On the loading-rate dependence of the Al 7017-T73 fracture-initiation toughness

While static fracture toughness is a widely studied and standardised parameter, its dynamic counterpart has not been exhaustively examined. Therefore, in this research a series of quasi-static and different loading-rate dynamic tests were carried out to determine the evolution of fracture toughness with the velocity of the application of the load on aluminium 7017-T73 alloy. Three-point bending tests of pre-fatigued standard specimens (ASTM E399) at four loading-rates were carried out. The experiments were conducted by employing the subsequent apparatus ordered from lowest to highest load application velocity: a servo-hydraulic universal testing machine, a free-drop tower, a modified Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar and an explosive load testing device. In order to perform the dynamic fracture toughness tests, it was necessary to design and develop some experimental devices. The fracture-initiation toughness of the aluminium 7017-T73 alloy did not exhibit a significant variation for the studied cases. As a conclusion, the research showed that fracture-initiation toughness remained constant regardless of the velocity at which the load was applied.

Estudio de la influencia de la relación C/N en la desnitrificación y metanogénesis de aguas residuales en un reactor anaeróbico de lecho fluidizado inverso

La nitrificación-desnitrificación es el proceso biológico tradicional para la remoción de nitrógeno de las aguas residuales (Ruiz G. et al., 2006a), siendo fundamental ya que contribuye a controlar la eutroficación de los cuerpos receptores. Debido al deterioro que sobre la disponibilidad de los recursos han ejercido las actividades antropogénicas, es necesario orientar el tratamiento de las aguas residuales hacia tecnologías que ofrezcan el mayor grado de sustentabilidad, planteando innovaciones en el tratamiento. El presente proyecto de tesis doctoral versa sobre el estudio de la influencia de la relación C/N en la desnitrificación y metanogénesis de aguas residuales urbanas en un reactor anaeróbico de lecho fluidizado inverso (RLFI). Previamente a la realización de las pruebas experimentales de variación de la relación C/N, se llevó a cabo la etapa de arranque del RLFI la cual se inició en modo batch, favoreciendo la formación y adhesión de biopelícula al medio de soporte utilizado (Extendosphere). Después, sobrevino la operación en modo continuo desde una carga volumétrica aplicada (CVA) de 0.5 g DQOs/L⋅d hasta alcanzar 4 g DQOs/L⋅d, carga volumétrica a la cual se logró la plena estabilización del reactor, siendo la alta variabilidad de la concentración de DQOs en el agua residual urbana de alimentación, la principal problemática que ocasionó retrasos en la estabilidad del reactor. A una CVA de 4 g DQOs/L⋅d en estado estacionario, el valor mínimo de eficiencia de remoción de DQOs fue del 32.36% y el máximo de 66.99%. En estas condiciones el porcentaje de metano presente en el biogás producido tuvo un valor medio de 85.57 ± 2.93%, siendo un valor alto comparado con otros porcentajes de metano encontrados en la digestión anaerobia de aguas residuales urbanas. El YCH4 tuvo un valor medio de 0.316 ± 0.110 LCH4/g DQOrem⋅día. Los porcentajes de metanización variaron en el rango de 20.50 a 100%, registrándose un valor medio de 73.42 ± 25.63%. La considerable variabilidad en el porcentaje de metanización se debió principalmente a que se presentaron eventos de lavado de soporte colonizado, lo cual propició que las actividades metabólicas fueran orientadas hacia formación de biopelícula (anabolismo) en vez de estar dirigidas hacia producción de metano (catabolismo). En relación a los ensayos con variación de la relación C/N, se manejaron relaciones DQOs/N-NO3 en el rango de 1.65 a 21.1 g DQOs/g N-NO3. La tasa de remoción anaerobia de DQOs se incrementó con la concentración de sustrato en una relación casi lineal, ajustándose a una cinética de primer orden, lo que regularmente se presenta a concentraciones bajas de sustrato. La eficiencia del proceso de desnitrificación fue por lo regular alta, incrementándose ligeramente con la concentración de DQOs en el influente, con valores en el rango de 73.8 a 99.1%. Por otra parte, la tasa de remoción por metanogénesis se incrementó con la concentración relativa de sustrato (es decir, a mayores relaciones DQOs/N-NO3), siendo más sensitiva la metanogénesis a la concentración relativa de sustrato que la desnitrificación. Conforme aumentó la relación DQOs/N-NO3, la desnitrificación, de ser la ruta metabólica principal de utilización de la materia orgánica (comparada con la metanización), empezó a combinarse con la