Damage Detection of Laminated Rubber Bearings Based on the Antiresonance Frequencies of Periodic Structure and Its Sensitivity Analysis

An isolation bearing consumes most of the seismic energy of a structure and is vulnerable to destruction. The performance of isolation bearings is usually evaluated according to the global stiffness and energy dissipation capacity. However, the early minor damage in isolation bearings is difficult to identify. In this study, a damage detection scheme for the isolation bearing is proposed by focusing on the antiresonance of the quasiperiodic structure. Firstly, a laminated rubber bearing was simplified as a monocoupled periodic rubber-steel structure. The characteristic equation of the driving point antiresonance frequency of the periodic system was achieved via the dynamic stiffness method. Secondly, the sensitivity coefficient of the driving point antiresonance, which was obtained from the first-order derivative of the antiresonance frequency, with respect to the damage scaling parameter was derived using the antiresonance frequency characteristic equation. Thirdly, the optimised driving points of the antiresonance frequencies were selected by means of sensitivity analysis. Finally, from the measured changes in the antiresonance frequencies, the damage was identified by solving the sensitivity identification equation via a numerical optimisation method. The application of the proposed method to laminated rubber bearings under various damage cases demonstrates the feasibility of this method. This study has proven that changes in the shear modulus of each rubber layer can be identified accurately.

Ballistic characterization of fiber elastomer metal laminate composites and effect of positioning of fiber reinforced elastomer

The present study aims at investigating the ballistic impact response of jute, natural rubber and aluminium based tri-layer composites with two different configurations, namely Aluminium-Jute-Rubber-Jute and Jute-Rubber-Jute-Aluminium. The proposed composites were fabricated using the compression moulding technique and subjected to ballistic impact testing at impact velocities of 75 m/s, 105 m/s, 154 m/s and 183 m/s. The energy absorption and damage mitigation characteristics of the proposed fibre metal elastomer tri-layer composites were assessed. Results showed that among the two proposed composites, the composite with rubber facing the impact side exhibits better energy absorption and also helps in damage mitigation compared to the composite having aluminium on the impact side. In addition, a parametric study was carried out by varying the thickness of the rubber layer. It was observed that the impact response of the proposed tri-layer composites improved with increasing thickness of the rubber layer, especially in the case of the Jute-Rubber-Jute-Aluminium configuration.

Ballistic performance of composite structure configurations with high elongation calendered rubber layer laminated to AA5083-H112 aluminum alloy

This study aims to determine the ballistic performances of laminated composite plates produced with AA5083-H112 series aluminum and rubber material with high elongation capacity under impact loading. To investigate the effect of rubber compounds, two types of rubber with calendered and damping were prepared. Thanks to the surface treatment applied to the aluminum plates, the rubber–metal adhesion strength was adjusted, and four different laminated composite plate samples were prepared. Calendered rubber was used on the bullet impact surface of all samples, and damping rubber was used on the back. It has been observed that the pressure barrier created by the calendered rubber bullet on the front face provides high performance to absorb energy. A detailed study was carried out on the total thickness of laminated composite plates, the interface adhesion strength between rubber and aluminum layers, and the ballistic performance of aluminum-rubber combinations. It was concluded that the laminated composite plate’s energy absorption would increase, especially by increasing the thickness of the dumping rubber layer on the back of the aluminum sheets. In the strong metal-rubber interface interaction between the rubber and aluminum layer, the bullet is stopped before the pressure barrier is formed. The penetration depth and bulging height increase, and most of the energy are transmitted through the aluminum plate. In the weak metal-rubber interface interaction, a significant portion of the energy is absorbed by the rubber and air thanks to the pressure barrier.

Experimental and Numerical Study on a Non-Explosive Reactive Armour with the Rubber Interlayer Applied against Kinetic-Energy Penetrators—The ‘Bulging Effect’ Analysis

The study concerns a protection system applied against kinetic-energy penetrators (KEPs) composed of steel plates sandwiching a rubber layer. Laminated steel-elastomer armours represent non-explosive reactive (NERA) armours that take advantage of a so-called ‘bulging effect’ to mitigate KEP projectiles. Upon an impact, the side steel plates deform together with the deforming rubber interlayer. Their sudden deformation (bulging) in opposite directions disturbs long and slender KEP projectiles, causing their fragmentation. The presented discussion is based on the experimental investigation, confirming that the long-rod projectiles tend to fracture into several pieces due to the armour perforation. A numerical simulation accompanies the ballistic test providing an insight into the threat/target interactions. The presented experimental–numerical study explains the principles of the analysed protection mechanism and proves the efficiency of the materials composition making up the laminated non-reactive protection system.

EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF DAMPING PROPERTIES OF VISCOELASTIC MATERIALS

This study presents results of an experimental investigations of the materials used in passive damping vibrations. The main purpose of this paper was to examine the damping properties of selected viscoelastic materials (VEM), using the modal analysis. In presented analysis three configurations of specimens were considered. At first, the separated steel beam was analyzed. As results of this analysis, the frequencies and amplitudes of the beam during resonance were obtained. In next part of the work the modified specimen was investigated. In this modification the bitumen-based material (as a damper) was fixed to the surface of the beam. This method is known as free layer damping (FLD) treatment. In last configuration, the butyl rubber layer was connected to the steel beam. Using the Unholtz-Dickie UDCO-TA250 electrodynamic vibration system, the natural frequencies and amplitudes of free vibrations for all examined specimens were obtained. The vibration amplitude of the beam was measured using piezoelectric acceleration sensors. In order to define the damping capabilities of both the bitumen based material and the butyl rubber, the relative amplitude of specimens and the loss factor using half-power bandwidth method were calculated.

