The variability and interdependence of spider drag line tensile properties

There is considerable interest in producing fibres that mimic the impressive tensile properties of spider drag line silk. It must, however, be recognised that these properties have been assessed largely on the basis of their average values; there can be significant variability about these averages. The natural variability can also serve as a useful indicator of the range of values over which particular properties of biomimetic silk may be tailored. Here we quantify several tensile properties of drag line from Argiope trifasciata spiders. We distinguish between two groups of properties on the basis of their statistical coefficient of variation. There is significantly greater scope for tailoring the viscoplastic hardening aspects of drag line, compared to the variability of the initial elastic response or the yield strength. We also consider whether elastic modulus, yield strength and viscoplastic hardening can be controlled independently of one another.     

Stress in Thin Films;Diffraction Elastic Constants and Grain Interaction

Untextured bulk polycrystals usually possess macroscopically isotropic elastic properties whereas for most thin films transvers isotropy is expected,owing to the limited dimenionlity .The usually applied models for the calculation of elstic constants of polycrystals from single crystal elastic contants(so-called grain interaction models)erroneously predict macroscopic isotropy for an(untextured) thin film.This paper presents a summary of recent work where it has been demonstrated for the first time by X-ray diffraction analysis of stresses in thin films that elastic grain interaction can lead to macroscopically anisotropic behaviour (shown by non-linear sin^2φ plots).A new grain interaction model,predictin the macroscopically anisotropic behaviour of thin films,is proposed.     

X-ray structure analysis and elastic properties of a fabric reinforced carbon/carbon composite

The effect of heat treatment on microstructure of a plain-weave carbon fabric reinforced carbon-carbon composite with phenolformaldehyde-derived carbon matrix was investigated by X-ray diffraction. The diffraction patterns were analysed by the least-square fitting program Carbonxs. After heat treatment from 1000 to 2800 °C the interplanar distance of (002) planes decreased from 3.488 to 3.420 Å and the lattice parameter in basal plane increased from 2.440 to 2.464 Å, respectively. Simultaneously, the coherent block size in the basal plane directions increased from 18 to 54 Å, which was accompanied by an increase of the fraction of organised carbon atoms from 0.50 to 0.85. The 002 diffraction profile of the composite was much narrower than the sum of peaks of the matrix and fabric alone. This can probably be caused by a better crystallographic ordering (or by a partial graphitisation) of the matrix in the composite. On the other hand, the composite Young’s modulus slightly decreased with the treatment temperature increasing from 2200 to 2800 °C in spite of the established strong improvement of fibre crystallinity and, therefore, fibre modulus. The mechanisms diminishing the modulus of composite (e.g. partial matrix graphitisation at the fibre/matrix interface and decreasing fibre/matrix contact area) probably prevailed over the increasing contribution of the fibre modulus.     

Elastic properties of polycrystalline gold thin films: Simulation and X-ray diffraction experiments

The elastic behavior of supported gold thin films has been studied using a framework in which the elastic interaction between grains and the actual structure of the film (i.e. preferential grain orientation and grain shape) are taken into account. Experiments were carried out using synchrotron X-ray diffraction combined with in-situ tensile testing and thereafter, no assumptions on the residual stress state and on the stress-free lattice parameter a₀ have to be made. Modeling of grain elastic interactions is based on the extension of Eshelby-Kröner model, which allows for estimating the elastic behavior of polycrystals considering the texture and the shape of the crystallites. Flat-disc shaped grains arrangement is shown to yield the best representation of the elastic behavior of the fiber-textured gold thin films composed of columnar grains. This non-intuitive representation results from free-surface effect.     

