CRACK-TIP SHIELDING AND ANTI-SHIELDING BY A BIMATERIAL INTERFACE

Abstract Spacial variations of the mechanical properties have a shielding or anti-shielding effect on the crack tip by inducing an additional crack driving force term, the material inhomogeneity term, C inh . This paper explores this effect by studying the influence of a sharp bimaterial interface on the effective crack driving force in a fracture mechanics specimen. Linear elastic or elastic -ideally plastic materials are assumed with a mismatch in the elastic modulus and/or yield stress at the interface. Following a numerical stress analysis, the material inhomogeneity term, C inh , is obtained by post-processing. This parametric study is especially focused on the effect of the distance between the crack tip and the interface

Rapid establishment of the European Bank for induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (EBiSC):The Hot Start experience

A fast track “Hot Start” process was implemented to launch the European Bank for Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (EBiSC) to provide early release of a range of established control and disease linked human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines. Established practice amongst consortium members was surveyed to arrive at harmonised and publically accessible Standard Operations Procedures (SOPs) for tissue procurement, bio-sample tracking, iPSC expansion, cryopreservation, qualification and distribution to the research community. These were implemented to create a quality managed foundational collection of lines and associated data made available for distribution. Here we report on the successful outcome of this experience and work flow for banking and facilitating access to an otherwise disparate European resource, with lessons to benefit the international research community. eTOC: The report focuses on the EBiSC experience of rapidly establishing an operational capacity to procure, bank and distribute a foundational collection of established hiPSC lines. It validates the feasibility and defines the challenges of harnessing and integrating the capability and productivity of centres across Europe using commonly available resources currently in the field

The use of cyclic DJ q as a parameter for fatigue initiation of X52 steel

International audienceThe concept of DJ cyclic has been extended to fatigue initiation emanating from notch. The parameter is then named DJ q. Validation of this parameter is made by fatigue tests made on Roman tile specimens made in X52 pipe steel. Here, fatigue initiation is detected by acoustic emission. It has been found that the fatigue initiation decreases after hydrogen absorption. This can be explained by interaction of hydrogen and plasticity as can be seen for tensile and fracture behaviour of X52 steel after introduction of hydrogen

Crack driving force in twisted plywood structures

Twisted plywood architectures can be observed in many biological materials with high fracture toughness, such as in arthropod cuticles or in lamellar bone. Main purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of the progressive rotation of the fiber direction on the spatial variation of the crack driving force and, thus, on the fracture toughness of plywood-like structures. The theory of fiber composites is used to describe the stiffness matrix of a twisted plywood structure in a specimen-fixed coordinate system. The driving force acting on a crack propagating orthogonally to the fiber-rotation plane is studied by methods of computational mechanics, coupled with the concept of configurational forces. The analysis unfolds a spatial variation of the crack driving force with minima that are beneficial for the fracture toughness of the material. It is shown that the estimation of the crack driving force can be simplified by replacing the complicated anisotropic twisted plywood structure by an isotropic material with appropriate periodic variations of Young’s modulus, which can be constructed based either on the local stiffness or local strain energy density variations. As practical example, the concepts are discussed for a specimen with a stiffness anisotropy similar to lamellar bone