Effect of Low-Pressure Nitrogen DC Plasma Treatment on the Surface Properties of Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene, Poly (Methyl Methacrylate) and Polyvinyl Chloride Films

In this study, commercial biaxially oriented polypropylene （BOPP）, polyvinyl chlo- ride （PVC） and poly （methyl methacrylate） （PMMA） films were treated with nitrogen plasma over different exposure times in a Pyrex tube surrounded by a DC variable magnetic field. The chemi- cal changes that appeared on the surface of the samples were investigated using Fourier transform infrared （FT4R） spectroscopy and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared （ATR- FTIR） spectroscopy after treatment for 2 min, 4 min and 6 rain in a nitrogen plasma chamber. Effects of the plasma treatment on the surface topographies and contact angles of the untreated and plasma treated films were also analyzed by atomic force microscopy （AFM） and a contact angle measuring system. The results show that the plasma treated films become more hydrophilic with an enhanced wettability due to the formation of some new polar groups on the surface of the treated films. Moreover, at higher exposure times, the total surface energy in all treated films increased while a reduction in contact angle occurred. The behavior of surface roughness in each sample was completely different at higher exposure times.

Deposition and characterization of YBCO/CeO2/YSZ/CeO2 multilayers on biaxially textured Ni substrates

CeO2/YSZ/CeO2 buffer layers were deposited on biaxially textured Ni substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The influence of the processing parameters on the texture development of the seed layer CeO2 was investigated. Epitaxial films of YBCO were then grown in situ on the CeO2/YSZ （yttria-stabilized ZrO2）/CeO2-buffered Ni substrates. The resulting YBCO conductors exhibited self-fleld critical current density Jc of more than 1 MA/cm^2 at 77K and superconducting transition temperature Tc of about 91K.

Improvement of Surface Morphology of Yttrium-Stabilized Zirconia Films Deposited by Pulsed Laser Deposition on Rolling Assisted Biaxially Textured Substrate Tapes

The surface morphology of buffer layer yttrium-stabilized zirconia （YSZ） of YBa2CuaO7-σ （YBCO） high temperature superconducting films relies on a series of controllable experimental parameters. In this work, we focus on the influence of pulsed laser frequency and target crystalline type on surface morphology of YSZ films deposited by pulsed laser deposition （PLD） on rolling assisted biaxially textured substrate tapes. Usually two kinds of particles are observed in the YSZ layer： randomly distributed ones on the whole film and self-assembled ones along grain boundaries. SEM images are used to prove that particles can be partly removed when choosing dense targets of single crystalline. Lower frequency of pulsed laser also contributes to a smoother film surface. TEM images are used to view the crystalline structure of thin film. Thus we can obtain a basic understanding of how to prepare a particle-free YSZ buffer layer for YBCO in optimized conditions using PLD. The YBCO layer with nice structure and critical current density of around 5 MA/cm2 can be reached on smooth YSZ samples.

Frequency Domain Fatigue Evaluation on SCR Girth-Weld Based on Structural Stress

The Steel Catenary Riser(SCR)is a vital component for transporting oil and gas from the seabed to the floating platform.The harsh environmental conditions and complex platform motion make the SCR’s girth-weld prone to fatigue failure.The structural stress fatigue theory and Master S-N curve method provide accurate predictions for the fatigue damage on the welded joints,which demonstrate significant potential and compatibility in multi-axial and random fatigue evaluation.Here,we propose a new frequency fatigue model subjected to welded joints of SCR under multiaxial stress,which fully integrates the mesh-insensitive structural stress and frequency domain random process and transforms the conventional welding fatigue technique of SCR into a spectrum analysis technique utilizing structural stress.Besides,a full-scale FE model of SCR with welds is established to obtain the modal structural stress of the girth weld and the frequency response function(FRF)of modal coordinate,and a biaxial fatigue evaluation about the girth weld of the SCR can be achieved by taking the effects of multi-load correlation and pipe-soil interaction into account.The research results indicate that the frequency-domain fatigue results are aligned with the time-domain results,meeting the fatigue evaluation requirements of the SCR.

CeO_2 thin films grown on biaxially textured nickel(001)

CeO\-2 films have been grown on biaxially textured Ni substrates at various temperatures. The results show that CeO\-2 films without IBAD are dominated by (111) orientation from room temperature to 800℃ while the preferential orientation of CeO\-2 films with IBAD is (001) at lower deposition temperature and (111) at deposition temperature higher than 450℃. CeO\-2 films with better in_plane texture and out_of_plane orientation can be grown at 360℃ with 240 eV ion energy and 200 μA/cm\+2 ion current density.

