Polymer composite materials, particularly glass reinforced plastics (GRP), are increasingly being used in the offshore industry and their behaviour in fire is studied using mathematical and numerical modelling. A generalised finite element method is developed to analyse the thermally induced response of a widely used GRP, consisting of polyester resin and glass fibre reinforcement. GRP panels, pipes and joins subject to hydrocarbon fires (i.e. high temperatures) are studied. One- and two-dimensional mathematical models are developed to study the fire performance of: (i) single-skinned GRP panels, (ii) twin-skinned GRP-Vermiculux sandwich panels, and (iii) thin and thick GRP joins (step panels). The models involve thermochemical decomposition of the material (pyrolysis) and include: (i) transient heat conduction, (ii) gas mass movement and internal heat convection of pyrolysis gases, (iii) mass loss and Arrhenius rate decomposition of the resin material into gases and char, and (iv) endothermicity of pyrolysis. The effect of imperfect bonding on heat transfer in sandwich panels and the accumulation of pyrolysis gases and internal pressurisation in thick step panels are also included. The models may be used with any combination of steady or time-dependent boundary conditions including temperature, radiation, chemical reactions, mass diffusion and free and forced convections. Various positions of panels, i.e. vertical, horizontal and inclined are studied. The material is assumed homogeneous and orthotropic with respect to thermal and transport properties which may vary with temperature, pore pressure and moisture. The finite element models use weighted residual approach with linear elements for one- dimensional and quadrilateral elements for two-dimensional. Non-linear terms and coefficients are evaluated explicitly using an iterative-updating method and nodal temperatures and pore pressures implicitly using Crank-Nicolson solution. The classical finite difference time stepping algorithm is used where an efficient solution is achieved using variable time step. Numerical results are presented in the form of temperature versus time, temperature versus distance, pore pressure versus distance, mass loss versus distance and moisture versus distance and compared with experimental data where available. It is shown that the decomposition of the material, endothermicity of pyrolysis and the movement of pyrolysis gases make substantial contributions towards the cooling behaviour and delaying the bum-through. The effect of gas mass movement and surface chemical reactions across the boundary layer adjacent to the fire-exposed surface is very important in introducing a theoretical boundary condition. An investigation into the effect of inclusion the variable thermal properties reveals considerable improvement in thermal predictions. Sandwich panels consisting of GRP/Vermiculux/GRP offer good thermal insulation. Thermal contact resistance at an imperfect bonding is important where an average difference of 12% can be found between the thermal responses of sandwich panels with perfect and imperfect bonding. For thin GRP step panels, a one-dimensional solution is found adequate to predict the fire resistance behaviour of the material. For thick GRP step panels, the effect of internal pressurisation coupled with temperature on the thermal response is considerable.

This thesis examines the Great West Window at Exeter Cathedral designed by William Peckitt of York (1731-95). Peckitt was arguably the most important glass designer of the eighteenth century and undertook prestigious commissions at York, Oxford and elsewhere. In 1764 he was contracted by the Dean of Exeter, Jeremiah Milles, to supply glass to complete the restoration of the Cathedral’s glazing and to make the new window, which has often been considered to be his masterpiece. Peckitt’s Great West Window is no longer extant (although portions of it have been salvaged), having been replaced in 1904 with a window, designed by Messrs Burlison and Grylls, which was itself destroyed by enemy action in 1942. The Burlison and Grylls window was more in keeping with the Gothic revival aesthetic typical of the later nineteenth century and its proponents had argued forcefully that Peckitt’s Great West Window was an aberration that needed to be removed. The thesis provides initially an account of the debate that raged in the national press and beyond about the propriety of replacing Peckitt’s window. This documentary evidence gives a valuable insight into attitudes towards the adornment of churches at the turn of the century: should respect for the extant fabric include Peckitt’s one-hundred-and-fifty year-old contribution or should the building be renovated with a modern medieval-revival window. Until recent times it was largely the case that eighteenth-century glass was regarded as wholly inferior to the medieval glass that preceded it and it is widely accepted that glass making in Britain only recovered with the nineteenth-century Gothic revival and the modern glass that followed it. In this thesis it is suggested that the denigration of eighteenth-century glass and in particular that of William Peckitt at Exeter, ignores its qualities, practical and intellectual, and the Great West Window is used to reveal the seriousness of such endeavours. Peckitt’s work is positioned within the context of the particular circumstances of the restoration of Exeter Cathedral in the mid-eighteenth century under two successive Deans, Charles Lyttelton and the aforementioned Jeremiah Milles, both of whom were nationally significant antiquarian scholars. Peckitt was knowledgeable about medieval glass techniques, worked sensitively in restoring medieval glass and when designing a completely new window for the Cathedral worked closely with Milles to provide an iconographical scheme that was appropriate for the Cathedral, its history and its patrons. The evidence brought forward suggests that it is wrong to presume that glass designers like Peckitt had little understanding of medieval glass manufacture nor any interest in using the medium of glass appropriately in the context of a medieval building.

