Advanced test methods of material property characterization:high strain-rate testing and experimental simulation of multiaxial stress states

Optimum utilization of the loading capability of engineering materials is an important and active contribution to protect nature's limited resources,and it is the key for economic design methods.In order to make use of the materials' resources,those must be known very well;but conventional test methods will offer only limited informational value.The range of questions raised is as wide as the application of engineering materials,and partially they are very specific.The development of huge computer powers enables numeric modelling to simulate structural behaviour in rather complex loading environments-so the real material behaviour is known under the given loading conditions.Here the art of material testing design starts.To study the material behaviour under very distinct and specific loading conditions makes it necessary to simulate different temperature ranges,loading speeds, environments etc.and mostly there doesn't exist any commonly agreed test standard.In this contribution two popular,non-standard test procedures and test systems will be discussed on the base of their application background,special design features as well as test results and typically gained information:The demand for highspeed tests up to 1000 s^(-1) of strain rate is very specific and originates primarily in the automotive industry and the answers enable CAE analysis of crashworthiness of vehicle structures under crash conditions.The information on the material behaviour under multiaxial loading conditions is a more general one.Multiaxial stress states can be reduced to an equivalent stress,which allows the evaluation of the material's constraint and criticality of stress state.Both discussed examples shall show that the open dialogue between the user and the producer of testing machines allows custom-tailored test solutions.

Strain-based design for buried pipelines subjected to landslides

Landslides are one of the key problems for stability analysis of pipelines in the western region of China where the geological conditions are extremely complicated. In order to offer a theoretical basis for the pipe-soil interaction, the general finite element program ABAQUS is used to analyze the distribution of pipe strain caused by landslide through which the pipeline passes. In this paper the Ramberg-Osgood constitutive equation is used to study the strain-based mechanical characteristics of pipelines. Different calculation schemas are designed by considering the change of spatial relationship between pipeline and landslide, and the change of D/t, diameter-thickness ratio of pipeline. The results indicate that the pipeline is primarily subjected to tension stress when the landslide crosses the pipeline perpendicularly, the pipe strain is a maximum along the central axis of the landslide, and reverse bending occurs on pipeline at both edges of the landslide. The pipeline is primarily subjected to friction force caused by the downward movement of the landslide, and the friction force is relatively small when the landslide is parallel to the pipeline. The pipe strain is in proportional to D/t, and this means decreasing D/t can help to improve security of pipelines subjected to the landslide.

EFFECT OF COPPER AND BORON CONTENT ON STRAIN-INDUCED Nb(C,N) PRECIPITATION IN ULCB STEELS AT HOT DEFORMATION TEMPERATURE

The stress relaxation curves of Ultra-Low Carbon Bainitic(ULCB) steels with different Cu and B contents were measured by using Gleeble-1500 dynamic thermal-mechanical simulator. The results show that Cu and B added can accelerate the strain-induced precipitation reaction, and the effect of Cu and B is even more obvious with Cu and B combined addition or Cu content increased. The TEM analysis of precipitate engendered at the temperature of 850℃ C indicate that Nb(C,N) precipitate nucleates dominantly on the dislocation line, and grows with holding time extended while the precipitate particle size increases from 5 nm to 17 nm.

Mechanical property of strain-hardening cementitious composites modified with superabsorbent polymers

In order to improve the tensile property, flexuralproperty and drying shrinkage of strain-hardening cementitiouscomposites （SHCC）, mixtures quantitatively modified withsuperabsorbent polymer （SAP） were investigated. Theuniaxial tensile test, the four-point bending test, thecompressive test, the drying shrinkage test and theenvironmental scanning electron microscope （ESEM） wereemployed to investigate the tensile strain capacity, flexuraldeformation capacity, compressive strength, drying shrinkage,crack width and self-healing of SHCC. The experimentalresults show that SHCC modified with SAP particles exhibitsexcellent ductility and deformability, and the tensile strain isup to about 4.5% and the average crack width is controlledaround 40 μm. Meanwhile, the drying shrinkage of SHCCmodified with SAP particles can reduce by about 60%.Furthermore, the self-healing behavior is observed in thecracks of specimen after three cycles of high-low relativehumidity curing, and the self-healing products can completelyfill the cracks of SHCC specimens modified with SAPparticles. It is, therefore, feasible to produce SHCC materialmodified with SAP particles, while simultaneously retaininghigher material ductility.

