Sharif Digital Repository

In this study, effect of MAPE (maleic anhydride polyethylene) as the compatibilizer on the mechanical properties of wood-flour polyethylene composites has been investigated by using Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA). Composites were made at 25% and 50% by weight fiber contents and 1% and 2% compatibilizer respectively. Controls were also made at the same fiber contents without the compatibilizer. Static mechanical tests including tensile and bending tests were performed. Temperature scans in the range of- 110 to +100°C was also conducted. Results indicated improvements in the mechanical properties due to the compatibilizer addition. Storage modulus values were higher in the case of coupled... 

In this paper, the coupled thermo–mechanical simulation of hot isostatic pressing (HIPing) is presented for metal powders during densification process. The densification of powder is assumed to occur due to plastic hardening of metal particles. The constitutive model developed is used to describe the nonlinear behavior of metal powder. The numerical modeling of hot powder compaction simulation is performed based on the large deformation formulation, powder plasticity behavior, and frictional contact algorithm. A Lagrangian finite element formulation is employed for the large powder deformations. A modified cap plasticity model considering temperature effects is used in numerical simulation... 

In this paper, we try to interpret "Duality of Dynamic Locomotion and Dynamic Object Manipulation". Since our main goal in this paper is to offer the duality concept and to validate it with a case study, we deal with the problem in a simple and abstract system. As a case study, we describe the duality between the problem of 2D dynamic object manipulation of a sphere using two planar manipulators and 2D dynamic locomotion of lower part of a biped robot. Having obtained the equations of dynamic object manipulation, we change the boundary conditions of the problem in such a way that both radius and mass of sphere object tend to infinity. Simultaneously, both of size and mass of manipulators'... 

Two-dimensional finite element analysis together with stream function and neural network models are employed to determine thermo-mechanical behavior during hot strip rolling of AA5083. An appropriate velocity field and stream function is first determined using the rule of volume constancy and upper bound theorem and then temperature field within the metal is predicted by means of a two-dimensional conduction-convection model. In order to consider the effect of flow stress and its dependence on temperature, strain and strain rate, a neural network model is also employed in the analysis. Based on the performed tensile tests, two different neural network models are constructed one for smooth... 

Very fine alumina nanoparticles were loaded in novolac type phenolic resin (PF) using solution mixing method. The concentration of nanoalumina in PF was varied between 2.5 to 20 wt%. All the compounds were compression molded and then subjected to scanning electron microscopy (SEM), tensile, flexural, and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) tests. SEM analysis showed that the nanoalumina were dispersed uniformly at low concentrations, however, at high concentrations, dispersion was suppressed leading to agglomerates in the composites. Mechanical testing revealed that the nanoalumina had a great influence on the strength and stiffness of PF resin particularly at concentrations below 5 wt%.... 

The geometrically nonlinear governing differential equations of motion and the corresponding boundary conditions are derived for the mechanical analysis of Timoshenko microbeams with large deflections, based on the strain gradient theory. The variational approach is employed to achieve the formulation. Hinged-hinged beams are considered as an important practical case, and their nonlinear static and free-vibration behaviors are investigated based on the derived formulation  

Special superelements are often used to improve the computational efficiency and improve accuracy of finite element modeling. Structures with tapered and spherical geometry exist in many engineering problems. In this work, special tapered and spherical superelements are presented that can be used for modeling of tapered and spherical bodies in thermo mechanical analyses with computational efficiency. The performance of these superelements under thermal and structural loads is demonstrated by presenting several examples and comparing the results with those from conventional 3D brick elements, which shows high accuracy at reduced computational cost  

The reinforcing effect of high structure carbon black (HSCB) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on natural rubber/styrene-butadiene rubber blend processed using mechanical mixing was comparatively investigated. In-depth analysis by dynamic mechanical analysis, the Eggers-Schummer model and Medalia's relationship showed that HSCB aggregates provided large internal pores leading to significant immobilized macromolecules in filled rubber. Additionally, a tubular immobilized rubber layer with a thickness of 8nm was estimated for the rubber/MWCNT system based on dynamic mechanical analysis data. The mechanical performance of the HSCB filled blend was higher than that of the MWCNT filled... 

In the first part of this paper series, a complete formulation for fully coupled ALE analysis of large deformation solid mechanic problems was developed. The formulation incorporated inertial, rate and thermal effects, and the treatment of rate and temperature dependent constitutive equations were presented. In this part, the ALE equations are discretized to form finite element equations. An algorithm for the treatment of mesh motion is described and example problems are presented to demonstrate the capability of the proposed formulation  

Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) finite element method is extensively used for numerical simulation of solid mechanics problem. The versatility of the mesh in ALE approach makes it particularly effective and efficient in solving large deformation problems. In this work, a complete treatment of fully coupled ALE formulation is presented incorporating inertial, rate and thermal effects. The formulation may be used in conjunction with thermo-elasto-viscoplactic material models. A consistent and efficient tangent operator is developed in closed form to handle stress integration. The applications of this formulation are given in the second part of this paper  

Weak mechanical possession is one of the limiting factors in application of hydrogels. To modify this inherent disadvantage, different approaches have been studied including synthesizing interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) and nanocomposite hydrogels. So, this study has focused on preparation of a novel full-IPN structure based on anionic monomers of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid/acrylic acid–sodium acrylate via facile solution polymerization technique in an aqueous media with incorporation of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets. Mechanical performance of materials in the “as-prepared condition” and “swollen state” was characterized via tensile, compression, and rheology tests,... 

