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The purpose of this paper is to develop and parameterize a time‐invariant (equilibrium) material mechanical model for segmented polyureas, a class of thermoplastically linked co‐polymeric elastomers, using experimental data available in open literature.

The key components of the model are developed by first constructing a simple molecular‐level microstructure model and by relating the microstructural elements and intrinsic material processes to the material mechanical response. The new feature of the present material model relative to the ones currently used is that the physical origin and the evolution equation for the deformation‐induced softening and inelasticity observed in polyureas are directly linked to the associated evolution of the soft‐matrix/hard segment molecular‐level microstructure of this material. The model is first developed for the case of uniaxial loading, parameterized using one set of experimental results and finally validated using another set of experimental results.

The validation procedure suggested that the model can reasonably well account for the equilibrium mechanical response of polyureas under the simple uniaxial loading conditions.

The present approach enables a more accurate determination of the mechanical behavior of polyurea and related elastomeric materials.

The purpose of this paper is to study the mechanical response of polyurea, soda-lime glass (glass, for short), polyurea/glass/polyurea and glass/polyurea/glass sandwich structures under dynamic-loading conditions involving propagation of planar longitudinal shockwaves.

The problem of shockwave generation, propagation and interaction with material boundaries is investigated using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics. The results obtained are used to construct basic shock Hugoniot relationships associated with the propagation of shockwaves through a homogeneous material (polyurea or glass, in the present case). The fidelity of these relations is established by comparing them with their experimental counterparts, and the observed differences are rationalized in terms of the microstructural changes experienced by the shockwave-swept material. The relationships are subsequently used to predict the outcome of the interactions of shockwaves with polyurea/glass or glass/polyurea material boundaries. Molecular-level simulations are next used to directly analyze the same shockwave/material-boundary interactions.

The molecular-level simulations suggested, and the subsequent detailed microstructural analyses confirmed, the formation of topologically altered interfacial regions, i.e. polyurea/glass and glass/polyurea interphases.

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is a first attempt to analyze, using molecular-level simulation methods, the interaction of shockwaves with material boundaries.

The purpose of this paper is to address the problems of interaction of tensile stress-waves with polyurea/fused-silica and fused-silica/polyurea interfaces, and the potential for the accompanying interfacial decohesion.

The problems are investigated using all-atom non-equilibrium molecular-dynamics methods and tools. Before these methods/tools are employed, previously determined material constitutive relations for polyurea and fused-silica are used, within an acoustic-impedance-matching procedure, to predict the outcome of the interactions of stress-waves with the material-interfaces in question. These predictions pertain solely to the stress-wave/interface interaction aspects resulting in the formation of transmitted and reflected stress- or release-waves, but do not contain any information regarding potential interfacial decohesion. Direct molecular-level simulations confirmed some of these predictions, but also provided direct evidence of the nature and the extent of interfacial decohesion. To properly model the initial state of interfacial cohesion and its degradation during stress-wave-loading, reactive forcefield potentials are utilized.

Direct molecular-level simulations of the polyurea/fused-silica interfacial regions prior to loading revealed local changes in the bonding structure, suggesting the formation of an interphase. This interphase was subsequently found to greatly affect the polyurea/fused-silica decohesion strength.

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is the first public-domain report of the use of the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics and reactive force-field potentials to study the problem of interfacial decohesion caused by the interaction of tensile waves with material interfaces.

This paper aims to investigate and prepare the composite polyurea greases with excellent thermal stability and tribological properties.

In this paper, composite Ba-based (Ba, barium) tetra-polyurea lubricating greases were prepared with two different methods: mixing Ba-based gelatinizer and tetra-polyurea gelatinizer by a physical method; and introducing barium carboxylate into tetra-polyurea molecules by a chemical method. The properties of the products, such as heat stability, water resistance and friction performance, were analyzed with thermogravimetry, water-resistance test and four-ball friction test.

The results indicated that the products obtained by chemically introducing barium carboxylate into tetra-urea molecules showed better elevated temperature tribological properties, and the disadvantages of the polyurea greases with high temperature hardening were also obviously improved. The cone penetration rate at 180°C for 24 h is only 3 per cent. The friction coefficient can be decreased to 0.44 and the last non-seizure load value was increased from 560 N to 1,120 N without any other additives.

