Search results for " composite materials"

Virtual Element based formulations for computational materials micro-mechanics and homogenization

2021

In this thesis, a computational framework for microstructural modelling of transverse behaviour of heterogeneous materials is presented. The context of this research is part of the broad and active field of Computational Micromechanics, which has emerged as an effective tool both to understand the influence of complex microstructure on the macro-mechanical response of engineering materials and to tailor-design innovative materials for specific applications through a proper modification of their microstructure. While the classical continuum approximation does not account for microstructural details within the material, computational micromechanics allows detailed modelling of a heterogeneous…

Adhesive inter-laminar and cohesive inner-layer damage mechanisms for composite materials

2009

Accceleration of Fatigue Tests of Polymer Composite Materials by Using High-Frequency Loadings

2004

The possibility of using high-frequency loading in fatigue tests of polymer composite materials is discussed. A review of studies on the use of high-frequency loading of organic-, carbon-, and glass-fiber-reinforced plastics is presented. The results obtained are compared with those found in conventional low-frequency loadings. A rig for fatigue tests of rigid materials at loading frequencies to 500 Hz is described, and results for an LM-L1 unidirectional glass-fiber plastic in loadings with frequencies of 17 and 400 Hz are given. These results confirm that it is possible to accelerate the fatigue testing of polymer composite materials by considerably increasing the loading frequency. The n…

Thermal properties of e-beam cured epoxy/thermoplastic matrices for advanced composite materials

2007

The aim of this work is to investigate the possibility to improve the thermal behaviour of epoxy based systems, cured by ionizing radiation, in order to produce matrices for advanced carbon fibres composites. Blends of two epoxy monomers, difunctional and trifunctional, have been polymerized by e-beam irradiation and the dynamic mechanical thermal properties have been investigated. The increase of the concentration of the trifunctional epoxy monomer in the blend causes a marked increase of the Tg, but strongly decreases the reactivity. Subsequently, blends of the same epoxy monomers with a high Tg thermoplastic toughening agent have been considered and their reactivity and the thermal prope…

Epoxy composites filled with high surface area-carbon fillers

2013

Citation: J. Appl. Phys. 114, 164304 (2013); doi: 10.1063/1.4826529 (Received 24 July 2013; accepted 6 October 2013; published online 22 October 2013) A comprehensive analysis of electrical, electromagnetic (EM), mechanical, and thermal properties of epoxy resin composites filled with 0.25–2.0 wt. % of carbon additives characterized by high surface area, both nano-sized, like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon black (CBH), and micro-sized exfoliated graphite (EG), was performed. We found that the physical properties of both CNTs- and CBH-based epoxy resin composites increased all together with filler content and even more clearly for CBH than for CNTs. In the case of EG-based composites, go…

A hybrid virtual–boundary element formulation for heterogeneous materials

2021

Abstract In this work, a hybrid formulation based on the conjoined use of the recently developed Virtual Element Method (VEM) and the Boundary Element Method (BEM) is proposed for the effective computational analysis of multi-region domains, representative of heterogeneous materials. VEM has been recently developed as a generalisation of the Finite Element Method (FEM) and it allows the straightforward employment of elements of general polygonal shape, maintaining a high level of accuracy. For its inherent features, it allows the use of meshes of general topology, including non-convex elements. On the other hand, BEM is an effective technique for the numerical solution of sets of boundary i…

Nanocomposite, an innovative route to large structure and infrastructure protection. A case of study: CNT-doped polyurea

2010

<p>In this work we focus on experimental studies of polymer-nanocomposites intended for passive protection of civil structures. The material consists of a polyurea-matrix enhanced by different quantities of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Several tensile and cyclic tests are performed to evaluate and characterize the mechanical behaviour of this new material. Furthermore, we subject the material to accelerated thermal aging and study its performance deterioration which is fairly unknown. The results on the unaged specimens are intuitive and indicate that an arbitrary amount of CNTs may result in suboptimal performance. More specifically, 1% in weight of CNTs yields the best mechanical p…

Analisi quantitativa dell'effetto termoelastico in materiali compositi CFRP

2008

A penalty-based interface technology

2009

Modern computers have enabled engineers to perform large scale analyses of complex structures like entire aircrafts, automobiles, and ships. One issue that arises often is the need to perform a unified analysis of a structural assembly using sub-structural models created independently. These sub-structural models are frequently designed by different engineers, thus they are likely to be incompatible at their interfaces. Finite element interface technology has been developed to facilitate the joining of independently modeled substructures. Here an effective and robust interface element is presented. This method has been developed using penalty constraints and allows computationally efficient…

Longitudinal Flexure as a Method for Determining the Flexural Strength of Composite Materials

2004

A method is presented for determining the flexural strength of composites from tests on pinned specimens in axial compression. This scheme is close to the so-called Euler buckling model, but the load is applied eccentrically, and the bar is bent practically from the beginning of loading. An analytical model is proposed for calculating the flexural stress in longitudinal flexure of a thin bar in the case of large displacements. The problem is solved in elliptic integrals of the first and second kinds. The analytical model shows an excellent agreement with experiments. The results obtained are compared with experimental tension data. A device is also designed for testing composite bars in lon…