Flammability of Thick but Thermally Thin Materials including Bio-Based Materials.

The fire reaction of various types of flammable lightweight materials is investigated using a cone calorimeter. The influences of parameters such as sample density, sample mass, effective heat of combustion and heat flux on the mass loss after exposition are discussed. Interpretations of the hemp fibers' tests results lead us to propose a phenomenological model able to calculate the peak of heat release rate (pHRR) of such thermally thin materials, with or without flame retardant. A database gathering the whole results of tests performed on a large set of materials including fibers, bio-resources panels, bio-based concretes and fabrics is used to validate the proposed model. Interestingly, the model is found to be relevant also for denser wood specimens. The model is based on the distinction of the contributions of the exposed top layer and the deeper layer to the combustion. Indeed, in such materials, the heat conduction is limited (either by the intrinsic properties of the material or by the formation of an insulating char) and therefore the pHRR only depends on a limited volume of materials directly absorbing the heat flux from the radiant cone. Accuracy and limitations of the model are discussed.

Hemp-Straw Composites: Gluing Study and Multi-Physical Characterizations.

In order to meet the requirement of sustainable development, building materials are increasingly environmentally friendly. They can be partially or fully bio-based or recycled. This paper looks at the development of fully bio-based composites where agro-resources are valued as bio-based aggregates (hemp) and as binding materials (wheat). In a previous work, a feasibility study simultaneously investigated the processing and ratio of wheat straw required to ensure a gluing effect. In this paper, three kinds of hemp-straw composites are selected and compared with a hemp-polysaccharides composite. The gluing effect is analyzed chemically and via SEM. The developed composites were characterized multi-physically. They showed sufficiently high mechanical properties to be used as insulating materials. Furthermore, they showed good thermal performances with a low thermal conductivity (67.9-69.0 mW/(m · K) at 23 ° C, dry).

Plastic failure of nonlocal beams.

This paper questions the mode of collapse of some simple softening nonlocal structural systems comprising the classical cantilever beam. Nanobeams can be concerned by such an elementary model. The homogeneous cantilever beam loaded by a concentrated force at its extremity is first considered as a structural paradigm. A nonlocal plasticity model is developed in order to control the localization process induced by microcracking phenomena. An implicit gradient plasticity model equivalent to a nonlocal integral plasticity model is used in this paper. It is shown that the regularized problem is well posed. Closed-form solutions of the elastoplastic deflection are finally derived. The length of the plastic zone grows during the softening process until an asymptotic limited value, which depends on the characteristic length of the material. Scale effects are clearly obtained for these static bending tests. Other structural cases are also presented, including the simply supported beam under uniform transverse loading. It is concluded that the mode of collapse is firmly a nonlocal phenomenon.

Stability analysis of dynamic ratcheting in elastoplastic systems.

This paper deals with the stability and the dynamics of a harmonically excited elastic perfectly plastic asymmetrical oscillator. The hysteretical system is written as a nonsmooth, forced autonomous system. The dimension of the phase space can be reduced using adapted variables. It is shown that asymmetry of boundary conditions (forcing term) and material asymmetry lead to an equivalent system for this simple structural case. The forced vibration of such an oscillator is treated by a numerical approach by using time locating techniques. Stability of the limit cycles is analytically investigated with a perturbation approach. The boundary between elastoplastic shakedown and dynamic ratcheting is given in closed form. It is shown that the divergence rate is strongly correlated to the internal asymmetry of the oscillator.