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Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering
Advances in
Materials,
Mechanics and
Manufacturing II
Proceedings of the Third International
Conference on Advanced Materials,
Mechanics and Manufacturing
(A3M’2021), March 25–27, 2021
Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering
Series Editors
Francisco Cavas-Martínez, Departamento de Estructuras, Universidad Politécnica
de Cartagena, Cartagena, Murcia, Spain
Fakher Chaari, National School of Engineers, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia
Francesca di Mare, Institute of Energy Technology, Ruhr-Universität Bochum,
Bochum, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Francesco Gherardini, Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università di Modena e Reggio
Emilia, Modena, Italy
Mohamed Haddar, National School of Engineers of Sfax (ENIS), Sfax, Tunisia
Vitalii Ivanov, Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Machines and Tools,
Sumy State University, Sumy, Ukraine
Young W. Kwon, Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Aerospace
Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Science, Monterey, CA,
USA
Justyna Trojanowska, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland
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Editors
Advances in Materials,
Mechanics
and Manufacturing II
Proceedings of the Third International
Conference on Advanced Materials,
Mechanics and Manufacturing (A3M’2021),
March 25–27, 2021
123
Editors
Mounir Ben Amar Anas Bouguecha
Université Paris 13 National Engineering School of Gafsa
Laboratoire LSPM-CNRS Gafsa, Tunisia
VILLETANEUSE, France
Aberrahim El Mahi
Elhem Ghorbel Acoustics Laboratory of Mans University
Voie Mail Gay-Lussac le Mans cedex, France
Laboratoire L2MGC, Cergy-Pontoise Univer
Paris, France Mohamed Haddar
National School of Engineers of Sfax
Fakher Chaari Sfax, Tunisia
Department of Mechanical Engineering
National School of Engineers of Sfax
Sfax, Tunisia
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
v
vi Preface
contributed to the success of this conference with special mention to Springer for
his continuous support.
vii
viii About the Conference
Nabih Feki
March 2021 Mohamed Slim Abbes
Mohamed Taktak
Mohamed Amine Ben Souf
Fakher Chaari
Mohamed Haddar
Contents
ix
x Contents
1 Introduction
The ultimate load capacity of threaded connections depends on the strength of
the screw core, the screw thread and the nut thread. As a general design rule for
threaded connections, it is required that the screw will fail before the nut. The
respect of this design rule needs the check of the thread length which is engaged
between the screw and the nut. It is often called thread engagement length and
noted in this paper Le .
In ordinary design, the recommended minimum value of Le is often propor-
tional to the thread pitch. When both screw and nut are made from the same
material, the minimum value of Le is recommended to be equal to 5 (Sacquepey
and Spenlé 1993) or 8 (Duan and Joshi 2011) times the thread pitch. Respecting
c The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
M. Ben Amar et al. (Eds.): A3M 2021, LNME, pp. 1–10, 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84958-0_1
2 H. Soussi et al.
this geometrical condition, the part with the internal thread is manufactured
with sufficient Le and the rupture is so appeared in the screw. Therefore, this
involves designed parts with relatively large thicknesses. However, nowadays the
requirement of lightness is more rigorously imposed in the design practice. The
wall of the part is getting thinner and thinner. This thinning trend makes dif-
ficult the satisfaction of the geometrical condition of thread. Therefore, it is
even impossible to satisfy both optimum lightness and recommended minimum
value of Le . Consequently, it is accepted, in some industrial sectors, that parts
could be designed with insufficient thread engagement length, provided that the
requested capacity is respected in complete safety. In the case of insufficient Le
and if both screw and nut are made from the same material, the rupture will
occur in the screw thread. If the material’s strength of the nut is lower than
that of the screw, such as some aluminum structures that are connected with
high-grade steel screws, the rupture will particularly locate at the nut thread.
Thus, it is needed a good control of loading on the nut thread. This later is
often subjected to non-uniform combined loading. The heterogeneity of loading
in the nut thread requires the consideration of an approach to evaluate the max-
imum value of stress. This allows localizing the most stressed point to determine
the location of an eventual rupture at the nut thread. The most stressed point
at the nut thread is characterized by the presence of a transverse shear stress,
which is sometimes assumed predominantly pure and in some cases is considered
as a consequence of thread bending and of a torsional stress generated by the
thread friction torque. By considering various approaches, several relationships
have been proposed to describe the capacity safely or the ultimate load capac-
ity of nut thread. Some approaches are based on a detailed description of the
stress states through the consideration of a volume element in the most stressed
zone of the nut thread (Collins et al. 2009). Others approaches are based on
simplifying assumptions. They frequently introduce a multiplicative correction
coefficient in the expressions used to evaluate the capacity safely and/or the
ultimate load capacity of thread. Generally, the value of this coefficient is empir-
ically proposed as a constant or as a function of thread geometry. A review of
some expressions is presented in the Sect. 2.3 for the case of nut thread. They
were provided from the literature or also from technical documents. For exam-
ple, the approach of Sacquepey and Spenlé (1993) assumes a pure transverse
shear while neglecting the effects of both thread bending and interfacial shear
stress generated at the thread flanks. Either for this approach, or for others pro-
posed for example by Oberg and Jones (1916) and Shigley (2011), the correction
coefficient is used to estimate an effective area of thread supporting transverse
shear stress. In some cases, this coefficient is given depending on the classes
of screw thread and nut thread (Barrett 1990). Its value depends on the qual-
ity of threads assembly, which can be perfectly mated or mismatched. In some
approaches, this coefficient is occasionally introduced to take into account the
non-uniform distribution of load along the thread. This has been highlighted
by the work of Yamamoto (1980). The author showed that the first portion of
the thread, starting from the interface of the assembled parts, alone supports of
Prediction Efficiency of the Ultimate Load Capacity of Nut Thread 3
about 34% of the total axial load. Other researchers have proposed to incorporate
some constants, which reflect the effect of several parameters. These parameters
are related to the thread surrounding and/or taken into account the degree of
dissimilarity between the intrinsic properties of the assembled materials (Barron
1998). However, the evaluation of these constants is restricted to the cases of
threaded connections specifically studied by the concerned investigations.
