Abstract

Abstract

This work presents a two-scale homogenization procedure to analyze three dimension composite structures by FEM. The theory implemented is compared with other micro-structural formulations: micro models and serial parallel mixing theory, in terms of result accuracy and computational cost. The comparison shows that for linear analysis, the homogenization is an excellent alternative to the other formulations. Its computational cost is substantially lower than the one required by the micro-model and it is able to capture several micro-structural phenomena that it is not automatically recorded by the serial parallel methodology. It will also be shown that the extension of the proposed theory to the non-linear range stills represents a challenge. The major limitation is its computational cost because it requires to solve the sub scale at each gauss point and load step. However, the comparison shows that this cost is in terms of CPU time but not in terms of memory. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that the homogenization is an excellent alternative for simulation of materials with complex micro structures. The method is also very promising for non linear simulations, when coupled with a threshold criteria to decide whether it is necessary to analyze the RVE or not.

Abstract

Recently, highway and construction industries utilize a substantial quantity of conventional aggregates. The increasing demands for conventional aggregate cause an increase in the cost of construction, reduction of natural resources, and continuing deterioration of the earth's surface. On the other hand, the waste generated from the marble industries during the process of cutting and polishing was increasing day by day all over the world. In Ethiopia, the use of Marble Waste Aggregate materials in road construction as a base course material was not well-known, and it was simply wasted at every place where the marble production was continuing. Therefore, this paper focused on evaluating the possibility of using marble waste aggregate as conventional aggregate in the base course layer of flexible pavements by experimental method. To achieve the objectives of the research, mechanical stabilization and laboratory tests have been carried out at different percentage replacement of Conventional Aggregate by (0%, 20%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 80%, and 100%) of Marble Waste Aggregate weights. Marble wastes materials are collected from Burayyu city, Alisha marble processing industry. The laboratory test results for MWA indicated SG, ACV, AIV, LAA, Flakiness Index , Elongation Index, Plastic Index, Water Absorption, and CBR of 2.74%, 23.63%, 26.21%, 27.03%, 26.48%, 13.29%, Non Plastic, 0.50% and 73.3%, respectively. These test results fulfilled the ERA standard specification for some tests, and they showed marginal quality values to the standard specification for GB2 and GB3 base course materials. CBR and gradation test results shown failure to meet the standard specification. Thus, mechanical stabilization was done to improve the mechanical and physical properties of the Marble Waste Aggregate. Blending of 80%MWA with 20% CA results in SG, ACV, AIV, LAA, Flakiness Index, Elongation Index, Plastic Index, Water Absorption, and CBR of 2.83%, 18.2%, 21.52%, 22.58%, 23.79%, 16.29%, Non Plastic, 0.80%,and 82.5% respectively. At this proportion, the gradation also observed to fit with the required ERA standard specification of GB2 and GB3 materials. Therefore, the use of marble waste aggregate up to 80% by weight is recommended for the road base course layer, when it is found near to the construction site and in places where the materials are abundantly available.

Abstract

Fiber network modeling can be used for studying mechanical properties of paper [1]. The individual fibers and the bonds in-between constitute a detailed representation of the material. However, detailed microscale fiber network models must be resolved with efficient numerical methods. In this work, a numerical multiscale method for discrete network models is proposed that is based on the localized orthogonal decomposition method [4]. The method is ideal for these network problems, because it reduces the maximum size of the problem, it is suitable for parallelization, and it can effectively solve fracture propagation. The problem analyzed in this work is the nodal displacement of a fiber network given an applied load. This problem is formulated as a linear system that is solved by using the aforementioned multiscale method. To solve the linear system, the multiscale method constructs a low-dimensional solution space with good approximation properties [5, 2]. The method is observed to work well for unstructured fiber networks, with optimal rates of convergence obtainable for highly localized configurations of the method.

Abstract