Investigating of Strain Effect on Cleavage Fracture for Reactor Pressure Vessel Material

Failure mechanism of 20MnMoNi55 steel in the lower self of ductile to brittle transition (DBT) region is considered as brittle fracture but it has been observed from the experimental analysis of stress-strain diagram that clear plastic deformation is shown by the material before failure. Therefore, strain correction is implemented in the cleavage fracture model proposed by different researchers in the lower self of the DBT region with the help of finite element analysis. To avoid a huge number of experiments being performed, Monte Carlo simulation is used to generate a huge number of random data at different temperatures in the lower self of the DBT region for calibration of the cleavage parameters with the help of the master curve methodology. Fracture toughness calculated after strain correction through different models are validated with experimental results for the different probability of failures.

Correlation of Rheological Properties of Ferrofluid-Based Magnetorheological Fluids Using Some Dimensionless Numbers Defined in Magnetorheology

In this paper we investigated from rheological point of view some samples of ferrofluid-based magnetorheological fluids (FF-MRFs) with different volumic fractions of Fe microparticles, but with the same ferrofluid used as carrier liquid. We correlated the dimensionless flow curves, measured at different values of the magnetic field induction, using either Mason number or Casson number. It has been shown that in this approach, data sets measured under different conditions collapse on a single curve. This master curve is useful for controlling the concentration of Fe particles, so that the magnetic and magnetorheological properties of FF-MRF to be adapted to obtain high-performance applications.

Mesh Size Selectivity of Tie-Down Gillnets for the Blackfin Flounder (Glyptocephalus stelleri) in Korea

Although gillnet fisheries are increasingly common in Korea, few studies have conducted sea trials using tie-down gillnets. Here, we analyzed the mesh size selectivity using tie-down gillnets with four different mesh sizes (84, 90, 105, and 120 mm) to catch blackfin flounders. A total of 10 sea trials were conducted at depths of 100–140 m in the waters of Yangyang County, Gangwon Province, Korea, and the catching efficiency and mesh size selectivity were comparatively analyzed. The net with a mesh size of 84 mm showed the highest number of catches (373), followed by the 90-mm (363) and 105-mm (307) meshes. The results of the master curve estimation showed that the larger the mesh size, the higher the total length representing the same retention probability. Therefore, the catch rate of small fish decreased with the increasing mesh size. For the 84-mm net, the 50% selection length for small fish (total length ≤ 170 mm) was estimated at 186.9 mm, which was approximately 17 mm larger than the length limit. The results show that when using tie-down gillnets, the size of the fish caught changed according to the changes in the mesh size.

Time-temperature superposition of flexural creep response of carbon fiber PEKK composites manufactured using different prepreg stacking sequence

In this work, the long-term creep response of high-performance carbon fiber PEKK (CF/PEKK) composites was evaluated by performing extrapolated short-term flexural creep tests at various temperatures. The time-temperature superposition principle (TTSP) with vertical as well as horizontal shifting was used to generate master curves at reference temperatures of 120°C. Satin weave-based CF/PEKK prepregs were used to manufacture eight-layer composites via compression molding, with three different stacking sequences: (a) zero-direction [0]8 (b) cross-ply [0, 90]4 and (c) quasi-isotropic [90, −45, 45, 0]2 s. The flexural properties under three-point bending arrangement in a universal testing machine were also evaluated. A dynamic mechanical thermal analyzer (DMTA) in three-point bending mode was used to evaluate the temperature-dependent viscoelastic properties of the three types of composites. The creep and creep-recovery behavior was evaluated at 40°C, 80°C, 120°C, 160°C and 200°C. To construct a master curve, extrapolated short-term isothermal creep tests were performed from 120°C to 180°C at the intervals of 10°C. The predicted master curve represents the creep behavior of composites over more than 10 years. It was shown that the quasi-isotropic CF/PEKK composites exhibited 27% and 12% higher creep resistance at 120°C as compared to zero-direction and cross-ply laminates, respectively. Higher flexural modulus (23%) and flexural strengths (33%) were also exhibited by the quasi-isotropic CF/PEKK composites. The final thickness of quasi-isotropic laminates was 8% lower than the 0o laminates. After analyzing the cross-sections of the composites, it was proposed that the superior mechanical properties of the quasi-isotropic laminates could be due to enhanced nesting between neighboring prepreg layers during the compression molding process, which resulted in closer packing of the fibers. It has been shown that the prepreg stacking sequence could affect the creep behavior and flexural properties of the compression-molded CF/PEKK composites.

Electrospinning of a Copolymer PVDF-co-HFP Solved in DMF/Acetone: Explicit Relations among Viscosity, Polymer Concentration, DMF/Acetone Ratio and Mean Nanofiber Diameter

The process of electrospinning polymer solutions depends on many entry parameters, with each having a significant impact on the overall process and where complexity prevents the expression of their interplay. However, under the assumption that most parameters are fixed, it is possible to evaluate the mutual relations between pairs or triples of the chosen parameters. In this case, the experiments were carried out with a copolymer poly(vinylidene-co-hexafluoropropylene) solved in mixed N,N’-dimethylformamide (DMF)/acetone solvent for eight polymer concentrations (8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, and 27 wt.%) and five DMF/acetone ratios (1/0, 4/1, 2/1, 1/1, 1/2). Processing of the obtained data (viscosity, mean nanofiber diameter) aimed to determine algebraic expressions relating both to viscosity and a mean nanofiber diameter with polymer concentration, as well as DMF/acetone ratio. Moreover, a master curve relating these parameters with no fitting factors was proposed continuously covering a sufficiently broad range of concentration as well as DMF/acetone ratio. A comparison of algebraic evaluation with the experimental data seems to be very good (the mean deviation for viscosity was about 2%, while, for a mean nanofiber diameter was slightly less than 10%).