The aim of this research was to investigate the potential use of recycled glass fibre composite materials as a replacement for virgin reinforcing materials in new thermoset composites. Specifically the closed-loop mechanical recycling of composites used heavily in the automotive sector known as dough and sheet moulding composites, DMC and SMC respectively, are investigated. The recycling of glass reinforced thermoset polymer composite materials has been an area of investigation for many years and composites used in the automotive industry are of particular interest due to legislative and social pressures on the industry. The mechanical recycling process and then collection of useful fibrous grades of recycled materials, recyclate, by a novel air separation technique were investigated first. The properties of these recyclate fibres were characterised and compared directly with the properties of virgin glass fibres they were to be used to replace. Single fibre tensile tests were employed to compare the strengths of the fibres and single fibre pull-out tests were used to investigate the strength of the interface between the fibres and a polyester matrix. These tests showed the recyclate fibres to be weaker and have a poorer interface with the polyester matrix than the virgin glass fibres. Understanding the properties of the recyclate materials meant their reformulation into new composites could be carefully considered for the production of new high performance materials. Two grades of the collected recyclate materials were then reformulated in to new DMC and SMC composites, replacing percentages of the virgin glass fibre reinforcement. The mechanical properties of the resulting manufactured composites were characterised throughout for direct comparison against one another and an unmodified control material, using both three-point flexural tests and Charpy impact tests. Through the modification of existing manufacturing techniques and the development of novel production equipment it has been possible to successfully manufacture both DMC and SMC composites with the recyclate materials used to replace virgin glass fibres. Virgin glass fibres have successfully been replaced by recyclate materials without disrupting standard production techniques and with minimal reduction of the mechanical properties of the resulting composites. As the loadings of recyclate materials used were greatly increased both the flexural and impact strengths were significantly degraded and it was found that chemical modification of the composite could be used to improve these formulations. It has been shown that the recyclate materials should be considered and treated as a distinct reinforcing ingredient, separately from the remaining virgin glass fibres.

Glass-fibre reinforced plastic pipes are widely used to convey fluids for various purposes. They offer a number of distinct advantages over conventional metals, such as high specific strengths, high specific moduli, superior corrosion resistance and low coefficient of thermal expansion. However, their behaviour under lateral quasi-static and impact loading are still not well known. The research programme described in this thesis was designed to characterise the performance of 55° winding angle GRP pipes, subjected to lateral quasi-static and impact loading. Two approaches: experimental tests and finite element analysis, were used to investigate the behaviour of the GRP pipes. The experimental investigation was started with diametral compression of short GRP pipes to examine the structural behaviour and failure mechanisms. Subsequently, lateral indentation tests were conducted on rigid-foundation supported or simply supported specimens using two different indenter geometries: line-ended and flat-ended. Furthermore, low-velocity impact tests were performed under similar conditions as those for indentation tests in order to characterise the response of the GRP pipes and to identify the correlation between the two forms of loading. The pipes exhibited multi-mode failure mechanisms, resin cracks, delaminations and fibre breakage. It is found that delamination, which resulted in significant loss in stiffness and strength, was the most significant mode of failure for the GRP pipes. A good correlation in behaviour was identified between quasi-static indentation and its energy equivalent low-velocity impact when the global bending stiffness of the GRP specimens were high. Specimens with span S 10.5D i, where Di is the internal diameter of the pipe, are considered to have high bending stiffness, while simply supported specimens with S10.5D i have low bending stiffness. Irrespective of the support conditions and loading type, specimens with high bending stiffness followed a failure mechanism sequence: local resin failure, delamination and the fibre breakage. However, the large global bending experienced by low bending stiffness specimens resulted in a change of failure mechanism, only local damage and surface tensile cracks were observed.

