Degradation of a Granular Base under a Flexible Pavement: DEM Simulation

Flexible pavements are composed by an asphalt concrete layer, granular base and subbase layers, and a natural subgrade. The granular materials forming part of the granular layers are subjected to static and dynamic loads during their engineering life. As a result of these loads particle crushing may occur depending on the strength of the particles forming the granular layers. Particle crushing is important since it is associated with several detrimental effects such as settlements and a reduction in hydraulic conductivity. A computer simulation using the discrete element method (DEM) is presented in order to understand and visualize how crushing initiates and develops inside a simulated pavement structure.     

Elastic Model for Partially Saturated Granular Materials

This paper presents the development of an elastic model for partially saturated granular materials based on micromechanical factor consideration. A granular material is considered as an assembly of particles. The stress-strain relationship for an assembly can be determined by integrating the behavior at all interparticle contacts and by using a static hypothesis, which relates the average stress of the granular assembly to a mean field of particle contact forces. As for the nonsaturated state, capillary forces at grain contacts are added to the contact forces created by an external load. These are then calculated as a function of the degree of saturation, depending on the grain size distribution and on the void ratio of the granular assembly. Hypothesizing a Hertz-Mindlin law for the grain contacts leads to an elastic nonlinear behavior of the particulate material. The prediction of the stress-strain model is compared to experimental results obtained from several different granular materials in dry, partially saturated and fully saturated states. The numerical predictions demonstrate that the model is capable of taking into account the influence of key parameters, such as degree of saturation, void ratio, and mean stress.     

Visualization of Crushing Evolution in Granular Materials under Compression Using DEM

Granular materials forming part of natural slopes, embankments, subgrades of foundations, and pavement structures are subjected to both static and dynamic loads during their engineering lives. As a result of these loads, particle crushing may occur. The present study demonstrates that the discrete-element method (DEM) can be used to visualize the evolution of this breakage process. In particular, the evolution of crushing in a simulated granular material subjected to uniaxial compression is presented. Even though DEM does not normally consider particle breakage, it is possible to simulate crushing by replacing one particle that has failed in tension with a combination of many particles of different sizes. The results from the simulation indicate that crushing does not develop uniformly throughout the sample, but rather concentrates in certain regions. These observations agree with experimental results of uniaxial tests conducted on sand. Other results from the simulation satisfactorily agree with experimental results previously reported by other researchers. In this way, by using a simplified failure criterion, DEM can be used to visualize and understand the evolution of granular crushing. This is something that is very difficult to do with laboratory tests alone.     

GCr15轴承钢碳化物控制及其对压碎负荷的影响

碳化物均匀性是影响轴承疲劳性能主要因素之一,对钢厂采用不同工艺生产的GCr15钢制成的钢球进行压碎试验,并对压碎后的钢球进行碳化物网状、带状分析。试验结果表明,延长高温扩散时间后,压碎负荷值提升;在此基础上进行控轧控冷,压碎负荷值进一步提升,并且提升幅度更显著。碳化物颗粒处于2.5～6μm,碳化物颗粒越大,压碎负荷值越小;坯料高温扩散温度1220～1240℃、时间16 h,且盘条终轧温度750～800℃、冷却速度4～5℃/s工艺生产的原材料制成钢球后的压碎负荷均值最高,达到了251.581kN。     

The cyclic stress-strain response of polycrystalline,pseudoelastic Cu-14.5 wt pct Al-3 wt pct Ni alloy

Limited results on the fatigue of pseudo-elastic material indicate that, as a class, these materials should have truly outstanding fatigue properties. To check this, the mechanisms of cyclic deformation and fracture have been studied in Cu−Al−Ni chosen because its transformation behavior is well understood. Since this alloy is notoriously brittle, pulsating compression fatigue tests were carried out in polycrystalline material. The details of the stress-induced martensite behavior were studied byin situ video observations. The alloy was found to undergo cyclic hardening and failure eventually occurred by multiple nucleation of cracks at grain boundaries, by a mechanism similar in principle to that which occurs in regular metals cycled at high plastic strains. The Coffin-Manson law was obeyed.     

