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This study aims at investigating two-dimensional laminar flow of power-law fluids around three unconfined side-by-side cylinders.

The numerical study is performed by solving the governing (continuity and momentum) equations using a finite volume-based code ANSYS Fluent. The numerical results have been presented for different combinations of the governing dimensionless parameters (dimensionless spacing, 1.2 = L = 4; Reynolds number, 0.1 = Re = 100; power-law index, 0.2 = n = 1.8). The dependence of the kinematic and macroscopic characteristics of the flow such as streamline patterns, distribution of the surface pressure coefficient, total drag coefficient with its components (pressure and friction) and total lift coefficient on these dimensionless parameters has been discussed in detail.

It is found that the separation of the flow and the apparition of the wake region accelerate as the dimensionless spacing decreases, the number of the cylinder increases and/or the fluid behavior moves from shear-thinning to Newtonian then to shear-thickening behavior. In addition, the distribution of the pressure coefficient on the surface of the cylinders presents a complex dependence on the fluid behavior index and Reynolds number when the dimensionless spacing between two adjacent cylinders is varied. At low Reynolds numbers, the drag coefficient of shear-thinning fluids is stronger than that of Newtonian fluids; this tendency decreases progressively with increasing of Re until a critical value; beyond the critical Re, the opposite trend is observed. The lift coefficient of the middle cylinder is null, whereas, the exterior cylinders experience opposite lift coefficients, which show a complex dependence on the dimensionless spacing, the Reynolds number and the power-law index.

The flow over bluff bodies is a practical engineering problem. In the literature, it can be seen that the previous studies on non-Newtonian fluids are limited to the flow over one or two cylinders (effect of an odd number of cylinders on each other). Besides that, the available results concerning the flow of Newtonian fluids over three cylinders are limited to the high Reynolds numbers region only. However, this work treats the flow of non-Newtonian power-law fluids past three circular cylinders in side-by-side arrangements under a wide range of Re. The outcome of the present study demonstrates that the augmentation of the geometry complexity to three cylinders (effect of pair surrounding cylinders on the surrounded ones in what concerns Von Karman Street phenomenon) causes a drastic change in the flow patterns and in the macroscopic characteristics. The present results may be used to predict the flow behavior around multiple side-by-side cylinders.

The purpose of this paper is to present experimental research on the behaviour of a new electrorheological fluid (ETSERF).

The ETSERF is a suspension based on diatomite powders dispersed in silicon oil with a surfactant. A design of experiments is conducted to investigate the effects of electric field strength, particle concentration, surfactant percentage, particle size and shear rate on the efficiency of ETSERFs. The influence of the interactions on shear stresses is analyzed by varying all the combinations of the independent variables. The dielectric properties of the ETSERF are investigated in order to explain the interactions between these independent variables. Furthermore, a quantitative relationship between the dynamic shear stresses and the independent variables is developed.

The relationship provides a very useful explanation for the contributions of each independent variable to the viscosity and yield stress.

A new empirical model is proposed to explain the rheological behaviour of the ER fluids with a shear‐thinning behaviour.

This paper aims to study, the effects of opening shape, size and position as well as the aspect (height-to-length) ratio on the shear capacity, stiffness, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of triple-skin profiled steel-concrete composite shear wall (TSCSW) and investigate and compare them to those of concrete-stiffened steel plate shear walls (CSPSW). Two kinds of opening, circular and square, with different sizes and positions and two aspect ratios of 1:1 and 3:1 are considered in the simulations.

This study presents a novel TSCSW and compares its behavior with the existing CSPSW under the effect of monotonic and cyclic loadings. TSCSW is composed of three corrugated steel plates filled with concrete. The two external side plates are connected to the concrete core by means of several intermediate fasteners and the third one is an inner steel plate embedded within the concrete panel. The internal plate is a buckling restrained plate surrounded by concrete. This is the main superiority of TSCSW over other kinds of existing composite shear walls.

The results show that the shear capacity and the energy dissipation capacity of the proposed composite wall, TSCSW, are respectively about 16 and 12% higher than those of CSPSW when there is no opening. If an opening is considered in the wall, as the size of the opening is increased, the shear capacity, stiffness, ductility and absorbed energy of the two walls are decreased similarly. The destructive effect of square openings on the performance of the walls is more than that of circular openings.

