Showing papers on "Torsion (mechanics) published in 2011"

Using finite element modeling to examine the flow processes in quasi-constrained high-pressure torsion

Abstract: Finite element modeling was used to examine the flow processes in high-pressure torsion (HPT) when using quasi-constrained conditions where disks are contained within depressions on the inner surfaces of the upper and lower anvils. Separate simulations were performed using applied pressures from 0.5 to 2.0 GPa, rotations up to 1.5 turns and friction coefficients from 0 to 1.0 outside of the depressions. The simulations demonstrate the distribution of effective strain within the depressions is comparable to the prediction by ideal torsion, and the applied pressure and the friction coefficient outside the depressions play only a minor role in the distribution of effective strain. The mean stresses during processing vary linearly with the distance from the center of the disk such that there are higher compressive stresses in the disk centers and lower stresses at the edges. The torque required for rotation of the anvil is strongly dependent upon the friction coefficient between the sample and the anvil outside the depressions.

An energy harvester using piezoelectric cantilever beams undergoing coupled bending-torsion vibrations

Abstract: Recently, piezoelectric cantilevered beams have received considerable attention for vibration-to-electric energy conversion. Generally, researchers have investigated a classical piezoelectric cantilever beam with or without a tip mass. In this paper, we propose the use of a unimorph cantilever beam undergoing bending‐torsion vibrations as a new piezoelectric energy harvester. The proposed design consists of a single piezoelectric layer and a couple of asymmetric tip masses; the latter convert part of the base excitation force into a torsion moment. This structure can be tuned to be a broader band energy harvester by adjusting the first two global natural frequencies to be relatively close to each other. We develop a distributed-parameter model of the harvester by using the Euler-beam theory and Hamilton’s principle, thereby obtaining the governing equations of motion and associated boundary conditions. Then, we calculate the exact eigenvalues and associated mode shapes and validate them with a finite element (FE) model. We use these mode shapes in a Galerkin procedure to develop a reduced-order model of the harvester, which we use in turn to obtain closed-form expressions for the displacement, twisting angle, voltage output, and harvested electrical power. These expressions are used to conduct a parametric study for the dynamics of the system to determine the appropriate set of geometric properties that maximizes the harvested electrical power. The results show that, as the asymmetry is increased, the harvester’s performance improves. We found a 30% increase in the harvested power with this design compared to the case of beams undergoing bending only. We also show that the locations of the two masses can be chosen to bring the lowest two global natural frequencies closer to each other, thereby allowing the harvesting of electrical power from multi-frequency excitations. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

Highly Sensitive Torsion Sensor Based on Sagnac Interferometer Using Side-Leakage Photonic Crystal Fiber

Abstract: A highly sensitive torsion sensor, which can measure the torsion angle and determine the torsion direction simultaneously, is proposed and demonstrated based on Sagnac interferometer by incorporating a segment of novel side-leakage photonic crystal fiber (SLPCF). The SLPCF was designed by introducing an elliptical Ge-doped core and a symmetrical linear side-leakage defect. The experimental results show that the proposed sensor has different torsion sensitivities at different valley wavelengths and in different twist directions. The achieved maximum torsion sensitivity is about 0.9354 nm/°, which is much higher than that of the previously reported torsion sensors. In order to eliminate the temperature effect and obtain an accurate value of the torsion angle, the matrix method is adopted.

Pure Kinetic K-essence as the Cosmic Speed-Up

Abstract: In this paper, we consider three types of k-essence. These k-essence models were presented in the parametric forms. The exact analytical solutions of the corresponding equations of motion are found. It is shown that these k-essence models for the presented solutions can give rise to cosmic acceleration.

Microstructure development and hardening during high pressure torsion of commercially pure aluminium: strain reversal experiments and a dislocation based model

Abstract: The effect of strain reversal on hardening due to high pressure torsion (HPT) was investigated using commercially pure aluminium. Hardening is lower for cyclic HPT (c-HPT) as compared to monotonic HPT (m-HPT). When using a cycle consisting of a rotation of 90° per half cycle, there is only a small increase in hardness if the total amount of turns is increased from 1 to 16. Single reversal HPT (sr-HPT) processing involves torsion in one direction followed by a (smaller) torsion in the opposite direction. It is shown that a small reversal of 0.25 turn (90°) reduces hardness drastically, and that decrease is most marked for the centre region. These behaviours and other effects are interpreted in terms of the average density of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) and statistically stored dislocations (SSDs). A model is presented that describes the experimental results well. A key element of the model is the assumption that at the very high strains developed in severe plastic deformation processes such as HPT, the dislocation density reaches a saturation value. The model indicates that the strength/hardness is predominantly due to GNDs and SSDs.

