Modeling of Moisture Behavior of Wood Planks in Nonvented Flat Roofs

A computer model was extended and adapted to simulate the hygrothermal behavior of building envelope-wood components. The model was used to predict moisture movement in wood planks forming the decks of nonvented flat roofs insulated with cellulose. The gradient of water potential was considered as the driving force for moisture movement in wood. The model required the determination of convective heat- and mass-transfer coefficients, the sorption curves, the effective water conductivity for different wood species, and the hygrothermal conditions within the assembly to characterize the mass-conservation equation. Once these parameters were integrated in the computer model, this approach was then validated by carrying a simulation of the drying process of wood planks using experimental data from a large-scale test.     

Fracture Toughness of Wood Fiber Gypsum Panels from Size Effect Law

This paper addresses the size effect of inplane bending strength as well as Mode I fracture toughness and process zone length of wood fiber-reinforced gypsum panels. Wood fiber gypsum panels represent an incombustible short fiber composite material composed of recycled paper fibers embedded in a gypsum matrix. The material, which is used for sheathing and bracing of timber frame constructions, exhibits marked fracture softening supposedly resulting in a considerable size effect. In the paper presented, in a first step Ba?ant’s size effect law for quasi-brittle materials is derived. The parameters of this size effect law are then determined by means of nonlinear regression analysis applied to a test series with scaled single edge notched beam specimens. Detailed consideration is given to the adequacy of linear confidence intervals of the model parameters in comparison to nonlinear inferential results. Finally, the probability densities of fracture toughness and fracture process zone length are determined from the distributions of the size effect parameters by means of theory of random variables.     

Size Effect on Strength of Floating Sea Ice under Vertical Line Load

The size effect on the nominal strength of a floating ice plate subjected to a vertical uniform line load is analyzed. The cracks produced by the load, which are parallel to the load line, are treated as softening inelastic hinges. The problem is one dimensional in the direction normal to the load line, equivalent to a beam on elastic foundation provided by buoyancy of ice in water. The softening moment-rotation diagram of inelastic hinges is simplified as linear and its dependence on structure size (ice thickness) is based on the energy dissipated by fracture. For thick enough plates, no two hinges (on one side of the line load) can soften simultaneously, in which case a simple analytical solution is possible. In that case, the load-deflection diagram has multiple peaks and troughs and consists of a sequence of spikes that get progressively sharper as the plate thickness increases. In terms of a dimensionless nominal strength, the effect of a finite fracture process zone at ice surface leads to an up-and-down size effect plot, such that each load peak decreases with the size at first but then asymptotically approaches a rising asymptote of the type (thickness)1/4 (which implies a reverse size effect, caused by buoyancy). The energy dissipation when the crack in the hinge gets deep causes a strong monotonic size effect, such that the dimensionless troughs between two spikes, in the case of thick enough plate, decrease asymptotically as (thickness)?1/2. For thin enough plates, more than one hinge soften simultaneously and, in the asymptotic case of vanishing ice thickness, the plasticity solution, which has no size effect, is approached. In the intermediate size range with hinges softening simultaneously, the exact solution is complicated and only approximate formulas for the size effect are possible. They are constructed by asymptotic matching.     

Creep of Polymer Matrix Composites. I: Norton/Bailey Creep Law for Transverse Isotropy

This research concerns polymer matrix composite (PMC) materials having long or continuous reinforcement fibers embedded in a polymer matrix. The objective is to develop comparatively simple, designer friendly constitutive equations intended to serve as the basis of a structural design methodology for this class of PMC. Here (Part I), the focus is on extending the deformation model of an anisotropic deformation/damage theory presented earlier. The resulting model is a generalization of the simple Norton/Bailey creep law to transverse isotropy. A companion paper (Part II) by the writers deals with damage and failure of the same class of PMC. An important feature of the proposed deformation model is its dependence on hydrostatic stress. Characterization tests on thin-walled tubular specimens are defined and conducted on a model PMC material. Additional exploratory tests are identified and carried out for assessing the fundamental forms of the multiaxial creep law.     

