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Catastrophic thinning of dielectric elastomers

Submitted by peppezurlo on

Consider a thin dielectric plate with conducting faces: when will it break if a voltage is applied? If it is rigid it will break once its dielectric strength is overcome by the voltage. But what if it is highly stretchable, like the elastomers used for soft actuators, stretchable electronics, or energy harvesters? The precise answer to that question is not known. 

A novel class of highly efficient and accurate time-integrators in nonlinear computational mechanics

Submitted by Xuechuan Wang on

A new class of time-integrators is presented for strongly nonlinear dynamical systems. These algorithms are far superior to the currently common time integrators in computational efficiency and accuracy. These three algorithms are based on a local variational iteration method applied over a finite interval of time.

Piezoresistivity modeling with Ansys

Submitted by Egemen Teomete on
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Dear Colleagues, 
 
I am working with ANSYS PDL to model a piezoresistive cement-based material; the material is assumed to be isotropic and the piezoresistive strain matrix [m] has to be determined, details are specified in the attachment.
 
I would be pleased if you would provide your expert insight on the following questions.
 
 

Consistent and stable meshfree Galerkin methods using the virtual element decomposition

Submitted by Alejandro Orti… on

Paper Accepted for Publication in International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering

Consistent and stable meshfree Galerkin methods using the virtual element decomposition

A. Ortiz-Bernardin, A. Russo, N. Sukumar

 

Abstract

moving singularities (crack analogues) in fretting fatigue

Submitted by Mike Ciavarella on

    The stress concentration induced by fretting fatigue was studied with a simple "Crack Analogue" model (CA) by the MIT group of Suresh in the late 1990's, which was then "improved" by the present author to take into account simply both contact loads and bulk stresses loads, and even the case of finite stress concentration in the so-called "Crack Like Notch Analogue" (CLNA) model.

Fracture and singularities of the mass-density gradient field

Submitted by Amit Acharya on

To appear in Journal of Elasticity

A continuum mechanical theory of fracture without singular fields is proposed. The primary
contribution is the rationalization of the structure of a `law of motion' for crack-tips, essentially
as a kinematical consequence and involving topological characteristics. Questions of compatibility
arising from the kinematics of the model are explored. The thermodynamic driving force
for crack-tip motion in solids of arbitrary constitution is a natural consequence of the model.
The governing equations represent a new class of pattern-forming equations.

Effects of SiC, SiO2and CNTs nanoadditives on the properties of porous alumina-zirconia ceramics produced by a hybrid freeze casting-space holder method

Submitted by mohsenzaeem on

Highly porous alumina-zirconia ceramics were produced by adding space-holder materials during freeze casting. To increase the strength of porous ceramics, different amounts of nanoadditives (silicon carbide-SiC, silica-SiO2, and multi-wall carbon nanotubes-CNTs) were added. Space-holder materials were removed by preheating, and solid samples were produced by sintering. Up to 68% porosity was achieved when 40% space-holder was added to the solid load of slurry. Wall thicknesses between pores were more uniform and thinner when nanoadditives were added.