metanización. De manera evidente, a las relaciones DQOs/N-NO3 probadas, se manifestaron más las actividades desnitrificantes, quedando reflejadas por el alto porcentaje de utilización de la DQOs removida hacia la desnitrificación. La relación experimental DQOs/N-NO3 a la cual se pudiera haber cumplido con el requerimiento de materia orgánica (en términos de DQOs) para la desnitrificación de nitratos en las aguas residuales urbanas tratadas resultó aproximadamente ser igual a 7.1 g DQOs/g N-NO3. A una CVA de 4 g DQOs/L⋅d, se obtuvo un diámetro promedio máximo de soporte colonizado igual a 266.106 ± 69.279 μm aunque, hay que indicarlo, se presentaron fluctuaciones, las cuales se reflejaron también en el espesor de la biopelícula, el cual tuvo un valor máximo de 50.099 μm y un valor promedio de 37.294 ± 11.199 μm. Estas fluctuaciones pudieron deberse a la existencia de corrientes preferenciales dentro del reactor, las cuales no permitieron un acceso equitativo del sustrato a todo el lecho. Nitrification-denitrification is the traditional biological process for nitrogen removal from wastewaters (Ruiz G. et al., 2006a), being fundamental since it contributes to control the eutrophication of the receiving waters. Due to the deterioration that on the availability of the aquatic resources the anthropogenic activities have exerted, it is necessary to orient the treatment of wastewaters towards technologies that offer the greater degree of sustainability, raising innovations in the treatment. This work studied the influence of C/N ratio on denitrification and methanogenesis of urban wastewaters in an inverse fluidized bed reactor (IFBR). Previously to the accomplishment of the experimental tests with variation of C/N ratio, the start up of the IFBR was carried out in batch way, encouraging the formation and adhesion of biofilm to Extendosphere, which it was used as support. The operation in continuous way carried out from an organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.5 g CODs/L ∙ d to 4 g CODs/L ∙ d, when the steady-state was reached. The high variability of the CODs of the urban wastewaters caused delays in the stability of the reactor. Once stationary state was reached, the removal efficiency of CODs ranged from 32.36 to 66.99% to 4 g CODs/L ∙ d. In these conditions the percentage of methane in produced biogas had an average value of 85.57 ± 2.93%, being a high value compared with other studies treating anaerobically urban wastewaters. The YCH4 had an average value of 0.316 ± 0.110 LCH4/g CODrem ∙ d. The percentage of methanisation ranged from 20.50 to 100%, with an average value of 73.42 ± 25.63%. The considerable variability in the methanisation percentage occurred mainly due events of wash-out of colonized support, which caused that the metabolic activities were oriented towards formation of biofilm (anabolism) instead of methane production (catabolism). Concerning the tests with variation of C/N ratio, CODs/NO3-N ratios from 1.65 to 21.1 g CODs/g NO3-N were proved. The CODs anaerobic removal rate increased with the substrate concentration in an almost linear relation, adjusting to a kinetic of first order, which regularly appears to low concentrations of substrate. Efficiency of the denitrification process was regularly high, and it increased slightly with the CODs concentration in the influent, ranging from 73.8 to 99.1%. On the other hand, the CODs removal rate by methanogenesis increased with the substrate relative concentration (e.g., to greater CODs/NO3-N ratios), being more sensitive the methanogenesis to the substrate relative concentration that the denitrification. When the CODs/NO3-N ratio increased, the denitrification, of being the main metabolic route of use of the organic matter (compared with the methanogenesis), began to be combined with the methanogenesis. Definitively, to the proven CODs/NO3-N ratios the denitrification processes were more pronounced, being reflected by the high percentage of use of the removed CODs towards denitrification. The experimental CODs/NO3-N ratio to which it was possible to have been fulfilled the requirement of organic matter (in terms of CODs) for the denitrification of nitrates in urban wastewaters turned out to be approximately 7.1 g CODs/g NO3-N. It was obtained a maximum average diameter of colonized support of 266.106 ± 69.279 μm to 4 g CODs/L ∙ d, although it is necessary to indicate that appeared fluctuations in the thickness of biofilm, which had a maximum value of 50.099 μm and an average value of 37.294 ± 11.199 μm. These fluctuations could be due to the existence of preferential currents within the reactor, which did not allow an equitable access of the substrate to all the bed.

