No description available.

A design of experiments methodology was used to investigate the effect of vaporgrown carbon nanofiber (VGCNF) weight fraction, high-shear mixing time, and ultrasonication time on the Izod impact strength of vinyl ester (VE) based nanocomposites. A response surface model (RSM) was developed for predicting impact strengths using a regression analysis approach. The RSM predicts a maximum increase in impact strength of 18% at a VGCNF weight fraction of 0.17 parts per hundred parts resin (phr) (a volume percent of ~0.1) and 100 min high-shear mixing when compared to that of neat VE. The impact strength predictions show an initial increase for low VGCNF weight fractions and extended high-shear mixing. However, a marked decrease in impact strength occurred as the VGCNF weight fraction increased above 0.45 phr. Scanning electron micrographs of the fracture surface of several specimens suggest that the impact strength of VGCNF/VE nanocomposites is directly related to nanofiber dispersion.

In Phase I of this study, the purpose was to compare mechanical and physical wood properties from current wood supplies to those from previous studies (Newlin and Wilson 1917, Markwardt and Wilson 1935, wood handbook 2010). The results indicate that minor changes have occurred in the hardwood species values from the previous two studies with a few exceptions. Differences, where they occurred, could be explained by the growth locations of each sample. Differences between pine values occurred for MOE and MOR, an increase in MOE and a decrease in MOR. The objective of Phase II was to correlate the non-destructive and destructive testing methods. The non-destructive test by longitudinal vibration wave can be used to predict the static modulus of elasticity since it is strongly correlated with the destructive static bending test for all the three methods used (A-Grader, FFT and Smart-Thumper).

The objective of this research is to develop a test methodology to be used in determining which material properties affect the ultimate performance of a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) at liquid nitrogen (LN2) temperatures. The test methodology being evaluated is based on that used for ambient performance of COPVs and includes: resin properties, resin/fiber interface and COPV burst data. The suitability of these tests at LN2 temperatures will be evaluated. The resin properties are investigated by use of tensile tests to determine: strain to failure (%å), failure stress (óys), and elastic modulus (E). TThe objective of this research is to develop a test methodology to be used in determining which material properties affect the ultimate performance of a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) at liquid nitrogen (LN2) temperatures. The test methodology being evaluated is based on that used for ambient performance of COPVs and includes: resin properties, resin/fiber interface and COPV burst data. The suitability of these tests at LN2 temperatures will be evaluated. The resin properties are investigated by use of tensile tests to determine: strain to failure (%å), failure stress (óys), and elastic modulus (E). The resin/fiber interface is evaluated using short beam shear tests to determine the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS). These properties are compared with actual COPV burst pressures performed at ambient and LN2 temperatures. If a correlation can be found, this research lays the foundation for a method to quickly and efficiently screen candidate material systems for composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) fabrication.he resin/fiber interface is evaluated using short beam shear tests to determine the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS). These properties are compared with actual COPV burst pressures performed at ambient and LN2 temperatures. If a correlation can be found, this research lays the foundation for a method to quickly and efficiently screen candidate material systems for composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) fabrication.

No description available.

The insect respiratory system serves as a model for both robust microfluidic transport and mate- rial design. In the system, the convective flow of gas is driven through local deformations of the tracheal network, a phenomenon that is dependent on the unique structure and material properties of the tracheal tissue. To understand the underlying mechanics of this method of gas transport, we studied the microstructure and material properties of the primary thoracic tracheal tubes of the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana). We performed quasi-static uniaxial tests on the tissue which revealed a nonlinear stress-strain response even under small deformations. A detailed analysis of the tissue's microstructural arrangement using both light and electron mi- croscopy revealed the primary sources of reinforcement for the tissue as well as heterogeneity on the meso-scale that may contribute to the physiological function of the tracheae during respi- ration. Finally, a custom mechanical testing system was developed with which inflation-extension tests on the tracheae were used to gather data on the biaxial elastic response of the tissue over a wide range of physiologically relevant loading conditions. From information gathered about the material microstructure, a robust constitutive model was chosen to quantify the biaxial response of the tracheae. This model will provide a basis from which to simulate the behavior of tracheal net- works in future computational studies. This study gives the first description of the elastic response of the tracheae which is essential for understanding the mechanics of respiration in insects. Thus it brings us closer to the realization of novel bio-inspired microfluidic systems and materials that utilize mechanical principles from the insect respiratory system. / Ph. D.