From a practical point of view, the variety of expressions available in the
literature can be considered as an enrichment for predicting the ultimate load
capacity of nut thread. Nevertheless, a significant difference is often noted in
the estimation procedure. Unfortunately, there appears to be no documented
information on the prediction of the ultimate load capacity of nut thread with
insufficient Le and dissimilar stiffness and strength of the nut and screw mate-
rials.
This paper proposes then the investigation of the rupture behavior of nut
thread with insufficient engagement length and material’s stiffness and strength
lower than that of the screw. The average experimental value of the ultimate
load capacity of nut thread was determined from a pull-out test performed on a
threaded connection between A1050-H14 aluminum alloy and a steel screw grade
8.8. Several predictions were considered from different approaches available in
the literature and were compared with the experimental result.
The A1050-H14 untreated aluminum alloy was chosen to carry out this study.
It was delivered in the form of a 2 mm sheet. The stress-strain behavior of the
aluminum alloy was characterized by uniaxial tensile test carried out on five
specimens. By taking into account the weak anisotropy of the used material
(Soussi et al. 2016), the tensile tests were limited to the rolling direction. The
two extreme curves of the true stress-true strain relationship are presented in
Fig. 1a. Note that, the portion of the curve after necking is presented in indicative
way. In order to characterize the shear behavior of the aluminum alloy, the shear
test was performed by using a specific device directly connected to a tensile test
machine. The shear direction is along the length of the specimen. The details
of the shear test is particularly described in the work of Thuillier et al. (2009).
A typical shear stress-shear strain curve is illustrated in Fig. 1b. The ultimate
shear strength τm was determined of about 68 MPa. All mechanical properties
of the used material are summarized in Table 1.
4 H. Soussi et al.
100 50
80 40
60 30
Specimen 1
40 Specimen 2 20
20 10
0 0
0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
True strain Shear strain
Fig. 1. (a) True stress-true strain and (b) shear stress-shear strain curves of the 2 mm
A1050-H14 aluminum alloy
2.2 Experiments
In order to predict the ultimate load capacity of the nut thread, the maximum
th
load Fmax that the thread can support was determined from various expressions.
The used expressions are summarized in Table 2. Note that, Eq. 1 is used to allow
mismatch between threads. Equation 2 is used when the threads were perfectly
mated. Equation 3 is used in the case of dissimilarity between material properties
Prediction Efficiency of the Ultimate Load Capacity of Nut Thread 5
Screw 8.8
Washer
Specimen
Fig. 2. Device principle scheme of (a) the thread manufacturing and (b) the pull-out
test by applying an axial displacement
th
References Expression of Fmax
1
Barrett (1990) τm πd2 Le (1)
3
1
Barrett (1990) τm πd2 Le (2)
2
3
Strang (1970) τm πd2 Le (3)
4
Shigley (2011) 0.88τm πdLe (4)
1 (d − D2 ) tan 30
Lee et al. (2011) + τm πdLe (5)
2 P
1 (d − D2 ) tan 30
Alexander (1977) C1 C3 + τm πdLe (6)
2 P
Sacquepey and Spenlé (1993) 0.757τm πdLe (7)
d: Basic major diameter, d2 and D2 : Pitch diameters of external and internal
threads, respectively.
Because of the dissimilarity between the ultimate strength of the screw and the
ultimate strength of the specimen, the rupture was located in the nut thread.
The removed portion took the form of a helical element. Typical examples of the
specimen after the pull-out test and the helical element are presented in Fig. 3.
The same figure illustrates a radial section of the specimen after the pull-out
test. It was obtained by cutting operation, which was radially performed on the
specimen by wire-cut EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining).
A A
A
Helical element
A-A
2.5
I II III
2
1.5
Load (kN)
1
Specimen 1
Specimen 2
0.5
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Displacement (mm)
The comparison between both curves shows a good reproducibility. The anal-
ysis of the load-displacement relationship illustrates a shape that remains glob-
ally distinctive. Referring to Fransplass et al. (2013) and Grimsmo et al. (2016),
Prediction Efficiency of the Ultimate Load Capacity of Nut Thread 7
a similar shape was likewise observed when a rupture occurs at the screw thread.
Recently, Swissi et al. (2019) also found the same shape when testing a steel nut
thread by applying an axial displacement on the screw. These authors presented
an intuitive reading of the kinematics during the test. They were distinguished
three stages: the resistance stage (I), the destruction stage (II) and the extrac-
tion stage (III) of a helical element. These three stages are similarly observed
for our case as shown in Fig. 4. The resistance stage concerns the non-linear
evolution, which is considered as an engagement between the screw thread and
the nut thread. The destruction stage begins with the loss of linearity due to
the plastic strain initiation of nut thread. It involves two peaks of load followed
by two falls. The extraction stage of the helical element is characterized by an
almost regular plateau.
Eq. 2
1.5
Eq. 1
1
0.5
0
1.5
60
50
Percentage errort (E%)
40
30
20
10
0
Eq. 1 Eq. 2 Eq. 3 Eq. 4 Eq. 5 Eq. 6 Eq. 7
Fig. 6. Percentage error E% between the experimental and predicted results of maxi-
mum load
that a portion of thread material remains attached to the tapped hole after the
test. This also indicates that the rupture was located in a zone relatively distant
from the thread root. Therefore, the thread rupture was occurred with a reduced
effective area. In addition, the unbroken portion of the nut thread also exhibited
a non-regular edge. This aspect can be attributed to a non-regular rupture which
combines alternately the propagation of local rupture and crushing the sheared
edge.
