Controllable rectification on the irreversible strain limit of 2G HTS coated conductors

The second generation high-temperature superconducting coated conductors (CCs) have excellent electrical and mechanical properties， and are extensively used in superconducting devices such as fault current limiters, magnets and motors. During the operation of these superconducting devices, superconducting CCs inevitably bear the combination of electromagnetic force and thermal mismatch stress, resulting in straining of YBCO layer along the tape length. It is well known that the strains of superconducting CCs cause degradation of critical current (Ic). Generally, the irreversible strain limit ( ) is used to characterize the phenomenon that Ic of superconducting CCs degrades with axial strain. When the axial strain of superconducting CCs is less than , Ic can be reversibly recovered by over 99% after being unloaded. Therefore, is a key parameter for the design and application of superconducting CC devices. For this reason, to carry out a practical engineering method for improving of superconducting CCs has become a challenge and aroused interests among researchers. This study is based on the idea of precompression. A 316LN stainless steel tape was pretensioned at 77K to improve its elastic strain limit. Then, two superconducting CCs were soldered onto both surfaces of pretensioned stainless steel tape respectively. As a result, of the superconducting CCs can be controlled manually with different precompressions. Taking YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) CCs produced by SuperPower Inc. as an example, the measurement results show that the of the YBCO CCs increased from 0.39% to 0.73%. Meanwhile, the thickness of the sample did not increase more than once.

Determination of Strain Limits for Dimensioning Polyurethane Components

Within the scope of this contribution, a method for the determination of a strain limit for designing components made of elastomeric polyurethane systems is presented. The knowledge of a material-specific strain limit is essential for the structural-mechanical calculation of plastic components in the context of component design. Compared to a commonly used component design, based on a simplified dimensioning approach taking only linear viscoelastic deformations into account, the strain limit determined in this study allows an improved utilisation of lightweight construction potential in the dimensioning of technical components made of polyurethanes through the consideration of permissible nonlinear viscoelastic deformations. The test method comprises a sequence of quasi-static loading and unloading cycles, with a subsequent load-free recovery phase, allowing the relaxation of the viscoelastic forces. Standardised tensile and simple shear test specimens and a dynamic mechanical thermal analyser (DMTA) are used within the tests. The strain limit is determined by means of the so-called residual energy ratio, which is a characteristic quantity for the evaluation of hystereses of load–unload cycles. These hystereses are increasingly formed by deformations outside the range of linear viscoelastic deformations. The residual energy ratio relates the proportion of deformation energy recovered during unloading to the deformation work that is applied. In this contribution, the residual energy ratio is successfully used to detect a significant evolution of loss energy under increasing load and to correlate this transition to a characteristic strain. The latter is used as a dimensioning parameter for the design of components made of elastomeric polyurethane materials for quasi-static load cases. The determination of this strain limit is performed under consideration of the criterion of reversibility of deformation.

Nematic liquid crystalline elastomers are aeolotropic materials

Continuum models describing ideal nematic solids are widely used in theoretical studies of liquid crystal elastomers. However, experiments on nematic elastomers show a type of anisotropic response that is not predicted by the ideal models. Therefore, their description requires an additional term coupling elastic and nematic responses, to account for aeolotropic effects. In order to better understand the observed elastic response of liquid crystal elastomers, we analyse theoretically and computationally different stretch and shear deformations. We then compare the elastic moduli in the infinitesimal elastic strain limit obtained from the molecular dynamics simulations with the ones derived theoretically, and show that they are better explained by including nematic order effects within the continuum framework.

An Intermetallic NiTi-Based Shape Memory Coil Spring for Actuator Technologies

Amongst various intermetallic shape memory alloys (SMAs), nickel–titanium-based SMAs (NiTi) are known for their unique elastocaloric property. This widely used shape remembering material demonstrates excellent mechanical and electrical properties with superior corrosion resistance and super-long fatigue life. The straight-drawn wire form of NiTi has a maximum restorable strain limit of ~4%. However, a maximum linear strain of ~20% can be attained in its coil spring structure. Various material/mechanical engineers have widely exploited this superior mechanic characteristic and stress-triggered heating/cooling efficiency of NiTi to design smart engineering structures, especially in actuator technologies. This short technical note reflects the characteristics of the NiTi coil spring structure with its phase transformations and thermal transformation properties. The micro-actuators based on NiTi have been found to be possible, suggesting uses from biomedical to advanced high-tech applications. In recent years, the technical advancements in modular robotic systems involving NiTi-based SMAs have gained speculative commercial interest.

Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Reinforced Concrete Buildings with Masonry Infills Based on Material Strain Limit Approach

The seismic evaluation and retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) structures considering masonry infills is the correct methodology because the infill walls are an essential part of RC structures and increase the stiffness and strength of structures in seismically active areas. A three-dimensional four-storey building with masonry infills has been analyzed with nonlinear static adaptive pushover analysis by using the SeismoStruct software. Two models have been considered in this study: the first model is a full RC-infilled frame and the second model is an open ground storey RC-infilled frame. The infill walls have been modeled as a double strut nonlinear cyclic model. In this study, the “material strain limit approach” is first time used for the seismic evaluation of RC buildings with masonry infills. This method is based on the threshold strain limit of concrete and steel to identify the actual damage scenarios of the structural members of RC structures. The two models of the four-storey RC building have been retrofitted with local and global strengthening techniques (RC-jacketing method and incorporation of infills) as per the requirements of the structure to evaluate their effect on the response reduction factor (R) because the R-factor is an important design tool that shows the level of inelasticity in a structure. A significant increase in the response reduction factor (R) and structural plan density (SPD) has been observed in the case of the open ground storey RC-infilled frame after the retrofit. Thus, this paper aims to present a most effective way for the seismic evaluation and retrofit of any reinforced concrete structure through the material strain limit approach.

Reynolds stress anisotropy in flow over two-dimensional rigid dunes

Characteristics of turbulence anisotropy in flow over two-dimensional rigid dunes are analysed. The Reynolds stress anisotropy is envisaged from the perspective of the stress ellipsoid shape. The spatial evolutions of the anisotropic invariant map (AIM), anisotropic invariant function, eigenvalues of the scaled Reynolds stress tensor and eccentricities of the stress ellipsoid are investigated at various streamwise distances along the vertical. The data plots reveal that the oblate spheroid axisymmetric turbulence appears near the top of the crest, whereas the prolate spheroid axisymmetric turbulence dominates near the free surface. At the dune trough, the axisymmetric contraction to the oblate spheroid diminishes, as the vertical distance below the crest increases. At the reattachment point and one-third of the stoss-side, the oblate spheroid axisymmetric turbulence formed below the crest appears to be more contracted, as the vertical distance increases. The AIMs suggest that the turbulence anisotropy up to edge of the boundary layer follows a looping pattern. As the streamwise distance increases, the turbulence anisotropy at the edge of the boundary layer approaches the plane-strain limit up to two-thirds of the stoss-side, intersecting the plane-strain limit at the top of the crest and thereafter moving towards the oblate spheroid axisymmetric turbulence.

Local Failure Analysis of Bolted Flanges

Protection against local failure is one of the integral components in the design-by-analysis requirements in ASME BPVC Section VIII, Division 2. Of the methods offered by the ASME, the Local Strain Limit procedure outlined in 5.3.3.1 is the typical calculation method. However, it has been found that relying on this procedure alone can lead to untenable utilization results if used on certain analyses with varied load paths. The flange described in this study was calculated using “design by analysis” according to Part 5 of ASME BPVC Section VIII, Division 2. The elastic-plastic stress analysis method was used. The flange was loaded with an initial bolt pre-tension and then with internal pressure. During the local failure calculation, an abnormal condition was encountered in the form of a large spike in the history curve of the ratio between plastic strain and limiting triaxial strain. An investigation found that despite being in a stress state below yield stress, some nodes had a non-zero plastic strain and high triaxiality factor. This was caused by the load sequence: first, the bolt pre-tension and then internal pressure. The flange was first bent due to the pre-tension load, and later experienced bending in the opposite direction after the internal pressure load was applied. This resulted in a relatively low stress state with a high triaxiality factor and non-zero plastic strain in certain areas, which then showed high utilization under the local failure strain limit criterion. This paper will discuss how this issue can be avoided by using the strain limit damage calculation procedure 5.3.3.2 outlined in ASME BPVC Section VIII, Division 2.