Cu－Fe系原位复合材料中纤维形状对性能的影响

本文研究了Ｃｕ－Ｆｅ原位复合体中，带状纤维与圆柱状纤维对复合体强度的影响。轧制样中纤维尺寸和间矩对强度的影响比拉拔样要小。轧制样的拉伸强度不像拉拔样那样遵循Ｈａｌｌ－Ｐｅｔｃｈ关系。     

Creep of Polymer Matrix Composites. II: Monkman-Grant Failure Relationship for Transverse Isotropy

This research concerns polymer matrix composite (PMC) materials having long or continuous reinforcement fibers embedded in a polymer matrix. The objective is to develop comparatively simple, designer friendly constitutive equations intended to serve as the basis of a structural design methodology for this class of PMC. Here (Part II), the focus is on extending the damage/failure model of an anisotropic deformation/damage theory presented earlier. A companion paper (Part I) by the writers deals with creep deformation of the same class of PMC. The extension of the damage model leads to a generalization of the well known Monkman/Grant relationship to transverse isotropy. The usefulness of this relationship is that it permits estimates of (long term) creep rupture life on (short term) estimates of creep deformation rate. The current extension also allows estimates of failure time for various fiber orientations. Supporting exploratory experiments are defined and conducted on thin-walled specimens fabricated from a model PMC. A primary assumption in the damage model is that the stress dependence of damage evolution is on the transverse tensile and longitudinal shear traction acting at the fiber/matrix interface. We conjecture that a supplemental mechanism of failure is the extensional strain in the fiber itself. The two postulated mechanisms used in conjunction suggest that an optimal fiber angle may exist in this class of PMC, maximizing the time to creep failure.     

Assessment of Residual Tensile Strength of Carbon/Epoxy Composites Subjected to Low-Energy Impact

This paper presents the results of an experimental study to investigate the effects of impact loading on the residual tensile strength of woven graphite epoxy laminates with a toughened resin system. In this study, both cross-ply, [0/90]6, and angle-ply, [±45]6, laminate lay-up configurations were studied and compared. Test specimens were subjected to various levels of impact loading, after which tensile pull tests were performed to determine the residual tensile strength properties. The study results demonstrated that impact damage causes a significant reduction in tensile strength properties of woven cross-ply [0°/90°] laminates. For example, cross-ply laminated composite specimens subjected to the lowest impact level, 6.8?J, exhibited a 25% decrease in ultimate tensile strength. Angle-ply woven laminates [±45°], however, exhibited an 18% increase in ultimate tensile strength after being subjected to 6.8?(J) impact. This characteristic of increasing tensile strength in [±45°] specimens is an example of increased fiber reorientation in composite laminates with limited fiber damage.     

Failure Mechanisms and Deployment Accuracy of Elastic-Memory Composites

Elastic-memory composites (EMCs) is a class of polymeric composites that can be folded into a very compact shape and later deployed to the original shape upon reheating. They have significant potential in developing large deployable structures greater than 10?m in size that can be stowed in a small launch vehicle and deployed in space to predetermined levels of precision. Generally, the composite is folded by heating it above the glass transition temperature of the resin. The primary deformation mode that allows EMCs to achieve significantly higher effective strains than traditional composites is microbuckling of the compressed fibers. The magnitude of this microbuckling dictates whether the laminate behaves elastically or if the laminate exhibits material failure such as fiber breakage, or fiber kinking. This paper explores the micromechanics of both types of fiber-deformation modes associated with the bending of such soft-resin composites. An analysis method is developed and correlated with experimental data to provide an estimate for the level of folding strain that a soft-resin laminate can achieve based on microbuckling-induced material failure. Additionally, insight is provided into the effects of fiber and matrix material properties on the formation and magnitude of the kink mode. Tests were also conducted to determine the deployment accuracy after a number of folding/deployment cycles to help design deployable sensor structures with these materials.     

Behavior of Large-Scale Rectangular Columns Confined with FRP Composites

This paper focuses on axially loaded, large-scale rectangular RC columns confined with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) wrapping. Experimental tests are conducted to obtain the stress-strain response and ultimate load for three field-size columns having different aspect ratios and/or corner radii. Effective transverse FRP failure strain and the effect of increasing confining action on the stress-strain behavior are examined. Existing strength models, the majority of which were developed for small-scale specimens, are applied to predict the structural response. Since some of them fail to adequately characterize the test data and others are complex and require significant calculation, a simple design-oriented model is developed. The new model is based on the confinement effectiveness coefficient, an aspect ratio coefficient, and a corner radius coefficient. It accurately predicts the axial ultimate strength of the large-scale columns at hand and, when applied to the small-scale columns studied by other investigators, produces reasonable results.     