Displacement
direcon
Thread root
Slant of the
unbrocken
poron of thread
Flanging of poron
1mm of thread without
rupture
Fig. 7. Tapped hole morphology after the thread destruction showing trace of thread
bending
4 Conclusion
The main context of this work is the investigation of the rupture behavior of
nut thread with insufficient thread engagement length and material’s stiffness
and strength lower than that of the screw. A pull-out test was carried out on
A1050-H14 aluminum nut thread connected with a steel screw grade 8.8 by
applying axial displacement to the screw. The analysis of the load-displacement
relationship permits the identification of three stages of thread rupture behav-
ior: resistance, destruction and helical element extraction. The inspection of the
tapped hole morphology after the assembly destruction exhibits that the thread
rupture is located in a zone relatively distant from the thread root. This rupture
combines alternately the propagation of local rupture and crushing the edge.
Through the quantification of the percentage error E% between the average
experimental value and the theoretical predictions of the maximum load, it is
noted that the use of Eq. 2 leads to the best predicted value of the ultimate load
capacity below which no rupture occurs in the nut thread. In perspective, it
would be better to further develop theoretical expressions or numerical models
to describe the specific cases of threaded connections with dissimilar stiffness
and strength and insufficient engagement length of nut thread.
Acknowledgement. This work is carried out thanks to the support and fund-
ing allocated to the Unit of Mechanical and Materials Production Engineering
(UGPMM/UR17ES43) by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific
Research. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments and sugges-
tions of the reviewers, which have improved the presentation.
10 H. Soussi et al.
References
Alexander, E.M.: Analysis and design of threaded assemblies. SAE Trans. 86, 1838–
1852 (1977)
Barrett, R.T.: Fastener design manual, vol. 1228. NASA, Scientific and Technical Infor-
mation Division (1990)
Barron, J.: Computing the Strength of a Fastener. Marcel Dekker, New York (1998)
Collins, J.A., Busby, H.R., Staab, G.H.: Mechanical Design of Machine Elements and
Machines: A Failure Prevention Perspective. Wiley, New York (2009)
Duan, W., Joshi, S.: Failure analysis of threaded connections in large-scale steel tie rods.
Eng. Fail. Anal. 18(8), 2008–2018 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.
2011.06.002
Fransplass, H., Langseth, M., Hopperstad, O.: Numerical study of the tensile behaviour
of threaded steel fasteners at elevated rates of strain. Int. J. Impact Eng. 54, 19–30
(2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2012.10.009
Grimsmo, E.L., Aalberg, A., Langseth, M., Clausen, A.H.: Failure modes of bolt and
nut assemblies under tensile loading. J. Constr. Steel Res. 126, 15–25 (2016). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2016.06.023
Lee, Y.L., Barkey, M.E., Kang, H.T.: Metal Fatigue Analysis Handbook: Practical
Problem-Solving Techniques for Computer-Aided Engineering. Elsevier, Amsterdam
(2011)
Oberg, E., Jones, F.D.: Machinery’s Handbook, vol. 1916. Industrial Press, New York
(1916)
Sacquepey, D., Spenlé, D.: Précis de construction mécanique: 3. Calculs, technologie
et normalisation. Nathan (1993)
Shigley, J.E.: Shigley’s Mechanical Engineering Design. Tata McGraw-Hill Education,
New York (2011)
Soussi, H., Masmoudi, N., Krichen, A.: Analysis of geometrical parameters and occur-
rence of defects in the hole-flanging process on thin sheet metal. J. Mater. Process.
Technol. 234, 228–242 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2016.03.027
Strang, A.G.: Handbook H28 1969 screw standards for federal services. PT. 1 Unified
UNJ Unified Miniature Screw Threads. U.S. Government Printing Office (1970)
Swissi, A., Soussi, H., Abid, M., Krichen, A.: Internal and interface shear behaviors of
cut and form tapping thread. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 105, 3463–3475 (2019).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-019-04519-y
Thuillier, S., Manach, P.Y.: Comparison of the work-hardening of metallic sheets using
tensile and shear strain paths. Int. J. Plast. 25(5), 733–751 (2009). https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.ijplas.2008.07.002
Yamamoto, A.: The Theory and Computation of Threads Connection, pp. 39–54. Youk-
endo, Tokyo (1980)
Young, W.C., Budynas, R.G., Sadegh, A.M.: Roark’s Formulas for Stress and Strain,
vol. 7. McGraw-Hill, New York (2002)
Cement Reduction and Strength Development
of Conventional Mortars by Utilization of Dried
Waste Marble Slurry
Abstract. Industrial waste, especially the mining sector’s waste, has been nega-
tively treating human life and the ecosystem. This experimental work aims to keep
the environment safe out of waste, produce high - strength mortars and support the
national economy by utilizing dried waste marble slurry (DWMS) collected from
the marble shaping industry in Kabul- Afghanistan. Marble slurry was dried and
grind to very fine powder shape with 90% partials passing through 0,063mm sieve.
Mortars were prepared as a reference and partially cement replacement by DWMS
with (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%) by cement weight. The specific surface area
of DWMS was 3957 cm2 /gr with a density of 3.12 gr/cm2 , while the mentioned
parameters for Afghan ordinary Portland cement named (Ghori) was 3051 cm2 /gr
and 2.997 gr/cm2 , respectively. Mortars’ mixes were tested against workability,
porosity and water absorption, compressive and flexure strengths. The obtained
results indicate that with the use of 15% DWMS dosage instead of cement, the
compressive strength gets increased up to 15.5% compared to reference mortars.
Also, porosity of the mortars’ specimens gradually decreased. The reduction in
the amount of cement for the mortars’ production derive to support the national
economy and protect the environment from waste.
