Experimental study of heterogeneities in strain and temperature fields at the microstructural level of polycrystalline metals through fully-coupled full-field measurements by Digital Image Correlation and Infrared Thermography

In this paper, we investigate and quantify the thermal effects induced by plastic deformation at the level of the microstructure of a polycrystalline metallic sample. For the first time, this investigation is conducted on a specimen containing hundred of grains. We use a unique experimental setup to access—simultaneously in-situ and in real time—strain and temperature fields of an austenitic stainless steel under tensile loading. We show that strain fields are directly linked to the expression of plasticity at the grain scale. We show, on the other hand, that thermal fields at the last increment of deformation are linked to the microstructural expression of plasticity on a larger lengthscale corresponding, instead, to grain clusters. Hence strain fields exhibit stronger localization features than the temperature fields in terms of both values and space. For a mean temperature rise of 0.75 °C and a global deformation of 2.4% in the fastest quasi-static regime investigated in this paper, the maximum local temperature rise is measured to be 0.88 °C even though local strain in grains can reach up to 6.7%. These fully-coupled measurements also provide the first experimental evidence that an instantaneous coupling takes place within grains between strain gradients and thermal dissipation. Finally, an estimation of a grain-scale field of the fraction of plastic work converted into heat is conducted and shown to be not only heterogeneous but also to be related to the microstructural features of deformation at the surface of the material, namely to the absence or presence of slip bands. The results obtained support the relevance of establishing energy balances and acquiring stored energy data at the microstructural scale where damage localization takes place.     

An experimental method for measurement of strain distribution between wood the flour particles and polymer matrix on micro-mechanical level

Wood plastic composites (WPCs) are comprised of wood flour and thermoplastic polymer. The matrix is typically high-density polyethylene, poly (vinyl chloride), or polypropylene. The effect of morphology and micromechanics of wood flour particles on the mechanical performance of the bulk composite is a relatively unexplored area. The knowledge about the in situ properties of wood particles and the interfacial properties between the wood particles and the polymer matrix in the bio-composites is very limited. The objective of this work is to characterize the full-field deformation and strain distribution in and around wood particles embedded in polymer matrix. The mechanical tests are performed in small-scale tensile loading stage on thin composite samples containing 1-3 wood particles orientated at various angles. The deformations and strains is measured using optical measurement system based on Digital Image Correlation (DIC) principle.     

Free vibration analysis of double-bonded isotropic piezoelectric Timoshenko microbeam based on strain gradient and surface stress elasticity theories under initial stress using differential quadrature method

The size-dependent effect on free vibration of double-bonded isotropic piezoelectric Timoshenko microbeams using strain gradient and surface stress elasticity theories under initial stress is presented. This article is developed for isotropic piezoelectric material. Due to the high surface-to-volume ratio, surface stress has an important role with micro- and nanoscale materials. Thus, the Gurtin–Murdoch continuum mechanic approach is used. Governing equations of motion are derived by Hamilton's principle and solved by the differential quadrature method. The effects of pre-stress load, surface residual stress, surface mass density, surface piezoelectrics, Young's modulus of surface layers, three material length scale parameters, thickness to material length scale parameter ratios, various boundary conditions, and two elastic foundation coefficients are investigated. It is concluded that the effect of pre-stress load in greater modes is negligible for higher aspect ratios and this effect is similar to lower aspect ratios. Also, the size-dependent effect on the dimensionless natural frequency for strain gradient theory is higher than that for modified couple stress theory and classical theory, which is due to increasing stiffness of the Timoshenko microbeam model. Moreover, the results show that dimensionless natural frequency affects more by considering the material length scale parameters with respect to surface effect. The results are compared with the obtained results from the literature and show good agreement between them. It is concluded that the amplitude of the transverse displacements (w₀) for a microbeam (MB) is more than the transverse displacements (w₁) for a piezoelectric microbeam (PMB). On the other hand, using a piezoelectric layer for PMB, the amplitude of the transverse displacements (w₁) reduces considerably with respect to MB, in which this effect leads to increase the stiffness of the microbeam and stability of microstructures. With considering the piezoelectric layer, the obtained results can be used to control the amplitude and vibration of microstructures, prevent the resonance phenomenon, design smart structures, and can be employed for micro-electro-mechanical systems and nano-electro-mechanical systems.     

Formability prediction of high-strength steel sheet using experimental,analytical and theoretical analysis based on strain and stress forming limit curves and its application to automotive forming parts

In this work, the high-strength steel (HSS) sheet dual-phase 440 (DP440) were conducted to establish the forming limit curve (FLC) and analytical forming limit stress curve (FLSC) obtained from experimental forming limit curve. First, the Nakajima stretch forming examination was carried out to obtain forming limit curve of investigated sheet. Afterwards, the theoretical Marciniak–Kuczinsky (M–K) model was developed and calculated to evaluate localized necking limits both in strain and stress spaces combination with anisotropic yield criteria. Then, the analytical forming limit stress curves were plastically calculated by using experimental forming limit curve data combination with Swift hardening model and anisotropic yield criteria namely, Hill’48 and Yld2000-2d for representing anisotropic plastic deformation behavior on examined steel sheet. Finally, automotive stamping parts were performed in order to verify an applicability of all developed curves. It was observed that the analytical forming limit stress curves could more precisely predict the formability of automotive parts better than the forming limit curve based on strain. Particularly, the one based on Yld2000-2d predict better than the one based on Hill’48. Simultaneously, the experimental forming limit curve and analytical forming limit stress curve were also evaluated comparing with the theoretical calculated forming limit curve and forming limit stress curve using the Marciniak–Kuczinsky model. It should be noted again that the experimental forming limit curve and analytical forming limit stress curve are the best one. Therefore, the Yld2000-2d yield function better represented the anisotropic behavior of the high-strength steel sheet dual-phase 440 than Hill′ 48 yield function, and can suitable be used for the analysis prediction and design of bumper automotive parts under forming processes.     

An experimental study on minimizing frost deposition on a cold surface under natural convection conditions by use of a novel anti-frosting paint. Part II. Long-term performance, frost layer observation and mechanism analysis

In this part of study, the comparative observations of the structure and the surface temperature of the frost layer of both the coated and uncoated surfaces ware carried out and a preliminary analysis was presented. A series of the repeated cycling tests were completed that lasted for more than 2 months, and the influences of the coating thickness were also investigated. The results show that the frost layer deposited on the coating surface has a very fragile structure and can be removed easily by external force. The coating thickness has an important effect on the anti-frosting performance of the paint. The results also show that the coating of the paint on the copper surface is durable and presents a very good repeated cycling performance.