Kumbakonam R. Rajagopal

Bio: Kumbakonam R. Rajagopal is an academic researcher from Texas A&M University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Constitutive equation & Viscoelasticity. The author has an hindex of 77, co-authored 659 publications receiving 23443 citations. Previous affiliations of Kumbakonam R. Rajagopal include Kent State University & University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Wave patterns in a nonclassic nonlinearly-elastic bar under Riemann data

Abstract: Recently there has been interest in studying a new class of elastic materials, which is described by implicit constitutive relations. Under some basic assumption for elasticity constants, the system of governing equations of motion for this elastic material is strictly hyperbolic but without the convexity property. In this paper, all wave patterns for the nonclassic nonlinearly elastic materials under Riemann data are established completely by separating the phase plane into twelve disjoint regions and by using a nonnegative dissipation rate assumption and the maximally dissipative kinetics at any stress discontinuity. Depending on the initial data, a variety of wave patterns can arise, and in particular there exist composite waves composed of a rarefaction wave and a shock wave. The solutions for a physically realizable case are presented in detail, which may be used to test whether the material belongs to the class of classical elastic bodies or the one wherein the stretch is expressed as a function of the stress.

Applications of viscoelastic clock models in biomechanics

Abstract: The viscoelastic response of inert polymers, with respect to stress relaxation and creep, can be sped up by increasing their temperature or slowed down by decreasing their temperature. An explanation for such behavior is the existence of an internal clock whose speed relative to the laboratory clock is affected by temperature. It is assumed that the viscoelastic response of biological tissue can be affected by a biochemical factor, such as a hormone or medication, in a manner similar to that of temperature for an inert polymer. The concept of the intrinsic clock is introduced into the constitutive theory for the viscoelastic response of biological materials. Two examples are presented that illustrate the implications of a biochemically dependent internal clock: (1) cervical softening during birth due to a hormone release, (2) blood vessel dilation induced by medication.

Exact, approximate and numerical solutions for a variant of Stokes׳ first problem for a new class of non-linear fluids

Abstract: Stress power-law fluids are a special sub-class of fluids defined through implicit constitutive relations, wherein the symmetric part of the velocity gradient depends on a power-law of the stress (see Eq. (2.2) ), and were introduced recently to describe the non-Newtonian response of fluid bodies. Such fluids are counterparts to the classical power-law fluids wherein the stress is given in terms of a power-law for the symmetric part of the velocity gradient. Stress power-law fluids can describe phenomena that cannot be described by classical power-law fluids (see [1] ). In this paper, first a new exact solution for a variant of Stokes׳ first problem for stress power-law fluids, when the exponent n=0 (Navier–Stokes fluid), is obtained. Such an exact solution for the stress is in terms of a convolution integral, for which we establish bounds. We then compute the convolution integral using Gauss–Kronrod quadrature by ensuring that its value always lies within the bounds. Using the validated quadrature, we can accurately evaluate the exact solution and we the exact solution it to validate the numerical scheme employed in solving the governing equations for stress-power law fluids with arbitrary exponent n. Finally, for stress power-law fluids wherein the exponent n 0 (stress-thickening fluids), we obtain an approximate solution for the stress that agrees well with the numerical solution.

Homogenization and Global Responses of Inhomogeneous Spherical Nonlinear Elastic Shells

Abstract: Homogenization of radially inhomogeneous spherical nonlinear elastic shells subject to internal pressure is studied. The equivalent homogeneous material is defined in such a way that it gives rise to exactly the same global response to the pressure load as that of the inhomogeneous shell. For a shell with general strain–energy function and inhomogeniety, the strain–energy function of the equivalent homogeneous material is determined explicitly. The resulting formula is used to study layered composite shells. The equivalent homogeneous material for an infinitely fine layered composite shell is examined, and is found to give not only the same global response, but also the same average stress field as the composite shell does.

Modeling of Asphalt Mixture Laboratory and Field Compaction Using a Thermodynamics Framework

Abstract: This paper presents a model that was developed within the context of a thermomechanical framework, for the compaction of asphalt mixtures. The asphalt mixture is modeled as a nonlinear compressible material exhibiting time-dependent properties. A numerical scheme, based on finite elements, is employed to solve the equations governing compaction mechanisms. Due to the difficulty of conducting tests on the mixture at the compaction temperature, a procedure was developed to determine the model’s parameters from the analysis of the Superpave gyratory compaction (SGC) curves. A number of mixtures were compacted in the SGC using an angle of 1.25° in order to determine the model’s parameters. Consequently, the model was used to predict the compaction curves of mixtures compacted using a 2° angle of gyration. The model compared reasonably well with the SGC compaction curves. Finite element simulations of the compaction of a pavement section using a roller compactor were conducted in this study. The results demonstrated the potential of the material model to represent asphalt mixture field compaction. The developed model is a useful tool for simulating the compaction of asphalt mixtures under laboratory and field conditions. In addition, it can be used to determine the influence of various material properties and mixture designs on model’s parameters and mixture compactability.