1 Introduction
Afghanistan’s mountainous country is located in an area with different geological zones
that consist of various precious rocks. Afghanistan has 60 marble mining of 40 differ-
ent colors and 30 spices. According to the USA survey and geology department, the
2 Materials
2.1 Cement
Afghan ordinary Portland cement with strength of 250 kg/cm2 is used for all mortar’s
specimens. The particle size distribution by laser granulometry method is illustrated in
Fig. 1 as well as the physical properties and chemical compositions are given in Table 1
and Table 2.
2.3 Sand
Standard sand 0/2 mm according to the standard NF EN 196-1 (2016), siliceous sand
consisting of rounded particles and has a silica content of at least 98% with relative
density of 2.55 gr/cm3 is used for the mortars’ mixes.
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000
Partial Size (μm)
Fig. 1. Particle size distribution of Ghori cement and waste marble
3 Experimental Methodology
Specimens of (40 × 40 × 160) mm with prismatic shape were prepared and caste in
standard molds in line with ASTM C348 and European standard NF P18-427. DWMS
14 M. R. Rafi et al.
as cement replacement by weight with the dosage of (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and
25%) also a ratio of cement to sand 1:3 was prepared, W/B ratio was kept 0.5 for all
specimens.
Conforming to the reference mortar used worldwide in the cement industry EN 197-
1, a conventional mortar is formulated as a reference and incorporating DWMS. The
mortars’ composition proportion is reported in Table 3. Furthermore, a robust device
automatic programmable mortar mixer as shown in Fig. 2 was used to prepare cement
paste and mortars.
times and the average of three tests were taken as the flow diameter after 15 table drops
for each test.
Based on the results, it can be set out that with the increase of DWMS content, the
mortar flow decreased as seen in Fig. 4 the flow diameter gradually changes up to 15%,
but after 15% replacement dosage the flow promptly reduced as the maximum reduction
was noticed for 25% DWMS about 14%. This reduction tendency in flow diameter was
stated in research by Ergün (2011) due to the high specific surface area of waste marble
powder. Similarly, the reduction in flow diameter was observed by Seghir et al. (2019),
Munir et al. (2017).
the same value demonstrated by the reference. The maximum strength was observed
at 15% which the strength increased by 15.5% at 28 days; meanwhile this amount can
be achieved as 12% from Fig. 7 which shows the relation porosity as a function of
compressive strength. Due to disturbance in hydration process in late ages indicated
by Munir et al. (2017), the compressive strength has a sudden drop off at 20% dosage
of marble powder. The variation of compressive strength as seen in Fig. 6; due to the
differences in the chemical composition of both cement and marble waste; there are not
remarkable changes in early ages of 3, 7 and 14 days but the only variation can be notice
in age of 28 days. In comparison, Vardhan et al. (2015) studied mechanical properties
and microstructural analysis of cement mortar incorporating marble powder as partial
replacement of cement. They observed that 10% of waste marble instead of cement can
maintain both good workability and compressive strength, exceeding 10% replacement;
the marble powder can only act as a micro filler which contributes to forming a denser
structure by filling the voids.
the optimal dosage of waste marble as cement replacement to maintain all parameters
in acceptable manner is indicated as 12.6% by cement weight.
Due to the fact, the cement industry is in charge of a remarkable amount of global carbon
dioxide emissions. To control this phenomenon, civil engineers are trying to reduce the
amount of cement in cementitious structures. Considering Fig. 8 the optimal amount of
Cement Reduction and Strength Development of Conventional Mortars 19
12.6% waste marble as cement replacement in this study, addition to the development of
mortars strength, it can keep surrounding free of waste and reduce the amount of carbon
dioxide emissions. Furthermore, in each ten bags of cement one bag can be saved that
would be a significant achievement to support the national economy.
20 M. R. Rafi et al.
6 Conclusion
Dried waste marble powder could be utilized as a partial alternative binder in cement-
based mortars. The optimal percentage of DWMS as cement replacement was obtained
12.6%, which can develop compressive strength, stabilized the flexure strength, maintain
good workability, and produce cheaper mortars. Moreover, the investigation discloses
that using (DWMS) as cement replacement for better utilization depends on two influ-
ential indicators; the particle size of the waste and the chemical composition. As much
as the particles are smaller and marble’s chemical composition is closer to cement; the
higher replacement dosage could be utilized substitution of cement.
References
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the concrete. Int. J. Phys. Sci. 5(9), 1372–1380 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2006.
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Ergün, A.: Effects of the usage of diatomite and waste marble powder as partial replacement of
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9426-2
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Cement Reduction and Strength Development of Conventional Mortars 21
Khan, M.A., Khan, B., Shahzada, K., Khan, S.W., Wahab, N., Ahmad, M.I.: Conversion of Waste
Marble Powder into a Binding Material. Civil Engineering Journal 6(3), 431–445 (2020)
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Marble and Granite Section (2018). http://www.intracen.org/uploadedFiles/intracenorg/Con
tent/Redesign/Projects/AAT/AFG_MainNES_Dari.pdf.
Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Jaipur. Status Report on Commercial Utilization
of Marble Slurry in Rajasthan (2008)
Munir, M.J., Kazmi, S.M.S., Yu-Fei, W.: Efficiency of waste marble powder in controlling alkali –
silica reaction of concrete : a sustainable approach. Constr. Build. Mater. 154, 590–599 (2017).
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(2016)
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de La Stabilité. AFNOR (2009)
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France: AFNOR (2010)
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as a cement replacement in air-cured mortar. Sustainability 11(2215), 1–14 (2019)
Silva, D., Gameiro, F., De Brito, J.: Mechanical properties of structural concrete containing fine
aggregates from waste generated by the marble quarrying industry. J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 26, 1–8
(2014). https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT
Singh, M., Srivastava, A., Bhunia, D.: An investigation on effect of partial replacement of cement
by waste marble slurry. Constr. Build. Mater. 134, 471–488 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
conbuildmat.2016.12.155
Vardhan, K., Goyal, S., Siddique, R., Singh, M.: Mechanical properties and microstructural anal-
ysis of cement mortar incorporating marble powder as partial replacement of cement. Constr.
