Uniaxial and biaxial nematic liquid crystals

The unusual exhibition of a biaxial nematic phase in nonlinear thermotropic mesogens derived from the 2,5-oxadiazole biphenol (ODBP) core is placed in a general context; the uniaxial nematic phase of the prototypical rod-like mesogen para-quinquephenyl does not follow the classical mean-field behaviour of nematics, thus questioning the utility of such theories for quantitative predictions about biaxial nematics. The nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of labelled probe molecules dissolved in ODBP biaxial nematic phases suggest that a second critical rotation frequency, related to the differences in the transverse diamagnetic susceptibilities of the biaxial nematic, must be exceeded in order to create an aligned two-dimensional powder sample. Efforts to find higher viscosity and lower temperature biaxial nematics (with lower critical rotation rates) to confirm the above conjecture are described. Several chemical modifications of the ODBP mesogenic core are presented.     

Mechanical and anisotropic behaviors of 7075 aluminum alloy sheets

Formability of 7075 aluminum alloy sheets was studied after annealing of 71% cold worked (CW) samples at different temperatures (270–450 °C). Uniaxial tensile test, deep drawing and Erichsen test were carried out at room temperature to evaluate formability parameters.     

Uniaxial and biaxial fracture behaviour of refractory materials

Mechanical fracture properties of specimens taken from refractory materials of different brittleness are described using the wedge splitting method according to Tschegg in uniaxial and biaxial load cases. Notch-tensile strength, fracture energy and the characteristic length were determined. Fracture energy under a uniaxial load is more or less the same for all materials; if a load becomes biaxial, values fall to approx. 70% in materials with reduced brittleness and to 40% in brittle materials, compared to uniaxial values. The sensitivity against crack propagation (l_ch) changes insignificantly under both uniaxial and biaxial loading of brittle and brittleness-reduced materials.     

Compressive behavior of closed-cell aluminum alloy foams at medium strain rates

Compressive behavior of closed-cell aluminum alloy foams at strain rates of 10⁻³-450 s⁻¹ has been studied experimentally. The fully stress-strain curves of specimens at medium strain rates were obtained using the High Rate Instron Test System, which can maintain a constant loading rate. The experimental results show that plateau stress and energy absorption capacity are remarkable dependent on strain rate, while the densification strain has a negligible dependence.     

Mechanical behaviors of quasi-ordered entangled aluminum alloy wire material

Quasi-ordered entangled aluminum alloy wire materials with nominal porosity of 57–77% have been fabricated by assembling a set of aluminum alloy wires with diameter of 0.28 mm. The as-prepared materials display three-stage stress–strain behavior under uniaxial compressive loading, i.e., initial nonlinear ‘quasi-elastic’ deformation, strain-hardening ‘pseudo-platform’ stage, and the final densifying stage. The experiment indicates that the structural deformation mechanism dominates the initial stress–strain behavior. At the elastic stage, the materials reveal a significant ‘strain-hysteresis effect’. The compressive yield strength and the elastic modulus exhibit a significant dependence of porosity, i.e., both decrease as the porosity increases. The data obey the typical power law relationship suggested by Gibson–Ashby.     

Welding failure of as-fabricated component of aluminum alloy 5052

This paper describes the failure analysis of the “tray section” made up of aluminum alloy 5052 which is used as a specimen holder in a research reactor. Fracture was observed in the central rod of alloy 5052 before it was taken for service. The fracture had occurred in a brittle mode without any gross plastic deformation at a location where the rod was welded to the stopper plate. Detailed microstructural examination was done using both optical and scanning electron microscopy. The weld fusion zone showed presence of high porosity and eutectic phases mainly along the inter-dendritic regions. These low melting temperature eutectics were rich in Si and Fe and led to weld cracking along the dendritic grains during solidification of the welds. Solidification cracking of alloy 5052 was related to pure aluminum filler wire used for welding that shifted the composition of the welds towards peak cracking sensitivity of 1.5 wt% Mg. The failure of the tray section was concluded to be due to welding defects, e.g. high porosity and solidification cracks. Recommendations to avoid this type of failure are also proposed.     