合金元素对Cr-Mo系锅炉钢性能的影响

叙述了不同工作温度下使用的锅炉钢种类，分析了Ｃｒ、Ｍｏ、Ｖ、Ｎｂ、Ｎ等合金元素对提高锅炉钢蠕变强度和焊接性能的影响。     

Behavior of Structural Composite Lumber T-Beam Bridge Girders after Fatigue Loading

Recent innovation in the engineered wood industry has produced structural composite lumber (SCL) that achieves excellent strength, stiffness, and efficient use of wood. Product variations of SCL, such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and parallel strand lumber (PSL), are currently being used in transportation to produce bridge girders and decks for rural and other low traffic volume roads. Although the elastic and shear properties of SCL are available, no attempt has been made to estimate the fatigue performance of bridge girders. This study tested 12 new and 2 old, weathered SCL T-beam bridge girders with material and preservative variations for AASHTO-specified flexural fatigue under a stress-controlled test setup simulating 60?years of service. Transverse posttension was applied to the girders simulating a real-life situation. Results from the study indicate that the girders are capable of withstanding the repetitive loads without much physical damage. A few of the LVL girders had severe delamination at the SCL-epoxy interface. The fatigued girders were loaded statically up to failure and compared with the ultimate flexural strength of fresh girders. The girders did not show any appreciable strength loss because of one million cycles of fatigue loading. There was no effect of SCL type and preservative treatment on fatigue strength.     

Mechanical Behavior and Size Sensitivity of Nanocrystalline Nickel Wires Using Molecular Dynamics Simulation

The mechanisms of deformation and failure in face-centered cubic (FCC) nickel nanowires subjected to uniaxial tensile loading are investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, and the size effect on mechanical properties of FCC metal nanowires is studied. Simulation reveals that the surface free energy has great influence on the deformation and failure mechanism of metal nanowires. As a result of free surfaces and their reconstruction, the surface atoms depart from the perfect crystal lattice positions, leading to the appearance of nanocavities on the surfaces that are exposed to external load. The deformation process of nanowires undergoes expansion and connection of nanocavities from surface into inner lattices. Slip occurs during the deformation process, which is consistent with experimental phenomena. Elastic stiffness, yield, and fracture strength of nickel nanowires with various cross-sectional sizes are obtained, and the size effect on these mechanical properties is further analyzed. Based on numerical results, a set of quantitative prediction formulas are proposed, and they are capable of explaining the size sensitivity of nickel nanowires on the mechanical properties. Both the elastic modulus and yield strength of nickel nanowires are in a linear relationship with respect to the logarithm of their cross-sectional size, whereas the fracture strength exhibits an inverse relationship to the exponent of cross-sectional size of nickel nanowires. By using the MD simulation, the elastic modulus, yield strength, and fracture strength of a nickel nanowire in relationship to its cross-sectional size are well predicted, and they are in remarkable agreement with experimental and available numerical results. The present study demonstrates that the adopted MD simulation is capable of simulating the mechanical behavior of nanowires with respect to their geometrical size and providing numerical data that can be used to develop the empirical formulas on the effect of various physical and geometric parameters on their mechanical properties.     

Size Effect on Strength of Quasibrittle Structures with Reentrant Corners Symmetrically Loaded in Tension

The effect of V-notches (or reentrant corners) on fracture propagation has been analyzed for brittle materials, but not for quasibrittle materials such as concrete, marked by a large material characteristic length producing a strong size effect transitional between plasticity and linear elastic fracture mechanics. A simple size effect law for the nominal strength of quasibrittle structures with symmetrically loaded notches, incorporating the effect of notch angle, is derived by asymptotic matching of the following five limit cases: (1) Ba?ant’s size effect law for quasibrittle structures with large cracks for notch angle approaching zero; (2) absence of size effect for vanishing structure size; (3) absence of size effect for notch angle approaching π; (4) plasticity-based notch angle effect for vanishing size; and (5) the notch angle effect on crack initiation in brittle structures, which represents the large-size limit of quasibrittle structures. Accuracy for the brittle large-size limit, with notch angle effect only, is first verified by extensive finite-element analyses of bodies with various notch angles. Then a cohesive crack characterized by a softening stress-separation law is considered to emanate from the notch tip, and the same finite-element model is used to verify and calibrate the proposed law for size and angle effects in the transitional size range in which the body is not far larger than Irwin’s material characteristic length. Experimental verification of the notch angle effect is obtained by comparisons with Dunn et al.’s extensive tests of three-point-bend notched beams made of plexiglass (polymethyl methacrylate), and Seweryn’s tests of double-edge-notched tension specimens, one set made of plexiglass and another of aluminum alloy.     

岩体弹性模量尺寸效应的拟合研究

在岩石力学参数数据系统的支持下,利用4种函数对7种软、硬岩弹性模量的尺寸效应进行了拟合分析。研究结果表明:指数函数、幂函数和对数函数对硬质岩弹性模量尺寸效应的拟合效果比较理想;指数函数和对数函数对软质岩弹性模量尺寸效应的拟合效果比较理想;虽然目前尚不能提供一个适用于各种岩石的统一的力学参数尺寸效应的经验公式,但在预测大尺寸岩体力学参数时采用多个尺寸效应经验公式,对结果进行分析比较,可以得到一个较合理的岩体力学参数的取值范围。     

