Polymer matrix composites are widely used as structural components in the aerospace industry and wind turbine industry etc. to take advantage of their unique mechanical properties and weight saving ability. Although there have been considerable developments in analyzing delamination growth and effects of voids on certain mechanical properties of composites, none of the present literatures investigates the effects of voids on delamination growth under compression. In this research, a parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of voids on delamination growth in composite laminates under compression. In composite structures, delamination would be created by eccentricities in structural load path, structural discontinuities, and during manufacturing and maintenance processes. Also, the service damage such as the impact of foreign objects may also result in delamination. In the Finite Element model developed, a through-width surface delamination is assumed, and void is placed in critical locations ahead of crack tip. Strain Energy Release Rate (SERR) is calculated by the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) in order to study the delamination growth. It is found that the delamination front experiences a mixed-mode delamination behavior when local out-of-plane buckling occurs. During the loading, Mode II SERR increases monotonically while Mode I SERR increases first and then decreases as the delamination front starts to close. Meanwhile, Mode II SERR is found to be much larger than the Mode I component. The presence of void does not significantly alter the transverse displacement of the delaminated part. However, the presence of void increases the Mode II SERR, as well as the total SERR, and this increase depends on the size and location of void. For Mode I SERR, the effect of void is not that prominent.

The objective of this thesis is to develop a nondestructive evaluation method that could accurately locate and size damage in structures. The method is to be based on pre-damage and post-damage strain energies of beam and column elements. The method should apply to 1-D as well as 2-D and 3-D structures with single or multiple damage locations. To achieve the objectives listed above, the following four tasks are addressed: (1) the development of the theoretical foundations of the nondestructive evaluation theory; (2) the validation of the accuracy of the theory using exact structural deformational data generated from the static analysis of F. E. models in SAP2000; (3) the validation of the practical feasibility of the theory using approximated structural deformational data generated from the modal analyses of F.E. models in SAP2000; and (4) the application of the methodology to an existing structure. The numerical simulations of damage indicate that the proposed NDE method can clearly locate damage in the structures and provide an accurate quantitative value of damage severities, even when only a few lower frequencies and mode shapes are known. The field data analysis results indicate that the developed NDE method can locate damage and provide conservative values for damage severity estimations.

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第14836号 / 工博第3133号 / 新制||工||1469(附属図書館) / 27242 / UT51-2009-F478 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科マイクロエンジニアリング専攻 / (主査)教授 小寺 秀俊, 教授 北條 正樹, 教授 田畑 修 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

Fatigue cracking is one of the most common distresses of asphalt pavements, whereas healing is a counter process to cracking which alleviates cracking damage and extends fatigue life of asphalt pavements. Most of existing methods to characterize fatigue cracking and healing are generally empirical or phenomenological in nature, which does not satisfy the need to develop mechanistic-based pavement design methods. The objective of this study is to characterize fatigue cracking and healing of asphalt mixtures using an energy-based mechanistic approach. A controlled-strain repeated direct tension (RDT) test is selected to generate both fatigue cracking and permanent deformation in an asphalt mixture specimen. Fatigue cracking is separated from permanent deformation from a mechanical viewpoint. The development of fatigue cracking is described by the evolution of the damage density and the increase of the average crack size with the increase of loading cycles. A creep and step-loading recovery (CSR) test is designed to measure the internal stress in the recovery phase of an asphalt mixture specimen. The internal stress and the strain measured in the recovery phase are used to conduct the mechanistic analysis of recovery and healing of the asphalt mixture specimen. Then healing is described using the decrease of the damage density and average crack size with time. Different types of asphalt mixtures produce distinctly different fatigue cracking and healing characteristics. The effect of mixture composition, temperature, and aging are evaluated using the approach above. The entire series of tests for fatigue, permanent deformation and healing can be completed in one day, with the healing part requiring only a matter of minutes. The methods proposed in this study characterize fatigue cracking and healing of asphalt mixtures using its essential cause and effect relationship.

Accurate assessment of hip fracture risk is very important to prevent hip fracture and to monitor the effect of a treatment. A subject-specific QCT-based finite element model was constructed to assess hip fracture risk at the critical locations of femur during the single-leg stance and the sideways fall. The aim of this study was to improve the prediction of hip fracture risk by introducing a more proper failure criterion to more accurately describe bone failure mechanism. Hip fracture risk index was defined using the strain energy criterion, which is able to integrally consider information such as stresses, strains and material properties in bone failure. It was found that the femoral neck and the intertrochanteric region have higher fracture risk than other part of the femur, probably owing to the larger content of cancellous bone in these regions. The study results also suggested that women are more prone to hip fracture than men. The effects of different parameters such as age, body height, weight, and BMI on hip fracture risk were also investigated in this study. The findings in this study have a good agreement with those clinical observations reported in the literature. The main contributions from this study include: (1) introducing an algorithm for hip fracture risk assessment at the critical locations of femur using the strain energy criterion and QCT-based finite element modeling, (2) theoretically more reasonable definition of hip fracture risk index based on the strain energy criterion, and (3) a semi-automatic finite element analysis and automatic calculation of hip fracture risk index at the critical locations of femur using in-house developed computer codes. The proposed hip fracture risk index based on the strain energy criterion will be a promising tool for more accurate assessment of hip fracture risk. However, experimental validation should be conducted before its clinical applications. / October 2015

