Research on the influences of confining pressure and strain rate on NEPE propellant: Experimental assessment and constitutive model

In order to study the influences of confining pressure and strain rate on the mechanical properties of the Nitrate Ester Plasticized Polyether (NEPE) propellant, uniaxial tensile tests were conducted using the self-made confining pressure system and material testing machine. The stress-strain responses of the NEPE propellant under different confining pressure conditions and strain rates were obtained and analyzed. The results show that confining pressure and strain rate have a remarkably influence on the mechanical responses of the NEPE propellant. As confining pressure increases (from 0 to 5.4 MPa), the maximum tensile stress and ultimate strain increase gradually. With the coupled effects of confining pressure and strain rate, the value of the maximum tensile stress and ultimate strain at 5.4 MPa and 0.0667 s⁻¹ is 2.03 times and 2.19 times of their values under 0 MPa and 0.00333 s⁻¹, respectively. Afterwards, the influence mechanism of confining pressure on the NEPE propellant was analyzed. Finally, based on the viscoelastic theory and continuous damage theory, a nonlinear constitutive model considering confining pressure and strain rate was developed. The damage was considered to be rate-dependent and pressure-dependent. The constitutive model was validated by comparing experimental data with predictions of the constitutive model. The whole maximum stress errors of the model predictions are lower than 4% and the corresponding strain errors are lower than 7%. The results show that confining pressure can suppress the damage initiation and evolution of the NEPE propellant and the nonlinear constitutive model can describe the mechanical responses of the NEPE propellant under various confining pressure conditions and strain rates. This research can lay a theoretical foundation for analyzing the structural integrity of propellant grain accurately under working pressure loading.     

Effect of nano powder (Al2O3-CaO) addition on the mechanical properties of the polymer blend matrix composite

This work describes the preparation and study of the properties of composite nanoparticles prepared by the sol-gel method which consists of two materials (Al₂O₃-CaO), and study the effect of these nanoparticles on the mechanical behavior of a polymer blend (EP 4% + 96% UPE). The powder was evaluated by X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy analysis (SEM), particle size analysis, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The mechanical behavior of the composite material was assessed by tensile test, bending test and hardness test. The evaluation results of the composite nanoparticles showed good distribution of the chemical composition between aluminum oxide and calcium oxide, smoothness in particles' size at calcination in high and low temperatures, formation of different shapes of nanoparticles and different (kappa and gamma) phases of the Al₂O₃ particles. The results of mechanical behavior tests showed marked improvement in the mechanical properties of the resulted composite material, especially at 1.5%, compared with polymer blend material without nano powder addition. The tensile properties improved about (24 and 14.9) % and bending resistance about (23.5 and 16.8) % and hardness by (25 and 22) % when adding particles of size (63.8 and 68.6) respectively. Therefore, this reflects the efficiency of the proposed method to manufacture the nanocomposite powder and the possibility of using this powder as a strengthening material for the composite materials and using these composite materials in bio applications, especially in the fabrication of artificial limbs.     

Influence of Al2O3 particles on the microstructure and mechanical properties of copper surface composites fabricated by friction stir processing

The influence of three factors, such as volume percentage of reinforcement particles (i.e. Al₂O₃), tool tilt angle and concave angle of shoulder, on the mechanical properties of Cu–Al₂O₃ surface composites fabricated via friction stir processing was studied. Taguchi method was used to optimize these factors for maximizing the mechanical properties of surface composites. The fabricated surface composites were examined by optical microscope for dispersion of reinforcement particles. It was found that Al₂O₃ particles are uniformly dispersed in the stir zone. The tensile properties of the surface composites increased with the increase in the volume percentage of the Al₂O₃ reinforcement particles. This is due to the addition of the reinforcement particles which increases the temperature of recrystallization by pinning the grain boundaries of the copper matrix and blocking the movement of the dislocations. The observed mechanical properties are correlated with microstructure and fracture features.     

