Characterization for elastic constants of fused deposition modelling-fabricated materials based on the virtual fields method and digital image correlation

Fused deposition modelling(FDM), a widely used rapid prototyping process, is a promising technique in manufacturing engineering. In this work, a method for characterizing elastic constants of FDM-fabricated materials is proposed. First of all, according to the manufacturing process of FDM, orthotropic constitutive model is used to describe the mechanical behavior. Then the virtual fields method(VFM) is applied to characterize all the mechanical parameters(Q, Q, Q, Q) using the full-field strain,which is measured by digital image correlation(DIC). Since the principal axis of the FDM-fabricated structure is sometimes unknown due to the complexity of the manufacturing process, a disk in diametrical compression is used as the load configuration so that the loading angle can be changed conveniently. To verify the feasibility of the proposed method, finite element method(FEM) simulation is conducted to obtain the strain field of the disk. The simulation results show that higher accuracy can be achieved when the loading angle is close to 30?. Finally, a disk fabricated by FDM was used for the experiment. By rotating the disk, several tests with different loading angles were conducted. To determine the position of the principal axis in each test, two groups of parameters(Q, Q, Q, Q) are calculated by two different groups of virtual fields. Then the corresponding loading angle can be determined by minimizing the deviation between two groups of the parameters. After that, the four constants(Q, Q, Q, Q) were determined from the test with an angle of 27?.

Tensile strength of sea ice using splitting tests based on the digital image correlation method

The splitting test is a competitive alternative method to study the tensile strength of sea ice owing to its suitability for sampling.However,the approach was questioned to the neglect of local plastic deformation during the tests.In this study,splitting tests were performed on sea ice,with 32 samples subjected to the regular procedure and 8 samples subjected to the digital image correlation method.The salinity,density,and temperature were measured to determine the total porosity.With the advantage of the digital image correlation method,the full-field deformation of the ice samples could be determined.In the loading direction,the samples mainly deformed at the ice-platen contact area.In the direction vertical to the loading,deformation appears along the central line where the splitting crack occurs.Based on the distribution of the sample deformation,a modified solution was derived to calculate the tensile strength with the maximum load.Based on the modified solution,the tensile strength was further calculated together with the splitting test results.The results show that the tensile strength has a negative correlation with the total porosity,which agrees with previous studies based on uniaxial tension tests.

Correlations between mineral composition and mechanical properties of granite using digital image processing and discrete element method

This study investigated the correlations between mechanical properties and mineralogy of granite using the digital image processing(DIP) and discrete element method(DEM). The results showed that the X-ray diffraction(XRD)-based DIP method effectively analyzed the mineral composition contents and spatial distributions of granite. During the particle flow code(PFC2D) model calibration phase, the numerical simulation exhibited that the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS) value, elastic modulus(E), and failure pattern of the granite specimen in the UCS test were comparable to the experiment. By establishing 351 sets of numerical models and exploring the impacts of mineral composition on the mechanical properties of granite, it indicated that there was no negative correlation between quartz and feldspar for UCS, tensile strength(σ_(t)), and E. In contrast, mica had a significant negative correlation for UCS, σ_(t), and E. The presence of quartz increased the brittleness of granite, whereas the presence of mica and feldspar increased its ductility in UCS and direct tensile strength(DTS) tests. Varying contents of major mineral compositions in granite showed minor influence on the number of cracks in both UCS and DTS tests.

Improvements of Traditional Laser Fraunhofer Diffraction Experiment Using Digital Image Processing Method

We present an improved digital image processing(DIP)method to calculate the widths of single slits.Different from the traditional laser Fraunhofer diffraction experiment in college physical experiments,by performing fast Fourier transform,inverse fast Fourier transform and the nonlinear leastsquare fitting on the diffraction pattern taken by a camera,the DIP method can quickly return an analytic expression,whose period is used to calculate widths of single slits.By comparing the measured results by the DIP method and the successional difference(SD)method,we find that for a single slit whose width is 60372μm,the DIP method is more accurate.Experimental results show that for single slits with widths between 40μm and 160μm,the relative error of the DIP method is less than 2.78%.Also,the DIP method can be used to measure the diameter of filament and fibres online in real time.