Shear Band Formation in Plane Strain Experiments of Sand

A series of biaxial (plane strain) experiments were conducted on three sands under low (15 kPa) and high (100 kPa) confining pressure conditions to investigate the effects of specimen density, confining pressure, and sand grain size and shape on the constitutive and stability behavior of granular materials. The three sands used in the experiments were fine-, medium-, and coarse-grained uniform silica sands with rounded, subangular, and angular grains, respectively. Specimen deformation was readily monitored and analyzed with the help of a grid pattern imprinted on the latex membrane. The overall stress-strain behavior is strongly dependent on the specimen density, confining pressure, sand grain texture, and the resulting failure mode(s). That became evident in different degrees of softening responses at various axial strains. The relationship between the constitutive behavior and the specimens' modes of instability is presented. The failure in all specimens was characterized by two distinct and opposite shear bands. It was found that the measured dilatancy angles increase as the sand grains' angularities and sizes increase. The measured shear band inclination angles are also presented and compared with classical Coulomb and Roscoe solutions.     

The effect of matrix microstructure on cyclic response and fatigue behavior of particle- reinforced 2219 aluminum: Part I. room temperature behavior

The low-cycle and high-cycle fatigue behavior and cyclic response of naturally aged and overaged 2219/TiC/15p and unreinforced 2219 Al were investigated using plastic strain-controlled and stress-controlled testing. In addition, the influence of grain size on the particle-reinforced materials was examined. In both reinforced and unreinforced materials, the naturally aged conditions were cyclically unstable, exhibiting an initial hardening behavior followed by an extended region of cyclic stability and ultimately a softening region. The overaged reinforced material was cyclically stable for the plastic strains examined, while the overaged unreinforced material exhibited cyclic hardening at plastic strains greater than 2.5 × 10⁻⁴. Decreasing grain size of particle-reinforced materials modestly increased the cyclic flow stress of both naturally aged and overaged materials. Reinforced and unreinforced materials exhibited similar fatigue life behaviors; however, the reinforced and unreinforced naturally aged materials had superior fatigue lives in comparison to the overaged materials. Grain size had no effect on the fatigue life behavior of the particle-reinforced materials. The fatigue lives were strongly influenced by the presence of clusters of TiC particles and exogenous Al₃Ti intermetallics. formerly Research Assistant with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 This article is based on a presentation made in the symposium entitled “Creep and Fatigue in Metal Matrix Composites” at the 1994 TMS/ASM Spring meeting, held February 28–March 3, 1994 in San Francisco, California, under the auspices of the Joint TMS-SMD/ASM-MSD Composite Materials Committee.     

Effect of environment on crack growth behavior in austenitic stainless steels under creep and fatigue conditions

Crack growth behavior at high temperatures under cyclic, static, and combined loads was studied in annealed and 20 pct cold-worked Type 316 and 20 pct cold-worked Type 304 austenitic stainless steels in air and vacuum. Under cyclic load, crack growth rates in annealed Type 316 steel are slightly lower in vacuum than in air, but this difference decreases with increase in crack growth rate. Most importantly, the effect of temperature on crack growth is present even in vacuum and arises mostly from the variation of elastic modulus with temperature. In the cold-worked Type 316 steel, the pronounced hold-time effects on fatigue crack growth in air reported in the literature persists even in vacuum. This implies that at high crack growth rates these hold-time effects arise mostly from creep-fatigue interaction rather than environment fatigue interaction. Environment has a negligible effect also on crack growth under static load. Thus, time dependent crack growth in these steels is due to creep processes. Crack growth behavior in annealed and cold-worked materials are compared and reasons for the enhanced time dependent crack growth in cold-worked material are discussed in detail.     

提高钼粉抗弯强度的工艺优化研究

钼粉具有较高且稳定的抗弯强度一直是现今钼粉生产的技术难题.本文通过对所用原料、低温还原及高温还原温度以及对钼粉进行机械破碎（球磨/气流磨）等因素对钼粉抗弯强度的影响分析,总结出原料（粒度、松装密度、K含量）、温度及破碎对钼粉抗弯强度的影响.     

