Fracture Mechanisms And Size Effects Of Brittle Metallic Foams: In Situ Compression Tests Inside Sem

In situ compressive tests on specially designed small samples made from brittle metallic foams were accomplished in a loading device equipped in the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Each of the small samples comprises only several cells in the effective test zone (ETZ), with one major cell in the middle. In such a system one can not only obtain sequential collapse-process images of a single cell and its cell walls with high resolution, but also correlate the detailed failure behaviour of the cell walls with the stress-strain response, therefore reveal the mechanisms of energy absorption in the mesoscopic scale. Meanwhile, the stress-strain behaviour is quite different from that of bulk foams in dimensions of enough large, indicating a strong size effect. According to the in situ observations, four failure modes in the cell-wall level were summarized, and these modes account for the mesoscopic mechanisms of energy absorption. Paralleled compression tests on bulk samples were also carried out, and it is found that both fracturing of a single cell and developing of fracture bands are defect-directed or weakness-directed processes. The mechanical properties of the brittle aluminum foams obtained from the present tests agree well with the size effect model for ductile cellular solids proposed by Onck et al. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermal Conductivity Of Composites With Nanoscale Inclusions And Size-Dependent Percolation

An analytical model for thermal conductivity of composites with nanoparticles in a matrix is developed based on the effective medium theory by introducing the intrinsic size effect of thermal conductivity of nanoparticles and the interface thermal resistance effect between two phases. The model predicts the percolation of thermal conductivity with the volume fraction change of the second phase, and the percolation threshold depends on the size and the shape of the nanoparticles. The theoretical predictions are in agreement with the experimental results.

Numerical Study Of Pile-Up In Bulk Metallic Glass During Spherical Indentation

Pile-up around indenter is usually observed during instrumented indentation tests on bulk metallic glass. Neglecting the pile-up effect may lead to errors in evaluating hardness, Young's modulus, stress-strain response, etc. Finite element analysis was employed to implement numerical simulation of spherical indentation tests on bulk metallic glass. A new model was proposed to describe the pile-up effect. By using this new model, the contact radius and hardness of Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 bulk metallic glass were obtained under several different indenter loads with pile-up, and the results agree well with the data generated by numerical simulation.

Effect of Fe content on the thermal stability and dynamic mechanical behavior of NdAlNiCu bulk metallic glasses

The dependence of microstructure and thermal stability on Fe content of bulk Nd60Al10Ni10Cu20-xFex (0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 20) metallic glasses is investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron micrograph (HRTEM). All samples exhibit typical amorphous feature under the detect limit of XRD, however, HRTEM results show that the microstructure of Nd60Al10Ni10Cu20-xFex alloys changes from a homogeneous amorphous phase to a composite structure consisting of clusters dispersed in amorphous matrix by increasing Fe content. Dynamic mechanical properties of these alloys with controllable microstructure are studied, expressed via storage modulus, the loss modulus and the mechanical damping. The results reveal that the storage modulus of the alloy without Fe added shows a distinct decrease due to the main a relaxation. This decrease weakens and begins at a higher temperature with increasing Fe content. The mechanism of the effect of Fe addition on the microstructure and thermal stability in this system is discussed in terms of thermodynamics viewpoints. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A porous bulk metallic glass with unidirectional opening pores

Porous Zr-based bulk metallic glass (PMG) with unidirectional opening pores is prepared by electrochemical etching of tungsten wires of the W/bulk metallic glass (BMG) composites. The porosity and pore size can be controlled by adjusting the tungsten wires. The PMG showed no measurable loss in thermal stability as compared to the monolithic Zr-based BMG by water quenching and is more ductile and softer than the pore-free counterpart. The specific surface area of the PMGs is calculated to be 0.65, 3.96, and 10.54 m(2)/kg for 20, 60, and 80 vol % porosity, respectively. (c) 2007 The Electrochemical Society.

