This research was conducted to characterize the flexural and tensile characteristics of thin, very high-strength, discontinuously reinforced concrete panels developed by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. Panels were produced from a unique blend of cementitous material and fiberglass reinforcing fibers, achieving compressive strength and fracture toughness levels that far exceeded that of typical concrete.The research program included third-point flexural experiments, novel direct tension experiments, implementation of micromechanically based analytical models, and development of finite element numerical models. The experimental, analytical, and numerical efforts were used conjunctively to determine parameters such as elastic modulus, first-crack strength, post-crack modulus and fiber/matrix interfacial bond strength. Furthermore, analytical and numerical models implemented in the work showed potential for use as design tools in future engineered material improvements.

This dissertation, entitled »Control of the morphology of biodegradable polymer blends«, has been running parallel with the grant project »Multiphase biodegradable polymer systems« and it represents a new research direction in the Department of morphology and rheology of polymer materials at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry. The main idea was to employ our long-lasting work and experience in the field of morphology control of synthetic polymer blends in the very analogous field of the biodegradable polymer blends. We have chosen three most common, widely used and relatively cheap bio-based polymers - starch, poly(lactic acid) and poly(ε-caprolactone) - in order to investigate how the properties of their blends might be improved if we control the blend morphology in targeted, reproducible and well-defined way from the very beginning. It has been well established that morphology (phase structure, supramolecular structure) is one of the key factors influencing final properties of polymer blends, including mechanical performance, rate of (bio)degradation, gas permeability etc. In this work, numerous preliminary experiments showed that there are two systems in which the morphology control could significantly help in the improving of their end-use properties: PLA/PCL/TiX (where PLA = poly(lactic acid),...

Dans ce travail, nous avons examiné de près les propriétés tribologiques et mécaniques de composites thermoplastiques chargés de différentes fractions massiques de particules de lubrifiant solide. Pour la matrice thermoplastique, nous avons retenu le polyamide 6-6 et le polycarbonate alors que les lubrifiants solides envisagés sont le graphite et le bisulfure de molybdène. L’élaboration des composites a été établie à l’aide d’une première méthodologie de moulage par injection directe. Une deuxième méthodologie d’élaboration, qui fait intervenir une étape de prétraitement du lubrifiant solide avant injection afin d’améliorer l’adhésion à l’interface matrice/lubrifiant solide, a été également utilisée. Pour les différents composites élaborés, les comportements tribologiques ont été analysés par l’intermédiaire d’un microtribomètre de type pion/plan à mouvement linéaire alterné. L’impact de la méthodologie d’élaboration sur les propriétés d’adhésion à l’interface charge/matrice a été exploré. Les moyens expérimentaux utilisés reposent principalement sur les tests de traction uniaxiale couplés à des tests de micro-rayage et des caractérisations microstructurales complémentaires (fractographie, tomographie X). Les propriétés mécaniques et micromécaniques mesurées ont été corrélées aux observations microstructurales. / Through this work, we focused on the tribological and mechanical properties of thermoplastic composites containing different weight fractions of solid lubricant filler. For the thermoplastic matrixes, we choose polyamide 6-6 and polycarbonate and the solid lubricants considered were graphite and molybdenum disulfide. Composites were developed by direct injection molding process as a first methodology. A second one is also used based on particles pretreatment before injection molding in order to improve the adhesion in the filler/matrix interface. Friction experiments were conducted using a reciprocating microtribometer. The effect of the development methodology on the adhesion properties in the filler/matrix interface was explored. The experimental tools were principally based on uniaxial tensile tests coupled to scratch tests and complementary microstructural characterizations (fractography, X-ray tomography). The measured mechanical and micromechanical properties were correlated to the microstructural observations.