Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is gaining popularity worldwide with the development of tall wood buildings. A non-destructive testing (NDT) technique employing modal testing for the measurement of natural frequencies and a genetic algorithm for minimizing the difference between calculated and measured natural frequencies has been proposed for the inverse determination of in-plane and out-of-plane elastic

Pseudo-ductile hybrid composites usually require thin plies. In contrast, in the present paper unidirectional fibre-hybrid composites with conventional ply thicknesses are investigated. A prepreg with DIALEAD fibres and a 0.22 mm thickness was used as the high-modulus/low-elongation (LE) layer, combined with a prepreg with T800 fibres and a 0.11 mm thickness as the intermediate modulus/high-elongation

The present work achieves excellent lubricity and low wear of TiAl intermetallics by the addition of low-cost copper-coated graphite. 50% reduction of friction and more than one magnitude lower wear rate were obtained. This superior tribological property is attributed to the formation of a soft tribo-film and a synergetic effect of in-situ formed harder TiC reinforcement. This tribo-film contains some

This study aims at investigating the fracture properties of double cantilever beam (DCB) by the combination of lightweight materials at opening and sliding modes. The specimens were prepared by referring to the British Standard of BS7991. In terms of experimental conditions, the lower part was fixed while the enforced displacement of 3 mm/min was applied to the upper part at both opening and sliding

The stability of the sandwich composite structures formed by leaving coal pillar, roof rock and floor rock (RCF) is of great significance to safe production of coal mines. The failure of coal and rock is actually a state instability phenomenon driven by energy. In order to explore energy characteristics of RCF sandwich composite structures, uniaxial compression tests with different coal thicknesses

The mechanical, thermal and barrier properties of a sustainable PHBV/PBAT blend was investigated under the influence of organically modified nanoclay (0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 wt%) after processing by two different techniques i.e. compression moulding and cast film extrusion. Firstly, a pelletized nanoclay masterbatch was fabricated by blending PBAT with 20% nanoclay using melt extrusion. The masterbatch was

A novel one-step flame synthesis method was used to coat carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto plain weave S-glass fibre (GF) fabrics. Nickel chloride, as a catalyst, was applied on the GF fabrics, and CNTs were formed in an ethanol flame. Results showed that different carbon materials were synthesised, and they were sensitive to the flame synthesis parameters. Short CNTs (shorter than 0.5 μm) were dominant

Auxetic materials exhibiting a negative Poisson’s ratio are of great research interest due to their unusual mechanical responses and a wide range of potential deployment. However, due to the cellular structure and the bending or rotation deformation nature of the elements in auxetic materials, they usually have relative low stiffness, limiting their applications where high stiffness, strength, hardness

The objective of this study is to understand the influence of temperature and moisture on the lap shear strength (LSS) of carbon fibre/polyphenylene sulfide (CF/PPS) resistance-welded joints. The welded joints are conditioned at various levels of temperature and humidity and tested at temperatures ranging from 21°C to 150°C. Temperature is shown to have an effect on the LSS with a reduction of 26%

This study focused on the reaction and initial setting of NaOH-activated slag with different CaSO4 contents. The macroscopic properties were firstly investigated, and then the reaction process was monitored using a micro-reactor method and a combination of exothermic rate, element concentration and semi-quantification of precipitates. The results prove that there is a proper dosage for CaSO4 as a retarder

It is difficult for polymeric materials to avoid the conflict between the mechanical properties and flowability in manufacturing large-sized injection-molded products. To solve the issue, this paper develops an industrial volume-pulsatile injection molding (VPIM) machine to introduce a high-amplitude vibration force field into the entire injection molding process. As a one-step morphology control,

Lightning strike damage tolerance of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites is prone to misinterpretation. This study demonstrates that the design of lightning strike testbeds can be a major cause of the misinterpretation. The risk of misinterpretation originates from the lack of standards clearly defining testbed design requirements including electrode size and ground electrode edge configuration

Natural creatures morph their soft skins to adapt to the surrounding environments. Such unique morphing could be of great utility when creating bio-inspired soft robots. Here, we design shape memory textiles that may be used to create soft morphing shells woven using various kinds of fibers, including shape memory alloy wires. We explore the effects of fiber configurations, textile orientations, and