A new constitutive framework for arterial wall mechanics and a comparative study of material models

Abstract: In this paper we develop a new constitutive law for the description of the (passive) mechanical response of arterial tissue. The artery is modeled as a thick-walled nonlinearly elastic circular cylindrical tube consisting of two layers corresponding to the media and adventitia (the solid mechanically relevant layers in healthy tissue). Each layer is treated as a fiber-reinforced material with the fibers corresponding to the collagenous component of the material and symmetrically disposed with respect to the cylinder axis. The resulting constitutive law is orthotropic in each layer. Fiber orientations obtained from a statistical analysis of histological sections from each arterial layer are used. A specific form of the law, which requires only three material parameters for each layer, is used to study the response of an artery under combined axial extension, inflation and torsion. The characteristic and very important residual stress in an artery in vitro is accounted for by assuming that the natural (unstressed and unstrained) configuration of the material corresponds to an open sector of a tube, which is then closed by an initial bending to form a load-free, but stressed, circular cylindrical configuration prior to application of the extension, inflation and torsion. The effect of residual stress on the stress distribution through the deformed arterial wall in the physiological state is examined. The model is fitted to available data on arteries and its predictions are assessed for the considered combined loadings. It is explained how the new model is designed to avoid certain mechanical, mathematical and computational deficiencies evident in currently available phenomenological models. A critical review of these models is provided by way of background to the development of the new model.

The physics of debris flows

Abstract: Recent advances in theory and experimen- tation motivate a thorough reassessment of the physics of debris flows. Analyses of flows of dry, granular solids and solid-fluid mixtures provide a foundation for a com- prehensive debris flow theory, and experiments provide data that reveal the strengths and limitations of theoret- ical models. Both debris flow materials and dry granular materials can sustain shear stresses while remaining stat- ic; both can deform in a slow, tranquil mode character- ized by enduring, frictional grain contacts; and both can flow in a more rapid, agitated mode characterized by brief, inelastic grain collisions. In debris flows, however, pore fluid that is highly viscous and nearly incompress- ible, composed of water with suspended silt and clay, can strongly mediate intergranular friction and collisions. Grain friction, grain collisions, and viscous fluid flow may transfer significant momentum simultaneously. Both the vibrational kinetic energy of solid grains (mea- sured by a quantity termed the granular temperature) and the pressure of the intervening pore fluid facilitate motion of grains past one another, thereby enhancing debris flow mobility. Granular temperature arises from conversion of flow translational energy to grain vibra- tional energy, a process that depends on shear rates, grain properties, boundary conditions, and the ambient fluid viscosity and pressure. Pore fluid pressures that exceed static equilibrium pressures result from local or global debris contraction. Like larger, natural debris flows, experimental debris flows of ;10 m 3 of poorly sorted, water-saturated sediment invariably move as an unsteady surge or series of surges. Measurements at the base of experimental flows show that coarse-grained surge fronts have little or no pore fluid pressure. In contrast, finer-grained, thoroughly saturated debris be- hind surge fronts is nearly liquefied by high pore pres- sure, which persists owing to the great compressibility and moderate permeability of the debris. Realistic mod- els of debris flows therefore require equations that sim- ulate inertial motion of surges in which high-resistance fronts dominated by solid forces impede the motion of low-resistance tails more strongly influenced by fluid forces. Furthermore, because debris flows characteristi- cally originate as nearly rigid sediment masses, trans- form at least partly to liquefied flows, and then trans- form again to nearly rigid deposits, acceptable models must simulate an evolution of material behavior without invoking preternatural changes in material properties. A simple model that satisfies most of these criteria uses depth-averaged equations of motion patterned after those of the Savage-Hutter theory for gravity-driven flow of dry granular masses but generalized to include the effects of viscous pore fluid with varying pressure. These equations can describe a spectrum of debris flow behav- iors intermediate between those of wet rock avalanches and sediment-laden water floods. With appropriate pore pressure distributions the equations yield numerical so- lutions that successfully predict unsteady, nonuniform motion of experimental debris flows.

Solving Ordinary Differential Equations

Abstract: Initial-value ordinary differential equation solution via variable order Adams method (SIVA/DIVA) package is collection of subroutines for solution of nonstiff ordinary differential equations. There are versions for single-precision and double-precision arithmetic. Requires fewer evaluations of derivatives than other variable-order Adams predictor/ corrector methods. Option for direct integration of second-order equations makes integration of trajectory problems significantly more efficient. Written in FORTRAN 77.

Hyperelastic modelling of arterial layers with distributed collagen fibre orientations

Abstract: Constitutive relations are fundamental to the solution of problems in continuum mechanics, and are required in the study of, for example, mechanically dominated clinical interventions involving soft biological tissues. Structural continuum constitutive models of arterial layers integrate information about the tissue morphology and therefore allow investigation of the interrelation between structure and function in response to mechanical loading. Collagen fibres are key ingredients in the structure of arteries. In the media (the middle layer of the artery wall) they are arranged in two helically distributed families with a small pitch and very little dispersion in their orientation (i.e. they are aligned quite close to the circumferential direction). By contrast, in the adventitial and intimal layers, the orientation of the collagen fibres is dispersed, as shown by polarized light microscopy of stained arterial tissue. As a result, continuum models that do not account for the dispersion are not able to capture accurately the stress–strain response of these layers. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to develop a structural continuum framework that is able to represent the dispersion of the collagen fibre orientation. This then allows the development of a new hyperelastic free-energy function that is particularly suited for representing the anisotropic elastic properties of adventitial and intimal layers of arterial walls, and is a generalization of the fibre-reinforced structural model introduced by Holzapfel & Gasser (Holzapfel & Gasser 2001 Comput. Meth. Appl. Mech. Eng. 190, 4379–4403) and Holzapfel et al. (Holzapfel et al. 2000 J. Elast. 61, 1–48). The model incorporates an additional scalar structure parameter that characterizes the dispersed collagen orientation. An efficient finite element implementation of the model is then presented and numerical examples show that the dispersion of the orientation of collagen fibres in the adventitia of human iliac arteries has a significant effect on their mechanical response.