We use the modified smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (MSPH) method to analyze shear strain localization in elasto-thermo-viscoplastic materials that exhibit strainand strain-rate hardening and thermal softening. A homogeneous solution of simple shearing deformations of the body is perturbed and the resulting initial-boundary-value problem analyzed by the MSPH method. It is found that the deforma...

Two questions that naturally arise in N -body simulations of stellar systems are: 1. How can we compare experiments that employ different types of softened gravity? 2. Given a particular type of softened gravity, which choices of the softening length optimize the faithfulness of the experiments to the Newtonian dynamics? We devise a method for exploring the dynamical effects of softening, which...

Raman scattering of A1g phonons in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O81d single crystals ~d50.13, Tc586 K! has been measured as a function of temperature. We report an anomalous softening in the frequency and a decrease in the linewidth of the A1g phonon at 290 cm 21 ~O1,2 c-axis in-phase vibration! below Tc . We also confirm a smaller anomalous softening in the frequency of the A1g phonon at 465 cm 21 ~O3 c-axis vi...

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of five different solvents: xylol, eucalyptol, halothane, chloroform and orange oil on softening gutta-percha in simulated root canals. One drop of solvent was placed into a reservoir made in a simulated canal whose channel was previously instrumented and filled with gutta-percha and N-Rickert sealer. After 5 min, softening was evaluated for...

The relationships between a resistance curve (R-curve), the corresponding fracture process zone length, the shape of the traction/displacement softening law, and the propagation of fracture are examined in the context of the through-the-thickness fracture of composite laminates. A procedure that accounts for R-curve toughening mechanisms by superposing bilinear cohesive elements is proposed. Si...

For the analysis of cracked concrete structures using the fictitious crack model two fracture properties of concrete are required, namely its true specific fracture energy GF and the corresponding tension softening relation (w). In a recent paper, the authors proposed a simple method for the determination of the true specific fracture energy of a concrete mix. In this paper a method is proposed...

BACKGROUND Arthroscopy was used to observe the clinical effect of liver-softening medicine for treating knee osteoarthritis (OA). MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty knee OA patients with cartilage classifications of Outerbridge grade II, III, or II plus III determined via arthroscopy were randomly assigned to a treatment of liver-softening medicine plus glucosamine or a control treatment of glucosam...

Carroll has shown three qualitatively different cases of behavior in the load-expansion relation for the inflation of hollow incompressible isotropic elastic spheres. Each of these cases was related to material response in uniaxial compression (or equal biaxial extension). For "type A" materials, load increases monotonically with expansion; for "type B" materials, load increases monotonically a...

In this paper we measure the two-body relaxation time from the angular deflection of test particles launched in a rigid configuration of field particles. We find that centrally concentrated configurations have relaxation times that can be shorter than those of the corresponding homogeneous distributions by an order of magnitude or more. For homogeneous distributions we confirm that the relaxati...