Buckling of vibrations of shear-flexible orthotropic plates subjected to mixed boundary conditions

An approximate technique is presented for the analysis of buckling and vibrations of free-form, orthotropic, shear-flexible (‘Mindlin’) plates subject to mixed boundary conditions. The method falls into the category of Rayleigh/ Ritz-techniques; however, by using Lagrangian multipliers to ‘relax’ the geometric boundary conditions, the selection of appropriate trial functions is made considerably simpler. Accuracy and reliability of the proposed technique is demonstrated on the basisof several sample problems.     

Collocation method using artificial viscosity for solving stiff singularly perturbed turning point problem having twin boundary layers

A numerical scheme is proposed to solve singularly perturbed two-point boundary value problems with a turning point exhibiting twin boundary layers. The scheme comprises a B-spline collocation method on a uniform mesh, which leads to a tridiagonal linear system. Asymptotic bounds are established for the derivative of the analytical solution of a turning point problem. The analysis is done on a uniform mesh, which permits its extension to the case of adaptive meshes which may be used to improve the solution. The design of an artificial viscosity parameter is confirmed to be a crucial ingredient for simulating the solution of the problem. Some relevant numerical examples are also illustrated to verify computationally the theoretical aspects.     

Synthesis, Densification, and Phase Evolution Studies of Al2O3–Al2TiO5–TiO2 Nanocomposites and Measurement of Their Electrical Properties

Alumina–aluminum titanate–titania (Al₂O₃–Al₂TiO₅–TiO₂) nanocomposites were synthesized using alkoxide precursor solutions. Thermal analysis provided information on phase evolution from the as-synthesized gel with an increase in temperature. Calcination at 700°C led to the formation of an Al₂O₃–TiO₂ nanocomposite, while at a higher temperature (1300°C) an Al₂O₃–Al₂TiO₅–TiO₂ nanocomposite was formed. The nanocomposites were uniaxially compacted and sintered in a pressureless environment in air to study the densification behavior, grain growth, and phase evolution. The effects of nanosize particles on the crystal structure and densification of the nanocomposite have been discussed. The sintered nanocomposite structures were also characterized for dielectric properties.     

Thermotropic mesomorphic polyesters. I. Copolyesters of terephthalic acid,hydroquinone, and flexible diols

A new series of copolyesters has been synthesized by low-temperature solution polycondensation of terephthaloyl dichloride hydroquinone and flexible diols such as 1,2-propane diol, 1,4-butanediol, diethylene glycol, (cis) 1,4-cyclohexanediol and (cis + trans) 1,4-bis(hydroxymethyl) cyclohexane. The copolyesters are all insoluble and display thermotropic mesophases at relatively lower transitions than other commercially important systems. The transition temperatures, the crystallinity, and thermal characterization are reported.     

Deterministic and stochastic analyses of fracture processes in a brittle microstructure system

Variations in constituent properties, phase morphology, and phase distribution cause deformation and failure at the microstructural level to be inherently stochastic. This paper focuses on the stochasticity of fracture processes that arises as a result of measurement uncertainties in the properties of the constituents in the heterogeneous microstructures of an Al₂O₃/TiB₂ ceramic composite system. Basic postulate here is that for a microstructure local material properties vary around their macroscopically measured value with the macroscopically measured value being the mean of the variation. A micromechanical cohesive finite element framework with explicit resolution of arbitrary fracture patterns and arbitrary microstructural morphologies is used in the analyses carried out in this paper. The randomness in the constituent properties at any given point in the microstructure is specified relative to the local mean values of the corresponding properties. A deterministic analysis and a stochastic analysis are carried out simultaneously. The combination of determinism and stochasticity is achieved by integrating a perturbation analysis of the influence of stochastic property variations around their mean values and a deterministic analysis for the microstructure with the mean values of the constituent properties. Calculations are carried out for actual and idealized microstructures of the Al₂O₃/TiB₂ material system. Calculations focus on analyzing the fracture response variation with varying levels of variation of material properties for a particular microstructural morphology as well as on analyzing the variations in fracture response with variations in microstructural morphology. It is observed that microstructural morphology is intricately linked to the variations in fracture response when material properties have stochastic origin. A microstructure less prone to fracture shows higher variations in fracture response when compared to the one which offers least resistance to the crack propagation. In addition, for a particular microstructural morphology, the levels of variations in the crack surface area generated and the variations in the energy release rate are of the same order as the levels of variations in constituent properties. The observations support the conclusion that a material designer needs to make conservative estimates for a material’s performance if its microstructural construction imparts uncertainty to local material properties.     

