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The homogenized elastic properties of polycrystals depend on the grain morphology and crystallographic orientations. For simplification purposes, the orientations of the grains are usually considered three independent Euler angles. However, experimental investigations reveal spatial correlations in these angles. The Karhunen–Loève expansion is used to generate random fields of Euler angles having exponential kernel functions with varying correlation lengths. The effective elastic moduli for numerically generated statistically equiaxed cubic polycrystals are estimated via the classical Eshelby–Kröner Self-Consistent homogenization model. The influence of the correlation lengths of the orientations’ random fields on the statistical properties of the effective elastic moduli has been investigated. Our results show that spatially correlated Euler angles could increase the variability of the homogenized elastic properties compared to the ones having uncorrelated Euler angles. Nevertheless, using independent random variables for Euler angles remains valid when correlation lengths are close to the average grain size.

l’amélioration de la durée de vie des pales éoliennes opérant dans une région aride au-delà de sa durée de vie habituelle de 20 ou 25 ans oblige leur propriétaire à augmenter le nombre des inspections dans le cadre de la maintenance préventive sachant que les coûts de maintenance et d’arrêt d’une d’éolienne ont un impact direct sur la production totale et peuvent représenter jusqu’à 25% de l’énergie produite. Sachant que dans une région poussiéreuse, les pales sont soumises à une usure érosive qui contribue à la modification de la forme aérodynamique du bord d’attaque et réduit ainsi les performances de l’éolienne. Ce papier décrive et propose une nouvelle méthode de maintenance CBM pour améliorer la durée de vie d’une pale éolienne. Les résultats expérimentaux montrent que l’utilisation de cette méthode est très efficace pour détecter toute dégradation provoquée par l’usure érosive à la surface d’une pale pendant son service.

Cet article présente les résultats d’une recherche expérimentale visant à étudier la dégradation de la surface des pales d’éoliennes situées dans des zones arides causée par les impacts de particules de sable et l’influence qui en résulte sur leur performance énergétique. Les essais sont effectués dans une sableuse à érosion puis dans la soufflerie pour la pale en fibre de verre / polyester non revêtue sous différents angles et durées d’impact. Les forces aérodynamiques sur les profiles NACA 4412 sont déterminées expérimentalement. Tous les profiles (AR = 0,571) sont testés dans une soufflerie à une vitesse de l’air de 10 m/s au nombre de Reynolds 6.5×105. Les résultats montrent les différences de comportement détectées pour les échantillons avec T = 160s, T = 240s et T = 340s (quand Ra augmente) en les comparant avec l’échantillon lisse (T = 0s, Ra = 0,94). Les coefficients de force (CL et CD) montrent des changements significatifs qui conduisent à une diminution du rapport portance-traînée et donc une perte de performance notable.

Nanoparticles (NPs) are used for drug delivery with enhanced selectivity and reduced side‐effect toxicity in cancer treatments. Based on the literature, the influence of the NPs mechanical and geometrical properties on their cellular uptake has been studied through experimental investigations. However, due to the difficulty to vary the parameters independently in such a complex system, it remains hard to efficiently conclude on the influence of each one of them on the cellular internalization of a NP. In this context, different mechanical / mathematical models for the cellular uptake of NPs have been developed. In this paper, we numerically investigate the influence of the NP's aspect ratio, the membrane tension and the cell‐NP adhesion on the uptake of the NP using the model introduced in1 coupled with a numerical stochastic scheme to measure the weight of each one of the aforementioned parameters. The results reveal that the aspect ratio of the particle is the most influential parameter on the wrapping of the particle by the cell membrane. Then the adhesion contributes twice as much as the membrane tension. Our numerical results match the previous experimental observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the dimensional variation of polypropylene composites reinforced with UD flax fibers, and the modification of its dynamical mechanical properties after moisture absorption. The effects of fiber content, coupling agent and moisture content were also examined. Results have shown that the swelling increases significantly when increasing the fiber content and the moisture content. It was also concluded that the addition of a coupling agent reduces the swelling of the composite, by improving the adhesion at the fiber/matrix interface. It is interesting to note that the coefficient of hygroscopic swelling of the composites presents a non-linear evolution, with respect to moisture content. Moreover, it was proved that the addition of fiber and the presence of a coupling agent improve the dynamical mechanical properties of the material. However, following moisture absorption, the storage modulus seems to be decreasing, which might be due to the micro-cracks created as a result of the internal swelling of fibers. Additionally, the coupling agent was found to increase the storage modulus of the composite at dry state, whereas following moisture absorption, it was found that the coupling agent does