The research is significant because the prepared composite grease showed excellent performances, such as the outstanding thermal stability, water resistance and excellent extreme pressure and anti-wear properties, which may be widely applied in steel, metallurgy, bearings and other industrial fields.

Polyurea is an elastomeric two-phase co-polymer consisting of nanometer-sized discrete hard (i.e. high glass transition temperature) domains distributed randomly within a soft (i.e. low glass transition temperature) matrix. A number of experimental investigations reported in the open literature clearly demonstrated that the use of polyurea external coatings and/or internal linings can significantly increase blast survivability and ballistic penetration resistance of target structures, such as vehicles, buildings and field/laboratory test-plates. When designing blast/ballistic-threat survivable polyurea-coated structures, advanced computational methods and tools are being increasingly utilized. A critical aspect of this computational approach is the availability of physically based, high-fidelity polyurea material models. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In the present work, an attempt is made to develop a material model for polyurea which will include the effects of soft-matrix chain-segment molecular weight and the extent and morphology of hard-domain nano-segregation. Since these aspects of polyurea microstructure can be controlled through the selection of polyurea chemistry and synthesis conditions, and the present material model enables the prediction of polyurea blast-mitigation capacity and ballistic resistance, the model offers the potential for the “material-by-design” approach.

The model is validated by comparing its predictions with the corresponding experimental data.

The work clearly demonstrated that, in order to maximize shock-mitigation effects offered by polyurea, chemistry and processing/synthesis route of this material should be optimized.

Polyurea falls into a category of elastomeric co‐polymers in which, due to the presence of strong hydrogen bonding, the microstructure is of a heterogeneous nature and consists of a compliant/soft matrix and stiff/hard nanometer size hard domains. Recent investigations have shown that the use of polyurea as an external or internal coating/lining had substantially improved ballistic‐penetration resistance of metallic structures. The present work aims to use computational methods and tools in order to assess the shock‐mitigation ability of polyurea when used in the construction of different components (suspension‐pads, internal lining and external coating) of a combat helmet.

Shock‐mitigation capability of combat helmets has become an important functional requirement as shock‐ingress into the intra‐cranial cavity is known to be one of the main causes of traumatic brain injury (TBI). To assess the shock mitigation capability of polyurea, a combined Eulerian/Lagrangian fluid/solid transient non‐linear dynamics computational analysis of an air/helmet/head core sample is carried out and the temporal evolution of the axial stress and particle velocities (for different polyurea augmented helmet designs) are monitored.

The results obtained show that improvements in the shock‐mitigation performance of the helmet are obtained only in the case when polyurea is used as a helmet internal lining and that these improvements are relatively small. In addition, polyurea is found to slightly outperform conventional helmet foam, but only under relatively strong (greater than five atm) blastwave peak overpressures.

The present approach studies the effect of internal linings and external coatings on combat helmet blast mitigation performance.

The purpose of this paper is to optimize the design of the advanced combat helmet (ACH) currently in use, by its designers in order to attain maximum protection against ballistic impacts (fragments, shrapnel, etc.) and hard-surface/head collisions. Since traumatic brain injury experienced by a significant fraction of the soldiers returning from the recent conflicts is associated with their exposure to blast, the ACH should be redesigned in order to provide the necessary level of protection against blast loads. In the present work, augmentations of the ACH for improved blast protections are considered. These augmentations include the use of a polyurea (a nano-segregated elastomeric copolymer)-based ACH external coating/internal lining.

To demonstrate the efficacy of this approach, instrumented (unprotected, standard-ACH-protected, and augmented-ACH-protected) head-mannequin blast experiments are carried out. These experimental efforts are complemented with the appropriate combined Eulerian/Lagrangian transient non-linear dynamics computational fluid/solid interaction analysis.

The results obtained indicated that: when the extent of peak over-pressure reduction is used as a measure of the blast-mitigation effectiveness, polyurea-based augmentations do not noticeably improve, and sometimes slightly worsen, the performance of the standard ACH; when the extent of specific impulse reduction is used as a measure of the blast-mitigation effectiveness, application of the polyurea external coating to the standard ACH improves the blast-mitigation effectiveness of the helmet, particularly at shorter values of the charge-detonation standoff distance (SOD). At longer SODs, the effects of the polyurea-based ACH augmentations on the blast-mitigation efficacy of the standard ACH are inconclusive; and the use of the standard ACH significantly lowers the accelerations experienced by the skull and the intracranial matter. As far as the polyurea-based augmentations are concerned, only the internal lining at shorter SODs appears to yield additional reductions in the head accelerations.

