Abstract: Steady and oscillatory rheology was utilized to study the mechanical response of colloidal glasses and gels with particular emphasis in their yielding behaviour. We used a suspension of hard sphere colloidal particles with short-range depletion attractions induced by the addition of non-adsorbing linear polymer. While high volume fraction hard sphere glasses exhibit a single yield point due to cage breaking, attraction dominated glasses show a two-step yielding reflecting bond and cage breaking, respectively. Here we investigated the yielding behaviour of frustrated colloid–polymer systems with equal attraction strength and range, varying the particle volume fraction, φ, spanning the region from an attractive glass (φ = 0.6) to a low volume fraction (φ = 0.1) attractive gel. Yielding throughout this range, probed both by oscillatory and steady shear, is found to remain a two step process until very low φ's. The first yield strain related with in-cage or inter-cluster bond braking remains constant for φ > 0.3 while the second yield strain, attributed to braking of cages or clusters into smaller constituents, increases as volume fraction is decreased due to enhancement of structural inhomogeneities in the gel. Steady shear tests indicated distinct shear rate regimes: At steady state, low and intermediate shear rates create denser or smaller flowing clusters, whereas high rates may lead to complete break-up into independent particles. When the range of attraction was increased, both yield strains increased scaling with the range of attraction and accompanied structural changes. Finally, ageing leads to an overall strengthening of both the gel and the attractive glass accompanied by an enhancement of the second stress overshoot in steady shear, while the attractive glass also becomes more brittle.

Abstract: Recently, large-amplitude oscillatory shear has been studied in great detail with emphasis on its impact on the material response. Here we present a conceptually different, robust methodology based on viewing the stress waveforms as representing a sequence of physical processes. This novel approach provides the viscous and elastic contributions while overcoming the problems with infinite series encountered by Fourier transformation. Application to a soft colloidal star glass leads to the unambiguous determination and quantification of rate-dependent static and dynamic yield stresses, the rationalization of the response to strain sweeps and the post-yield regime by introducing the apparent cage modulus, and a connection to the steady-shear stress, all from a single-amplitude experiment. We propose that this approach is generic, but focus in this contribution only on a yield stress material which exhibits repeating cycles of (i) elastic extension, (ii) yielding, (iii) flow, and (iv) reformation. We show tha...

Abstract: Enhancement of the ion temperature and fusion yield has been observed in magnetized laser-driven inertial confinement fusion implosions on the OMEGA Laser Facility. A spherical CH target with a 10 atm ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}$ gas fill was imploded in a polar-drive configuration. A magnetic field of 80 kG was embedded in the target and was subsequently trapped and compressed by the imploding conductive plasma. As a result of the hot-spot magnetization, the electron radial heat losses were suppressed and the observed ion temperature and neutron yield were enhanced by 15% and 30%, respectively.

Abstract: We study the similarity and correlations between relaxations and plastic deformation in metallic glasses (MGs) and MG-forming liquids. It is shown that the microscope plastic events, the initiation and formation of shear bands, and the mechanical yield in MGs where the atomic sites are topologically unstable induced by applied stress, can be treated as the glass to supercooled liquid state transition induced by external shear stress. On the other hand, the glass transition, the primary and secondary relaxations, plastic deformation and yield can be attributed to the free volume increase induced flow, and the flow can be modeled as the activated hopping between the inherent states in the potential energy landscape. We then propose an extended elastic model to describe the flow based on the energy landscape theory. That is, the flow activation energy density is linear proportional to the instantaneous elastic moduli, and the activation energy density ρE is determined to be a simple expression of ρ E = 10 11 G + 1 11 K . The model indicates that both shear and bulk moduli are critical parameters accounting for both the homogeneous and inhomogeneous flows in MGs and MG-forming liquids. The elastic model is experimentally certified. We show that the elastic perspectives offers a simple scenario for the flow in MGs and MG-forming liquids and are suggestive for understanding the glass transition,plastic deformation, and nature and characteristics of MGs

