Analysis of Strain-Hardening Viscoplastic Wide Sheets Subject to Bending under Tension

The present paper provides an accurate solution for finite plane strain bending under tension of a rigid/plastic sheet using a general material model of a strain-hardening viscoplastic material. In particular, no restriction is imposed on the dependence of the yield stress on the equivalent strain and the equivalent strain rate. A special numerical procedure is necessary to solve a non-standard ordinary differential equation resulting from the analytic treatment of the boundary value problem. A numerical example illustrates the general solution assuming that the tensile force vanishes. This numerical solution demonstrates a significant effect of the parameter that controls the loading speed on the bending moment and the through-thickness distribution of stresses.

Numerical Study on Plastic Strain Distributions and Mechanical Behaviour of a Tube under Bending

Tubular pipe structures have been used in various applications—domestic, aviation, marine, manufacturing and material testing. The applications of tubular pipes have been considered greatly in the installation of tubular pipes, marine risers and pipe bending. For the investigation of plastic strains and the mechanical behaviour of a tube under bending, considerations were made utilising an exponent model with assumptions on the plane strain. The bending moment, wall thickness effect, cross-sectional distribution, stresses during bending and neutral layer boundaries were all presented as necessary theoretical formulations on the physics of tubular pipe bending. This model was based on the analytical and numerical investigation. In principle, the application can be observed as the spooling of pipes, bending of pipes and reeling. Comparisons were made on two models developed on the finite element analysis in Simscale OpenFEA, namely the linear-elastic and the elasto-plastic models. This study presents visualization profiles using plastic strain to assess its effect on the tubular pipes. This can increase due to the limitation of plastic deformation on the composite materials selected.

Mining Hazards to the Safety of Segment Lining for Tunnel Boring Machine Inclined Tunnels

The segment lining is a new type of support structure for mining tunnels. The disturbance of coal excavation leads to the deformation of segment lining and has great hazards to the safety of the tunnels. Based on the tunnel boring machine (TBM) inclined tunnels in Xinjie mine, the ultimate span L0 of the rock beam on the top slab of the coal seam was calculated according to the bending (tension) damage theory. A numerical model was built to simulate the bottom area of the inclined tunnels. During the coal mining, the additional displacements and additional stresses of the segment lining were analyzed, and then the safety factors of the support structure were calculated. Finally, the width of the coal pillar to protect the inclined tunnels was determined. The results showed that the ultimate span of the rock beam on the top of the coal seam is 31.7 m, the deformation of the inclined tunnel has a fish-belly shape, and the deformation leads to the increase of maximum axial force and bending moment. For the inclined tunnels in Xinjie coalmine, a total width of 91.3 m of coal pillar must be reserved to keep the safety factor of the structure higher than 2.0 and prevent the inclined tunnels from the mining hazards.

Experimental verification of predicted capability of a wind turbine drivetrain test bench to replicate dynamic loads onto multi-megawatt nacelles

A total of 27 test profiles from the IEC 61400-1 design load cases were tested using a 7.5-MW wind turbine drivetrain test bench and two multi-megawatt wind turbine drivetrains. Each test profile consisted of simultaneous vertical, lateral, and longitudinal forces, yawing and nodding bending moment, and rotational speed. These test-bench inputs were compared with the forces, bending moments, and speed that were applied to the wind turbine drivetrains to quantify the test-bench tracking error. This tracking error was quantified for a range of ramp-rate limits of the yawing and nodding bending moments. The experimental results were compared with predictions from an evaluation method for the capability of wind turbine drivetrain test benches to replicate dynamic loads. The method’s predictive capability was found to be sufficient for the goal of early screening and its formulation is applicable to any wind turbine drivetrain test bench and drivetrain design.

Piezoelectric Unimorph and Bimorph Cantilever Configurations: Design Guidelines and Strain Assessment

Multi-stable configurations of piezoelectric harvesters are quite successful in achieving the two important goals, the broadband frequency response and large orbit oscillations exhibiting periodic, multi-periodic, and chaotic solutions. However, in the quest of achieving large amplitude broadband frequency response, assessment of induced strain levels considering the limits on the strain in piezoelectric material has received minimal attention. In this context, the investigation presents an analytical formulation for the assessment of induced strain and voltage(s) in piezoelectric unimorph and bimorph cantilevers. The formulation quantifies not only the induced voltage(s) in individual piezoelectric layers of a bimorph, but also the equivalent voltages in parallel and series connection modes, respectively. Also, while computing the induced voltage in the first piezoelectric layer, the contribution from the induced voltage of the second piezoelectric layer to the acting bending moment is captured in the formulation. The formulations are validated through the experiments and results from the literature. Further, we have applied two practically useful normalization schemes, the tp- and tt-normalizations to the analytical expressions. Using the two normalization schemes, influences of variation of substrate and adhesive layer thicknesses, elastic moduli of layers, and substrate-to-composite length fraction are visualized and discussed. Based on the results, summarized guidelines for design and selection of geometric and material parameters are presented, which are also applicable for other sensing and actuation applications. At last, practically suitable ranges and optimum values for the normalized design variables are proposed.

Flexural Strength Evaluation of Multi-Cell Composite L-Shaped Concrete-Filled Steel Tubular Beams

Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) members have been widely used in industrial structures and high-rise residential buildings. The multi-cell composite L-shaped concrete-filled steel tubular (ML-CFST) cross-section, as an innovative, special-shaped structural arrangement, may solve the issue of normal CFST members protruding from walls and result in more usable interior space. Currently, no design rules are available for the application of ML-CFST members. One of the primary objectives of the present study is to develop recommendations in line with the unified theory to evaluate the bending moment resistance of ML-CFST beams. According to the unified theory, the bending moment resistance of an ML-CFST beam is related to the compressive strength (fsc) and the flexural strength index (γm) of a composite section, in which the accuracy of γm and fsc are affected by a confinement effect factor (ξ). Nevertheless, the original expression of ξ is not suitable for ML-CFST sections, since the appreciable effect of the irregular shape on confinement is neglected. Considering the cross-sectional geometry and boundary conditions of the cells, an equivalent shape factor to modify the confinement effect was proposed in this study through dividing the infill concrete into highly confined areas and less confined areas. An adequate formula to calculate the fsc and an approximate expression of γm for the ML-CFST sections was then developed. Furthermore, four-point bending tests on eight specimens were carried out to investigate the flexural performance of the ML-CFST beams. Lastly, the proposed formulas were assessed against experimental and numerical results. The comparisons show that the proposed unified theory-based approach produced accurate and generally conservative results for the ML-CFST beams studied.