the nearest research is a better adjustment of the settings for the FSR-based measurement of the mentioned components and a calibration of the parameter-identification model and algorithms, as well as the resulting improvement of the PISP.

Perfect invisibility concentrator with simplified material parameters

We present a series of invisibility concentrators with simplified material parameters beyond trans- formation optics. One of them can achieve the perfect invisible effect at frequencies of Fabry-Perot resonances, while others have very small scattering. The required materials are feasible in practice. Analytical calculations and numerical simulations confirm the functionalities of these devices.

Identification of the Material Parameters of Laminated Plates

A scheme is developed to identify the material parameters of laminated plates using mathematical optimization and measured eigenfrequencies of the object. The object function of the optimization is defined as the difference between the measured frequencies and the computed frequencies of the laminated plates. The sensitivity of the structural eigenvalue with respect to the material parameters is analyzed. A numerical example is presented to show the feasibility of the scheme.

Effect of Oxidation-Induced Material Parameter Variation on the High Temperature Oxidation Behavior of Nickel

In high temperature oxidation environment, the oxidation reaction will induce variations in material parameters, such as Young's modulus, thermal expansion coefficient (CTE), coefficient of oxygen diffusion (COD), etc. The oxidation -induced material parameter variations should be considered in high temperature mechanical analysis. In this paper, high temperature oxidation behavior of an oxide film/metal substrate system was investigated through a modified phase field approach. The oxidative stress and oxidation weight gain induced by high temperature oxidation were studied. Effects of Young's modulus, COD and CTE on oxidative stress in the oxide film were studied particularly. The simulation results showed that a better agreement with the experimental results could be obtained when considering the oxidation -induced material parameter variations in the high temperature mechanical analysis of oxide film/metal substrate system. The simulation results demonstrated that oxidative stress and oxidation weight gain were more sensitive to the variation of Young's modulus than to the variations of COD and CTE.

A macro-mechanical constitutive model for shape memory polymer

It is of theoretical and engineering interest to establish a macro-mechanical constitutive model of the shape memory polymer (SMP), which includes the mechanical constitutive equation and the material parameter function, from the viewpoint of practical application. In this paper, a new three-dimensional macro-mechanical constitutive equation, which describes the mechanical behaviors associated with the shape memory effect of SMP, is developed based on solid mechanics and the viscoelasticity theorem. According to the results of the DMA test, a new material parameter function is established to express the relationship of the material parameters and temperature during the glass transition of SMP. The new macro-mechanical constitutive equation and material parameter function are used to numerically simulate the process producing the shape memory effect of SMP, which includes deforming at high temperature, stress freezing, unloading at low temperature and shape recovery. They are also used to investigate and analyze the influences of loading rate and temperature change rate on the thermo-mechanical behaviors of SMP. The numerical results and the comparisons with Zhou’s material parameter function and Tobushi’s mechanical constitutive equation illustrate that the proposed three-dimensional macro-mechanical constitutive model can effectively predict the thermo-mechanical behaviors of SMP under the state of complex stress.