Unsaturated polyester/styrene (UP) resin was filled with nanodiamonds (NDs) containing carboxyl and methacrylate functionalities using mechanical mixing. Field emission SEM exhibited a uniform dispersion of tightly bound aggregates of nanosized spherical NDs with good interfacial interaction. Rheological measurements exhibited a step increment in the shear viscosity of a UP/ND suspension at 0.6 wt% ND resembling a percolation state at this loading. Shear viscosity data supported by dynamic mechanical analysis results suggested the development of effective ND particles in which ND aggregates were covered by only polyester macromolecules. Accordingly, the morphology of UP/ND composites... 

Carbon nanotubes are regarded as ideal fillers for polymeric materials due to their excellent mechanical properties. Mechanical analysis without consideration of nanotube–matrix interphase, may not give precise predictions. In this work, the impacts of interphase on the behavior of polymer-based nanocomposites are studied. For this purpose, a closed-form micromechanical interphase model considering the diameter of nanotube, the thickness of interphase, and mechanical properties of nanotube and polymer is proposed to estimate the overall mechanical properties of nanotube-reinforced polymer nanocomposites. Furthermore, the effective elastic constants of the nanocomposites for a wide range of... 

In the present work, the feasibility of friction stir welding (FSW) of poly(methyl methacrylate) sheets was studied experimentally and theoretically by employing thermomechanical simulations. The effect of processing parameters including tool plunge depth, tilt angle, tool rotational speed (w), and transverse velocity (v) was investigated to determine suitable conditions to attain sound and defect-free joints. It is shown that a low tool plunge depth of 0.2 mm and a tilt angle of 2° provide suitable material flow to gain sound joints. By controlling the heat input into stir zone by increasing the tool rotational speed and decreasing linear velocity, the formation of defects can be minimised.... 

Carbon nanotubes are regarded as ideal fillers for polymeric materials due to their excellent mechanical properties. Mechanical analysis without consideration of nanotube–matrix interphase, may not give precise predictions. In this work, the impacts of interphase on the behavior of polymer-based nanocomposites are studied. For this purpose, a closed-form micromechanical interphase model considering the diameter of nanotube, the thickness of interphase, and mechanical properties of nanotube and polymer is proposed to estimate the overall mechanical properties of nanotube-reinforced polymer nanocomposites. Furthermore, the effective elastic constants of the nanocomposites for a wide range of... 

Production or injection of fluids from/in an underground storage site causes variations of pore pressure and stress states. These fluctuations significantly affect implications for hydraulic fracturing, wellbore integrity, top surface subsidence and heave, fault-reactivation, and stability of reservoir and caprock. Therefore, in order to keep optimal conditions during the process of gas injection and production, it is of paramount importance to have accurate estimates of the pore pressure. In this investigation, coupled fluid flow and geomechanical simulations, as well as rock mechanical tests, are performed on the Sarajeh field, Iran to investigate the geomechanical behavior of the Sarajeh... 

A hybrid scaffold of gelatin-glycosaminoglycan matrix and fibrin (FGG) has been synthesized to improve the mechanical properties, degradation time and cell response of fibrin-like scaffolds. The FGG scaffold was fabricated by optimizing some properties of fibrin-only gel and gelatin-glycosaminoglycan (GG) scaffolds. Mechanical analysis of optimized fibrin-only gel showed the Young module and tensile strength of up to 72 and 121 KPa, respectively. Significantly, the nine-fold increase in the Young modulus and a seven-fold increase in tensile strength was observed when fibrin reinforced with GG scaffold. Additionally, the results demonstrated that the degradation time of fibrin was enhanced... 

Tipover issue is an important problem in autonomous mobile manipulators. This issue is becoming more important in new generation of mobile robots where their size and weight are reduced, and they are designed to work on uneven terrains with higher speeds. Estimating the distance from the tipover stability margin would enhance the capability of the mobile manipulators in correcting their motion. For a valid estimation of the tipover margin one must take into account the full dynamic interaction between the vehicle and its manipulator. In mobile manipulators with several degrees of freedom a huge amount of time is needed to solve equations of motion while real-time tipover control needs a fast... 

In nano-structures, the influence of surface effects on the properties of material is highly important because the ratio of surface to volume at the nano-scale level is much higher than that of the macro-scale level. In this paper, a novel temperature-dependent multi-scale model is presented based on the modified boundary Cauchy-Born (MBCB) technique to model the surface, edge, and corner effects in nano-scale materials. The Lagrangian finite element formulation is incorporated into the heat transfer analysis to develop the thermo-mechanical finite element model. The temperature-related Cauchy-Born hypothesis is implemented by using the Helmholtz free energy to evaluate the temperature... 

The details of the Element Free Galerkin (EFG) method are presented with the method being applied to a study on hydraulic fracturing initiation and propagation process in a saturated porous medium using coupled hydro-mechanical numerical modelling. In this EFG method, interpolation (approximation) is based on nodes without using elements and hence an arbitrary discrete fracture path can be modelled.The numerical approach is based upon solving two governing partial differential equations of equilibrium and continuity of pore water simultaneously. Displacement increment and pore water pressure increment are discretized using the same EFG shape functions. An incremental constrained Galerkin...