Can creative material translation reshape artistic appropriation to escape the cycle of mimicry and mockery linked to contemporary visual art practice? To explore creativity in material translation, my project has been divided into three case studies, each translating a different pattern, from a different context and material, into my chosen pattern-making language of glass murrine. In the first case study I translate a Moorish plasterwork pattern from the Alhambra, in Granada, Spain. This pattern has been copied before: a translation of fidelity printed by Owen Jones in his publication The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.1 Jones’ pattern and my patterns will be used to examine fidelity and infidelity in material translation. In the second case study I translate Paisley, a Kashmiri textile pattern appropriated and adapted by western manufacturers in the 19th-century. Paisley's history of adaptation will be examined in relation to my translation, to compare the two methods in the context of a single decorative idiom. In the third case study, I translate a stamp- printed furnishing textile pattern designed by Bernard Adeney in the 1930s. This translation will be an isolated interaction between two makers, a similar position to the critique of contemporary visual appropriation, allowing for a comparison between infidelity and appropriation. Murrine has been chosen as my material language because of its ability to create patterns with colour, depth and unlimited variation. The murrine technique involves the heating up and stretching of canes or sheets of coloured glass, arranged in designs that become very small when elongated. These stretched lengths are then cut in cross-section to form mosaic tiles. Developed by the Greeks and Egyptians, the murrine technique has been under constant development for the last 2000 years. I have further refined the technique, incorporating new methods such as waterjet cutting. I have made final artworks from each set of murrine in the format of flat glass panels, each exploring its pattern in a unique way. An examination of each artwork, its process of translation – including drawings, computer models, photomontage and other designing methods – and its material and contextual change will forge the link between making and writing in this project. My original contribution to knowledge is the exploration of a practical act of visual translation, analysing material change and creativity. The project serves as a model for material translation, questioning the contemporary act of appropriation in both art and culture. The project developed through my rejection of contemporary practices of appropriation, along with my passion for the spiritual nature of pattern and the glass technique of murrine. My theoretical framework is built around the linguistic concept of ‘creative translation’. Linguistic theorists such as Jorge Luis Borges ‘treated translation as a creative force in which specific translation strategies might serve a variety of cultural and social functions’.2 My project will adapt this linguistic concept to visual practice, investigating its relevance to material language.

My oil paintings, glass works, and mixed media are abstract meditations on familial relationships and their boundaries. The interaction between colors and layers of pigment reference human interaction. I apply veils of colors, which obscure, alter, or blend into previous layers of color. These layers metaphorically reference how family relationships affect the person we are and influence who we become. I approach my oil paintings serially and often refer to them as sisters or a family. I often work on two or more canvases at a time allowing each painting to share palettes and a similar language of shapes. When I work this way, it allows me to explore different responses to an experience. The interaction of the paint embodies struggle, and new shapes and shades of color emerge as the boundaries of painted areas are dissolved or declared. I also layer color and pigment in my glass paintings. Here, I place finely ground colored glass onto clear glass sheets, then fire it, rework it, and fire it again. Reworking the glass allows me to build a history of layers, which I relate to the way that a person carries around a history of experiences. Lastly, in my prints, I use multiple stencils to apply layers of ink to conceal or reveal the history of the work and reference the ever-changing nature of relationships. This dance of emergence and disappearance of color relates to the forced kinship of family and calls to mind the levels in relationships we build with people, consciously or not.

Seeing one’s self in another requires empathy and compassion. A person must be willing to look beyond their immediate self and feel what is not readily perceptible. Difference is merely an edifice constructed by our faith in perception. By transfiguring what is familiar an alternative now is made available to the mind and reveals an underlying essence common in all people and things. We realize physical separation is an illusion of the material world and that everything exists from one sacred source.