Strain rate effects on the compressive property and the energy-absorbing capacity of aluminum alloy foams

The strain rate sensitivity of various relative densities, open-cell aluminum alloy foams fabricated by a powder metallurgical method is investigated under compression loading. Their response to strain rate has been tested over a wide range of strain rates, from 10⁻³ to 2600 s⁻¹ at room temperature. Within this range, the experimental results show that the yield strength and the energy absorbed increase with an increase of strain rate. However, the yield strength of higher relative density foams increases bilinearly with the logarithm of strain rate, and the yield strength of lower relative density foams shows only a linear increase. The compaction strain slightly decreases with an increase of strain rate. The higher relative density aluminum alloy foams are more sensitive to strain rate than the lower relative density foams.     

Self-organization behaviors of shear bands in 7075 T73 and annealed aluminum alloy

The self-organization behaviors of multiple adiabatic shear bands (ASBs) in the 7075 T73 aluminum alloy were investigated by means of the thick-walled cylinder (TWC) technique. Shear bands first nucleate at the inner boundary of the aluminum alloy tube and propagate along the maximum shear stress direction in the spiral trajectory. On the cross section of the specimen, shear bands distribute either in the clockwise or the anticlockwise direction. The number of ASBs in the clockwise direction is roughly twice that in the anticlockwise direction. However, the 7075 annealed alloy does not generate any shear band under the same experimental conditions.Numerical simulation with coupled thermo-mechanical analysis was carried out to investigate the evolution mechanism of adiabatic shear bands. Both uniform and non-uniform finite element models were created. The simulation results of the non-uniform model are in better agreement with those of the experiment. In the non-uniform case, the spacing between ASBs is larger than that of the uniform model, and most of the ASBs prefer to propagate in the clockwise direction. For the first time, two types of particles (second phase), hard particles and soft particles, are separately introduced into the metal matrix in the non-uniform model to simulate their effects on the self-organization of ASBs. The soft particles reduce the time required for ASBs nucleation. Stress collapse first occurs at the region where the soft particles are located and most of the ASBs pass through these soft particles. However, ASBs propagate along the paths that are adjacent to the hard particles instead of passing through them. As experimental observations, there is no shear band nucleating in the annealed alloy in simulation. Under the same conditions, the energy barrier for the formation of ASBs in the annealed aluminum alloy is about 2.5 times larger than that in the T73 alloy, which means that the adiabatic shearing is less likely to nucleate in the annealed alloy. This is consistent with the experimental and numerical simulation results.     

Compressive and tensile behaviour of aluminum foams

The uniaxial compressive and tensile modulus and strength of several aluminum foams are compared with models for cellular solids. The open cell foam is well described by the model. The closed cell foams have moduli and strengths that fall well below the expected values. The reduced values are the result of defects in the cellular microstructure which cause bending rather than stretching of the cell walls. Measurement and modelling of the curvature and corrugations in the cell walls suggests that these two features account for most of the reduction in properties in closed cell foams.     

Characteristics of fatigue-crack resistance of aluminum alloys in combined modes of failure under biaxial loading

The article contains a complex quantitative evaluation of the effect of the state of stress and of the angle of orientation of the initial crack on its growth rate for eight aluminum alloys subjected to combined modes of biaxial extension. A new dimensionless parameter of fatigue-crack resistance is introduced and substantiated. It is established that there exists a single dependence of the crack growth rate on the suggested parameter for all the investigated aluminum alloys with different mechanical properties.Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 3, pp. 28–36, March, 1994.     

Uniaxial and biaxial flexural fatigue of glass reinforced inter-penetrated network polymer composites

Conclusions Flexural fatigue of uniaxially and biaxially stressed IPN/glass mat composites was investigated using four point bend (4PB) and concentrically loaded (CL) specimen geometries. Regions of nearly constant bending moment between the inner spans of a 4PB beam and within the inner annulus of a CL circular plate yield quasi-uniform uniaxial and biaxial stress, respectively, on the tensile faces. The specimen dimensions were optimized for both loading geometries to give: (1) reduced specimen deflection through maximizing the ratio of the induced tensile stresses to the applied load, (2) minimized contact stresses by maximizing the induced stress with respect to the unit contact load, and (3) a large material volume exposed to the maximum cyclic stress (i.e., statistical fracture initiation).A power model was used to analyze the fatigue data for the 4PB and CL specimens. Both IPN composite materials studied fatigued more rapidly under the more severe loading conditions imposed by the CL specimen geometry.Fractography revealed that debond fracture was the dominant damage process for both geometries. The initial debond cracks were uniformly distributed throughout the stressed regions, confirming the presence of nearly uniform tensile stress. Damage localization followed after further cycling and was characterized by a locally high debond fracture density, fiber fracture, and always occurred where several glass strands crossed near the specimen surface. Final specimen failure resulted from the preferential growth of dominant cracks through the specimen thickness.     