Low cycle fatigue behavior of Ti-Mn alloys: Fatigue life

The effect of morphology, particle size, β grain size and volume fraction of β, from 0.025 to 1.0, on the low cycle fatigue life of α-β Ti-Mn alloys, have been studied under total strain control. In general, Widmanstätten plus grain boundary (W+GB) α structures show shorter fatigue lives than equiaxed (E) α structures, and this has been ascribed to the formation of much larger surface cracks and ease of transfer of slip from α to β. For Eα structures, fatigue life increases with decreasing α particle size and when the alloy is single phase β fatigue life increases with decreasing grain size. At high total strains the nearly all α alloy had the longest fatigue life and at lower strains the β alloy, with the higher yield strength, had the longest fatigue life. Fatigue life was correlated with strain hardening. The nearly all α alloy which had the highest strain hardening, over the plastic strains encountered, had the highest fatigue life, while the β alloy, with the lowest strain hardening, had the lowest fatigue life. For a portion of the fatigue life curves, it was found that as the average Baushinger strain (ABS) increased, the Coffin-Manson exponentc decreased. The results are discussed.     

New Duplex Microstructure of Grain Boundary Allotriomorphic Ferrite/Granular Bainite

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Effect of equal-channel angular pressing on the fatigue strength of titanium and a zirconium alloy

The static and fatigue strength of commercial-purity VT1-00 titanium and a Zr-2.5% Nb alloy subjected to equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) are studied. The formation of a submicrocrystalline structure after ECAP is shown to result in significant hardening, an increase in the fatigue life at high stress amplitudes, and an increase in the fatigue limit as compared to the annealed state. The mechanisms of fatigue fracture of the materials in various structural states are investigated.     

基于扩展离散元法的超声振动粉碎装置颗粒粉碎效果分析

根据超声振动原理设计了一种高效颗粒超细粉碎装置,在扩展离散元分析软件中对物料在变幅杆高频冲击下的粉碎过程进行仿真模拟,并与实验结果相比较,分析超声频率、粒径大小、颗粒材料对粉碎效率的影响。研究结果表明,随着超声频率的增加,装置粉碎效率先增大后趋于稳定,考虑到系统稳定性,选取38 kHz为最优超声振动频率;装置对粒径为200~500μm的颗粒具有良好的粉碎效果;装置对高强度、高硬度的天然、人工合成材料均有良好的粉碎效果,随着硬度的下降,粉碎效果变优,尤其适用于颗粒内部具有微缺陷和微裂纹的材料;通过对比实验验证了仿真结果的可靠性。     

Prediction of limit strains in superplastic materials

A simple model has been developed to study the effects of static and dynamic grain growth and strain rate on the ductility of superplastic materials. One-half of a tensile specimen was modeled numerically using a power-law creep constitutive equation, with either a constant strain rate or constant extension rate. Static grain growth was shown to reduce material ductility at all rates of growth, except when the imposed strain rate was very low. Dynamic grain growth was shown to enhance ductility at lower growth rates and for intermediate imposed strain rates, while decreasing ductility at higher growth rates. Comparison of simulated and experimental results reveals the relationship between strain and grain size, thus justifying the treatment of dynamic grain growth as a function of accumulated strain.     

Microstructures and hardness of ultrafine-grained Ni3Al

The microstructural evolution of the ultrafine-grained intermetallic compound Ni₃Al is studied as a function of annealing at different temperatures. The ultrafine microstructure is produced by a high plastic torsional straining. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry are used to characterize the microstructural evolution and microhardness is used to determine mechanical behaviour. The as-deformed microstructure exhibits an almost fully disordered crystalline structure with coherent domain size of about 18 nm, a strong torsional texture and high internal elastic strains. On annealing the as-deformed samples at different temperatures, the recrystallization of the material into a granular type structure containing non-equilibrium grain boundaries is first observed. This is followed by the transformation from non-equilibrium grain boundaries with simultaneous grain growth. This transformation is correlated with an increase of hardness. A new concept of non-equilibrium grain boundaries transparency is presented to interpret this singular behaviour. The results are compared to those obtained on an ultrafine-grained Al-1.5% Mg alloy produced by the same technique and which exhibits the same mechanical behaviour.     