This work consists of an investigation into the microstructure and mechanical behaviour of glass fibre reinforced polyester resin beams. The volume fraction occupied by glass fibres was 20-30%, which is that typically used in boat building. The beams tested were all unidirectional, with fibres oriented parallel or perpendicular to the long axis of the beam. Various techniques have been developed which may be applicable to other composite materials. The microstructure of the beams was investigated by observation of cross-sections using a Quantimet 720 Image Analysing Computer. Volume fractions and the distribution. of fibre cross-sectional areas were measured. Methods have been developed for the quantitative definition of the microstructure, in terms of the fibre arrangement. Cracks were grown in four-point flexural loading while monitoring acoustic emission. The acoustic emission circuit was built in the laboratory, and designed to monitor fibre failures only, one count being associated with one fibre failure. The processes of crack growth were further investigated by observation of fracture surfaces using a scanning electron microscope and measurement of crack profiles. The factors controlling the processes of crack growth have been elucidated. The material condition was monitored by specific damping capacity measurements. A free-free rig with excitation at the ends of the beam was developed. In addition measurements were made using a cantilever rig. Simple analyses involving the solution of the classical wave equation were carried out; a receptance analysis was also developed which allows the undamaged and cracked portions of the beam to be separated in the analysis. Invisible cracks, which had been indicated by acoustic emission, were successfully detected in both rigs. The correlation between recorded acoustic emissions and specific damping capacity measurements supports the validity of both techniques. Some correlation between properties and measured microstructures has been obtained here. These quantitative methods for the measurement of the microstructure of composite materials should prove very useful in a wide range of applications.

The stimuli response of a polymer – metal bilayer architecture was investigated. This solvent activated system showed a dynamic response when exposed to a particular solvent. Polymer wires were fabricated using a glass capillary array (GCA) as a template. The synthesized wires were then sputtered with silver and exposed to dichloromethane (DCM). The solvent activated response results in a number of physical distortions of which the circular deformation was the most predominant. The thicknesses of the metal coating and the direction of the solvent front were studied in an effort to determine their relationship to the observed wired deformations.

Over the past decade, heterogeneous photocatalysis have gained lots of interest and attention among the organic chemistry community due to its applicability as an alternative to its homogeneous counterpart. Heterogeneous catalysis offers the advantages of easy separation and reusability of the catalyst. Several studies showed that under optimized conditions, efficient and highly selective catalytic systems could be developed using supported metal/metal oxide nanoparticles. In this dissertation, we summarize the progress in the development of supported palladium nanoparticles for different types of organic reactions. Palladium-decorated TiO2 is a moisture, air-tolerant, and versatile catalyst. The direct excitation of Pd nanoparticles selectively isomerized the benzyl-substituted alkenes to phenyl-substituted alkenes (E-isomer) with complete conversion over Pd@TiO2 under H2-free conditions. Likewise, light excited Pd nanoparticles catalyzed Sonogashira coupling, a C-C coupling reaction between different aryl iodides and acetylenes under very mild conditions in short reaction times. On the other hand, UV irradiation of Pd@TiO2 in alcoholic solutions promotes alkenes hydrogenation at room temperature under Argon. Thus, The photocatalytic activity of Pd@TiO2 can be easily tuned by changing the irradiation wavelength. Nevertheless, some of these systems suffer from catalyst deactivation, one of the main challenges faced in heterogeneous catalysis that decreases the reusability potential of the materials. In order to overcome this problem, we developed an innovative method called “Catalytic Farming”. Our reactivation strategy is based on the crop rotation system used in agriculture. Thus, alternating different catalytic reactions using the same catalyst can reactivate the catalyst surface by restoring its oxidation states and extend the catalyst lifetime along with its selectivity and efficiency. In this work, the rotation strategy is illustrated by Sonogashira coupling –problem reaction that depletes the catalyst– and Ullmann homocoupling –plausible recovery reaction that restores the oxidation state of the catalyst (Pd@TiO2). The selection of the reactions in this approach is based on mechanistic studies that include the role of the solvent and evaluation of the palladium oxidation state after each reaction. In a more exploratory analysis, we successfully demonstrated that Pd nanoparticles could be supported in a wide range of materials, including inert ones such as nanodiamonds or glass fibers. The study of the action spectrum shows that direct excitation of the Pd nanoparticles is a requisite for Sonogashira coupling reactions. The main advantages of heterogeneous catalysis compared to its homogeneous counterpart are easy separation and reusability of the catalyst. Finally in order to facilitate catalyst separation from batch reaction and develop a suitable catalytic system for continuous flow chemistry, we employed glass fibers as catalyst support for a wide variety of thermal and photochemical organic reactions including C-C coupling, dehalogenation and cycloaddition. Different metal/metal oxide nanoparticles, namely Pd, Co, Cu, Au, and Ru were deposited on glass wool and fully characterized. As a proof of concept, Pd decorated glass fibers were employed in heterogeneous flow photocatalysis for Sonogashira coupling and reductive de-halogenation of aryl iodides.