Dynamic Prediction Model for Initial Apple Damage

Prediction models of damage severity are crucial for the damage expression of fruit. In light of issues such as the mismatch of existing models in actual damage scenarios and the failure of static models to meet research needs, this article proposes a dynamic prediction model for damage severity throughout the entire process of apple damage and studies the relationship between the initial bruise form and impact energy distribution of apple damage. From the experiments, it was found that after impact a "cell death zone" appeared in the internal pulp of the damaged part of Red Delicious apples. The reason for the appearance of the cell death zone was that the impact force propagated in the direction of the fruit kernel in the form of stress waves; the continuous action of which continuously compressed the pulp's cell tissue. When the energy absorbed via elastic deformation reached the limit value, intercellular disadhesion of parenchyma cells at the location of the stress wave peak occurred to form cell rupture. The increase in intercellular space for the parenchyma cells near the rupture site caused a large amount of necrocytosis and, ultimately, formed the cell death zone. The depth of the cell death zone was closely related to the impact energy. The correlation coefficient r between the depth of the cell death zone and the distribution of impact energy was slightly lower at the impact height of 50 mm. As the impact height increased, the correlation coefficient r increased, approaching of value of 1. When the impact height was lower (50 mm), the correlation coefficient r had a large distribution range (from 0.421 to 0.983). As the impact height increased, the distribution range significantly decreased. The width of the cell death zone had a poor correlation with the pressure distribution on the impact surface of the apples that was not related to the impact height. In this article, the corresponding relationship between the form and impact energy distribution of the internal damaged tissues in the initial damage of Red Delicious apples was analyzed. This analysis aimed to provide a research concept and theoretical basis for more reliable research on the morphological changes in the damaged tissues of apples in the future, further improving the prediction accuracy of damage severity.

A Novel Parameter for Fatigue Damage Assessment of Laser-Repaired Nickel-Based Alloy

The fatigue damage assessment of laser-repaired components is critical to their service safety. However, since laser repairing is an advanced green remanufacturing technology, the current research on its fatigue mechanical behavior and fatigue damage evaluation methods is still immature. In addition, the relevant models used for the fatigue damage evaluation can only indicate the fatigue limit of components, which cannot describe the damage accumulation process of the components during the fatigue testing. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a fatigue damage evaluation method that can describe the fatigue damage accumulation and evolution to reveal the damage evolution mechanism during the fatigue test. In this study, based on the 3D-DIC technique, new damage parameters, i.e., strain average value and strain standard deviation, are proposed to quantitatively describe the damage status of the nickel-based components during the stress-based fatigue process. Then, based on the new damage parameters, a strain average value/strain standard deviation damage curve method is proposed to describe the damage status evolution of the components during the fatigue testing and evaluate its fatigue damage. For example, in the tensile fatigue test, the strain average value/strain standard deviation damage curves of the substrate component and the laser-repaired component can be divided into two damage stages. In the first damage stage, the damage increases slowly with the increase in the cycle number, whereas in the second damage stage, the damage increases rapidly with the increase in the cycle number. At this time, there is a demarcation point between the first damage stage and second damage stage in the strain average value damage curve and strain standard deviation damage curve. The cycle number of the demarcation point can be used as a reference value for the fatigue failure of the laser-repaired component. In addition, the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique was used to verify the validity of the evaluation results from the novel damage parameters.

Junction problem for thin elastic and volume rigid inclusions in elastic body

The article concerns a junction problem for two-dimensional elastic body with a thin elastic inclusion and a volume rigid inclusion. It is assumed that the inclusions have a common point. A delamination of the thin inclusion from the surrounding elastic body is assumed thus forming an interfacial crack. Constraint-type boundary conditions are imposed at the crack faces to prevent interpenetration between the faces. Moreover, a connection between the crack faces is characterized by a positive damage parameter. Limit transitions are justified as the damage parameter tends to infinity and to zero. In addition to this, a transition to limit is analysed as a rigidity parameter of the thin inclusion tends to infinity. Limit models are investigated. In particular, junction conditions at the common point are found for all cases considered. This article is part of the theme issue 'Non-smooth variational problems and applications'.

