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Soils are known to be inherently anisotropic, resulting in complex responses to loading. This paper aims to develop an elastoplastic solution for the undrained expansion of a cylindrical cavity in sands adopting a non‐associated and anisotropic model, SANISAND. The rigorous derivation of the stress‐strain state of the soil element is provided following a standardized solving procedure. The dilatancy and crushing of the soil are invoked in the three‐dimensional cavity expansion solution by adopting the critical state soil mechanics and limiting compression curve, respectively. By combining this with a governing equation that considers the undrained condition, the stress‐strain state of the surrounding soil around the cavity can be determined. A subroutine is then implemented into the ABAQUS FEM simulation to verify the solution. The solutions are also validated against those based on an isotropic model, and anisotropic sand is used to investigate the effects of the initial effective mean stress, at‐rest coefficient of earth pressure, and overconsolidation ratio on the stress distribution, stress path, and boundary surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to homogeneous mechanical load according to IEC 61215, photovoltaic modules in the field are mainly exposed to inhomogeneous loads like snow or wind. This paper deals with such inhomogeneous loads using computational fluid dynamics and finite element method simulations. Temperatures different to room temperature and the choice of encapsulates have significant influences on the thermomechanics of a photovoltaic module in case of snow load. Polyolefin is the encapsulant with the lowest storage modulus and has the lowest overall stress in solar cells and glass down to −30°C. Furthermore, with colder temperatures, the first principal stress decreases in solar cells but increases in the glass. For wind loads, the impact of module orientation, wind direction, module inclination angle, and wind speed is analyzed. A crosswind scenario is found to be most critical. Additionally, as a rule of thumb, higher module inclination angles result in higher stresses. Finally, general thermomechanical rules are extracted allowing for a deeper understanding of the underlying effects and therefore help to build more robust modules in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thorough study of the parameters influencing the operation of devices based on nanowired alumina substrate is presented. The basic structures are realized by growing metallic nanowires inside alumina porous substrate. The control of the areas wherein growth occurs allows building of various microwave devices supported on the filled template. The performances of these devices depend on the material parameters and topology/geometry in presence. These devices have the particularity to combine nanoscale, through the use of nanowires, and millimeter scale that is characteristic of microwave devices and their associated operating wavelength. The gap between the two‐scale ranges implies that analytical models and numerical simulation tools have to be combined to modelize and design performant microwave devices, such as Nanowired Substrate Integrated Waveguides (NSIWs) devices that are the subject of the paper. A deep parametric analysis of the properties and operation of the basic NSIW is presented and is followed by the illustration of two designs: a simple NSIW line, and an EBG NSIW filter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of 3D glass as a cover will significantly improve the stylish sense of the product and provide a wider display interface. However flexible film are notoriously difficult to fully conform to non‐developable surface such as spheres. The greatest challenge when trying to attaching flexible display to 3D spherical glass is avoiding wrinkling phenomenon at the edge of flexible display. In this paper the finite element method is used to study the optimization of the stack‐up to avoid obvious wrinkling phenomenon. We confirm that the modulus and thickness of Optical Clear Adhesive(OCA) between flexible modulus and 3D glass cover have decisive impact on the formation of wrinkles. A wrinkle‐free watch product was successfully fabricated by replacing the low‐modulus OCA with high‐modulus OCA or by reducing the thickness of low‐modulus OCA to 50μm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In glass compression molding, most current modeling approaches of temperature‐dependent viscoelastic behavior of glass materials are restricted to thermo‐rheologically simple assumption. This research conducts a detailed study and demonstrates that this assumption, however, is not adequate for glass molding simulations over a wide range of molding temperatures. In this paper, we introduce a new method that eliminates the prerequisite of relaxation functions and shift factors for modeling of the thermo‐viscoelastic material behavior. More specifically, the temperature effect is directly incorporated into each parameter of the mechanical model. The mechanical model parameters are derived from creep displacements using uniaxial compression experiments. Validations of the proposed method are conducted for three different glass categories, including borosilicate, aluminosilicate, and chalcogenide glasses. Excellent agreement between the creep experiments and simulation results is found in all glasses over long pressing time up to 900 seconds and a large temperature range that corresponds to the glass viscosity of log (η) = 9.5 – 6.8 Pas. The method eventually promises an enhancement of the glass molding simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An innovative Stewart platform (hexapod)-based testing rig is designed, constructed, and used herein to experimentally characterize a seismic isolation device named roll-in-cage (RNC) isolator. The testing rig is a result of integrating a mechanical extension, or upgrade, to the hexapod. This allows for performing up to 15 standard mechanical tests using cylinder, block, prism, beam, plate, or bar specimens, besides reduced-scale prototypes of seismic isolation bearings. Several one-tenth reduced-scale prototypes of the RNC isolator are experimentally examined in this paper using this testing rig. Cyclic horizontal displacement tests are performed considering different test parameters including shear displacement amplitude, axial load, and loading frequency. The RNC isolator's force-displacement relationships, shear stiffness, and damping properties are investigated. Vertical cyclic displacements are also applied to examine the RNC isolator's capability to withstand vertical axial tension. Furthermore, tests at the ultimate level consisting of an increasing-amplitude shear loading, beyond the bearing's design displacement limit, are also carried out to investigate the bearing's behavior after activating its inherent self-stopping, or buffer, mechanism. The obtained experimental outputs are then related to analytical and thorough FEM simulation outputs. This relation is intended to validate those previously developed mathematical and numerical models of the RNC isolator based on the real experimental measurements in this paper. A comparative study of the results is then performed, and the main observations are highlighted. