Low cycle fatigue behaviour of a nitrogen modified 316L stainless steel at 823 K

Strain controlled low cycle fatigue tests on solution annealed nitrogen modified 316L stainless steel have been conducted in air at 823 K to ascertain the influence of strain rate and strain amplitude. Effect of strain rate was examined from 3x10(-5) s(-1) to 3 x 10(-2) at a fixed strain amplitude of +/- 0.6%. The influence of strain amplitude was evaluated between +/- 0.25 % and +/- 1.0% at a constant strain rate of 3x10(-3) s(-1). The cyclic stress response at all testing conditions is characterized by an initial hardening followed by saturation. Serrated flow, a characteristic feature of dynamic strain ageing (DSA) was seen at strain rates lower than 3x10(-3) s(-1). Fatigue life was found to decrease with decrease in strain rate. The reduction in fatigue resistance is attributed mainly to the detrimental effects associated with DSA.

Influence of interface properties on fracture behaviour of concrete

Hardened concrete is a three-phase composite consisting of cement paste, aggregate and interface between cement paste and aggregate. The interface in concrete plays a key role on the overall performance of concrete. The interface properties such as deformation, strength, fracture energy, stress intensity and its influence on stiffness and ductility of concrete have been investigated. The effect of composition of cement, surface characteristics of aggregate and type of loading have been studied. The load-deflection response is linear showing that the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) is applicable to characterize interface. The crack deformation increases with large rough aggregate surfaces. The strength of interface increases with the richness of concrete mix. The interface fracture energy increases as the roughness of the aggregate surface increases. The interface energy under mode II loading increases with the orientation of aggregate surface with the direction of loading. The chemical reaction between smooth aggregate surface and the cement paste seems to improve the interface energy. The ductility of concrete decreases as the surface area of the strong interface increases. The fracture toughness (stress intensity factor) of the interface seems to be very low, compared with hardened cement paste, mortar and concrete.

Water content - void ratio swell-shrink paths of compacted expansive soils

This paper addresses the behaviour of compacted expansive soils under swell-shrink cycles. Laboratory cyclic swell-shrink tests were conducted on compacted specimens of two expansive soils at surcharge pressures of 6.25, 50.00, and 100.00 kPa. The void ratio and water content of the specimens at several intermediate stages during swelling until the end of swelling and during shrinkage until the end of shrinkage were determined to trace the water content versus void ratio paths with an increasing number of swell-shrink cycles. The test results showed that the swell-shrink path was reversible once the soil reached an equilibrium stage where the vertical deformations during swelling and shrinkage were the same. This usually occurred after about four swell-shrink cycles. The swelling and shrinkage path of each specimen subjected to full swelling - full shrinkage cycles showed an S-shaped curve (two curvilinear portions and a linear portion). However, the swelling and shrinkage path occurred as a part of the S-shaped curve, when the specimen was subjected to full swelling - partial shrinkage cycles. More than 80% of the total volumetric change and more than 50% of the total vertical deformation occurred in the central linear portion of the S-shaped curve. The volumetric change was essentially parallel to the saturation line within a degree of saturation range of 50-80% for the equilibrium cycle. The primary value of the swell-shrink path is to provide information regarding the void ratio change that would occur for a given change in water content for any possible swell-shrink pattern. It is suggested that these swell-shrink paths can be established with a limited number of tests in the laboratory.

Influence of Tempered Microstructures on the Transformation Behaviour of Cold Deformed and Intercritically Annealed Medium Carbon Low Alloy Steel

This research is focused on understanding the role of microstructural variables and processing parameters in obtaining optimised dual phase structures in medium carbon low alloy steels. Tempered Martensite structures produced at 300, 500, and 650 degrees C, were cold rolled to varied degrees ranging from 20 to 80% deformation. Intercritical annealing was then performed at 740, 760, and 780 degrees C for various time duration ranging from 60 seconds to 60 minutes before quenching in water. The transformation behaviour was studied with the aid of optical microscopy and hardness curves. From the results, it is observed that microstructural condition, deformation, and intercritical temperatures influenced the chronological order of the competing stress relaxation and decomposition phase reactions which interfered with the rate of the expected alpha -> gamma transformation. The three unique transformation trends observed are systematically analyzed. It was also observed that the 300 and 500 degrees C tempered initial microstructures were unsuitable for the production of dual structures with optimized strength characteristics.