Abstract: Microcompression has attracted considerable interest in the study of size effects, mainly in soft metals. Little data is available in the literature on experiments on materials with a higher bulk flow stress, although it has been shown that the technique can be successfully employed to suppress cracking due to the small specimen dimensions. Here, microcompressions on MgO were carried out to demonstrate the possibility of individually activating different slip systems. The yield stresses obtained in conjunction with transmission electron microscopy show that both the hard and soft slip system in MgO can be characterised individually. Microcompression is, therefore, a potential alternative to macroscopic testing of brittle materials under confining pressure or at high temperatures. To determine the influence of size on such measurements, results on the two slip systems in MgO and from the literature are compared. It is found that the bulk yield stress of a material might be used to estimate the effect of si...

Abstract: A nickel alloy of a composition similar to that of the nickel based superalloy Inconel alloy 718 (IN718) was produced with the electron beam melting (EBM) process developed by Arcam AB. The microstructures of the as processed and heat treated material are similar to that of conventionally produced IN718, except that the EBM material showed some porosity and the δ phase did not dissolve during the solution heat treatment because the temperature of 1000°C apparently was too low. Mechanical testing of the layer structured material, parallel and perpendicular to the built layers, revealed sufficient strength in both directions. However, it showed only limited elongation when tested perpendicular to the built layers due to local agglomerations of pores. Otherwise, data for the hardness, Young’s modulus, 0·2% yield tensile strength and ultimate tensile strength match those recommended for IN718.

Abstract: A field experiment was conducted to determine the sensitivity of wheat to water stress and changes in water relations and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under water stress conditions applied at different growth stages. The experiment comprised of two wheat cultivars and four water stress treatments, maintained by withholding water at tillering, anthesis, and at both stages. Water stress caused reduction in leaf relative water contents, water potential, osmotic potential, turgor potential, growth and yield components of both the wheat cultivars. The results indicated that high value of relative water contents were associated with increased yield and yield components. Consecutive stresses at both growth stages caused severe reduction in yield and yield components in both cultivars of wheat. Keywords: Water stress; water relations; growth; Triticum aestivum; yield components. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v36i3.9264 BJAR 2011; 36(3): 455-468

Abstract: In this research, the effect of Friction Stir welding parameters on mechanical and metallurgical properties of aluminum 1050/brass (70%Cu–30%Zn) joints was investigated. Optical microscopy, SEM, X-ray diffraction analysis and EDS analysis were used to probe microstructures and chemical compositions. In order to examine mechanical properties, besides hardness test, tensile strength of the welds was measured. The main parameters in this study were the tool rotational speed, offset, welding speed, and depth of the sinking pin. The maximum ultimate tensile strength of the joint reached in this research was 80% of the base metal (aluminum). Results show that the optimum parameters will yield a defect free joint arisen from a suitable material flow and a narrow multilayer intermetallic compound at interface in addition to a composite structure in the stir zone which all result in a strong joint. Also, by leaving the optimized condition, occurrence of large brass fragments and weld defects lower weld strength besides shifting fracture path from interface to the stir zone. Also, according to the results, using low rotation speed is accompanied by disappearance of interfacial intermetallic layer, whereas fast rotation will thicken this layer. Moreover, severe mechanical twining is observed in TMAZ of brass which leads to high values of hardness in this region.

Abstract: The one-mode EGP (Eindhoven glassy polymer) model captures the plastic flow at yield and post-yield quantitatively, but behaves poor in the non-linear viscoelastic pre-yield region. Since a proper description here is important in cases of complex loading and unloading situations, such as e.g. in indentation and scratching, an extension to non-linear modeling is required using a spectrum of relaxation times. It is shown that such a reference spectrum can be obtained from simple tensile tests. It shifts to shorter times under the influence of stress and is independent of the two important time-dependent processes in polymers: the strain rate applied during testing and the aging time during storage and use. The multi-mode model is critically tested and proves quantitative in describing the intrinsic polymer response and, based thereupon, in predicting the correct response in tensile testing, including necking, in flat tip indentation and in notched loading.