Build. Mater. 96, 615–621 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.08.071
Experimental Analysis of the Crushing
of Auxetic Structure Under Compression
Abstract. Auxetic structures are increasingly used in all industrial fields due to
their high mechanical properties. They possess a negative Poisson’s ratio. They
contract laterally when they are subjected to compressive loads and extend when
they are subjected to tensile loads. In this research contribution, an experimental
study of the compression behavior of a re-entrant honeycomb structure is devel-
oped. The material used for the construction of the specimens is a poly-lactic acid
reinforced with flax fibers. It is a biodegradable material and made from renew-
able resources. The specimens were manufactured using 3D printing technique.
The influence of the number of cells and specimen’s height were measured and
discussed. The results present their effect on the compression behavior and the
energy absorption capacity. During compression tests, the cells deform elastically
and collapse under high stress. Then, the cells crush gradually, forming folds on
the cell walls. The densification phase begins when the folds consume the full
height of the structure. The results showed that the number of the cells as well as
specimen’s height play a major role on the mechanical behavior. The compression
modulus and the energy absorption are found to be higher for auxetic structure
with the high number of cells and height.
1 Introduction
Auxetic structures are applied in a wide range of fields, including automotive, marine
and aerospace. These structures present high stiffness-to-weight ratios and high abil-
ity to dissipate energy under compression loading (Ganilova and Low 2018; Mertani
et al. 2019). The re-entrant honeycomb structure enhances the compressive properties
when compared to their conventional counterpart. Hou et al. (2014) studied the flatwise
compression tests of the conventional and auxetic honeycomb sandwich structures. The
results show that the compressive modulus, the global and the peak compressive stresses
for the auxetic core are 27%, 19% and 16% higher than that with conventional ones,
respectively.
Under a uni-axial compression stress, the honeycomb structure response has a large
and flat constant phase. The energy absorption is high during this stage (Ivanez et al.
2017). Lu et al. (2005) studied the critical compression load of honeycomb structure
analytically using the deflection theory. The equation of compression densification strain
has also been evaluated adopting the relative density of the structure (Wang and Wang
2009). The absorbed energy property of honeycomb structure is determined using the
energy absorption diagram (Wang et al. 2018). Also, finite element methods are largely
used to study the deformation characteristics using computer simulations (Liang et al.
2015; Kadir et al. 2017). Honeycombs with negative Poisson’s ratio (auxetic) can be
made adopting different technique. The most commonly used is the 3D printing process
(Essassi et al. 2020).
Due to the environmental problems, the use of bio-based materials has become the
center of attention of many studies (Cheng et al. 2013). Bio-composites have proven their
ability to meet certain engineering challenges. They are biodegradable, recyclable and
have low cost. Natural fibers are widely used as reinforcement in composite materials
(Faruk et al. 2012). Flax fibers are the most used because of their ability to improve the
strength and stiffness of composite materials (Essassi et al. 2020).
In this context, an auxetic honeycomb has been manufactured using 3D printing
technique. The material is a tape of filament made with poly-lactic acid reinforced with
flax fibers (PFF). The compression properties have been investigated. The effect of the
number of auxetic cells as well as the specimen’s height were tested. The influence of
these parameters on the mechanical behavior and energy absorption capacity is discussed.
to select printing parameters that allow the stability of the specimens. The temperature
of the extrusion head and building platform is of 210 °C and 55 °C, respectively. The
movement speed of the X-Y motion mechanism was about 100 mm.s−1 . All specimens
are printed using the same direction to avoid the influence of the layer orientation on the
mechanical properties of the material.
Compression tests of the re-entrant honeycomb structure were performed using a stan-
dard INSTRON 8801 hydraulic machine, with a load cell of 100 kN. Figure 2 shows the
experimental setup. The compression tests were carried out according to ASTM C365
under displacement-control mode. The bottom plate is fixed and the top plate is moved
downwards at a constant velocity of 1 mm.min−1 . The displacement of the auxetic struc-
ture in the compression tests is that given by the machine. For each configuration, three
specimens were tested in order to take into account the variability of the experimental
results.
Fig. 5. Compression behavior of a 5 mm height structure with different number of cells in width
Fig. 6. Compression behavior of a structure with 1 cell in width and different height
of the dissipated energy by the auxetic configurations (several number of cells as well
as heights). The results are presented in Fig. 7. It is clearly seen that the dissipated
energy increases with the number of cells and with the height of the structure. Indeed,
the increase in the number of cells includes the increase in the rigidity of the structure.
This improves its ability to support the crushing effort and thus improves its energy dis-
sipation. Also, increasing the height of the structure serves to increase the stress plateau,
which gives the structure more time before collapsing. Therefore, the choice of the num-
ber of cells as well as the height of the structure must be studied according to the desired
results.
3.3 Discussion
In order to discuss the performance of the auxetic structures made with PFF, the experi-
mental results of the maximum applied load are determined and presented in Fig. 8. It is
noticeable that the core with a large number of cells and low height is the one who has the
maximum load. Indeed, for the same height, the increase in the number of printed cells
leads to a decrease in the intra-cellular voids of the structure. During the compression
test, the cells will be crushed. For the structures containing more voids, the crushed cell
walls will find more space to deform. On the other hand, the cells of the other structures
will collapse, which requires more load. Also, the increase of the structure height implies
a decrease in the applied load. This result can be explained by tracking damage in these
structures.
