FEpX is a modeling framework for computing the elastoplastic deformations of polycrystalline solids. Using the framework, one can simulate the mechanical behavior of aggregates of crystals, referred to as virtual polycrystals, over large strain defor
mation paths. This article presents the theory, the finite element formulation, and important features of the numerical implementation that collectively define the modeling framework. The article also provides several examples of simulating the elastoplastic behavior of polycrystalline solids to illustrate possible applications of the framework. There is an associated finite element code, also referred to as FEpX, that is based on the framework presented here and was used to perform the simulations presented in the examples. The article serves as a citable reference for the modeling framework for users of that code. Specific information about the formats of the input and output data, the code architecture, and the code archive are contained in other documents.
Spectroscopic follow-up is a pre-requisite for studies of the formation and early evolution of brown dwarfs. Here we present IRTF/SpeX near-infrared spectroscopy of 30 candidate members of the young Upper Scorpius association, selected from our previ
ous survey work. All 24 high confidence members are confirmed as young very low mass objects with spectral types from M5 to L1, 15-20 of them are likely brown dwarfs. This high yield confirms that brown dwarfs in Upper Scorpius can be identified from photometry and proper motions alone, with negligible contamination from field objects (<4%). Out of the 6 candidates with lower confidence, 5 might still be young very low mass members of Upper Scorpius, according to our spectroscopy. We demonstrate that some very low mass class II objects exhibit radically different near infrared (0.6 - 2.5micron) spectra from class III objects, with strong excess emission increasing towards longer wavelengths and partially filled in features at wavelengths shorter than 1.25micron. These characteristics can obscure the contribution of the photosphere within such spectra. Therefore, we caution that near infrared derived spectral types for objects with discs may be unreliable. Furthermore, we show that the same characteristics can be seen to some extent in all class II and even a significant fraction of class III objects (~40%), indicating that some of them are still surrounded by traces of dust and gas. Based on our spectra, we select a sample of objects with spectral types of M5 to L1, whose near-infrared emission represents the photosphere only. We recommend the use of these objects as spectroscopic templates for young brown dwarfs in the future.
A methodology is presented for estimating average values for the temperature and the frictional traction over a tool-workpiece interface using measured values of force and torque applied to the tool. The approach was developed specifically for fricti
on stir welding and friction stir processing applications, but is sufficiently general to be of use in a variety of other processes that involve sliding contact and heating at a tool-workpiece interface. The methodology works with a finite element framework that is intended to predict the evolution of the microstructural state of the workpiece material as it undergoes a complex thermomechanical history imposed by the process tooling. We employ a three-dimensional, Eulerian, finite element formulation; it includes coupling among the solutions for velocity, temperature and material state evolution. A critical element of the methodology is a procedure to estimate the tool interface traction and temperature from typical, measured values of force and torque. The procedure leads naturally to an intuitive basis for estimating error that is used in conjunction with multiple meshes to assure convergence. The methodology is demonstrate for a suite of three experiments that had been previously published as part of a study on the effect of weld speed on friction stir welding. The probe interface temperatures and torques are estimated for all three weld speeds and the multi-mesh error estimation methodology is employed to quantify the rate of convergence. Finally, comparison of computed and measured power usage is used as a further validation. Using the converged results, trends in the material flow, temperature, stress, deformation rate and material state with changing weld conditions are examined.
We present a census of the disk population for UKIDSS selected brown dwarfs in the 5-10 Myr old Upper Scorpius OB association. For 116 objects originally identified in UKIDSS, the majority of them not studied in previous publications, we obtain photo
metry from the WISE database. The resulting colour-magnitude and colour-colour plots clearly show two separate populations of objects, interpreted as brown dwarfs with disks (class II) and without disks (class III). We identify 27 class II brown dwarfs, 14 of them not previously known. This disk fraction (27 out of 116 or 23%) among brown dwarfs was found to be similar to results for K/M stars in Upper Scorpius, suggesting that the lifetimes of disks are independent of the mass of the central object for low-mass stars and brown dwarfs. 5 out of 27 disks (19%) lack excess at 3.4 and 4.6 microns and are potential transition disks (i.e. are in transition from class II to class III). The transition disk fraction is comparable to low-mass stars. We estimate that the timescale for a typical transition from class II to class III is less than 0.4 Myr for brown dwarfs. These results suggest that the evolution of brown dwarf disks mirrors the behaviour of disks around low-mass stars, with disk lifetimes on the order of 5-10 Myr and a disk clearing timescale significantly shorter than 1 Myr.
