Behavior of oil-based modeling clay at medium strain rates

The modeling clay is an oil-based soft, flowable, and pliable material made from waxes and oils. Besides its primary use for making sculptures, the modeling clay is commonly used to evaluate bulletproof vests and simulate metal manufacturing processes by conformation. In ballistic tests, the clay is used to retain the deformation of the rear face of body armors; and in the study of metal forming processes, it is used as a physical model to provide information on the plastic flow. However, its mechanical dynamic behavior is not entirely understood. In this study, Plastilina Roma No. 1 modeling clay was mechanically characterized using the power-law constitutive model at medium strain rates [Formula: see text]. The material parameters were determined using a penetration model based on the Cavity Expansion Theory and an inverse technique involving the comparison of the model with experimentation. The optimum set of constitutive parameters was found by reducing the difference of the calculated penetration profile and the measurements from a drop test. This optimization process was programmed on the MATLAB–Simulink environment. The determined material parameters were validated by comparing the results from a computational model with three test set-ups. Finite element model results show good concordance with experimental measurements.

A method of calculating the bearing capacity of sand pile composite foundations in a mucky soil layer considering consolidation

In engineering practice, the measured bearing capacity of a sand pile composite foundation in a mucky soil layer is much larger than the design value. Based on the sand pile construction and the load application process, a method of calculating the bearing capacity of the foundation based on the effective stress was proposed. Cavity diameter expansion in sand pile construction was simplified into a planar problem, and the cavity expansion theory was used to establish the expression of the rate of displacement and the horizontal stress increase. Based on the e–p curve and the calculation of the degree of consolidation, the relationships between the horizontal and vertical effective stress and the void ratio were obtained. According to the close relationship between the bearing capacity of the foundation in a mucky soil layer and the water content, an expression describing the relationships between the bearing capacity of the foundation, effective stress, void ratio, and water content was established. For the temporary engineering foundation treatment project, which needs a high bearing capacity but allows large foundation deformation, the design of sand pile composite foundations uses these relationships to take the consolidation effect of mucky soil into consideration, thereby reducing the replacement rate and lowering the construction cost.

A Method of Calculating the Bearing Capacity of Sand Pile Composite Foundations in a Mucky Soil Layer Considering Consolidation

In engineering practice, the measured bearing capacity of a sand pile composite foundation in a mucky soil layer is much larger than the design value. Based on the sand pile construction and the load application process, a method of calculating the bearing capacity of the foundation based on the effective stress was proposed. Cavity diameter expansion in sand pile construction was simplified into a planar problem, and the cavity expansion theory was used to establish the expression of the rate of displacement and the horizontal stress increase. Based on the e–p curve and the calculation of the degree of consolidation, the relationships between the horizontal and vertical effective stress and the void ratio were obtained. According to the close relationship between the bearing capacity of the foundation in a mucky soil layer and the water content, an expression describing the relationships between the bearing capacity of the foundation, effective stress, void ratio, and water content was established. For the temporary engineering foundation treatment project, which needs a high bearing capacity but allows large foundation deformation, the design of sand pile composite foundations uses these relationships to take the consolidation effect of mucky soil into consideration, thereby reducing the replacement rate and lowering the construction cost.

Theoretical Investigation on Failure Behavior of Ogive-Nose Projectile Subjected to Impact Loading

Experimental and theoretical investigations on the failure behaviors of projectile during high-speed impact into concrete slabs were performed in this study. The ogive-nose projectiles after impact experiments were recovered and their microstructures were observed by scanning electron microscope and metallographic microscope. Mass abrasion and nose blunting are the typical failure models of steel projectile. Furthermore, thermal melting and cutting are the two main failure mechanisms. Based on the microscopic experimental results, a theoretical model of ogive-nose projectile subjected to impact loading considering the melting and cutting mechanisms was proposed. A modified cap model is introduced for describing the failure behavior of concrete targets, and then the dynamic cavity expansion theory is used to determine the resistance of projectiles during penetration. Besides, combining with the two-dimensional heat conduction equation and abrasive wear theory, the two main abrasion mechanisms of melting and cutting are included in the proposed model, which breaks through the framework of previous abrasion models with single abrasion mechanism. The predicted results of the present abrasion model are in good agreement with the experimental data, which indicates that the proposed model can effectively predict the failure behavior and penetration performance parameters of high-speed projectiles during penetration into concrete targets, such as mass loss, nose blunting, and depth of penetration.

