Experimental and numerical studies on buckling of laminated composite skew plates with circular holes under uniaxial compression

This article deals with experimental and finite element studies on the buckling of isotropic and laminated composite skew plates with circular holes subjected to uniaxial compression. The influence of skew angle, fiber orientation angle, laminate stacking sequence, and aspect ratio on critical buckling load are evaluated using the experimental method (using Methods I through V) and finite element method using MSC/NASTRAN. Method I yields the highest experimental value and Method IV the lowest experimental value for critical buckling load in the case of isotropic skew plates with circular holes. For all laminate stacking sequences considered, Method V yields the highest experimental value for critical buckling load for skew angle = 0° and Method IV yields the highest experimental value for critical buckling load for skew angles = 15° and 30°. For all laminate stacking sequences and skew angles considered, Method II yields the lowest experimental value for critical buckling load. The maximum discrepancy between the experimental values given by Method IV and the finite element solution is about 10% in the case of isotropic skew plates. The maximum discrepancy between the experimental values given by Method II and the finite element solution is about 21% in the case of laminated composite skew plates considered. The percentage of discrepancy between the numerical or finite element solution and experimental value increases as the skew angle increases. The critical buckling load decreases as the aspect ratio increases.     

Free vibration and stability of functionally graded circular cylindrical shells according to a 2D higher-order deformation theory

A two-dimensional (2D) higher-order deformation theory is presented for vibration and buckling problems of circular cylindrical shells made of functionally graded materials (FGMs). The modulus of elasticity of functionally graded (FG) shells is assumed to vary according to a power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. By using the method of power series expansion of continuous displacement components, a set of fundamental governing equations which can take into account the effects of both transverse shear and normal deformations, and rotatory inertia is derived through Hamilton’s principle. Several sets of truncated Mth order approximate theories are applied to solve the eigenvalue problems of simply supported FG circular cylindrical shells. In order to assure the accuracy of the present theory, convergence properties of the fundamental natural frequency for the fundamental mode r=s=1 are examined in detail. A comparison of the present natural frequencies of isotropic and FG shells is also made with previously published results. Critical buckling stresses of simply supported FG circular cylindrical shells subjected to axial stress are also obtained and a relation between the buckling stress and natural frequency is presented. The internal and external works are calculated and compared to prove the numerical accuracy of solutions. Modal transverse shear and normal stresses are calculated by integrating the three-dimensional (3D) equations of motion in the thickness direction satisfying the stress boundary conditions at the outer and inner surfaces. The 2D higher-order deformation theory has an advantage in the analysis of vibration and buckling problems of FG circular cylindrical shells.     

Deflection and stress analysis of thin FGM skew plates on Winkler foundation with various boundary conditions using extended Kantorovich method

Present study aims to analyze thin skew plates made of both isotropic and functionally graded materials based on elasticity and neutral surface theory of FGMs, resting on Winkler foundation, with various combination of clamp, free and simply boundary conditions and uniform loading by using the Extended Kantorovich Method (EKM). Successive application of EKM together with the idea of weighted residual technique converts the governing partial differential equation into two ordinary differential equations. The obtained ODE’s are solved iteratively and the converged deflection function is achieved. Then deflection results and stress components, with some diagrams are presented and compared results of other valid literatures. It is shown that some mechanical properties such as power law index of FGM, angle of the skew plate and stiffness modulus of Winkler foundation have important effects on the obtained results. This study investigates the bending of both isotropic and FGM skew plates on foundation with various boundary conditions comprehensively by showing applicable diagrams and tables more valuable than an article with limited case studies.     

An analytical solution for thermal vibration of compositionally graded nanoplates with arbitrary boundary conditions based on physical neutral surface position

In this article, an analytical method is presented for thermo-mechanical vibration analysis of functionally graded (FG) nanoplates with different boundary conditions under various thermal loadings including uniform, linear, and nonlinear temperature rise via a four-variable plate theory considering neutral surface position. The temperature-dependent material properties of FG nanoplate vary gradually along the thickness according to the Mori-Tanaka homogenization scheme. The exactness of solution is confirmed by comparing obtained results with those provided in the literature. A parametric study is performed investigating the effects of nonlocal parameter, temperature fields, gradient index, and boundary conditions on vibration behavior of FG nanoplates.     