Experimental and numerical analysis of reinforced concrete elements subjected to blast loading

El hormigón es uno de los materiales de construcción más empleados en la actualidad debido a sus buenas prestaciones mecánicas, moldeabilidad y economía de obtención, entre otras ventajas. Es bien sabido que tiene una buena resistencia a compresión y una baja resistencia a tracción, por lo que se arma con barras de acero para formar el hormigón armado, material que se ha convertido por méritos propios en la solución constructiva más importante de nuestra época. A pesar de ser un material profusamente utilizado, hay aspectos del comportamiento del hormigón que todavía no son completamente conocidos, como es el caso de su respuesta ante los efectos de una explosión. Este es un campo de especial relevancia, debido a que los eventos, tanto intencionados como accidentales, en los que una estructura se ve sometida a una explosión son, por desgracia, relativamente frecuentes. La solicitación de una estructura ante una explosión se produce por el impacto sobre la misma de la onda de presión generada en la detonación. La aplicación de esta carga sobre la estructura es muy rápida y de muy corta duración. Este tipo de acciones se denominan cargas impulsivas, y pueden ser hasta cuatro órdenes de magnitud más rápidas que las cargas dinámicas impuestas por un terremoto. En consecuencia, no es de extrañar que sus efectos sobre las estructuras y sus materiales sean muy distintos que las que producen las cargas habitualmente consideradas en ingeniería. En la presente tesis doctoral se profundiza en el conocimiento del comportamiento material del hormigón sometido a explosiones. Para ello, es crucial contar con resultados experimentales de estructuras de hormigón sometidas a explosiones. Este tipo de resultados es difícil de encontrar en la literatura científica, ya que estos ensayos han sido tradicionalmente llevados a cabo en el ámbito militar y los resultados obtenidos no son de dominio público. Por otra parte, en las campañas experimentales con explosiones llevadas a cabo por instituciones civiles el elevado coste de acceso a explosivos y a campos de prueba adecuados no permite la realización de ensayos con un elevado número de muestras. Por este motivo, la dispersión experimental no es habitualmente controlada. Sin embargo, en elementos de hormigón armado sometidos a explosiones, la dispersión experimental es muy acusada, en primer lugar, por la propia heterogeneidad del hormigón, y en segundo, por la dificultad inherente a la realización de ensayos con explosiones, por motivos tales como dificultades en las condiciones de contorno, variabilidad del explosivo, o incluso cambios en las condiciones atmosféricas. Para paliar estos inconvenientes, en esta tesis doctoral se ha diseñado un novedoso dispositivo que permite ensayar hasta cuatro losas de hormigón bajo la misma detonación, lo que además de proporcionar un número de muestras estadísticamente representativo, supone un importante ahorro de costes. Con este dispositivo se han ensayado 28 losas de hormigón, tanto armadas como en masa, de dos dosificaciones distintas. Pero además de contar con datos experimentales, también es importante disponer de herramientas de cálculo para el análisis y diseño de estructuras sometidas a explosiones. Aunque existen diversos métodos analíticos, hoy por hoy las técnicas de simulación numérica suponen la alternativa más avanzada y versátil para el cálculo de elementos estructurales sometidos a cargas impulsivas. Sin embargo, para obtener resultados fiables es crucial contar con modelos constitutivos de material que tengan en cuenta los parámetros que gobiernan el comportamiento para el caso de carga en estudio. En este sentido, cabe destacar que la mayoría de los modelos constitutivos desarrollados para el hormigón a altas velocidades de deformación proceden del ámbito balístico, donde dominan las grandes tensiones de compresión en el entorno local de la zona afectada por el impacto. En el caso de los elementos de hormigón sometidos a explosiones, las tensiones de compresión son mucho más moderadas, siendo las tensiones de tracción generalmente las causantes de la rotura del material. En esta tesis doctoral se analiza la validez de algunos de los modelos disponibles, confirmando que los parámetros que gobiernan el fallo de las losas de hormigón armado ante explosiones son la resistencia a tracción y su ablandamiento tras rotura. En base a los resultados anteriores se ha desarrollado un modelo constitutivo para el hormigón ante altas velocidades de deformación, que sólo tiene en cuenta la rotura por tracción. Este modelo parte del de fisura cohesiva embebida con discontinuidad fuerte, desarrollado por Planas y Sancho, que ha demostrado su capacidad en la predicción de la rotura a tracción de elementos de hormigón en masa. El modelo ha sido modificado para su implementación en el programa comercial de integración explícita LS-DYNA, utilizando elementos finitos hexaédricos e incorporando la dependencia de la velocidad de deformación para permitir su utilización en el ámbito dinámico. El modelo es estrictamente local y no requiere de remallado ni conocer previamente la