Breakage of Automotive Spring Washer During Twist Test: A Metallurgical Analysis

A washer is a thin plate with a hole that is normally used to distribute the load of a threaded fastener, such as a screw or nut. The washer used in automotive engine component is of split or spring lock washer. A ring split at one point and bent into helical shape. The benefit of spring lock washers lies in the trapezoidal shape of the washer. When compressed to loads near proof strength of the bolt, it will twist and flatten. This reduces the spring rate of the bolted joint which allows it to maintain more force under the same vibration levels. This prevents from loosening. The steel washer is one of the critical safety components for automobile engine, and its failure may cause severe safety issue. Before subjecting to manufacturing, the washer undergoes different process lines (wire rod → drawing → annealing → pickling → flattening → spring washer → single spring washer). After manufacturing of washer, toughness test is done to find out the metallurgical soundness and surface quality of the washer. In this toughness test the washer in a vice with the split ends free and straight above the vice jaws, a 90° segment of the free end is gripped with a wrench and bent. Washers should withstand twist test through a 90° angle without signs of fracture. The present paper highlights premature failure of automotive washer which failed during twist test. From the analysis, it has been observed that the distribution of spheroidized carbide is more uniform in good samples than that of rejected samples. Hardness profile variation was observed between good and bad spring samples. Overall investigation does not indicate any problem related to supplied wire rod material quality as no wire breakage problem observed. Inhomogeneous annealed structure in flat wire seems to result into variation in washer performance during twist test.     

Optical and Electrical Properties of Colloidal Quantum Dots in Electrolytic Environments: Using Biomolecular Links in Chemically-Directed Assembly of Quantum Dot Networks

The threshold of the absorption spectra of colloidal cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dots in electrolytic solutions is shown to shift as the concentration of the electrolyte is varied. The shift in the absorption threshold as a function of the electrolytic concentration is given by electrolytic screening of the field caused by the intrinsic spontaneous polarization of these würtzite quantum dots. These electrolyte-dependent absorption properties are compared with Fermi-level tuning in carbon nanotubes in electrolytic environments.Moreover, concepts for integrating such colloidal quantum dots in high density networks with biomolecular links are discussed. Such biomolecular links are used to facilitate the chemically-directed assembly of quantum dots networks with densities approximating 10¹⁷ cm⁻³.     

Effect of firing temperature on microstructure and dielectric properties of chromium oxide based glass composite thick films on stainless steel substrate

We report the influence of firing temperature on Al₂O₃–chromium oxide based (Cr₂O₃–Bi₂O₃–B₂O₃–SiO₂–Al₂O₃) glass composite (named as GC-1 composite) thick films of thickness (27?±?3) µm deposited onto 0.6 mm thick austenitic grade stainless steel (DIN 1.4301/AISI 304) substrate by screen printing technique, which can be used as a substitute to alumina substrate. Prior to formulation of glass composite, the chromium oxide based glass (named as GC-1) phase was prepared separately by melt-quench technique. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed amorphous nature of the GC-1 glass. The thermo gravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry of the GC-1 glass shows thermal stability over the temperature range of 20–1000 °C. We observed that the firing temperature significantly influences microstructural and dielectric properties of the GC-1 composite film. The deposited GC-1 composite films onto stainless steel base were fired at temperatures between the range of 550–750 °C, showed the surface resistivity in the range of (1.0–6.9?±?0.2) × 10¹² ohms per square. The microstructure of these composite films recorded using scanning electron microscopy and electrical properties recorded using LCR meter were correlated with each other. The study revealed that the film fired at 600 °C were found to be superior among the samples under investigation in terms of microstructure, stable relative permittivity [36 (±?1)] and low loss tangent [0.02 (±?0.002)] in frequency range of 1–200 kHz, and surface resistivity (~?5.1?×?10¹² ohms per square).     

Implementation of a phase field model for simulating evolution of two powder particles representing microstructural changes during sintering

In this work, we present a multiphysics phase field model for capturing microstructural evolution during solid-state sintering processes. The model incorporates modifications of phase field equations to include rigid-body motion, elastic deformation, and heat conduction. The model correctly predicts consolidation of powder particles during sintering because of two competing mechanisms—neck formation and grain growth. The simulations show that the material undergoes three distinctive stages during the sintering process—stage I where neck or grain boundary between two particles is formed, stage II in which neck length stabilizes and growth or shrinkage of individual particles initiates, and finally stage III with rapid grain growth leading to disappearance of one of the grains. The driving forces corresponding to different mechanisms are found to be dependent on the radius of the particles, curvature at the neck location, surface energy, and grain boundary energy. In addition, variation in temperature is found to significantly influence the microstructure evolution by affecting the diffusivity and grain boundary mobility of the sintered material. The model is also used to compare sintering simulation results in 2D and 3D. It is observed that due to higher curvature in 3D, model predicts faster microstructural evolution in 3D when compared to 2D simulations under identical boundary conditions.