A comprehensive review on material selection for polymer matrix composites subjected to impact load

Polymer matrix composites (PMC) are extensively been used in many engineering applications. Various natural fibers have emerged as potential replacements to synthetic fibers as reinforcing materials composites owing to their fairly better mechanical properties, low cost, environment friendliness and biodegradability. Selection of appropriate constituents of composites for a particular application is a tedious task for a designer/engineer. Impact loading has emerged as the serious threat for the composites used in structural or secondary structural application and demands the usage of appropriate fiber and matrix combination to enhance the energy absorption and mitigate the failure. The objective of the present review is to explore the composite with various fiber and matrix combination used for impact applications, identify the gap in the literature and suggest the potential naturally available fiber and matrix combination of composites for future work in the field of impact loading. The novelty of the present study lies in exploring the combination of naturally available fiber and matrix combination which can help in better energy absorption and mitigate the failure when subjected to impact loading. In addition, the application of multi attributes decision making (MADM) tools is demonstrated for selection of fiber and matrix materials which can serve as a benchmark study for the researchers in future.     

Fatigue crack propagation in a helicopter component subjected to impact damage

Damage tolerant methodology is increasingly used in aeronautical components,especially due the fact that the Aviation Regulation requires such an assessment in case an accidental damage occurs.At pre-sent,there is a strong and actual interest in applying such procedures to helicopter components that are subjected to high frequency cyclic loads.In this paper,an investigation on a damaged transmission shaft for a tail rotor transmission of an actual helicopter has been carried out focusing on the fatigue crack propagation.A complete sequence of experimental tests was performed in order to create an actual ballistic damage and to subsequently check the damage tolerant behaviour.The shaft was damaged by oblique ballistic impact and was subsequently subjected to torsional fatigue loading.During the fatigue cycles several cracks propagated from the ballistic damages.Both of these steps(impact and fatigue loading)were also simulated by a complex modelling approach based on Finite Element Models and fracture mechanics theory.The comparison between the experimental and numerical results shows a good agreement but it underlines the need for a very refined modelling technique capable to replicate all the features associated with the damage in order to reliably simulate the subsequent propagation phase.     

Numerical simulation of warhead transportation

The new numerical approach for analysis of the warhead transportations is suggested.This approach allows to control the warhead operability before its experimental analysis.The approach is implemented by the adequate models for the software ANSYS.Analysis of the loads at land operations and trans-portations of the warhead by natural roads,water and aviation allows to obtain the maximal values of loads,which are used in numerical simulations of the warhead.These loads give an opportunity to analyze the operability and the fatigue strength of the cartridge warhead.The numerical simulations of the attachments of the warhead combat elements are performed on the basis of the suggested method.The data of the numerical simulations verifies the operability of the fastener system of the warhead combat elements.     

Influence of a liquid-filled compartment structure on the incoming shaped charge jet stability

Liquid-filled compartment structure consists of a bulk steel plate with matrix blind holes which are filled with liquid and a steel front plate to seal up the liquid with rings and bolts.The liquid-filled compart-ment structure can resist the shaped charge warhead effectively.This paper presents experimental and theoretical investigations of the penetration ability of the residual shaped charge jet emerging from the liquid-filled compartment structure after the penetration process at different impact angles.On the basis of shock wave propagation theory,the influence of the liquid-filled compartment structure on jet sta-bility is analysed.The interferences of the liquid backflow caused by a reflected shock wave and a back plate on jet stability under different impact angles are also examined.In addition,the range of the disturbed velocity segments of the jet at different impact angles and the penetration ability of the re-sidual jet are obtained.A theoretical model is validated against the experimental penetration depths.     

An algorithm for optimal shipments with given frequencies

This article deals with the problem of minimizing the transportation and inventory cost associated with the shipment of several products from a source to a destination, when a finite set of shipping frequencies is available. A mixed-integer programming model—shown to be NP-hard—is formulated for that problem. The computational complexity of some similar models applied to different problems is also investigated. In particular, whereas the capacitated plant location problem with operational cost in product form is NP-hard, the simple plant location problem with the same characteristics can be solved in polynomial time. A branch-and-bound algorithm is finally worked out, and some computational results are presented. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Modified fictitious play

We describe a modification of Brown's fictitious play method for solving matrix (zero-sum two-person) games and apply it to both symmetric and general games. If the original game is not symmetric, the basic idea is to transform the given matrix game into an equivalent symmetric game (a game with a skew-symmetric matrix) and use the solution properties of symmetric games (the game value is zero and both players have the same optimal strategies). The fictitious play method is then applied to the enlarged skew-symmetric matrix with a modification that calls for the periodic restarting of the process. At restart, both players' strategies are made equal based on the following considerations: Select the maximizing or minimizing player's strategy that has a game value closest to zero. We show for both symmetric and general games, and for problems of varying sizes, that the modified fictitious play (MFP) procedure approximates the value of the game and optimal strategies in a greatly reduced number of iterations and in less computational time when compared to Brown's regular fictitious play (RFP) method. For example, for a randomly generated 50% dense skew-symmetric 100 × 100 matrix (symmetric game), with coefficients |a_ij| ≤ 100, it took RFP 2,652,227 iterations to reach a gap of 0.03118 between the lower and upper bounds for the game value in 70.71 s, whereas it took MFP 50,000 iterations to reach a gap of 0.03116 in 1.70 s. Improved results were also obtained for general games in which the MFP solves a much larger equivalent symmetric game. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The next step in Somalia: exploiting victory,post-Mogadishu

From 2006 to 2011, al-Qaeda's East African proxy, al-Shabaab, served as the de facto ruling party of Somalia despite the efforts of the internationally recognised Transitional Federal Government (TFG). During these five years, a violent struggle between al-Shabaab and the peacekeeping force of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) resulted in thousands of dead civilians, hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons and a strategic environment inhospitable to reconciliation, recovery or development. By 2012, AMISOM was able to break the deadlock and force al-Shabaab from Mogadishu and Kismayo. In order to continue the momentum, the African Union and other partner nations must support the TFG in neutralising al-Shabaab throughout Somalia and providing good governance to its constituents. Al-Shabaab's revenue streams must be shut down and its offensive capability must be degraded while the strategic environment is shaped to ensure that conditions conducive to a revival do not exist. Failure to do so will likely see Somalia continuing to produce Islamist extremists and pirates to menace international maritime traffic in the western Indian Ocean, destabilise East Africa and adversely impact millions.     

The Odyssey of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

This study examines the failures of the William J. Clinton and Barack Obama administrations to secure ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). It applies an integrated analytical framework for assessing treaty ratification that builds upon previous research in order to understand why the Clinton administration failed to achieve CTBT ratification in 1999 and why the Obama administration has so far failed to advance the treaty in the Senate. The study concludes that CTBT ratification, despite Obama administration pledges of support, remains highly unlikely. Finally, the study analyzes the common domestic political factors present in both cases and suggests areas for further research.