Undrained semi-analytical solution for cylindrical cavity expansion in anisotropic soils under biaxial stress conditions

This paper presents an undrained semi-analytical elastoplastic solution for cylindrical cavity expansion in anisotropic soil under the biaxial stress conditions.The advanced simplified SANICLAY model is used to simulate the elastoplastic behavior of soil.The cavity expansion is treated as an initial value problem and solved as a system of eight first-order ordinary differential equations including four stress components and four anisotropic parameters.The results are validated by comparing the new solutions with existing ones.The distributions of stress components and anisotropic parameters around the cavity wall,the expansion process,the stress yield trajectory of a soil element and the shape and size of elastoplastic boundary are further investigated to explore the cavity expansion response of soils under biaxial in situ stresses.The results of extensive parameters analysis demonstrate that the circumferential position of the soil element and the anisotropy of the soils have noticeable impacts on the expansion response under biaxial in situ stresses.Since the present solution not only considers the anisotropy and anisotropy evolution of natural soil,but also eliminates the conventional assumption of uniform radial pressure,the solution is better than other theoretical solutions to explain the pressure test and pile installation effect of shallow saturated soil.

Experimental study on lightweight expanded clay at particle level:Breakage of isolated grains

In this study,more than 1500 particles of lightweight expanded clay aggregate(LECA)are individually loaded up to breakage,following different patterns of contact(from 2 to 7)using a purpose-built apparatus.Consequently,a statistical model for predicting the number of fragments into which a grain breaks as a function of the number of contacts and their diameter is proposed.The number of fragments is found to follow a statistical binomial-type distribution function that depends on the number of contacts.In addition,a model based on Bayesian networks,capable of assessing the number of fragments and their size(measured as normalized weight)as a function of the number of contacts,is implemented.The proposed method is applicable when performing discrete element method(DEM)simulations on granular media in which grain breakage plays a relevant role.

Experimental Study and Failure Criterion Analysis of Rubber Fibre Reinforced Concrete under Biaxial Compression-Compression

In order to examine the biaxial compression-compression properties of rubber fibre reinforced concrete(RFRC),an experimental study on RFRC under different lateral compressive stresses was carried out by considering different rubber replacement rates and polypropylene fibre contents.The failure modes and mechanical property parameters of different RFRC working conditions were obtained from the experiment to explore the effects of rubber replacement rate and polypropylene fibre content on the biaxial compression-compression properties of RFRC.The following conclusions were drawn.Under the influence of lateral compressive stress,the biaxial compression-compression failure mode gradually developed from a columnar pattern to a flaky pattern,suggesting that the incorporation of rubber and polypropylene fibres into the concrete resulted in a significant change in the development of cracks.For different rubber replacement rates and polypropylene fibre contents,the vertical compressive stress exhibited the same developing trend under the influence of lateral compressive stress.Specifically,the lateral compressive stress imposed the minimum effect on the vertical compressive stress when the rubber replacement rate and polypropylene fibre content were 20%and 0.4%,respectively,and imposed the maximum effect when the rubber replacement rate and polypropylene fibre content were 20%and 0%,respectively.With the increase of rubber replacement rate,the vertical peak stress was significantly reduced,which implies that an appropriate amount of polypropylene fibres can increase the vertical peak stress to a certain extent.Then,the biaxial compression-compression mechanism of RFRC was analysed from the microscopic level by using scanning electron microscope(SEM).Meanwhile,based on Kupfer’s biaxial compression-compression failure criterion and the octahedral stress space,a biaxial compression-compression failure criterion for RFRC was proposed,which was proven to have good applicability.The research results of this study provide important theoretical basis for the engineering application and development of RFRC.

Research on the Follow-Up Control Strategy of Biaxial Fatigue Test of Wind Turbine Blade Based on Electromagnetic Excitation

Aiming at the drift problem that the tracking control of the actual load relative to the target load during the electromagnetic excitation biaxial fatigue test of wind turbine blades is easy to drift,a biaxial fatigue testingmachine for electromagnetic excitation is designed,and the following strategy of the actual load and the target load is studied.A Fast Transversal Recursive Least Squares algorithm based on fuzzy logic(Fuzzy FTRLS)is proposed to develop a fatigue loading following dynamic strategy,which adjusts the forgetting factor in the algorithmthrough fuzzy logic to overcome the contradiction between convergence accuracy and convergence speed and solve the phenomenon of amplitude overshoot and phase lag of the actual load relative to the target load.Combined with the previous research results,a simulation model was constructed to verify the strategy’s effectiveness.Field tests were carried out to verify its follow-up effect.The results showthat the tracking error of flapwise and edgewise direction iswithin 4%,which has better robustness and dynamic and static performance than the traditional Recursive Least Squares(RLS)algorithm.

