Carbon fibre-reinforced cement

This review describes fabrication processes for aligned fibre and random fibre carbonreinforced cement and links important process parameters with composite theory. The way in which the material fits into the general framework of crack constraint and matrix cracking theories is discussed. A broad survey is made of the mechanical properties, durability and dimensional stability of a variety of carbon-reinforced cement composites, and economic constraints on potential applications are considered.List of symbols b breadth of three-point bend specimen - d depth of three-point bend specimen - E _c composite Young's modulus - E _f fibre Young's modulus - E _m matrix Young's modulus - l fibre length - l _c fibre critical transfer length - l _s specimen span in three-point bend test - m Weibull modulus - r fibre radius - P applied load - V _f fibre volume fraction - V _m matrix volume fraction - x length of fibre needed to transfer load _mu V _m - x _d crack spacing in a composite with short, aligned fibres - _fu fibre ultimate strain - _mu matrix ultimate strain - _fu fibre ultimate strength - _mu matrix ultimate strength - _cu composite ultimate strength - _MOR modulus of rupture - _T tensile strength - interlaminar shear strength - _i interfacial shear strength - _m matrix work of fracture - _F work of fracture     

Description of the Shape Memory Effect of Radiation‐Modified Polymers under Thermomechanical Action

The shape memory effect of crystallizing polymer materials is simulated. The polymer is considered to be an inhomogeneous medium with a moving boundary (temperaturedependent phase composition). Using a model based on the frozen strain hypothesis, the temperature dependences of stresses under isometric heating and cooling have been obtained. On the basis of the known data on the influence of irradiation on the thermomechanical characteristics the dependences of thermorelaxation and thermoshrinkage stresses on the absorbed dose for highdensity polyethylene have been found.     

A generalized law of mixtures

The mechanical properties of two-phase composites are predicted using a rigorous continuum mechanics analysis and an equivalent microstructural transformation approach. This leads to a generalized law of mixtures which is contrasted with the classical linear law of mixtures which requires some explicit assumptions. The generalized law of mixtures enables prediction of a variety of mechanical properties of a two-phase composite with any volume fraction, grain shape and phase distribution. It is shown that the classical linear law of mixtures is a specific case of the generalized law of mixtures. Examples are given from continuous Cu-W composites, the particulate Co-WC system, Al/SiC_p composites, - Ti-Mn alloys and - Cu-Zn alloys for the predictions of properties such as Young's modulus, yield strengths, flow stresses, the overall friction stresses and the overall Hall-Petch coefficients. It is shown that the theoretical predictions by the generalized law of mixtures are in very good agreement with the corresponding experimental results drawn from the literature, for both continuous fibre composites and particulate reinforced systems.     

Direct comparison of the loss of load transfer to “E” and “S” glass fibres manufactured by drawing into different environments

Accelerated water uptake tests have been used to compare the onsets of destruction of the ability to transfer shear stress at fibre/matrix interfaces in epoxy matrix glass reinforced plastic (GRP) manufactured with each of four different fibres. The ability to transfer shear stress has been monitored directly by measurement of stress birefringence through and adjacent to individual fibres. Full theoretical and practical details of the experimental method are given. S glass fibres, drawn into an atmosphere of ammonia in an attempt to promote the deposition of primary amines and/or secondary amines, rapidly lose their ability to receive shear stress from the matrix. This is attributed to neutralization of CO₂ by NH₃ within interfacial pockets of dissolved water, and the associated generation of osmotic pressure. Commercial samples of S and E glass fibres and E glass fibres drawn into an atmosphere of ammonia, all survive much larger water uptakes although, in the case of both kinds of E glass fibre, immersion in boiling water eventually gives rise to interfacial pressure pockets. These pressure pockets are also attributed to osmosis, with the role of dissolved solutes tentatively ascribed to the modifying agents present in E glass formulations.     

The stacked lamellar texture on the fracture surfaces of fibre composites

A fracture surface texture, which has been variously termed as lacerations, hackles or serrations, is often observed on the matrix surface of fibre composites, most often in resin-rich regions. This texture, referred to here as a stacked lamellar texture to emphasize its plate-like nature, was studied in an E-glass/epoxy composite. Scanning electron fractographs of these materials suggest that the stacked lamellar texture arises from crack fingers due to a meniscus instability mechanism interacting with a reorienting stress field.     