Investigation of automatic segmentation on digital infrared thermal imaging of breast

Objective: To scan all the possibly diseased areas of an organ, a new method of digital infrared thermal imaging (DITI) system was designed on the basis of medical theory. Methods: This new method of DITT is operated in 2 steps; the image is sharpened with wavelet transformation and then the image is divided into normal and possibly diseased areas with Fuzzy clustering. Results: It was found for a comparison between the old and new methods that the new method is more reliable in clinical practice and takes less time to complete a computation. Conclusion : The new model of DITI system can be used clinically to improve the diagnostic accuracy of breast disease.

Automatic measurement of three-phase contact angles in pore throats based on digital images

With the help of digital image processing technology, an automatic measurement method for the three-phase contact angles in the pore throats of the microfluidic model was established using the microfluidic water flooding experiment videos as the data source. The results of the new method were verified through comparing with the manual measurement data.On this basis, the dynamic changes of the three-phase contact angles under flow conditions were clarified by the contact angles probability density curve and mean value change curve. The results show that, for water-wetting rocks, the mean value of the contact angles is acute angle during the early stage of the water flooding process, and it increases with the displacement time and becomes obtuse angle in the middle-late stage of displacement as the dominant force of oil phase gradually changes from viscous force to capillary force. The droplet flow in the remaining oil occurs in the central part of the pore throats, without three-phase contact angle. The contact angles for the porous flow and the columnar flow change slightly during the displacement and present as obtuse angles in view of mean values, which makes the remaining oil poorly movable and thus hard to be recovered. The mean value of the contact angle for the cluster flow tends to increase in the flooding process, which makes the remaining oil more difficult to be recovered. The contact angles for the membrane flow are mainly obtuse angles and reach the highest mean value in the late stage of displacement, which makes the remaining oil most difficult to be recovered. After displacement, the remaining oils under different flow regimes are just subjected to capillary force, with obtuse contact angles, and the wettability of the pore throat walls in the microfluidic model tends to be oil-wet under the action of crude oil.

Numerical simulation of direct shear tests on mechanical properties of talus deposits based on self-adaptive PCNN digital image processing

The macro mechanical properties of materials with characteristics of large scale and complicated structural composition can be analyzed through its reconstructed meso-structures.In this work,the meso-structures of talus deposits that widely exist in the hydro-power engineering in the southwest of China were first reconstructed by small particles according to the in-situ photographs based on the self-adaptive PCNN digital image processing,and then numerical direct shear tests were carried out for studying the mechanical properties of talus deposits.Results indicate that the reconstructed meso-structures of talus deposits are more consistent with the actual situation because the self-adaptive PCNN digital image processing has a higher discrimination in the details of soil-rock segmentation.The existence and random distribution of rock blocks make the initial shear stiffness,the peak strength and the residual strength higher than those of the "pure soil" with particle size less than 1.25 cm apparently,but reduce the displacements required for the talus deposits reaching its peak shear strength.The increase of rock proportion causes a significant improvement in the internal friction angle of talus deposit,which to a certain degree leads to the characteristics of shear stress-displacement curves having a changing trend from the plastic strain softening deformation to the nonlinear strain hardening deformation,while an unconspicuous increase in cohesion.The uncertainty and heterogeneity of rock distributions cause the differences of rock proportion within shear zone,leading to a relatively strong fluctuation in peak strengths during the shear process,while movement features of rock blocks,such as translation,rotation and crossing,expand the scope of shear zone,increase the required shear force,and also directly lead to the misjudgment that the lower shear strength is obtained from the samples with high rock proportion.That,however,just explains the reason why the shear strength gained from a small amount of indoor test data is not consistent with engineering practice.

