Browsing by Subject "Micro-structural"

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    On the optimality of the window method in computational homogenization
    (2013) Temizer, I.; Wu, T.; Wriggers, P.
    The window method, where the microstructural sample is embedded into a frame of a homogeneous material, offers an alternative to classical boundary conditions in computational homogenization. Experience with the window method, which is essentially the self-consistent scheme but with a finite surrounding medium instead of an infinite one, indicates that it delivers faster convergence of the macroscopic response with respect to boundary conditions of pure essential or natural type as the microstructural sample size is increased to ensure statistical representativeness. In this work, the variational background for this observed optimal convergence behavior of the homogenization results with the window method is provided and the method is compared with periodic boundary conditions that it closely resembles. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    Structural, microstructural and thermal properties of lead-free bismuth-sodium-barium-titanate piezoceramics synthesized by mechanical alloying
    (2013) Amini, R.; Ghazanfari, M.R.; Alizadeh, M.; Ardakani H.A.; Ghaffari, M.
    Bismuth-sodium-barium-titanate piezoceramics with a composition of (Bi 0.5Na0.5)0.94Ba0.06TiO3 (BNBT) were prepared by mechanical alloying (MA). Structural analysis and phase identification were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Microstructural studies and chemical composition homogeneity were performed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Furthermore, thermal properties of the as-milled powders were evaluated by thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA). During the initial milling, the constituents were transformed to the perovskite, pyrochlore, and BNT phases; in addition, partial amorphization of the structure appeared during the milling cycle. As MA progressed, transformation of pyrochlore-to-perovskite and crystallization of the amorphous phase occurred and also, the BNBT phase was significantly developed. It was found that the MA process has the ability to synthesize the BNBT powders with a submicron particle size, regular morphology, and uniform elemental distribution. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.