Shock-induced reaction behaviors of functionally graded reactive material

In this paper, the ballistic impact experiments, including impact test chamber and impact double-spaced plates, were conducted to study the reaction behaviors of a novel functionally graded reactive material (FGRM), which was composed of polytetrafluoroethylene/aluminum (PTFE/Al) and PTFE/Al/bismuth trioxide (Bi₂O₃). The experiments showed that the impact direction of the FGRM had a significant effect on the reaction. With the same impact velocity, when the first impact material was PTFE/Al/Bi₂O₃, compared with first impact material PTFE/Al, the FGRM induced higher overpressure in the test chamber and larger damaged area of double-spaced plates. The theoretical model, which considered the shock wave generation and propagation, the effect of the shock wave on reaction efficiency, and penetration behaviors, was developed to analyze the reaction behaviors of the FGRM. The model predicted first impact material of the FGRM with a higher shock impedance was conducive to the reaction of reactive materials. The conclusion of this study provides significant information about the design and application of reactive materials.     

Cross-linking density and aging constitutive model of HTPB coating under prestrain thermal accelerated aging

In order to study the cross-linking density and aging constitutive relationship of HTPB coating during storage, the thermal accelerated aging tests at 0%, 3%, 6% and 9% prestrains were carried out. The cross-linking density of HTPB coating at different aging stages were tested using low-field ¹H NMR and the variation of cross-linking density was analyzed. The aging model of cross-linking density considering the chemical aging and the physical stretching factors was established. The uniaxial tensile tests were carried out on HTPB coating at different aging stages and the cross-linking density was introduced into Ogden hyperelastic constitutive model as a characterization parameter of correction coefficient. Combined with uniaxial tensile test results, a prestrain aging constitutive model of HTPB coating was established. The results show that the cross-linking density of HTPB coating increases rapidly at first and then slowly with the increase of thermal accelerated aging time without prestrain. Under prestrain conditions, the cross-linking density of HTPB coating decreases at the early stage, and increases rapidly at first and then slowly at the middle and late stages of thermal accelerated aging. The correlation coefficients of aging model of cross-linking density and aging constitutive model with test results are R > 0.9500 and R > 0.9900 respectively, which can be used to accurately describe the cross-linking density and aging constitutive relationship of HTPB coating under prestrain accelerated thermal aging conditions.     

Neural network modeling to evaluate the dynamic flow stress of high strength armor steels under high strain rate compression

An artificial neural network (ANN) constitutive model is developed for high strength armor steel tempered at 500 °C, 600 °C and 650 °C based on high strain rate data generated from split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) experiments. A new neural network configuration consisting of both training and validation is effectively employed to predict flow stress. Tempering temperature, strain rate and strain are considered as inputs, whereas flow stress is taken as output of the neural network. A comparative study on Johnson–Cook (J–C) model and neural network model is performed. It was observed that the developed neural network model could predict flow stress under various strain rates and tempering temperatures. The experimental stress–strain data obtained from high strain rate compression tests using SHPB, over a range of tempering temperatures (500–650 °C), strains (0.05–0.2) and strain rates (1000–5500/s) are employed to formulate J–C model to predict the high strain rate deformation behavior of high strength armor steels. The J-C model and the back-propagation ANN model were developed to predict the high strain rate deformation behavior of high strength armor steel and their predictability is evaluated in terms of correlation coefficient (R) and average absolute relative error (AARE). R and AARE for the J–C model are found to be 0.7461 and 27.624%, respectively, while R and AARE for the ANN model are 0.9995 and 2.58%, respectively. It was observed that the predictions by ANN model are in consistence with the experimental data for all tempering temperatures.     