not modify the storage modulus of the material. Moreover, the results reveal that the dynamic mechanical properties of the composites are hardly dependent on the quality of the material, such as the state of the adhesion at the fiber/matrix interface, a possible misalignment of the fibers within the material and the moisture content within the material at the testing time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composite materials used in marine environments are subjected to mechanical loads along with the water absorption. The analysis of the behavior of such materials requires to take into account the coupling between the mechanical and diffusion behaviors. The hygro-mechanical coupling has been widely investigated experimentally and numerically. This paper presents a numerical approach to model the hygro-mechanical coupling of composite materials. The diffusion process is modeled via the classical Fick's law. The elasticity matrix is considered to belong to transverse isotropic class, i.e. the composite studied is a unidirectional one. The components of the former are considered as moisture content dependent. The constitutive law takes into account on the one hand the strain induced by the hygroscopic swelling and on the other hand the dependence of the mechanical properties (elastic constants along with the material ultimate strengths) on the moisture content. These are implemented in a finite element software used to investigate the influence of the hygro-mechanical coupling on the composite material behavior. The robustness of our numerical tool is investigated with some numerical case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the present study was to develop a fire thermal model able to predict the evolution of the temperature and decomposition gradient across a laminated composite structure when exposed to fire. The thermal response of composite laminate made of organic polymer matrix was investigated under severe temperature conditions as samples were exposed to high temperatures up to 750 °C. The highlight is that a behavior law for water is included in our thermo-mechanical model to estimate effects due to a moisture content field on the thermal response of composite laminates. In particular, porosity and gas pressure are strongly influenced by the presence of water in the material and modify the thermal behavior accordingly. This enabled us to propose a new approach that can be used for the prediction of hygro-thermo-chemico-mechanical post-combustion properties in a very large number of material and fire scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is to study the relevance of the diffusion parameters identified on kinetics whose saturation levels are unknown. Two types of diffusion kinetics have been considered: a Fickian and a non-Fickian kinetics. Numerical experiments, based on the generation of noisy data corresponding to reference values of diffusion parameters, have been carried out. The two models used in this study are Fick's model and the «Dual-Fick» model. Identification procedures were then applied on these data sets, truncated at different critical times. In the specific case of Dual Fick kinetics, the classical least square method was compared to an alternative approach based on the piecewise analysis of the shape of the diffusion curves. The identified parameters may deviate significantly from the expected reference values when the truncation threshold of the data set precedes the steady state. Also, these inaccurate parameters impact the predictions of global water uptake, water concentration profiles and stresses gradients through the thickness of the sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural fibers have good properties to be used as reinforcement in composite materials. The main issue is their hydrophilic behavior. So we propose here to investigate the diffusion phenomenon in such fibres. First, a brief characterization of four vegetal fibers has been achieved. We show that all fibers have a similar composition and structure despite their different origin. Then, their moisture diffusive behavior was investigated. The samples were submitted to hygro-thermal aging either in total water immersion at room temperature or in an environmental chamber at 80% relative humidity and 23°C. Various predictive models were used to simulate experimental curves. Results show that all fibers exhibit a similar diffusive behavior in a same environment. In immersion, specimens show anomalous absorption kinetics and Langmuir theory actually describes very well the diffusion kinetics in such conditions, whereas the same fibers follow a Fickian diffusion when they are exposed to vapor during relative humidity aging. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, moisture penetration in glass fiber-reinforced polymers was systematically investigated through both experiments and theoretical approaches. The diffusivities of the neat resin and those of unidirectional composite plates containing various glass fiber volume fractions have been identified through the analysis of hygro-thermal aging tests. The main aim of the present paper consists in comparing the evolutions, as a function of the fiber volume fractions, of the moisture diffusion coefficients deduced from experiments to the corresponding values, predicted by the many traditional scale transition relations available in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An advanced fire thermal model was developed to predict the evolution of the temperature and decomposition gradient across a sandwich