FRACTURE MODELING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ELASTOMERIC MATERIALS AND COMPOSITES FOR DESIGN APPLICATIONS

2010 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 368-379
Author(s):  
Mark R. Gurvich

Abstract Existing approaches of fracture analysis of elastomeric materials are primarily based on classical Griffith's theory of crack growth. There are numerous experimental, analytical, and computational studies covering applications of these approaches for a wide range of different polymeric materials, loading and environmental conditions, methods of testing and modeling, and so on. However, these results are usually based on certain assumptions regarding original cracks (their sizes, shapes, locations, etc.); that is, damage initiation is considered as the input of such analysis rather than the output. To avoid this challenge, an advanced approach predicting both (a) damage initiation and (b) damage growth is considered in this study for analysis of hyperelastic materials such as rubber and elastomeric composites. The approach is specifically proposed for finite element analysis implementation and is based on so-called cohesive elements. Such elements mimic contact between individual elements and account for both material strength and toughness properties. Implementation of the approach for hyperelastic deformation is considered in detail. Presented examples illustrate computational efficiency and benefits of the approach for design applications. Challenges and opportunities of material characterization for the approach are discussed as well.

Author(s):  
D. W. Kirk ◽  
Z. R. Li ◽  
D. Fuleki ◽  
P. C. Patnaik

The conversion of biomass such as wood and wood byproducts via pyrolysis into a liquid fuel is important in maximizing the use of material resources and in providing alternative and renewable sources of energy. Pyrolysis oils (or biofuels) have good combustion characteristics but are compositionally different from conventional diesel fuels. This difference requires that materials in contact with the biofuel be tested for compatibility. Three types of biofuels were tested for compatibility with a variety of polymeric materials and metal alloys. The test temperatures were set at 80°C to represent aggressive field usage conditions. The tests were conducted using coupons, which were fully immersed in the fluid for periods up to 15 days. These tests revealed that the metals 304L stainless steel, 316L stainless steel, 430 stainless steel and 20M04 stainless steels had corrosion rates of less than 0.007 mm/y and are suitable for use with the oils tested. A non-traditional low chromium alloy steel, MASH, was also examined and was found to be highly susceptible to all fuels at the high temperature tested and corroded at rates up to 3.7 mm/y. At room temperature, the alloy showed good resistance with a corrosion rate less than <0.009 mm/y. The polymeric materials showed a wide range of properties in the oils tested. Non-elastomers such as polytetrafluoroethylene, polypropylene and high-density polyethylene in general showed little swelling or staining in the oils. The elastomeric materials were much more susceptible to swelling, weight gain and change of surface properties. The attack on elastomeric materials was quite rapid with significant volume expansion seen within 24 hours. Viton, Buna-N and EPDM had volume changes up to 100% during a 10-day test and were not considered suitable seal materials for these oils. Multiple day tests for the low alloy steel at 80°C revealed that the corrosion attack was linear in nature leaving a corrosion scale, which slowed but did not prevent further attack. Details of the material degradation will be discussed.


Author(s):  
Sriram Vangal ◽  
Somnath Paul ◽  
Steven Hsu ◽  
Amit Agarwal ◽  
Saurabh Kumar ◽  
...  

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 838
Author(s):  
David Hermann Lamparelli ◽  
Magdalena Maria Kleybolte ◽  
Malte Winnacker ◽  
Carmine Capacchione

Soluble heterocomplexes consisting of sodium hydride in combination with trialkylaluminum derivatives have been used as anionic initiating systems at 100 °C in toluene for convenient homo-, co- and ter-polymerization of myrcene with styrene and isoprene. In this way it has been possible to obtain elastomeric materials in a wide range of compositions with interesting thermal profiles and different polymeric architectures by simply modulating the alimentation feed and the (monomers)/(initiator systems) ratio. Especially, a complete study of the myrcene-styrene copolymers (PMS) was carried out, highlighting their tapered microstructures with high molecular weights (up to 159.8 KDa) and a single glass transition temperature. For PMS copolymer reactivity ratios, rmyr = 0.12 ± 0.003 and rsty = 3.18 ± 0.65 and rmyr = 0.10 ± 0.004 and rsty = 3.32 ± 0.68 were determined according to the Kelen–Tudos (KT) and extended Kelen–Tudos (exKT) methods, respectively. Finally, this study showed an easy accessible approach for the production of various elastomers by anionic copolymerization of renewable terpenes, such as myrcene, with commodities.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3497
Author(s):  
Piotr Stachak ◽  
Izabela Łukaszewska ◽  
Edyta Hebda ◽  
Krzysztof Pielichowski

