Flow characteristics of carbon fibre moulding compounds

This paper presents the development of a low-cost carbon fibre moulding compound using an automated spray deposition process. Directed Fibre Compounding (DFC) is used to produce charge packs directly from low cost carbon fibre tows and liquid epoxy resin. A range of material and process related parameters have been studied to understand their influence on the level of macroscopic charge flow, in an attempt to produce a carbon fibre moulding compound with similar flow characteristics to conventional glass fibre SMCs. Charge packs covering just 40% of the mould can be effectively used to process DFC, without detrimentally affecting void content, fibre distribution and mechanical properties. Tensile stiffness and strength values of 36GPa and 320MPa are reported for isotropic materials (100% charge coverage), which increase to 46GPa and 408MPa with flow induced alignment (50% charge coverage) at 50% fibre volume fraction

A multiscale coarse grained model for simulating mechanical responses of plant food tissues

Plant food materials are highly sensitive to the external mechanical responses. Simulation of the material behaviour under mechanical loading is important in many engineering applications. Several researchers have used tissue based (macroscale) and cellular based (microscale) numerical models to assess the plant material behaviour. In doing so, generally, finite element modelling and meshfree based discretization strategies are commonly used and the latter has been proven to be more flexible, accurate and more robust in numerical simulations. This study aims to develop a coarse grained (CG) model for a cellular system of plant food tissue in microscale. The basic idea here is to maintain the accuracy given by the cellular scale while minimizing the computational cost for the simulations. The developed model accounts for the deformation of a coarse grained system under an external mechanical load. In order to represent the viscoelastic behaviour of a plant food material, we use a spring damper system connected to coarse grained beads. The model predictions show a satisfactory agreement with the morphological changes given by the cellular model. This developed CG model has laid a solid foundation for the further development of the multiscale model for the plant tissue

Thermochemical Modelling of Fluid-Rock Reactions in Vera Rubin ridge, Gale Crater, Mars.

Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR) in Gale Crater, Mars, is a ~200 m wide ~6.5 km long northeast- southwest resistant geomorphological feature on the northern slopes of Aeolis Mons (Mt. Sharp). Analysis of Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) orbital data showed that VRR has strong hematite spectral signatures. Hematite was confirmed in-situ at VRR with the Curiosity rover and has been shown to be present throughout the Mur- ray formation. VRR is stratigraphically continu-ous with the underlying Murray formation. Previous thermochemical modelling showed how hematite at VRR could have formed as the result of open-system weathering at high water/rock ratios. Here we use thermochemical modelling to investigate possible reaction pathways for the hematite-clay- bearing assemblage observed at VRR, starting from an identified least-altered (minimum clay content) Murray composition, and a Mars basal brine

Structural optimisation of random discontinuous fibre composites: Part 2 - case study

This is the second paper in a two part series presenting the development of a stiffness optimisation algorithm to intelligently optimise the fibre architecture of discontinuous fibre composites. A Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) strategy is used to select parameters associated with the fibre architecture, to produce components that satisfy stiffness, cost and mass criteria. The model has been successfully demonstrated using an automotive spare wheel well geometry, which shows that a highly optimised discontinuous fibre composite solution can compete against a continuous fabric counterpart in terms of specific stiffness, whilst presenting an opportunity for significant cost reduction. This could potentially lead to the application of composite materials into new areas where cost has previously been prohibitive

Absolute values of the London penetration depth in YBa2Cu3O6+y measured by zero field ESR spectroscopy on Gd doped single crystals