Tuning the reactivity of Al–Ni by fine coating of halogen-containing energetic composites

In this paper, various core-shell structured Al–Ni@ECs composites have been prepared by a spray-drying technique. The involved ECs refer to the energetic composites (ECs) of ammonium perchlorate/nitrocellulose (AP/NC, NA) and polyvinylidene fluoride/hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (PVDF/CL-20, PC). Two Al–Ni mixtures were prepared at atomic ratios of 1:1 and 1:3 and named as Al/Ni and Al/3Ni, respectively. The thermal reactivity and combustion behaviors of Al–Ni@ECs composites have been comprehensively investigated. Results showed that the reactivity and combustion performance of Al–Ni could be enhanced by introducing both NA and PC energetic composites. Among which the Al/Ni@NA composite exhibited higher reactivity and improved combustion performance. The measured flame propagation rate (v = 20.6 mm/s), average combustion wave temperature (T_max = 1567.0 °C) and maximum temperature rise rate (γ_t = 1633.6 °C/s) of Al/Ni@NA are higher than that of the Al/Ni (v = 15.8 mm/s, T_max = 858.0 °C, and γ_t = 143.5 °C/s). The enhancement in combustion properties could be due to presence of the acidic gaseous products from ECs, which could etch the Al₂O₃ shell on the surface of Al particles, and make the inner active Al to be easier transported, so that an intimate and faster intermetallic reaction between Al and Ni would be realized. Furthermore, the morphologies and chemical compositions of the condensed combustion products (CCPs) of Al–Ni@ECs composites were found to be different depending on the types of ECs. The compositions of CCPs are dominated with the Al–Ni intermetallics, combining with a trace amount of Al₅O₆N and Al₂O₃.     

Burning rate and other characteristics of strontium titanate (SrTiO3) supplemented AP/HTPB/Al composite propellants

In a quest of search for a new burning rate modifier for composite propellant, strontium titanate (SrTiO₃), a perovskite oxide has been chosen for evaluation in a composite propellant formulation based on its other catalytic applications. Initially, SrTiO₃ was characterized for particle size, morphology and material/phase identification (using XRD). By varying SrTiO₃ content in a standard composite propellant, different compositions were prepared and their performance and processing parameters like the end of mix (EOM) viscosity, mechanical properties, density, burning rate, pressure exponent (n-value), etc. were measured. The results reveal that 2% SrTiO₃ causes more than 12% enhancement in propellant burning rate (at 70 ksc pressure) in comparison to the standard propellant composition. The pressure exponent also increases to 0.46, whereas the standard composition was having its value as 0.35.     

Experimental and numerical investigations of interface properties of Ti6Al4V/CP-Ti/Copper composite plate prepared by explosive welding

Explosive welding technique is widely used in many industries. This technique is useful to weld different kinds of metal alloys that are not easily welded by any other welding methods. Interlayer plays an important role to improve the welding quality and control energy loss during the collision process. In this paper, the Ti6Al4V plate was welded with a copper plate in the presence of a commercially pure titanium interlayer. Microstructure details of welded composite plate were observed through optical and scanning electron microscope. Interlayer-base plate interface morphology showed a wavy structure with solid melted regions inside the vortices. Moreover, the energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis in the interlayer-base interface reveals that there are some identified regions of different kinds of chemical equilibrium phases of Cu–Ti, i.e. CuTi, Cu₂Ti, CuTi₂, Cu₄Ti, etc. To study the mechanical properties of composite plates, mechanical tests were conducted, including the tensile test, bending test, shear test and Vickers hardness test. Numerical simulation of explosive welding process was performed with coupled Smooth Particle Hydrodynamic method, Euler and Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method. The multi-physics process of explosive welding, including detonation, jetting and interface morphology, was observed with simulation. Moreover, simulated plastic strain, temperature and pressure profiles were analysed to understand the welding conditions. Simulated results show that the interlayer base plate interface was created due to the high plastic deformation and localized melting of the parent plates. At the collision point, both alloys behave like fluids, resulting in the formation of a wavy morphology with vortices, which is in good agreement with the experimental results.     

