Biaxial experiments supporting the development of constitutive theories for advanced high-temperature materials

Complex states of stress and strain are introduced into components during service in engineering applications. It follows that analysis of such components requires material descriptions, or constitutive theories, which reflect the tensorial nature of stress and strain. For applications involving stress levels above yield, the situation is more complex in that material response is both nonlinear and history dependent. This has led to the development of viscoplastic constitutive theories which introduce time by expressing the flow and evolutionary equation in the form of time derivatives. Models were developed here which can be used to analyze high temperature components manufactured from advanced composite materials. In parallel with these studies, effort was directed at developing multiaxial testing techniques to verify the various theories. Recent progress in the development of constitutive theories from both the theoretical and experimental viewpoints are outlined. One important aspect is that material descriptions for advanced composite materials which can be implemented in general purpose finite element codes and used for practical design are verified

An experimental study of biaxial yield in modified 9Cr-1Mo steel at room temperature

Described are two biaxial experiments which investigated yield, hardening, and flow behavior in modified 9Cr-1Mo steel at room temperature. The aim of these experiments was to determine whether the procedures recommended in NE Standard F9-5T for inelastic design analysis are applicable for this material in normalized and tempered condition. The first experiment investigated small offset yield behavior subsequent to radial preloads (sq rt of 3 sub sigma 12 = sub sigma 11) in tension-torsion stress space. The second experiment investigated yield behavior subsequent to nonradial preloads and also the time-dependent flow occurring during 0.5 hour periods at constant stress. The results of these experiments were qualitatively similar to those obtained earlier for types 304 and 316 stainless steel. Specifically, the von Mises yield criterion was found to provide a reasonable approximation of initial yield behavior. Although the subsequent yield surfaces suffered considerable distortion from their near-circular form after both radial and nonradial preloads, the hardening behavior was to the first order kinematic in nature. The strain-time data obtained during the 0.5 hr hold periods showed characteristics typical of creep curves. As in the case of earlier experiments, the high initial flow rates diminished more rapidly than would be estimated from elevated temperature data

A mechanism for precise linear and angular adjustment utilizing flexures

The design and development of a mechanism for precise linear and angular adjustment is described. This work was in support of the development of a mechanical extensometer for biaxial strain measurement. A compact mechanism was required which would allow angular adjustments about perpendicular axes with better than 0.001 degree resolution. The approach adopted was first to develop a means of precise linear adjustment. To this end, a mechanism based on the toggle principle was built with inexpensive and easily manufactured parts. A detailed evaluation showed that the resolution of the mechanism was better than 1 micron and that adjustments made by using the device were repeatable. In the second stage of this work, the linear adjustment mechanisms were used in conjunction with a simple arrangement of flexural pivots and attachment blocks to provide the required angular adjustments. Attempts to use the mechanism in conjunction with the biaxial extensometer under development proved unsuccessful. Any form of in stitu adjustment was found to cause erratic changes in instrument output. These changes were due to problems with the suspension system. However, the subject mechanism performed well in its own right and appeared to have potential for use in other applications

The Supernova Legacy Survey 3-year sample: Type Ia supernovae photometric distances and cosmological constraints

Aims. We present photometric properties and distance measurements of 252 high redshift Type Ia supernovae (0.15 < z < 1.1) discovered during the first three years of the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). These events were detected and their multi-colour light curves measured using the MegaPrime/MegaCam instrument at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), by repeatedly imaging four one-square degree fields in four bands. Follow-up spectroscopy was performed at the VLT, Gemini and Keck telescopes to confirm the nature of the supernovae and to measure their redshifts. Methods. Systematic uncertainties arising from light curve modeling are studied, making use of two techniques to derive the peak magnitude, shape and colour of the supernovae, and taking advantage of a precise calibration of the SNLS fields. Results. A flat ΛCDM cosmological fit to 231 SNLS high redshift type Ia supernovae alone gives Ω_M = 0.211 ± 0.034(stat) ± 0.069(sys). The dominant systematic uncertainty comes from uncertainties in the photometric calibration. Systematic uncertainties from light curve fitters come next with a total contribution of ± 0.026 on Ω_M. No clear evidence is found for a possible evolution of the slope (β) of the colour-luminosity relation with redshift

Do Three Dimensions tell us Anything about a Theory of Everything?

