Inverse Problems in Solid Mechanics and Ultrasonic

The IP （inverse problem） in solid mechanics have emerged through the 20th century and measured. Nowadays has accept the classification of inverse problems in solid mechanics [1]： retrospective IP, boundary IP, coefficient IP, geometric IP. The IPs in theory of elasticity, theory of plasticity, theory of strengthening, fatigue theory, fracture theory micro-structural of polycrystalline materials are formulated and solved. The method of high frequency theory of ultrasonic waves is used. The results which are obtained here show, that all coefficients and geometrical characteristics of imperfections in the material are functions only of longitudinal and transversal velocities and attenuation of ultrasonic waves, which are measured, according ASTM E 494： 2015. The received relationships from this article could be used for NDE （non-destructive evaluation） of the coefficients and the geometrical characteristics of imperfections in polycrystalline materials.

Editorial for Multiscale&Multifield Coupling in Geomechanics

We are delighted to serve as guest editors for this special issue in the Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering.The purpose of this special issue is dedicated to gathering the latest research work on Multiscale&Multifield Coupling in Geomechanics,where we delve into the intricate interplay of various fields and scales that govern the behavior of geomaterials.In total,30 manuscripts from USA,China,UK,Germany,Canada,India and United Arab Emirates are selected to be included in this issue.

Insight Into the Separation-of-Variable Methods for the Closed-Form Solutions of Free Vibration of Rectangular Thin Plates

The separation-of-variable(SOV)methods,such as the improved SOV method,the variational SOV method,and the extended SOV method,have been proposed by the present authors and coworkers to obtain the closed-form analytical solutions for free vibration and eigenbuckling of rectangular plates and circular cylindrical shells.By taking the free vibration of rectangular thin plates as an example,this work presents the theoretical framework of the SOV methods in an instructive way,and the bisection–based solution procedures for a group of nonlinear eigenvalue equations.Besides,the explicit equations of nodal lines of the SOV methods are presented,and the relations of nodal line patterns and frequency orders are investigated.It is concluded that the highly accurate SOV methods have the same accuracy for all frequencies,the mode shapes about repeated frequencies can also be precisely captured,and the SOV methods do not have the problem of missing roots as well.

New approach based on continuum damage mechanics with simple parameter identification to fretting fatigue life prediction

A new continuum damage mechanics model for fretting fatigue life prediction is established. In this model, the damage evolution rate is described by two kinds of quantities. One is associated with the cyclic stress characteristics obtained by the finite element （FE） analysis, and the other is associated with the material fatigue property identified from the fatigue test data of standard specimens. The wear is modeled by the energy wear law to simulate the contact geometry evolution. A two-dimensional （2D） plane strain FE implementation of the damage mechanics model and the energy wear model is presented in the platform of ABAQUS to simulate the evolutions of the fatigue damage and the wear scar. The effect of the specimen thickness is also investigated. The predicted results of the crack initiation site and the fretting fatigue life agree well with available experimental data. Comparisons are made with the critical plane Smith- Watson-Topper （SWT） method.

Axially variable-length solid element of absolute nodal coordinate formulation

An axially variable-length solid element with eight nodes is proposed by integrating the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation and the absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF). In addition to the nodal positions and slopes of eight nodes, two material coordinates in the axial direction are used as the generalized coordinates. As a consequence, the nodes in the ALE-ANCF are not associated with any specific material points and the axial length of the solid element can be varied over time. These two material coordinates give rise to a variable mass matrix and an additional inertial force vector. Computationally efficient formulae of the additional inertial forces and elastic forces, as well as their Jacobians, are also derived. The dynamic equation of a flexible multibody system (FMBS) with variable-length bodies is presented. The maximum and minimum lengths of the boundary elements of an FMBS have to be appropriately defined to ensure accuracy and non-singularity when solving the dynamic equation. Three numerical examples of static and dynamic problems are given to validate the variable-length solid elements of ALE-ANCF and show their capability.