Effect of chemical treatments on the mechanical and thermal behaviour of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) fibres

The effect of a number of chemical treatments on the mechanical (tensile), thermal (FTIR, TGA) and water absorption properties of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) fibres has been studied. These included: bare scouring of the fibres; bleaching (pure, and followed by acetylation or alkalisation); pure acetylation; sodium sulphite; sulphuric acid with potassium permanganate. Tensile properties of the fibres were studied using Weibull statistics and correcting the values obtained by the void content measured from SEM images. A separate set of SEM images allowed also characterising their failure mode. The general trend of the results shows some decrease in mechanical properties by all treatments, although the effect is partially concealed by the high variation of fibre dimensions and the relative variation of void content. Fracture surfaces present an increased level of twisting as an effect of chemical modification resulting in reduced adhesion force between the fibrils, though seldom in their physical separation. Treatments involving acetylation result in limited fibre degradation, whilst bleaching, scouring and particularly permanganate treatment, though mechanically damaging for the fibres, have lower influence on their thermal behaviour. Water absorption profile is significantly improved by all applied treatments.     

Toward negligible charge loss in charge injection memories based on vertically integrated 2D heterostructures

Two-dimensional (2D) crystals have a multitude of forms,including semi-metals,semiconductors,and insulators,which are ideal for assembling isolated 2D atomic materials to create van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures.Recently,artificially-stacked materials have been considered promising candidates for nanoelectronic and optoelectronic applications.In this study,we report the vertical integration of layered structures for the fabrication of prototype non-volatile memory devices.A semiconducting-tungsten-disulfide-channel-based memory device is created by sandwiching high-density-of-states multi-layered graphene as a carrier-confining layer between tunnel barriers of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and silicon dioxide.The results reveal that a memory window of up to 20 V is opened,leading to a high current ratio (＞103) between programming and erasing states.The proposed design combination produced layered materials that allow devices to attain perfect retention at 13％ charge loss after 10 years,offering new possibilities for the integration of transparent,flexible electronic systems.     

A classical iterative theory based on the Langevin equation for two-dimensional nonlinear terahertz spectroscopy

A classical iterative theory based on the Langevin equation is presented to obtain the nonlinear response of a system and simulate two-dimensional (2D) nonlinear terahertz (THz) spectroscopy (2DTS). Compared with the widely used method of calculating the multi-time correlation function or the Poison brackets, we start from the classical Langevin equation and use an iterative method to obtain any order of nonlinear response. The anharmonic potential (AHP) and nonlinear coordinates dependence of the dipole moment (NDM) are two types of nonlinear sources introduced here. Results are derived for general three-pulse processes with nonlinear sources, AHP or NDM, separately and with the combination of both. Only the simulative 2DTS results for the single mode case with impulsive incident THz fields are presented.     

A cell‐based smoothed discrete shear gap method using triangular elements for static and free vibration analyses of Reissner–Mindlin plates

The cell‐based strain smoothing technique is combined with discrete shear gap method using three‐node triangular elements to give a so‐called cell‐based smoothed discrete shear gap method (CS‐DSG3) for static and free vibration analyses of Reissner–Mindlin plates. In the process of formulating the system stiffness matrix of the CS‐DSG3, each triangular element will be divided into three subtriangles, and in each subtriangle, the stabilized discrete shear gap method is used to compute the strains and to avoid the transverse shear locking. Then the strain smoothing technique on whole the triangular element is used to smooth the strains on these three subtriangles. The numerical examples demonstrated that the CS‐DSG3 is free of shear locking, passes the patch test, and shows four superior properties such as: (1) being a strong competitor to many existing three‐node triangular plate elements in the static analysis; (2) can give high accurate solutions for problems with skew geometries in the static analysis; (3) can give high accurate solutions in free vibration analysis; and (4) can provide accurately the values of high frequencies of plates by using only coarse meshes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of thermal treatment on the mechanical properties of wild Pear (Pyrus elaeagnifolia Pall.) wood and changes in physical properties

