Search results for "often"
showing 10 items of 88 documents
Rigid versus Flexible Protein Matrix: Light-Harvesting Complex II Exhibits a Temperature-Dependent Phonon Spectral Density
2018
Dynamics-function correlations are usually inferred when molecular mobility and protein function are simultaneously impaired at characteristic temperatures or hydration levels. In this sense, excitation energy transfer in the photosynthetic light-harvesting complex II (LHC II) is an untypical example because it remains fully functional even at cryogenic temperatures relying mainly on interactions of electronic states with protein vibrations. Here, we study the vibrational and conformational protein dynamics of monomeric and trimeric LHC II from spinach using inelastic neutron scattering (INS) in the temperature range of 20-305 K. INS spectra of trimeric LHC II reveal a distinct vibrational …
Superionicity and polymorphism in calcium fluoride at high pressure.
2014
We present a combined experimental and computational first-principles study of the superionic and structural properties of CaF2 at high P-T conditions. We observe an anomalous superionic behavior in the low-P fluorite phase that consists in a decrease of the normal-> superionic critical temperature with compression. This unexpected effect can be explained in terms of a P-induced softening of a zone-boundary $X$ phonon which involves exclusively fluorine displacements. Also we find that superionic conductivity is absent in the high-P cotunnite phase. Instead, superionicity develops in a new low-symmetry high-T phase that we identify as monoclinic (space group P2_1/c). We discuss the possi…
Interphase Model and Phase-Field Approach for Strain Localization
2020
Quasi-brittle materials subjected to a high level of mechanical solicitations see the development in relatively narrow zone of micro-cracks that coalesce into stress free cracks. In this work, the problem of strain localization in elastoplastic materials exhibiting softening has been approached by applying the interphase model together with the phase-field theory. In particular, the narrow zone where strains concentrate, usually named process zone or localization band, is kinematically modeled using the interphase model, while the phase-field variable is introduced to regularize the contact strains at the interface between the plastic strain band and the surrounding material. This correspon…
Anomalous thermoelastic behavior of (KI)1-x(NH4I)x
1990
Abstract An anomalous softening of the shear mode c 44 is observed in (KI) 1- x (NH 4 I) x with Brillouin scattering (10 K ⩽ T ⩽ 300 K ). It is caused by the weak quadrupolar moment of the NH 4 + ion, induced by the C 3 v symmetry of the potential. A parallel decrease of the lifetime of this transverse phonon at lower temperatures is observed. Static random strain fields due to admixing KI with NH 4 I are small. The results have been treated in terms of a mean field theory. The c 11 elastic constant does not show any anomalous behavior. Also are given the elastic constants c 11 and c 44 for x =0.14, 0.43 and 1 and 1 at T = 300 K and 10 K .
Stress-Strain Law for Confined Concrete with Hardening or Softening Behavior
2013
This paper provides a new general stress-strain law for concrete confined by steel, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP), or fiber reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM), obtained by a suitable modification of the well-known Sargin’s curve for steel confined concrete. The proposed law is able to reproduce stress-strain curve of any shape, having both hardening or softening behavior, by using a single closed-form simple algebraic expression with constant coefficients. The coefficients are defined on the basis of the stress and the tangent modulus of the confined concrete in three characteristic points of the curve, thus being related to physical meaningful parameters. It will be shown that if the v…
A symmetric nonlocal damage theory
2003
The paper presents a thermodynamically consistent formulation for nonlocal damage models. Nonlocal models have been recognized as a theoretically clean and computationally efficient approach to overcome the shortcomings arising in continuum media with softening. The main features of the presented formulation are: (i) relations derived by the free energy potential fully complying with nonlocal thermodynamic principles; (ii) nonlocal integral operator which is self-adjoint at every point of the solid, including zones near to the solid's boundary; (iii) capacity of regularizing the softening ill-posed continuum problem, restoring a meaningful nonlocal boundary value problem. In the present app…
A Theoretical Model to Evaluate the Compressive Behaviour of RС Jacketed Columns
2016
Reinforced concrete (RC) jacketing is becoming increasingly common among the different retrofit techniques for poor RC members, due to its economical and practical advantages. Experimental investigations in the literature have shown that the actual axial capacity of RC jacketed members can be substantially lower than that analytically evaluated by adapting the most common theoretical models for confined concrete. This fact can be explained by taking into account the presence of tensile stresses developing in the concrete, due to a mutual interaction between the inner core and the external jacket. This phenomenon is relevant especially in members where the concrete properties of the jacket a…
Ab initio calculation of wurtzite‐type GaN nanowires
2007
Ab initio calculations of wurtzite-type GaN nanowires have been performed using density functional theory. Different shapes of nanowires of with similar diameters of around 2 nm have been considered to determine the stability of the structures. The quantitative similarities in the local properties obtained and dangling bond energies of nanowires and bulk surfaces have lead to a simple model model for a calculation of effective Young's modulus of nanowires of arbitrary diameters and shapes. The size dependence of the Young's modulus reveals a softening of GaN nanowires with the decrease of the diameter. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Effectiveness of BFRP confinement on the compressive behaviour of clay brick masonry cylinders
2020
Abstract This paper presents the results of an experimental and analytical study on the compressive behaviour of small clay brick masonry cylinders reinforced with a basalt fibre reinforced polymer (BFRP) composite. Fourteen cylinders, manufactured using two assembling schemes and confined using either one or two layers of BFRP grids, were tested under monotonic compression loading. Traditional strain measuring systems were integrated with digital image correlation (DIC) technique. The BFRP confined masonry cylinders showed a ductile behaviour characterised by a softening branch of the stress–strain curve. The experimental strains, strength, and full stress–strain curves were modelled using…
Microscopic Origins of the Anomalous Melting Behavior of Sodium under High Pressure
2012
X-ray diffraction experiments have shown that sodium exhibits a dramatic pressure-induced drop in melting temperature, which extends from 1000 K at ~30 GPa to as low as room temperature at ~120 GPa. Despite significant theoretical effort to understand the anomalous melting, its origins are still debated. In this work, we reconstruct the sodium phase diagram by using an ab initio quality neural-network potential. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the reentrant behavior results from the screening of interionic interactions by conduction electrons, which at high pressure induces a softening in the short-range repulsion.