Effect of strain rate on the dynamic compressive mechanical behaviors of rock material subjected to high temperatures

Strain rate is not only an important measure to characterize the deformation property, but also an important parameter to analyze the dynamic mechanical properties of rock materials. In this paper, by using the SHPB test system improved with high temperature device, the dynamic compressive tests of sandstone at seven temperatures in the range of room temperature to 1000 °C and five impact velocities in the range of 11.0–15.0 m/s were conducted. Investigations were carried out on the influences of strain rate on dynamic compressive mechanical behaviors of sandstone. The results of the study indicate that the enhancement effects of strain rates on dynamic compressive strength, peak strain, energy absorption ratio of sandstone under high temperatures still exist. However, the increase ratios of dynamic compressive strength, peak strain, and energy absorption ratio of rock under high temperature compared to room temperature have no obvious strain rate effects. The temperatures at which the strain rates affect dynamic compressive strength and peak strain most, are 800, and 1000 °C, respectively. The temperatures at which the strain rates affect dynamic compressive strength and peak strain weakest, are 1000 °C, and room temperature, respectively. At 200 and 800 °C, the strain rate effect on energy absorption ratio are most significant, while at 1000 °C, it is weakest. There are no obvious strain rate effects on elastic modulus and increase ratio of elastic modulus under high temperatures. According to test results, the relationship formula of strain rate with high temperature and impact load was derived by internalizing fitting parameters. Compared with the strain rate effect at room temperature condition, essential differences have occurred in the strain rate effect of rock material under the influence of high temperature.     

Impact behavior and fractographic study of carbon nanotubes grafted carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix multi-scale hybrid composites

Carbon nanotubes are the most promising reinforcement for high performance composites. Multiwall carbon nanotubes were directly grown onto the carbon fiber surface by catalytic thermal chemical vapor deposition technique. Multi-scale hybrid composites were fabricated using the carbon nanotubes grown fibers with epoxy matrix. Morphology of the grown carbon nanotubes was investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The fabricated composites were subjected to impact tests which showed 48.7% and 42.2% higher energy absorption in Charpy and Izod impact tests respectively. Fractographic analysis of the impact tested specimens revealed the presence of carbon nanotubes both at the fiber surface and within the matrix which explained the reason for improved energy absorption capability of these composites. Carbon nanotubes presence at various cracks formed during loading provided a direct evidence of micro crack bridging. Thus the enhanced fracture strength of these composites is attributed to stronger fiber–matrix interfacial bonding and simultaneous matrix strengthening due to the grown carbon nanotubes.     

Failure analysis on welded joints of 347H austenitic boiler tubes

Microstructural and thermo-mechanical analyses using the finite element method (FEM) were performed on the welded joint of 347H boiler tubes in a coal-fired power plant after 3600 h of operation. The cracks in the failed tube started on the inner surface of the heat-affected zone (HAZ). This area had a high hardness value and volume fraction of strain-induced martensite. The plastic deformation around the crack was concentrated near the grain boundaries. This failure occurred as the stabilizing effect disappeared due to carbide dissolution in the heat-affected zone, and plastic deformation and tensile residual stress were formed at the inner side due to the solidification contraction of the outer bead.     

Homogenization with uncertainty in Poisson ratio for polymers with rubber particles

The main aim of this work is dual computer analysis of probabilistic coefficients for the homogenized tensor of the polymer filled with the rubber particles having randomized Poisson ratios of both constituents. The major issue is to verify an influence of a randomness in rubber Poisson ratio close to the compressibility limit on the uncertainty of the effective tensor probabilistic characteristics. Probabilistic analysis presented here is carried out using mainly the stochastic perturbation technique provided by the common application of the traditional FEM commercial code ABAQUS and the symbolic computations package MAPLE. This FEM-based technique employs polynomial response function of the optimum order recovered from the weighted least squares method and following a set of deterministic solutions obtained for various values of the randomized input parameter. Optimization procedure is released entirely into a symbolic environment, where maximization of the correlation factor together with minimization of the fitting variance and approximation error are applied. Homogenization technique consists in equating of deformation energies for the real composite and the artificial one characterized by the effective elasticity tensor with uncertainty.     

Effect of microstructure on the fatigue crack growth behaviour of a near-α Ti alloy

Fatigue crack growth behaviour of Ti–6Al–2Zr–1.5Mo–1.5V (VT-20 a near-α Ti alloy) was studied in lamellar, bimodal and acicular microstructural conditions. Fatigue crack growth tests at both increasing and decreasing stress intensity factor range values were performed at ambient temperature and a loading ratio of 0.3 using compact tension samples. Lamellar and acicular microstructures showed lower fatigue crack growth rates as compared to the bimodal microstructure due to the tortuous nature of cracks in the former and the cleavage of primary α in the latter. The threshold stress intensity factor range was highest for acicular microstructure.     