Design of experiments for determination of influence of different parameters on mechanical properties of semi-solid extruded parts

Near net-shape production of complex parts with higher mechanical properties is one of the most important final goals of the recent researches on the semi-solid processing.Having the knowledge of the influence of every parameter on the properties of final parts is the key in the production of high quality complex parts.Among these parameters forming temperature and velocity,and reheating and holding times have the greatest effects on the final mechanical properties of the parts.The influence of the parameters of non-dendritic billet production,forming speed,temperature and holding time on the properties of semi-solid extruded parts were investigated.Cooling-slope method was employed in order to produce non-dendritic billets.The material used was A356 aluminum alloy.Since the number of the parameters influencing the final properties of the parts was high(these parameters include:cooling slope angle,ram velocity,temperature and holding time),the final number of the experiments required would be n4,in which n is the number of the states of the parameters(5 in our case).In order to reduce this amount,design of experiments Tachuchi method was employed(design L25).Using this method the number of required experiments was reduced to 25.For the experiments the prepared semi-solid samples were extruded under isothermal condition and with 5 different ram speeds.Standard tensile tests were conducted on the extruded parts and the mechanical properties of the parts were determined.The obtained results analyzed with MiniTab and the influence of each of the parameters and also the percentage of its influence were calculated.Finally an optimum region for the parameters was determined.The temperature,ram speed,slope angle and holding time have more important effects descendingly.

Generalized Plastic Mechanics and Its Application

The development of geotechnical plasticity is reviewed and some problems of applying the classical plastic mechanics (CPM) to geomaterials are analyzed, and then CPM’s three hypotheses not fitted the deformation mechanism of geomaterials are pointed out. By giving up the three hypotheses, a generalized plastic potential theory can be obtained from solid mechanics directly, and then the traditional plastic mechanics can be changed to a more generalized plastic mechanics, namely generalized plastic mechanics (GPM). The GPM adopts the component theory as theoretical base, so it can reflect the influence of transition of stress path. The unreasonable phenomena such as excessive dilatancy caused by adopting the normality-flow law can be avoided, and the error caused by the arbitrary assumption of plastic potential surfaces cannot be produced. The yield surface theory, hardening laws and stress-strain relations of GPM are given, and a GPM including the rotation of principal stress axes is also established. It is pointed out that the yield condition is a state parameter as well as a test parameter, and it can only be given by test. After the practical application, it is shown that the GPM cannot only be applied to the modeling theory of geomaterials but also to other fields of geomechanics such as limit analysis.

Phase Field Modelling Allotropic Transformation of Solid Solution

Based on multiphase field conception and integrated with the idea of vector-valued phase field,a phase field model for typical allotropic transformation of solid solution is proposed.The model takes the non-uniform distribution of grain boundaries of parent phase and crystal orientation into account in proper way,as being illustrated by the simulation of austenite to ferrite transformation in low carbon steel.It is found that the misorientation dependent grain boundary mobility shows strong influence on the formation of ferrite morphology comparing with the weak effect exerted by misorientation dependent grain boundary energy.The evolution of various types of grain boundaries are quantitatively characterized in terms of its respective grain boundary energy dissipation.The simulated ferrite fraction agrees well with the expectation from phase diagram,which verifies this model.

Evaluation of Constants in Fracture Mechanics by Means Non-destructive Testing of Al+3.5%Mg Alloys

The constants in fracture mechanics are fracture toughness(for plane strain),critical value of J—integral,critical value of crack tip opening displacement.Mechanical testing under certain conditions to determine them is used.They are complicated,long and expensive procedures.In practice,it is interesting to determine the constant in fracture mechanics for elements of constructions by means of non-destructive testing(NDT)(non-destructive evaluations,NDE)from Al+3.5%Mg alloys(according EN 1706).

Control and vibration analyses of a sandwich doubly curved micro-composite shell with honeycomb,truss,and corrugated cores based on the fourth-order shear deformation theory

Curved shells are increasingly utilized in applied engineering due to their shared characteristics with other sandwich structures,flexibility,and attractive appearance.However,the inability of controlling and regulating vibrations and destroying them afterward is a challenge to scientists.In this paper,the curve shell equations and a linear quadratic regulator are adopted for the state feedback design to manage the structure vibrations in state space forms.A five-layer sandwich doubly curved micro-composite shell,comprising two piezoelectric layers for the sensor and actuator,is modeled by the fourth-order shear deformation theory.The core(honeycomb,truss,and corrugated)is analyzed for the bearing of transverse shear forces.The results show that the honeycomb core has a greater effect on the vibrations.When the parameters related to the core and the weight percentage of graphene increase,the frequency increases.The uniform distribution of graphene platelets results in the lowest natural frequency while the natural frequency increases.Furthermore,without taking into account the piezoelectric layers,the third-order shear deformation theory(TSDT)and fourth-order shear deformation theory(FOSDT)align closely.However,when the piezoelectric layers are incorporated,these two theories diverge significantly,with the frequencies in the FOSDT being lower than those in the TSDT.