Self-construct of filler network was developed to enhance the thermal conductivity of epoxy based composites. The selective distribution of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) particles in epoxy/PES blends and enhanced dispersion of hBN were successfully obtained by reaction-induced phase separation (RIPS) and three-roll milling (TRM), respectively. The agglomeration of hBN particles in epoxy composite was

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) has been successfully applied to fabricating short fiber reinforced polymer composites parts. However, due to the intrinsically limited mechanical properties of matrix polymers, there is critical need to develop fiber reinforced high-performance thermoplastic composites for FDM-3D printing to expand engineering applications. In this work, the potential of FDM-3D printing

A sandwich panel based on upcycled bottle caps core and sustainable components is investigated to contribute to advances in lightweight and environmentally friendly structural solutions. Ecological alternatives to the panel skin and adhesive, such as a recycled PET-bottle foil and a castor oil bio-polyurethane, respectively, are tested and compared to commercial components (aluminium skin and epoxy

The value of recycled glass fibres is reduced significantly due to loss in strength and surface functionality during recycling. This work investigates the potential of a variety of treatments to regenerate the strength and surface functionality of glass fibres recycled from retired wind turbine blades using an in-house developed fluidised bed process. It was found that soaking in hot NaOH solution

In this study, bulk metallic glass composite (BMGC) reinforced with a novel spiral structure of tungsten wires was prepared. The composite exhibits a high ultimate strength of 2830 MPa and a large plasticity of 26% under quasi-static compression. The dynamic compressive mechanical properties of this BMGC were also systematically investigated by split Hopkinson pressure bar technique. It is found that

Due to the hydrophilic nature of the aluminophosphate (AP) adhesives, their application in the wood-based board (WBB) industries is rarely considered. Herein, the AP adhesives with reduced graphene oxide ([email protected]rGO) were developed for the construction of hydrophobic surface, mainly for the improvement of the water resistance of AP-based WBB interface as well as their mechanical properties

As an important inorganic material, geopolymer has been widely used for ceramics and sustainable cement in concrete. Sodium aluminosilicate hydrate (N-A-S-H) gel known as the zeolite precursor gel has the most critical impact on the performance of geopolymer. The nano/micromechanical properties of N-A-S-H have been investigated in several studies, but the resutls are always inconsistent. A novel “compromise

Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), which consist of a composite of an insulating polymer foam sandwiched between two layers of structural skins, are widely used in residential and commercial buildings. Such panels, in the regions prone to hurricanes and tornadoes, are often exposed to the risk of windborne debris impact. Despite the consequences associated with damage to SIPs, the studies on their

Development of membrane-associated molecularly imprinted materials with fast and high permselectivity has been significant needed in separation engineering field. Herein, for the first time, a subversive synthesis strategy with hierarchical structure was proposed for the preparation of nanocomposite blended molecularly imprinted membranes (NBMIMs). Artemisinin, the high-efficiency antimalarial drug

This paper presents a novel, meshfree-based micromechanical model for homogenising the elastic properties and analysing the deformation and microscopic strains/stresses of twill woven composites. The proposed model was based on a minimum unit cell (mUC) whose internal features such as the cross-sectional shape and waviness of yarns were described by using sophisticated functions. The boundary conditions

Rapid developments of miniaturization and integration of modern electronic devices have been accompanied by increasing power density, which bring about urgent demands for polymer-based thermal interface materials (TIMs) with efficient thermal conductive properties. However, poor dispersibility of thermal conductive nano-fillers severely limits further improvement in the thermal conductivity of TIMs

This study examines and compares the workability, hydration, mechanical, microstructure and transport properties of cement paste composites containing the three forms of graphene-based 2D nanomaterials synthesised from epigenetic graphite deposit, namely, graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and pristine graphene nanoplatelates (G). Graphene materials were used from 0.01% to 0.16% of

In this work, the mechanical and transport properties of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) modified with limestone powder were studied. The results indicate that replacing 10 wt% cement with limestone substantially improves the compressive strength of RAC. A better resistance to chloride and water ingress can also be achieved owing to the decreased pore connectivity. The initial sorptivity is found