Plastic packaging waste currently forms a significant part of municipal solid waste and as such is causing increasing environmental concerns. Such packaging is largely non-biodegradable and is particularly difficult to recycle or to reuse due largely to its complex compositions. Apart from limited recycling of some easily identifiable packaging wastes that can be separated economically, such as bottles, most packaging waste ends up in landfill sites. In recent years, in an attempt to address this problem in plastic packaging, the development of packaging materials from renewable plant resources has received increasing attention and a wide range of bioplastic materials based on starch are now available. Environmentally these bioplastic materials also reduce reliance on oil resources and have the advantage that they are biodegradable and can be composted upon disposal to reduce the environmental impact. Many food packaging containers are produced by thermoforming processes in which thin sheets are inflated under pressure into moulds to produce the required thin -wall structures. Hitherto these thin sheets have almost exclusively been made of oilbased polymers and it is for these that computational models of thermoforming processes have been developed. Recently, in the context of bioplastics, commercial thermoplastic starch sheet materials have been developed. The behaviour of such materials is influenced both by temperature and, because of the inherent hydrophilic characteristics of the materials, by moisture content. Both of these aspects affect the behaviour of bioplastic sheets during the thermoforming process. This thesis describes experimental work and work on the computational modelling of thermoforming processes for thermoplastic starch sheets using a commercially available material. The experimental work has been carried in order to characterise the deformation behaviour of the material with regard to different temperature, moisture contents and strain rates. Thermoforming of the material was performed and samples produced were used for comparison and verification of the computational modelling of the thermoforming process. In the first attempt to model the thermoforming process, a hyperelastic constitutive equation was established to approximate the material behaviour taking account of the combined effects of temperature and moisture content and a simple ii membrane model with constrained deformation was used to model an axisymmetric case of thermoforming. Simulations with this model showed that moisture content mostly affects the pressure required to push the sheet into the mould while moisture variation during thermoforming has little effect on the final thickness distribution of the product. Considerable discrepancies were found in the thickness distribution between the predictions from the model and the experimental measurements. Further attempts were made to take account of the elasto-plastic behaviour of the material and a more complex three-dimensional FE model was developed using ANSYS/LS-DYNA. Based on the findings in the simpler modelling work, no attempt was made to incorporate the moisture content effect on material behaviour but the material parameters for the elasto-plastic constitutive equation were obtained from high speed tensile tests so that moisture variation during thermoforming could be minimised and neglected. The predictions from this model have led to significant improvements in prediction of the thickness distribution which has become much closer to the experimental measurements in comparison with the hyperelastic model. This work provides some important insights into thermoforming of thermoplastic starch materials: a) Deformation behaviour of such materials depends strongly on the moisture content and the temperature, both of which affect behaviour during thermoforming processes, including the preheating stage; b) moisture variation during the thermoforming process has a significant effect on the pressure required for the deformation. This also leads to variation of moisture content distribution in the final product, which in turn affects the material properties such as ductility or impact strength at different positions in the thermoformed structure; c) thermoforming of thermoplastic starch materials can be simulated more accurately by an elasto-plastic model and the LS-DYNA algorithm in comparison with a hyperelastic membrane model. This work has provided useful information on thermoforming of thermoplastic starch materials with particular reference to the design of thermoforming tools and to the careful control of processing conditions including preheating. It has also laid a solid foundation for future work on how the moisture variation impacts on the formation of defects such as incomplete forming due to material hardening and fracture due to loss of ductility.