Dynamics of a rotating ring-stiffened sandwich conical shell with an auxetic honeycomb core

The free vibration analysis of a rotating sandwich conical shell with a reentrant auxetic honeycomb core and homogenous isotropic face layers reinforced with a ring support is studied.The shell is modeled utilizing the first-order shear deformation theory(FSDT)incorporating the relative,centripetal,and Coriolis accelerations alongside the initial hoop tension created by the rotation.The governing equations,compatibility conditions,and boundary conditions are attained using Hamilton’s principle.Utilizing trigonometric functions,an analytical solution is derived in the circumferential direction,and a numerical one is presented in the meridional direction via the differential quadrature method(DQM).The effects of various factors on the critical rotational speeds and forward and backward frequencies of the shell are studied.The present work is the first theoretical work regarding the dynamic analysis of a rotating sandwich conical shell with an auxetic honeycomb core strengthened with a ring support.

Numerical investigation of the effects of soil-structure and granular material-structure interaction on the seismic response of a flat-bottom reinforced concrete silo

In this work,a numerical study of the effects of soil-structure interaction(SSI)and granular material-structure interaction(GSI)on the nonlinear response and seismic capacity of flat-bottomed storage silos is conducted.A series of incremental dynamic analyses(IDA)are performed on a case of large reinforced concrete silo using 10 seismic recordings.The IDA results are given by two average IDA capacity curves,which are represented,as well as the seismic capacity of the studied structure,with and without a consideration of the SSI while accounting for the effect of GSI.These curves are used to quantify and evaluate the damage of the studied silo by utilizing two damage indices,one based on dissipated energy and the other on displacement and dissipated energy.The cumulative energy dissipation curves obtained by the average IDA capacity curves with and without SSI are presented as a function of the base shear,and these curves allow one to obtain the two critical points and the different limit states of the structure.It is observed that the SSI and GSI significantly influence the seismic response and capacity of the studied structure,particularly at higher levels of PGA.Moreover,the effect of the SSI reduces the damage index of the studied structure by 4%.

Bending results of graphene origami reinforced doubly curved shell

The present work investigates higher order stress,strain and deformation analyses of a shear deformable doubly curved shell manufactures by a Copper(Cu)core reinforced with graphene origami auxetic metamaterial subjected to mechanical and thermal loads.The effective material properties of the graphene origami auxetic reinforced Cu matrix are developed using micromechanical models cooperate both material properties of graphene and Cu in terms of temperature,volume fraction and folding degree.The principle of virtual work is used to derive governing equations with accounting thermal loading.The numerical results are analytically obtained using Navier's technique to investigate impact of significant parameters such as thermal loading,graphene amount,folding degree and directional coordinate on the stress,strain and deformation responses of the structure.The graphene origami materials may be used in aerospace vehicles and structures and defence technology because of their low weight and high stiffness.A verification study is presented for approving the formulation,solution methodology and numerical results.

A non-probabilistic reliability topology optimization method based on aggregation function and matrix multiplication considering buckling response constraints

A non-probabilistic reliability topology optimization method is proposed based on the aggregation function and matrix multiplication.The expression of the geometric stiffness matrix is derived,the finite element linear buckling analysis is conducted,and the sensitivity solution of the linear buckling factor is achieved.For a specific problem in linear buckling topology optimization,a Heaviside projection function based on the exponential smooth growth is developed to eliminate the gray cells.The aggregation function method is used to consider the high-order eigenvalues,so as to obtain continuous sensitivity information and refined structural design.With cyclic matrix programming,a fast topology optimization method that can be used to efficiently obtain the unit assembly and sensitivity solution is conducted.To maximize the buckling load,under the constraint of the given buckling load,two types of topological optimization columns are constructed.The variable density method is used to achieve the topology optimization solution along with the moving asymptote optimization algorithm.The vertex method and the matching point method are used to carry out an uncertainty propagation analysis,and the non-probability reliability topology optimization method considering buckling responses is developed based on the transformation of non-probability reliability indices based on the characteristic distance.Finally,the differences in the structural topology optimization under different reliability degrees are illustrated by examples.

