Microstructural observations of brittle materials indicated that a variety of microdefect events can be responsible not only for inelastic behaviour, but also for macroscopic crack front irregularity. This irregularity produces an increase in the fracture toughness of the material. In this paper, this irregularity is analysed by fractal geometry in a very simple manner; a fractal model of crack branching is established. Both microscopic and macroscopic analytical results show that the toughness can be raised appreciably as a fractal geometric effect of the irregularity.
Résumé Des observations microscopiques sur des matériaux fragiles ont montré qu'une variété d'évènements à l'échelle du microdéfaut peuvent être responsables non seulement du comportement inélastique, mais aussi de l'irrégularité du front d'une fissure macroscopique. Cette irrégularité provoque un accroissement de la ténacité à la rupture du matériau. Dans cette étude, on analyse de manière très simple cette irrégularité par fractogéométrie (Mandelbrot) et on établit un modèle fractal relatif à une fissure qui se ramifie. Les résultats de l'analyse microscopique et macroscopique montrent qu'un effet fractogéométrique de l'irrégularité du front de fissure est d'accroitre de manière appréciable la ténacité.
The flow field is a pivotal part to manage the transport of water and gas in proton exchange membrane fuel cell. However, the reported water measurement methods (e.g., X-ray and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)) cannot give a comprehensive understanding water distribution in the flow field, resulting in challenges in optimizing the channel design and enhancing fuel cell performance. Therefore, we propose a water measurement method combining the X-ray radiography with EIS to investigate the effect of different operating conditions on the growth law and distribution of liquid water in parallel and serpentine flow fields. The attenuation coefficient of liquid water to X-ray is calibrated with constant tube-current and tube-voltage of X-ray generator. Besides, the parallel flow field with hydrophobic treatment is studied. The results show that the water accumulation of the parallel flow field is far more than the serpentine flow field, and the water content of the middle region is higher than that of other regions in the parallel flow field. Furthermore, operating conditions (cathode inlet gas flow rate, inlet gas humidity, and back pressure) have little effect on the liquid water content of the middle region in the parallel flow field. The polarization curve, EIS result, and X-ray radiography show that the performance and water drainage capacity of the hydrophobic parallel flow field are better than the normal one.