A novel method of rapidly modeling optical properties of actual photonic crystal fibres

The flexible structure of photonic crystal fibre not only offers novel optical properties but also brings some difficulties in keeping the fibre structure in the fabrication process which inevitably cause the optical properties of the resulting fibre to deviate from the designed properties. Therefore, a method of evaluating the optical properties of the actual fibre is necessary for the purpose of application. Up to now, the methods employed to measure the properties of the actual photonic crystal fibre often require long fibre samples or complex expensive equipments. To our knowledge, there are few studies of modeling an actual photonic crystal fibre and evaluating its properties rapidly. In this paper, a novel method, based on the combination model of digital image processing and the finite element method, is proposed to rapidly model the optical properties of the actual photonic crystal fibre. Two kinds of photonic crystal fibres made by Crystal Fiber A/S are modeled. It is confirmed from numerical results that the proposed method is simple, rapid and accurate for evaluating the optical properties of the actual photonic crystal fibre without requiring complex equipment.

Analyis on the indirect tension displacement and strain field of asphalt mixture based on ABAQUS and DICM

In order to study the damage mechanism of asphalt mixture,it is important to obtain the distribution of displacement and strain of its sample in the indirect tension mode.As a result,the digital image correlation method (DICM) was used to evaluate the displacement field and strain field of asphalt mixture.The results showed that the displacement fields under DICM and ABAQUS are similarly;the strain fields are different due to the different modulus of mastic and aggregate;and DICM is an practical method to study the indirect tension displacement and stain.

Evolution of the deformation field and earthquake fracture precursors of strike-slip faults

Seismic hazard analysis is gaining increased attention in the present era because of the catastrophic effects of earthquakes.Scientists always have as a goal to develop new techniques that will help forecast earthquakes before their reoccurrence. In this research,we have performed a shear failure experiment on rock samples with prefabricated cracks to simulate the process of plate movement that forms strike-slip faults. We studied the evolution law of the deformation field to simulate the shear failure experiment, and these results gave us a comprehensive understanding of the elaborate strain distribution law and its formation process with which to identify actual fault zones. We performed uniaxial compression tests on marble slabs with prefabricated double shear cracks to study the distribution and evolution of the deformation field during shear failure. Analysis of the strain field at different loading stages showed that with an increase in the load, the shear strain field initially changed to a disordered-style distribution. Further, the strain field was partially concentrated and finally completely concentrated near the crack and then distributed in the shape of a strip along the crack. We also computed coefficients of variation(CVs) for the physical quantities u, v, and exy, which varied with the load. The CV curves were found to correspond to the different loading stages. We found that at the uniform deformation stage, the CV value was small and changed slowly,whereas at the later nonuniform deformation stage, the CV value increased sharply and changed abruptly. Therefore, the precursor to a rock sample breakdown can be predicted by observing the variation characteristics of CV statistics. The correlation we found between our experimental and theoretical results revealed that our crack evolution and sample deformation results showed good coupling with seismic distribution characteristics near the San Andreas Fault.

Elastic constants characterization on graphite at 500℃ by the virtual fields method

In this paper the elastic constants of graphite at elevated temperature were experimentally investigated by using the virtual fields method （VFM）. A new method was presented for the characterization of mechanical properties at elevated temperature. The three-point bending tests were performed on graphite materials by an universal testing machine equipped with heating fumace. Based on the heterogeneous deformation fields measured by the digital image correlation （DIC） technique, the elastic constants were then extracted by using VFM. The measurement results of the elastic constants at 500℃ were obtained. The ef- fect on the experimental results was also analyzed. The successful results verify the feasibility of using the proposed method to measure the properties of graphite at high temperature, and the proposed method is believed to have a good potential for further applications.

Analysis of morphological characteristics of gravels based on digital image processing technology and self-organizing map

A comprehensive understanding of spatial distribution and clustering patterns of gravels is of great significance for ecological restoration and monitoring.However,traditional methods for studying gravels are low-efficiency and have many errors.This study researched the spatial distribution and cluster characteristics of gravels based on digital image processing technology combined with a self-organizing map(SOM)and multivariate statistical methods in the grassland of northern Tibetan Plateau.Moreover,the correlation of morphological parameters of gravels between different cluster groups and the environmental factors affecting gravel distribution were analyzed.The results showed that the morphological characteristics of gravels in northern region(cluster C)and southern region(cluster B)of the Tibetan Plateau were similar,with a low gravel coverage,small gravel diameter,and elongated shape.These regions were mainly distributed in high mountainous areas with large topographic relief.The central region(cluster A)has high coverage of gravels with a larger diameter,mainly distributed in high-altitude plains with smaller undulation.Principal component analysis(PCA)results showed that the gravel distribution of cluster A may be mainly affected by vegetation,while those in clusters B and C could be mainly affected by topography,climate,and soil.The study confirmed that the combination of digital image processing technology and SOM could effectively analyzed the spatial distribution characteristics of gravels,providing a new mode for gravel research.