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of thermal treatment on the mechanical and physical properties of wild pear wood. The results obtained for thermal treatment at 160 °C for 2 h showed that the modulus of elasticity was increased about 5%, while bending strength and compression strength decreased by 7.42% and 7.55%, respectively. The physical properties of wild pear wood were improved as 2.6%, 5.3%, 8.5% and 0.8% swelling in tangential, radial and longitudinal sections and 1.7%, 1.1% and 0.9% at 50, 65 and 85 Rh% and changes in ΔEab^* was 8.50%, respectively. It was determined that the changes ratio of these properties increased as the temperature and durations were increasing. Therefore, wild pear wood can be used as an alternative for tropical woods in decoration and veneer industry.     

Effects of weave architecture on mechanical response of 2D ceramic composites

A meso-scale finite element model is developed to investigate effects of weave architecture on strain and stress evolution in an eight harness-satin SiC/SiCN composite. Fiber tows are modeled explicitly using elastic rebar layers embedded within elastic/plastic effective medium elements. Effects of through-thickness constraint are investigated using several idealized test geometries, ranging from a single (unconstrained) ply to a fully-constrained two-ply lay-up with periodic boundary conditions in the through-thickness direction. A parallel experimental study of surface strain evolution in a representative SiC/SiCN composite is used to assess the model predictions. The results indicate that, because of bending and straightening of wavy tow segments at the locations of tow cross-overs, strain and stress concentrations arise. The effects are exacerbated by reductions in the constraints on bending and straightening caused by matrix damage, especially in surface plies. The implications of the results in the fracture process and on potential mitigation strategies are discussed.     

Morphology, mechanical and thermal properties of graphene-reinforced poly(butylene succinate) nanocomposites

Graphene nanosheets (GNSs) reinforced poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) nanocomposites are facilely obtained by a solution-based processing method. Graphene nanosheets, which are derived from chemically reduced graphite oxide (GO), are characterized by AFM, TEM, XRD and Raman spectra. The state of dispersion of the GNSs in the PBS matrix is examined by SEM observations that reveals homogeneous distribution of GNSs in PBS matrix. A 21% increase in tensile strength and a 24% improvement of storage modulus are achieved by addition of 2.0 wt% of GNS. The electrical conductivity and thermal stability of the graphene-based nanocomposite are also improved. DSC measurement indicates that the presence of graphene sheets does not have a remarkable impact on the crystallinity of the nanocomposites. Therefore, the high performances of the nanocomposites are mainly attributed to the uniform dispersion of GNSs in the polymer matrix and strong interfacial interactions between both components.     

Effects of vacuum thermal cycling on mechanical and physical properties of high performance carbon/bismaleimide composite

The aim of this article was to investigate the effects of vacuum thermal cycling on mechanical and physical properties of high performance carbon/bismaleimide (BMI) composites used in aerospace. The changes in dynamic mechanical properties and thermal stability were characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The changes in linear coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) were measured in directions perpendicular and parallel to the fiber direction, respectively. The outgassing behavior of the composites were examined. The evolution of surface morphology and surface roughness were observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Changes in mechanical properties including transverse tensile strength, flexural strength and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) were measured. The results indicated that the vacuum thermal cycling could improve the crosslinking degree and the thermal stability of resin matrix to a certain extent, and induce matrix outgassing and thermal stress, thereby leading to the mass loss and the interfacial debonding of the composite. The degradation in transverse tensile strength was caused by joint effects of the matrix outgassing and the interfacial debonding, while the changes in flexural strength and ILSS were affected by a competing effect between the crosslinking degree of resin matrix and the fiber-matrix debonding.     

Electro-magneto temperature-dependent vibration analysis of functionally graded-carbon nanotube-reinforced piezoelectric Mindlin cylindrical shells resting on a temperature-dependent,orthotropic elastic medium

Vibration smart control analysis of a temperature-dependent functionally graded-carbon nanotube-reinforced piezoelectric cylindrical shell embedded in an orthotropic elastic medium is investigated. The mixture law is used for obtaining the material properties of the structure. The structure is subjected to a 2D magnetic field. Considering the first-order shear deformation theory, the motion equations are obtained. Based on an analytical method and differential quadrature method, the frequency is calculated. The effects of applied voltage, magnetic field, volume percent, and distribution type of carbon nanotubes, temperature, orthotropic elastic medium, and length to radius ratio of the shell are shown on system frequency.     

