A new yield criteria including the effect of lode angle and stress triaxiality

AbstractAccording to several experiments reported in the literature, the elastoplastic behaviour of metals depends not only on the first stress invariant (triaxiality) for the ductile damage and on the second stress invariant (equivalent von Mises stress) for the yield, but also on the third stress invariant (normalized Lode angle X) which may affect at the same time the yielding and the ductile failure.In this paper a new yield model is presented, where the yield surface depends on the Lode Angle and, eventually, also on the triaxiality ratio.The proposed model is identified by a calibration parameter expressing the degree of nonlinearity of the yield with respect to the Lode angle, and a calibration function expressing the maximum variability of the hardening stress at the two extremities of the Lode angle range, corresponding to the uniaxial and to the pure shear stress states.The proposed model has been tested against several experimental data from the literature on the Titanium alloy Ti6Al4V, including mixed tension-torsion loading which allowed to control the evolution of X and to confine its values into different narrow ranges for better investigating the Lode angle effects on the yield response

Influence of the hydrostatic and the deviatoric components of stress on ductility of metals

Failure of ductile metals occurring as microvoids growth is known to strongly depend on the stress triaxiality parameter which is a conventional measure of the first stress invariant normalized with respect to the equivalent von Mises stress, which in turn is a conventional measure of the second stress invariant. The triaxiality parameter is usually assumed to not influence the stress-strain behavior of metals according to the von Mises plasticity. The effects of the Lode angle and of the stress triaxiality are investigated here with regard to ductile failure and to the stress-strain behavior. Experimental results and numerical predictions are compared for different metals and different specimen geometries, by investigating about various failure criteria and a procedure for the post-necking stress-strain characterization. Tensile specimens and notched plates are loaded up to failure, then finite elements simulations are verified by comparison with experimental data. The verified numerical data are then used to calculate local variables within the volume of failing specimens; the knowledge of these local variables enables to predict global and local failure conditions according to the selected failure models

INTERACTION OF STRAIN RATE AND NECKING ON THE STRESS-STRAIN RESPONSE OF UNIAXIAL TENSION TESTS BY HOPKINSON BAR

Abstract The effect of the necking combined to that of the strain rate is analysed in dynamic split Hopkinson bar (SHTB) tests, by both experiments and finite elements. Experiments from the literature by Noble et al. are considered here together with other tests ran at the University of Catania. Two different characterization procedures are used for modeling the materials, leading to strain and strain rate-dependent flow stress according to the Johnson-Cook model for the Remco Iron by Noble et al., and to an MLR-based calibration for the FeN steel implemented by fortran subroutines, respectively. After satisfactory validation of the finite elements results and of the dynamic hardening models via comparison to the experimental stress-strain, a detailed investigation on the way the necking perturbation of the stress interacts with the strain rate is carried out, expecially investigating how the ratio of the flow stress/true stress evolves with the strain and the strain rate. Special modifications are introduced to the subroutine modeling the strain rate-promoted dynamic amplification of the stress; the related response from finite elements confirms the outcomes of previous papers, unveiling a new feature of the dynamic stress in SHTB tests and providing new information about the suitability and the accuracy of the modern procedures for the dynamic stress-strain characterization

Epigenomic Regulation of Androgen Receptor Signaling: Potential Role in Prostate Cancer Therapy.

Androgen receptor (AR) signaling remains the major oncogenic pathway in prostate cancer (PCa). Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is the principle treatment for locally advanced and metastatic disease. However, a significant number of patients acquire treatment resistance leading to castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Epigenetics, the study of heritable and reversible changes in gene expression without alterations in DNA sequences, is a crucial regulatory step in AR signaling. We and others, recently described the technological advance Chem-seq, a method to identify the interaction between a drug and the genome. This has permitted better understanding of the underlying regulatory mechanisms of AR during carcinogenesis and revealed the importance of epigenetic modifiers. In screening for new epigenomic modifiying drugs, we identified SD-70, and found that this demethylase inhibitor is effective in CRPC cells in combination with current therapies. The aim of this review is to explore the role of epigenetic modifications as biomarkers for detection, prognosis, and risk evaluation of PCa. Furthermore, we also provide an update of the recent findings on the epigenetic key processes (DNA methylation, chromatin modifications and alterations in noncoding RNA profiles) involved in AR expression and their possible role as therapeutic targets

Characterization of multilayer stack parameters from X-ray reflectivity data using the PPM program: measurements and comparison with TEM results

Future hard (10 -100 keV) X-ray telescopes (SIMBOL-X, Con-X, HEXIT-SAT, XEUS) will implement focusing optics with multilayer coatings: in view of the production of these optics we are exploring several deposition techniques for the reflective coatings. In order to evaluate the achievable optical performance X-Ray Reflectivity (XRR) measurements are performed, which are powerful tools for the in-depth characterization of multilayer properties (roughness, thickness and density distribution). An exact extraction of the stack parameters is however difficult because the XRR scans depend on them in a complex way. The PPM code, developed at ERSF in the past years, is able to derive the layer-by-layer properties of multilayer structures from semi-automatic XRR scan fittings by means of a global minimization procedure in the parameters space. In this work we will present the PPM modeling of some multilayer stacks (Pt/C and Ni/C) deposited by simple e-beam evaporation. Moreover, in order to verify the predictions of PPM, the obtained results are compared with TEM profiles taken on the same set of samples. As we will show, PPM results are in good agreement with the TEM findings. In addition, we show that the accurate fitting returns a physically correct evaluation of the variation of layers thickness through the stack, whereas the thickness trend derived from TEM profiles can be altered by the superposition of roughness profiles in the sample image