The dependence of damping property of fly ash reinforced closed-cell aluminum alloy foams on strain amplitude

Closed-cell aluminum alloy foams with 1.5, 3.0 wt.% fly ash particles have been manufactured by molten body transitional foaming process. The room temperature damping properties of fly ash reinforced aluminum alloy foams were measured at different strain amplitude in two directions using the forced vibration mode. The results show that the damping properties of fly ash reinforced aluminum alloy foams increase with FA content. A critical strain amplitude ε_crit was observed and ε_crit decreases with increasing FA content. Moreover, the damping property in the transverse direction is higher than that in the longitudinal direction. The related mechanism has been discussed.     

形变热处理工艺对2519A铝合金动态变形行为的影响

通过霍普金森压杆实验研究2519A铝合金T87,T8,T9和T9I64种形变热处理状态在1040~5900s^-1应变率范围的动态冲击变形行为,并利用金相、透射电镜等手段分析在动态变形中合金微观组织的演变规律,研究不同形变热处理工艺对2519A铝合金动态变形行为的影响。结果表明:与T87态合金相比,强冷变形的T8和T9态合金高速冲击的动态屈服强度大幅提升,但是合金的绝热剪切敏感性也显著增加,更容易发生绝热剪切开裂。断续时效T9I6工艺可以提高2519A合金强化析出相的密度,使θ'相(Al₂Cu)更细小弥散分布。这样降低了θ'析出相在高应变率下被位错切割分解的速率,提高合金在高速变形过程中的稳定性。2519A-T9I6铝合金在高应变率下拥有较高的动态屈服强度和较低的绝热剪切敏感性,在高速变形过程中表现最佳。     

Fatigue behavior of aluminum alloys under biaxial loading

The biaxiality effect, especially the effect of non-singular stress cycling, on the fatigue behavior was studied, employing cruciform specimens of aluminum alloys 1100-H14 and 7075-T651. The specimens, containing a transverse or a 45^o inclined center notch, were subjected to in-phase (IP) or 100% out-of-phase (hereinafter referred to as “out-of-phase or OP”) loading of stress ratio 0.1 in air. The biaxiality ratio λ ranged from 0 to 1.5, and 3 levels of stress were applied. It was observed that: (1) at a given λ, a lower longitudinal stress induced a longer fatigue life under IP and OP loading, and the fatigue life was longer under IP loading, (2) the fatigue crack path profile was influenced by λ, phase angle (0^o or 180^o), and initial center notch (transverse or 45^o inclined); (3) the fatigue crack path profiles, predicted analytically and determined experimentally, had similar features for the specimens with a transverse center notch under IP loading; and (4) the fatigue crack growth rate was lower and the fatigue life longer for a greater λ under IP loading, whereas it changed little with change in λ under OP loading. These results demonstrate that non-singular stress cycling affects the biaxial fatigue behavior of aluminum alloys 1100-H14 and 7065-T651under IP and OP loading.     

The failure of large second phase particles in a cracking aluminum alloy

The fracture of large second phase particles in advance of a crack tip was investigated. The experiments allow establishment of a fracture criterion for particles. Fracture toughness is shown to increase almost linearly with particle distance.     

Analysis and modelling of fatigue failure of friction stir welded aluminum alloy single-lap joints

The fatigue strength of 2024-T3 aluminum alloy friction stir welded single-lap joints is determined by the presence of two crack-like unwelded zones at the overlap ends. Besides, mixed mode I/II conditions are present at the crack tip as the joint is prevalently loaded in shear. In this work, a finite element analysis is performed to predict the crack path and the stress intensity factor at the crack tip, then the lifetime is estimated by examining the crack propagation behaviour of the base material using the AFgrow software. The effect of an initial overload is also considered. The crack path is investigated optically and using the “fatigue failure mechanism map”.