A novel model for low-cycle multiaxial fatigue life prediction based on the critical plane-damage parameter

Multiaxial fatigue of the components is a very complex behavior. This analyzes the multiaxial fatigue failure mechanism, reviews and compares the advantages and disadvantages of the classic model. The fatigue failure mechanism and fatigue life under multiaxial loading are derived through theoretical analysis and formulas, and finally verified with the results of multiaxial fatigue tests. The model of multiaxial fatigue life for low-cycle fatigue life prediction model not only improves the prediction accuracy of the classic model, but also considers the effects of non-proportional additional hardening phenomena and fatigue failure modes. The model is proved to be effective in low-cycle fatigue life prediction under different loading paths and types for different materials. Compared with the other three classical models, the proposed model has higher life prediction accuracy and good engineering applicability.

A New Multiparameter Model for Multiaxial Fatigue Life Prediction of Rubber Materials

Most of the mechanical components manufactured in rubber materials experience fluctuating loads, which cause material fatigue, significantly reducing their life. Different models have been used to approach this problem. However, most of them just provide life prediction only valid for each of the specific studied material and type of specimen used for the experimental testing. This work focuses on the development of a new generalized model of multiaxial fatigue for rubber materials, introducing a multiparameter variable to improve fatigue life prediction by considering simultaneously relevant information concerning stresses, strains, and strain energies. The model is verified through its correlation with several published fatigue tests for different rubber materials. The proposed model has been compared with more than 20 different parameters used in the specialized literature, calculating the value of the R² coefficient by comparing the predicted values of every model, with the experimental ones. The obtained results show a significant improvement in the fatigue life prediction. The proposed model does not aim to be a universal and definitive approach for elastomer fatigue, but it provides a reliable general tool that can be used for processing data obtained from experimental tests carried out under different conditions.

The Use of Dijkstra's Algorithm in Assessing the Correctness of Imaging Brittle Damage in Concrete Beams by Means of Ultrasonic Transmission Tomography

The accuracy of transmission ultrasonic tomography for the detection of brittle damage in concrete beams can be effectively supported by the graph theory and, in particular, by Dijkstra’s algorithm. It allows determining real paths of the fastest ultrasonic wave propagation in concrete containing localized elastically degraded zones at any stage of their evolution. This work confronts this type of approach with results that can be obtained from non-local isotropic damage mechanics. On this basis, the authors developed a method of reducing errors in tomographic reconstruction of longitudinal wave velocity maps which are caused by using the simplifying assumptions of straightness of the fastest wave propagation paths. The method is based on the appropriate elongation of measured propagation times of the wave transmitted between opposite sending-receiving transducers if the actual propagation paths deviate from straight lines. Thanks to this, the mathematical apparatus used typically in the tomography, in which the straightness of the fastest paths is assumed, can be still used. The work considers also the aspect of using fictitious wave sending-receiving points in ultrasonic tomography for which wave propagation times are calculated by interpolation of measured ones. The considerations are supported by experimental research conducted on laboratory reinforced concrete (RC) beams in the test of three-point bending and a prefabricated damaged RC beam.

Macroscopic Internal Variables and Mesoscopic Theory: A Comparison Considering Liquid Crystals

Internal and mesoscopic variables differ fundamentally from each other: both are state space variables, but mesoscopic variables are additionally equipped with a distribution function introducing a statistical item into consideration which is missing in connection with internal variables. Thus, the alignment tensor of the liquid crystal theory can be introduced as an internal variable or as one generated by a mesoscopic background using the microscopic director as a mesoscopic variable. Because the mesoscopic variable is part of the state space, the corresponding balance equations change into mesoscopic balances, and additionally an evolution equation of the mesoscopic distribution function appears. The flexibility of the mesoscopic concept is not only demonstrated for liquid crystals, but is also discussed for dipolar media and flexible fibers.

Multiaxial Fatigue Damage Parameter and Life Prediction without Any Additional Material Constants

Based on the critical plane approach, a simple and efficient multiaxial fatigue damage parameter with no additional material constants is proposed for life prediction under uniaxial/multiaxial proportional and/or non-proportional loadings for titanium alloy TC4 and nickel-based superalloy GH4169. Moreover, two modified Ince-Glinka fatigue damage parameters are put forward and evaluated under different load paths. Results show that the generalized strain amplitude model provides less accurate life predictions in the high cycle life regime and is better for life prediction in the low cycle life regime; however, the generalized strain energy model is relatively better for high cycle life prediction and is conservative for low cycle life prediction under multiaxial loadings. In addition, the Fatemi–Socie model is introduced for model comparison and its additional material parameter k is found to not be a constant and its usage is discussed. Finally, model comparison and prediction error analysis are used to illustrate the superiority of the proposed damage parameter in multiaxial fatigue life prediction of the two aviation alloys under various loadings.