含碳量对Cr15—Ni25合金高温低周疲劳性能的影响

本文对含碳0.009、0.099、0.16Wt％的Cr15-Ni25合金高温低周疲劳性能进行了研究,疲劳波形为保持1min单向拉一拉疲劳。实验结果表明,材料的高温低周疲劳性能不仅与含碳量有关,而且同碳化物分布状态有关,材料的高温低周疲劳性能受晶界强度和晶内强度两部分控制,只有二者强度同时提高,才能提高材料的高温抗疲劳性能。     

Effect of Contact Force Models on Granular Flow Dynamics

The contact force model consisting of a linear spring dashpot with a frictional glider has been widely adapted to simulate granular flows. Real contact mechanics between two solid bodies is very complicated. Extensive theoretical and experimental studies exist for binary contacts. Very little work has been reported that addresses the effect of contact mechanics on the bulk behavior of granular materials. We first briefly summarize the difference of binary contacts between a linear spring–dashpot model and the Hertzian nonlinear spring with two nonlinear dashpot models. We then compare the constitutive behaviors of a granular material using a linear and a nonlinear model. The stress- and strain-rate relation in simple shear flow and the resulting coordination number are calculated using the discrete element method. It is found that although at the grain level binary contact between two particles depends on whether a linear or a nonlinear model is used, the bulk behavior of granular materials is qualitatively similar with either model.     

Low-Cycle Fatigue of Ultra-Fine-Grained Cryomilled 5083 Aluminum Alloy

The cyclic deformation behavior of cryomilled (CM) AA5083 alloys was compared to that of conventional AA5083-H131. The materials studied were a 100 pct CM alloy with a Gaussian grain size average of 315 nm and an alloy created by mixing 85 pct CM powder with 15 pct unmilled powder before consolidation to fabricate a plate with a bimodal grain size distribution with peak averages at 240 nm and 1.8 μm. Although the ultra-fine-grain (UFG) alloys exhibited considerably higher tensile strengths than those of the conventional material, the results from plastic-strain-controlled low-cycle fatigue tests demonstrate that all three materials exhibit identical fatigue lives across a range of plastic strain amplitudes. The CM materials exhibited softening during the first cycle, similar to other alloys produced by conventional powder metallurgy, followed by continual hardening to saturation before failure. The results reported in this study show that fatigue deformation in the CM material is accompanied by slight grain growth, pinning of dislocations at the grain boundaries, and grain rotation to produce macroscopic slip bands that localize strain, creating a single dominant fatigue crack. In contrast, the conventional alloy exhibits a cell structure and more diffuse fatigue damage accumulation.     

铁/镍基奥氏体多晶合金晶界弯曲研究进展

对于在高温环境服役的金属材料,晶界作为组织结构上的薄弱环节常常引发晶界裂纹而造成合金失效,严重影响了材料的高温力学性能表现。因而,如何改善晶界状态、提高晶界强度,是提高合金高温性能的关键。在铁/镍基奥氏体多晶合金中,采用晶界弯曲的方法强化晶界、改善合金性能一直受到国内外研究人员的广泛关注。从弯曲晶界的获得方法、形成机制及其对材料性能的影响3个方面概述了目前国内外的研究现状。较为全面地总结了特殊热处理与材料合金化等获得弯曲晶界的方法;讨论了不同合金中晶界第二相诱发晶界弯曲的驱动力和内在机理;介绍了弯曲晶界对材料力学性能、耐蚀性能及焊接性能的影响。最后,结合当前的研究现状,围绕弯曲晶界的形成条件和机制,以及弯曲晶界对性能的影响,提出了弯曲晶界未来的研究发展方向。