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This study aims to comprehensively investigate the mixed-mode fracture behavior and mechanical properties of selective laser sintering (SLS) polyamide 12 (PA12) components, considering different build orientations and layer thicknesses. The primary objectives include the following. Conducting mixed-mode fracture and mechanical analyses on SLS PA12 parts. Investigating the influence of build orientation and layer thickness on the mechanical properties of SLS-printed components. Examining the fracture mechanisms of SLS-produced Arcan fracture and tensile specimens through experimental methods and finite element analyses.

The research used a combination of experimental techniques and numerical analyses. Tensile and Arcan fracture specimens were fabricated using the SLS process with varying build orientations (X, X–Y, Z) and layer thicknesses (0.1 mm, 0.2 mm). Mechanical properties, including tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and critical stress intensity factor, were quantified through experimental testing. Mixed-mode fracture tests were conducted using a specialized fixture, and finite element analyses using the J-integral method were performed to calculate fracture toughness. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used for detailed morphological analysis of fractured surfaces.

The investigation revealed that the highest tensile properties were achieved in samples fabricated horizontally in the X orientation with a layer thickness of 0.1 mm. Additionally, parts manufactured with a layer thickness of 0.2 mm exhibited favorable mixed-mode fracture behavior. The results emphasize the significance of build orientation and layer thickness in influencing mechanical properties and fracture behavior. SEM analysis provided valuable insights into the failure mechanisms of SLS-produced PA12 components.

This study contributes to the field of additive manufacturing by providing a comprehensive analysis of the mixed-mode fracture behavior and mechanical properties of SLS-produced PA12 components. The investigation offers novel insights into the influence of build orientation and layer thickness on the performance of such components. The combination of experimental testing, numerical analyses and SEM morphological observations enhances the understanding of fracture behavior in additive manufacturing processes. The findings contribute to optimizing the design and manufacturing of high-quality PA12 components using SLS technology.

This paper aims to examine the static compression characteristics of cell topologies in body-centered cubic with vertical struts (BCCZ) and face-centered cubic with vertical struts (FCCZ) along with novel BCCZZ and FCCZZ lattice structures.

The newly developed structures were obtained by adding extra interior vertical struts into the BCCZ and FCCZ configurations. The samples, composed of the AlSi10Mg alloy, were fabricated using the selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing technique. The specific compressive strength and failure behavior of the manufactured lattice structures were investigated, and comparative analysis among them was done.

The results revealed that the specific strength of BCCZZ and FCCZZ samples with 0.5 mm strut diameter exhibited approximately a 23% and 18% increase, respectively, compared with the BCCZ and FCCZ samples with identical strut diameters. Moreover, finite element analysis was carried out to simulate the compressive response of the lattice structures, which could be used to predict their strength and collapse mode. The findings showed that while the local buckling of lattice cells is the major failure mode, the samples subsequently collapsed along a diagonal shear band.

An original and systematic investigation was conducted to explore the compression properties of newly fabricated lattice structures using SLM. The results revealed that the novel FCCZZ and BCCZZ structures were found to possess significant potential for load-bearing applications.

Among the various applications involving the use of microwave energy, its growing utility within the mining industry is particularly noteworthy. Conventional grinding processes are often overburdened by energy inefficiencies that are directly related to machine wear, pollution and rising project costs. In this work, we numerically investigate the effects of microwave pretreatment through a series of compression tests as a means to help mitigate these energy inefficiencies.

We investigate the effects of microwave pretreatment on various rock samples, as quantified by uniaxial compression tests. In particular, we assign sample heterogeneity based on a Gaussian statistical distribution and invoke a damage model for elemental tensile and compressive stresses based on the maximum tensile stress and the Mohr–Coulomb theories, respectively. We further couple the electromagnetic, thermal and solid displacement relations using finite element modeling.

(1) Increased power intensity during microwave pretreatment results in decreased axial compressive stress. (2) Leveraging statistics to induce variable compressive and tensile strength can greatly facilitate sample heterogeneity and prove necessary for damage modeling. (3) There exists a nonlinear trend to the reduction in smax with increasing power levels, implying an optimum energy output efficiency to create the maximum degradation-power cost relationship.

Previous research in this area has been largely limited to two-dimensional thermo-electric models. The onset of high-performance computing has allowed for the development of high-fidelity, three-dimensional models with coupled equations for electromagnetics, heat transfer and solid mechanics.

This paper aims to estimate the bearing capacity of a surface strip and circular footings lying on layered sand using numerical limit analysis.

Lower and upper bound limit analysis, as well as finite elements and second-order conic programming (SOCP), are used in this analysis. The yield criterion of Mohr-Coulomb is used to model soil behavior. Using this technique, stringent lower and upper bounds on ultimate bearing capacity can be achieved by assuming an associated flow law.

