Bauschinger effect and multiaxial yield behavior of stress-reversed mild steel

Thin-walled cylindrical specimens subjected to torsional prestraining are stress-reversed along the Bauschinger curve. The Bauschinger effect (BE), yield behavior, and flow behavior of the stress-reversed mild steel were examined by using combined loadings of axial load, internal pressure, and torsion. The results indicate that the stress-reversed steel has the same yield stress at 0.2 pct offset strain in reloading tests of forward and reverse torsion, when the reverse strain is =0.77 pct. Furthermore, it is possible to cause the yield stresses in forward and reverse torsion to coincide in any offset strain. The yield locus of the stress-reversed steel is symmetric with respect to the tensile stress axis in a tension-torsion stress field. However, it has been found to be an anisotropy in the stress-reversed steel, and the magnitude of anisotropy is related to the offset strain. For example, there is a stronger anisotropy at 0.2 pct offset strain than at 2 pct offset strain, even though the BE is eliminated for the former. It is shown that the reduction in the BE by stress reversal is concerned with the relief of the long-range back-stress generated by prestraining. Besides, the roles of aging in the stress-aging process lie in the contributions to age hardening and development of directional back-stress.     

A determination method of initial camera parameters for coplanar calibration

Most coplanar calibration algorithms determine the initial camera parameters from a single image under the assumption that the principal point is known in advance. However, the camera orientations, the shifted principal point and the noise corrupted on images have an influence on the estimated initial camera parameters under the above assumption. This paper proposes a useful method to determine the initial camera parameters for coplanar calibration. The proposed method can determine the initial camera parameters from the single image, wherein the principal point is considered as a parameter. In our experiments, both synthetic and real images are used. The experimental results show that the proposed method provides both stable initial camera parameters and noise robustness for changes of camera orientations, noise levels and shifts of principal point.     

Extrusion of Metal–Ceramic Composite Pipes

Metal–ceramic composite pipes were prepared through simultaneous extrusion of different pastes by a multi-billet extrusion method. ZrO₂ and stainless steel powders were chosen, and an aqueous solution of water-soluble polymer, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), was used as binder. The maximum extrusion pressure and the minimum amount of binder required reached their lowest values when the mixing fraction of ZrO₂ powder was 0.4. The minimum amount of binder for forming the outer layers was 4%–5% higher than that for inner layers, even for the same powder. It was possible to decrease the binder content and broaden the extrudable range of the binder content by means of mixing coarse and fine powders.     

Analysis of creep behavior in thermoplastics based on visco-elastic theory

Plastics and fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) are used in the aerospace industry because of their mechanical properties. However, despite their excellent high-temperature mechanical properties, plastics and FRP eventually deform visco-elastically at high temperatures. Most of the research has focused on the creep behavior of FRPs, but few studies have investigated the linear visco-elastic behavior. Linear visco-elastic behavior and non-linear visco-elastic behavior occur with physical aging in these plastics. In this study, the non-linear visco-elastic behavior of plastics and FRP was investigated based on the bending creep deformation of polycarbonate (PC) and polyoxymethylene (POM). Moreover, the effects of the fiber volume fraction on the creep characteristics were investigated using glass fiber-reinforced polycarbonate (GFRPC). The creep deformation was calculated using the linear visco-elastic theory based on these effects, and comparison between experimental and estimated data showed that the creep analysis sufficiently predicted the creep behavior.     

Low confinement loss hybrid-guiding tellurite photonic bandgap fiber

A hybrid-guiding tellurite (TZNLP) photonic bandgap fiber (PBGF) with low confinement loss is presented in this paper. A detailed comparison between the hybrid-guiding tellurite PBGF in which the high-index rods (TLWMN) replace one row of air holes in the radial direction and the all-solid tellurite PBGF has been accomplished. Low confinement loss windows can be achieved in this novel fiber due to the collaborated action of two guiding mechanisms–total internal reflection and antiresonant reflection.     

Quantum efficiency of Nd-doped glasses under sunlight excitation

The internal quantum efficiencies under sunlight and laser excitation were measured directly by an integrating sphere method for tellurite, borosilicate and fluoride glasses. The radiative quantum efficiency was also obtained by Judd–Ofelt analysis. The radiative quantum efficiency was almost 100% for tellurite and fluoride glasses and 50% for borosilicate glasses. The quantum efficiency under laser excitation was 86%, 34% and 88% for tellurite, borosilicate and fluoride glasses at a low Nd³⁺ content and decreased by concentration quenching. The quantum efficiency under sunlight excitation was up to 33%, 21% and 70% for tellurite, borosilicate and fluoride glasses. Nd³⁺-doped fluoride glass is a promising candidate for solar pumped laser applications since it has the high quantum efficiency under sunlight excitation.     

High-power splitting of expanded graphite to produce few-layer graphene sheets

Few-layer graphene sheets were prepared by splitting expanded graphite using high-power sonication. Atomic-level calibrated scanning transmission electron microscopy was used to obtain efficient layer statistics, enabling optimization of the experimental conditions. This resulted in a two-step splitting mechanism in which the mean number of layers was first reduced to less than 20 by heating to 1100 °C and then to a few-layer region by a 5-min 10⁴ W L⁻¹ – power-density sonication. Raman spectroscopic analysis confirms the above mechanism and demonstrates that the sheets are largely free of defects and functional groups.