On the influence zone and the prediction of tensile strength of particulate polymeric composites

An intended numerical investigation is carried out. The results indicate that, even if a perfect adhesive bond is preserved between the particles and matrix materials, the two-phase element cell model is unable to predict the strength increment of the particulate polymeric composites (PPC). To explore the main reinforcing mechanism, additional microscopic experiment is performed. An ''influence zone'' was observed around each particle which is measured about 2 to 10 micrometers in thickness for a glass-polyethylene mixture. Then, an improved computational model is presented to include the ''influence zone'' effect and several mechanical behaviors of PPC are well simulated through this new model.

Micromechanics analysis of particulate-reinforced composites and their failure mechanisms

Stress fields and failure mechanisms have been investigated in composites with particles either surface treated or untreated under uniaxial tension. Previous experimental observation of failure mechanisms in a composite with untreated particles showed that tensile cracks occurred mostly at the polar region of the particle and grew into interfacial debonding. In a composite with surface-treated particles, however, shear yielding and shear cracking proceeded along the interphase-matrix interface at the polar area of the matrix and thus may improve the mechanical behaviour of the material. The finite element calculations showed that octahedral shear stress at the polar and longitudinal areas of the particle treated by coupling agents is much larger than that of materials with untreated particles, and the shear stress distribution around the interface is sensitive to the interphase property. The results suggest that a th ree-phase model can describe the composites with surface-treated fillers.

Three-dimensional finite element analysis of composites with coated spherical inclusions

A three-dimensional finite element analysis has been used to determine the internal stresses in a three-phase composite. The stresses have been determined for a variety of interphase properties, the thicknesses of the interphase and the volume fractions of particles. Young's modulus has been calculated from a knowledge of these stresses and the applied deformation. The calculations show that stress distributions in the matrix and the mechanical properties are sensitive to the interphase property in the three-phase composites. The interfacial stresses in the three-dimensional analysis are in agreement with results obtained by an axisymmetric analysis. The predicted bulk modulus in three-dimensional analysis agrees well with the theoretical solution obtained by Qui and Weng, but it presents a great divergence from that in axisymmetric analyses. An investigation indicates that this divergence may be caused by the difference in the unit cell structure between two models. A comparison of the numerically predicted bulk and shear modulus for two-phase composites with the theoretical results indicates that the three-dimensional analysis gives quite satisfactory results.

Fatigue fracture-behavior of carbon-fiber-reinforced modified bismaleimide composites

The fracture toughness and fatigue fracture behaviour of carbon-fiber-reinforced modified bismaleimide (BMI) composites have been studied. These composites were found to have higher fracture toughnes, better damage tolerance and longer fatigue life than carbon-fiber composites with epoxy matrices. Delamination is the major mode of failure in fatigue and it is controlled by the properties of the matrix and interface. The improved performance is dire to the presence of thermoplastic particles in the modified BMI matrix which gives rise to enhanced fiber/matrix adhesion and more extensive plastic deformation. The fatigue behaviour also depends on the stacking sequence, with the multidirectional [45/90/-45/0] fiber-reinforced modified BMI composite having a lower crack propagation rate and longer fatigue life than the unidirectional laminate. This arises because of the constraint on the damage processes due to the different fiber orientation in the plies.

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.

Prediction of Effective Moduli of Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Composites with Waviness and Debonding

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been regarded as ideal reinforcements of high-performance composites with enormous applications. However, the waviness of the CNTs and the interfacial bonding condition between them and the matrix are two key factors that influence the reinforcing efficiency. In this paper, the effects of the waviness of the CNTs and the interfacial debonding between them and the matrix on the effective moduli of CNT-reinforced composites are studied. A simple analytical model is presented to investigate the influence of the waviness on the effective moduli. Then, two methods are proposed to examine the influence of the debonding. It is shown that both the waviness and debonding can significantly reduce the stiffening effect of the CNTs. The effective moduli are very sensitive to the waviness when the latter is small, and this sensitivity decreases with the increase of the waviness. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A simple method to simulate shrinkage-induced cracking in cement-based composites by lattice-type modeling