Influence of Membrane Stresses on Postbuckling of Rectangular Plates Using a Nonlinear Elastic 3-D Cosserat Brick Element

This paper has two main objectives. The first is to examine the influence of membrane stresses on postbuckled deformations of nonlinear elastic isotropic rectangular plates. The second is to further examine the accuracy of a new 3-D Cosserat eight noded brick element (Nadler and Rubin in Int J Solids Struct 40: 4585–4614, 2003) which was developed within the context of the theory of a Cosserat point. The equations of the Cosserat element include both material and geometric nonlinearities. A number of example problems are considered which examine predictions of the Cosserat element for beams and plates and comparison has been made with results from the commercial codes ANSYS and ADINA. Also, the approximate nonlinear postbuckling solution described in Timoshenko and Gere (Theory of elastic stability, Mc Graw-Hill, New York) is shown to be more limited than originally expected. These results suggest that the Cosserat element is robust, can perform well under extreme conditions and is capable of modeling combinations of three-dimensional bodies with attached thin structures.     

Buckling of Columns with Intermediate Elastic Restraint

This paper presents a comprehensive set of exact stability criteria for Euler columns with an intermediate elastic restraint. A subset of this class of problem is the buckling problem of columns with an intermediate rigid support where the elastic restraint takes on an infinite stiffness. Also, this study reiterates the existence of a critical elastic restraint stiffness in which the buckled mode switches to a higher-buckling mode of the corresponding column without an intermediate support. It is clear that this critical stiffness value exists only when the restraint is placed at the node of the higher-buckling mode and the buckling load associated with this critical stiffness value is the maximum achievable value that can be attained with an intermediate elastic restraint.     

矫直状态下钢管弹塑性变形区的研究

根据钢管矫直时的变形规律，通过对矫直中钢管的力学状态及矫直前后的状态参数分析，建立了一种适于现场应用的确定钢管弹、塑性变形区的新方法。     

弹性变形对仿人机器人步态规划的影响分析

仿人机器人行走步态研究的理论、方法及建模均未考虑系统各部件弹性变形的影响，导致行走实验结果与理论步态规划存在较大的差异，制约了步行质量的提高和连续快速稳定步行的实现。本文运用ANSYS有限元软件，针对清华大学研制的THBIP—Ⅰ型仿人机器人样机，建立精确的有限元模型，进行步行运动弹性变形及其对步态规划影响的有限元仿真分析，在此基础上提出了对步态规划进行局部修正完善的方法，步行实验证明该有限元模型及仿真分析结果是有效的。     

Effect of temperature and age on the relationship between dynamic and static elastic modulus of concrete

This study investigates the effects of cement type, curing temperature, and age on the relationships between dynamic and static elastic moduli or compressive strength. Based on the investigation, new relationship equations are proposed. The impact-echo method is used to measure the resonant frequency of specimens from which the dynamic elastic modulus is calculated. Types I and V cement concrete specimens with water-cement ratios of 0.40 and 0.50 are cured isothermally at 10, 23, and 50 °C and tested at 1, 3, 7, and 28 days.Cement type and age do not have a significant influence on the relationship between dynamic and static elastic moduli, but the ratio of static to dynamic elastic modulus approaches 1 as temperature increases. The initial chord elastic modulus, which is measured at low strain level, is similar to the dynamic elastic modulus. The relationship between dynamic elastic modulus and compressive strength has the same tendency as the relationship between dynamic and static elastic moduli for various cement types, temperatures, and ages.     

Young's modulus of cement paste at elevated temperatures

Calcium silicate hydrate is a porous hydrate that is sensitive to temperature and readily loses strength at elevated temperatures. Mechanical and chemical changes in the microstructure, due to escaping water, can significantly affect the mechanical properties, but these changes occur over different temperature ranges. By measuring Young's modulus as a function of temperature using the dynamic mechanical analyzer, the temperature range in which the greatest change in stiffness occurs can be identified. Additional mineralogy, pore size distribution, and composition analysis from high temperature X-ray diffraction, nitrogen sorption, and thermogravimetric analysis will demonstrate the changes in the microstructure. The results demonstrate that over 90% of the loss in stiffness occurs below 120 °C. Therefore, the damage is due to microcracking caused by pore water expansion and evaporation and not the change in mineralogy or composition. More damage, as indicated by greater loss in stiffness, occurs in stiffer and less permeable samples where higher stresses can develop.