Stress-strain fields and the effectiveness shear properties for three-phase composites with imperfect interface

Based on the 'average stress in the matrix' concept of Mori and Tanaka (:Mori, T., Tanaka, K., 1973. Average stress in matrix and average elastic energy of materials with misfitting inclusion. Acta Metall. 21, 571-580) a micromechanical model is presented for the prediction of the elastic fields in coated inclusion composites with imperfect interfaces. The solutions of the effective elastic moduli for this kind of composite are also obtained. In two kinds of composites with coated particulates and fibers, respectively, the interface imperfections are takes to the assumption that the interface displacement discontinues are linearly related to interface tractions like a spring layer of vanishing thickness. The resulting effective shear modulus for each material and the stress fields in the composite are presented under a transverse shear loading situation.

Analyses of the mechanical properties and microstructure of bamboo epoxy composites

Bamboo reinforced epoxy possesses reasonably good properties to waarrant its use as a structural material, and is fabricated by utilizing bamboo, an abundant material resource, in the technology of fibre composites. Literature on bamboo-plastics composites is rare. This work is an experimental study of unidirectional bamboo-epoxy laminates of varying laminae number, in which tensile, compressive, flexural and interlaminar shear properties are evaluated. Further, the disposition of bamboo fibre, the parenchymatous tissue, and the resin matrix under different loading conditions are examined. Our results show that the specific strength and specific modulus of bamboo-epoxy laminates are adequate, the former being 3 to 4 times that of mild steel. Its mechanical properties are generally comparable to those of ordinary glass-fibre composites. The fracture behaviour of bamboo-epoxy under different loading conditions were observed using both acoustic emission techniques and scanning electron microscopy. The fracture mode varied with load, the fracture mechanism being similar to glass and carbon reinforced composites. Microstructural analyses revealed that natural bamboo is eligibly a fibre composite in itself; its inclusion in a plastic matrix will help solve the problems of cracking due to desiccation and bioerosion caused by insect pests. Furthermore, the thickness and shape of the composite can be tailored during fabrication to meet specific requirements, thereby enabling a wide spectrum of applications.

Three-body force rearrangement effect on single particle properties in neutron-rich nuclear matter

We extend the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (BHF) approach to include the three-body force (TBF) rearrangement contribution in calculating the neutron and proton single particle (s.p.) properties in isospin asymmetric nuclear matter. We investigate the TBF rearrangement effect on the momentum-dependence of neutron and proton s.p. potentials, the isospin splitting and especially its density dependence of the neutron and proton effective masses, and the isospin symmetry potential in neutron-rich nuclear matter by adopting the realistic Argonne V-18 two-body nucleon-nucleon interaction supplemented with a microscopic TBF. We find that at low densities, the TBF rearrangement effect is fairly weak, whereas the TBF induces a significant rearrangement effect on the s.p. properties at high densities and large momenta. The TBF rearrangement contribution to s.p. potential is shown to be repulsive, and it reduces considerably the attraction of the BHF s.p. potential. The repulsion from the TBF rearrangement turns out to be strongly momentum dependent at high densities and high momenta. As a consequence, it enhances remarkably the momentum dependence of the proton and neutron s.p. potentials and reduces the neutron and proton effective masses. At low densities, the TBF rearrangement effect on symmetry potential is almost negligible, while at high densities, it enlarges sizably the symmetry potential. At high enough densities, it may even change the high-momentum behavior of symmetry potential. In both cases, with and without including the TBF rearrangement contribution, the predicted neutron effective mass is larger than the proton one in neutron-rich matter within the BHF framework; i.e., the predicted isospin splitting of the proton and neutron effective masses in neutron-rich matter is such that m(n)(*)>= m(p)(*), in agreement with the recent Dirac-BHF predictions. The TBF rearrangement contribution reduces remarkably the magnitude of the proton-neutron effective mass splitting at high densities. At high enough densities, inclusion of the TBF rearrangement contribution even suppresses almost completely the effective mass splitting.