The precision with which single cells of Dictyostelium discoideum can locate a source of cyclic AMP

When stimulated by a point source of cyclic AMP, a starved amoeba of Dictyostelium discoideum responds by putting out a hollow balloon-like membrane extension followed by a pseudopod. The effect of the stimulus is to influence the position where either of these protrusions is made on the cell rather than to cause them to be made. Because the pseudopod forms perpendicular to the cell surface, its location is a measure of the precision with which the cell can locate the cAMP source. Cells beyond 1 h of starvation respond non-randomly with a precision that improves steadily thereafter. A cell that is starved for 1-2 h can locate the source accurately 43% of the time; and if starved for 6-7 h, 87% of the time. The response always has a high scatter; population-level heterogeneity reflects stochasticity in single cell behaviour. From the angular distribution of the response its maximum information content is estimated to be 2-3 bits. In summary, we quantitatively demonstrate the stochastic nature of the directional response and the increase in its accuracy over time.

Elastic-plastic contact conditions for frictionally constrained bodies under cyclic tangential loading

A Frictionally constrained condition implies dependence of friction force on tangential displacement amplitude. The condition may occur due to chemical, physical, and/or mechanical interaction between the contacting surfaces. The condition, sometimes also referred to as the presliding condition or partial slip condition, is characterized under fretting. Under such conditions, various experimental studies indicate the existence of two distinguishable regions, that is, stick region and slip region. In the present study, frictionally constrained conditions are identified and the evolutions of stick-slip regions are investigated in detail. Investigations have been performed on self-mated stainless steel and chromium carbide coated surfaces mated against stainless steel, under both vacuum and ambient conditions. Contact conditions prevailing at the contact interface were identified based on the mechanical responses and were correlated with the surface damage observed. Surface degradation has been observed in the form of microcracks and material transfer. Detailed numerical analysis has also been performed in order to understand the energy dissipation and the damage mode involved in the surface or subsurface damage. It has been observed that under frictionally constrained conditions, the occurrence of annular slip features are mainly due to the junction growth, resulting from elastic-plastic deformation at the contact interface. Ratcheting has been observed as the governing damage mode under cyclic tangential loading condition.

Effect of TiN particulate reinforcement on corrosive behaviour of aluminium 6061 composites in chloride medium

In the present investigation, the corrosive behaviour of Al 6061-TiN particulate composites prepared by liquid metallurgy has been studied in chloride medium using electroanalytical techniques such as Tafel, cyclic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Surface morphology of the sample electrodes was examined using scanning electron micrography and energy dispersive X-ray methods. X-ray diffraction technique was used to confirm inclusion of TiN particulates in the matrix alloy and identify the alloying elements and intermetallic compounds in the Al 6061 composites. Polarization studies indicate an increase in the corrosion resistance in composites compared to the matrix alloy. EIS study reveals that the polarization resistance (R (p)) increases with increase in TiN content in composites, thus confirming improved corrosion resistance in composites. The observed decrease in corrosion rate in the case of composites is due to decoupling between TiN particles and Al 6061 alloy. It is understood that after the initiation of corrosion, interfacial corrosion products may have decoupled the conducting ceramic TiN from Al 6061 matrix alloy thus eliminating the galvanic effect between them.

A Comparative Study on Electrochemical Behaviour of Co3O4 and Co3O4-MWCNTs for Supercapacitors

Co3O4 and Co3O4/MWCNTs were prepared by hydrothermal process under autogenous pressure in Teflon lined autoclave and calcined at 250 degrees C. Both samples were characterized by PXRD, FT-IR, SEM-EDS, TEM & FT-Raman to evaluate their surface and bulk properties. The PXRD pattern of the materials indicated the formation of cubic phase of Co3O4. FT-IR results showed the presence of metal oxygen bond in the samples. The SEM and TEM images of the Co3O4 / MWCNTs indicated spherical and cubic aggregates of metal oxide particles (10-30 nm) decorated both on the surface and inside the tubes of carbon nanotubes. The characteristic Ig and Id (graphitic and defects) Raman bands indicated the retention of tubular structure of MWCNTs even after the deposition of Co3O4. The calcined Co3O4-MWCNTs composites and Co3O4 exhibited specific capacitance of 284 & 205 F/g at a sweep rate of 2mVs(-1) in 6M KOH by cyclic voltammetry. The psuedocapacitance performances of calcined Co3O4-MWCNTs were found to be better than Co3O4. Chronopotentiometric studies made for the materials at a current density of 500mA/g indicated 100% columbic efficiency at 2000th cycle for Co3O4/ MWCNTs which is a better electrode material than Co3O4.