Polyurethanes (PUs) are a significant group of polymeric materials that, due to their outstanding mechanical, chemical, and physical properties, are used in a wide range of applications. Conventionally, PUs are obtained in polyaddition reactions between diisocyanates and polyols. Due to the toxicity of isocyanate raw materials and their synthesis method utilizing phosgene, new cleaner synthetic routes for polyurethanes without using isocyanates have attracted increasing attention in recent years. Among different attempts to replace the conventional process, polyaddition of cyclic carbonates (CCs) and polyfunctional amines seems to be the most promising way to obtain non-isocyanate polyurethanes (NIPUs) or, more precisely, polyhydroxyurethanes (PHUs), while primary and secondary –OH groups are being formed alongside urethane linkages. Such an approach eliminates hazardous chemical compounds from the synthesis and leads to the fabrication of polymeric materials with unique and tunable properties. The main advantages include better chemical, mechanical, and thermal resistance, and the process itself is invulnerable to moisture, which is an essential technological feature. NIPUs can be modified via copolymerization or used as matrices to fabricate polymer composites with different additives, similar to their conventional counterparts. Hence, non-isocyanate polyurethanes are a new class of environmentally friendly polymeric materials. Many papers on the matter above have been published, including both original research and extensive reviews. However, they do not provide collected information on NIPU composites fabrication and processing. Hence, this review describes the latest progress in non-isocyanate polyurethane synthesis, modification, and finally processing. While focusing primarily on the carbonate/amine route, methods of obtaining NIPU are described, and their properties are presented. Ways of incorporating various compounds into NIPU matrices are characterized by the role of PHU materials in copolymeric materials or as an additive. Finally, diverse processing methods of non-isocyanate polyurethanes are presented, including electrospinning or 3D printing.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 818
Author(s):  
Jonas Richter ◽  
Moritz Kuhtz ◽  
Andreas Hornig ◽  
Mohamed Harhash ◽  
Heinz Palkowski ◽  
...  

Metallic (M) and polymer (P) materials as layered hybrid metal-polymer-metal (MPM) sandwiches offer a wide range of applications by combining the advantages of both material classes. The interfaces between the materials have a considerable impact on the resulting mechanical properties of the composite and its structural performance. Besides the fact that the experimental methods to determine the properties of the single constituents are well established, the characterization of interface failure behavior between dissimilar materials is very challenging. In this study, a mixed numerical–experimental approach for the determination of the mode I energy release rate is investigated. Using the example of an interface between a steel (St) and a thermoplastic polyolefin (PP/PE), the process of specimen development, experimental parameter determination, and numerical calibration is presented. A modified design of the Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) is utilized to characterize the interlaminar properties and a tailored experimental setup is presented. For this, an inverse calibration method is used by employing numerical studies using cohesive elements and the explicit solver of LS-DYNA based on the force-displacement and crack propagation results.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 181
Author(s):  
Roberto De Santis ◽  
Teresa Russo ◽  
Julietta V. Rau ◽  
Ida Papallo ◽  
Massimo Martorelli ◽  
...  

A wide range of materials has been considered to repair cranial defects. In the field of cranioplasty, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-based bone cements and modifications through the inclusion of copper doped tricalcium phosphate (Cu-TCP) particles have been already investigated. On the other hand, aliphatic polyesters such as poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and polylactic acid (PLA) have been frequently investigated to make scaffolds for cranial bone regeneration. Accordingly, the aim of the current research was to design and fabricate customized hybrid devices for the repair of large cranial defects integrating the reverse engineering approach with additive manufacturing, The hybrid device consisted of a 3D additive manufactured polyester porous structures infiltrated with PMMA/Cu-TCP (97.5/2.5 w/w) bone cement. Temperature profiles were first evaluated for 3D hybrid devices (PCL/PMMA, PLA/PMMA, PCL/PMMA/Cu-TCP and PLA/PMMA/Cu-TCP). Peak temperatures recorded for hybrid PCL/PMMA and PCL/PMMA/Cu-TCP were significantly lower than those found for the PLA-based ones. Virtual and physical models of customized devices for large cranial defect were developed to assess the feasibility of the proposed technical solutions. A theoretical analysis was preliminarily performed on the entire head model trying to simulate severe impact conditions for people with the customized hybrid device (PCL/PMMA/Cu-TCP) (i.e., a rigid sphere impacting the implant region of the head). Results from finite element analysis (FEA) provided information on the different components of the model.


