Sharif Digital Repository

The specific fracture energy of dam concrete is a basic material characteristic needed for the prediction of concrete dam behavior. Data on fracture properties of dam concrete are quite limited to date. A series of tests was carried out based on the size effect due to a number of geometrically similar notched specimens of various sizes. Experimental tests include three-point bending tests. The specimens were of square cross section with a span to depth ratio of 2/5. Three different specimens with depth of 200, 400 and 800 mm were considered for the purpose of testing. Concrete mixtures are provided from the Caroon 3 dam project site using river gravel or commonly crushed stones from... 

In this article, a new method is proposed to identify the constants of the extended Drucker-Prager yield surface for polypropylene nanocomposites. The method is based on optimizing the difference between the numerical and the experimental results of a three-point bending test. The test specimens are made of polypropylene/nanoclay and polypropylene/nano-calcium carbonate nanocomposites with different nanoparticles content. Moreover, the effect of composite filler content on the extended Drucker-Prager constants of polypropylene, as the composite matrix, is investigated. Inasmuch as numerical simulation is usually very time-consuming and highly nonlinear, a surrogate-based model with radial... 

This paper presents and discusses the effect of maximum size of coarse aggregate on fracture characteristics and brittleness of self-compacting concrete (SCC). Based on an experimental program, a series of three point bending tests were carried out on 86 notched beams, as recommended by RILEM. For all mixes, the parameters were analyzed by the work-of-fracture method (WFM) and by the size effect method (SEM) and consequently a correlation between these methods was obtained which is used to calibrate cracking numerical models. Test results showed that with increase of size of coarse aggregate, (a): fracture energies of GF in WFM and Gf in SEM increase which may be explained by the change in... 

This paper presents the effect of volume of coarse aggregate on fracture characteristics of self- compacting concrete (SCC). Based on an experimental programme, a series of three point bending tests were carried out on 58 notched beams. SCC was prepared with coarse aggregate in varying percentages of 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% (as the percentage of the total aggregate volume). For all mixes, the fracture parameters were analyzed by the work-of- fracture method (WFM) and by the size effect method (SEM) to obtain a suitable correlation between these methods which is used to calibrate fracture numerical models. The results showed that with decrease of volume of coarse aggregate from 60% to 30% in... 

In this work, the effect of zircon content on the mechanical and chemical behaviors of injection molded silica-based ceramic cores has been investigated. In order to simulate a casting process condition, the sintered samples at 1220 C were consequently heated up to 1430 C. Three point bending tests were carried out on all the prepared samples. The chemical resistance of the prepared cores was evaluated by leaching of samples in 43% KOH solution at its boiling point. Phase evolution and microstructure were investigated by XRD and SEM, respectively. Results showed that increasing zircon content led to an increase in MOR and decrease in leachability owing to the decrease in content of fused... 

The paper describes an experimental research on fracture characteristics of self-compacting concrete (SCC). Three point bending tests conducted on 154 notched beams with different water to cement (w/c) ratios. The specimens were made from mixes with various w/c ratios from 0.7 to 0.35. For all mixes, common fracture parameters were determined using two different methods, the work-of-fracture method (WFM) and the size effect method (SEM). Test results showed that with decrease of w/c ratio from 0.7 to 0.35 in SCC: (a) the fracture toughness increases linearly: (b) the brittleness number is approximately doubled: (c) the effective size of the process zone cf in SEM and the characteristic... 

In this study, scaling effects on fiber metal laminates under tensile and three-point bending tests were investigated numerically and experimentally. The fiber metal laminate specimens were made of aluminum 1050 and unidirectional glass-epoxy. Two scaled sizes of specimens were prepared based on A1n, 0n=90n s. Some specified mechanical properties of these samples were investigated and results showed that fiber metal laminates obey scaling law under quasi-static loading. Explicit finite element code LS-DYNA was utilized for numerical simulation. After validating numerical simulation with experiments, scaling law was studied numerically for four different... 

