A multi-scale strategy is employed in the paper to investigate the thermo-mechanical properties of 2.5D angle-interlock woven shape memory polymer composites (SMPCs). In the study, the mesoscopic model of 2.5D woven SMPCs and microscopic model of yarns are firstly developed. After that, the themo-viscoelastic constitutive relationship of the yarn is described in the form of hereditary integral and the parameters of relaxation moduli are obtained from nonlinear fitting of Prony series based on the results of finite element method (FEM). Based on the multi-scale models and the constitutive relationship, the effects of warp and weft arranged densities on viscoelastic properties of 2.5D woven SMPCs are studied in detail. Finally, the shape memory behavior along the warp direction in small strain region is also analyzed. The research in the paper lays a foundation for design and application of woven SMPCs in engineering.

Integrated crop–livestock systems in the tropical region are diverse and not well characterized. To better understand the conditions and potential of these systems, we characterized the spatial and social arrangement of integrated systems within a landscape context. Integrated systems are defined by biomass and nutrient flows, linking crop, livestock and human components of agriculture. The landscape is defined within a spatial framework of these flows. To understand the diversity of integrated systems in the tropics, we characterized three case study areas: Southern Mali, Brazilian Cerrados and Amazon frontier. Methodology was based on historical and descriptive approaches of these cases, mobilizing interdisciplinary knowledge of a large research team. This provided a retrospective view to discuss four key points about the future of integrated systems in the tropics: (i) importance of landscape structure for conception and adaptation of the integrated systems; (ii) key role of local institutions in managing such integrated systems; (iii) trade-offs between external and internal resources; and (iv) role of nitrogen to improve system efficiency. This paper concludes with the relevance of social sciences in the further development of integrated systems.

This paper aims at the formulation of a computational model for the simulation of adhesion phenomena in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) under various environmental conditions. The present approach is based on finite-element (FE) simulations of a representative part of the surface. The micro-scale analyses include the contact behaviour of the asperities and different “proximity interactions” like Van der Waals and capillary forces. The model is first validated in the simple case of a sphere over a flat surface and then applied to a realistic surface sample.