Abstract: Acoustic cavitation concentrates and releases a very large amount of energy in localized areas, which can be used for many physical and chemical processes. Even though acoustic cavitation has been studied widely for decades, only few studies have been devoted to optimization of medium to large scale reactors. In this study, the effect of ultrasound irradiation distance on the sonochemical activity has been investigated in 36 and 108 kHz cylindrical sonoreactors with various liquid heights ranging from 80 to 340 mm. As the liquid height/irradiation distance is increased, the cavitation yield increases significantly under the approximately same input energy conditions. The sonochemiluminescence (SCL) images for the visualization of the cavitation field also show that a stronger and more stable standing wave field is formed with higher SCL activity at higher liquid heights.

Abstract: Quantitative knowledge of the factors and interactions affecting yield is essential for site-specific crop management. One of the factors that frequently affects yield is topography. The aims of this study were to compare elevation data obtained from a combine harvester yield monitor and a hand RTK-GPS, and to evaluate the relationships between the spatial variation of cereal yield, selected crop nutrient concentration and topographic attributes derived from the two sources of elevation data. Simple models of elevation, slope and flow accumulation were created from the data of an experimental field in the Czech Republic, and the relations between yield and soil nitrogen and organic carbon contents and topography were determined over a four-year period. The models of elevation, slope and flow accumulation were compared with the yield, and soil nitrogen and organic carbon contents during the growing seasons of 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 in relation to total precipitation and temperature. The relationship between yield and topographic attributes was evaluated with the help of geostatistical methods. The results of correlation analysis among the variables were evaluated statistically by forward stepwise linear regression. No significant differences between elevation data from the combine harvester yield monitor and RTK-GPS were found. There was a significant relation between yield and crop nutrient concentration with topography. The correlation coefficients between flow accumulation and yield were weak for the wetter years and strong for the drier years.

Abstract: The plastic deformation and the ultrahigh strength of metals at the nanoscale have been predicted to be controlled by surface dislocation nucleation. In situ quantitative tensile tests on individual 〈111〉 single crystalline ultrathin gold nanowires have been performed and significant load drops observed in stress-strain curves suggest the occurrence of such dislocation nucleation. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) imaging and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that plastic deformation was indeed initiated and dominated by surface dislocation nucleation, mediating ultrahigh yield and fracture strength in sub-10-nm gold nanowires. Open image in new window

Abstract: In this work, the role played by plastic straining on the FCC(γ) → HCP(ɛ) strain induced transformation (SIT) ɛ-martensite in a Co–Cr–Mo–0.05C alloy was investigated. It was found that alloy plastic deformation at room temperature promotes the development of ɛ-martensite giving rise to the formation of intragranular striations. Moreover, aging at 800 °C of pre-strained specimens initially promotes SIT ɛ-martensite. This is followed by a time plateau (1 h) delay after which isothermal ɛ-martensite develops. Apparently, prior plastic straining leads to increasing incubation times for the onset of the isothermal ɛ-martensite transformation. In addition, tensile specimens containing various amounts of isothermal ɛ-martensite were tested all the way to fracture and their respective stress–strain properties were experimentally determined. Comparisons between experimental and simulated flow curves using the rule of mixtures indicated some deviations in the simulations at volume fractions above 0.25 ɛ-martensite. In contrast, predictions of yield and tensile strength were in good agreement with the experimental outcome. In particular, linear trends were exhibited by both, the yield and tensile strength as a function of the volume fraction of ɛ-martensite. Finally, the alloy elongation remained nearly constant with the volume fraction of ɛ-martensite in the range of the 0.15

Abstract: We study the internal dynamical processes taking place in a granular packing below yield stress. At all packing fractions and down to vanishingly low applied shear, a logarithmic creep is observed. The experiments are analyzed using a viscoelastic model which introduces an internal, time-dependent, fluidity variable. For all experiments, the creep dynamics can be rescaled onto a unique curve which displays jamming at the random-close-packing limit. At each packing fraction, we measure a stress corresponding to the onset of internal granular reorganization and a slowing down of the creep dynamics before the final yield.