A heterogeneous brittle material characterized by a random field of local toughness K c (x) can be represented by an equivalent homogeneous medium of toughness, K eff. Homogenization refers to a process of estimating K eff from the local field K c (x). An approach based on a perturbative expansion of the stress intensity factor along a rough crack front shows the occurrence of different regimes...

The concept of mental toughness is widely used, but empirical evidence is required to fully understand this construct and its related variables. The purpose of this paper was to explore the relationship between: (a) mental toughness and coping, (b) mental toughness and optimism, and (c) coping and optimism. Participants were 677 athletes (male 454; female 223) aged between 15 and 58 years (M ag...

The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyse the fracture toughness of yttria stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) dental ceramics by means of the Vickers indentation technique. Fracture toughness was analysed under the following loads: 29.42 N, 49.03 N, 196.13 N, and 294.20 N. Cracks that had developed from the vertices of a Vickers indentation were measured and used ...

Nanostructured (NS) and ultrafine-grained (UFG) materials have high strength and relatively low ductility. Their toughness has not been comprehensively investigated. Here we report the Charpy impact behavior and the corresponding microstructural evolutions in UFG Cu with equi-axed and elongated grains which were prepared by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) for 2 and 16 passes at room tempe...

In this paper, we presented a technique to determine player perception (a performance measure) through their online presence (media feedback), which is far more accurate than one determined by traditional means of looking at player statistics. The proposed model is a research-in-progress that takes into account the factors such as toughness of the fixtures, toughness of opponents, the character...

Mechanical properties and morphologies of HDPE/bamboo flour (BF) composites modified with two maleated ethylene/propylene elastomers (EPR-g-MA) and one maleated polyethylene (PE-g-MA) were investigated. The concentration of each modifier varied between 0 and 8.3 wt% based on the total composite weight. The highest values in strengths and moduli were achieved for the composites containing PE-gMA...