It has been conjectured that four-dimensional N=8 supergravity may provide a suitable framework for a `Theory of Everything', if its composite SU(8) gauge fields become dynamical. We point out that supersymmetric three-dimensional coset field theories motivated by lattice models provide toy laboratories for aspects of this conjecture. They feature dynamical composite supermultiplets made of constituent holons and spinons. We show how these models may be extended to include N=1 and N=2 supersymmetry, enabling dynamical conjectures to be verified more rigorously. We point out some special features of these three-dimensional models, and mention open questions about their relevance to the dynamics of N=8 supergravity.Comment: 20 pages Latex, 2 eps figure

Dark Matter in SuperGUT Unification Models

After a brief update on the prospects for dark matter in the constrained version of the MSSM (CMSSM) and its differences with models based on minimal supergravity (mSUGRA), I will consider the effects of unifying the supersymmetry-breaking parameters at a scale above M_{GUT}. One of the consequences of superGUT unification, is the ability to take vanishing scalar masses at the unification scale with a neutralino LSP dark matter candidate. This allows one to resurrect no-scale supergravity as a viable phenomenological model.Comment: 12 pages, 16 figures, To be published in the Proceedings of the 6th DSU Conference, Leon, Mexico, ed. D. Delepin

Phenomenological tests of the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model with MFV and flavour-blind phases

In the context of a Two-Higgs-Doublet Model in which Minimal Flavour Violation (MFV) is imposed, one can allow the presence of flavour-blind CP-violating phases without obtaining electric dipole moments that overcome the experimental bounds. This choice permits to accommodate the hinted large phase in the $B_s$ mixing and, at the same time, to soften the observed anomaly in the relation between $\epsilon_K$ and $S_{\psi K_S}$.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of "DISCRETE 2010" - December 6-11, 2010 - Rome (Italy

High-temperature constitutive modeling

Thermomechanical service conditions for high-temperature levels, thermal transients, and mechanical loads severe enough to cause measurable inelastic deformation are studied. Structural analysis in support of the design of high-temperature components depends strongly on accurate mathematical representations of the nonlinear, hereditary, inelastic behavior of structural alloys at high temperature, particularly in the relatively small strain range. Progress is discussed in the following areas: multiaxial experimentation to provide a basis for high-temperature multiaxial constitutive relationships; nonisothermal testing and theoretical development toward a complete thermomechanically path dependent formulation of viscoplasticity; and development of viscoplastic constitutive model accounting for initial anisotropy

The experimental determination of tyre model parameters

SUMMARY This report describes the analysis of a series of experiments on pneumatic tyres which were designed to test the various hypotheses: regarding the deformed shape of a tyre during the steering process. The experiments consisted of several separate tests first described in Ref. 1 and 2. a) The application of a point lateral force or a moment at one position on the tread band which is restrained at the centre of the wheel, and the measurement of the resulting lateral deflection of each point of the tyre perimeter. b) The application of a uniform force around the tyre perimeter on a hollow cylindrical former and applying a load at the centre of the wheel. c) Direct determination of tread band tension by cutting the tread band and bridging the cut by a dynamometer. d) Estimation of the bending modulus of the tread band by test on sections cut from the tread band. The analysis of the experiments is carried out by first transforming the test results into a Fourier series and determining the spectral content of the bending line with an harmonic analysis. Transfer functions of beam and string models are derived and applied to the test results. A method of considering a three parameter model is described

Integrability of irrotational silent cosmological models

We revisit the issue of integrability conditions for the irrotational silent cosmological models. We formulate the problem both in 1+3 covariant and 1+3 orthonormal frame notation, and show there exists a series of constraint equations that need to be satisfied. These conditions hold identically for FLRW-linearised silent models, but not in the general exact non-linear case. Thus there is a linearisation instability, and it is highly unlikely that there is a large class of silent models. We conjecture that there are no spatially inhomogeneous solutions with Weyl curvature of Petrov type I, and indicate further issues that await clarification.Comment: Minor corrections and improvements; 1 new reference; to appear Class. Quantum Grav.; 16 pages Ioplpp