An experimental investigation exploring the use of wire mesh/hollow glass microsphere combination for use as thermal insulation was conducted with the aim to conclude whether or not it represents a superior insulation technology to those on the market. Three primary variables, including number of wire mesh layers, filler material, and temperature dependence were studied using an apparatus that was part of L.I.C.H.E.N (LabVIEW Integrated Conduction Heat Experiment Network), a setup whose basic components allow three vertically stacked samples to be thermally and mechanically controlled. Knowing the temperature profile in the upper and lower samples allows for determination of thermal conductivity of the middle material through the use of Fourier?s law. The numbers of layers investigated were two, four, six, and eight, with each separated by a metallic liner. The filler materials included air, s15, s35 and s60HS 3MTM hollow glass microspheres. The experiments were conducted at four temperatures of 300, 330, 366, and 400K with an interface pressure of 20 Psi. The experimental results indicated the ?number of layers? used was the primary factor in determining the effective thermal conductivity value. The addition of hollow glass microspheres as filler material resulted in statistically insignificant changes in effective thermal conductivity. Increasing the number of wire mesh layers resulted in a corresponding increase in effective thermal conductivity of the insulation. Changes in temperature had little to no effect on thermal conductivity. The effective thermal conductivity values for the proposed insulation structure ranged from 0.22 to 0.65 W/m-K, the lowest of which came from the two layer case having air as filler material. The uncertainties associated with the experimental results fell between 10 to 20 percent in all but a few cases. In the best performing cases, when compared with existing insulation technologies, thermal conductivity was approximately 3 to 10 times higher than these methods of insulation. Thus, the proposed insulation scheme with hollow glass-sphere filler material does not represent superior technology, and would be deemed uncompetitive with those readily available in the insulation market.

The effect of coatings on the interfacial strength of a hollow glass microsphere/polyester composite and their capacity to endure thermal stresses were studied by mechanical testing and an active Acoustic Emission (AE) method. AE was postulated to provide more local information at or near the glass/polyester interface due to the sensitivity of elastic waves to the rigidity of polymer chains at the glass sphere/polyester interface compared to mechanical testing. Three frequency ranges identified by multivariate statistics yet consolidated for the initial analysis into a band of 140-240 kHz, were found to be changing with the different coated glass filler for different glass content and heating state. Considering the acoustic behavior of the composites containing different levels of glass sphere content (1-10 vol%), a lower concentration (aminoethylamino)-propyl-trimethoxy silane coated glass (AS6), demonstrated the lowest attenuation after heating (associated with higher interfacial strength). As anticipated, the highest attenuation after heating was observed for uncoated glass (16K) due to expectedly weaker associations. Mechanical testing results after heating were consistent with the AE response for AS6 and 16K for this frequency range. Trends in amplitude for the three narrower, frequency ranges of 130-160 kHz, 180-220 kHz and 230-260 kHz were compared against that of 140-240 kHz and very small differences were observed. It was found that the frequency range of 130-60 kHz was more descriptive of the changes of interfacial strength in composites (at 10 vol%), being consistent with the mechanical test results. Considering the AE response at 130-160 kHz and mechanical data, higher concentration (aminoethylamino)-propyl-trimethoxy silane (AS12), better endured thermal stresses compared to other coatings. A smaller trial looked at the effect of moisture aging and subsequent thermal cycling on the glass/polymer interface strength as another method to perturb the interface. Attenuation for the band of 180-260 kHz was studied for aged versus non-aged composites. The commercial coating, L21 demonstrated a better moisture resistance before and after thermal cycling compared to uncoated glass spheres. An improved evaluation of interfacial strength in glass/polyester was expected using AE technique versus mechanical testing due to its higher sensitivity to changes in internal structure, however; no significant improvement compared to mechanical testing was observed, at least based on the analysis technique currently being used. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / Sheet molded compound (SMC) is a polymer material reinforced by fibers providing a combination of light weight and high mechanical properties and is used in automotive industry. Light weight fillers (hollow glass microspheres) are used to obtain further weight reduction; however, addition of these fillers leads to reduced mechanical properties and further problems during painting process known as ‘paint popping’. The former is due to uncertain interfacial state between polymer and fillers and the latter results from different thermal expansion behavior of the polymer and filler materials while the material is exposed to high temperatures for painting process. This research aims to devise a highly sensitive technique and evaluate its suitability compared to mechanical testing for investigation of the origin of aforementioned problems. Acoustic Emission (AE) is a method with high sensitivity to changes in internal structure of the material which is postulated to provide a better insight on material microstructure compared to more commonly used method i.e. mechanical testing. Use of interfacial controlling agents was examined to reduce the problems as a result of introduction of fillers. The effect of using surface modified fillers and the effect of thermal stresses on material was investigated using AE technique. Application of AE method in this study provided a good insight about the changes in material internal structure; however, it did not demonstrate a significant improvement in detecting the origins of studied problems compared to mechanical testing at least based on the analysis technique used in this study.