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital shearography is an interferometric technique, which is often used for defect detection on composite structures. The measurement is fast and nondestructive and thus suitable for the application to cultural heritage. However, a major drawback of the technique is the indirect measurement, because surface strain is used to detect subsurface defects. So the determination of depth, size, and type of the defects is rather difficult. To overcome this issue, we use a combination of finite element method simulation and shearographic measurement. Due to the comparison of both data sets, the inverse problem can be solved in a more reliable way. In this paper, we investigate the application of finite element method simulation for an improved defect detection on anisotropic material. We validate the technique on a wooden sample with notches on the backside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cathodic protection is an electrochemical technique used to control the corrosion of metals. It does this by sending a proper amount of current equal to the current required by the cathodic processes at the protection potential. One of the chemical effects of cathodic protection is a local pH increase at the surface, which is an important factor in the reduction of corrosion rate, as carbon steel may work in a passive condition. In the present study, a tertiary current distribution finite element method model is introduced. A dynamic boundary condition is considered, by defining a Fe anodic Tafel slope as a pH function, and oxygen reduction reaction limiting current density as a function of available oxygen at the cathode surface. The model has been validated by direct pH measurement during a short‐term polarization test, and subsequently used to predict the pH and the available oxygen at the cathode surface for long‐term condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind load of high voltage overhead transmission line con ductors in field measurements, time domain simulations and standard. The loading of overhead lines comprises of natural actions mainly. Wind loading signifies an important load case in the design of overhead transmission line structures. Conductors spanning often several hundreds of meters contribute significantly to the overall loading of suspension towers. Those towers are often designed as a mass product to support the dead and wind load of the conductors between two dead end towers. Estimating the reaction of the conductors to strong winds, both geometric nonlinearities because of the large deformations as well as aerodynamic nonlinearities need to be considered. Particularly for design procedures, those effects should be simplified. This paper presents a thorough investigation comprising field measurements along an existing overhead line, simulations with FEM combined with wind tunnel tests and generated wind fields. It is the aim of the study to validate the actual design procedure regarding loading of wind acting on conductors. Most important herein in order to describe the extreme response are assumptions on turbulence distribution and dynamic behavior of wide spanning overhead line conductors. According to usual design procedure, by means of so called span reduction factors, relevant parameters such as span length and wind turbulence can be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Azobenzene‐functionalized liquid crystalline polymer networks (azo‐LCNs) are promising candidates for light‐fueled contactless manipulation of miniaturized soft robots through embedding photoactive molecular switches into alignment‐programmable LCNs. In particular, the 3D helical geometry of azo‐LCNs is reported to achieve rapid photomotility by introducing rolling resistance. However, the maximum height of the obstacle that soft robot can overcome is limited by the helix diameter and the stress–strain responsivity. Herein, the helical diameter per unit length and photogenerated stress through molecular engineering of photoactive molecular switches are maximized. The carbon number of aliphatic spacers in the photoactive molecular switches is varied from two to eight to systematically investigate the structure–property–performance relations by studying the molecular geometry, physical properties of polymers, and photomotility of polymers. Furthermore, a finite‐element analysis simulation is presented to understand the rolling locomotion of helical torsional soft robots. Through molecular engineering, the helix diameter per unit length of 0.2 mg soft robots is maximized, demonstrating high Young's modulus (≈2 GPa) and photogenerated stress (>1 MPa), as well as large velocity per body length, compared with the previously reported soft robots. Finally, the molecularly engineered soft robots successfully climb stairs, which is a key task in robotic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biaxial tensile testing of sheet metals is becoming increasingly popular for sheet metal forming. Determining equivalent stresses in biaxial tensile specimens is more complicated than in conventional uniaxial tensile specimens. In the present study, we compare four different approaches to calculate effective stresses during biaxial tensile loading of a cruciform specimen: (a) partial unloading method, where stresses are determined based on force-strain curves; (b) identification with uniaxial tensile testing; (c) an analysis of equivalent biaxial tests; and (d) numerical simulations. Considering experimental results for an AA1050 aluminium alloy and for a low-carbon steel DC06, we show that, for the cruciform sample studied here, two methods do not yield physically reasonable results: The uniaxial approach does not properly take into account the effect of transverse loading, and the equivalent biaxial approach exhibits uncertainties in strain measurement data. The most comprehensible approach is the numerical method, because it also yields detailed information about the local stress and strain states. The numerical results are in excellent agreement with the partial unloading method in terms of the initial flow stress and of effective stress-strain curves for strains up to 0.02, with both methods predicting a similar effective cross section of 18.0 mm2 for the considered specimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to determine the material constants with high accuracy in the fracture criterion play an important role for predicting the fracture of materials in the forming process using the fracture criterion. In the present work, a new method is proposed to obtain the tube material constants of ductile fracture criterion. This method is based on combining FEM simulation and experiment of tube flaring test. It is easy to realize and has high accuracy as its small measurement error. The method and its reliability evaluation are briefly summarized in four steps: (i) The flaring tests using conical tools with three different semi-angles are executed experimentally and numerically; (ii) The FEM simulation results of the flaring tests with any two conical tools are chosen to calculate the tubular material constants; (iii) The calculated material constants are used to predict the flaring limit with FEM simulation results of the test with the third conical tool; (iv) The flaring limits predicted with FEM simulation are compared with the ones obtained by the flaring tests. By analyzing the experimental and FEM simulation results, it is found that the flaring limits predicted by FEM simulation agreed very well to the ones obtained in the real experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]