Anna Y. Matveeva¹, Helmut J. Böhm², Grygoriy Kravchenko², Ferrie W. J. van Hattum¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.42, No.1, pp. 1-23, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.042.001

Abstract This paper presents a comparison of different finite element approaches to modelling polymers reinforced with wavy, hollow fibres with the aim of predicting the effective elastic stiffness tensors of the composites. The waviness of the tubes is described by sinusoidal models with different amplitude-to-wavelength parameters. These volume elements are discretized by structured volume meshes onto which fibres in the form of independently meshed beam, shell or volume elements are superimposed. An embedded element technique is used to link the two sets of meshes. Reference solutions are obtained from conventional three-dimensional volume models of the same phase arrangements. Periodicity boundary conditions… More >

K. Umesh¹, R. Ganguli¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.41, No.3, pp. 215-240, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.041.215

Abstract Fractal dimension based damage detection method is investigated for a composite plate with random material properties. Composite material shows spatially varying random material properties because of complex manufacturing processes. Matrix cracks are considered as damage in the composite plate. Such cracks are often seen as the initial damage mechanism in composites under fatigue loading and also occur due to low velocity impact. Static deflection of the cantilevered composite plate with uniform loading is calculated using the finite element method. Damage detection is carried out based on sliding window fractal dimension operator using the static deflection. Two dimensional homogeneous Gaussian random… More >

Yuvaraj P¹, A Ramachra Murthy², Nagesh R Iyer³, S.K. Sekar⁴, Pijush Samui⁵

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.41, No.3, pp. 193-214, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.041.193

Abstract This paper presents fracture mechanics based Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model to predict the fracture characteristics of high strength and ultra high strength concrete beams. Fracture characteristics include fracture energy (Gf), critical stress intensity factor (KIC) and critical crack tip opening displacement (CTODc). Failure load of the beam (Pmax) is also predicated by using ANN model. Characterization of mix and testing of beams of high strength and ultra strength concrete have been described. Methodologies for evaluation of fracture energy, critical stress intensity factor and critical crack tip opening displacement have been outlined. Back-propagation training technique has been employed for updating… More >

Leiting Dong^1,2, Ahmed S. El-Gizawy³, Khalid A. Juhany³, Satya N. Atluri²

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.41, No.3, pp. 163-192, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.041.163

Abstract Following previous work of [Dong, El-Gizawy, Juhany, Atluri (2014)], a simple locking-alleviated 3D 8-node mixed-collocation C0 finite element (denoted as CEH8) is developed in this study, for the modeling of functionally-graded or laminated thick-section composite plates and shells, without using higher-order or layer-wise zig-zag plate and shell theories which are widely popularized in the current literature. The present C0 element independently assumes an 18-parameter linearly-varying Cartesian strain field. The independently assumed Cartesian strains are related to the Cartesian strains derived from mesh-based Cartesian displacement interpolations, by exactly enforcing 18 pre-defined constraints at 18 pre-selected collocation points. The constraints are rationally… More >

Xiangkui Zhou¹, Kai Wang¹, Zhifeng Xu¹, Qiang Wang², Guojian Li^1,, Jicheng He^1,

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.41, No.2, pp. 153-162, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.041.153

Abstract At present, the functionally gradient cemented carbide (FGCC) substrate with enrich cobalt on surface is mainly formed from medium grained WC grains. In order to further improve the properties of gradient cemented carbides, the ultrafine powder was chosen in this study and the functionally gradient cemented carbide with ultrafine grains was prepared by a two-step process, where the cemented carbide is first lower pressure pre-sintered and then subjected to a gradient sintering. The results show that it is possible to form gradient layer with enriched cobalt on surface by this method and also the grain growth can be inhibited by… More >

Chih-Ping Wu^1,2, Ruei-Yong Jiang¹, Sheng-Yao Tu¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.41, No.2, pp. 111-152, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.041.111

Abstract Exact three-dimensional stability and free vibration analyses of simply-supported, multilayered functionally graded material (FGM) circular hollow cylinders and laminated composite ones under axial compression are presented. The material properties of each FGM layer are assumed to obey a power-law distribution of the volume fractions of constituents through the thickness coordinate. The Pagano method, which is based on the principle of virtual displacement and is conventionally used for the analysis of laminated composite structures, is modified to be feasible for the study of multilayered FGM cylinders, in which Reissner's mixed variational theorem, the successive approximation and transfer matrix methods, and the… More >

Jung Soo Lee¹, Sung Yong Park², Keunhee Cho², Jeong-Rae Cho², Seung Hee Kwon^1,3

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.41, No.2, pp. 85-110, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.041.085

Abstract The objective of this study is to investigate the differences between the tensile stress-crack opening relationships of the small size notched beam and the real size beam which were made of two ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concretes (UHPFRCs) having different volume fractions and lengths of fibers. The stress-crack opening relationships of two UHPFRCs were first obtained from the inverse analysis for the small size notched beam tests. In addition, the three types of real size beams were manufactured for each mix: (1) plain beam, (2) beam with tensile reinforcement, and (3) beam with both tensile and compressive reinforcements. The flexural… 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 with the genetic algorithm (GA).… More >

Qiubao Ouyang¹, Di Zhang^1,2, Xinhai Zhu³, Zhidong Han³

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.41, No.1, pp. 37-54, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.041.037

Abstract The present work is to investigate the failure mechanisms in the deformation of silicon carbide (SiC) particle reinforced aluminum Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs). To better deal with crack growth, a new numerical approach: the MLPG-Eshelby Method is used. This approach is based on the meshless local weak-forms of the Noether/Eshelby Energy Conservation Laws and it achieves a faster convergent rate and is of good accuracy. In addition, it is much easier for this method to allow material to separate in the material fracture processes, comparing to the conventional popular FEM based method. Based on a statistical method and physical observations,… More >

Chein-Shan Liu¹, Satya N. Atluri²

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.41, No.1, pp. 1-36, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.041.001

Abstract In this paper, we adopt the viewpoint of a nonlinear complementarity problem (NCP) to derive an index-one differential algebraic equations (DAEs) system for the problem of elastic-plastic wave propagation in an elastic-plastic solid undergoing small deformations. This is achieved by recasting the pointwise complementary trio in the elastic-plastic constitutive equations into an algebraic equation through the Fischer-Burmeister NCP-function. Then, for an isotropicallyhardening/ softening material under prescribed impulse loadings on a thin-walled tube with combined axial-torsional stresses, we can develop a novel algorithm based on the Lie-group differential algebraic equations (LGDAE) method to iteratively solve the resultant DAEs at each time… More >