ABSTRACT
The use of adhesively bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials to reinforce cracked steel elements has gained widespread acceptance in order to extend the lifespan of metallic structures. This allows an important reduction of the stress intensity factor (SIF) at the crack tip and thus a significant increase of the fatigue life. This paper deals with the assessment of the SIF for repaired cracked steel plates, using semi-empirical analysis and finite element analysis. Metallic plates with only one crack originating from a center hole were investigated. Virtual crack closure technique (VCCT) was used to define and evaluate the stress intensity factor at crack tip. The obtained modeling results are compared with experimental investigations led by the authors for different reinforcement configurations including symmetrical and non-symmetrical reinforcement, normal modulus and ultra-high-modulus CFRP plates, and pre-stressed CFRP plates. Results show that finite element model (FEM) analysis can obviously simulate the fatigue performance of the CFRP bonded steel plates with different reinforcement configurations. Moreover, a parametric analysis of the influence of the pre-stressing level was also conducted. The results show that an increase of the pre-stressing level results in an increase of the fatigue life of the element.
ABSTRACT
This paper deals with the characterization by Acoustic Emission technique of damages occurring in a hybrid laminate aluminium/glass during quasi-static and fatigue tests. Indeed, hybrid laminates materials metal/composites are more and more considered in structure, automotive and aerospace designs because of their good mechanical performances and lightness. To understand their damages characteristics, several types of laminates (fiber orientations, number of folds, presence or not of an aluminium sheet) have been tested. The acoustic emission analysis has been realized using statistical multi-parameters methods of data clustering: combination of Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and k-means methods in unsupervised analysis and Classification and Regression Trees (CART) in supervised analysis. Using these methods, it was possible to identify damages occurring during both quasi-static and fatigue tests. Acoustic emission parameters such as counts to peak (PCNTS), amplitude, duration, counts and frequency come out as the most relevant to classify the damage mechanisms; and with the energy parameter, friction mechanisms that can occur during fatigue tests have been sorted.
ABSTRACT
The hypothesis of the present study was that bacterial communities would differentiate under Eucalyptus camaldulensis and that an enhancement of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) density would minimize this exotic plant species effect. Treatments consisted of control plants, preplanting fertilizer application and AM inoculation. After 4 months of culture in autoclaved soil, E. camaldulensis seedlings were either harvested for growth measurement or transferred into containers filled with the same soil but not sterilized. Other containers were kept without E. camaldulensis seedlings. After 12 months, effects of fertilizer amendment and AM inoculation were measured on the growth of Eucalyptus seedlings and on soil microbial communities. The results clearly show that this plant species significantly modified the soil bacterial community. Both community structure (assessed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles) and function (assessed by substrate-induced respiration responses including soil catabolic evenness) were significantly affected. Such changes in the bacterial structure and function were accompanied by disturbances in the composition of the herbaceous plant species layer. These results highlight the role of AM symbiosis in the processes involved in soil bio-functioning and plant coexistence and in afforestation programmes with exotic tree species that target preservation of native plant diversity.