列车用复合材料阻燃性能研究

不同类别的阻燃剂配合使用能产生协效作用,大大提高阻燃效果。在甲基丙烯酸类不饱和聚酯树脂9001基体中,添加微囊化红磷/氢氧化铝/三氧化二锑/甲基膦酸二甲酯(MRP/Al(OH)3/Sb2O3/DMMP)阻燃剂体系,对其树脂体系固化物及玻璃纤维织物复合材料的力学性能和阻燃性能进行了实验研究,提出了一种有望用于列车复合材料大尺寸构件制造的性能优异、价格低廉的新体系。结果表明,当质量添加比例分别为12%MRP、50%Al(OH)3、2%Sb2O3时,树脂体系室温粘度100mPa.s左右,凝胶时间超过80min,适用于RTM和VIMP等大尺寸构件成型工艺;复合材料拉伸强度215.4MPa,弯曲强度177.15MPa,拉伸模量13.85GPa,弯曲模量13.36GPa,氧指数39.7。     

Dynamic necking of a near α titanium alloy at high strain rates:Experiments and modelling

The tensile behaviour of near α Ti3Al2.5 V alloy, conceived for applications in aerospace and automotive engineering, is characterized from quasi-static to high strain rates. The material is found to present noticeable strain rate sensitivity. The dynamic true strain rate in the necking cross-section reaches values up to ten times higher than the nominal strain rate. It is also observed that beyond necking the dynamic true stress-strain curves present limited rate dependence. The experimental results at different strain rates are used to determine a suitable constitutive model for finite element simulations of the dynamic tensile tests. The model predicts the experimentally macroscopic force-time response, true stress-strain response and effective strain rate evolution with good agreement.     

软硬交替多层膜法向压入过程的有限元分析

采用大变形弹塑性有限单元法,对高速钢基体上的软硬交替多层膜在法向压痕作用下的力学行为,进行了模拟和分析.为了研究膜层数和膜厚的影响,对从单层到16层的不同膜层体系进行了计算.通过对诸如膜层的变形、最大应力随膜层数的变化、界面剪应力分布、表面张应力分布等的分析,得出了这些参数的分布及其对膜层体系的摩擦学性能的影响.这些结果可为多层膜的结构优化设计提供定量的依据.     

Influence of yttrium on microstructure and properties of Ni–Al alloy coatings prepared by laser cladding

Ni–Al alloy coatings with different Y additions are prepared on 45^# medium steel by laser cladding. The influence of Y contents on the microstructure and properties of Ni–Al alloy coatings is investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalyzer, Vickers hardness tester, friction wear testing machine, and thermal analyzer. The results show that the cladding layers are mainly composed of NiAl dendrites, and the dendrites are gradually refined with the increase in Y additions. The purification effect of Y can effectively prevent Al₂O₃ oxide from forming. However, when the atomic percent of Y addition exceeds 1.5%, the extra Y addition will react with O to form Y₂O₃ oxide, even to form Al₅Y₃O₁₂ oxide, depending on the amount of Y added. The Y addition in a range of 1.5–3.5 at.% reduces the hardness and anti-attrition of cladding layer, but improves obviously its wear and oxidation resistances.     

添加SiC微粉对硅树脂先驱体转化3D Cf/Si-O-C材料性能的影响

以三维碳纤维织物和廉价的硅树脂为原料,采用先驱体转化工艺制备3D G/Si-O-C材料,考察了浸渍液中添加SiC填料对材料微观结构、力学性能和抗氧化性能影响.结果表明:添加适量的SiC填料有助于减少基体孔隙,改善界面结合,从而提高材料的力学性能;而SiC含量过高时,容易在材料内部形成闭孔,从而导致材料力学性能下降.当SiC微粉含量为18.2%时,材料具有最好的力学性能,弯曲强度和断裂韧度分别为421.3MPa和13.0 MPa·m1/2;而材料的抗氧化性能随着SiC微粉含量的增加而增加,当SiC微粉含量为25.0%时,材料的弯曲强度保留率最高,达到了89.5%.     