Interfacial microstructure and mechanical behaviour in laser clad TiCp/Ni alloy coatings

Coatings of TiCp reinforced composite have been produced by laser cladding. Two kinds of coating with different TiCp origins were investigated, i.e. undissolved TiCp and in situ TiCp. For undissolved TiCp, epitaxial growth of TiC, precipitation of CrB, and a chemical reaction occur at phase interfaces, and nanoindentation loading curves show pop in marks caused by the plastic deformation associated with crack formation or debonding of TiCp from the matrix. As for in situ TiCp, no pop in mark appears. Meanwhile, in situ TiCp produces hardness and elastic modulus values that are higher than those produced by the coating that contains undissolved TiCp.

A New Modified Expanding Cavity Model for Characterizing the Spherical Indentation Behaviour of Bulk Metallic Glass with Pile-up

Spherical nanoindentation tests were performed on Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 bulk metallic glass and pile-ups were observed around the indenter. A new modified expanding cavity model was developed to characterize the indentation deformation behavior of strain-hardening and pressure-dependent materials. By using this model, the representative stress-strain response of this bulk metallic glass to hardness and indentation in the elastic-plastic regime were obtained taking into consideration the effect of pile-up.

Stability Of Adhesion Clusters And Cell Reorientation Under Lateral Cyclic Tension

This work is motivated by experimental observations that cells on stretched substrate exhibit different responses to static and dynamic loads. A model of focal adhesion that can consider the mechanics of stress fiber, adhesion bonds, and substrate was developed at the molecular level by treating the focal adhesion as an adhesion cluster. The stability of the cluster under dynamic load was studied by applying cyclic external strain on the substrate. We show that a threshold value of external strain amplitude exists beyond which the adhesion cluster disrupts quickly. In addition, our results show that the adhesion cluster is prone to losing stability under high-frequency loading, because the receptors and ligands cannot get enough contact time to form bonds due to the high-speed deformation of the substrate. At the same time, the viscoelastic stress fiber becomes rigid at high frequency, which leads to significant deformation of the bonds. Furthermore, we find that the stiffness and relaxation time of stress fibers play important roles in the stability of the adhesion cluster. The essence of this work is to connect the dynamics of the adhesion bonds (molecular level) with the cell's behavior during reorientation (cell level) through the mechanics of stress fiber. The predictions of the cluster model are consistent with experimental observations.

The plastic instability behaviour of laser-textured steel sheet

As the production of a new technique that can offer both good formability and high image clarity for texturing metal sheet, laser-textured sheet has attracted the attention of many manufacturers and users. Among the many subjects to be studied, plastic instability behaviour of the laser-textured sheet is one of most important to understand its ability in extending material ductility and to appropriately control this technique. Experimental investigations are carried out in this paper to study the macroscopic behaviour and microstructural mechanism of the laser-textured sheet, and comparison is made with the normal sheet taken from the same coil of metal sheet. It is demonstrated that, the difference in the behaviour of plastic instability obviously shows tendency to delay strain localization and the onset of thickness necking. Shear banding and internal void damage are spread to a much wider region in the sheet being laser-textured. The prestrained microcraters enforced on the surface of the textured sheet act as hardening spots, which are likely to share out deformation and inhibit the increasing rate of voiding, and eventually favouring the ductility of the material used.

Fracture behavior of axisymmetrical bars under high triaxial stress and large strain cyclic loading

Axisymmetric notched bars with notch roots of large and small radii were tested under large strain cyclic loading. The main attention is focused on the fracture behaviour of steels having cycles to failure within the range 1-100. Our study shows that a gradual transition from a static ductile nature to one of fatigue cleavage can be observed and characterized by the Coffin-Manson formula in a generalized form. Both the triaxial tensile stress within the central region of specimens and static damage caused by the first increasing load have effects on the final failure event. A generalized cyclic strain range parameter DELTAepsilon is proposed as a measure of the numerous factors affecting behaviour. Fractographs are presented to illustrate the behaviour reported in the paper.

Real-Time Measurement on Deformation Fields of Hole-Excavated Samples under Impact Tension

In this paper, the real-time deformation fields are observed in two different kinds of hole-excavated dog-bone samples loaded by an SHTB, including single hole sample and dual holes sample with the aperture size of 0.8mm. The testing system consists of a high-speed camera, a He-Ne laser, a frame grabber and a synchronization device with the controlling accuracy of I microsecond. Both the single hole expanding process and the interaction of the two holes are recorded with the time interval of 10 mu s. The observed images on the sample surface are analyzed by newly developed software based on digital correlation theory and a modified image processing method. The 2-D displacement fields in plane are obtained with a resolution of 50 mu m and an accuracy of 0.5 mu m. Experimental results obtained in this paper are proofed, by compared with FEM numerical simulations.