static and dynamic response of titanium alloy produced by electron beam melting

Abstract The suitability of Titanium alloys for many specialized applications requiring excellent performances at both static and dynamic strain rates, benefits of modern manufacturing technologies like the additive manufacturing, oriented toward the obtainment of complicated component shapes. The EBM methodology for the production of Ti6Al4V components is based on the localized melting of alloy powders by way of guided electron beams scanning the powder volume by successive planar trajectories; for this reason, the whole production process may confer a certain degree of anisotropy to the components. The material behavior of the EBM alloy may be orientation-dependent in terms of stress-strain elastoplastic response as well as in terms of damage sensitivity and ductile fracture under given triaxiality histories. The static and dynamic behavior of a sintered Ti6Al4V alloy is investigated here by way of quasistatic tension-torsion tests and dynamic tensile Hopkinson bar (SHTB) tests. The outcome of the latter experiments, compared to similar tests results from the literature concerning Ti alloy obtained by classical metallurgical techniques, gives some indications about how the technological process may affect the final performance of the material and the component

Pollen extract in association with vitamins provides early pain relief in patients affected by chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome

The therapeutic efficacy for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is currently unsatisfactory. The aim of the present study was to assess the safety and efficacy of pollen extract in association with vitamins (DEPROX 500®) in males with CP/CPPS. All patients with a diagnosis of CP/CPPS attending the same urologic centre between March and October 2012 were enrolled in this randomised controlled phase III study. Participants were randomised to receive oral capsules of DEPROX 500® (two capsules every 24 h) or ibuprofen (600 mg, one tablet three times a day) for four weeks. The National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI), International Prostate Symptom Score and Quality of Well-Being (QoL) questionnaires were used. In the intention-to-treat analysis, 87 males (25 class IIIa and 62 class IIIb) with a mean age of 33.6±5.9 years were randomly allocated to the DEPROX 500® (n=41) or ibuprofen (n=46) treatment groups. At the follow-up examination (following one month of treatment), in the DEPROX 500® group, 31/41 patients (75.6%) reported an improvement in quality of life, defined as a reduction of the NIH-CPSI total score by ≥25%, compared with 19/46 (41.3%) in the control group (P=0.002). The greater improvement in the DEPROX 500® group compared with the ibuprofen group was statistically significant (treatment difference in the NIH-CPSI pain domain, -2.14±0.51, P<0.001; QoL scores, P=0.002). All patients were negative at the Meares-Stamey test evaluation. Adverse events were less frequent in the DEPROX 500® group than in the ibuprofen group. The DEPROX 500® treatment significantly improved total symptoms, pain and quality of life compared with ibuprofen in patients with CP/CPPS, without severe side-effects

Profile of the U 5f magnetization in U/Fe multilayers

Recent calculations, concerning the magnetism of uranium in the U/Fe multilayer system have described the spatial dependence of the 5f polarization that might be expected. We have used the x-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity technique to obtain the profile of the induced uranium magnetic moment for selected U/Fe multilayer samples. This study extends the use of x-ray magnetic scattering for induced moment systems to the 5f actinide metals. The spatial dependence of the U magnetization shows that the predominant fraction of the polarization is present at the interfacial boundaries, decaying rapidly towards the center of the uranium layer, in good agreement with predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Mediterranean Diet as a Shield against Male Infertility and Cancer Risk Induced by Environmental Pollutants: A Focus on Flavonoids

The role of environmental factors in influencing health status is well documented. Heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, pesticides, ultrafine particles, produced by human activities put a strain on the body’s entire defense system. Therefore, together with public health measures, evidence-based individual resilience measures are necessary to mitigate cancer risk under environmental stress and to prevent reproductive dysfunction and non-communicable diseases; this is especially relevant for workers occupationally exposed to pollutants and/or populations residing in highly polluted areas. The Mediterranean diet is characterized by a high intake of fruits and vegetables rich in flavonoids, that can promote the elimination of pollutants in tissues and fluids and/or mitigate their effects through different mechanisms. In this review, we collected evidence from pre-clinical and clinical studies showing that the impairment of male fertility and gonadal development, as well as cancers of reproductive system, due to the exposure of organic and inorganic pollutants, may be counteracted by flavonoids

Spectroscopy of orbital ordering in La0.5Sr1.5MnO4 : A many-body cluster calculation

We have studied the orbital ordering (OO) in La0.5Sr1.5MnO4 and its soft x-ray resonant diffraction spectroscopic signature at the Mn L2, L3 edges. We have modelled the system in second quantization as a small planar cluster consisting of a central Mn atom, with the first neighbouring shells of oxygen and Mn atoms. For the effective Hamiltonian we consider Slater-Koster parameters, charge transfer and electron correlation energies obtained from previous measurements on manganites. We calculate the OO as a function of oxygen distortion and spin correlation used as adjustable parameters. Their contribution as a function of temperature is clearly distinguished with a good spectroscopic agreement.Comment: 5 pages 3 figure