This is an original work.

Laser sintering kinetics and part reliability are critically dependent on the melt viscosity of materials, including polyamide 12 (PA‐12). The purpose of this paper is to characterise the viscosity of PA‐12 powders using alternative scientific methods: constrained boundary flows (capillary rheometry) and rotational rheometry.

Various PA‐12 powders were selected and characterised by both techniques. Measurement of molecular weight was also carried out to interpret the viscosity data.

Results demonstrate conventional pseudoplastic flow in all PA‐12 materials. Zero‐shear viscosity has been quantified by rotational rheometry; a notable observation is the striking difference between virgin/used PA‐12. This is interpreted in terms of molecular weight and chain structure modifications, arising from polycondensation of PA‐12 held at the bed temperature during laser sintering.

Accurate zero‐shear viscosity data provide scope for use in predictive computational models for laser sintering processes. Careful sample preparation and equipment operation are critical prerequisites for accurate rheological characterisation of PA‐12 powders.

Differences in flow behaviour and molecular structure allow prediction and deeper understanding of process‐property relationships in laser sintering, giving potential for further optimisation of material specification and in‐process machine parameter control.

This is believed to be the first time that techniques other than melt flow rate (MFR) have been reported to measure the viscosity of PA‐12 in a laser sintering context, noting the effects of pre‐drying and molecular weight, then predicting differences between virgin/used powders in practical sintering behaviour.

This study aims to develop a rational model to predict the thermal axial forces developed in shear tab connections with composite beams when subjected to transient-state fire temperatures.

Finite element (FE) models are first developed in ABAQUS and validated against experimental data available in the literature. Second, a parametric study is conducted to identify the major parameters that affect the behavior of shear tab connections with composite beams in the fire. This includes beam length, shear tab thickness, shear tab location, concrete slab thickness, setback distance and partial composite action. A design-oriented model is developed to predict the thermal induced axial forces during the heating and cooling phases of a fire event. The model consists of multi-linear springs that can predict the stiffness and strength of each component of the connection with the composite beam.

The FE results show that significant thermal axial forces are generated in the composite beam in the fire. This is prominent when the beam bottom flange comes in contact with the column. Fracture at the toe of the welds governs the behavior during the cooling phase in most FE simulations. Also, the rational model is validated against the FE results and is capable of predicting the thermal axial forces developed in shear tab connections with composite beams under different geometrical properties.

The proposed model can predict the thermal axial force demand and can be used in performance-based approaches in future structural fire engineering applications.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of two-dimensional (2D) cyclic softened membrane model (CSMM)-based non-linear finite element (NLFE) model in predicting the complete non-linear response of shear critical bridge piers (with walls having aspect ratios greater than 2.5) under combined axial and reversed cyclic uniaxial bending loads. The effectiveness of the 2D CSMM-based NLFE model has been compared with the widely used one-dimensional (1D) fiber-based NLFE models.

Three reinforced concrete (RC) hollow rectangular bridge piers tested under reversed cyclic uniaxial bending and sustained axial loads at the National Centre for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) Taiwan have been simulated using both 1D and 2D models in the present study. The non-linear behavior of the bridge piers has been studied through various parameters such as hysteretic loops, energy dissipation, residual drift, yield load and corresponding drift, peak load and corresponding drift, ultimate loads, ductility, specimen stiffness and critical strains in concrete and steel. The results obtained from CSMM-based NLFE model have been critically compared with the test results and results obtained from the 1D fiber-based NLFE models.

It has been observed from the analysis results that both 1D and 2D simulation models performed well in predicting the response of flexure critical bridge pier. However, in the case of shear critical bridge piers, predictions from 2D CSMM-based NLFE simulation model are more accurate. It has, thus, been concluded that CSMM-based NLFE model is more accurate and robust to simulate the complete non-linear behavior of shear critical RC hollow rectangular bridge piers.

In this study, a novel attempt has been made to provide a rational and robust FE model for analyzing shear critical hollow RC bridge piers (with walls having aspect ratios greater than 2.5).

