Browsing by Author "Rajapakse, R.K.N.D"

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Elastodynamic Green's functions of orthotropic half plane
(American Society of Civil Engineers, 1991-03-01) Rajapakse, R.K.N.D; Wang, Y.
The dynamic response of an orthotropic elastic half plane subjected to a set of time‐harmonic buried loadings is investigated. The governing differential equations are established in terms of displacements and a general solution is derived using Fourier integral transforms with respect to the x‐coordinate. The boundary‐value problems corresponding to time‐harmonic vertical and horizontal loads acting in the interior of the half plane are solved. Explicit analytical solutions are presented for displacements and stresses due to buried uniformly distributed and concentrated loadings. Some characteristics of the analytical solution are investigated, and its numerical evaluation is also discussed. Selected numerical results for displacements and stresses of isotropic, ice, layered soil, and cadmium half‐plane regions are presented. A discussion of these numerical solutions is presented to investigate the influence of the degree of material anisotropy, frequency of excitation, and the type of loading on the response of the elastic half plane.
Open Access
Influence of Laboratory Synthesized Graphene Oxide on the Morphology and Properties of Cement Mortar
(MDPI, 2023-01) Ganesh, S; Thambiliyagodage, C; Perera, S. V. T. J; Rajapakse, R.K.N.D
The introduction of Graphene Oxide (GO), a nanomaterial, has shown considerable promise in improving the mechanical properties of cement composites. However, the reasons for this improvement are not yet fully understood and demand further research. This study aims to understand the effect of laboratory-produced GO, using Tour’s method, on the mechanical properties and morphology of cement mortar containing GO. The GO was characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XRD), X-ray powder diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy alongside Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This study adopted a cement mortar with GO percentages of 0.02, 0.025, 0.03, 0.035, and 0.04 with respect to the weight of the cement. The presence of GO in cement mortar increased the density and decreased the consistency and setting times. At the optimum of 0.03% GO viscous suspension, the mechanical properties such as the 28-day compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength were enhanced by 41%, 83%, and 43%, respectively. In addition, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis indicates an increase in surface area and volume of micropores of GO cement mortar, resulting in a decreased volume of mesopores. The improvement in properties was due to increased nucleation sites, calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) density, and a decreased volume of mesopores.
Embargo
Thermo-electro-mechanical performance of piezoelectric stack actuators for fuel injector applications
(Sage Publications, 2009-03-01) Senousy, M.S; Li, F.X; Mumford, D.; Gadala, M.; Rajapakse, R.K.N.D
Piezoelectric actuators are increasingly used in fuel injectors due to their quick response, high efficiency, accuracy, and excellent repeatability. Current understanding of their thermo-electro-mechanical performance under dynamic driving conditions appropriate for fuel injection is, however, limited. In this paper, the thermo-electro-mechanical performance of soft Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) stack actuators is experimentally investigated over a temperature range of -30°C to 80°C, under driving electric fields of up to 2.0 kV/mm (using an AC drive method and a biased DC offset), different frequencies, and a constant preload of about 5 MPa. Experimental results show that the dynamic stroke of the actuators increases with the magnitude and frequency of the applied electric field, as well as ambient temperature. The dynamic stroke was also found to increase with decreased driving field rise time, which is equivalent to increasing the driving field frequency. At driving frequencies lower than the resonance frequency of the test apparatus (~500 Hz), the strain-electric field behavior under different temperatures agreed well with previously obtained quasi-static results. The duty cycle was found to have a minimal effect on dynamic stroke but significantly affected the amount of heat generated under high electric field magnitudes and/or frequencies. The temperature increase due to self-heat generation under a continuous AC driving field (100% duty cycle) was very high, and limited the maximum driving field magnitude and/or frequency. Reducing the duty cycle significantly decreased the amount of heat generation.