Purification of Produced Water from a Sour Oilfield in South Kuwait. 1. Oil-Water Separation and Industrial Salt Production

Produced water from an oil extraction site in South Kuwait was sampled after primary oil – water separation had been carried out. The produced water was filtered through a mixture of activated charcoal and esterified cellulosic material gained from spent coffee grounds as a tertiary adsorption treatment. The earth-alkaline metal ions and heavy metals were separated from the de-oiled produced water by addition of either sodium or potassium hydroxide in the presence of carbon dioxide or by direct addition of solid sodium carbonate. The resulting filtrate gave salt of industrial purity upon selective crystallization on evaporation.

冷轧材料的各向异性对断裂性能的影响

为研究材料在冷轧过程中产生各向异性现象对断裂性能的影响,本文通过Ⅰ,Ⅱ型复合到纯Ⅱ型加载及有限元计算,研究了冷轧材料的各向异性对裂纹初始扩展规律和断裂性能的影响。结果表明,这种弱各向异性确实会影响材料的断裂形态。在垂直和平行于轧制的方向上,材料具有不同的断裂力学性状,且当K_I/K_I>1时,2种不同取向的试样大致沿τ_(max)方向开裂;当K_I/K_I<1时,裂纹会发生尖锐转折并呈Ⅰ型方式断裂。文中也给出了利用复合加载下的P-CMOD曲线确定裂纹临界开裂点的一种简单实验方法。

Investigation on the Thermal Conductivity of 3-Dimensional and 4-Directional Braided Composites

It is vital to choose a factual and reasonable micro-structural model of braided composites for improving the calculating precision of thermal property of 3-D braided composites by finite element method （FEM）. On the basis of new microstructure model of braided composites proposed recently, the model of FEM calculation for thermal conductivity of 3-dimennsional and 4-directional braided composites is set up in this paper. The curves of coefficient of effective thermal conductivity versus fiber volume ratio and interior braiding angle are obtained. Furthermore, comparing the results of FEM with the available experimental data, the reasonability and veracity of calculation are confirmed at the same time.

BENDING OF FUNCTIONALLY GRADED PIEZOELECTRIC RECTANGULAR PLATES

By introducing two displacement functions as well as two stressfunctions, two independent state equations with variable coefficientsare derived from the three-dimensional theory equations of piezo-elasticity for transverse isotropy. A laminated approximation is usedto transform the state equations to those with constant coefficientsin each sub-layer. The bending problem of a functionally gradedrectangular plate is then analyzed based on the state equations.Numerical results are presented and the effect of material gradi- entindex is discussed.

Bending and vibration analyses of a rotating sandwich cylindrical shell considering nanocomposite core and piezoelectric layers subjected to thermal and magnetic fields

The bending and free vibration of a rotating sandwich cylindrical shell are analyzed with the consideration of the nanocomposite core and piezoelectric layers subjected to thermal and magnetic fields by use of the first-order shear deformation theory （FSDT） of shells. The governing equations of motion and the corresponding boundary conditions are established through the variational method and the Maxwell equation. The closed-form solutions of the rotating sandwich cylindrical shell are obtained. The effects of geometrical parameters, volume fractions of carbon nanotubes, applied voltages on the inner and outer piezoelectric layers, and magnetic and thermal fields on the natural frequency, critical angular velocity, and deflection of the sandwich cylindrical shell are investigated. The critical angular velocity of the nanocomposite sandwich cylindrical shell is obtained. The results show that the mechanical properties, e.g., Young＇s modulus and thermal expansion coefficient, for the carbon nanotube and matrix are functions of temperature, and the magnitude of the critical angular velocity can be adjusted by changing the applied voltage.

Free vibration analysis of functionally graded laminated sandwich cylindrical shells integrated with piezoelectric layer

An analytical method for the three-dimensional vibration analysis of a functionally graded cylindrical shell integrated by two thin functionally graded piezoelectric （FGP） layers is presented. The first-order shear deformation theory is used to model the electromechanical system. Nonlinear equations of motion are derived by considering the von Karman nonlinear strain-displacement relations using Hamilton＇s principle. The piezoelectric layers on the inner and outer surfaces of the core can be considered as a sensor and an actuator for controlling characteristic vibration of the system. The equations of motion are derived as partial differential equations and then discretized by the Navier method. Numerical simulation is performed to investigate the effect of different para- meters of material and geometry on characteristic vibration of the cylinder. The results of this study show that the natural frequency of the system decreases by increasing the non-homogeneous index of FGP layers and decreases by increasing the non-homogeneous index of the functionally graded core. Furthermore, it is concluded that by increasing the ratio of core thickness to cylinder length, the natural frequencies of the cylinder increase considerably.