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Recent decades have witnessed the increasing usage of deep cement mixing (DCM) mixers in the field of marine infrastructure construction. The mixing performance, including the torque history, can be helpful for structural safety evaluation, design, and the optimization of agitators, which is of engineering significance. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no related publications that have reported the mixing behaviors of deep cement mixing agitators. In light of this, the present work conducts experimental and numerical investigations of the mixing behaviors of a DCM ship mixing agitator. To achieve this end, a model test device is established, and mixing experiments using two- and three-blade mixers are respectively conducted. Silt and clay soils are considered in the experiments with a three-blade mixer, while clay soils are used for those with a two-blade mixer. In addition, this work designs a torque transducer placed inside the rotating rod to accurately measure the torque history of the agitator during model test experiments. The experimental results show that, when mixing clay using agitators with different blades, the average torque value required for a two-blade agitator is slightly larger than that for a three-blade one. This study also presents a computational framework based on the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method for an efficient and accurate modeling of the soil-mixing behaviors of the agitator. The numerical results are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data from model tests in terms of torque history, which demonstrates the effectiveness and capacity of our presented computational framework. The numerical results show that the average torque value is smaller at a higher rotational speed during the mixing of clay using a two-bladed agitator, but the effect of rotational speed on the torque history is small. The experimental and numerical methods introduced in the present work can act as a useful tool for investigations of mixing behaviors of DCM agitators.

Laminated glass is extensively used in automotive windshields, making it crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of its fracture mechanism to ensure driver and pedestrian safety in various windshield impact scenarios. Current research on the cohesive zone model of glass impact failure has encountered challenges related to accuracy and computational efficiency. This paper addresses these issues by utilizing the finite element software LS-DYNA, which integrates a cohesive zone model and thick shell (Tshell) elements to simulate and analyze the impact failure process of laminated glass. The combination of Tshell and cohesive elements was validated using a DCB example. Subsequently, the proposed method was applied to simulate the impact damage on an automobile’s front windshield, providing valuable insights from the obtained results. Finally, the influence of curvature, the number of layers, and the thickness ratio of each layer were investigated, leading to some valuable conclusions. Firstly, an increase in the thickness of the upper glass layer correlates with a decrease in the peak acceleration of the dummy-head model due to the ductility of PVB material. Secondly, when a curvature exists, the arched configuration of the windshield promotes higher resistance against impact, consequently leading to increased peak acceleration.

As one of the most important components of a vehicle, the automotive coating system is typically a multi-layer polymeric structure with complex scratch damage patterns. This work is the first one to systematically investigate the scratch performance of an automotive coating system via experimental and numerical approaches. To achieve this end, uniaxial tensile tests are firstly carried out to acquire the basic mechanical properties of paint films at different strain rates. Then, a series of scratch tests are conducted in accordance with ASTM D7027/ISO 19252 standards, and the damage features are identified. In addition, the effects of scratch speed, loading rate, and stylus type are experimentally investigated. Afterwards, a finite element approach for scratch simulations is developed, which includes a rate-dependent constitutive model calibrated using the uniaxial tensile tests, a tied interface algorithm for efficient connection between coating and substrate, and an interior contact method to avoid excessive element distortions. Eventually, with the aid of the presented numerical approach, the damage patterns observed in scratch tests are numerically explained, and the scratch damage process is reasonably surmised. The presented approaches and findings can contribute to the development of anti-scratch automotive coating structures.

Interlaminar failure caused by scratches is a common damage mode in automotive coatings and is considered the potential trigger for irreversible destruction, i.e., plowing. This work strives to numerically investigate the mechanisms responsible for the complex scratch behavior of an automotive coating system, considering the interfacial failure. A finite element model is developed by incorporating a large deformation cohesive zone model for scratch-induced debonding simulation, where the mass scaling technique is utilized to minimize computational burden while ensuring accuracy. The delamination phenomenon of the automotive coating is reproduced, and its effects on scratch damage behavior are analyzed. Accordingly, it is revealed that the interlaminar delamination would produce significant stress redistribution, which leads to brittle and ductile damage of the coating and consequently affects the formation of plowing. Eventually, parametric studies on the effects of interfacial properties are performed. They demonstrate that the shear strength and shear fracture energy dominate scratch-induced delamination.

The damage of automotive coatings caused by stone impact is a problem that has attracted great attention from automotive companies and users. In this work, experiments were conducted to investigate the dynamic tensile properties and stone-chip resistance of automotive coatings. Four kinds of paint films and three typical coatings (single-layer electrocoat coating, single-layer primer coating, and multilayered coating) were used. Under dynamic tensile load using split Hopkinson tension bar (SHTB), the engineering stress-strain curves of the paint films at medium and high strain rates (from 50 to 600 s ^−1 ) were obtained. Results indicated that the mechanical properties of the paint films exhibited strong nonlinearity and strain-rate correlation. A modified anti-impact tester was used to complete repeatable single impact tests. The effects of some key parameters, i.e., impact velocity, impact angle, and paint film thickness, on the stone-chip resistance of coatings were systematically investigated. The influence of contact type under high-speed impact conditions was investigated as well. The surface morphologies of the coatings after impact were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the failure mechanism of the coatings under normal/oblique impact was discussed. In all experiments, the paint films showed brittle fracture behavior.