Portable energy storage devices, which drive advanced technological devices, are improving the productivity and quality of our everyday lives. In order to meet the growing needs for energy storage in transportation applications, the current lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology requires new electrode materials with performance improvements in multiple aspects: (1) energy and power densities, (2) safety, and (3) performance lifetime. While a number of interesting nanomaterials have been synthesized in recent years with promising performance, accurate capabilities to probe the intrinsic performance of these high-performance materials within a battery environment are lacking. Most studies on electrode nanomaterials have so far used traditional, bulk-scale techniques such as cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. These approaches give an ensemble-average estimation of the electrochemical properties of a battery electrode and does not provide a true indication of the performance that is intrinsic to its material system. Thus, new techniques are essential to understand the changes happening at a single particle level during the operation of a battery. The results from this thesis solve this need and study the electrical, mechanical and size changes that take place in a battery electrode at a single particle level. Single nanowire lithium cells are built by depositing nanowires in carefully designed device regions of a silicon chip using Dielectrophoresis (DEP). This work has demonstrated the assembly of several NW cathode materials like LiFePO4, pristine and acid-leached α-MnO2, todorokite – MnO2, acid and nonacid-leached Na0.44MnO2. Within these materials, α-MnO2 was chosen as the model material system for electrochemical experiments. Electrochemical lithiation of pristine α-MnO2 was performed inside a glove box. The volume, elasticity and conductivity changes were measured at each state-of-charge (SOC) to understand the performance of the material system. The NW size changes due to lithiation were measured using an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) in the tapping mode. Electronic conductivity changes as a function of lithiation was also studied in the model α-MnO2 NWs and was found to decrease substantially with lithium loading. In other measurements involving a comparison between the alpha and todorokite phases of this material system, it was observed that the rate capability of these materials is limited not by the electronic but, by the ionic conductivity. Mechanical degradation of a battery cathode represents an important failure mode, which results in an irreversible loss of capacity with cycling. To analyze and understand these degradation mechanisms, this thesis has tested the evolution of nanomechanical properties of a battery cathode. Specifically, contact-mode AFM measurements have focused on the SOC-dependent changes in the Young’s modulus and fracture strength of an α-MnO2 NW electrode, which are critical parameters that determine its mechanical stability. These changes have been studied at the end of the first discharge step, 1 full electrochemical cycle, and 20 cycles. The observations show an increase in Young’s modulus at low concentrations of lithium loading and this is attributed to the formation of new Li-O bonds within the tunnel-structured cathode. As the lithium loading increases further, the Young’s modulus was observed to reduce and this is hypothesized to occur due to the distortions of the crystal at high lithium concentrations. The experimental-to-theoretical fracture strength ratio, which points to the defect density in the crystal at a given stoichiometry, was observed to reduce with electrochemical lithium insertion / cycling. This capability has demonstrated lithiation-dependent mechanical property measurements for the first time and represents an important contribution since degradation models, which are currently in use for materials at any size scale, always assume constant values regardless of the change in stoichiometry.

Diversas metodologias e tipos de ensaios mecânicos têm sido utilizados para o estudo das propriedades mecânicas de tecidos biológicos moles, tais como as artérias. O ambiente de carga a que uma artéria é submetida pode ser simulado in-vitro mediante testes de tração biaxial. Uma máquina de tração biaxial está sendo construída atualmente no Laboratório de Engenharia Ambiental e Biomédica da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo. Para conduzir futuras pesquisas neste tipo de equipamento uma metodologia para a realização do teste e o processamento dos dados foi proposta e testada. Testes de tração biaxiais em aortas e subclávias suínas foram feitos para avaliar a metodologia. As amostras foram levadas até à ruptura nos ensaios. Curvas de tensão-deformação foram obtidas. O limite à ruptura e o limite elástico foram calculados. O modelo de Função de Energia de Deformação bidimensional para materiais hiperelásticos proposto por Fung e o modelo bicamada proposto por Holzapfel foram utilizados para realizar um ajuste dos dados experimentais. Um programa computacional foi implementado para o processamento dos dados e para estimar as constantes dos modelos matemáticos. Análises histológicas das amostras foram realizadas com o objetivo de estimar a média do conteúdo de colágeno e elastina no tecido. Resulta deste trabalho uma descrição de metodologia para caracterização de tecidos biológicos moles. / Several methods and types of mechanical tests have been used to study the mechanical properties of soft biological tissues such as arteries. The load environment that an artery is subjected can be simulated in vitro through biaxial tensile tests. A biaxial tensile machine is currently being built at the Laboratory of Biomedical and Environmental Engineering at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo. To conduct further research on this kind of machine, a methodology for performing the test and data processing was proposed and tested. The biaxial tensile tests on aortas and subclavian porcine arteries were done to evaluate the methodology. The samples were tested up to the rupture. Stress-strain curves were obtained. The limit to rupture and the elastic limit were estimated. The two-dimensional model of strain energy function for hyperelastic materials proposed by Fung and the bilayer model proposed by Holzapfel were used to perform an adjustment of the experimental data. A computer program was implemented for data processing and to estimate the constants of the mathematical models. Histological analyses of the samples were performed in order to estimate the average content of collagen and elastin in the tissue. A description of the methodology for soft biological tissue characterization results from the present work.