1995 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 109-117
Author(s):  
Burkhard Beckhoff ◽  
Birgit Kanngießer

X-ray focusing based on Bragg reflection at curved crystals allows collection of a large solid angle of incident radiation, monochromatization of this radiation, and condensation of the beam reflected at the crystal into a small spatial cross-section in a pre-selected focal plane. Thus, for the Bragg reflected radiation, one can achieve higher intensities than for the radiation passing directly to the same small area in the focal plane. In that case one can profit considerably from X-ray focusing in an EDXRF arrangement. The 00 2 reflection at Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite (HOPG) crystals offers a very high intensity of the Bragg reflected beam for a wide range of photon energies. Furthermore, curvature radii smaller than 10 mm can be achieved for HOPG crystals ensuring efficient X-ray focusing in EDXRF applications. For the trace analysis of very small amounts of specimen material deposited on small areas of thin-filter backings, HOPG based X-ray focusing may be used to achieve a very high intensity of monochromatic excitation radiation.


Author(s):  
Hailing Yu

In ballasted concrete tie track, the tie-ballast interface can deteriorate resulting in concrete tie bottom abrasion, ballast pulverization and/or voids in tie-ballast interfaces. Tie-ballast voids toward tie ends can lead to unfavorable center binding support conditions that can result in premature concrete tie failure and possible train derailment. Direct detection of these conditions is difficult. There is a strong interest in assessing the concrete tie-ballast interface conditions indirectly using measured vertical deflections. This paper seeks to establish a link between the vertical deflection profile of a concrete tie top surface and the tie-ballast interface condition using the finite element analysis (FEA) method. The concrete tie is modeled as a concrete matrix embedded with prestressing steel strands or wires. The configurations of two commonly used concrete ties, one with 8 prestressing strands and the other with 20 prestressing wires, are employed in this study. All models are three-dimensional and symmetric about the tie center. A damaged plasticity model that can predict onset and propagation of tensile cracks is applied to the concrete material. The steel-concrete interface is homogenized and represented with a thin layer of cohesive elements sandwiched between steel and concrete elements. Strand- or wire-specific elasto-plastic bond models developed at the Volpe Center are applied to the cohesive elements to account for the interface bonding mechanisms. FE models are developed for both original and worn concrete ties, with the latter assuming hypothetical patterns of reduced cross sections resulting from abrasive interactions with the ballast. Static analyses of pretension release in these concrete ties are conducted, and vertical deflection gradients along tie lengths are calculated and shown to correspond well with the worn cross sectional patterns for a given reinforcement type. The ballast is further modeled with Extended Drucker-Prager plasticity, and hypothetical voids are applied toward the tie ends along the concrete tie-ballast interface to simulate center binding support conditions. The distance range over which the concrete tie is supported in the center is variable and yields different center binding severity. Static simulations are completed with vertical rail seat loads applied on the concrete tie-ballast assembly. The influences of various factors on the vertical deflection profile, including tie type, vertical load magnitude, center binding severity, cross sectional material loss and prestress loss, are examined based on the FEA results. The work presented in this paper demonstrates the potential of using the vertical deflection profile of concrete tie top surfaces to assess deteriorations in the tie-ballast interface. The simulation results further help to clarify minimum technical requirements on inspection technologies that measure concrete tie vertical deflection profiles.


2002 ◽  
Vol 758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khershed P. Cooper

ABSTRACTLayered Manufacturing (LM) refers to computer-aided manufacturing processes in which parts are made in sequential layers relatively quickly. Parts that are produced by LM can be formed from a wide range of materials such as photosensitive polymers, metals and ceramics in sizes from a centimeter to a few meters with sub-millimeter feature resolutions. LM has found use in diverse areas including biomedical engineering, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, defense, electronics and design engineering. The promise of LM is the capability to make customized complex-shaped functional parts without specialized tooling and without assembly. LM is still a few years away from fully realizing its promise but its potential for manufacturing remains high. A few of the fundamental challenges in materials processing confronting the community are improving the quality of the surface finish, eliminating residual stress, controlling local composition and microstructure, achieving fine feature size and dimensional tolerance and accelerating processing speed. Until these challenges are met, the applicability of LM and its commercialization will be restricted. Sustained scientific activity in LM has advanced over the past decade into many different areas of manufacturing and has enabled exploration of novel processes and development of hybrid processes. The research community of today has the opportunity to shape the future direction of science research to realize the full potential of LM.


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