Experimental study of hollow rectangular bridge column performance under vertical and cyclically bilateral loads

To investigate the seismic performance of hollow reinforced concrete （RC） bridge columns of rectangular cross section under constant axial load and cyclically biaxial bending, five specimens were tested. A parametric study is carried out for different axial load ratios, longitudinal reinforcement ratios and lateral reinforcement ratios. The experimental results showed that all tested specimens failed in the flexural failure mode and their ultimate performance was dominated by flexural capacity, which is represented by the rupture/buckling of tensile longitudinal rebars at the bottom of the bridge columns. Biaxial force and displacement hysteresis loops showed significant stiffness and strength degradations, and the pinching effect and coupling interaction effect of both directions severely decrease the structural seismic resistance. However, the measured ductility coefficient varying from 3.5 to 5.7 and the equivalent viscous damping ratio varying from 0.19 and 0.26 can meet the requirements of the seismic design. The hollow RC rectangular bridge columns with configurations of lateral reinforcement in this study have excellent performance under bidirectional earthquake excitations, and may be considered as a substitute for current hollow RC rectangular section configurations described in the Guideline for Seismic Design of Highway Bridges （JTG/T B02-01-2008）. The length of the plastic hinge region was found to approach one sixth of the hollow RC rectangular bridge column height for all specimen columns, and it was much less than those specified in the current JTG/T. Thus, the length of the plastic hinge region is more concentrated for RC rectangular hollow bridge columns.

Strength criterion of composite solid propellants under dynamic loading

Based on the dynamic loading(1-100 s^(-1)) experiments under different temperatures(223-298 K) and stress states, uniaxial and biaxial strength criterion of a Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene(HTPB)based composite solid propellant were further investigated. These experiments were conducted through the use of a new uniaxial INSTRON testing machine, different new designed gripping apparatus and samples with different configurations. According to the test results, dynamic uniaxial tensile strength criterion of the propellant was directly constructed with the master curve of the uniaxial maximum tensile stress. Whereas, a new method was proposed to determine the dynamic uniaxial compressive strength of the propellant in this study. Then uniaxial compressive strength criterion of the propellant was constructed based on the related master curve. Moreover, it found that the uniaxial tensilecompressive strength ratio of the propellant is more sensitive to loading temperature under the test conditions. The value of this parameter is about 0.4 at room temperature, and it reduces to 0.2-0.3 at low temperatures. Finally, the theoretical biaxial strength criterion of HTPB propellant under dynamic loading was constructed with the unified strength theory, the uniaxial strength and the typical biaxial tensile strength. In addition, the theoretical limit lines of the principal stress plane for the propellant under dynamic loading at different temperatures were further plotted, and the scope of the limit line increases with decreasing temperature.

Simulation on Residual Stress of Shot Peening Based on a Symmetrical Cell Model

The symmetrical cell model is widely used to study the residual stress induced by shot peening. However, the correlation between the predicted residual stresses and the shot peening coverage, which is a big challenge for the researchers of the symmetrical cell model, is still not established. Based on the dynamic stresses and the residual stresses outputted from the symmetrical cell model, the residual stresses corresponding to full coverage are evalu- ated by normal distribution analysis. The predicted nodal dynamic stresses with respect to four corner points indicate that the equi-biaxial stress state exists only for the first shot impact. Along with the increase of shot number, the interactions of multiple shot impacts make the fluctuation of the nodal dynamic stresses about an almost identical value more and more obvious. The mean values and standard deviations of the residual stresses gradually tend to be stable with the increase of the number of shot peening series. The mean values at each corner point are almost the same after the third peening series, which means that an equi-biaxial stress state corresponding to the full coverage of shot peening is achieved. Therefore, the mean values of the nodal residual stresses with respect to a specific transverse cross-section below the peened surface can be used to correlate the measured data by X-ray. The predicted residual stress profile agrees with the experimental results very well under 200% peening coverage. An effective correlation method is proposed for the nodal residual stresses predicted by the symmetrical cell model and the shot peening coverage.