Figure 9 shows the damage process of the auxetic structure with 2 cells in width for
different height. Initially, an elastic buckling of the cell walls is observed until a maximum
stress from which the deformation of the walls becomes plastic. Subsequently, the cells
are gradually crushed by forming folds, this is the phase where the stress becomes
constant. In this phase, the crushed cell walls will be distributed in intra-cellular voids.
The material deforms without increasing the stress until the voids disappear. When the
height of the auxetic structure (length of the cell walls) is small, the intra-cellular voids
are also small. Here, the stress plateau will be low, and the third phase will appear when
28 K. Essassi et al.
Fig. 8. Evolution of the maximum load according to the number of cells for different height
the entire height of the cell walls is consumed by the folds. It is the densification phase.
Consequently, auxetic structures are largely able to deform which favors the dissipation
of the mechanical energy.
Fig. 9. Damage process of auxetic structures with different height: a) 5 mm; b) 10 mm and c)
15 mm
4 Conclusion
References
ASTM Standard C365-03: standard test method for flatwise compressive properties of sandwich
cores. Annual Book of ASTM Standards (2003)
Cheng, H.N., Smith, P.B., Gross, R.A.: Green polymer chemistry: a brief review. Greens Polym.
Chem.: Biocatal. Mater. II 1-12 (2013)
Essassi, K., Rebiere, J.L., El Mahi, A., Ben Souf, M.A., Bouguecha, A., Haddar, M.: Experimen-
tal and analytical investigation of the bending behaviour of 3D-printed bio-based sandwich
structures composites with auxetic core under cyclic fatigue tests. Compos. Part A: Appl. Sci.
Manuf. 131, 105775 (2020)
Essassi, K., Rebiere, J.L., El Mahi, A., Ben Souf, M.A., Bouguecha, A., Haddar, M.: Investigation
of the static behavior and failure mechanisms of a 3D printed bio-based sandwich with auxetic
core. Int. J. Appl. Mech. 12(05), 2050051 (2020)
Faruk, O., Bledzki, A.K., Fink, H.P., Sain, M.: Biocomposites reinforced with natural fibers:
2000–2010. Prog. Polym. Sci. 37(11), 1552–1596 (2012)
Ganilova, O.A., Low, J.J.: Application of smart honeycomb structures for automotive passive
safety. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part D: J. Automob. Eng. 232(6), 797–811 (2018)
Hou, Y., Neville, R., Scarpa, F., Remillat, C., Gu, B., Ruzzene, M.: Graded conventional-auxetic
Kirigami sandwich structures: Flatwise compression and edgewise loading. Compos. B Eng.
59, 33–42 (2014)
Ivanez, I., Fernandez-Cañadas, L.M., Sanchez-Saez, S.: Compressive deformation and energy-
absorption capability of aluminium honeycomb core. Compos. Struct. 174, 123–133 (2017)
Kadir, N.A., Aminanda, Y., Dawood, M.S.I.S., Mohktar, H.: Numerical analysis of kraft paper
honeycomb subjected to uniform compression loading. J. Phy.: Conf. Ser. 914, 012004 (2017)
Liang, X., Wang, Y.L., Ding, H.: Finite element analysis of static compression performance of
honeycomb paper-core. Packag. Eng. 36(19), 59–63 (2015)
Lu, L.X., Sun, Y.P., Wang, Z.W.: Critical buckling load of paper honeycomb under out-of-plane
pressure. Packag. Technol. Sci.: Int. J. 18(3), 141–150 (2005)
Mertani, B.M.B., Keskes, B., Tarfaoui, M.: Experimental analysis of the crushing of honeycomb
cores under compression. J. Mater. Eng. Perform. 28(3), 1628–1638 (2019). https://doi.org/10.
1007/s11665-018-3852-2
Wang, D., Bai, Z., Liao, Q.: 3D energy absorption diagram construction of paper honeycomb
sandwich panel. Shock. Vib. 2018, 4067062 (2018)
Wang, D.M., Wang, Z.W.: Evaluation of compressive densification strain of paper honeycombs.
J. Mech. Eng. 45(5), 285–289 (2009)
System Level Specification and Multi-agent
Simulation of Manufacturing Systems
mohamed.haddar@enis.rnu.tn
Abstract. Lately, multi-agent systems (MAS) are being exploited to solve emerg-
ing challenges in manufacturing processes that require adaptation, flexibility, and
reconfigurability, which are important advantages over traditional centralized sys-
tems. The understanding, design and testing of such complex systems manufac-
turing processes based on distributed agents, and especially those with personal
properties, is generally a difficult task. Multi-agent systems offer an alternative way
to design and improve manufacturing processes and control systems due to their
inherent abilities to adapt autonomously to emergence. Multi-agent simulation
assumes a crucial role to analyze and improve the manufacturing process during
the design phase. Indeed, it is well suited to simulate manufacturing processes that
present complex phenomena like emergent behaviour and self-organization. This
paper discusses the modeling and simulation of the steel converter process. The
Systems Modeling Language (SysML) is used to illustrate the benefits of such
tools in the manufacturing world on the specification of a steel converter process.
Requirements diagrams are used to present the main requirements of the system.
In addition, state machine diagrams are used to describe the activities of differ-
ent steel converting process machines. Finally, block definition diagrams are also
used to define the components of this process. A model of this process has been
developed using SysML diagrams; and the simulation results are used to validate
this model.
1 Introduction
Thanks to multi-agent systems (MAS), the design and manufacturing of control solu-
tions have become more flexible, adaptive, and reconfigurable compared to traditional
systems (Wooldridge 2009). These systems are used to solve emerging challenges in
the design and manufacture of industrial systems in terms of adaptation, flexibility and
reconfigurability (Barbosa and Leitão 2011).