A New Shear Test for Sheet Metal Characterization

Abstract: In order to predict plastic material behavior for sheet forming processes by finite element simulation, shear tests are useful to identify material parameters. Since the existing shear test setups have certain disadvantages, a new twin bridge torsion shear test is proposed. Stress and strain calculation is derived from the presented geometrical features. The clamping situation and the shear gauge dimensions are investigated to evaluate the quality of the obtained flow curves. It is shown that this test specimen is suitable to determine anisotropic yield behavior and to characterize prestrained specimen, for instance due to cold rolling, when the yield locus is shifted by a backstress tensor.

Effect of Bondline Thickness on the Static Strength of Structural Adhesives Under Nearly-Homogeneous Shear Stresses

Abstract: An usual experimental observation retrieved in the technical literature is that the strength of an adhesive joint decreases by increasing the adhesive layer thickness. This well-known behaviour is still not completely understood. All works found in the literature consider a complex stress state in the adhesive with mode mixing, stress concentrations on the midplane, and stress singularities at the interface occurring at the same time. This paper aims at estimating the effect of the adhesive thickness on its intrinsic static shear strength and evaluate whether this strength can explain the behaviour of a real bonded joint. A nearly uniform shear stress distribution is obtained through an ad-hoc tubular butt joint subject to pure torsion. A standard single lap joint is considered as a benchmark, due to its complex and singular stress field into the adhesive. The experimental campaign is focused on two brittle adhesives: a modified methacrylate and high-strength epoxy. Four levels and three levels of the adh...

Mechanical properties of copper after compression stage of high-pressure torsion

Abstract: The mechanical properties and microstructure of commercial purity copper subjected to various pressure values in a compression stage of high-pressure torsion (HPT) were investigated here by analyzing microhardness, deformed geometry, and electron back scattering diffraction images along the radial direction of the compressed disks. Compression before torsion significantly increases the hardness and low angle grain boundary in the center as well as in the intermediate and edge regions. It is found that the compressive strain is the reason for the increased strength and refined grain size in the center region during HPT. This result sheds light on the strategy for achieving microstructure and property homogeneity in HPT.

Packing of elastic wires in spherical cavities.

Abstract: We investigate the morphologies and maximum packing density of thin wires packed into spherical cavities. Using simulations and experiments, we find that ordered as well as disordered structures emerge, depending on the amount of internal torsion. We find that the highest packing densities are achieved in low torsion packings for large systems, but in high torsion packings for small systems. An analysis of both situations is given in terms of energetics and comparison is made to analytical models of DNA packing in viral capsids.

Constraining spacetime torsion with the Moon and Mercury

Abstract: We report a search for new gravitational physics phenomena based on Riemann-Cartan theory of general relativity including spacetime torsion. Starting from the parametrized torsion framework of Mao, Tegmark, Guth, and Cabi, we analyze the motion of test bodies in the presence of torsion, and, in particular, we compute the corrections to the perihelion advance and to the orbital geodetic precession of a satellite. We consider the motion of a test body in a spherically symmetric field, and the motion of a satellite in the gravitational field of the Sun and the Earth. We describe the torsion field by means of three parameters, and we make use of the autoparallel trajectories, which in general differ from geodesics when torsion is present. We derive the specific approximate expression of the corresponding system of ordinary differential equations, which are then solved with methods of celestial mechanics. We calculate the secular variations of the longitudes of the node and of the pericenter of the satellite. The computed secular variations show how the corrections to the perihelion advance and to the orbital de Sitter effect depend on the torsion parameters. All computations are performed under the assumptions of weak field and slow motion. To testmore » our predictions, we use the measurements of the Moon's geodetic precession from lunar laser ranging data, and the measurements of Mercury's perihelion advance from planetary radar ranging data. These measurements are then used to constrain suitable linear combinations of the torsion parameters.« less

Fiber-Directed Conjugated-Polymer Torsional Actuator: Nonlinear Elasticity Modeling and Experimental Validation

Abstract: Existing conjugated-polymer actuators typically take the form of benders or linear extenders. In this paper, a conjugated-polymer-based torsional actuator is proposed by embedding helically wound fibers into a conjugated polymer tube during the polymer-deposition process. Upon actuation, the electrolyte-soaked tube swells, and consequently, produces torsion and other associated deformations because of fiber-induced mechanical anisotropy of the composite material. A nonlinear elasticity-based model is presented to capture the torsion, elongation, and dilation of the tube. Experiments on tubular actuators with different thicknesses, fiber-winding angles, and diameters confirm the aforementioned deformation modes and validate the effectiveness of the proposed model.

Optical anisotropy induced by torsion stresses in LiNbO3 crystals: appearance of an optical vortex.