Kelvin模型阻尼层合板的振动分析

基于Kelvin模型粘弹性材料本构关系导出了阻尼层合板的动力学微分方程组,给出了四边简支阻尼层合板的固有频率和损耗因子的解析解。与文献结果比较表明,将Kelvin模型应用于粘弹结构的动力特性问题求解,计算模型简便,且计算结果比常复数模型更为精确。分析了阻尼层参数变化对结构振动特性的影响。分析结果表明:增加阻尼层厚度,可以有效提高结构损耗因子;增加阻尼层材料的剪切模量,结构损耗因子增大到一定值后又逐渐减小,在减振设计中阻尼层的模量存在最佳值。     

混凝土高温力学性能及数学模型研究评述

分析了高温作用下混凝土内部发生的物理化学变化及其对混凝土力学性能产生的影响.通过对国内外部分混凝土高温力学性能试验成果总结分析,得到了混凝土高温作用后抗压强度、抗拉强度及弹性模量等力学性能的劣化规律.在对混凝土高温数学模型进行总结归纳的基础上,深入探讨了不同模型的特点以及存在的不足,为进一步研究混凝土结构的高温力学性能...     

对高温超导层状特性的解释

基于高温超导材料结构的准二维性,建立了高温超导的层状理论,得到了高温超导材料的临界温度Tc与Cu-O面数l间的关系,指出高物质密度N_i~0和高电子密度N_e~0的超导材料可能有更高的Tc。     

Experimental study on ceramic balls impact composite armor

Ceramic balls represent a new type of damaging element, and studies on their damaging power of composite armor are required for a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of various types of weapons. The goal of this study was to determine the impact of ϕ7 mm toughened Al₂O₃ ceramic balls on a composite ceramic/metal armor. The influences of the ceramic panel and the thickness of the metal backing material on the destroying power of the ceramic balls were first determined. Based on the agreement between numerical simulation, experimental results, and calculation models of the target plate resistance, the response mechanism of the ceramic balls was further analyzed. The results indicate that for a back plate of Q235 steel, with an increasing thickness of the ceramic panel, the piercing speed limit of the ceramic balls gradually increases and the diameter of the out-going hole on the metal back decreases. Different conditions were tested to assess the effects on the piercing speed, the diameter of the out-going hole, the micro-element stress, and the integrity of the recovered ceramic bowl.     

A bayesian optimisation methodology for the inverse derivation of viscoplasticity model constants in high strain-rate simulations

We present an inverse methodology for deriving viscoplasticity constitutive model parameters for use in explicit finite element simulations of dynamic processes using functional experiments, i.e., those which provide value beyond that of constitutive model development. The developed methodology utilises Bayesian optimisation to minimise the error between experimental measurements and numerical simulations performed in LS-DYNA. We demonstrate the optimisation methodology using high hardness armour steels across three types of experiments that induce a wide range of loading conditions: ballistic penetration, rod-on-anvil, and near-field blast deformation. By utilising such a broad range of conditions for the optimisation, the resulting constitutive model parameters are generalised, i.e., applicable across the range of loading conditions encompassed the by those experiments (e.g., stress states, plastic strain magnitudes, strain rates, etc.). Model constants identified using this methodology are demonstrated to provide a generalisable model with superior predictive accuracy than those derived from conventional mechanical characterisation experiments or optimised from a single experimental condition.     

复合材料层合板疲劳寿命形状参数与门槛值分析方法

复合材料性能具有较大的分散性,在表征复合材料疲劳寿命时,必须考虑分散性的影响。以M21C复合材料开孔层合板为研究对象,采用Sendeckyj等效静强度模型和随机变量函数的概率分布方法推导了复合材料层合板疲劳寿命形状参数和剩余强度形状参数的关系,通过试验和统计的方法获得了M21C复合材料开孔层合板的疲劳寿命形状参数和疲劳门槛值,对载荷放大系数以及低载截除水平的确定提供了数据支持。