More Like this

1. Finite Element Model of Equal Channel Angular Extrusion of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene

   https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4051189  

   Vasylevskyi, Kostiantyn ; Tsukrov, Igor ; Miroshnichenko, Kateryna ; Buklovskyi, Stanislav ; Grover, Hannah ; Van Citters, Douglas W. ( May 2021 , Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering)

   null (Ed.)

   Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) used in biomedical applications, e.g. as a bearing surface in total joint arthroplasty, has to possess superior tribological properties, high mechanical strength, and toughness. Recently, equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) was proposed as a processing method to introduce large shear strains to achieve higher molecular entanglement and superior mechanical properties of this material. Finite element analysis (FEA) can be utilized to evaluate the influence of important manufacturing parameters such as the extrusion rate, temperature, geometry of the die, back pressure, and friction effects. In this paper we present efficient FEA models of ECAE for UHMWPE. Our studies demonstrate that the choice of the constitutive model is extremely important for the accuracy of numerical modeling predictions. Three considered material models (J2-plasticity, Bergstrom-Boyce, and the Three Network Model) predict different extrusion loads, deformed shapes and accumulated shear strain distributions. The work has also shown that the friction coefficient significantly influences the punch force and that the 2D plane strain assumption can become inaccurate in the presence of friction between the billet and the extrusion channel. Additionally, a sharp corner in the die can lead to the formation of the so-called “dead zone” due to a portion of the material lodging into the corner and separating from the billet. Our study shows that the presence of this material in the corner substantially affects the extrusion force and the resulting distribution of accumulated shear strain within the billet 

   more » « less
2. Uplift capacity of suction caissons in sand for general conditions of drainage

   Gogoi, R. ; Aubeny, C. ; Watson, P. ; Bransby, F. ( June 2021 , ASME 2021 40th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore, and Arctic Engineering)

   Suction caissons have emerged as a viable solution for the foundations of offshore wind turbines, which are gaining momentum worldwide as an alternate energy source. When used in a multi-bucket jacket system, the system capacity is often governed by the uplift capacity of the windward bucket foundation. Seabed conditions at offshore windfarm sites often comprise dense sand where the soil response may be drained, partially drained or undrained depending on the loading regime, the foundation dimensions and the soil conditions. Given the large difference in uplift capacity of caissons for these different drainage conditions, predicting the behavior of a suction caisson under a range of drainage conditions becomes a paramount concern. Consequently, this paper presents the findings of a coupled finite element investigation of the monotonic uplift response of the windward caisson of a multi-bucket jacket system in a typical dense silica sand for a range of drainage conditions. The study adopts a Hypoplastic soil constitutive model capable of simulating the stress-strain-strength behavior of dense sand. This choice is justified by conducting a comparative study with other soil models – namely the Mohr Coulomb and bounding surface sand models – to determine the most efficient soil failure model to capture the complex undrained behavior of dense sand. The numerical predictions made in this study are verified by recreating the test conditions adopted in centrifuge tests previously conducted at the University of Western Australia, and demonstrating that the capacity from numerical analysis is consistent with the test results. The Hypoplastic soil constitutive model also provides an efficient method to produce accurate load capacity transition curves from an undrained to a drained soil state. 

   more » « less
3. A peridynamics model for strain localization analysis of geomaterials

   https://doi.org/10.1002/nag.2854  

   Song, Xiaoyu ; Khalili, Nasser ( September 2018 , International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics)

   Geomaterials such as sand and clay are highly heterogeneous multiphase materials. Nonlocality (or a characteristic length scale) in modeling geomaterials based on the continuum theory can be associated with several factors, for instance, the physical interactions of material points within finite distance, the homogenization or smoothing process of material heterogeneity, and the particle or problem size‐dependent mechanical behavior (eg, the thickness of shear bands) of geomaterials. In this article, we formulate a nonlocal elastoplastic constitutive model for geomaterials by adapting a local elastoplastic model for geomaterials at a constant suction through the constitutive correspondence principle of the state‐based peridynamics theory. We numerically implement this nonlocal constitutive model via the classical return‐mapping algorithm of computational plasticity. We first conduct a one‐dimensional compression test of a soil sample at a constant suction through the numerical model with three different values of the nonlocal variable (horizon)δ. We then present a strain localization analysis of a soil sample under the constant suction and plane strain conditions with different nonlocal variables. The numerical results show that the proposed nonlocal model can be used to simulate the inception and propagation of shear banding as well as to capture the thickness of shear bands in geomaterials at a constant suction.

