Arcan shear tests with digital image correlation were used to evaluate the shear modulus and shear stress–strain diagrams in the plane defined by two principal axes of the material orthotropy. Two different orientation of the grain direction as compared to the direction of the shear force in specimens were considered: perpendicular and parallel shear. Two different ways were used to obtain the elastic properties based on the digital image correlation (DIC) results from the full-field measurement and from the virtual strain gauges with the linear strains: perpendicular to each other and directed at the angle of π/4 to the shearing load. In addition, the own continuum structural model for the failure analysis in the experimental tests was used. Constitutive relationships of the model were established in the framework of the mathematical multi-surface elastoplasticity for the plane stress state. The numerical simulations done by the finite element program after implementation of the model demonstrated the failure mechanisms from the experimental tests.

The use of a continuum structural model for the analysis of masonry structures in the plane stress state is discussed in this paper. Attention is paid to orthotropic masonry at the material level and validation of the model after its implementation in a proprietary finite element method (FEM) system via user-supplied subroutine. The constitutive relations are established in the framework of the mathematical elastoplasticity theory of small displacements and deformations. Based on the orthotropic failure criterion that was originally proposed by Hoffman in the spatial stress state, the model includes a generalization of the criterion in the plane stress. As it is the case for isotropic quasi-brittle materials, different yield surfaces are considered for tension and compression, which are both of Hoffman type.

The aim of this study was to determine the suitability of arc sprayed zinc and aluminum coatings as materials for protective coatings of different heating systems. The most aggressive chemical agents occurring in heating water are chloride and sulfate anions. Both ions are responsible for the corrosion of metals due to their high electronegativity and standard electrochemical potential. Water in heating systems should not contain more than 150 mg/L anions, including no more than 50 mg/L of chlorides and 100 mg/L of sulfates. To determine the corrosion resistance of three types of zinc and aluminum coatings, open circuit potential and linear polarization resistance (LPR) tests were conducted in eight alkaline solutions with different sulfate and chloride contents. The SEM/EDS structural properties of sprayed coatings at specific arc process parameters were investigated. Zinc coatings exhibit the most stable corrosion potentials in varying environments but have higher corrosion current density. Aluminum coatings exhibit much higher potential values in a chloride environment than in any other. A chloride environment also causes the lowest corrosion rates for aluminum-coated samples. A small addition of aluminum to the zinc coating (15 wt.%) does not appear to affect the stability of the corrosion potential but does result in a reduction in corrosion rates in chloride solutions.

Experimental splitting tension tests of cylindrical specimens made of the Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) are presented in the paper. Based on results from the digital image correlation system (DIC) and strain gauges, two methods of a determination of the tensile Young's modulus and the Poisson's ratio are discussed, including authors' method. In a new method developed by the authors, it is possible to obtain easy and conveniently both elastic constants simultaneously by fitting the theoretical curve into the displacement field obtained from the DIC system. The fitting curve which is derived based on elasticity theory, describes a distribution of the horizontal displacement along the diameter of the specimen perpendicular to a line of a loading force. Additionally, failure modes and failure mechanisms in the Brazilian splitting test are shown.