The applications of elastic membrane range from determining the mechanical properties of biological cells by indentation tests to predicting the deformed shape of a large commercial tent structure. In this work, direct membrane theory and a particular Varga strain energy function are used to model the indentation and puncturing of an isotropic spherical elastic membrane containing a fluid with a rigid indenter. The balance laws are applied to obtain the governing differential equations and numerical shooting method is used to solve them. Furthermore, a global mode of failure is established by computing the energy stored at the punctured membrane and this value determines a critical value for the energy of the membrane beyond which the punctured state of the membrane is energetically preferred. An additional mode of failure is identified in which the membrane loses local convexity requirements and it corresponds to the local loss of elastic behavior of the membrane. / Graduate / 0548 / deris@Uvic.ca

Collagen type I is an extracellular matrix (ECM) protein that affords tensile strength and biological scaffolding to numerous vertebrate and invertebrate tissues. This strength has been attributed to the triple-helical structure of the collagen type I molecules, their organization into fibrils, and the presence of inter-molecular, covalent, enzymatic crosslinks. There are several different types of these crosslinks; their composition is tissue-specific and dependent upon factors such as age and health. Furthermore, these enzymatic crosslinks tend to form specifically at amino/N- and carboxy/C-terminal crosslinking sites. The mechanical behavior of collagen type I has been investigated, via experiment and theory, at the level of the molecule, microfibril, fibril, and fiber. However, the influence of different enzymatic crosslinks and their location (e.g., N- vs. C-site) on the mechanics of collagen type I has not been investigated in the literature. We employed molecular dynamics to model the mechanical behavior of uncrosslinked and crosslinked ~23-nm-long molecular segments and ~65-nm-long microfibril units of collagen type I. We then used these molecular simulations to construct a model of a single collagen type I fibril by considering the ~65-nm-long microfibril units arranged in series and then in parallel. When a uniaxial deformation was applied along the long axis of the molecular models, N-crosslinks aligned rapidly at lower strains followed by C-crosslinks more gradually at higher strains, leading to a two-stage crosslink recruitment. Then when comparing the influence of different enzymatic crosslinks, significant differences were observed for the high-strain elastic moduli of our microfibril unit models, namely and in increasing order, uncrosslinked, immature crosslinked (HLKNL and deH-HLNL), mature HHL-crosslinked, and mature PYD-crosslinked. At the fibril level, our low- and high-strain elastic moduli were in good agreement with some literature data, but in over-estimation of several other literature reports. Future work will seek to address simplifications and limitations in our modeling approach. A model such as this, accounting for different enzymatic crosslink types, may allow for the prediction of the mechanics of collagen fibrils and collagenous tissues, in representation of healthy and diseased states. / Ph. D.

This thesis develops strain and kinetic energy functions and a finite beam element useful for analyzing curved beams which go through large deflections, such as a hockey stick being swung and bent substantially as it hits the ice. The resulting beam model is demonstrated to be rotation invariant and capable of computing the correct strain energy and reaction forces for a specified deformation. A method is also described by which the model could be used to perform static or dynamic simulations of a beam.

This thesis develops strain and kinetic energy functions and a finite beam element useful for analyzing curved beams which go through large deflections, such as a hockey stick being swung and bent substantially as it hits the ice. The resulting beam model is demonstrated to be rotation invariant and capable of computing the correct strain energy and reaction forces for a specified deformation. A method is also described by which the model could be used to perform static or dynamic simulations of a beam.

In this thesis, the relation between shear load and displacement for the lead-free solder (Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu) and the tin-lead solder (63Sn37Pb) are investigated. Except that, a new shear strength of the solder balls is suggested with considering the plastic strain energy of the solder balls. Three diameters of the Sn/Ag/Cu and Sn/Pb solder balls are studied. The variation of the plastic strain energies for the balls undergone different number of thermal cycles is compared. The effect of high temperature aging on the shear strength is also discussed. The difference between the failure fractures of the Sn/Ag/Cu and Sn/Pb solder ball are executed by using SEM. The experimental results show that the failure mechanism for the Sn/Ag/Cu is quite different from the Sn/Pb solder ball. Generally, the lead-free Sn/Ag/Cu solder is much ductile than the Sn/Pb solder ball in the shear test. Also the better fatigue performances are observed for the Sn/Ag/Cu solder balls.