trayectoria de la fisura. Este modelo constitutivo ha sido utilizado para simular dos campañas experimentales, probando la hipótesis de que el fallo de elementos de hormigón ante explosiones está gobernado por el comportamiento a tracción, siendo de especial relevancia el ablandamiento del hormigón. Concrete is nowadays one of the most widely used building materials because of its good mechanical properties, moldability and production economy, among other advantages. As it is known, it has high compressive and low tensile strengths and for this reason it is reinforced with steel bars to form reinforced concrete, a material that has become the most important constructive solution of our time. Despite being such a widely used material, there are some aspects of concrete performance that are not yet fully understood, as it is the case of its response to the effects of an explosion. This is a topic of particular relevance because the events, both intentional and accidental, in which a structure is subjected to an explosion are, unfortunately, relatively common. The loading of a structure due to an explosive event occurs due to the impact of the pressure shock wave generated in the detonation. The application of this load on the structure is very fast and of very short duration. Such actions are called impulsive loads, and can be up to four orders of magnitude faster than the dynamic loads imposed by an earthquake. Consequently, it is not surprising that their effects on structures and materials are very different than those that cause the loads usually considered in engineering. This thesis broadens the knowledge about the material behavior of concrete subjected to explosions. To that end, it is crucial to have experimental results of concrete structures subjected to explosions. These types of results are difficult to find in the scientific literature, as these tests have traditionally been carried out by armies of different countries and the results obtained are classified. Moreover, in experimental campaigns with explosives conducted by civil institutions the high cost of accessing explosives and the lack of proper test fields does not allow for the testing of a large number of samples. For this reason, the experimental scatter is usually not controlled. However, in reinforced concrete elements subjected to explosions the experimental dispersion is very pronounced. First, due to the heterogeneity of concrete, and secondly, because of the difficulty inherent to testing with explosions, for reasons such as difficulties in the boundary conditions, variability of the explosive, or even atmospheric changes. To overcome these drawbacks, in this thesis we have designed a novel device that allows for testing up to four concrete slabs under the same detonation, which apart from providing a statistically representative number of samples, represents a significant saving in costs. A number of 28 slabs were tested using this device. The slabs were both reinforced and plain concrete, and two different concrete mixes were used. Besides having experimental data, it is also important to have computational tools for the analysis and design of structures subjected to explosions. Despite the existence of several analytical methods, numerical simulation techniques nowadays represent the most advanced and versatile alternative for the assessment of structural elements subjected to impulsive loading. However, to obtain reliable results it is crucial to have material constitutive models that take into account the parameters that govern the behavior for the load case under study. In this regard it is noteworthy that most of the developed constitutive models for concrete at high strain rates arise from the ballistic field, dominated by large compressive stresses in the local environment of the area affected by the impact. In the case of concrete elements subjected to an explosion, the compressive stresses are much more moderate, while tensile stresses usually cause material failure. This thesis discusses the validity of some of the available models, confirming that the parameters governing the failure of reinforced concrete slabs subjected to blast are the tensile strength and softening behaviour after failure. Based on these results we have developed a constitutive model for concrete at high strain rates, which only takes into account the ultimate tensile strength. This model is based on the embedded Cohesive Crack Model with Strong Discontinuity Approach developed by Planas and Sancho, which has proved its ability in predicting the tensile fracture of plain concrete elements. The model has been modified for its implementation in the commercial explicit integration program LS-DYNA, using hexahedral finite elements and incorporating the dependence of the strain rate, to allow for its use in dynamic domain. The model is strictly local and does not require remeshing nor prior knowledge of the crack path. This constitutive model has been used to simulate two experimental campaigns, confirming the hypothesis that the failure of concrete elements subjected to explosions is governed by their tensile response, being of particular relevance the softening behavior of concrete.

