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The Nuclotron-base Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) is under construction at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), with commissioning of the facility expected in late 2022. The Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD) has been designed to operate at NICA and its components are currently in production. The detector is expected to be ready for data taking with the first beams from NICA. This document provides an overview of the landscape of the investigation of the QCD phase diagram in the region of maximum baryonic density, where NICA and MPD will be able to provide significant and unique input. It also provides a detailed description of the MPD set-up, including its various subsystems as well as its support and computing infrastructures. Selected performance studies for particular physics measurements at MPD are presented and discussed in the context of existing data and theoretical expectations., Comment: 53 pages, 68 figures, submitted as a Review article to EPJA

Accurate analysis of plastic strain accumulation under stress-controlled cyclic loading is vital for numerous engineering applications. Typically, models of plastic ratcheting are calibrated against available experimental data. Since actual experiments are not exactly accurate, one should check the identification protocols for pathological dependencies on experimental errors. In this paper, a step-by-step algorithm is presented to estimate the sensitivities of identified material parameters. As a part of the sensitivity analysis method, a new mechanics-based metric in the space of material parameters is proposed especially for ratcheting-related applications. The sensitivity of material parameters to experimental errors is estimated, based on this metric. For demonstration purposes, the accumulation of irreversible strain in the titanium alloy VT6 (Russian analog of Ti-6Al-4V) is analysed. Three types of phenomenological models of plastic ratcheting are considered. They are the Armstrong-Frederick model as well as the first and the second Ohno-Wang models. Based on real data, a new rule of isotropic hardening is proposed for greater accuracy of simulation. The ability of the sensitivity analysis to determine reliable and unreliable parameters is demonstrated. The plausibility of the new method is checked by alternative approaches, like the consideration of correlation matrices and validation of identified parameters on "unseen" data. A relation between pathological error sensitivity and overparametrization is established., Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures

The study is devoted to geometrically non-linear modelling of viscoplastic structures with residual stresses. We advocate and develop a special approach to residual stresses based on the transition between reference configurations. The finite strain kinematics of the viscoplastic material is modelled by the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient tensor. Numerical algorithms originally developed for unstressed materials are extended to materials with pre-stresses. Owing to the weak invariance of constitutive equations, the incorporation of pre-stresses happens without additional costs. Thus, the advocated approach is especially efficient. A novel experimental/theoretical method for assessment of residual stresses in welded structures is presented; the method combines advantages of purely experimental and theoretical approaches. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed procedure, we simulate plate welding. As an example we show that the procedure allows to extrapolate the filed of residual stresses away from the measurement points. As another example, we address the reduction of weldment-related residual stresses by mechanical treatment., Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures

Modelling of mechanical behaviour of pre-stressed fibre-reinforced composites is considered in a geometrically exact setting. A general approach which includes two different reference configurations is employed: one configuration corresponds to the load-free state of the structure and another one to the stress-free state of each material particle. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated in terms of a viscoelastic material model; both the matrix and the fibre are modelled using a multiplicative split of the deformation gradient tensor; a transformation rule for initial conditions is elaborated and specified. Apart from its simplicity, an important advantage of the approach is that well-established numerical algorithms can be used for pre-stressed inelastic structures. The interrelation between the advocated approach and the widely used "opening angle" approach is clarified. A full-scale FEM simulation confirms the main predictions of the "opening angle" approach. A locking effect is discovered; the effect is that in some cases the opening angle of the composite is essentially smaller than the opening angles of its individual layers. Thus, the standard cutting test typically used to analyse pre-stresses does not carry enough information and more refined experimental techniques are needed., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures

The analyzing powers for proton elastic scattering ($\vec p A\to pX$) and neutron charge exchange ($\vec n A\to p X$) reactions on nuclei have been measured on $ C$, $CH$, $CH_2$ and $Cu$ targets at incident neutron momenta 3.0 - 4.2 GeV/c by detecting one charged particle in forward direction. The polarized neutron measurements are the first of their kind. The experiment was performed using the Nuclotron accelerator in JINR Dubna, where polarized neutrons and protons were obtained from breakup of a polarized deuteron beam which has a maximum momentum of 13 GeV/c. The polarimeter ALPOM2 was used to obtain the analyzing power dependence on the transverse momentum of the final-state nucleon. These data have been used to estimate the figure of merit of a proposed experiment at Jefferson Laboratory to measure the recoiling neutron polarization in the quasi-elastic $^2H(\vec e,e'\vec n)$ reaction, which yields information on the charge and magnetic elastic form factors of the neutron., Comment: 14 pages and 19 figures