Single-fibre polymer composites

We have used Raman spectroscopy to measure the axial stress distribution along a fibre during a quasi-static single fibre pull-out test. The stress distribution at the debonding front during the progress of debonding gives the maximum interfacial shear strength _s directly. In addition, the stress distribution along the fibre after debonding can be used to evaluate the interfacial normal stress and the frictional coefficient. For the plasma treated high modulus polyethylene (PE) fibres used here, _s is found to be 28 MPa by this method, while the apparent mean interfacial shear strength _a obtained from the regular single fibre pull-out test varies from 3 to 15 MPa with the fibre embedded length I _e. Stress distributions derived from the shear-lag theory fit the experimental data for fully bonded fibres well, giving values for the shear-lag constant K and the stress transfer length 1/ [1]. According to the shear-lag theory, _s = l _eacoth(l _e). If can be found for a given system from Raman spectroscopy, _s can be evaluated from the pull-out test using this equation.The regular pull-out tests, corrected for residual stress and interfacial friction, give the same _s but not the same or pull-out load as the slower Raman test. The shear-lag constant K can be expressed as a function of the matrix shear modulus and geometric terms. One of these terms is the effective interfacial radius, r _e, the radius at which the strain in the matrix equals the average matrix strain. Raman measurements indicate that r _e is small, only four times the fibre radius. This result is supported by polarizing optical microscopy. The model of Greszczuk [2], which assumes a uniform shear within an effective interaction thickness b _i, gives a similar result. We find that b _i = 20 m, about twice the fibre radius. Using the pull-out test data, as for other fibre composites, b _i and r _e predicted by shear-lag theories do not agree with the results of microscopy to this extent. In these cases _s is much larger than the yield strength of the matrix and as neither treatment considers plastic deformation of the matrix agreement should not be expected.     

Finite element analysis of a polymer composite subjected to a sliding steel asperity Part I Normal fibre orientation

FE micro-models have been developed in order to determine contact, stress and strain conditions produced by a steel asperity sliding on the surface of a normally oriented fibre-reinforced polymer composite. A displacement coupling technique was introduced to model a micro-environment as part of a macro-environment and to get more realistic simulation results about the failure conditions in the composite structure, in comparison to the so far widely applied anisotropic analytical or numerical macro-models. On the basis of the results, conclusions may be drawn for the possible wear mechanisms of the fibre-reinforced polymer composite. Stress results in the vicinity of the fibers in the contact area show high shear loading of the matrix leading to the formation of stretched-out matrix wear debris. In addition, high repeated compression-tension stresses at the fibre/matrix interface near the surface can lead to fibre debonding phenomena. Considering the fibre ends in the contact region, high compression stresses at their rear edges can produce fibre cracking features. To study the wear mechanisms experimentally, a single asperity scratch test was also performed showing shear failure events of the polymer matrix, fibre/matrix debonding and fibre cracking effects, as expected from the modelling studies.     

The effect of substrate surface nature on texture formation in nickel oxide

X-ray diffraction was used to study the influence of surface finishing on polycrystalline nickel and its modification with ultra-fine dispersions of CeO2 on crystallographic texture development in NiO scales, grown at 1073 K in 760 torr oxygen for time periods up to75 h. Ni substrate characterized by 100 023 texture and surface with an atomic structure revealed by chemical polishing led to the formation of NiO with 100 013 texture, indicating an epitaxial growth.After applying CeO2 on the Ni surface prior to the oxidation, no essential changes in NiO texture were detected. When the Ni surface was deformed by mechanical polishing, NiO exhibited a fibre texture with a major component of 110 oriented along the growth direction. The presence of CeO2 on this substrate changed the dominant fibre axis to 100. The texture data are discussed in terms of the oxide microstructures and their growth kinetics. In particular, for CeO2-modified NiO scales with complex depth structure, the possible contribution of individual sublayers to the overall measured texture is estimated.     

Texture study of two molybdenum shaped charge liners by neutron diffraction

The textures of two different conical shaped liners, fabricated by the same forging processes from arc-cast and powder-sintered ingots, were investigated by using neutron-diffraction measurements and three-dimensional orientation-distribution-function (ODF) analysis. The major textures of both liners could be described by the (1 1 1) uv w and (1 0 0) u v w type. The two liners had essentially identical texture at the 8 cm position (measured from the base of the cone) with strong sheet-type texture components, i.e. (1 1 1) ¯1 0 1, (1 1 1) ¯1 1 0 and (1 0 0) 0 1 1. However, the dominant textures at the 3 cm positions were 1 1 1 and 1 0 0 fibre textures with the fibre axes oriented parallel to the normal direction in both liners. A strong cube texture was observed at the 3 cm position of the arc-cast liner but it was not observed for the powder-sintered liner. The arc-cast liner had a generally higher degree of texture than the powder-sintered liner.     