Biochemical properties of C78SC96S rhFGF-2: A double point-mutated rhFGF-2 increases obviously its activity

Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) is a multifunctional polypeptide that affects many cellular functions and phenomena. The wild-type recombinant human fibroblast growth factor rhFGF-2(W) and the mutant C78SC96S rhFGF-2(M) were expressed in Escherichia coli and their products were purified. The results by the means of fluorescence spectroscopy and CD spectrums, suggested that due to its decreased hydrophobicity rhFGF-2 is not deposited as an inclusion body. The mitogenic activity of the expressed rhFGF-2(M) on 3T3 fibroblasts was shown to be 10-fold more than the expressed rhFGF-2(W) of which the biological activity was a little less than that of the standard rhbFGF(W), indicating that the increased biological activity was due to the change of its secondary structure, dimerization and affinity binding to FGF receptor (FGFR).

Effective properties of graded elliptical cylindrical composites

The effective property has been investigated theoretically in graded elliptical cylindrical composite's consisting of inhomogeneous graded elliptical cylinders and an isotropic matrix under external uniform electric field. As a theoretical model, the dielectric gradient profile in the elliptical cylinder is modeled by a power-law function of short semi-axis variable parameter (xi(2) - 1) in the elliptical cylindrical coordinates, namely epsilon(i)(xi) = c(k) (xi(2) - 1)(k), where c(k) and k are the parameters, and xi is the long semi-axis space variable in an elliptical cylindrical inclusion region. In the dilute limit, the local analytical potentials in inclusion and matrix regions are derived exactly by means of the hyper-geometric function, and the formulas are given for estimating the effective dielectric responses under the external lfield along (x) over cap- and (y) over cap -directions, respectively. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that our effective response formulas can be reduced to the well-known results of homogeneous isotropic elliptical cylindrical composites if we take the limit k -> 0 in graded elliptical cylindrical composites. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effective properties of spherically anisotropic piezoelectric composites

Piezoelectric composites consisting of spherically anisotropic piezoelectric inclusions (i.e., piezoceramic material) in an infinite nonpiezoelectric matrix under a uniform electric field are theoretically investigated. Analytical solutions for the elastic displacements and the electric potentials are derived exactly. Taking account of the coupling effects of elasticity, permittivity, and piezoelectricity, formulas are derived for the effective dielectric and piezoelectric responses in the dilute limit. A piezoelectric response mechanism is revealed, in which the effective piezoelectric response vanishes irrespective of how much spherically anisotropic piezoelectric inclusions are inside. Moreover, the effective coupled responses of the piezoelectric composites show that the effective dielectric responses decrease (increase) as the inclusion elastic (piezoelectric) constants increase.

Dielectric responses of anisotropic graded granular composites having arbitrary inclusion shapes

The transformation field method (TFM) originated from Eshelby's transformation field theory is developed to estimate the effective permittivity of an anisotropic graded granular composite having inclusions of arbitrary shape and arbitrary anisotropic grading profile. The complicated boundary-value problem of the anisotropic graded composite is solved by introducing an appropriate transformation field within the whole composite region. As an example, the effective dielectric response for an anisotropic graded composite with inclusions having arbitrary geometrical shape and arbitrary grading profile is formulated. The validity of TFM is tested by comparing our results with the exact solution of an isotropic graded composite having inclusions with a power-law dielectric grading profile and good agreement is achieved in the dilute limit. Furthermore, it is found that the inclusion shape and the parameters of the grading profile can have profound effect on the effective permittivity at high concentrations of the inclusions. It is pointed out that TFM used in this paper can be further extended to investigate the effective elastic, thermal, and electroelastic properties of anisotropic graded granular composite materials.

Transformation field method for calculating the effective properties of isotropic graded composites having arbitrary shapes

A method of transformation field is developed to estimate the effective properties of graded composites whose inclusions have arbitrary shapes and gradient profiles by means of a periodic cell model. The boundary-value problem of graded composites having arbitrary inclusion shapes is solved by introducing the transformation field into the inclusion region. As an example, the effective dielectric response of isotropic graded composites having arbitrary shapes and gradient profiles is handled by the transformation field method (TFM). Moreover, TFM results are validated by the exact solutions of isotropic graded spherical inclusions having a power-law profile and good agreement is obtained in the dilute limit. Furthermore, it is found that the inclusion shapes and the parameters of the gradient profiles can have profound effect on the effective properties of composite systems at high concentration of inclusions.