A special aspect of parameter identification in finite-strain elasto-plasticity is considered. Namely, we analyze the impact of the measurement errors on the resulting set of material parameters. In order to define the sensitivity of parameters with respect to the measurement errors, a mechanics-based distance between two sets of parameters is introduced. Using this distance function, we assess the reliability of certain parameter identification procedures. The assessment involves introduction of artificial noise to the experimental data; the noise can be both correlated and uncorrelated. An analytical procedure to speed up Monte Carlo simulations is presented. As a result, a simple tool for estimating the robustness of parameter identification is obtained. The efficiency of the approach is illustrated using a model of finite-strain elasto-plasticity, which accounts for combined isotropic and kinematic hardening. It is shown that dealing with correlated measurement errors, most stable identification results are obtained for non-diagonal weighting matrix. At the same time, there is a conflict between the stability and accuracy., Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables

The study is devoted to the geometrically nonlinear simulation of fiber-reinforced composite structures. The applicability of the multiplicative approach to the simulation of viscoelastic properties of a composite material is assessed, certain improvements are suggested. For a greater accuracy in applications involving local compressive fiber buckling, a new family of hyperelastic potentials is introduced. This family allows us to account for the variable critical compressive stress, which depends on the fiber-matrix interaction. For the simulation of viscoelasticity, the well-established Sidoroff decomposition of the deformation gradient is implemented. To account for the viscosity of the matrix material, the model of Simo and Miehe (1992) is used; highly efficient iteration-free algorithms are implemented. The viscosity of the fiber is likewise described by the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient, leading to a scalar differential equation; an efficient iteration-free algorithm is proposed for the implicit time stepping. The accuracy and convergence of the new iteration-free method is tested and compared to that of the standard scheme implementing the Newton iteration. To demonstrate the applicability of the approach, a pressurized multi-layer composite pipe is modelled; the so-called stretch inversion phenomenon is reproduced and explained. The stress distribution is obtained by a semi-analytical procedure; it may serve as a benchmark for FEM computations. Finally, the issue of the parameter identification is addressed., Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables

The spin program at NICA using SPD and MPD requires high intensity polarized proton beam with high value of the beam polarization. First results on the measurements of the proton beam polarization performed at internal target at Nuclotron are reported. The polarization of the proton beam provided by new source of polarized ions has been measured at 500 MeV using quasielastic proton-proton scattering and DSS setup at internal target. The obtained value of the vertical polarization of ~35 % is consistent with the calculations taking into account the current magnetic optics of the Nuclotron injection line., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures

A popular version of the finite strain Maxwell fluid is considered, which is based on the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient tensor. The model combines Newtonian viscosity with hyperelasticity of Mooney-Rivlin type; it is a special case of the viscoplasticty model proposed by Simo and Miehe (1992). A simple, efficient and robust implicit time stepping procedure is suggested. Lagrangian and Eulerian versions of the algorithm are available, with equivalent properties. The numerical scheme is iteration free, unconditionally stable and first order accurate. It exactly preserves the inelastic incompressibility, symmetry, positive definiteness of the internal variables, and w-invariance. The accuracy of the stress computations is tested using a series of numerical simulations involving a non-proportional loading and large strain increments. In terms of accuracy, the proposed algorithm is equivalent to the modified Euler backward method with exact inelastic incompressibility; the proposed method is also equivalent to the classical integration method based on exponential mapping. Since the new method is iteration free, it is more robust and computationally efficient. The algorithm is implemented into MSC.MARC and a series of initial boundary value problems is solved in order to demonstrate the usability of the numerical procedures., Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables

A new phenomenological model of cyclic creep is proposed which is suitable for applications involving finite creep deformations of the material. The model accounts for the the effect of the transient increase of the creep strain rate upon the load reversal. In order to extend the applicability range of the model, the creep process is fully coupled to the classical Kachanov-Rabonov damage evolution. As a result, the proposed model describes all the three stages of creep. Large strain kinematics is described in a geometrically exact manner using the assumption of a nested multiplicative split, originally proposed by Lion for finite strain plasticity. The model is thermodynamically admissible, objective, and w-invariant. Implicit time integration of the proposed evolution equations is discussed. The corresponding numerical algorithm is implemented into the commercial FEM code MSC.MARC. Using this code, the model is validated using real experimental data on cyclic torsion of a thick-walled tubular specimen made of the D16T aluminium alloy. The numerically computed stress distribution exhibits a "skeletal point" within the specimen., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures

The Multipurpose Detector (MPD) \cite{cite1.MPD_CDR} is designed to study of hot and dense baryonic matter in collisions of heavy ions over the atomic mass range 1--197 at the centre of mass energy up to $\sqrt{S_{NN}}$ = 11 GeV (for Au79+). The MPD experiment will be carried out at the JINR accelerator complex NICA \cite{cite2.NICA_CDR} which is under construction. The barrel part of the MPD consists of various detectors surrounding the interaction point. It includes a precise tracking system (time projection chamber (TPC) and silicon inner tracker (IT)) and high-performance particle identification system based on time-of-flight (TOF) and calorimeter (ECal). The triple-stack multigap resistive plate chamber is chosen as an active element of the TOF. It provides good time resolution and long term stability. This article presents parameters of the MRPC obtained using the deuteron beam of JINR accelerator Nuclotron. The time resolution is $\sim$40 ps with efficiency of 99\%. Rate capability studies resulted with a time resolution of 60 ps and efficiency higher than 90\% on the beam with particle flux densities up to 2 kHz/cm$^2$., Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, Proceedings of the XIII Workshop on Resistive Plate Chambers and Related Detectors (RPC2016), February 22 - 26, 2016, Ghent, Belgium

An efficient and reliable stress computation algorithm is presented, which is based on implicit integration of the local evolution equations of multiplicative finite-strain plasticity/viscoplasticity. The algorithm is illustrated by an example involving a combined nonlinear isotropic/kinematic hardening; numerous backstress tensors are employed for a better description of the material behavior. The considered material model exhibits the so-called weak invariance under arbitrary isochoric changes of the reference configuration, and the presented algorithm retains this useful property. Even more: the weak invariance serves as a guide in constructing this algorithm. The constraint of inelastic incompressibility is exactly preserved as well. The proposed method is first-order accurate. Concerning the accuracy of the stress computation, the new algorithm is comparable to the Euler Backward method with a subsequent correction of incompressibility (EBMSC) and the classical exponential method (EM). Regarding the computational efficiency, the new algorithm is superior to the EBMSC and EM. Some accuracy tests are presented using parameters of the aluminum alloy 5754-O and the 42CrMo4 steel. FEM solutions of two boundary value problems using MSC.MARC are presented to show the correctness of the numerical implementation., Comment: 33 pages, 12 figures

We address the prediction of ductile damage and material anisotropy accumulated during plastic deformation of metals. A new model of phenomenological metal plasticity is proposed which is suitable for applications involving large deformations of workpiece material. The model takes combined nonlinear isotropic/kinematic hardening, strain-driven damage and rate-dependence of the stress response into account. Within this model, the work hardening and the damage evolution are fully coupled. The description of the kinematics is based on the double multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient proposed by Lion. An additional multiplicative decomposition is introduced in order to account for the damage-induced volume increase of the material. The model is formulated in a thermodynamically admissible manner. Within a simple example of the proposed framework, the material porosity is adopted as a rough measure of damage. A new simple void nucleation rule is formulated based on the consideration of various nucleation mechanisms. In particular, this rule is suitable for materials which exhibit a higher void nucleation rate under torsion than in case of tension. The material model is implemented into the FEM code Abaqus and a simulation of a deep drawing process is presented. The robustness of the algorithm and the performance of the formulation is demonstrated., Comment: 35 pages, 10 figures

There is a large variety of concepts used to generalize the classical Prandtl-Reuss relations of infinitesimal elasto-plasticity to finite strains. In this work, some basic approaches are compared in a qualitative way with respect to a certain invariance property. These basic approaches include the additive hypoelasto-plasticity with corotational stress rates, additive plasticity in the logarithmic strain space, and multiplicative hyperelasto-plasticity. The notion of weak invariance is introduced in this study. Roughly speaking, a material model is weakly invariant under a certain transformation of the local reference configuration if this reference change can be neutralized by a suitable transformation of initial conditions, leaving the remaining constitutive relations intact. We analyse the basic models in order to find out if they are weakly invariant under arbitrary volume-preserving transformations of the reference configuration. It is shown that the weak invariance property corresponds to a generalized symmetry which provides insights into underlying constitutive assumptions. This property can be used for a systematic study of different frameworks of finite strain elasto-plasticity. In particular, it can be used as a classification criterion., Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures