Search results for " Mechanical engineering"

Effects of aging in salt spray conditions on flax and flax/basalt reinforced composites: Wettability and dynamic mechanical properties

2016

Abstract In the last years, the industrial policies are more attentive to issues concerning sustainability, recycling and environmental care. Therefore, the use of natural fibres in composite materials has spread more and more. This paper deals with flax and basalt fibres within an epoxy matrix by investigating the wettability and the dynamic mechanical properties of the resulting composites, subjected to long-term aging tests in critical environmental conditions. The first laminate was constituted by stacking ten layers of bidirectional flax fabrics. The second one was produced by replacing two external flax layers with two layers of basalt mat, for each side of the laminate. Both laminate…

Experimental design of the bearing performances of flax fiber reinforced epoxy composites by a failure map

2018

Abstract This paper represents the first effort aimed to the investigation of the pin/hole contact stress and failure mechanisms of epoxy composites reinforced with woven flax fabrics, underwent to tensile bearing tests. In particular, the maximum loads and failure modes are evaluated at varying the laminate geometrical configuration. In order to optimize the use of polymer composites reinforced with flax fibers in structural applications, an experimental failure map, identifying main failure modes of mechanically fastened joints, is obtained as function of hole diameter, distance of the hole from the free edge of the laminate and laminate width. Moreover, a theoretical approach based on th…

A new hyperelastic model for anisotropic hyperelastic materials with one fiber family

2016

International audience; The main goal of this study is to propose a practical application of a new family of transverse anisotropic invariants by designing a strain energy function (SEF) for incompressible fiber-reinforced materials. In order to validate the usability and creativeness of the proposed model, two different fiber-reinforced rubber materials under uniaxial and shear testing are considered. For each kind of material, numerical simulations based on the proposed model are consistent with experimental results and provide information about the effect of the new family of invariants in the construction of the SEF.

2019

Abstract The fatigue life of thermally sprayed Al2O3- and Cr2O3-based coatings has been studied under low-energy (0.7–5 mJ) impact conditions. A threshold impact energy and amount of repetitions the coatings can endure with said energy before catastrophic failure was obtained. The catastrophic failure was determined to occur when the fracture mode of the coating switched from brittle cone cracking to quasi-plastic radial cracking. The results are examined relative to the microstructural features along with other properties of the coatings - hardness and cavitation resistance. The experiment provided a new approach for a straightforward comparison of the micro-scale impact fatigue life of th…

NOX reduction and efficiency improvements by means of the Double Fuel HCCI combustion of natural gas–gasoline mixtures

2016

Abstract Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) and Double Fuel (DF) combustion represent two innovative processes sharing a strong potential for pollutant emissions and fuel consumption reduction. HCCI regards the auto-ignition of a homogeneous premixed charge of air and fuel, featuring very low NOX emissions and good efficiency. Double Fuel (DF) instead indicates the simultaneous combustion of gasoline and natural gas (or gasoline and LPG), premixed with air by the port injection of both fuels within same engine cycle. Since fuel mixtures enhances the HCCI performances widening the range of possible operating conditions, the authors tested the HCCI combustion process using natural…

Micromechanisms of load transfer in a unidirectional carbon fibre–reinforced epoxy composite due to fibre failures. Part 1: Micromechanisms and 3D an…

2006

This study gives a detailed analysis of load distributions around fibre breaks in a composite and the mechanisms involved in load transfer. In contrast to other studies reported in the literature the analysis considers different configurations of composite damage from the failure of a few fibres to the failure of many. The model considers the elastic case with and without debonding at the broken fibre/matrix interface. In this way, the usual limitations of the finite element approach are overcome so as to take into account the numbers and interactions of broken fibres whilst maintaining an evaluation of the various fields involved, in particular the stress fields associated with fibre failu…

Nano-hybrids based on quercetin and carbon nanotubes with excellent anti-oxidant activity

2016

Abstract Multi-functional nano-hybrids based on Quercetin (Q), a natural antioxidant, and functionalized Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) have been formulated and used to prepare Ultra High Molecular Weight PolyEthylene (UHMWPE)-based nanocomposites. The study of the nanocomposites rheological behaviour shows that the immobilization of Q molecules onto CNTs outer surface leads to a beneficial effect on the state of the interface between polymer and nanoparticles. Additionally, the investigation of the thermo- and photo-oxidation processes reveals that the hybrids nanoparticles are able to exert a remarkable stabilizing action, due to strong physical interaction between Q and CNTs. In particular, the…

Gradient-enhanced model and its micromorphic regularization for simulation of Lüders-like bands in shape memory alloys

2018

Abstract Shape memory alloys, notably NiTi, often exhibit softening pseudoelastic response that results in formation and propagation of Luders-like bands upon loading, for instance, in uniaxial tension. A common approach to modelling softening and strain localization is to resort to gradient-enhanced formulations that are capable of restoring well-posedness of the boundary-value problem. This approach is also followed in the present paper by introducing a gradient-enhancement into a simple one-dimensional model of pseudoelasticity. In order to facilitate computational treatment, a micromorphic-type regularization of the gradient-enhanced model is subsequently performed. The formulation empl…

Oil whip-induced wear in journal bearings

2014

Published version of an article in the journal: International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00170-014-5805-8 This paper investigates the effect of oil whirl and oil whip in fluid film radial bearings due to possible metallic contact. The degree of metallic contact and thereby wear and tear between rotating shafts and bearing bushes is assessed by measuring electric currents through the oil film. The current as well as the voltage varied in accordance with the contact ratio between the shaft and bush in the fluid film radial bearing. The gauge signal thus indicates the degree of metallic contact based on the thi…

Bearing strength and failure behavior of pinned hybrid glass-flax composite laminates

2018

Abstract The aim of the present work is to evaluate the influence of external layers of glass woven fabric on the pin-hole strength of flax/epoxy laminates. Single lap bearing tests were carried out to evaluate the fastened joint performances depending on laminate stacking sequence. In order to better identify the mechanical behavior of the hybrid laminate, full glass and flax laminates were also compared. In particular, bearing stress and failure mechanisms were investigated at varying joint geometry. Furthermore, an experimental failure map, clustering main failure modes of pinned hybrid composite laminate, was used to better clarify the relationship between mechanical failure and geometr…