Wei Zhang^1,2, Pengcheng Ni², Bingfei Liu^1,3

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.44, No.2, pp. 105-122, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.044.105

Abstract Analytical expressions have been derived for the through thickness stresses of a Functional graded materials (FGMs) thin plate subjected to thermal loading, pure bending and thermo-mechanical coupling, respectively. The structure is comprised of a metallic layer, a ceramic layer and a functional graded layer. Continuous gradation of the volume fraction in the FGM layer is modeled in the form of an "m" power polynomial of the coordinate axis in thickness direction of the plate. Numerical scheme of discretizing the continuous FGM layer with different graded distributions such as linear (m=1), quadratic (m=2) and square root More >

Yuping Zhu^1,2, Tao Chen¹, Kai Yu¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.43, No.2, pp. 97-108, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.043.097

Abstract Based on an existing micromechanical constitutive model for Ni2MnGa ferromagnetic shape memory alloy single crystals, a three-dimensional quasi-static isothermal incremental constitutive model that is suitable for finite element analysis is derived by using Hamilton's variational principle. This equation sets up the coupling relation between the magnetic vector potential and the mechanical displacement. By using the incremental equation and ANSYS software, the mechanical behaviors of martensitic variant reorientation for Ni2MnGa single crystals are analyzed under magneto-mechanical coupling action. And the finite element results agree well with the experimental data. The methods used in the paper can More >

Yu Miao¹, Zhe Chen¹, Qiao Wang^1,2, Hongping Zhu¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.43, No.1, pp. 49-74, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.043.049

Abstract In this paper, an improved multi-domain model based on the hybrid boundary node method (Hybrid BNM) is proposed for mechanical analysis of 3D composites. The Hybrid BNM is a boundary type meshless method which based on the modified variational principle and the Moving Least Squares (MLS) approximation. The improved multi-domain model can reduce the total degrees of freedom (DOFs) compared with the conventional multi-domain solver. It is very suitable for the inclusion-based composites, especially for the composites when the inclusions are solid and totally embedded in the matrix domain. Numerical examples are presented to verify More >

H. Zheng^1,2, X. Peng^1,2,3,4, N. Hu^1,3,5

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.41, No.1, pp. 55-84, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.041.055

Abstract The Shakedown of a functionally graded (FG) Bree plate subjected to coupled constant mechanical loading and cyclically varying temperature is analyzed with more accurate approaches and optimized with the genetic algorithm method. The shakedown theorem takes into account material hardening. The variation of the material properties in the thickness of a FG Bree plate is characterized with a piecewise exponential distribution, which can replicate the actual distribution with sufficient accuracy. In order to obtain the best distribution of the mechanical properties in the FG plate, the distribution of the reinforcement particle volume fraction is optimized More >

Xue-Qian Fang^1,2, Hong-Wei Liu¹, Yong-Mao Zhao¹, Guo-Quan Nie^1,1 and Jin-Xi Liu¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.40, No.2, pp. 145-164, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.040.145

Abstract Electro-elastic surface/interface around nano-sized piezoelectric inclusions shows great effect on the response of piezoelectric nano-structures. In this paper, a theoretical model is proposed to examine the surface/interface effect on the electromechanical responses around a nano-sized elliptical piezoelectric inclusion embedded in an infinite piezoelectric matrix under far-field loading with an arbitrary angle, and the effect of loading angle is considered Combining the conformal mapping technique and electro-elastic surface/interface theory, a closed form solution of this problem is obtained and the interactive effect between the surface/interface and the aspect ratio of the elliptical inclusion is examined. 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 >

Thomas J. Nelson, Lindsey Bultema, Neal Eidenschink, Dean C. Webster^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.1, No.2, pp. 141-153, 2013, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2013.634113

Abstract Bio-based polyols with high functionality were successfully synthesized by ring-opening epoxidized sucrose esters of soybean oil with methanol under acidic conditions, and were subsequently formulated with blocked isocyanates to form one package polyurethanes (1KPU). The bio-based polyols were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1 H-NMR) spectroscopy, and Brookfi eld viscosity. Bio-based coatings were prepared by formulating the polyols with blocked polyisocyanates based on isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). Two types of bio-based polyols were synthesized and the ratio of NCO:OH functional groups was More >

A. Likhith Reddy¹, Shirleen Charles¹, C. Bharathi Priya², G.V. Rama Rao², N. Gopalakrishnan^3,4 , A. Rama Mohan Rao³

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.9, No.4, pp. 325-347, 2013, DOI:10.32604/sdhm.2013.009.325

Abstract Details of the investigations on an unexplored application of Electro Mechanical Impedance (EMI) technique using smart piezoelectric (PZT) sensors for damage detection of concrete shear wall structures under crack opening and closing is presented in this paper. The behavior and the ability of this method to detect damages, in a heterogeneous quasi-brittle material is studied for its effective utilization in structural health monitoring. The paper discusses the experimental investigations conducted on a concrete shear wall using PZT patches. Conductance data is acquired at different applied lateral displacements of shear wall. Damage index is calculated using More >

Leiting Dong^1,2, Satya N. Atluri^1,3

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.33, No.2, pp. 111-154, 2013, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2013.033.111

Abstract In this study, SGBEM Voronoi Cells (SVCs), with each cell representing a grain of the material at the micro-level, are developed for direct micromechanical numerical modeling of heterogeneous composites. Each SVC can consist of either a (each with a different) homogenous isotropic matrix, and can include micro-inhomogeneities such as inclusions, voids of a different material, and cracks. These inclusions and voids in each SVC can be arbitrarily-shaped, such as circular, elliptical, polygonal, etc., for 2D problems. Further, the cracks in each SVC can be fully-embedded, edge, branching, or intersecting types, with arbitrary curved shapes. By… More >

G. Geethanjali^∗, C. Sujatha^†

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.10, No.4, pp. 303-317, 2013, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2013.010.303

Abstract This paper reports a study on the biomechanical response of a human hand-arm model to random vibrations of the steering wheel of a tractor. An anatomically accurate bone-only hand-arm model from TurboSquidTM was used to obtain a finite element (FE) model to understand the Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), which is a neurological and vascular disorder caused by exposure of the human hand-arm to prolonged vibrations. Modal analysis has been done to find out the first few natural frequencies and mode shapes of the system. Coupling of degrees of freedom (DOF) had to be done in… More >