    

   more » « less
4. Influence of Shear Heating and Thermomechanical Coupling on Earthquake Sequences and the Brittle‐Ductile Transition

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB021394  

   Allison, Kali L. ; Dunham, Eric M. ( June 2021 , Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth)

   Localized frictional sliding on faults in the continental crust transitions at depth to distributed deformation in viscous shear zones. This brittle‐ductile transition (BDT), and/or the transition from velocity‐weakening (VW) to velocity‐strengthening (VS) friction, are controlled by the lithospheric thermal structure and composition. Here, we investigate these transitions, and their effect on the depth extent of earthquakes, using 2D antiplane shear simulations of a strike‐slip fault with rate‐and‐state friction. The off‐fault material is viscoelastic, with temperature‐dependent dislocation creep. We solve the heat equation for temperature, accounting for frictional and viscous shear heating that creates a thermal anomaly relative to the ambient geotherm which reduces viscosity and facilitates viscous flow. We explore several geotherms and effective normal stress distributions (by changing pore pressure), quantifying the thermal anomaly, seismic and aseismic slip, and the transition from frictional sliding to viscous flow. The thermal anomaly can reach several hundred degrees below the seismogenic zone in models with hydrostatic pressure but is smaller for higher pressure (and these high‐pressure models are most consistent with San Andreas Fault heat flow constraints). Shear heating raises the BDT, sometimes to where it limits rupture depth rather than the frictional VW‐to‐VS transition. Our thermomechanical modeling framework can be used to evaluate lithospheric rheology and thermal models through predictions of earthquake ruptures, postseismic and interseismic crustal deformation, heat flow, and the geological structures that reflect the complex deformation beneath faults.

    

   more » « less
5. Data‐driven variational multiscale reduced order modeling of vaginal tissue inflation

   https://doi.org/10.1002/cnm.3660  

   Snyder, William ; McGuire, Jeffrey A. ; Mou, Changhong ; Dillard, David A. ; Iliescu, Traian ; De Vita, Raffaella ( November 2022 , International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering)

   The vagina undergoes large finite deformations and has complex geometry and microstructure, resulting in material and geometric nonlinearities, complicated boundary conditions, and nonhomogeneities within finite element (FE) simulations. These nonlinearities pose a significant challenge for numerical solvers, increasing the computational time by several orders of magnitude. Simplifying assumptions can reduce the computational time significantly, but this usually comes at the expense of simulation accuracy. This study proposed the use of reduced order modeling (ROM) techniques to capture experimentally measured displacement fields of rat vaginal tissue during inflation testing in order to attain both the accuracy of higher‐fidelity models and the speed of simpler simulations. The proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method was used to extract the significant information from FE simulations generated by varying the luminal pressure and the parameters that introduce the anisotropy in the selected constitutive model. A new data‐driven (DD) variational multiscale (VMS) ROM framework was extended to obtain the displacement fields of rat vaginal tissue under pressure. For comparison purposes, we also investigated the classical Galerkin ROM (G‐ROM). In our numerical study, both the G‐ROM and the DD‐VMS‐ROM decreased the FE computational cost by orders of magnitude without a significant decrease in numerical accuracy. Furthermore, the DD‐VMS‐ROM improved the G‐ROM accuracy at a modest computational overhead. Our numerical investigation showed that ROM has the potential to provide efficient and accurate computational tools to describe vaginal deformations, with the ultimate goal of improving maternal health.

    

   more » « less