Magnetothermal oscillations and the Fermi surface of β-tungsten V3Ge

Landau quantum oscillations have been observed for the first time in a high-critical-field superconductor with the -tungsten crystal structure. The data are associated with extremal orbits on three sheets of the Fermi surface, all three resembling 100-directed cylinders. The results are compared qualitatively with a Fermi surface model suggested by APW energy band calculations.     

Widening the Scope of Working of Solid‐State Nd‐Glass Lasers

With the example of the serial model of a pulsed Ndglass laser, it is shown that the use of an unstable resonator with a semireflecting homogeneous exit mirror makes it possible to significantly decrease the laserbeam divergence and increase the uniformity of the radiationintensity distribution in the near zone. We were the first to obtain a laserbeam quality of (40–50) mm·mrad for technological glass lasers and to attain a depth of fusing of of 6.3 mm for steel (aspect ratio 10) for an energy of 23 J. The obtained uniformity of the radiationintensity distribution was estimated at the level of ±10%. The beamquality level attained for the Ndglass laser beam allows us to recommend it for both realization of deepfusion regimes and laser hardening without the use of external integrating optical elements.     

Electromagnetic radiation emitted during friction process

A series of studies of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitted during fracture of materials, enabled us to obtain a relationship between the width of a fracture and the wavelength of the emitted EMR. Applying this relation to friction we could check one of its suggested mechanisms, namely the Bowden-Tabor model, which states that during a friction process, asperities on the two contacting surfaces are welded together (at a microscopic level) and fractured. A uniaxial tension machine was used, whereby two half cylinders of chalk (CaCO3) bound together, were moved one against the other, generating friction. Calculations based on EMR observations showed that the average width of the fractured asperities was 26.3 m, while mechanical profilograph measurements of the average width of the total number of long asperilies before and after the experiment, yielded values of 15.6 and 18.4 m, respectively, implying that 25% of long asperities were fractured during a single friction process.     

Study of thermal and gasdynamic characteristics of a subsonic plasma air jet

Results are presented from a numerical analysis and experimental study of the enthalpy and velocity distributions along and across a subsonic plasma air jet.Notation x, r axial and radial coordinates - u, v axial and radial components of velocity - density - viscosity - emissivity - r_0.5 radius at which local value of velocity or enthalpy is half its axial value - , radii of dynamic and thermal boundary layers - q heat flux, kW/m² - h, h_w stagnation enthalpy and enthalpy at wall temperature, kJ/kg - p, p stagnation pressure and static pressure, Pa - R radius of curvature of spherical front part of body Indices 0 teconditions at nozzle edge - m conditions on jet axis - conditions on outer boundary of jet Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 34–39, January, 1982.     

Inhomogeneous shear flows of linear polymers

Solutions of a system of equations of nonlinear viscoelastic fluid motion describing inhomogeneous shear flows of linear polymers are indicated.Notation _ij stress tensor - p pressure - F_i mass force vector - _ij Kronecker delta - coefficient of shear viscosity - relaxation time - _ij inner parameter - _ij=vi/x_j velocity gradient tensor - ₀ initial value of the shear viscosity coefficient - ₀ initial value of the relaxation time - D dimensionless first invariant of the additional stress tensor - A, B, C constants of integration - f(D) universal function characterizing the material - r, , z cylindrical coordinates - u=v_z axial component of the velocity vector - v=v circumferential component of the velocity vector - ₁, ₂ first and second differences of the normal stress - Q volume mass flow rate - R radius of a circular tube - R₁, R₂ radii of the inner and outer cylinders, respectively - M moment per unit length Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 449–456, September, 1981.     

Definition and measurement of the shear-lag parameter, β, as an index of the stress transfer efficiency in polymer composites

The shear-lag parameter, , employed in various problems of shear-lag analysis of composites is an unknown parameter which, in certain cases, is impossible to define. In this paper, a new methodology is proposed for the definition and subsequent experimental measurement of for various single-fibre model composites. It is argued that, if is defined as a fitting parameter for the solution of the shear-lag differential equation, then it can effectively serve as a stress-transfer efficiency index. The dependence of upon the conditions prevailing at the fibre–matrix interface will be demonstrated by measuring as a function of the fibre sizing in a carbon–epoxy composite system. © 1998 Chapman & Hall     

The tensile strength and ductility of continuous fibre composites

The plastic instability approach has been applied to the tensile behaviour of a continuous fibre composite. It is shown that the combination of two components with different strengths and degrees of work-hardening produces a new material with a new degree of work-hardening, which may be determined by the present analysis. Expressions for the elongation at rupture and the strength of a composite have been obtained and the results of the calculation are compared with some experimental data.List of symbols V _f volume fraction of fibres in composite - , , true strain of fibre, matrix and composite - s true stress - , , nominal stress on fibre, matrix and composite - _*, _*, _* critical stress of fibre, matrix and composite (ultimate tensile strength) - _*, _* critical strain of separate fibre and matrix - _* critical strain of composite - Q external load - A cross-sectional area - A ₀ initial value of area     