The effect of strain rate on the ductility of a La-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) over a wide temperature range, and the correlation between ductility and relaxation processes within this alloy are investigated in the present work. The three point bending test and dynamic mechanical analysis are employed to study these phenomena. It is found that the activation energies of the nearly constant loss (NCL) relaxation and intermediate temperature brittleness are almost identical. This observation reveals that the NCL relaxation, as a locally confined or caged dynamics, contributes as the main source of intermediate temperature brittleness in La-based BMGs. © 2018 Elsevier B.V  

Lamination has been shown to enhance damage tolerance of discontinuously reinforced aluminum (DRA) composites. Doing this technique, DRA layers could be laminated with ductile interlayers. In this research, two types of laminates consisting similar DRA layers and a ductile AA1050 interlayer were fabricated by means of hot roll-bonding. AA6061-5. vol% SiCp and AA6061-15. vol% SiCp composites were considered as exterior layers. Different rolling strains, was applied to control the interfacial strength which was examined by shear test. Toughness behavior of laminates was evaluated by three-point bending test in crack-divider orientation. Based on obtained results, the plastic deformation of... 

Functionally graded aluminum matrix composites (FGAMC) are new advanced materials with promising applications due to their unique characteristics in which composite nature is combined with graded structure. Different architectures of Al6061/SiCp composite laminates were fabricated by successive hot roll-bonding. For FGAMCs, two composite layers as outer strips and a layer of Al1050 as interlayer were applied. To investigate laminate toughness, the quasi-static three-point bending test was conducted in the crack divider orientation. Genetic programming as a soft computing technique was implemented to find mathematical correlations between architectural parameters and experimentally obtained... 

This paper deals with investigation of fracture behavior of steel fiber reinforced high strength concrete (SFRHSC) and compare it to plain high strength concrete (HSC). Based on an experimental program, a series of three point bending tests were carried out on 54 notched beams, as recommended by RILEM. The fracture parameters were measured by two methods: work of fracture method (WFM) and size effect method (SEM). Then the fracture parameters obtained from these two methods were compared. The results showed that with increase of steel fibers, fracture energy of GF in WFM and Gf in SEM increase but this increase in work of fracture method is more significant. The effective size of the process... 

In this study, lamination as extrinsic mechanism was considered to enhance damage tolerance of three-layer Al6061-5%vol. SiCp/Al1050/Al6061-5%vol. SiCp composites. To fabricate laminates of dissimilar interfacial adhesion, different rolling strains were applied during hot roll-bonding. The discrepancy in interfacial strength of laminates was examined by shear test while toughness values were studied using three-point bending test. It was revealed that both interfacial adhesion and damage tolerance were influenced by rolling strain. Interfacial bonding played the major role in the energy absorption during fracture which was quantified as initiation, propagation and total toughness. The... 

Yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (Y-TZP) have been widely applied in fixed partial prostheses as well as dental uses i.e. a substructure for crowns. However, Y-TZP has limited applications, which is due to the presence of defects in its microstructure introduced during the manufacturing process. Accordingly, due to Y-TZP limitations, the novel (X)Y-TZP- 20Al2O3-(80-X) SiO2 (X = 65, 70 and 75) ceramic nanocomposites were successfully fabricated via the powder metallurgy method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of commercial powders showed the stabilization of monoclinic zirconia (ZM) by increasing the silica content. In order to determine the fracture load and micro-bending... 

Timber is one of the materials widely used in construction and industry all over the world. In this paper, the behavior of strengthened timber beams made of beech wood (Fagus orientalis) were investigated experimentally. The composite timber beams were reinforced with flat, U-shaped, and L-shaped pultruded Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) profiles. The GFRPs were attached to tensile or both tensile and compressive surfaces of beams. Altogether, 24 specimens, including 20 strengthened beams and 4 un-strengthened (control) beams, were tested under three-point bending test. Flexural behavior of specimens was evaluated through their load versus mid-span displacement curves, ultimate load... 

Mechanical alloying and hot extrusion techniques were employed to produce in-situ fully dens Al-Ti composites without applying any heat treatment. The focus of this study is the investigation of fracture toughness in produced composites in order to improve it and to explain the mechanisms responsible for the fracture. The morphology of milled powders was studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The microstructure of the extruded composites was examined by Optical Microscopy (OM) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). Moreover, the density and hardness of samples were investigated. Three point bending test of the single edge notched beam (SENB) samples was applied to...