This work describes the physical and mechanical characterization of unidirectional [0]12 and crossply [(0/90)3/0‾]S flax fibre reinforced composites fabricated in autoclave using a prepreg flax tape impregnated with fire retardant epoxy polymer. Tensile, bending and impact properties are evaluated along the longitudinal and transverse fibre directions. The tensile-tensile fatigue behaviour is characterised

To realize green, light weight, strong, tough and additional functionalities in polymer composites is challenging and has attracted great attention recently. Nature has provided perfect models such as mussel and silk to guide the design and fabrication of manmade materials with these merits. Herein, two bio-inspired strategies are combined to construct a strong, tough, and flame retarding composites

Sound insulation materials in the traditional sense are rigid, which are usually dense and bulky, while common porous materials have almost no sound insulation ability. Herein, a fiber-based flexible porous composite is presented as sound insulator fabricated via single-sided coating finishing on the one side of a nonwoven framework and has been demonstrated for high performance noise reduction. The

Void defects have appeared inevitably during the manufacturing process of braided composites, which directly affect the mechanical properties and strength of braided composites. First, the influence of internal void and porosity on the mechanical properties of resin was predicted. Second, the evolution in the mechanical properties of three dimensional (3D) braided composites was obtained using the

Bone defect therapy based on advanced biocomposite hydrogel scaffolds provide a promising strategy in bone tissue engineering. Inducing bone regeneration that meets the biomechanical, bioactivity and osteoconductivity criteria of bone tissue engineering is highly appealing but challenging. Here, we designed a mineralized, high-strength and tough nanocomposite hydrogel by in situ deposition of calcium

Complete interfacial performances of sisal fiber (a typical plant fiber) reinforced composites (SFRCs) during the single fiber pull-out experiments were investigated experimentally with numerical simulation in the present study. The single SFRCs were found to present three-interface failure. The failure behaviors of the three interfaces were characterized by in-situ acoustic emission technique and

The popularity of flexible energy harvesters has grown rapidly in recent decades because of their high flexibility for application in wearable and implantable devices. Flexibility and functionality are key issues for their use in wider engineering applications. In this study, we present a multifunctional flexible energy harvester based on aligned lead zirconate titanate (PZT)/shape memory polyurethane

How sand filling affects the dynamic response of metallic corrugated sandwich beams under shock loading was characterized, both experimentally and numerically, with shock loading simulated by high-speed impact of aluminum foam projectiles at beam mid-span. To facilitate evaluating the effects of sand filling, both empty and sand-filled corrugated core sandwich beams were assessed and compared for shock

Biodegradable polymeric 3D implants are of considerable interest for biomedical applications, however the degradation profile and bioactivity are important considerations for many clinical applications. In this context, bioresorbable magnesium hydroxide (MH) nanoparticles (NPs) (<50 nm) were blended with the degradable polymer poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) at concentrations of 5 and 20 wt%, and the composite

Blast response of composite materials is a crucial aspect for applications in engineering structures potentially subjected to extreme loadings. In this work, damage caused to fibre-polymer laminates by surface contact explosive charges is studied experimentally and numerically. In the blast tests, explosive charges placed in direct contact with glass or carbon fibre laminates cause partial or complete

In this paper, the complex phenomena of the elastic and elastoplastic indentation responses of functionally graded materials (FGMs) are studied in the framework of frictional contact mechanics using finite element method. The proposed model accounts for the continuous gradation of all the elastic and plastic properties of the indented material along its thickness using power law function and Tamura

Hydrogels consisting lots of water resemble the human soft tissues, but their disordered structures and weak mechanical properties usually limit their biomedical applications. Herein, a facile strategy to prepare highly ordered nanocomposite hydrogels with ultrahigh strength is reported, where the oriented tunicate cellulose nanocrystals (TCNCs) were locked in polymeric networks. Firstly, a stretchable

Composite materials made of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRPs) used in practice-relevant components are subjected to varying static and cyclic loads during their service life. In general, the loads acting on geometrically complex components generate inhomogeneous stress states, which have different effects on damage initiation and propagation. This contribution focuses on the numerical modeling of the