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Abstract: Unit cell models have been widely used for investigating fracture mechanisms and mechanical properties of composite materials assuming periodically arrangement of inclusions in matrix. It is desirable to clarify the geometrical parameters controlling the mechanical properties of composites because they usually contain randomly distributed particulate. To begin with a tractable problem this paper focuses on the effective Young’s modulus E of heterogeneous materials. Then, the effect of shape and arrangement of inclusions on E is considered by the application of FEM through examining three types of unit cell models assuming 2D and 3D arrays of inclusions. It is found that the projected area fraction and volume fraction of inclusions are two major parameters controlling effective elastic modulus of inclusions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This research aims at developing a measurement technique on machining centers for 3D free-form contours. An autonomous measuring principle is proposed and a prototype measuring device applicable to a machining center has been produced. In the measuring device, a laser displacement detector in a narrow range, which directly detects the distance from a point on the measured surface to the reference position of the detector output, is put together with the movable part of a linear encoder on the nut of a ball screw. A stepping motor controls the laser detector position to keep the output at the central value of the detector measuring range by driving the ball screw. Both the motor and the fixed part of the linear encoder are placed on the device base. The linear encoder detects the moving displacement of the screw nut, i.e. the position change of the laser detector. By installing the base on the spindle of a machining center and moving the table along a plane perpendicular to the spindle, the laser detector can automatically follow the contour of a work piece set on the table and measure its form along a scanning line, simultaneously. The displacement of a measured point relative to the reference position of the linear encoder output on the spindle side is just equal to the sum of the outputs of the two sensors, i.e. the laser detector and the linear encoder. Moreover, a simple experimental approach to identifying the sensing direction errors for an assembled measuring device is developed. The results of some experiments are also shown, which sufficiently demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed inspection method and error identification approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An automatic technique for the quantitative measurement of micro-surface deformation of a specimen using image-processing is introduced. Static tensile and torsional tests of two kinds of electropolished carbon steels are carried out. One has a banded structure and another has not. The banded structure gives a great influence on the micro-deformation depending on the type of loads. The characteristics of micro-deformations under these static loads are made clear from the results obtained by the image-processing technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new type of honeycomb structure is proposed to enhance the energy absorption capacity for a honeycomb structure, and investigated its energy absorption efficiency (absorbed energy per unit volume) by finite element method (FEM). This model has small arc-shaped parts on the double cell wall, and can be manufactured by a similar way of standard honeycomb structures. Also, the proposed structure has large rigidity of plastic bending without increasing the mass. In this paper, effects of geometrical properties on the energy absorption characteristics are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]