A driving technical concern for the automobile industry is their assurance that developed windshield products meet Federal safety standards. Besides conducting innumerable glass breakage experiments, product developers also have the option of utilizing numerical approaches that can provide further insight into glass impact breakage, fracture, and fragmentation. The combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM) is one such tool and was used in this study to investigate 3D impact glass fracture processes. To enable this analysis, a generalized traction-separation model, which defines the constitutive relationship between the traction and separation in FDEM cohesive zone models, was introduced. The mechanical responses of a laminated glass and a glass plate under impact were then analyzed. For laminated glass, an impact fracture process was investigated and results were compared against corresponding experiments. Correspondingly, two glass plate impact fracture patterns, i.e., concentric fractures and radial fractures, were simulated. The results show that for both cases, FDEM simulated fracture processes and fracture patterns are in good agreement with the experimental observations. The work demonstrates that FDEM is an effective tool for modeling of fracture and fragmentation in glass.

The stone chip resistance performance of automotive coatings has attracted increasing attention in academic and industrial communities. Even though traditional gravelometer tests can be used to evaluate stone chip resistance of automotive coatings, such experiment-based methods suffer from poor repeatability and high cost. The main purpose of this work is to develop a CFD-DEM-wear coupling method to accurately and efficiently simulate stone chipbehaviorof automotive coatings inagravelometer test. To achieve this end, anapproachcoupling anunresolved computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method and a discrete element method (DEM) are employed to account for interactions between fluids and large particles. In order to accurately describe large particles, a rigid connection particle method is proposed. In doing so, each actual non-spherical particle can be approximately described by rigidly connecting a group of non-overlapping spheres, and particle-fluid interactions are simulated based on each component sphere. An erosion wear model is used to calculate the impact damage of coatings based on particlecoating interactions. Single spherical particle tests are performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed rigid connection particle method under various air pressure conditions. Then, the developed CFD-DEM-wear model is applied to reproduce the stone chip behavior of two standard tests, i.e., DIN 55996-1 and SAE-J400-2002 tests. Numerical results are found to be in good agreement with experimental data, which demonstrates the capacity of our developed method in stone chip resistance evaluation. Finally, parametric studies are conducted to numerically investigate the influences of initial velocity and test panel orientation on impact damage of automotive coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The requirements of cooling and weight reduction for lithium-ion battery packages in electric vehicles are increasingly important. In this paper, a liquid cooling heat dissipation structure is designed and optimized. First of all, the effects of tube diameter, spacing, thickness and layout of the cooling plate on the heat dissipation of the battery package are investigated by using computational fluid dynamics. Afterwards, based on the optimal results of the single factor analysis, an orthogonal table with four factors and three levels are constructed to perform a single-objective optimization, where the minimization of the maximum temperature is the optimization object. Meanwhile, an experiment is carried out to verify the accuracy of the simulation model. In order to further reduce the mass of the cooling plate, a multi-objective optimization is performed, where the minimization of the maximum temperature and the mass are the optimization objects. The maximum temperature is increased by 10.9% in the multi-objective optimization when compared with that in the single objective optimization. However, the mass of the cooling plate in the multi-objective optimization can drop by 82.4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 3D simulation method was developed to investigate the tire-sand interactions, where the discrete element (DE) and finite element (FE) methods were coupled. An algorithm for the contact of FE and DE was introduced. The Hertz-Mindlin theory was applied to calculate the contact force among elements. A 3D numerical model was established based on the soil-bin experiment to validate the feasibility of the method in the analysis of the tire-sand interactions. The traveling process of the smooth tire on the sandy soil was simulated and the traction performance parameters of the tire under different slip values (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60%) were obtained. The overall trend of the drawbar pull versus the slip ratio is qualitatively in agreement with current experimental results. The result also proved the feasibility of the 3D FE-DEM in the simulation of the tire-sand interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 3D discrete element model (DEM model) named cubic arranged discrete element model is proposed. The model treats the interaction between two connective discrete elements as an equivalent "beam" element. The spring constants between two connective elements are obtained based on the equivalence of strain energy stored in a unit volume of elastic continuum. Following that, the discrete element model proposed and its algorithm are implemented into the in-house developed code. To test the accuracy of the DEM model and its algorithm, the vibration process of the block, a homogeneous plate and laminated plate under impact loading are simulated in elastic range. By comparing the results with that calculated by using LS-DYNA, it is found that they agree with each other very well. The accuracy of the DEM model and its algorithm proposed in this paper is proved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An algorithm combining three-dimensional (3D) discrete and finite element methods is proposed. This new approach is conducted by decomposing the calculation domain into a finite element (FE) calculation domain and a discrete element (DE) calculation domain; the interaction between the two sub-domains is processed by using a penalty function method. Following the established model that combines spherical DEs and FEs, the corresponding numerical code is developed. The vibration process of two cantilever beams under dynamic force is simulated. By comparing the results calculated with different penalty factors set and also with that calculated by the finite element code LS-DYNA, it is found that the calculated results are unanimous and the precision is almost the same as LS-DYNA, as long as the penalty factor is large enough. Moreover, the vibration processes of two plates under impact of rigid spheres are simulated and the accuracy of the model proposed in this paper is further proved in the field of contact mechanics by comparing the simulating results with that calculated by using LS-DYNA. Finally, the impact fracture behavior of a laminated glass plate is simulated, with the influence of model parameters taken into consideration. And the numerical experiments show that the combined model can be used to predict some macroscopical physical quantities, such as the impact force of impactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]