Finite element modelling of a sustainable hybrid natural fibre sandwich panel under bending

Mass production of houses on a large scale at an affordable price, acceptable quality and sustainable method has always been one of the challenges for the public and private sector. Applying natural fibre reinforced composite panels in the modular building is one of the promising approaches to this challenge. This project modelled and analysed jute, hemp and MDF fibre reinforced composite panels under flexural loading using Strand7 computer software. It was found that the introduction of the intermediate layer of jute, hemp and MDF improved the load carrying capacity of conventional insulated panels. However, panels with jute fibre displayed less stiffness that could be a point of concern for practical applications. Experimental results indicated that delamination and debonding between the core and intermediate layers have been a major failure cause of hybrid sandwich panels. It was understood that modelling delamination between layers was fairly complex and required significantly more time which was out of the scope of this project. Therefore, modelling and analysing the bonding agent in sandwich panels is suggested for further work in the future

Pressureless sinterability study of ZrB2–SiC composites containing hexagonal BN and phenolic resin additives

This research is dedicated to the role of different amounts of hexagonal BN (hBN: 0, 1.5, 3, and 4.5 wt%) on the pressureless sinterability of ZrB2–25 vol% SiC ceramics. Phenolic resin (5 wt%) with a carbon yield of ~40 % was incorporated as a binder to the powder mixtures and after initial cold pressing, the final sintering process was performed at 1900 °C for 100 min in a vacuum furnace. The as-sintered specimens were characterized by X-ray diffractometry, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results disclosed that the incorporation of 1.5 wt% hBN could increase the relative density to ~92%, while the sample with zero hBN content just reached ~81% of full densification. Appropriate hBN content not only facilitated the particle rearrangement during the cold pressing, but also removed the harmful oxide impurities during the final sintering. Nevertheless, the addition of higher amounts of hBN remarkably lessened the densification because of more delamination of the non-reacted hBN flakes and release and entrapment of more gaseous by-products induced by the reacted hBN phases

SPHMPS 1.0 : a smoothed-particle-hydrodynamics multi-physics solver

SPHMPS 1.0, developed within a Lagrangian framework, offers a robust solution for modeling multi-structure collision problems involving large plastic deformation and inherent thermal effects. Utilizing its innovative algorithm, SPHMPS 1.0 emerges as a versatile tool for researchers in the field of fluid-rigid-elastic structure interactions. By providing a comprehensive framework tailored to address these complex phenomena, SPHMPS 1.0 facilitates reproducible, extendable, and efficient research endeavors. Implemented in Fortran, its flexible algorithm ensures adaptability to a wide range of applications requiring solutions for fluid-rigid-elastic structure interaction problems

SPH simulation of pin shape influence on material flow in friction stir welding (FSW)

A weakly compressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics (WCSPH) method is applied for modeling the material flow in friction stir welding (FSW) when three pins with triangular, square, and circular cross sections are used. A system of equations representing mass, momentum, and energy conservation is solved to understand the physics of material mixing while considering the non-Newtonian behavior of the mushy zone around the pins. A statistical study is presented, and the results demonstrate the mechanism of particles migration between two workpieces, which agrees with the experimental evidence in the literature. The obtained locus for the time history of the migrated particles between two workpieces illustrates the influence range of each pin

A Full Eulerian Wave-Body Interaction Solver for Incompressible Two-Phase Flows with High Density and Viscosity Ratios

A force-free immersed boundary method is developed based on a primitive variable formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations, using Chorin's projection method. In the proposed method, the predetermined motion of a rigid structure is considered, and the rigid domain velocity field is imposed on the formulation by patching the rigid-body motion onto the fluid domain velocity field in the predictor step of the formulation. The capability of the method in handing two-phasefluid interaction with a structure is examined. For a two-phase uid with large density and viscosity ratios, the Laplacian operator becomes discontinuous. The interface evolution under the effect of an oscillating heaving cylinder based on the setup presented in [1] is considered. Before examining the method's accuracy in solving fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems comprising two uids with high density and viscosity ratio, the classical problem of an oscillating cylinder in a quiescent fluid is considered, and the results are compared with [2] and [3]