(Marik and McFarlane 2005) have shown that MAS are characterized by the decen-
tralization of the control of its distributed structures which provide robustness, modular-
ity, and autonomy of the processes and solve at least 25% of manufacturing problems.
For example, (Guizani et al. 2014a) have developed a new approach based on multi-agent
technologies for the optimal design of mechatronic systems. The proposed approach is
further improved by the development of a coordination and negotiation process allowing
agents to facilitate the collaborative design of distributed systems (Guizani et al. 2014b).
They subsequently validated this work through a test case to optimize the preliminary
design of an electric vehicle (Guizani et al. 2017).
The multi-agent swarm framework can adequately represent characteristics of supply
chains, such as multiple levels of abstraction and separation of concerns. Through this
multi-agent model, individual agents are integrated with trust mechanisms to identify
trusted partners to fulfill customer orders (Lin et al. 2005). In addition, the study of swarm
robotic systems has been considered as a study of multi-agent systems. Developers of
swarm robot systems use realistic simulators to test and accelerate the development of
new design methods (Aloui et al. 2020). They use simulators to model the interactions
between robots and the interactions of robots with their environment (Schin et al. 2008).
The software required to develop agents is simpler and shorter than the software required
by centralized approaches (O’Hare and Jennings 1996). However, analyzing, testing, and
validating the behavior of multi-agent systems is generally difficult and time-consuming.
It is necessary to use tools that support the correction of errors during the design phase
before its deployment in the real operation; These are the tools of multi-agent simula-
tion that simplify the representation, the testing, and therefore the understanding of the
behavior of the system.
In manufacturing, developers reduce the time and cost of developing control systems
by using simulation which allows for the detection of errors, mistakes, and misunder-
standings during the design phase and before moving on to implementation (De Vin
and Jagstam 2001). In this article, we study the steel converter process with the aim of
developing a model that focuses on the crane management algorithm to minimize dis-
continuities in the operation of continuous casting machines. In the first part, we model
this process using Systems Modeling Language (Mhenni et al. 2014). In fact, several
SysML diagrams are used such as requirements diagram to specify system require-
ments, sequence diagram and state machine diagram to model system behavior, and
block definition diagrams to identify structural architecture. In the second part, we use
a multi-agent tool called “Anylogic” to simulate the modeled version and check the
performances through the results obtained.
Today, we use steel to fabricate everything from sewing needles to oil tankers. It is
the most used material for building industries and the world’s infrastructure (Lukša
et al. 2020), (Tossavainen et al. 2007). In addition, all the tools required to build and
manufacture are made of steel. The process of converting steel is very complicated
(Kovalev et al. 2016). It can be simplified as follows: at first, the hot metal was treated
in a converter where all secondary metallurgical work is done. Secondly, the hot metal
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— Che sarà? — ella ridomandò, attonita, volgendosi al giovine.
— Forse un funerale.
— A quest’ora?
— Forse una funzione... Certo: è una funzione. Non vede? Si
muove.
Le fiammelle in fatti si movevano. Fu dapprima un’agitazione
disordinata, come un incrociarsi rapido e confuso di tutte quelle luci
in un piccolo spazio; poi alcune di esse si staccarono dal gruppo e
discesero fantasticamente, ondulando e sussultando, la scala del
tempio. Le altre seguirono a poco a poco, mentre quelle prime,
disposte in ischiera, s’allontanavano, e ben presto una lunga
processione di fiamme doppie si sviluppò serpeggiante per l’oscurità
del piazzale.
Allora Aurelio s’accorse che una campana rintoccava.
— Sente? — egli disse a Flavia. — Che squilli lenti, lugubri...
— È un’agonia, senza dubbio. Qualcuno muore laggiù, e quelle torce
seguono il Viatico!
Ella aggiunse dopo una pausa:
— Mio Dio, che tristezza! — e si lasciò ricadere su i cuscini come
morta di fatica.
«Che tristezza! Che tristezza!» ripeté l’anima del giovine, facendo
eco. E il ricordo della nonna, della sola persona ch’egli amava e
dalla quale era amato, risorse vivido, risplendette come una stella
solitaria sul cielo opaco della sua mestizia. Un’onda di tenerezza
impetuosa gli gonfiò il petto a quel ricordo sòrto per una secreta
associazion d’idee dopo la funebre visione; tutte le fibre del suo
cuore vibrarono concordemente al sacro nome di Madre. Oh, era
quello l’essere caro, l’essere indimenticabile, a cui egli era legato da
un’intera vita di solidarietà; era quella la creatura di consolazione, di
conforto, d’infinita benevolenza sul seno della quale avrebbe potuto
senza viltà e senza pericolo riposare il capo stanco.
Un desiderio ansioso lo prese: di correre a lei, di stringerla tra le
braccia, di coprirne di baci il povero volto cereo, vizzo, emaciato.
Tutta la sua affettuosità, sempre oppressa da un pertinace proposito
d’indifferenza, si slanciò in quel momento di debolezza sentimentale
verso colei ch’era stata la sua vera madre, verso colei ch’egli aveva
appreso ad amare ne’ suoi giorni più tenebrosi.
«Oh, mamma! mamma!...»
Come un bambino smarrito egli invocava l’assente, ripetendone il
nome nel pensiero. E i rintocchi, che udiva battere ostinati dietro le
spalle, gli infondevano una temenza oscura, quasi il presentimento
d’una notizia triste che l’aspettava insidiosa là su la spiaggia.
Disse Flavia, osservando sempre intenta il corteo delle fiaccole:
— Passano ora il ponte; vanno verso Ceresolo. Chi sa dove abita il
moribondo?
Soggiunse poi con la voce più fioca, come parlasse tra sè:
— La morte! Ecco ciò che tutti ci uguaglia!...