Multi-length scale modeling of CVD of diamond Part II A combined atomic-scale/grain-scale analysis

Chemical vapor deposition of polycrystalline diamond films is studied by combining an atomic-scale kinetic Monte Carlo model with two one three-dimensional and one two-dimensional grain-scale models. The atomic-scale model is used to determine the growth rates of 111- and 100-oriented surface facets, the surface morphology of the facets and the extent of incorporation of the crystal defects. Using the atomic-scale modeling predicted growth rates for the 111- and 100-oriented facets, grain-scale modelling is carried out to determine the evolution of grain structure, surface morphology and crystallographic texture in the polycrystalline diamond films. It is found that depending on the relative growth rates of the 111- and 100-oriented facets, which can be controlled by selecting the CVD processing conditions, one can obtain either 110-textured films with a relatively smooth faceted surface or 100-textured films with a highly pronounced deep facets. In both cases, however, the film surface is composed entirely of the 111 facets. This findings are found to be fully consistent with the available experimental results.     

Viscoelastic and rheological behavior of concentrated colloidal suspensions

Molecular approaches are discussed to the density (), viscoeleastic (), and rheological () behavior of the viscosity(,,) of concentrated colloidal suspensions with 0.3 < < 0.6, where, is the volume fraction, the applied frequency, and ; the shear rate. These theories are based on the calculation of the pair distribution functionP ₂(r,,), wherer is the relative position of a pair of colloidal particles. The linear viscoelastic behavior(,,=0) follows from an equation forP ₂(r,,) derived from the Smoluchowski equation for small, generalized to large by introducing the spatial ordering and (cage) diffusion typical for concentrated suspensions. The rheological behavior(,,=0) follows from an equation forP ₂(r,) of a dense hard-sphere fluid derived from the Liouville equation. This leads to a hard-sphere viscosity^hs(,) which yields the colloidal one(,) by the scaling relation(,) ₀=^hs(,) _B, where ₀ is the solvent viscosity. _B is the dilute hard-sphere (Boltzmann ) viscosity and the's are appropriately scaled,(,) and(,) agree well with experiment. A unified theore for(,,) is clearly needed and pursued.Paper presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994. Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

Matrix-limited fatigue properties in fibre composite materials

Cyclic stressing of fibre composites in the elastic-plastic region is discussed under the assumption of equal strains in the fibre and the matrix. Under conditions of alternating load, it is found that the strain decreases and the stress on the matrix increases with increasing number of cycles. Such a phenomenon appears to be a macroscopic version of the Orowan model of fatigue.Within certain stress-levels, it appears that the matrix may work-harden to its failure stress and the composite will fail by this mechanism. Equations are developed which relate the number of cycles to matrix failure to the composite stress. A characteristic of the equation is the existence of a matrix endurance limit, a stress below which the matrix will not fall by progressive work-hardening, but rather by conventional fatigue mechanisms.The analysis is applied to Ag-steel and Cu-W composites. It shows that, for stresses in excess of the endurance limit, the number of cycles to induce failure is rather limited. At high volume-fraction of fibres in these systems, the endurance limit is only a small fraction of the composite tensile strength.     

Stress-induced phase transformations in a hot-deformed two-phase (α2+γ) TiAl alloy

Stress-induced 2, 2 and 9R phase transformations in a hot-deformed Ti–45 at% Al–10 at% Nb alloy have been investigated using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The 2 phase transformation is an interface-related process. The interfacial superdislocations emitted from the misoriented semicoherent 2– interface react with each other or with the moving dislocations in the phase, resulting in the formation of the 2 phase. The nucleation of the 2 phase transformation takes place either at the 2– interfaces or at the stacking faults on the basal plane of 2 phase, and the growth of plate is accomplished by the moving of a/61 0 1 0 Shockley partials on alternate basal plane (0 0 0 1)2. The 9R structure was usually found to form at incoherent twin or pseudotwin boundaries. During deformation the interfacial Shockley partial dislocations of these incoherent twin and pseudotwin boundaries may glide on (1 1 1) planes into the matrix, resulting in the formation of 9R structure. The interfaces (including 2– and – interfaces) as well as the crystallographic orientation relationship between the as-received or stress-induced 2, and 9R phase have been analysed. The mechanisms for the stress-induced 2, 2 and 9R phase transformations were also discussed. © 1998 Chapman & Hall