MODELING OF STRAIN-INDUCED PRECIPITATION KINETICS IN Nb MICROALLOYED STEELS

On the basis of the thermodynamic calculation of precipitation and considering the effect of strain on the precipitation behavior and chemical composition （Si and Mn）, the kinetics of precipitation from austenite has been investigated for different temperatures and strains. Nucleation theory and the solubility product of niobium, carbon, and nitrogen in austenite have been used to derive equations for the start time of precipitation as a function of temperature and composition. The value of n in Avrami equation was determined using the available experimental data from the published reports, which indicated that n is a constant independent of temperature and the end time of precipitation is a function of n and the start time of precipitation. The values of the start time and end time of precipitation predicted by the new model are compared with the experimental values and a good agreement was obtained between both.

Instability criterion for the system composed of elastic beam and strain-softening pillar based on gradient-dependent plasticity

A mechanical model is proposed for the system of elastic beam and strain-softening pillar where strain localization is initiated at peak shear stress. To obtain the plastic deformation of the pillar due to the shear slips of multiple shear bands, the pillar is divided into several narrow slices where compressive deformation is treated as uniformity. In the light of the compatibility condition of deformation, the total compressive displacement of the pillar is equal to the displacement of the beam in the middle span. An instability criterion is derived analytically based on the energy principle using a known size of localization band according to gradient dependent plasticity. The main advantage of the present model is that the effects of the constitutive parameters of rock and the geometrical size of structure are reflected in the criterion. The condition that the derivative of distributed load with respect to the deflection of the beam in the middle span is less than zero is not only equivalent to, but also even more concise in form than the instability criterion. To study the influences of constitutive parameters and geometrical size on stability, some examples are presented.

Effect of strain-gradients of surface micro-beams on frequency-shift of a quartz crystal resonator under thickness-shear vibrations

With introduction of the first-order strain-gradient of surface micro-beams into the energy density function,we developed a two-dimensional dynamic model for a compound quartz crystal resonator（QCR） system,consisting of a QCR and surface micro-beam arrays.The frequency shift that was induced by micro-beams with consideration of strain-gradients is discussed in detail and some useful results are obtained,which have important significance in resonator design and applications.

Strain-stress relation in macromolecular microsphere composite hydrogel

This paper investigates the strain-stress relation for the macromolecular microsphere composite （MMC） hydrogel. The novel point is to present the strain-stress model, which is based on the microscopic mixed entropy set up in the previous work and the Flory-Rehner elastic energy. Then, the numerical result of the strain-stress model is shown, which is completely consistent with the chemical experiment. Moreover, the theoretical relation of the strain-stress depends on the microscopic parameters of the MMC hydrogel. Therefore, it is a way to investigate the relation of macroscopic properties and microscopic structures of soft matters. This approach can be extended to other soft matters,

A CONTINUUM MODEL FOR AXIAL-STRAIN-INDUCED TORSION IN SINGLE-WALL CARBON NANOTUBES

Using the atomistic-based finite-deformation shell theory, we analytically investigate the coupling between the axial deformation and the torsion in single-wall carbon nanotubes. We find that the axial-strain-induced torsion（ASIT） response is limited only to chiral nanotubes. This response is affected by chiralities and radii of carbon nanotubes. Our results are similar to that of molecular dynamic simulations reported in the literatures.