Specimen Size Effect in Discrete Element Simulations of Granular Assemblies

The paper addresses the question of whether the number of particles in a noncemented granular assembly will affect the mechanical characteristics of the assembly: its strength and stiffness. The question is answered by applying the discrete element method to assemblies of different sizes. To isolate the effect of assembly size, apart from the scatter that usually accompanies such simulations, multiple assemblies were tested. The two-dimensional assemblies had nearly identical initial porosities and fabrics, and they were all loaded in biaxial compression. Two different boundaries were tested: periodic and wall boundaries. We find that the peak compressive strength decreases with assembly size for both types of boundaries and over a range of assembly sizes that contain 256 particles to over 66,000 particles. Stiffness is only slightly reduced and only with wall boundaries. Deformation is less uniform in the larger assemblies, with deformation concentrated in a smaller fraction of the assembly area. An analysis of deformation patterning shows that at least a few thousand particles are required for realistic microband patterning.     

Effect of Inclusions on Friction Coefficient of Highly Filled Composite Materials

Highly filled composite material systems exhibit, in triaxial compression, a composite strength that is greater than either the weaker particulate or matrix strength. This is due to an amplification of the local confinement in the matrix activating frictional mechanism. The paper quantitatively addresses this increase of the friction coefficient of a matrix reinforced by rigid inclusions using assorted means of nonlinear micromechanics. The approach is based on a nonlinear elastic representation of a Drucker–Prager type frictional strength behavior of the matrix at failure. The key to success of the homogenization procedure relies on the appropriate definition of effective strains in the matrix, to capture local confinement effects and shear effects in the connected matrix phase. It is shown that an effective strain concept based on linear volume averaging (i.e., classical secant method) leads to overestimate the inclusion effects; while an effective strain concept based on quadratic volume averaging (i.e., modified secant method) provides a more realistic representation of shear strains and local confinement effects that develop in triaxial compression in the matrix. Finally, a combination of these two methods leads to a mixed secant method, which gives a relative friction increase of (volume fraction fI). This estimate accurately predicts the experimentally observed frictional behavior of unleached and leached cement-based mortars, composed of a cement paste matrix and rigid sand inclusions.     

固溶热处理对1Cr19Ni11Nb钢持久强度的影响

不锈耐热钢１Ｃｒ１９Ｎｉ１１Ｎｂ的高温持久强度主要取决于固溶热处理的实际操作工艺。研究结果表明，为了获得充分固溶的组织，固溶温度应不低于１１５０℃。采用真空脱气（ＶＯＤ）二次精炼来提高材质纯净度，有利于改善蠕变断裂韧性。     

Size Effect of Concrete Short Columns Confined with Aramid FRP Jackets

Most previous studies on concrete short columns confined with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites were based on small-scale testing, and size effect of the columns still has not been studied thoroughly. In this study, 99 confined concrete short columns wrapped with aramid FRP (AFRP) jackets and 36 unconfined concrete short columns with circular and square cross sections were tested under axial compressive loading. The circular specimens were divided into six groups, and the square specimens were divided into five groups, with each group containing different levels of the AFRP’s confinement. In each group, the specimens were geometrically similar to one another and had three different scaling dimensions. Statistical analyses were used to evaluate the size and interaction effects between the specimen size and the AFRP’s confinement, and a size-dependent model for predicting the strength of the columns was developed by modifying Baz?nt’s size-effect law. The experimental results showed that the size of a specimen had a significant effect on the strength of AFRP-confined concrete short columns, lesser effect on the axial stress-strain curves, and slight effect on the failure modes. The modified Baz?nt model was in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Structural Properties of Oriented Wood Strand Composite: Effect of Strand Orientation and Modeling Prediction

This paper first examined the effect of wood strand orientation on the flexural properties of oriented wood strand composites (OSB) under different engineering stress modes, and second, investigated the applicability of the rule of mixtures in conjunction with the theory of elasticity for predicting the properties of OSB. The results showed that the performance of OSB was closely related to the loading directions and stress modes: The flexural strength and stiffness under both flat and edgewise bending loads consistently decreased with increasing angles between the applied load and longitudinal direction of orientation of strands, but that under flat bending being much more significant. Panel shear at 45° loading angle resulted in higher strength compared to other loading angles tested, indicating an occurrence of diagonal shear stresses. In conjunction with the numerical results from image analysis of the structure of OSB, and the oriented elasticity and stress algorithms, the models for theoretically predicting the strength and stiffness of OSB under various loading angles were derived with a good estimate under bending and panel shear loads, implying that OSB can be treated as a composite and its properties may be modeled by the rule of mixtures by suitable development, even though OSB has a very high volume fraction of wood strands (0.979) and correspondingly very low volume fraction of resin (0.021).