The obtained results indicate that the exact collapse load is typically being bracketed to within 6% about a mean of both the bounds. The obtained results are compared with the existing literature wherever applicable.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has used lower and upper bound limit analysis, as well as finite elements and SOCP, to estimate the bearing capacity of a surface strip and circular footings lying on layered sand.

This study aims to characterize the mechanical properties of sintered nano-silver under various sintering processes by nano-indentation tests.

Through microstructure observations and characterization, the influences of sintering process on the microstructure evolutions of sintered nano-silver were presented. And, the indentation load, indentation displacement curves of sintered silver under various sintering processes were measured by using nano-indentation test. Based on the nano-indentation test, a reverse analysis of the finite element calculation was used to determine the yielding stress and hardening exponent.

The porosity decreases with the increase of the sintering temperature, while the average particle size of sintered nano-silver increases with the increase of sintering temperature and sintering time. In addition, the porosity reduced from 34.88%, 30.52%, to 25.04% if the ramp rate was decreased from 25°C/min, 15°C/min, to 5°C/min, respectively. The particle size appears more frequently within 1 µm and 2 µm under the lower ramp rate. With reverse analysis, the strain hardening exponent gradually heightened with the increase of temperature, while the yielding stress value decreased significantly with the increase of temperature. When the sintering time increased, the strain hardening exponent increased slightly.

The mechanical properties of sintered nano-silver under different sintering processes are clearly understood.

This paper could provide a novel perspective on understanding the sintering process effects on the mechanical properties of sintered nano-silver.

The response of the Pine Flat dam–water–foundation rock system is studied by a new described approach (i.e. FE-(FE-TE)-FE). The initial part of study is focused on the time harmonic analysis. In this part, it is possible to compare the transfer functions against corresponding responses obtained by the FE-(FE-HE)-FE approach (referred to as exact method which employs a rigorous fluid hyper-element). Subsequently, the transient analysis is carried out. In that part, it is only possible to compare the results for low and high normalized reservoir length cases. Therefore, the sensitivity of results is controlled due to normalized reservoir length values.

In the present study, dynamic analysis of a typical concrete gravity dam–water–foundation rock system is formulated by the FE-(FE-TE)-FE approach. In this technique, dam and foundation rock are discretized by plane solid finite elements while, water domain near-field region is discretized by plane fluid finite elements. Moreover, the H-W (i.e. Hagstrom–Warburton) high-order condition is imposed at the reservoir truncation boundary. This task is formulated by employing a truncation element at that boundary. It is emphasized that reservoir far-field is excluded from the discretized model.

High orders of H-W condition, such as O5-5 considered herein, generate highly accurate responses for both possible excitations under both types of full reflective and absorptive reservoir bottom conditions. It is such that transfer functions are hardly distinguishable from corresponding exact responses obtained through the FE-(FE-HE)-FE approach in time harmonic analyses. This is controlled for both low and high normalized reservoir length cases (L/H = 1 and 3). Moreover, it can be claimed that transient analysis leads practically to exact results (in numerical sense) when one is employing high order H-W truncation element. In other words, the results are not sensitive to reservoir normalized length under these circumstances.

Dynamic analysis of concrete gravity dam–water–foundation rock systems is formulated by a new method. The salient aspect of the technique is that it utilizes H-W high-order condition at the truncation boundary. The method is discussed for all types of excitation and reservoir bottom conditions.

This study aims to enhance the understanding of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) applications in partially confined concrete, with a specific focus on improving economic value and load-bearing capacity. The research addresses the need for a more comprehensive analysis of non-uniform vertical strain responses and precise stress–strain models for FRP partially confined concrete.

DIC and strain gauges were employed to gather data during axial compression tests on FRP partially confined concrete specimens. Finite element analysis using ABAQUS was utilized to model partial confinement concrete with various constraint area ratios, ranging from 0 to 1. Experimental findings and simulation results were compared to refine and validate the stress–strain model.

The experimental results revealed that specimens exhibited strain responses characterized by either hardening or softening in both vertical and horizontal directions. The finite element analysis accurately reflected the relationship between surface constraint forces and axial strains in the x, y and z axes under different constraint area ratios. A proposed stress–strain model demonstrated high predictive accuracy for FRP partially confined concrete columns.

The stress–strain curves of partially confined concrete, based on Teng's foundation model for fully confined stress–strain behavior, exhibit a high level of predictive accuracy. These findings enhance the understanding of the mechanical behavior of partially confined concrete specimens, which is crucial for designing and assessing FRP confined concrete structures.