Influence of beam hardening in dual-energy CT imaging: phantom study for iodine mapping, virtual monoenergetic imaging, and virtual non-contrast imaging

In this study, we investigated the influence of beam hardening on the dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) values of iodine maps, virtual monoenergetic (VME) images, and virtual non-contrast (VNC) images. 320-row DECT imaging was performed by changing the x-ray tube energy for the first and second rotations. DECT values of 5 mg/mL iodine of the multi-energy CT phantom were compared with and without a 2-mm-thick attenuation rubber layer (~700 HU) wound around the phantom. It was found that the CT density values UH, with/without the rubber layer had statistical differences in the iodine map (184 ± 0.7 versus 186 ± 1.8), VME images (125 ± 0.3 versus 110 ± 0.4), and VNC images (−58 ± 0.7 versus −76 ± 1.7) (p < 0.010 for all). This suggests that iodine mapping may be underestimated by DECT and overestimated by VME imaging because of x-ray beam hardening. The use of VNC images instead of plain CT images requires further investigation because of underestimation.

Determining the dissipative properties of a flexible pipeline’s material at stretching in the transverse direction taking its structural elements into consideration

This paper reports an experimental study that determines the dissipative properties of a pressure fire hose, the type of «T», whose inner diameter is 77 mm, under the static load conditions, taking into consideration the structural elements of the hose in the transverse direction. For this study, experimental samples were separated from the different sections of the hose. The study involved both the outer fabric reinforced frame and the internal waterproofing rubber layer of the pressure fire hose. A series of field experiments were carried out while stretching the samples under the conditions of static loading-unloading cycles. The tests included 7 cycles, which were carried out in a two-minute interval for the material of the hose. The study results showed that during the first two to three cycles, the materials manifest a short-term creep that stabilizes under modes 4‒7. The results from experimental research were approximated by polynomial trend lines. The deformation of samples demonstrated the curves that, under the conditions of cyclic loading and unloading, formed hysteresis loops. When analyzing the appropriate curves, it was found that, first, during the first two-three loading-unloading cycles the area of the hysteresis loops decreases, second, the inclination angle of hysteresis loops also decreased during each subsequent loading-unloading cycle. It was established that the dissipation coefficients of the hose material stretched in the transverse direction are significantly reduced under the first three test modes in the range from 0.49 to 0.37. At subsequent tests (cycles 4–7), dissipation coefficients stabilize at the level of 0.18 for the reinforced frame, and 0.316 for the rubber layer

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THIRD-BODY PARTICLE TRANSPORT IN SLIDING CONTACT

An experiment is designed to study the third-body particle transport in a rough contact. To study the influence of particles in a pure form, it is assured that the first bodies have no contact and the sliding is very slow, so that the process can be considered as quasistatic. An example of sliding contact of a 3D printed “rough body” on small spheres artificially located on a rubber layer is presented. The trajectory of particles during the sliding is captured for studying their movement and the correlation to the fluctuation of normal and tangential force.

Influence of Treated Distillate Aromatic Extract (TDAE) Content and Addition Time on Rubber-Filler Interactions in Silica Filled SBR/BR Blends

High compatibility and good rubber–filler interactions are required in order to obtain high quality products. Rubber–filler and filler–filler interactions can be influenced by various material factors, such as the presence of processing aids. Although different processing aids, especially the plasticizers, and their effects on compatibility have been investigated in the literature, their influence on rubber–filler interactions in highly active filler reinforced mixtures is not explicit and has not been investigated in depth. For this purpose, the influence of treated distillate aromatic extract (TDAE) oil content and its addition time on interactions between silica and rubber chains were investigated in this study. Rubber–filler and filler–filler interactions of uncured and cured silica-filled SBR/BR blends were characterized by using rubber layer L concept and dynamic mechanical analysis, whereas mechanical properties were studied by tensile test and Shore A hardness. Five parts per hundred rubber (phr) TDAE addition at 0, 1.5, and 3 min of mixing were characterized to investigate the influence of TDAE addition time on rubber–filler interactions. It was observed that addition time of TDAE can influence the development of bounded rubber structure and the interfacial interactions, especially at short time of mixing, less than 5 min. Oil addition with silica at 1.5 min of mixing resulted in fast rubber layer development and a small reduction in storage shear modulus of uncured blends. The influence of oil content on rubber–filler and filler–filler interactions were investigated for the binary blends without oil, with 5 and 20 phr TDAE content. The addition of 5 phr oil resulted in a slight increase in rubber layer and 0.05 MPa reduction in Payne effect of uncured blends. The storage tensile modulus of vulcanizates at small strains decreased from 13.97 to 8.28 MPa after oil addition. Twenty parts per hundred rubber (phr) oil addition to binary blends caused rubber layer L to decrease from 0.45 to 0.42. The storage tensile modulus of the vulcanizates and its reduction with higher amplitudes were incontrovertibly high among the vulcanizates with lower oil content, which were 13.57 and 4.49 MPa, respectively. When any consequential change in mechanical properties of styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR)/butadiene rubber (BR) blends could not be observed at different TDAE addition time, increasing amount of oil in blends enhanced elongation at break, and decreased Shore A hardness and tensile strength.