Aurelio, alzando gli occhi verso la fanciulla, ebbe un fremito
profondo. Quelle parole precisavano la causa del suo sgomento. Oh
sì, era la Morte ch’egli temeva; era il fantasma della Morte che
projettava una prolissa ombra nera nella sua mente. La Morte
poteva da un momento all’altro precipitarsi di nuovo nella sua casa,
cui aveva già tanto devastata, e annientare in un colpo tutto il suo
bene. Sua nonna era per essa una facile preda, una vittima pronta;
bastava un debole soffio perchè si spegnesse la fiamma di
quell’esistenza, che ogni giorno più si vedeva infievolire e attenuarsi,
consunta dall’età e dal male. Egli non avrebbe potuto far nulla per
contendere alla Distruzione la vita della sua cara; egli, quando fosse
scoccata l’ora fatale, avrebbe dovuto assistere impotente spettatore
al lugubre dramma, che gli toglieva senza colpa e senza ragione
l’ultimo conforto. — Ma che sarebbe poi stato di lui? E come, solo,
avrebbe vissuto nella casa squallida e severa, che le imagini de’ suoi
maggiori, appese alle pareti, rendevan simile a una critta foderata di
lapidi?
Gli occhi di Flavia parvero leggergli nel pensiero e rispondere alle
sue domande angosciose. Fissi su lui, intorbiditi come da un velo di
pietà e di tristezza, essi ricantavano ora più forte il poema della
seduzione, essi ripetevan con maggiore eloquenza il dolce invito alla
Gioja! «Perchè t’affliggi, giovine?» dicevano quegli occhi di donna:
«Perchè non domandi alla vita quel bene, quell’unico bene ch’essa
largisce liberalmente a tutti i nati? Guardami: io son colei che
potrebbe confortarti nella sventura; io son colei che potrebbe
prendere il posto di quella che sta per lasciarti. Amami, sacrificami il
tuo inutile orgoglio, ed io ti allieterò la casa squallida e severa con la
mia beltà e la mia giovinezza.»
Sotto quegli sguardi armoniosi come un canto, la confusione del
giovine crebbe, si trasformò, divenne un’ebrezza tenera e
imaginosa, una specie di spasimo spirituale, misto di temenza e di
gaudio. Egli sentiva il cuore gonfio e convulso, sentiva affluire a fiotti
il sangue al cervello, sentiva l’anima ammorbidirsi e sciogliersi come
fusa da un calore supremo. L’angosciosa mobilità del suo pensiero
s’acquetava; pareva che tutto il suo mondo interiore si dissolvesse in
guisa di nebbia e vanisse rapidamente, disperso da una raffica, nelle
profondità d’un cielo oscuro come quello che si schiudeva sopra il
suo capo. Alcune frasi liriche, inaspettate, si abbozzavano a intervalli
nella sua mente, illuminandola con la fugacità frenetica di lampi:
«Oh, dimenticare tutto, tutto, tutto... Fuggire lontano, molto lontano
dagli uomini in un paese vergine, selvaggio, primaverile... Esser
solo, forte e libero in cospetto della Bellezza... Amare, inebriarsi
d’amore, vivere e morire in un’estasi sublime senza pensieri, senza
rimpianti, senza dolore...» Era il gran Sogno che incominciava, il
Sogno dell’eterna passione umana. Era un desiderio fatale
d’integrazione, di struggimento, di creazione che lo accendeva,
ch’esaltava la sua anima per modo che ogni imagine vi si
riproduceva alterata sotto forma di poesia. E i frammenti del carme
immortale continuavano a succedersi dentro di lui, abbaglianti e
sonori, sempre più tenebrosi e sempre più incantevoli, spontanee
polle d’Arte scaturite dai più densi misteri della Vita.
Gli passava da presso la Felicità, ed egli udiva bene nel silenzio
della notte il rombo delle sue ali; egli sentiva l’aria scossa e turbata
dall’eterna Chimera proteiforme, dietro a cui gli uomini volan travolti,
come foglie nel vento d’un traino impetuoso.
— Rallenti, ci siamo, — disse Flavia con la voce spenta.
Quando ebber lasciata la barca, Aurelio, quasi dimentico di lei,
ascese solo in corsa la spiaggia verso il palazzo. Si vedevano
ancora tra i fusti sottili dei salici e dei gàttici tremolare sinistramente
le fiamme della processione, che s’allontanava salmodiando verso
Ceresolo.
Sul rialto eran sedute, in aspettazione di Flavia, la signora Boris e
Luisa.
— La mamma? — chiese Aurelio, trafelato dalla corsa, senza
lasciarle parlare.
— È rientrata, sarà una mezz’ora, — rispose la signora Boris: — non
si sentiva bene..
«Lo sapevo! Lo sapevo!» gridò una voce nel cuore del giovine. Ed
egli, senza salutare, si volse, attraversò velocemente il cortile, salì gli
scalini a due a due tra le tenebre, si trovò con il respiro strozzato
dall’affanno d’avanti alla porta della camera di sua nonna.
Aperse, dopo una breve pausa.
La stanza era avvolta in una penombra bronzea e oscillante. Il gran
letto pareva nel mezzo un catafalco funebre, alto com’era e senza
sporgenze nè a capo nè a piedi; e in torno era un vuoto di squallore.
Sul comodino una candela tutta consunta mandava fumigando gli
ultimi bagliori a scatti, come palpiti d’anima moribonda.
Su le prime Aurelio credette che donna Marta fosse già discesa,
dimenticando di spegnere il lume. Poi, d’improvviso, egli la vide là
distesa, supina sul letto, ancor tutta vestita e con gli occhi chiusi,
forse assopita, forse svenuta, forse forse...!
Gittò un’esclamazione rauca, congiungendo le mani in atto di
stupore e quasi di preghiera. Si precipitò verso di lei, mormorando
tra i singhiozzi:
— Mamma! Mamma! Mamma!
VII.
Al bivio.