Abstract Identification of stagnant regions of viscoplastic fluid flows in production lines and equipment is of paramount importance owing to potential material degradation and process contamination. The present work introduces an assessment strategy to identify, classify and quantify unyielded regions with the objective of optimizing the flow conditions with the purpose of minimizing stagnant regions. Flow of Carbopol® 980 in a T-bifurcation channel is adopted to illustrate the procedure. The rheological behavior of Carbopol® 980 was simulated using the Herschel-Bulkley viscoplastic model regularized by Papanastasiou’s exponential approach. The analysis shows that three distinct types of stagnant unyielded regions take place in the bifurcation channel depending upon the Reynolds condition. Furthermore, the rheological characteristics of the fluid indicate the existence of an ideal Reynolds condition which allows the smallest flow stagnant area at the bifurcation zone.

Austenitic stainless steels have largely been used in industrial equipment, architectural components and consumer items amongst others. Numerical simulation of manufacturing processes of such components and parts requires adequate hardening descriptions and accurate inelastic parameters. This work addresses these issues for the AISI 304 stainless steels based on phenomenological approaches using a higher order logarithmic yield stress equation and alternative micromechanical-based equations. Identification of the inelastic parameters is performed by either curve-fitting strategies or optimization techniques. The experimental-numerical comparative assessments demonstrate that the micromechanical-based yield stress equation derived from Bergström's dislocation model provides the best hardening description.

Abstract The International Symposium on Solid Mechanics (MecSol) is a biennial conference which aims to provide a forum to discuss relevant issues associated with solid mechanics. The MecSol 2017 edition was held in the city of Joinville, Brazil, on 26-28 April 2017. Plenary lectures were delivered by researchers from five different countries. The main topics discussed in the conference are as follows: composite materials, optimization, constitutive modelling, fatigue, impact, nonlinear analyses, structural reliability, X-FEM, G-FEM, and BEM numerical methods. The participants were invited to submit full papers, which, after peer review, compound this special issue of the Latin American Journal of Solids and Structures. This article highlights the main topics addressed in the conference.