composite structure when exposed to high temperatures (fire). This model allows the prediction of a large numbers of parameters, such as thermal expansion, gas mass storage, porosity, permeability, density, and internal pressure. The highlight of this model is that we consider, in the sandwich constituents (core and skins), additional parameters, such as changing volume porosities, other coupled constituents (as infused resin in the balsa core), and what make the main originality of the present approach: moisture content (free and bounded water). The time dependence of many parameters, i.e., among others, the combustion advancing front and mechanical properties, can be predicted in a large number of material and fire scenarios. The proposed approach was validated in the case of sandwich panels, with glass/polyester or glass/vinyl ester skins and balsa core, exposed to high temperatures up to 750 °C. The influence of water on the thermal and mechanical responses is also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Water diffusion rate is proportional to the fiber content for a constant relative humidity (RH) condition. • The addition of a coupling agent results in a lesser moisture absorption. • Moisture absorption capacity increases with the increase of the environmental RH, following a sigmoidal law. • The law of mixtures is not always applicable on bio-based composites exposed to high RH due to the containing effect of the surrounding matrix. Due to the hydrophilic behavior of natural fibers, bio-based composites made of vegetal fibers are still facing some obstacles that impair their large-scale development in the modern and promising industrial applications. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the multi-scale moisture absorption phenomena within a unidirectional bio-based composite material reinforced with flax fibers. The effect of fiber fraction, coupling agent and relative humidity on diffusion kinetics have been studied. In this work, composites are made of polypropylene matrix with various flax fiber contents, with the addition of maleic anhydride as a coupling agent. Samples were submitted to wet aging at 75% and 95% relative humidities (RH) under room temperature of 23 °C. Results have shown significant increase of moisture absorption with the increase of fiber content and relative humidity. In fact, the samples reinforced with 40% flax fiber content absorb as much as 9.15% moisture at saturation at 95% RH, whereas the samples reinforced with 20% flax fiber content only absorb 4.91% moisture at the same RH condition. However, with the addition of a coupling agent, composites undergo a decrease in moisture absorption due to an improved adhesion at the fiber/matrix interface. The moisture content of the samples reinforced with 40% flax fiber has indeed been reduced to 7.52% at 95% RH owing to the addition of the coupling agent. In this work, for the first time, the prediction of the maximum moisture absorption capacity of a bio-based composite has been studied, using a multiscale homogenization method. The obtained results highlight that once the fibers are incorporated within the matrix, the overall macroscopic property of the composite does not always satisfy the classical law of mixture, even for the maximum moisture absorption capacity. In fact, it has been concluded that the difference between the experimental results and those of the homogenization method is primarily due to a hygro-mechanical coupling, induced by the containment effect the matrix exerts on the fibers. This prediction strongly depends on the fiber content, the environmental relative humidity and the flax fiber sorption behavior which can vary from a fiber to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental concern has resulted in a renewed interest in bio-based materials. Among them, plant fibers are perceived as an environmentally friendly substitute to glass fibers for the reinforcement of composites, particularly in automotive engineering. Due to their wide availability, low cost, low density, high-specific mechanical properties, and eco-friendly image, they are increasingly being employed as reinforcements in polymer matrix composites. Indeed, their complex microstructure as a composite material makes plant fiber a really interesting and challenging subject to study. Research subjects about such fibers are abundant because there are always some issues to prevent their use at large scale (poor adhesion, variability, low thermal resistance, hydrophilic behavior). The choice of natural fibers rather than glass fibers as filler yields a change of the final properties of the composite. One of the most relevant differences between the two kinds of fiber is their response to humidity. Actually, glass fibers are considered as hydrophobic whereas plant fibers have a pronounced hydrophilic behavior. Composite materials are often submitted to variable climatic conditions during their lifetime, including unsteady hygroscopic conditions. However, in humid conditions, strong hydrophilic behavior of such reinforcing fibers leads to high level of moisture absorption in wet environments. This results in the structural modification of the fibers and an evolution of their mechanical properties together with the composites in which they are fitted in. Thereby, the understanding of these moisture absorption mechanisms as well as the influence of water on the final properties of these fibers and their composites is of great interest to get a better control of such new biomaterials. This is the topic of this review paper.