This paper presents an improved strain-softening constitutive model considering the effect of crack deformation based on the triaxial cyclic loading and unloading test results.The improved model assumes that total strain is a combination of plastic,elastic,and crack strains.The constitutive relationship between the crack strain and the stress was further derived.The evolutions of mechanical parameters,i.e.strength parameters,dilation angle,unloading elastic modulus,and deformation parameters of crack,with the plastic strain and confining pressure were studied.With the increase in plastic strain,the cohesion,friction angle,dilation angle,and crack Poisson's ratio initially increase and subsequently decrease,and the unloading elastic modulus and the crack elastic modulus nonlinearly decrease.The increasing confining pressure enhances the strength and unloading elastic modulus,and decreases the dilation angle and Poisson's ratio of the crack.The theoretical triaxial compressive stress-strain curves were compared with the experimental results,and they present a good agreement with each other.The improved constitutive model can well reflect the nonlinear mechanical behavior of granite.
Under the framework of the small deformation crystal plasticity theory,a crystal plastic cyclic constitutive model for body-centered cubic(BCC)cyclic softening polycrystalline metals is established.The constitutive model introduces the isotropic softening rule that includes two different mechanisms:namely softening under monotonic deformation and softening under cyclic deformation on each slip system.Meanwhile,a modified Armstrong-Frederick nonlinear kinematic hardening rule is adopted.The appropriate explicit scale transition rule is selected to extend the single crystal constitutive model to the polycrystalline constitutive model.Then the model is used to predict the uniaxial and multiaxial ratcheting deformation of BCC axle steel EA4T to verify the rationality of the proposed model.The simulation results indicate that the newly established crystal plasticity model can not only describe the cyclic softening characteristics of BCC axle steel EA4T well,but also reasonably describe the evolution laws of uniaxial ratcheting and nonproportional multiaxial ratcheting deformation.Moreover,the established crystal plastic cyclic constitutive model can reasonably predict the ratcheting behavior of BCC single crystal as well.
The firmness of table grape berries is a crucial quality parameter. Despite extensive research on postharvest fruit softening, its precise molecular mechanisms remain elusive. To enhance our comprehension of the underlying molecular factors, we initially identified differentially expressed genes(DEGs) by comparing the transcriptomes of folic acid(FA)-treated and water-treated(CK) berries at different time points. We then analyzed the sequences to detect alternatively spliced(AS) genes associated with postharvest softening. A total of 2,559 DEGs were identified and categorized into four subclusters based on their expression patterns, with subcluster-4 genes exhibiting higher expression in the CK group compared with the FA treatment group. There were 1,045 AS-associated genes specific to FA-treated berries and 1,042 in the CK-treated berries, respectively. Gene Ontology(GO) annotation indicated that the AS-associated genes in CK-treated berries were predominantly enriched in cell wall metabolic processes,particularly cell wall degradation processes. Through a comparison between treatment-associated AS genes and subcluster-4 DEGs, we identified eight genes, including Pectinesterase 2(VvPE2, Vitvi15g00704), which encodes a cell wall-degrading enzyme and was predicted to undergo an A3SS event. The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction further confirmed the presence of a truncated transcript variant of VvPE2 in the FA-treated berries.Our study provides a comprehensive analysis of AS events in postharvest grape berries using transcriptome sequencing and underscores the pivotal role of VvPE2 during the postharvest storage of grape berries.
Flexural toppling occurs when a series of layered rock masses bend towards their free face.It is important to evaluate the maximum bending degree and the requirement of supports of flexural toppling rock mass to prevent rock mass cracking and even failure leading to a landslide.Based on the rock tensile strain-softening model,this study proposes a method for calculating the maximum curvature(C_(ppmax))of flexural toppling rock masses.By applying this method to calculate Cppmax of 9 types of rock masses with different hardness and rock layer thickness,some conclusions are drawn:(1)the internal key factors affecting C_(ppmax)are E^(⋆)(E^(⋆)=E_(ss)/E_(0),where E_(0)and E_(ss)are the mean deformation moduli of the rock before and after reaching its peak tensile strength,respectively),the strainεt corresponding to the tensile strength of rock,and the thickness(h)of rock layers;(2)hard rock layers are more likely to develop into block toppling than soft rock layers;and(3)thin rock layers are more likely to remain in flexural toppling state than thick rock layers.In addition,it is found that C_(ppmax)for flexural toppling rock masses composed of bedded rocks such as gneiss is related to the tensile direction.
Jiongchao WangJun ZhengJichao GuoQing LüJianhui Deng
Recently,a Schwarz crystal structure with curved grain boundaries(GBs)constrained by twin-boundary(TB)networks was discovered in nanocrystalline Cu through experiments and atomistic simulations.Nanocrystalline Cu with nanosized Schwarz crystals exhibited high strength and excellent thermal stability.However,the grainsize effect and associated deformation mechanisms of Schwarz nanocrystals remain unknown.Here,we performed large-scale atomistic simulations to investigate the deformation behaviors and grain-size effect of nanocrystalline Cu with Schwarz crystals.Our simulations showed that similar to regular nanocrystals,Schwarz nanocrystals exhibit a strengthening-softening transition with decreasing grain size.The critical grain size in Schwarz nanocrystals is smaller than that in regular nanocrystals,leading to a maximum strength higher than that of regular nanocrystals.Our simulations revealed that the softening in Schwarz nanocrystals mainly originates from TB migration(or detwinning)and annihilation of GBs,rather than GB-mediated processes(including GB migration,sliding and diffusion)dominating the softening in regular nanocrystals.Quantitative analyses of simulation data further showed that compared with those in regular nanocrystals,the GB-mediated processes in Schwarz nanocrystals are suppressed,which is related to the low volume fraction of amorphous-like GBs and constraints of TB networks.The smaller critical grain size arises from the suppression of GB-mediated processes.
Hanzheng XingJiaxi JiangYujia WangYongpan ZengXiaoyan Li