Effect of Plastic Anisotropy on the Formability of Aluminum 6016-T4 Sheet Material

Sheet metal formed of lightweight materials such as aluminum sheeting has received great attention related to the reduction of vehicle emissions. This paper evaluates the anisotropic yield locus using Kuwabara＇s biaxial tensile tester and stretches formability using Hecker＇s hemispheri- cal punch stretching test for aluminum 6016-T4 sheet material. The anisotropic yield locus of the A16016-T4 sheet measured is fitted well by the modified Drucker yield func- tion. Moreover the best fitting to the experimental stress- strain curve from the tensile test was obtained by taking an appropriate hardening model. Analytical study to predict the stretch formability by using Hora＇s Modified Maximum Force Criterion （MMFC） was performed. The predicted forming limit curves （FLC） based on various yield functions were compared with the experiments and discussed.

ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS TO STRESS CONCENTRATION PROBLEM IN PLATES CONTAINING RECTANGULAR HOLE UNDER BIAXIAL TENSIONS

The stress concentration problem in structures with a circular or elliptic hole can be investigated by analytical methods. For the problem with a rectangular hole, only approximate results are derived. This paper deduces the analytical solutions to the stress concentration problem in plates with a rectangular hole under biaxial tensions. By using the U-transformation technique and the finite element method, the analytical displacement solutions of the finite element equations are derived in the series form. Therefore, the stress concentration can then be discussed easily and conveniently. For plate problem the bilinear rectangular element with four nodes is taken as an example to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method. The stress concentration factors for various ratios of height to width of the hole are obtained.

Spatio-temporal characteristics of acoustic emission during the deformation of rock samples with compressional and extensional en-echelon faults

The spatio-temporal characteristics of acoustic emission (AE) during the deformation of rock samples with compressional and extensional en-echelon faults have been studied. The results show that the pre-existing structure can significantly influence the patterns of AE spatial distribution. With increasing of differential stress, AE events firstly cluster around the two ends of pre-existing faults inside the jog and then along the line joining the two ends. The biggish AE events often occur around one end repeatedly. The image of AE clusters indicates the direction and the area of the fracture propagation. The direction of the macroscopic fracture in extensional and compressional jogs is perpendicular and parallel to the direction of axial stress, respectively. The weakening process before the fracturing of jog area is remarkable, and one of the typical precursors for the instability is that the cumulative frequency of AE events increases exponentially. After the fracturing of the jog the frequency and releasing strain energy of AE events decrease gradually. During the friction period, there is no precursory increasing of AE activity before the big stick-slip events. The change of b value in jog shows a typical change of decreasing tendentiously returning quickly before the instability. The decrease of b value occurs in the process of stress increasing and sometime goes down to the weakening stage, and the quick increase b values appears in a short time just before the instability. The comparative analysis shows that the difference in b value due to the different structures is larger than b value variation caused by increase of the differential stress. For the same sample, the temporal sequence of AE is strongly affected by the mechanical state, and the high loading velocity corresponds to the high release rate of strain energy and low b value. Due to its lower failure strength, the broken area is sensitive to small changes in differential stress. Therefore, it offers a potential explanation for the phenomena of precursory window or sensitive point and separation of seismic source and precursors.

Experimental investigation on fracturing process of marble under biaxial compression

In this study,servo-controlled biaxial compression tests were conducted on marble specimens to investigate their failure characteristics and fracturing process.The complete stressestrain curves were obtained,and the three-dimensional(3D)features of the failure surfaces were acquired by 3D laser scanning.Acoustic emission(AE)monitoring and moment tensor(MT)analysis were used in combination to better understand the fracturing mechanism of marble under biaxial compression.It was noted that a type of 3D stepwise cracking behaviour occurred on the fracturing surfaces of the examined specimens.The stress dropped multiple times,and a repeated fracturing mode corresponding to the repeated stress drops in the post-peak regime was observed.Three substages,i.e.stress stabilisation,stress decrease and stress increase,were identified for a single fracturing mode.Then quantitative and statistical analyses of the fracturing process at each substage were discussed.Based on the testing results,it was found that at the stress stabilisation substage,the proportion of mixed-mode fractures increased.At the stress decrease substage,the proportion of mixed-mode fractures decreased,and the tensile or shear fractures increased.At the stress increase substage,the proportion of mixed-mode or tensile fractures decreased,and the shear fractures increased.Finally,a conceptual model for the stepwise crack formation was proposed.