We set up an original apparatus to measure the grain grain friction stress inside a granular medium composed of sodo‐silicate‐glass beads surrounded by a water vapor atmosphere.We analyze here the influence of the physico chemistry of water on our glass beads and its consequences on our shear experiment. We found two scales in the analysis of the shear stress signal. On the microscopic scale of one bead, the experimental results show a dependence on the size of beads, on the shear rate and on humidity for the resulting stick slip signal. On the macroscopic scale of the whole assembly of beads, the behavior of the total amplitude of the shear stress depends on the size of the beads and is humidity dependent only for relative humidity larger than 80%. For high degrees of humidity, on the microscopic scale, water lubricates the surface of the beads leading to a decrease in the microscopic resistance to shear while on the macroscopic scale the resistance to shear is increased: the assembly of very humid grains behaves as a rheothickening fluid.

This paper aims to prepare good waterborne light-diffusion dip-coatings (WLDDC) for the glass lampshade inner walls of LED lamp tubes, the effects of viscosities and viscous flow activation energies on these dip-coatings were investigated.

The WLDDC were prepared using white pigments, light-diffusion agents, additives and an acrylic emulsion. The dip-coatings were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and a digital rotational viscometer, respectively. The effects of shear rates, temperatures and solids contents on the viscosities of the dip-coatings were studied. The viscous flow activation energies of these dip-coatings and the emulsion were calculated, compared and studied, respectively.

The results showed that the non-Newtonian behaviors of these dip-coatings were more prominent than that of the acrylic emulsion. When the temperature was maintained to be a constant and the shear rate was increased, the viscosity decreased and the shear stress increased. When the shear rate was maintained to be a constant, the viscosity decreased with increasing temperatures. The viscous flow activation energies of these dip-coatings decreased with the increasing shear rates. The higher solid contents of WLDDC were, the more its viscosity would decrease with the increasing shear rates, the more prominent its non-Newtonian behaviors would show.

A sample of good WLDDC with balanced properties was illustrated.

This investigation benefits to investigate waterborne environment-friendly dip-coatings for the inner glass walls of lamp tubes. This research provides an approach to optimize the viscosity parameters of light-diffusion dip-coatings.

Shear-induced strain localization in granular materials has been a hot topic under intensive research during the last four decades. However, the micromechanical process and mechanisms underlying the initiation and development of shear bands are still not fully understood. The purpose of this paper is to eliminate this deficiency.

The paper carries out several two-dimensional distinct element method simulations to examine various global and local micromechanical quantities particular the energy dissipation and local stress and strain invariants with a special emphasis on the initiation and propagation of shear bands. Moreover, the effects of various influential variables including initial void ratio, confining stress, inter-particle friction coefficient, rolling resistance coefficient, specimen slenderness and strain rate on the pattern, scope and degree of shear bands are investigated.

Novel findings of the relationship between sliding and rolling dissipation band and shear band are achieved, indicating a plastic dissipation nature for the shear band. The high inter-particle sliding or rolling resistance, relative small initial void ratio, relative low confining stress and high strain rate facilitate the formation of shear band. In addition, the specimen slenderness affects the pattern of shear band.

In this paper, a comprehensive and deep investigation on shear band formation linked with localization of energy dissipation and strain invariants was presented. The new findings on particle scale during shear band formation helps to develop robust micromechanics-based constitutive models in the future.

The paper aims to present a method of implementing layered shell finite elements for punching shear analysis of reinforced concrete slabs. The emphasis is on the influence of different material modelling parameters on the calculated results.

The finite element approach utilizes quadratic isoparametric C⁰ shell elements. The elements take into account an out‐of‐plane shear response and allow implementation of three‐dimensional constitutive models and out‐of‐plane reinforcement. Through the consideration of 3D states of strain and stress, the formulation can predict structural failures caused by either flexure or punching shear.

Comparisons are shown between analytical solutions and several test results, which show that the presented non‐linear finite element formulation works well for modelling slab behaviour.

The most important contribution of this work is the use of shell elements for punching and flexure analysis of reinforced concrete slabs and the discussion on the influence of material modelling on the calculated results. Shell finite elements have been extensively used in the analysis of slabs for flexure. However, the critical issue in the design of these slabs is a 3D shear effect around the column area called punching shear. 3D elements can be used for punching shear analysis of reinforced concrete slabs, but the cost of using these elements and the computational effort make them impractical for real design situations. Therefore, shell finite elements, with appropriate element and material modelling formulations that make them applicable for punching shear analysis, are employed in the presented work.