Abstract: We report the results of studies of the torsion effect on the optical birefringence in LiNbO3 crystals. We found that the twisting of those crystals causes a birefringence distribution revealing nontrivial peculiarities. In particular, they have a special point at the center of the cross section perpendicular to the torsion axis where the zero birefringence value occurs. It has also been ascertained that the surface of the spatial birefringence distribution has a conical shape, with the cone axis coinciding with the torsion axis. We revealed that an optical vortex, with a topological charge equal to unity, appears under the torsion of LiNbO3 crystals. It has been shown that, in contrast to the q plate, both the efficiency of spin-orbital coupling and the orbital momentum of the emergent light can be operated by the torque moment.

Dislocation microstructure evolution in cyclically twisted microsamples: a discrete dislocation dynamics simulation

Abstract: Miniaturization in technical devices has increased interest in the investigation of the deformation and fatigue behaviour of metals in the micrometre regime. Due to the small dimensions of these devices, mechanical properties depend on the motion of a marginal number of dislocations. In this paper, the evolution of dislocation microstructure in torsion loaded single crystalline aluminium wires is analysed by three-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics simulations. It is shown that the size of pile-ups and the number of the active slip systems is significantly influenced by cross-slip events independent of the crystallographic orientation. Dislocations are driven by the stress gradient from the applied loading to move into the centre of the sample. These dislocations cannot escape through the surface because of the reversal of the sign of the stress in the centre of the sample. If the micrometre-sized specimens are untwisted, the remaining dislocation microstructure in these samples depends on the maximum torsion angle reached before unloading. The larger the torsion angle, the higher is the remaining dislocation density in the unloaded specimens. These results are discussed with respect to cyclic deformation mechanisms at small scale.

A new method to measure torsion moments on small-scaled specimens.

Abstract: As a result of a continuous evolution in the field of small-scaled components, an increasing need exists for mechanical characterization of single structures and materials in micrometer dimensions. Moreover, for a detailed analysis of the deformation and failure behavior, it is often necessary to perform investigations under multiaxial loading in addition to uniaxial loading. A simple possibility to create defined multiaxial stress–strain fields is offered by a torsion experiment. In the frame of this work, a new method is presented, which allows determining torsion moments applied to wires as thin as 10 μm in monotonic as well as cyclic manner. Besides a detailed description of the measuring principle, the experimental setup and the first results will be presented. In particular, investigations on gold wires with diameters ranging from 10 to 60 μm, applying torsion moments in the nNm regime, are shown.

Quasi-Static Torsion Characterization of Micro-diameter Copper Wires

Abstract: A method to measure very small torques that subject micro-diameter copper wires to plasticity is developed for quasi-static torsion experiment. Following the concept in the work by Fleck et al. (Acta Metall. Mater. 42:2, 1994), we employed a glass fiber filament as the torque cell. To calculate the small torques applied on the micro-diameter copper wires, an additional rotation sensor is required to measure the rotation of the glass fiber torque cell. The rotation sensor system is attached between the glass fiber and the copper wire specimen. It uses a laser extensometer to gauge the distance between a helical and a horizontal reflection tapes on a foam cylinder, which is calibrated with the angle of rotation. A new set of torsional experimental data for the copper wires with four different diameters, from 16–180 μm, are presented. All copper wires exhibit a typical elastic-plastic response. The torsional properties of these copper wires were not found to be significantly different. The uncertainties of the measurement and analysis are discussed.

Appearance of singularities of optical fields under torsion of crystals containing threefold symmetry axes

Abstract: We present an analysis of the effect of torsion stresses on the spatial distribution of optical birefringence in crystals of different point symmetry groups. The symmetry requirements needed so that the optical beam carries dislocations of the phase front are evaluated for the case when the crystals are twisted and the beam closely corresponds to a plane wave. It is shown that the torsion stresses can produce screw-edge, pure screw, or pure edge dislocations of the phase front in the crystals belonging to cubic and trigonal systems. The conditions for appearance of canonical and noncanonical vortices in the conditions of crystal torsion are analyzed.

A contact model for the yielding of caked granular materials

Abstract: We present a visco-elastic coupling model between caked spheres, suitable for Distinct Element Method simulations, which incorporates the different loading mechanisms (tension, shear, bending, torsion) in a combined manner and allows for a derivation of elastic and failure properties on a common basis. In pull, shear, and torsion failure tests with agglomerates of up to 10.000 particles, we compare the failure criterion to different approximative variants of it, with respect to accuracy and computational cost. The failure of the agglomerates, which behave according to elastic parameters derived from the contact elasticity, gives also insight into the relative relevance of the different load modes.