Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering 

About: Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Materials science & Microstructure. It has an ISSN identifier of 1644-9665. Over the lifetime, 1818 publications have been published receiving 29075 citations.

Advanced high strength steels for automotive industry

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present the basic concepts of advanced high strength steels (AHSS) for use in the automobile industry, including chemical composition design, microstructure and mechanical properties development during thermomechanical processing, production technology characterisation, potential applications and performance in service. AHSS steels are considered to be the major materials for future applications in this production sector. As opposed to the cold formable single phase deep-drawable grades, the mechanical properties of AHSS steels are controlled by many factors, including: phase composition and distribution in the overall microstructure, volume fraction, size and morphology of phase constituents, as well as stability of metastable constituents. The main feature of these steels is that they do not permit to rely on the well-established traditional microstructure-properties relationships. Therefore, many different alloy concepts and alternative processing routes are still under development by different steel producers for comparable steel grades.

Modelling of reinforced concrete structures and composite structures with concrete strength degradation taken into consideration

Abstract: Because of the properties of the material (concrete), computer simulations in the field of reinforced concrete structures are pose a challenge. As opposed to steel, concrete when subjected to compression exhibits nonlinearity right from the start. Moreover, it much quicker undergoes degradation under tension. All this poses difficulties for numerical analyses. Parameters needed to correctly model concrete under compound stress are described in this paper. The parameters are illustrated using the Concrete Damaged Plasticity model included in the ABAQUS software.

Fresh and hardened properties of 3D printable cementitious materials for building and construction

Abstract: The main advantage of 3D concrete printing (3DCP) is that it can manufacture complex, non-standard geometries and details rapidly using a printer integrated with a pump, hosepipe and nozzle. Sufficient speed is required for efficient and fast construction. The selected printing speed is a function of the size and geometrical complexity of the element to be printed, linked to the pump speed and quality of the extruded concrete material. Since the printing process requires a continuous, high degree of control of the material during printing, high performance building materials are preferred. Also, as no supporting formwork is used for 3DCP, traditional concrete cannot be directly used. From the above discussion, it is postulated that in 3DCP, the fresh properties of the material, printing direction and printing time may have significant effect on the overall load bearing capacity of the printed objects. The layered concrete may create weak joints in the specimens and reduce the load bearing capacity under compressive, tensile and flexural action that requires stress transfer across or along these joints. In this research, the 3D printed specimens are collected in different orientations from large 3DCP objects and tested for mechanical properties. For the materials tested, it is found that the mechanical properties such as compressive and flexural strength of 3D printed specimen are governed by its printing directions.

State-of-the-art non-destructive methods for diagnostic testing of building structures — anticipated development trends

Abstract: The paper presents a survey of state-of-the-art non-destructive diagnostic techniques of testing building structures and examples of their applications. Much attention is devoted to acoustic techniques since they have been greatly developed in recent years and there is a clear trend towards acquiring information on a tested element or structure from acoustic signals processed by proper software using complex data analysis algorithms. Another trend in the development of non-destructive techniques is towards assessing characteristics other than strength in elements or structures, particularly the ones made of concrete or reinforced concrete. The paper focuses on techniques suitable for: detecting defects invisible on the surface, estimating the depth of cracks, determining the dimensions of elements accessible from one side only and 2D and 3D imaging of reinforcement distribution in such elements. Finally, directions of further development in this field are indicated.

Effect of nano/micro B4C particles on the mechanical properties of aluminium metal matrix composites fabricated by ultrasonic cavitation-assisted solidification process

Abstract: Lightweight aluminium metal matrix nanocomposites play a major role in automobile, aerospace and other industries This work aimed to investigate the effect of the addition of micro- and nano-boron carbide particles to aluminium on the mechanical properties of the composites The micro- and nanocomposites containing different weight % of B 4 C particles were fabricated using stir- and ultrasonic cavitation-assisted casting processes The fabricated micro and nano B 4 C particle-reinforced composites were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and an X-ray diffractometer Tensile, hardness, impact and wear tests were carried out in order to evaluate the mechanical properties of the micro- and nanocomposites The tensile test results showed that the properties of the samples containing up to 6% nano B 4 C-reinforced composites were better than the micro B 4 C-reinforced composites The study also indicated that the ductility and impact energy of the nanocomposites were better than the micro B 4 C particle-reinforced composites The wear resistance of the nanocomposite significantly increased when the B 4 C content was increased up to 8% of addition, and this increase was more pronounced than that resulting from micro B 4 C particle-reinforced composites