Ground reaction curves for circular excavations in non-homogeneous,axisymmetric strain-softening rock masses

Fast methods to solve the unloading problem of a cylindrical cavity or tunnel excavated in elasto-perfectly plastic, elasto-brittle or strain-softening materials under a hydrostatic stress feld can be derived based on the self-similarity of the solution. As a consequence, they only apply when the rock mass is homogeneous and so exclude many cases of practical interest. We describe a robust and fast numerical technique that solves the tunnel unloading problem and estimates the ground reaction curve for a cylindrical cavity excavated in a rock mass with properties depending on the radial coordinate, where the solution is no longer self-similar. The solution is based on a continuation-like approach(associated with the unloading and with the incremental formulation of the elasto-plastic behavior), fnite element spatial discretization and a combination of explicit sub-stepping schemes and implicit techniques to integrate the constitutive law, so as to tackle the diffculties associated with both strong strain-softening and elasto-brittle behaviors. The developed algorithm is used for two practical ground reaction curve computation applications. The frst application refers to a tunnel surrounded by an aureole of material damaged by blasting and the second to a tunnel surrounded by a ring-like zone of reinforced(rock-bolted) material.

Experimental study on stress-strain-temperature models for structural steel

For the research on steel structure in fire,it is very important to determine the properties of structural steel at elevated temperature.Up to now,the high-temperature properties of material is believed to be related to only temperature state,which is not precise enough to simulate the behavior of steel structures under different combinations of heating,cooling,loading,and unloading.To analyze the influence of the temperature-load history on the steel properties,a series of tests were carried out under different temperature-load paths about steel Q235,which is widely used in steel structures in China.In this paper,the method to set the temperature-load paths was introduced;the variety regulation of steel properties changing with temperature was analyzed under different paths;according to experimental results,the formulas of elastic modulus and yield strength at elevated temperature were fitted,and the stress-strain-temperature 3D relationships of structural steel under different paths were presented.

Strain-rate Sensitivity of Aluminum 2024-T6/TiB_2 Composites and Aluminum 2024-T6

Strain-rate sensitivities of 55vol%-65vol% aluminum 2024-T6/TiB2 composites and the corresponding aluminum 2024-T6 matrix were investigated using split Hopkinson pressure bar method. The experimental results showed that 55vol%-65vol% aluminum 2024-T6/TiB2 composites exhibited significant strain-rate sensitivities, which were three times higher than the strain-rate sensitivity of the aluminum 2024-T6 matrix. The strain-rate sensitivity of the aluminum 2024-T6 matrix composites rose obviously with increasing reinforcement content（up to 60%）, which agreed with that from the previous researches. But it decreased as the ceramic reinforcement content reached 65%. After high strain rates compression, a large number of dislocations and micro-cracks were found inside the matrix and the Ti B2 particles, respectively. These micro-cracks can accelerate the brittle fracture of the composites. The aluminum 2024-T6/Ti B2 composites showed various fracture characteristics and shear instability was the predominant failure mechanism under dynamic loading.

PRINCIPAL COMPONENT DECOMPOSITION BASED FINITE ELEMENT MODEL UPDATING FOR STRAIN-RATE-DEPENDENCE NONLINEAR DYNAMIC PROBLEMS

Thin wail component is utilized to absorb impact energy of a structure. However, the dynamic behavior of such thin-walled structure is highly non-linear with material, geometry and boundary non-linearity. A model updating and validation procedure is proposed to build accurate finite element model of a frame structure with a non-linear thin-walled component for dynamic analysis. Design of experiments （DOE） and principal component decomposition （PCD） approach are applied to extract dynamic feature from nonlinear impact response for correlation of impact test result and FE model of the non-linear structure. A strain-rate-dependent non-linear model updating method is then developed to build accurate FE model of the structure. Computer simulation and a real frame structure with a highly non-linear thin-walled component are employed to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Strained and strain-relaxed epitaxial Ge_(1-x)Sn_x alloys on Si(100) substrates

Epitaxial Ge1-xSnx alloys are grown separately on a Ge-buffer/Si（100） substrate and directly on a Si（100） substrate by molecular beam epitaxy （MBE） at low temperature. In the case of the Ge buffer/Si（100） substrate, a high crystalline quality strained Ge0.97Sn0.03 alloy is grown, with a Xmin value of 6.7% measured by channeling and random Rutherford baekscattering spectrometry （RBS）, and a surface root-mean-square （RMS） roughness of 1.568 nm obtained by atomic force microscopy （AFM）. In the case of the Si（100） substrate, strain-relaxed Ge0.97Sn0.03 alloys are epitaxially grown at 150℃-300℃, with the degree of strain relaxation being more than 96%. The X-ray diffraction （XRD） and AFM measurements demonstrate that the alloys each have a good crystalline quality and a relatively flat surface. The predominant defects accommodating the large misfit are Lomer edge dislocations at the interface, which are parallel to the interface plane and should not degrade electrical properties and device performance.

Multi-axial strain-stiffening elastic potentials with energy bounds:explicit approach based on uniaxial data

According to the well-known models for rubberlike elasticity with strain- stii^ening effects, the unbounded strain energy is generated with the unlimitedly growing stress when the stretch approaches certain limits. Toward a solution to this issue, an explicit approach is proposed to derive the multi-axial elastic potentials directly from the uniaxial potentials. Then, a new multi-axial potential is presented to characterize the strain-stiffening effect by prescribing suitable forms of uniaxia] potentials so that the strain energy is always bounded as the stress grows to infinity. Numerical examples show good agreement with a number of test data.

Influence of Carbides and Strain-induced Martensite on Wear Resistance of Austenitic Medium Manganese Steels

The abrasive wear behaviour of austenitic medium manganese steels was studied under weak corrosion-abrasive wear simulating the liner plate in wet metallic ore bail mill under non-severe impact-loading working condition. Results show that the work-hardening mechanism and the wear resistance of high carbon austenitic medium manganese steels differ from those of medium carbon austenitic medium manganese steel. Under non-severe impact and weak corrosion-abrasive wear,the wear resistances of high carbon and medium carbon austenitic medium manganese steels are 50-90% and 20-40% higher than that of Hadfield steel respectively.

KINETICS OF STRAIN-INDUCED PRECIPITATION OF (Nb,V) CARBONITRIDE IN A MICROALLOYED STEEL

The kinetics of the isothermal precipitation of(Nb,V)CN in Nb-V alloys has been investi- gated by using the Formastor-press simulator and the extraction replica method.Under four deformation amounts(0,10,30,50%)and three temperatures(1100,1000,850℃), four types of kinetic curves were found.

TEM STUDY OF MECHANISM OF STRAIN-AGE HARDENING OF INITIALLY DISORDERED (Co,Fe)_3V ALLOY

TEM study was made to explore the mechanism of the strain-age hardening of initially-dis- ordered (Co_(78)Fe_(22))_3V,which was found to be attributed to the formation of a special disloca- tion-stacking fault configuration in company with disorder-order transformation-disloca- tions extended to stacking faults on{111}planes and got connected with each other through partial dislocation reaction at intersections of{111}planes,leading to dense networks with cells bounded by stacking fault tetrahedrons.The results also indicated that ordered (Co_(78)Fe_(22))_3V has very low stacking fault energy on{111}planes and relative high and isotropie antiphase boundary energy,which implies that it is most likely to be Lomer-Cottrell locks,not Kear-Wilsdof locks,that are responsible for the high strength at high temperatures of this alloy.

Physical meaning and prediction efficiency of the load/unload response ratio of rocks in strain-weakening phase before failure

Rock experiment results indicate that the load/unload response ratio (LURR) of rocks expressed via strain energy may have singular or negative value after the stress in the rock reaches its maximum before rock failure or when the rock goes into the strain-weakening phase. The universality of this phenomenon is discussed. Expressed via strain or strain energy and the travel time of P wave, the variation form of the reciprocal of LURR during the process of rock failure preparation is derived. The results show that after a sharp decrease the reciprocal of LURR reaches its minimum when the main fracture of the rock is about to appear. This feature can be taken as an indication that the rock main fracture is impending.

A QUASI-FLOW CONSTITUTIVE MODEL WITH STRAIN-RATE DEPENDENCE

In this paper,the proposed is a quasi-flow constitutive model with strain-rate sen- sitivity for elastic plastic large deformation.The model is based on the Quasi-flow Corner theory, and is suitable for the sheet metal forming process simulation with a variable punch machine velocity. Uniaxial tensile tests and deep-drawing tests of a circular blank with square punch are carried out and numerically simulated.The consistency between the experimental and the numerically simulated results shows the validity of the present new constitutive model.