Optimisation Method for Determination of Crack Tip Position Based on Gauss-Newton Iterative Technique

In the digital image correlation research of fatigue crack growth rate,the accuracy of the crack tip position determines the accuracy of the calculation of the stress intensity factor,thereby affecting the life prediction.This paper proposes a Gauss-Newton iteration method for solving the crack tip position.The conventional linear fitting method provides an iterative initial solution for this method,and the preconditioned conjugate gradient method is used to solve the ill-conditioned matrix.A noise-added artificial displacement field is used to verify the feasibility of the method,which shows that all parameters can be solved with satisfactory results.The actual stress intensity factor solution case shows that the stress intensity factor value obtained by the method in this paper is very close to the finite element result,and the relative error between the two is only−0.621%;The Williams coefficient obtained by this method can also better define the contour of the plastic zone at the crack tip,and the maximum relative error with the test plastic zone area is−11.29%.The relative error between the contour of the plastic zone defined by the conventional method and the area of the experimental plastic zone reached a maximum of 26.05%.The crack tip coordinates,stress intensity factors,and plastic zone contour changes in the loading and unloading phases are explored.The results show that the crack tip change during the loading process is faster than the change during the unloading process;the stress intensity factor during the unloading process under the same load condition is larger than that during the loading process;under the same load,the theoretical plastic zone during the unloading process is higher than that during the loading process.

THERMAL STRESS MEASUREMENT OF QUARTZ OSCILLATOR MODULE PACKAGING

The thermal stress of the quartz oscillator module packaging isinvestigated using digital-im- age correlation method (DICM), and theexperimental results are given. Under the quartz oscillator modulepackaging, the quartz oscillator and the Fe-Sn-Cu alloy frame arejoined together with the electroconductive adhesive (PI), and theelectroconductive adhesive needs to be cured twice at 150 deg. C and275 deg. C respective- ly.

A new measuring method for maximal length, width and thickness dimensions of coarse aggregates

In order to establish a new method for measuring the dimensions of coarse aggregates, five different-size flat and elongated (F&E) coarse aggregates were glued into two specimens by epoxy resin, respectively, and slice images were obtained by X-ray CT, then the aggregates were extracted by the fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm. Attributions of the particle on different cross-sections were determined by the ‘overlap area method’. And unified three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system was established based on continuous slice images. The coefficient values of spherical harmonics descriptor representing particles surface profile were gained, then each scanned particle was represented by 60×120 discrete points conformably with spherical harmonics descriptor. The chord length and direction angles were determined by the calculation. With the major axis (L) and orthogonal axis (W and T), the calculated results were compared with those measured by caliper. It is concluded that the new L, W, and T dimension measuring method is able to take the place of the present manual measurement.

Effects of cement content, polypropylene fiber length and dosage on fluidity and mechanical properties of fiber-toughened cemented aeolian sand backfill

Using aeolian sand(AS)for goaf backfilling allows coordination of green mining and AS control.Cemented AS backfill(CASB)exhibits brittle fracture.Polypropylene(PP)fibers are good toughening materials.When the toughening effect of fibers is analyzed,their influence on the slurry conveying performance should also be considered.Additionally,cement affects the interactions among the hydration products,fibers,and aggregates.In this study,the effects of cement content(8wt%,9wt%,and 10wt%)and PP fiber length(6,9,and 12 mm)and dosage(0.05wt%,0.1wt%,0.15wt%,0.2wt%,and 0.25wt%)on fluidity and mechanical properties of the fibertoughened CASB(FCASB)were analyzed.The results indicated that with increases in the three aforementioned factors,the slump flow decreased,while the rheological parameters increased.Uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)increased with the increase of cement content and fiber length,and with an increase in fiber dosage,it first increased and then decreased.The strain increased with the increase of fiber dosage and length.The effect of PP fibers became more pronounced with the increase of cement content.Digital image correlation(DIC)test results showed that the addition of fibers can restrain the peeling of blocks and the expansion of fissure,and reduce the stress concentration of the FCASB.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM)test indicated that the functional mechanisms of fibers mainly involved the interactions of fibers with the hydration products and matrix and the spatial distribution of fibers.On the basis of single-factor analysis,the response surface method(RSM)was used to analyze the effects of the three aforementioned factors and their interaction terms on the UCS.The influence surface of the two-factor interaction terms and the three-dimensional scatter plot of the three-factor coupling were established.In conclusion,the response law of the FCASB properties under the effects of cement and PP fibers were obtained,which provides theoretical and engineering guidance for FCASB filling.