A new numerical procedure is proposed to investigate cracking behaviors induced by mismatch between the matrix phase and aggregates due to matrix shrinkage in cement-based composites. This kind of failure processes is simplified in this investigation as a purely spontaneous mechanical problem, therefore, one main difficulty during simulating the phenomenon lies that no explicit external load serves as the drive to propel development of this physical process. As a result, it is different from classical mechanical problems and seems hard to be solved by using directly the classical finite element method (FEM), a typical kind of "load -> medium -> response" procedures. As a solution, the actual mismatch deformation field is decomposed into two virtual fields, both of which can be obtained by the classical FEM. Then the actual response is obtained by adding together the two virtual displacement fields based on the principle of superposition. Then, critical elements are detected successively by the event-by-event technique. The micro-structure of composites is implemented by employing the generalized beam (GB) lattice model. Numerical examples are given to show the effectiveness of the method, and detailed discussions are conducted on influences of material properties.

High-Strength Composite Fibers: Realizing True Potential of Carbon Nanotubes in Polymer Matrix through Continuous Reticulate Architecture and Molecular Level Couplings

Carbon nanotubes have unprecedented mechanical properties as defect-free nanoscale building blocks, but their potential has not been fully realized in composite materials due to weakness at the interfaces. Here we demonstrate that through load-transfer-favored three-dimensional architecture and molecular level couplings with polymer chains, true potential of CNTs can be realized in composites as Initially envisioned. Composite fibers with reticulate nanotube architectures show order of magnitude improvement in strength compared to randomly dispersed short CNT reinforced composites reported before. The molecular level couplings between nanotubes and polymer chains results in drastic differences in the properties of thermoset and thermoplastic composite fibers, which indicate that conventional macroscopic composite theory falls to explain the overall hybrid behavior at nanoscale.

Preparação e avaliação biocida de compósitos à base de resinas reticuladas contendo nanopartículas de prata

Neste trabalho, foram utilizadas três resinas reticuladas comerciais de troca iônica e caráter ácido à base de estireno e divinilbenzeno: AmberliteGT73 da Rohm and Haas Co. com grupo tiol, Lewatit VPOC1800 da Bayer Co. com grupo sulfônico e Amberlyst 15WET da Rohm and Haas Co. também com grupo sulfônico. As citadas resinas comerciais foram escolhidas por apresentarem grande capacidade de troca iônica, estabilidade e grupos funcionais de interesse para a introdução de íons Ag+. As resinas foram tratadas com ácido clorídrico para garantir as formas ácidas de seus grupos funcionais e em seguida a redução dos íons Ag+, provenientes de solução de nitrato de prata, foi realizada in situ pela hidroxilamina em presença de solução protetora de colóide composta por 2-hidróxi-etil-celulose e gelatina 1:1. Alguns parâmetros foram modificados durante a redução dos íons Ag+ a Ag0, como por exemplo, o tempo de adição da solução redutora de hidroxilamina, a solução utilizada para controle do pH, e condições do repouso após o controle do pH. Após a incorporação das nanopartículas de prata, tanto as resinas comerciais quanto o produto final foram caracterizados por titulometria, fluorescência de raios-x, análise termogravimétrica, análise elementar, grau de inchamento, difração de raios-x, microscopias ótica e eletrônica. A avaliação da atividade biocida foi realizada através do método da contagem em placas utilizando-se uma cepa de Escherichia Coli ATCC25922TM em concentrações de 103 a 107 células/mL. Todos os compósitos obtidos mostraram atividade bactericida significante, sendo que foi possível perceber que a ação bactericida dos compósitos está relacionada com a presença de prata na forma metálica e a características como tamanho, formato e dispersão das partículas na matriz polimérica. Para efeito de comparação, foram realizados ensaios bactericidas com os copolímeros de partida e assim foi comprovado que a ação bactericida pôde ser atribuída somente às nanopartículas de prata