Analyzing the Effect of Particle Shape on Deformation Mechanism during Cutting Simulation of SiC P/Al Composites

To analyze the effect of particle shape on deformational behavior in the cutting simulation process for metal matrix composites (MMCs), two 2D mesoscopic-based finite element (FE) models reinforced with randomly distributed circular and irregular polygonal particles were developed. Different material properties (metal matrix phase, particle reinforced phase) and the properties of the particle–matrix interface were comprehensively considered in the proposed FE model. Systematic cutting experiments were conducted to compare the differences between two modeling approaches with respect to particle fracture, chip formation, cutting force and surface integrity. The results show that the irregular polygonal particle model is closer to the microstructure of MMCs, and is better able to reflect the deformation behavior of particles. The simulation model with irregular polygonal particles is even able to capture more details of the impact caused by particles, reflecting variations in the cutting force in the actual cutting process. The initiation and propagation of microcracks is mainly determined on the basis of particle geometry and further affects chip formation. Both models are able to correctly reflect surface defects, but the irregular polygonal particle model provides a more comprehensive prediction for the subsurface damage of MMCs.

Effect of particle shape on particle breakage inside rotating cylinders

We study the influence of particle shape on the evolution of particle breakage process taking place inside rotating cylinders. Extensive particle dynamics simulations taking into account the dynamics of the granular flow, particle breakage, and polygonal particle shapes were carried out. We find that the rate of particle breakage is faster in samples composed of initially rounder particles. The analysis of the active flowing layer thickness suggests that for samples composed of rounder particles a relatively lower dilatancy and higher connectivity lead to a less curved free surface profile. As a result, rounder particles rolling down the free surface have a higher mobility and thus higher velocities. In consequence, the faster breakage observed for rounder initial particles is due to the larger particles kinetic energy at the toe of the flow.

CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF PSEUDOBROOKITE Fe2-XNiXTiO5 SYSTEM (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 and 1)

Crystallographic structure and magnetic properties of pseudobrookite Fe2-xNixTiO5 system (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 and 1) have been performed through solid state reaction. Pseudobrookite Fe2-xNixTiO5 system was synthesized by mixing of Fe2O3, NiO, and TiO2 with stoichiometry composition using wet mill. The mixture was milled for 5 hours and sintered in the electric chamber furnace at 1000 oC in the air at atmosphere pressure for 5 hours. The refinement against of X-ray diffraction data shows that the sampless with composition of (x = 0) and (x = 0.1) have a single phase with Fe2TiO5 structure. However the samples with composition of (x > 0.1) consist of multiple phases, namely Fe2-xNixTiO5, FeTiO3, Fe2NiO4 and NiO. Particle morphologies of the composition x = 0 and x = 0.1 are homogenous and uniform on the sample surface with a polygonal particle shape and particle size varies. At room temperature, the sample with x=0 is paramagnetic and that with x=0.1 is ferromagnetic. Magnetic phase transformation of this study is the caused by the present of Ni substituted Fe in the system. Thus substitution Ni into Fe on the system pseudobrookite Fe2TiO5 only capable of 0.1 at.% without changing the crystal structure of the material. It means that there is an interaction between the magnetic spin Fe3+ on the 3d5 configurations and Ni2+ on the 3d3 configurations through the mechanism of double exchange. Double exchange mechanism is a magnetic type of exchange that appears between the ions Fe3+ and Ni2+ adjacent in different oxidation states.

A Voronoi Cell Material Point Method for Large Deformation Solid Mechanics Problems

Particle methods have been increasingly used in numerical simulations of complex problemsin both sciences and engineering. A plethora of different particle methods exists of which thematerial point method (MPM) is a promising method that is able to deal with high strain rate problemsthat involve contact, impact, damage and fragmentation. Particle domains in the MPM are currentlyrepresented by quadrilaterals in two dimensions. Extension to polygonal particle domains is presentedbased on a simple sub-division of the polygons into sub-triangles. This allows MPM simulations tobe carried out for structures and materials discretized by Voronoi tessellations. Performances of theproposed method are illustrated by means of numerical simulations.

Glucose alters configuration of gap junctions between pancreatic islet cells

In rat pancreatic islets, gap junctional subunits (GJS) occur under two different configurations, namely in linear single strands and in polygonal particle aggregates. The present freeze-fracture study demonstrates that GJS can rapidly (dis)assemble into one of these membrane specializations without changes in their total number. Isolation of the pancreatic gland and its perfusion at 2.8 mM glucose is accompanied by a decrease in polygonally packed GJS from 46 to 16%. A rise in medium glucose concentration is followed, within 10 min, by a dose-dependent increase in the percent polygonal particles. This glucose effect on gap junction configuration is calcium dependent and reversible upon glucose removal; it is still entirely detectable when protein synthesis is blocked by cycloheximide. These results indicate that islet gap junctions are dynamic structures that rapidly adjust their configuration to extracellular regulators of beta-cell function. In the light of previous observations, it is suggested that this rapid (dis)assembly of gap junctional structures be considered as a component in the ionic and metabolic coupling between insulin-containing beta-cells of the pancreas.

Membrane structure in mammalian astrocytes: a review of freeze-fracture studies on adult, developing, reactive and cultured astrocytes

The application of freeze-fracture techniques to studies of brain structure has led to the recognition of two unsuspected specializations of membrane structure, each distributed in a specific pattern across the surface of astrocytes. ‘Assemblies’ (aggregates of uniform, small particles packed in orthogonal array into rectangular or square aggregates) are found to characterize astrocytic plasma membranes apposed to blood vessels or to the cerebrospinal fluid at the surface of the brain. These particle aggregates are much less densely packed in astrocytic processes in brain parenchyma. Assemblies are not fixation artifacts, have been shown to extend to the true outer surface of the membrane, are remarkably labile in the setting of anoxia, and are at least in part protein. The function of assemblies is unknown, but their positioning suggests that they may have a role in the transport of some material into or out of the blood and cerebrospinal fluid compartments. A second specialization of intramembrane particle distribution, the polygonal particle junction, links astrocytic processes at the surface of the brain, and also links proximal, large caliber astrocytic processes in brain parenchyma. The function of this membrane specialization also is unknown, but it may subserve a mechanical role.