Porous Wall Hollow Glass Microspheres (PWHGMs) were developed by the Savannah River National Laboratory. What makes these microspheres unique is the interconnected porosity spread throughout their wall allowing various materials to travel from the surface to the hollow interior. With their characteristic porosity, the PWHGMs are a great tool for encapsulating or filtrating different materials. Unfortunately, there is little information available on the mechanical properties of PWHGMs. The main goal of this research was to develop a method to crush individual microspheres and statistically analyze the results. One objective towards completing this goal was to measure the microsphere diameter distribution. Microsphere diameter is a major factor affecting strength as well as the Weibull parameters. Two different methods, microscopy counting and laser light scattering, used in the research yielded similar distributions. The main objective of this research was to analyze the crush strength of individual microspheres. Using nanoindentation, data were collected to analyze the crush strength of PWHGMs in uniaxial compression. Nanoindentation data were used to analyze how the strength of the PWHGMs changes through the different stages of production and at different diameter ranges. Data for 3M commercial microspheres were compared to ARC microspheres. Most data were analyzed using a statistical technique known as the two parameter Weibull analysis. The data indicated that the strength generally decreased as the microsphere diameter increased. Scattering in the data was nearly the same across all sample sets tested. Results indicated that the PWHGMs were weaker than the ARC hollow glass microspheres (HGMs). This is primarily due to the addition of wall porosity in the PWHGM. / Master of Science

Ce travail de thèse a permis de montrer que la résolution latérale de gravure de lasers proches infrarouges nanosecondes pouvait être réduite en faisant passer le faisceau à travers des microbilles de verre ou des fibres de silice à embouts façonnés de telle manière à générer des jets photoniques. Sur du silicium la taille de gravure peut être réduite d’un facteur 44 comparée à celle d’une gravure directe sans jet photonique. Les densités de puissances atteintes permettent même d’envisager de graver le verre avec ce type de laser malgré sa très faible absorption à ces longueurs d’onde. Pour la première fois nous avons montré la possibilité d’obtenir des jets photoniques en sortie de fibre optique à embout façonné. Nous avons montré leur capacité à graver le silicium à l’échelle du micron et ce avec un laser proche infrarouge nanoseconde. La possible utilisation de fibres optiques est une condition clairement décisive à la réalisation d’un réel procédé laser capable de graver des motifs complexes et de façon répétée. / This work has shown that the lateral resolution etching using near infrared lasers nanoseconds could be reduced by passing the beam through a glass microsphere or a silica fibers with spheroid shape in such a way to generate photonic jets. Etching on silicon size with a glass microsphere can be reduced by a factor of 44 compared to that of a direct etching without photonic jet. Powers reached densities allow even consider burning the glass with this type of laser, despite its very low absorption at these wavelengths. For the first time we have shown the possibility of obtaining photonic jets coming-out of a spheroid-tip of fiber optic. We also have shown the ability to etch silicon at the micron scale using the near infrared nanosecond laser. The possible use of optical fibers is clearly a decisive condition for the realization of a laser capable of etching process real intricate designs and repeatedly.