Static and free vibration analyses of composite and sandwich plates by an edge-based smoothed discrete shear gap method (ES-DSG3) using triangular elements based on layerwise theory

An edge-based smoothed stabilized discrete shear gap method (ES-DSG3) based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) was recently proposed for static and dynamic analyses of Mindlin plates. In this paper, the ES-DSG3 is extended and incorporated with a layerwise theory for static and free vibration analyses of composite and sandwich plates. In the layerwise theory, the behavior of each layer follows the first-order shear deformation theory and the condition of displacement continuity is imposed at the interfaces of layers. This hence does not require shear correction factors and improves significantly the accuracy of transverse shear stresses. The stiffness formulation of the ES-DSG3 is performed by using the strain smoothing technique over the smoothing domains associated with edges of elements for each layer. The accuracy and reliability of the proposed method are confirmed in several numerical examples.     

On the optical, structural, and morphological properties of ZrO2 and TiO2 dip-coated thin films supported on glass substrates

This article reports the optical and morphological properties of dip-coated TiO₂ and ZrO₂ thin films on soda-lime glass substrates by metal-organic decomposition (MOD) of titanium^IV and zirconium^IV acetylacetonates respectively. Thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (DTA–TG) were performed on the precursor powders, indicating pure TiO₂ anatase and tetragonal ZrO₂ phase formation. Phase crystallization processes took place in the range of 300–500 °C for anatase and of 410–500 °C for ZrO₂. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to confirm precursor bidentate ligand formation with keno-enolic equilibrium character. Deposited films were heated at different temperatures, and their structural, optical and morphological properties were studied by grazing-incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD) and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Ultraviolet Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) respectively. Film thinning and crystalline phase formation were enhanced with increasing temperature upon chelate decomposition. The optimum annealing temperature for both pure anatase TiO₂ and tetragonal ZrO₂ thin films was found to be 500 °C since solid volume fraction increased with temperature and film refractive index values approached those of pure anatase and tetragonal zirconia. Conditions for clean stoichiometric film formation with an average roughness value of 2 nm are discussed in terms of material binding energies indicated by XPS analyses, refractive index and solid volume fraction obtained indirectly by UV-Vis spectra, and crystalline peak identification provided by GIXRD.     

Kinetic Controlled Chirality Transfer and Induction in 2D Hydrogen-Bonding Assemblies of Glycylglycine on Au(111)

Chirality transfer is of vital importance that dominates the structure and functionality of biological systems and living matters. External physical stimulations, e.g. polarized light and mechanical forces, can trigger the chirality symmetry breaking, leading to the appearance of the enantiomeric entities created from a chiral self-assembly of achiral molecule. Here, several 2D assemblies with different chirality, synthesized on Au(111) surface by using achiral building blocks – glycylglycine (digly), the simplest polypeptide are reported. By delicately tuning the kinetic factors, i.e., one-step slow/rapid deposition, or stepwise slow deposition with mild annealing, achiral square hydrogen-bond organic frameworks (HOF), homochiral rhombic HOF and racemic rectangular assembly are achieved, respectively. Chirality induction and related symmetry broken in assemblies are introduced by the handedness (H-bond configurations in principle) of the assembled motifs and then amplified to the entire assemblies via the interaction between motifs. The results show that the chirality transfer and induction of biological assemblies can be tuned by altering the kinetic factors instead of applying external forces, which may offer an in-depth understanding and practical approach to peptide chiral assembly on the surfaces and can further facilitate the design of desired complex biomolecular superstructures.     