Effects of Biaxial Tensile on the Deformation Behavior of DP590 High-strength Steel Sheet under High Strain Rate

The effects of biaxial tensile pre-strain on the forming limit of DP590 high-strength steel under high strain rate were investigated. The stress-strain curves of DP590 steel sheet under the biaxial tensile of different load ratios were obtained. The forming limit diagrams（FLDs） of DP590 steel sheet under biaxial tensile pre-strain and electromagnetic hybrid forming were established. Results showed that the biaxial tensile pre-strain had significant effects on the formability of DP590 steel. The pre-strain in a certain range improved the forming limit of DP590 steel under high rate, and the forming limit increased with the pre-strain. The prestrain in the same direction of high rate increased the forming limit of the final deformation under complex strain paths conditions, but the pre-strain in the vertical direction decreased the minor strain under the high strain rate.

The Behavior of Rectangular and Circular Reinforced Concrete Columns Under Biaxial Multiple Excitation

The aim of this study is to investigate the dynamic performance of rectangular and circular reinforced concrete(RC)columns considering biaxial multiple excitations.For this purpose,an advanced nonlinear finite element model which can simulate various features of cyclic degradation in material and structural components is used.The implemented nonlinear fiber beam-column model accounts for inelastic buckling and low-cycle fatigue degradation of longitudinal reinforcement and can simulate multiple failure modes of RC columns under dynamic loading.Hypothetical rectangular and circular columns are used to investigate the failure modes of RC columns.A detailed ground motion selection is implemented to generate real mainshock and aftershocks.It was found that multiple excitations due to aftershock has the potential of increasing the damage of the RC columns and longitudinal reinforcements are significantly affected low-cycle fatigue.Also,it was found that rectangular column is more sensitive to accumulative damage due to cyclic fatigue.This study increases the accuracy of structural analysis of RC columns and consequently improves understanding the failure modes of RC columns with different cross-sectional shapes.

Seismic performance of precast bridge columns connected with grouted corrugated-metal duct through biaxial quasi-static experiment and modeling

In this paper,the seismic behaviors of precast bridge columns connected with grouted corrugated-metal duct(GCMD)were investigated through the biaxial quasi-static experiment and numerical simulation.With a geometric scale ratio of 1:5,five specimens were fabricated,including four precast bridge columns connected with GCMD and one cast-in-place(CIP)bridge column.A finite element analysis model was also established by using OpenSees and was then calibrated by using the experimental results for parameter analysis.The results show the biaxial seismic performance of the precast bridge columns connected with GCMD was similar to the CIP bridge columns regarding ultimate bearing capacity and hysteresis energy,and further,that it could meet the design goal of equivalent performance.The seismic performance of the precast bridge columns connected with GCMD deteriorated more significantly under bi-directional load than under uni-directional load.A proper slenderness ratio(e.g.,7.0-10.0)and longitudinal reinforcement ratio could significantly improve the energy dissipation capacity and deformation capacity of the precast bridge columns,while the axial load ratio and concrete strength had little influence on the above properties.The research results could bring insights to the development of the seismic design of precast bridge columns connected with GCMD.

Quantitative analysis with plastic strain indicators to estimate damage induced by fault-slip

In the present study, methodologies to evaluate damage around an underground opening due to seismic waves arising from mining-induced fault-slip are examined. First, expressions for an associated flow rule with a failure criterion are developed for biaxial stress conditions, which are implemented into FLAC3D code. A three-dimensional(3D) mine model encompassing a fault running parallel to a steeply dipping orebody is constructed, whereby static and dynamic analyses are performed to extract stopes and simulate fault-slip in dynamic condition, respectively. In the analysis, the developed biaxial model is applied to the stope wall. The fault-slip simulation is performed, considering shearing of fault surface asperities and resultant stress drop driving the fault-slip. Two methodologies to evaluate damage caused by seismic waves arising from the simulated fault-slip are examined:(i) the ratio of dynamic plastic strain increment to elastic strain limit and(ii) plastic strain energy density. For the former one, two types of strain increments are tested, namely effective shear strain increment and volumetric strain increment.The results indicate that volumetric strain increment is a suitable index for detecting damage near the stope wall, while effective shear strain increment is appropriate for evaluating damage in backfill. The evaluation method with plastic strain energy density is found to be capable of assessing damage accumulated in an extensive area caused by rock mass oscillation due to seismic wave propagation. Possible damage to mine developments in the proximity of a stope is clearly described with the index. The comparison of the two methods clarifies that the former one assesses "instantaneous" damage, which is found to be different from "accumulated" damage calculated using plastic strain energy density, in terms of damage area and its location. It is thus concluded that the combination of the two methodologies leads to more accurate damage assessment as a proper measure against rockburst.