This research introduces innovative insights into the superior convenience and efficiency of partial wrapping strategies in the rehabilitation of beam-column joints, surpassing traditional full confinement methods. The study contributes methodological innovation by refining stress–strain models specifically for partially confined concrete, addressing the limitations of existing models. The combination of experimental and simulated assessments using DIC and FEM technologies provides robust empirical evidence, advancing the understanding and optimization of FRP-concrete structure performance. This work holds significance for the broader field of concrete structure reinforcement.

In this paper, based on the density functional theory (DFT) and finite element method (FEM), the elastic, buckling and vibrational behaviors of the monolayer bismuthene are studied.

The computed elastic properties based on DFT are used to develop a finite element (FE) model for the monolayer bismuthene in which the Bi-Bi bonds are simulated by beam elements. Furthermore, mass elements are used to model the Bi atoms. The developed FE model is used to compute Young's modulus of monolayer bismuthene. The model is then used to evaluate the buckling force and fundamental natural frequency of the monolayer bismuthene with different geometrical parameters.

Comparing the results of the FEM and DFT, it is shown that the proposed model can predict Young's modulus of the monolayer bismuthene with an acceptable accuracy. It is also shown that the influence of the vertical side length on the fundamental natural frequency of the monolayer bismuthene is not significant. However, vibrational characteristics of the bismuthene are significantly affected by the horizontal side length.

DFT and FEM are used to study the elastic, vibrational and buckling properties of the monolayer bismuthene. The developed model can be used to predict Young's modulus of the monolayer bismuthene accurately. Effect of the vertical side length on the fundamental natural frequency is negligible. However, vibrational characteristics are significantly affected by the horizontal side length.

The use of recycled coarse aggregate in concrete structures promotes environmental sustainability; however, performance of these structures might be negatively impacted when it is used as a replacement to traditional aggregate. This paper aims to simulate recycled concrete beams strengthened with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP), to advance the modeling and use of recycled concrete structures.

To investigate the performance of beams with recycled coarse aggregate concrete (RCAC), finite element models (FEMs) were developed to simulate 12 preloaded RCAC beams, strengthened with two CFRP strengthening schemes. Details of the modeling are provided including the material models, boundary conditions, applied loads, analysis solver, mesh analysis and computational efficiency.

Using FEM, a parametric study was carried out to assess the influence of CFRP thickness on the strengthening efficiency. The FEM provided results in good agreement with those from the experiments with differences and standard deviation not exceeding 11.1% and 3.1%, respectively. It was found that increasing the CFRP laminate thickness improved the load-carrying capacity of the strengthened beams.

The developed models simulate the preloading and loading up to failure with/without CFRP strengthening for the investigated beams. Moreover, the models were validated against the experimental results of 12 beams in terms of crack pattern as well as load, deflection and strain.

The partially prestressed concrete beam with unbonded tendon is still an active field of research because of the difficulty in analyzing and understanding its behavior. The finite-element (FE) simulation of such beams using numerical software is very scarce in the literature and therefore this study is taken to demonstrate the modeling aspects of unbonded partially prestressed concrete (UPPSC) beams. This study aims to present the three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear FE simulations of UPPSC beams subjected to monotonic static loadings using the numerical analysis package ANSYS.

The sensitivity study is carried out with three different mesh densities to obtain the optimum elements that reflect on the load–deflection behavior of numerical models, and the model with optimum element density is used further to model all the UPPSC beams in this study. Three half-symmetry FE model is constructed in ANSYS parametric design language domain with proper boundary conditions at the symmetry plane and support to achieve the same response as that of the full-scale experimental beam available in the literature. The linear and nonlinear material behavior of prestressing tendon and conventional steel reinforcements, concrete and anchorage and loading plates are modeled using link180, solid65 and solid185 elements, respectively. The Newton–Raphson iteration method is used to solve the nonlinear solution of the FE models.

The evolution of concrete cracking at critical loadings, yielding of nonprestressed steel reinforcements, stress increment in the prestressing tendon, stresses in concrete elements and the complete load–deflection behavior of the UPPSC beams are well predicted by the proposed FE model. The maximum discrepancy of ultimate moments and deflections of the validated FE models exhibit 13% and −5%, respectively, in comparison with the experimental results.

The FE analysis of UPPSC beams is done using ANSYS software, which is a versatile tool in contrast to the experimental testing to study the stress increments in the unbonded tendons and assess the complete nonlinear response of partially prestressed concrete beams. The validated numerical model and the techniques presented in this study can be readily used to explore the parametric analysis of UPPSC beams.

The developed model is capable of predicting the strength and nonlinear behavior of UPPSC beams with reasonable accuracy. The load–deflection plot captured by the FE model is corroborated with the experimental data existing in the literature and the FE results exhibit good agreement against the experimentally tested beams, which expresses the practicability of using FE analysis for the nonlinear response of UPPSC beams using ANSYS software.