Zero-field electron spin resonance (ESR) of dilute Gd ions substituted for Y in the cuprate superconductor YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{\rm 6+y}$ is used as a novel technique for measuring the absolute value of the low temperature magnetic penetration depth $\lambda(T\to 0)$. The Gd ESR spectrum of samples with $\approx 1$ substitution was obtained with a broadband microwave technique that measures power absorption bolometrically from 0.5 GHz to 21 GHz. This ESR spectrum is determined by the crystal field that lifts the level degeneracy of the spin 7/2 Gd$^{3+}$ ion and details of this spectrum provide information concerning oxygen ordering in the samples. The magnetic penetration depth is obtained by relating the number of Gd ions exposed to the microwave magnetic field to the frequency-integrated intensity of the observed ESR transitions. This technique has allowed us to determine precise values of $\lambda$ for screening currents flowing in the three crystallographic orientations ($\hat a$, $\hat b$ and $\hat c$) in samples of Gd$_{\rm x}$Y$_{\rm 1-x}$Ba$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+{\rm y}}$ of three different oxygen contents ${\rm y}=0.993$ ($T_c = 89$ K), ${\rm y}=0.77$ ($T_c=75$ K) and ${\rm y}=0.52$ ($T_c=56$ K). The in-plane values are found to depart substantially from the widely reported relation $T_c\propto 1/\lambda^2$.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures; version to appear in PR

Structural optimisation of random discontinuous fibre composites: Part 1 – Methodology

This paper presents a finite element model to optimise the fibre architecture of components manufactured from discontinuous fibre composites. An optimality criterion method has been developed to maximise global component stiffness, by determining optimum distributions for local section thickness and preform areal mass. The model is demonstrated by optimising the bending performance of a flat plate with three holes. Results are presented from a sensitivity study to highlight the level of compromise in stiffness optimisation caused by manufacturing constraints associated with the fibre deposition method, such as the scale of component features relative to the fibre length

Enhanced groundwater flow on and below Vera Rubin ridge, the Murray Formation, Gale Crater: Evidence from thermochemical modeling

NASAs Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover has been exploring Vera Rubin ridge (VRR), part of the Murray formation in Gale crater, Mars, between sol 1809 and 2302. Evidence for Fe-oxides and phyllosilicates in mineralogical and geochemical data for this region was returned by Curiosity [1-5]. We applied thermochemical modeling to con-strain the formation conditions of the phyllosilicate-hematite assemblage identified on and below VRR. Average alteration compositions for the Murray formation on and below VRR were derived using CheMin and APXS data. These compositions were reacted with Gale Portage Water (GPW) between 25100 C and for 10% and 50% Fe3+/Fetot of the host rock [6]. Here we summarize models run at 50 C and 10% Fe3+/Fetot for alteration compositions derived from Murray host rock compositions

Personal identity (de)formation among lifestyle travellers: A double-edged sword?

This article explores the personal identity work of lifestyle travellers – individuals for whom extended leisure travel is a preferred lifestyle that they return to repeatedly. Qualitative findings from in-depth semi-structured interviews with lifestyle travellers in northern India and southern Thailand are interpreted in light of theories on identity formation in late modernity that position identity as problematic. It is suggested that extended leisure travel can provide exposure to varied cultural praxes that may contribute to a sense of social saturation. Whilst a minority of the respondents embraced a saturation of personal identity in the subjective formation of a cosmopolitan cultural identity, several of the respondents were paradoxically left with more identity questions than answers as the result of their travels

Evolution of Antarctic Sea Ice Ahead of the Record Low Annual Maximum Extent in September 2023

The 2023 Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) maximum on 7 September was the lowest annual maximum in the satellite era (16.98 × 106 km2), with the largest contributions to the anomaly coming from the Ross (37.7%, −0.57 × 106 km2) and Weddell (32.9%, −0.49 × 106 km2) Seas. The SIE was low due to anomalously warm (>0.3°C) upper-ocean temperatures combined with anomalously strong northerly winds impeding the ice advance during the fall and winter. Northerly winds of >12 ms−1 in the Weddell Sea occurred because of negative pressure anomalies over the Antarctic Peninsula, while those in the Ross Sea were associated with extreme blocking episodes off the Ross Ice Shelf. The Ross Sea experienced an unprecedented SIE decrease of −1.08 × 103 km2 d−1 from 1 June till the annual maximum. The passage of quasi-stationary and explosive polar cyclones contributed to periods of southward ice-edge shift in both sectors