Testing web applications

Traditional testing techniques are not adequate for web-based applications, since they miss their additional features such as their multi-tier nature, hyperlink-based structure, and event-driven feature. Limited work has been done on testing web applications. In this paper, we propose new techniques for white box testing of web applications developed in the .NET environment with emphasis on their event-driven feature. We extend recent work on modeling of web applications by enhancing previous dependence graphs and proposing an event-based dependence graph model. We apply data flow testing techniques to these dependence graphs and propose an event flow testing technique. Also, we present a few coverage testing approaches for web applications. Further, we propose mutation testing operators for evaluating the adequacy of web application tests.     

On the corrosion fatigue crack initiation model and expression of metallic notched elements

In the present study, attempts are made to extend the application of the mechanical model for the fatigue crack initiation (FCI) and the FCI life formula of metallic notched elements in laboratory air to those in the corrosive environment. The test results and analysis of the corrosion FCI (CFCI) life of aluminum alloys and Ti---6A1---4V show that the expression of the CFCI life obtained by modifying the FCI life formula in laboratory air can give a good fit to the test results of the CFCI life. The salt water (3.5% NaCl) environment has no effects on the CFCI resistant coefficient compared with the FCI resistant coefficient in laboratory air. However, 3.5% NaCl environment greatly decreases the CFCI threshold of aluminum alloy, but has little effect on the CFCI threshold of Ti---6A1---4V. The loading frequency ranging from 1 Hz to 10 Hz has no appreciable effect on the CFCI life, and thus, the CFCI threshold of aluminum alloys investigated. Hence, the expression for the CFCI life of metallic notched elements proposed in this study is a better one, which reveals a correlation between the CFCI life and the governing parameters, such as, the geometry of the notched elements, the nominal stress range, the stress ratio, the tensile properties and the CFCI threshold. However, this new expression of the CFCI life needs to be verified by more test results.     

Phase transition of LCP fluids confined in nanochannels through MD simulation

Manipulation of molecular orientation alignment in MCTLCPs (main-chain thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers) by pure shear at nano scale has been investigated for the first time using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Results indicate that high planar shear induces long-range uniform orientation ordering (liquid crystalline phase) of initially randomly orientated molecules of MCTLCP fluid confined in a nanochannel, which is confirmed by analyzing the orientation order parameter and the snapshots of MCTLCP liquid in a nanochannel under different shear rates. Insights into the origin of the phase transition phenomena are given at molecular level through investigating the thermodynamic density distribution of MCTLCP molecules in the nanochannel, suggesting that the energy shift due to a radical jump of system density affects both the magnitude and the orientation of the molecular ordering. Simulation results also show that there is a critical shear rate for transforming isotropic phase into liquid crystalline phase. The critical shear rate is dependent on the temperature of the MCTLCP system. Findings in this paper may present useful information for processing TLCP molecules at nano scale and the understanding of nanoflow.     

Subcritical crack growth processes in SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composites

Ceramic matrix composites have the potential to operate at high temperatures and are, therefore being considered for a variety of advanced energy technologies such as combustor liners in land-based gas turbo/generators, heat exchangers and advanced fission and fusion reactors. Ceramic matrix composites exhibit a range of crack growth mechanisms driven by a range of environmental and nuclear conditions. The crack growth mechanisms include: (1) fiber relaxation by thermal (FR) and irradiation (FIR) processes, (2) fiber stress-rupture (SR), (3) interface removal (IR) by oxidation, and (4) oxidation embrittlement (OE) resulting from glass formation including effects of glass viscosity. Analysis of these crack growth processes has been accomplished with a combination experimental/modeling effort. Dynamic, high-temperature, in situ crack growth measurements have been made in variable Ar + O₂ environments while a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed model has been used to extrapolate this data and to add radiation effects. In addition to the modeling effort, a map showing these mechanisms as a function of environmental parameters was developed. This mechanism map is an effective tool for identifying operating regimes and predicting behavior. The process used to develop the crack growth mechanism map was to: (1) hypothesize and experimentally verify the operative mechanisms, (2) develop an analytical model for each mechanism, and (3) define the operating regime and boundary conditions for each mechanism. A map for SiC/SiC composites has been developed for chemical and nuclear environments as a function of temperature and time.