The Journal of Strain Analysis for Engineering Design

Axially heavy-loaded screw pairs are widely used in rolling mill press systems and other heavy equipment. During the working process, the nut is pressed at both ends, which causes equivalent stress at the thread roots in a U-shaped distribution along the height. Thread roots at the ends tend to suffer fracture failure when the equivalent stress is too great. In this article, the finite element software ANSYS is used to establish a 3D model of screw pairs and analyse bearing characteristics. A new structure based on the results of finite element analysis, which improves U-shaped stress distribution, is proposed for the axially uniform-loaded nut, with a different strain–displacement relationship between the nut matrix and the thread teeth. Such a relationship can greatly reduce peak stress at the thread roots of the nut on both ends. Experiments are conducted on the nut using the electrometric method. Results are compared with the finite element results to directly verify the reliability of the finite element model of ordinary screw pairs and indirectly verify the reliability of the structural model of new screw pairs.

This article aims to analyse the influence of temperature and strain rate on the mechanical behaviour of the high-chromium martensitic steel X20CrMoV12-1. The analysis is based on two series of high-temperature uniaxial tensile tests. In a first series, the tensile tests are conducted until rupture, and temperature as well as strain rate are varied systematically. The corresponding stress–strain curves show an extended softening stage. In order to examine softening, it is crucial to distinguish between microstructural changes and strain localisation due to necking. For this reason, a tensile test at low strain rate is performed several times, while the test is terminated at different strain levels in order to examine the onset of necking. Based on the test results and surface measurements of the deformed specimens, the strain level at which necking starts is determined, and possible interactions between softening and necking are discussed. The tensile tests have been conducted in order to calibrate a mechanical model which supplies reliable predictions on the material behaviour under different loading scenarios at elevated temperatures. For this reason, a framework based on microstructural processes is presented in the second part of the article. The model applies a binary mixture approach in conjunction with an iso-strain concept. Furthermore, backstress and softening variables are introduced to consider hardening and softening effects. This procedure results in a system of three differential equations describing the mechanical behaviour.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of size on the mixed-mode fracture toughness of quasi-brittle nanocomposites with the help of modified maximum tangential stress criterion. The literature reveals that the effect of size on mixed-mode fracture behavior of brittle nanocomposites has not been well investigated previously using modified maximum tangential stress criterion. The studied nanocomposites were made of epoxy resin reinforced with 7 wt%, 20–30 nm nanosilica. The accuracy of the method was assessed by taking into account the high-order terms of Williams series expansion along with finite element over-deterministic method. To investigate the effect of size on fracture toughness, a number of three-point semi-circular bending tests with different radii and four angles of edge–crack orientation were conducted and subjected to mixed-mode loading. The size of fracture process zone and apparent fracture toughness (K_c) were also evaluated as a function of sample size. Experimental results showed that the proposed approach can accurately predict the fracture behavior of studied nanocomposites.

Pulsating hydroforming is a novel forming technique that applies pulsating hydraulic pressure to deform tubular materials. Larger expansions and more uniform wall thicknesses in tubes have reportedly been achieved using this technique. However, periodic oscillations of hydraulic pressure acting on the tubes during pulsating hydroforming make the tube deformation behaviour and formability unpredictable. Forming limit diagrams, which consist of two forming limit curves in a major–minor strain coordinate system, are widely used to indicate the formability of sheet materials in plastic deformation. The comparable use of forming limit diagrams to indicate the formability of tubular materials under the pulsating action of hydroforming has not been previously established. In this study, pulsating and non-pulsating hydro-bulging experiments were performed on SS304 stainless steel tubes. Under distinct tension–compression and tension–tension strain states with and without active axial feeding, the forming limit curves for the deformed tubes were constructed based on the experimental data. The effects of various hydraulic pressure pulsating parameters, including pulsating amplitude and frequency, on the forming limit curves were analysed and compared. The experimental results showed that each of the forming limit curves under pulsating hydro-bulging was higher than the forming limit curves under non-pulsating hydro-bulging, thereby confirming the influence of the pulsating parameters. In general, the height of the forming limit curves increased as the pulsating amplitude and frequency increased, largely independent of the tension–compression and tension–tension states. Overall, the results showed that the proposed method for determining the forming limit curves (and the subsequent forming limit diagram) for tubes during pulsating hydro-bulging is feasible.

Formability of AA5182-O aluminum alloy sheets in the warm working temperature range has been studied. Forming limit strains of sheets of two different thicknesses have been determined experimentally in different modes of deformation (biaxial tension, plane strain and tension–compression) by varying temperature and punch speed. A correlation has been established for plane strain intercept of the forming limit diagram (FLD₀) with temperature, punch speed and thickness from the experimental results. This correlation has been used to plot the forming limit diagrams for failure prediction in the finite element analysis of warm deep drawing of cylindrical cups. The effect of strain and strain rate on material flow behavior has been incorporated using a strain rate–sensitive power hardening law in which the strain hardening exponent and strain rate sensitivity index have been experimentally determined. The predictions from simulations have been validated by warm deep drawing experiments. Large improvement in accuracy of failure prediction has been observed using the FLDs plotted based on the developed correlation when compared to the existing method of calculating FLD₀ using only strain hardening coefficient and thickness. The results clearly indicate the importance of incorporating temperature and punch speed in failure prediction of Al alloys using FLDs in the warm working temperature range.