Butt fusion welding process is an extensively used method of joining for high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. With the increasing number of HDPE resin and pipe manufacturers and the diversity of industries utilising HDPE pipes, a wide range of different standards have evolved to specify the butt fusion welding parameters with inspection and testing methods, to maintain quality and structural integrity of welds. There is a lack of understanding and cohesion in these standards for the selection of welding parameters; effectiveness, accuracy, and selection of the test methods and; correlation of the mechanical properties to the micro and macro joint structure. The common standards (WIS 4-32-08, DVS 2207-1, ASTM F2620, and ISO 21307) for butt fusion welding were used to derive the six welding procedures. A total of 48 welds were produced using 180 mm outer diameter SDR 11 HDPE pipe manufactured from BorSafe™ HE3490-LS black bimodal PE100 resin. Three short term coupon mechanical tests were conducted. The waisted tensile test was able to differentiate the quality of welds using the energy to break parameter. The tensile impact test due to specimen geometry caused the failure to occur in the parent material. The guided side bend specimen geometry proved to be too ductile to be able to cause failures. A statistical t-test was used to analyse the results of the short term mechanical tests. The circumferential positon of the test specimen had no impact on their performance. Finite element analysis (FEA) study was conducted for the long term whole pipe tensile creep rupture (WPTCR) test to find the minimum length of pipe required for testing based on pipe geometry parameters of outer diameter and SDR. Macrographs of the weld beads supplemented with heat treatment were used to derive several weld bead parameters. The FEA modelling of the weld bead parameters identified the length to be a key parameter and provided insight into the relationship between the geometry of the weld beads and the stresses in the weld region. The realistic bead geometry digitised using the macrographs contributed a 30% increase in pipe wall stress due to the stress concentration effect of the notches formed between the weld beads and the pipe wall. The circumferential position of the weld bead had no impact on the pipe wall stresses in a similar manner to the results of the different mechanical tests. IV Nanoindentation (NI) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques were used to study the weld microstructure and variation of mechanical properties across the weld at the resolutions of 100 and 50 microns, respectively. NI revealed signature 'twin-peaks and a valley' distribution of hardness and elastic modulus across the weld. The degrees of crystallinity obtained from DSC followed the NI pattern as crystallinity positively correlates with the material properties. Both techniques confirm annealing of the heat affected zone (HAZ) material towards the MZ from the parent material. The transmission light microscopy (TLM) was used to provide dimensions of the melt zone (MZ) which displays an hour glass figure widening to the size of the weld bead root length towards the pipe surfaces. Thermal FEA modelling was validated using both NI and TLM data to predict the HAZ size. The HAZ-parent boundary temperature was calculated to be 105 ⁰C. The 1st contribution of the study is to prove the existence of a positive correlation between the heat input calculated from FEA and the energy to break values obtained from the waisted tensile test. The 2nd contribution providing the minimum length of pipe for WPTCR based on the pipe dimensions. The 3rd contribution is the recommendation for the waisted tensile test with the test using the geometry designed to minimise deformation of the loading pin holes. The 4th contribution related the weld bead parameters to pipe wall stresses and the effect of notches as stress concentrators. The 5th contribution is a new method of visualising a welding procedure that can be used to not only compare the welding procedures but also predict the size of the MZ and the HAZ. The 6th contribution of the study is the proposal of new weld bead geometry that consist of the MZ bounded by the HAZ, for butt fusion welded joints of HDPE pipes.