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work contains the first report of a combined experimental/computational study addressing the problem of blast-mitigation by polyurea-based augmentation of ACH.

Multilayer composite liner structures are the primary structural form of hydraulic tunnels. However, the bearing mechanism of multilayer composite liners has not been investigated thoroughly. Many existing design schemes do not properly achieve a balance between structural safety, anti-seepage capacity, and cost effectiveness. Thus, a new composite liner structure type and its theoretical model was proposed.

A novel hydraulic tunnel composite liner structure with a polyurea spray coating interlayer was proposed in this study. A theoretical model based on the state-space method was developed and verified using FEM models and existing theoretical models. Parametric analysis was conducted based on the theoretical model to investigate the influence of various variables, including interfacial shear stiffness, inner liner thickness, and outer liner elastic modulus.

It was concluded that the proposed theoretical model can be used successfully to calculate multilayer composite liner structures with high calculation efficiency. The overall deformation stiffness of the composite liner system increased with the interfacial shear stiffness. The sprayed coating interlayer significantly affects the residual force distribution between the outer and inner liners, which can also be affected by the adjustment of the thickness of the outer and inner liners. Thus, attention should be paid to these factors in the rational design of the proposed composite liner system.

With the development of China’s water conservancy projects, complex geological conditions, high surrounding rock stress, high internal and external water pressures, and other unique application scenarios have gradually increased. This places higher requirements on the bearing performance and impermeability of hydraulic tunnel lining structures. On the other hand, conventional hydraulic tunnel lining structures can hardly achieve a satisfactory balance between economy, structural safety, and impermeability. Thus, the proposed structure has the potential to be used in a wide range of applications.

The design of the Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) currently in use was optimized by its designers in order to attain maximum protection against ballistic impacts (fragments, shrapnel, etc.) and hard-surface/head collisions. Since traumatic brain injury experienced by a significant fraction of the soldiers returning from the recent conflicts is associated with their exposure to blast, the ACH should be redesigned in order to provide the necessary level of protection against blast loads. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

In the present work, an augmentation of the ACH for improved blast protection is considered. This augmentation includes the use of a polyurea (a nano-segregated elastomeric copolymer) based ACH external coating. To demonstrate the efficacy of this approach, blast experiments are carried out on instrumented head-mannequins (without protection, protected using a standard ACH, and protected using an ACH augmented by a polyurea explosive-resistant coating (ERC)). These experimental efforts are complemented with the appropriate combined Eulerian/Lagrangian transient non-linear dynamics computational fluid/solid interaction finite-element analysis.

The results obtained clearly demonstrated that the use of an ERC on an ACH affects (generally in a beneficial way) head-mannequin dynamic loading and kinematic response as quantified by the intracranial pressure, impulse, acceleration and jolt.

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is the first reported combined experimental/computational study of the blast-protection efficacy and the mild traumatic brain-injury mitigation potential of polyurea when used as an external coating on a helmet.

The purpose of this paper is to calculate the Hugoniot relations of polyurea; also to investigate the atomic-scale energy change, the related chain conformation evolution and the hydrogen bond dissociation of polyurea under high-speed shock.

The atomic-scale simulations are achieved by molecular dynamics (MD). Both non-equilibrium MD and multi-scale shock technique are used to simulate the high-speed shock. The energy dissipation is theoretically derived by the thermodynamic and the Hugoniot relations. The distributions of bond length, angle and dihedral angle are used to characterize the chain conformation evolution. The hydrogen bonds are determined by a geometrical criterion.

The Hugoniot relations calculated are in good agreement with the experimental data. It is found that under the same impact pressure, polyurea with lower hard segment content has higher energy dissipation during the shock-release process. The primary energy dissipation way is the heat dissipation caused by the increase of kinetic energy. Unlike tensile simulation, the molecular potential increment is mainly divided into the increments of the bond energy, angle energy and dihedral angle energy under shock loading and is mostly stored in the soft segments. The hydrogen bond potential increment only accounts for about 1% of the internal energy increment under high-speed shock.

The simulation results are meaningful for understanding and evaluating the energy dissipation mechanism of polyurea under shock loading, and could provide a reference for material design.