Experimental Study on Full-Surface Buckling of Variable Curvature Cylindrical Shell Using Multi-camera 3D-DIC System

To achieve full-surface strain measurement of variable curvature objects,a 360°3D digital image correlation(DIC)system is proposed.The measurement system consists of four double-camera systems,which capture the object’s entire surface from multiple angles,enabling comprehensive full-surface measurement.To increase the stitching quality,a hierarchical coordinate matching method is proposed.Initially,a 3D rigid body calibration auxiliary block is employed to track motion trajectory,which enables preliminary matching of four 3D-DIC sub-systems.Subsequently,secondary precise matching is performed based on feature points on the test specimen’s surface.Through the hierarchical coordinate matching method,the local 3D coordinate systems of each double-camera system are unified into a global coordinate system,achieving 3D surface reconstruction of the variable curvature cylindrical shell,and error analysis is conducted on the results.Furthermore,axial compression buckling experiment is conducted to measure the displacement and strain fields on the cylindrical shell’s surface.The experimental results are compared with the finite element analysis,validating the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed multi-camera 3D-DIC measuring system.

Structural motion of water-resisting key strata lying on overburden

Water-preserved mining is one of the important parts of the ‘Green Mining’ technological system. The purpose of wa-ter-preserved mining is to prevent water from bursting out in coal mines and thus to protect water resources. The principle of wa-ter-resisting key strata (WKS) is proposed to establish a model capable of guiding and developing water-preserved mining technol-ogy. The experimental model of the WKS is constructed following requirements of the Data Image Correlative Method (DICM). Five experimental schemes are designed according to different combined patterns of the WKS. The water-resisting performance of the WKS is analyzed from observation of structural stability. All of them provide referential value for water-preserved mining.

Elastic property determination of nanostructured W/Cu multilayer films on a flexible substrate

An experimental method for a single layer is extended to determine the elastic properties of nanostructured W/C u multilayers on a flexible substrate.The strain difference between the W/Cu-polyimide-W/Cu composite and the uncoated substrate,measured by dual digital image correlation,allows us to extract the effective Young's modulus of W/Cu multilayers(20 periods)equaling 216±13 GPa.Finite element method is then performed,which agrees well with the experiment and classical rule of mixture(ROM)theory demonstrating that the extension to multilayers is effective and reliable.The numerical analysis also interestingly shows that the strain difference is linearly related to the thickness ratio(W/Cu),periods and sublayer thickness,respectively.In contrast to ROM theory,this approach could potentially be used for the evaluation of properties and design of emerging/unknown functional multilayers,whether or not they are crystalline or amorphous.

Micromechanical analysis of damage evolution in splitting test of asphalt mixtures

A methodology was presented relating the microstructure of asphalt mixtures to their damage behavior. Digital image techniques were used to capture the asphalt mixture microstructure, and the finite element method was used to simulate the damage evolution of asphalt mixture through splitting test. Aggregates were modeled to be linearly elastic, and the mastics were modeled to be plastically damaged. The splitting test simulation results show that the material heterogeneity, the properties of aggregates and air voids have significant effects on the damage evolution approach. The damage behavior of asphalt mixture considering material heterogeneity is quite different from that of the conventional hypothesis of homogeneous material. The results indicate that the proposed method can be extended to the numerical analysis for the other micromechanical behaviors of asphalt concrete.