Mechanical and thermal behaviour of isotactic polypropylene reinforced with inorganic fullerene-like WS2 nanoparticles: Effect of filler loading and temperature

The thermal and mechanical behaviour of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) nanocomposites reinforced with different loadings of inorganic fullerene-like tungsten disulfide (IF-WS2) nanoparticles was investigated. The IF-WS2 noticeably enhanced the polymer stiffness and strength, ascribed to their uniform dispersion, the formation of a large nanoparticle?matrix interface combined with a nucleating effect on iPP crystallization. Their reinforcement effect was more pronounced at high temperatures. However, a drop in ductility and toughness was found at higher IF-WS2 concentrations. The tensile behaviour of the nanocomposites was extremely sensitive to the strain rate and temperature, and their yield strength was properly described by the Eyring s equation. The activation energy increased while the activation volume decreased with increasing nanoparticle loading, indicating a reduction in polymer chain motion. The nanoparticles improved the thermomechanical properties of iPP: raised the glass transition and heat deflection temperatures while decreased the coefficient of thermal expansion. The nanocomposites also displayed superior flame retardancy with longer ignition time and reduced peak heat release rate. Further, a gradual rise in thermal conductivity was found with increasing IF-WS2 loading both in the glassy and rubbery states. The results presented herein highlight the benefits and high potential of using IF-nanoparticles for enhancing the thermomechanical properties of thermoplastic polymers compared to other nanoscale fillers.

Neurite, a finite difference large scale parallel program for the simulation of the electrical signal propagation in neurites under mechanical loading

With the growing body of research on traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, computational neuroscience has recently focused its modeling efforts on neuronal functional deficits following mechanical loading. However, in most of these efforts, cell damage is generally only characterized by purely mechanistic criteria, function of quantities such as stress, strain or their corresponding rates. The modeling of functional deficits in neurites as a consequence of macroscopic mechanical insults has been rarely explored. In particular, a quantitative mechanically based model of electrophysiological impairment in neuronal cells has only very recently been proposed (Jerusalem et al., 2013). In this paper, we present the implementation details of Neurite: the finite difference parallel program used in this reference. Following the application of a macroscopic strain at a given strain rate produced by a mechanical insult, Neurite is able to simulate the resulting neuronal electrical signal propagation, and thus the corresponding functional deficits. The simulation of the coupled mechanical and electrophysiological behaviors requires computational expensive calculations that increase in complexity as the network of the simulated cells grows. The solvers implemented in Neurite-explicit and implicit-were therefore parallelized using graphics processing units in order to reduce the burden of the simulation costs of large scale scenarios. Cable Theory and Hodgkin-Huxley models were implemented to account for the electrophysiological passive and active regions of a neurite, respectively, whereas a coupled mechanical model accounting for the neurite mechanical behavior within its surrounding medium was adopted as a link between lectrophysiology and mechanics (Jerusalem et al., 2013). This paper provides the details of the parallel implementation of Neurite, along with three different application examples: a long myelinated axon, a segmented dendritic tree, and a damaged axon. The capabilities of the program to deal with large scale scenarios, segmented neuronal structures, and functional deficits under mechanical loading are specifically highlighted.

Mechanical behavior and deformation micromechanisms of polypropylene nonwoven fabrics as a function of temperature and strain rate

The mechanical behavior and the deformation and failure micromechanisms of a thermally-bonded polypropylene nonwoven fabric were studied as a function of temperature and strain rate. Mechanical tests were carried out from 248 K (below the glass transition temperature) up to 383 K at strain rates in the range ≈10−3 s−1 to 10−1 s−1. In addition, individual fibers extracted from the nonwoven fabric were tested under the same conditions. Micromechanisms of deformation and failure at the fiber level were ascertained by means of mechanical tests within the scanning electron microscope while the strain distribution at the macroscopic level upon loading was determined by means of digital image correlation. It was found that the nonwoven behavior was mainly controlled by the properties of the fibers and of the interfiber bonds. Fiber properties determined the nonlinear behavior before the peak load while the interfiber bonds controlled the localization of damage after the peak load. The influence of these properties on the strength, ductility and energy absorbed during deformation is discussed from the experimental observations.

Strain rate effect on semi‐crystalline plla mechanical properties measured by instrumented indentation tests

Poly(L‐lactide) is a widely studied biomaterial, currently approved for use in a range of medical devices. Its mechanical properties can be tailored giving the material different crystallinity degrees. PLLA presents a complex non‐linear behaviour that depends not only on structural parameters such as crystallinity degree but also on external parameters such as strain rate and temperature. Failure of polymeric implants is attributed to their intrinsic time‐dependent performance under static loading conditions.