An Analytical Model for Rock Cutting with a Chisel Pick of the Cutter Suction Dredger

Cutter suction dredgers are important pieces of rock excavation equipment in port and waterway construction. It is valuable but difficult to properly estimate the cutting force on the chisel pick of the cutter suction dredger. In this paper, an analytical model, called the crushed zone expansion induced tensile failure model (CEIT model), is proposed for rock cutting with a chisel pick in order to predict the peak cutting force (Fc) more accurately. First, a review of the existing models for rock cutting with a chisel pick is presented. Next, based on the tensile breakage theory, cavity expansion theory and some hypotheses, the mathematical formula of the CEIT model is obtained. Different from that in the previous models, the effect of the rock on both sides of the chisel pick on Fc, defined as the sidewall effect is considered in the CEIT model. Then, the predicted Fc by the CEIT model is compared with the predicted Fc by existing theoretical models and experimental results to check the validity of the CEIT model. The results show that the CEIT model can well capture the relationships of Fc to the cutting parameters, including cutting width, cutting depth, and rake angle, and can predict the experimental results much better than the existing models. Finally, the sidewall effect and its influence factors according to the CEIT model are discussed.

A resistance force model for spherical projectiles penetrating ballistic gelatin based on cavity expansion theory

To investigate the penetration mechanism of spherical projectiles into soft tissues, ballistic gelatin was used as tissue substitute in ballistic tests. A theoretical motion model was established based on the cavity expansion theory. We first presented a quasi-static cylindrical cavity expansion model for the radial stress at the cavity wall of a cracked-hyperelastic material. The pressure on the cavity surface, PS, was also defined as the energy required to open a unit volume in the medium quasi-statically. Based on this interpretation, we proposed an approximate expression for the dynamic pressure, P, acting on the surface of the cavity by analyzing the energy transformation and conservation. Then, based on the analysis and solutions of the cylindrical cavity expansion model, we obtained a resistance force model for spherical projectiles, which consisted of an inertial term and a rate-dependent strength term. Subsequently, ballistic tests, in which gelatin blocks were penetrated by spherical projectiles of different materials and sizes, were analyzed, and the parameters in the resistance model were identified using the test results obtained from the 3 mm steel projectile. Further, the ability of the motion model to describe the motion of spherical projectiles penetrating ballistic gelatin was verified by comparing the calculated and measured results from projectiles of different materials and sizes. The proposed motion model based on the cavity expansion theory can therefore provide a basis for understanding the interaction of small arms ammunition and soft tissues.

Anisotropic Borehole Response from Pressuremeter Testing in Deep Clay Shale Formations

This paper presents the result of five pressuremeter tests conducted in deep three clay shale formations at a thermal operation site. Pressuremeter loading was imposed parallel to the bedding plane under an approximately undrained condition and test data were analyzed using the axisymmetric cavity expansion theory. In parallel with triaxial test results, the analyses revealed several constitutive characteristics of the Westgate clay shale, in particular, the limited nonlinearity and the stress/strain-path dependency of shear modulus. A procedure is proposed to correct the data including multi-azimuth radial displacement measurements in the caliper plane and the anisotropic response of the borehole can be studied. Two aspects of azimuthal anisotropy are assessed - 1) in-plane anisotropy of borehole stiffness and 2) the anisotropy in expansion after borehole plastic yielding. The latter provides the implication of anisotropic in-situ horizontal stresses, demonstrated by both experimental and numerical evidence. The influence of the radial and azimuthal variations of the elastic stiffness around borehole on the interpreted orientation of in-situ horizontal stresses is discussed. An agreement is shown between the interpreted azimuth of major/minor in-situ horizontal stress and the reported crustal stress orientation for the test least affected by such the stiffness variation.