Antti Ojala^1,*, Lisa Wikström¹, Kalle Nättinen², Jani Lehmonen³, Karita Kinnunen-Raudaskoski⁴

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.2, No.4, pp. 278-284, 2014, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2014.634126

Abstract This article presents a new method of producing thermomoldable nonwoven materials based on kraft lignin (KL) and softwood kraft pulp (KP). A mixture of starch acetate (SA) and triethyl citrate (TEC) was used as a water insoluble plasticizer for KL. The thermoplastic lignin (TPL) material with the optimized ratio of KL, SA and TEC was prepared in a twin-screw extruder. The TPL compound was ground and mixed with KP fi bers to produce thermoformable sheets using foam-laid technology. The formed webs were compression molded (CM) into plates and mechanically tested. The foam-laid composites had tensile More >

J. Aubry¹, P. Navarro¹, S. Marguet¹, J.-F. Ferrero¹, O. Dorival², L. Sohier³, J.-Y. Cognard³

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.39, No.1, pp. 21-47, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.039.021

Abstract In this paper a numerical model dedicated to the simulation of the mechanical behaviour of polymeric Rohacell foams is presented. The finite elements model is developed at the scale of the microstructure idealized by a representative unit cell: the truncated octahedron. Observations made on micrographs of Rohacell lead to mesh this representative unit cell as a lattice of beam elements. Each beam is assigned a brittle linear elastic mechanical behaviour in tension and an elastoplastic behaviour in compression. The plasticity in compression is introduced as a way to mimic the buckling of the edges of More >

Hyoe Hatakeyama^1,*, Tatsuko Hatakeyama²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.1, No.2, pp. 113-123, 2013, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2012.634111

Abstract Lignin and saccharides are two major components of plants. Huge amounts of plant residues are obtained as by-products of large-scale industries, such as pulp and paper, bio-fuel and the food industry. In this paper, preparation of polyurethane (PU) foam directly from various kinds of industrial lignin and molasses, which have scarcely been utilized, is summarized based on our results obtained by recent investigation. A onestep reaction using hydroxyl groups of plant materials as an active site makes it possible to produce a wide variety of PU, such as foams, sheets, gels and composite matrix. In More >

M.C. Basso^1,2, A. Pizzi^1,3,*, A. Celzard⁴

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.1, No.4, pp. 273-278, 2013, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2013.634125

Abstract : Simultaneously monitoring the variation of temperature, foam rising rate, internal foam pressure and dielectric polarisation, the latter being a direct measure of setting and curing of a thermosetting foam, has allowed the comparison of the dynamic variation of determinant parameters of polyurethane foams and of tannin/furanic foams of different formulation and characteristics. This monitoring provides a good description of the process and possible characteristics of the prepared foam and constitutes an invaluable tool for foam formulation. Such a comparison indicates that fundamental differences, but also similarities, exist between the foaming processes of the two More >

H.H. Luo¹, Z.H. Tan^1,2, X. Han¹, C. Chen¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.32, No.1, pp. 1-14, 2012, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2012.032.001

Abstract The dynamic properties of aluminium alloy foam were investigated by using split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) with diameter of 40 mm. The aluminium alloy pressure bar and pulse shape technique were used to modify the traditional SHPB due to the low impedance of aluminium alloy foam. Wave dispersion correction on the aluminium alloy pressure bar was studied by Fourier series. And the finite element numerical simulation was also performed to demonstrate and validate the dispersion correction results by Fourier series method. The reflected and transmitted wave measured in SHPB experiments were corrected by the backward More >

Ligia Munteanu¹, Cornel Brisan², Veturia Chiroiu³, Stefania Donescu⁴

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.31, No.2, pp. 127-146, 2012, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2012.031.127

Abstract A modeling of the compression by using the property of Helmholtz equation to be invariant under geometric transformations is presented in this paper. The versatility of the geometric transformations is illustrated in order to obtain a new interpretation of the compression process. The physical spatial compression leads, most of the times, to new materials with inhomogeneous and anisotropic properties. The compression can be theoretically controlled by the geometric transformations. As an example, new architectures for auxetic materials can be built up by applying the geometric transformations. The new versions are finding their full correspondents in More >

Raghvendra Khedle¹, D.P.Mondal², S.N.Verma¹, Sanjay Panthi²

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.27, No.3, pp. 211-230, 2012, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2011.027.211

Abstract The interface in aluminum cenosphere syntactic foam (ACSF) is modeled using FEM to study its deformation behaviour as a function of interface characteristics such as interface stiffness and thickness. The interface is modeled as a thin layer of object. The effective modulus and stress of ACSF examined when it contain 50% cenosphere by volume. In this study, the shell wall thickness of cenosphere is fixed at 1µm. The width of the interface varies from 0.2% to 0.6% of cenosphere volume fraction. The interface strength and modulus varies in the range of 10 to 50% of the More >

Jin Ma¹, Jay C. Hanan¹, Ranga Komanduri¹, Hongbing Lu²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.86, No.4, pp. 349-384, 2012, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2012.086.349

Abstract Amorphous metallic foams are an exciting class of materials for an array of high impact absorption applications, the mechanical behavior of which is only beginning to be characterized. To determine mechanical properties, guide processing, and engineer the microstructure for impact absorption, simulation of the mechanical properties is necessary as experimental determination alone can be expensive and time consuming. In this investigation, the material point method (MPM) with C1 continuous shape function is used to simulate the response of a bulk metallic glass (BMG) closed-cell foam (Pd42.5Cu30Ni7.5P20) under compression. The BMG foam was also tested experimentally… More >

Weiwei Gong, Yan Liu, Xiong Zhang, Honglei Ma

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.83, No.5, pp. 527-546, 2012, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2012.083.527

Abstract Owing to its low density and good energy absorption capability, aluminum foam is an excellent protective material for spacecraft against debris impact. However, because of its complicated microstructure, it is very difficult to generate a FEM mesh accounting for the real microstructure of the alluminum foam. On the contrary, it is very easy to model three-dimensional problems with very complicated geometry with meshfree/meshless methods. Furthermore, the material point method has obvious advantages in modeling problems involving extreme large deformation problems like hypervelocity impact problem. In this paper, a three-dimensional material point model accounting for the More >

Hanxing Zhu

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.17, No.4, pp. 131-132, 2011, DOI:10.3970/icces.2011.017.131

Abstract This paper aims to study the size-dependent elastic properties of micro- and nano-sized open-celled foams. To simplify the analysis, we use perfect regular body-centered cubic structure (i.e. BCC foam), which has cubic symmetry and only three independent elastic constants. Taking strut bending, twisting and axial compression/stretching as the deformation mechanisms, Zhu, Knott and Mills (JMPS, V45, pp. 319-343, 1997) have obtained closed form results of all the three independent elastic constants (i.e. the Young's modulus E11 , the shear modulus G12 and the Poisson ratio v12 ) as functions of the bending stiffness, the torsional… More >