PSI - Issue 60

Rakesh Bhadra et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 60 (2024) 149–164 Bhadra et al. / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2023) 000 – 000

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(a) (b) Fig.3.Illustration depicting contour plots of the average modulus of elasticity gradation for EGM nanocomposite block. (a) γ e = +2 and (b) γ e = -2. The analysis incorporates considerations for large deformation effects. To indent the nanocomposite block beneath the rigid surface of the indenter, downward displacement is applied to the indenter from its initial position or when it just comes into contact with the top surface. This process continues until the desired indentation depth of 0.78 nm is achieved. Subsequently, contact parameters such as contact force, contact area , contactpressure, von Mises stress distribution and deformation behavior area are extracted from the analysis. Similarly, the unloading process is carried out by upward displacement of the indenter after the loading is completed. This unloading process continues until there is a complete separation taking place between the surface of the nanocomposite block and the indenter. Once the unloading is finished, post-processing of the results is conducted to obtain similar contact behaviour.

3. Result and discussions 3.1. Mesh convergence study

Conducting a mesh convergence analysis is a crucial aspect of finite element analysis as it validates the accuracy of the model. In this analysis, the mesh configuration is adjusted in a way that strikes a balance between minimizing the number of elements or solution time while ensuring that the result accuracy remains unaffected. The goal is to find the appropriate number of elements that provide reliable and precise results in this section.

(a) FGM

(b) CNT

Fig.4. Mesh convergence plots.