Calibration of Discrete Element Heat Transfer Parameters by Central Composite Design

The efficiency and precision of parameter calibration in discrete element method （DEM） are not satisfactory, and parameter calibration for granular heat transfer is rarely involved. Accordingly, parameter calibration for granular heat transfer with the DEM is studied. The heat transfer in granular assemblies is simulated with DEM, and the effective thermal conductivity （ETC） of these granular assemblies is measured with the transient method in simulations. The measurement testbed is designed to test the ETC of the granular assemblies under normal pressure and a vacuum based on the steady method. Central composite design （CCD） is used to simulate the impact of the DEM parameters on the ETC of granular assemblies, and the heat transfer parameters are calibrated and compared with experimental data. The results show that, within the scope of the considered parameters, the ETC of the granular assemblies increases with an increasing particle thermal conductivity and decreases with an increasing particle shear modulus and particle diameter. The particle thermal conductivity has the greatest impact on the ETC of granular assemblies followed by the particle shear modulus and then the particle diameter. The calibration results show good agreement with the experimental results. The error is less than 4%, which is within a reasonable range for the scope of the CCD parameters. The proposed research provides high efficiency and high accuracy parameter calibration for granular heat transfer in DEM.

DETECTION OF DELAMINATION IN A COMPOSITE PLATE BY SEM

A numerical method of integration of Green's functions of strip element method (SEM) is proposed The response of ultrasonic source generated by a transducer on the surface of a multi ply composite plate containing a delamination is analyzed by the use of SEM The numerical results show that the scanning features of the ultrasonic waves may be used to identify the delamination inside the composite plate.

Microwave absorption properties of Ag naowires/carbon black composites

The composite that can absorb the high-performance electromagnetic（EM） wave is constructed into a sandwiched structure composed of carbon black（CB）/ethylene-vinyl acetate（EVA） and Ag naowires（Ag NWs）. The Ag NWs sandwiched between two CB/EVA layers are used to improve the absorption properties of composite. The effects of EVA-to-CB weight ratio, concentration and diameter of Ag NWs with a thickness of 0.4 mm on microwave absorption are investigated.The results indicate that for an EVA-to-CB weight ratio of 1：3, Ag NW concentration of 1.0 mg/100 m L, and average diameter of 56 nm, the reflection loss（RL） of the composite is below-10 d B in a frequency range of 9.3 Ghz–18.0 GHz, with the minimum values of-40.0 d B and-25.6 d B at 13.5 GHz and 15.3 GHz, respectively. A finite element method（FEM）is used for calculating the RL of the composite. The calculated results are in agreement with the experimental data.

COMPOSITE ELEMENT MODEL FOR ROCK MASS SEEPAGE FLOW

In this paper, the algorithm developed on the concept of the Composite Element Method （CEM） is proposed for the seepage flow in discontinuous rock masses, The basic idea is that if an element contains one or more discontinuity segments, it will be denoted as a composite element having a set of hydraulic potential values defined at its nodes. By the variation principle, the governing equation can be established to solve the unknown hydraulic potential values at the composite element nodes. The main advantage of the proposed model is that the generation of calculation mesh will not be restricted strongly by the number, the position and the orientation of the discontinuities, A numerical example is presented at the end of the paper, to show the validity of the proposed model.

Theoretical aspects of selecting repeated unit cell model in micromechanical analysis using displacement-based finite element method

Repeated Unit Cell（RUC）is a useful tool in micromechanical analysis of composites using Displacement-based Finite Element（DFE）method,and merely applying Periodic Displacement Boundary Conditions（PDBCs）to RUC is almost a standard practice to conduct such analysis.Two basic questions arising from this practice are whether Periodic Traction Boundary Conditions（PTBCs,also known as traction continuity conditions）are guaranteed and whether the solution is independent of selection of RUCs.This paper presents the theoretical aspects to tackle these questions,which unify the strong form,weak form and DFE method of the micromechanical problem together.Specifically,the solution’s independence of selection of RUCs is dealt with on the strong form side,PTBCs are derived from the weak form as natural boundary conditions,and the validity of merely applying PDBCs in micromechanical Finite Element（FE）analysis is proved by referring to its intrinsic connection to the strong form and weak form.Key points in the theoretical aspects are demonstrated by illustrative examples,and the merits of setting micromechanical FE analysis under the background of a clear theoretical framework are highlighted in the efficient selection of RUCs for Uni Directional（UD）fiber-reinforced composites.

Fracture Behavior of Epoxy Asphalt Pavement on Steel Bridges based on Optical Fiber Sensing Technology and Numerical Simulation

The distributed optical fiber sensing technology was used to investigate the fracture behavior of the Epoxy Asphalt Mixture. The spatial distribution and variation of the strain development with crack propagation were acquired using the brillouin optical time-domain reflectometer through the loading experiments of the composite beam structure. In addition, a finite element model of the composite beam structure was developed to analyze the mechanical responses of the epoxy asphalt mixture using the extended finite element method. The experimental results show that the development of crack propagation becomes instable with the increase of the load, and larger loads will generate deeper cracks. Moreover, the numerical results show that the mechanical response of the crack tip changes with the crack propagation, and the worst areas that subjected to crack damage are located on both sides of the composite beam structure.

Domain Decomposition Preconditioners for Discontinuous Galerkin Discretizations of Compressible Fluid Flows

In this article we consider the application of Schwarz-type domain decomposition preconditioners to the discontinuous Galerkin finite element approximation of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations.To discretize this system of conservation laws,we exploit the(adjoint consistent)symmetric version of the interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin finite element method.To define the necessary coarse-level solver required for the definition of the proposed preconditioner,we exploit ideas from composite finite element methods,which allow for the definition of finite element schemes on general meshes consisting of polygonal(agglomerated)elements.The practical performance of the proposed preconditioner is demonstrated for a series of viscous test cases in both two-and three-dimensions.