埃洛石复配2-羧乙基苯基次膦酸对环氧树脂阻燃及力学性能的影响

将埃洛石纳米管(HNTs)与2-羧乙基苯基次磷酸(CEPPA)复配并用于环氧树脂(EP)阻燃改性,制备了CEPPA-HNTs/EP复合材料。研究了HNTs与CEPPA的配比对CEPPA-HNTs/EP复合材料热稳定性、阻燃性及力学性能的影响。TG分析表明,CEPPA与HNTs复配可提高CEPPA-HNTs/EP复合材料的热稳定性,促进成炭并降低分解速率。锥形量热和极限氧指数分析表明,加入HNTs可降低EP热释放速率,而CEPPA对提高EP的极限氧指数作用更显著。残炭的红外分析及SEM结果表明,燃烧过程中CEPPA与HNTs反应生成硅铝磷酸盐促进凝聚相的脱水交联,形成更致密的炭层。力学性能分析表明,当HNTs与EP和CEPPA与EP的质量比分别为6%和4%时,CEPPA-HNTs/EP复合材料的拉伸强度和冲击强度分别提高了19.4%和17.3%,冲击断面的SEM图像显示CEPPA-HNTs/EP复合材料呈韧性断裂。     

Additive manufacturing of mechanical testing samples based on virgin poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and PLA/wood fibre composites

3D printing in additive manufacturing is considered as one of key technologies to the future high-precision manufacturing in order to benefit diverse industries in building construction, product development, biomedical innovation, etc. The increasing applications of 3D printed components depend primarily on their significant merits of reduced weight, minimum used materials, high precision and shorter production time. Furthermore, it is very crucial that such 3D printed components can maintain the same or even better material performance and product quality as those achieved by conventional manufacturing methods. This study successfully fabricated 3D printed mechanical testing samples of PLA and PLA/wood fibre composites. 3D printing parameters including infill density, layer height and the number of shells were investigated via design of experiments (DoE), among which the number of shells was determined as the most significant factor for maximising tensile strengths of PLA samples. Further, DoE work evaluated the effect of material type (i.e., neat PLA and PLA/wood fibres) and the number of shells on tensile, flexural and impact strengths of material samples. It is suggested that material type is the only predominant factor for maximising all mechanical strengths, which however are consistently lower for PLA/wood fibre composites when compared with those of neat PLA. Increasing the number of shells, on the other hand, has been found to improve almost all strength levels and decrease infill cavities. The full text can be downloaded at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40436-018-0211-3     

Application of a generic bow-tie based risk analysis framework on risk management of sea ports and offshore terminals

Ports and offshore terminals are critical infrastructure resources and play key roles in the transportation of goods and people. With more than 80 percent of international trade by volume being carried out by sea, ports and offshore terminals are vital for seaborne trade and international commerce. Furthermore in today's uncertain and complex environment there is a need to analyse the participated risk factors in order to prioritise protective measures in these critically logistics infrastructures. As a result of this study is carried out to support the risk assessment phase of the proposed Risk Management (RM) framework used for the purpose of sea ports and offshore terminals operations and management (PTOM). This has been fulfilled by integration of a generic bow-tie based risk analysis framework into the risk assessment phase as a backbone of the phase. For this reason Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Event Tree Analysis (ETA) are used to analyse the risk factors associated within the PTOM. This process will eventually help the port professionals and port risk managers to investigate the identified risk factors more in detail. In order to deal with vagueness of the data Fuzzy Set Theory (FST) and possibility approach are used to overcome the disadvantages of the conventional probability based approaches.     

Effect of carbon nanotubes on the mechanical properties and crystallization behavior of poly(ether ether ketone)

Pristine carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and noncovalently functionalized carbon nanotubes (f-CNTs) were used to prepare poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) composites (CNTs/PEEK and f-CNTs/PEEK) via melt blending. Noncovalently functionalized multiwalled nanotubes were synthesized using hydrogen-bonding interactions between sulfonic groups of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) and carboxylic groups of nanotubes treated by acid (CNTs–COOH). The effects of these two kinds of nanotubes on the mechanical properties and crystallization behavior of PEEK were investigated. CNTs improved mechanical properties and promoted the crystallization rate of PEEK as a result of heterogeneous nucleation. Better enhancement of mechanical properties appeared in the f-CNTs/PEEK composites, which is ascribed to the good interaction between f-CNTs and PEEK. However, the strong interaction of f-CNTs and PEEK chains decreased the crystallization rate of PEEK for high content of f-CNTs.