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In recent years there has been much interest in the self-assembly of materials. Much of this research has been focused on the self-assembly of particles in solution (colloids), typically on the order of nanometres or micrometres in size. While it is easy to imagine the self-assembly of either irregularly shaped particles, or particles under an anisotropic potential, a novel class of colloids with engineerable isotropic interactions have achieved this aim. With the use of Self-Consistent Field Theory (SCFT), a mean-field model first developed for polymer melt systems, we develop a model for a system of particles of two species. One species experiences a long-range repulsive and short-range attractive interaction. The other is inert, acting as a solvent in which the former is suspended. Using this method, we calculated the equilibrium morphologies of the system for various parameters including the total volume fraction of one species relative to the other, the strengths and ranges of both the attractive and repulsive components of the interaction, and the relative particle sizes. In this way, we are able to loosely mimic the polymer-coated colloidal systems that are one of the current subjects of self-assembly research. By reducing our model to a simplified, isotropic interaction, we are able to show that the self-assembly of such systems is the result of the nature of the interaction and not any anisotropy within the model. We have also shown that the phase progressions of this system exhibit remarkable agreement with those of diblock copolymer melt systems despite significant differences in the molecules of these two systems.

Controlling the assembly of amphiphilic molecules and micron-sized, disk-shaped particles at different length scales into ordered structures enables bottom-up organization which is of great interest to emerging technologies based on structured materials. The primary object of this work is the investigation of structure forming components - Zirconium phosphate (ZrP) discotic particles and polymersomes/ amphiphiles on their self-assembly and interactions. The effect of bilayer architecture of polymersomes on surface reactivity was investigated via fluorescent probing method. Established through complementary experiments, correlation between reactivity and molecule diffusivity in polymer-rich environment revealed the mechanism of reduced reactivity when tethered reactive groups are located deeper within the hydrophilic polymer layer. The phase diagram of charged nanoplatelets was constructed as a function of particle concentration, surface cation moiety, and ionic strength. Influence of surface cation on the isotropic-nematic transition was done by measuring the transition boundaries of discotic suspensions prepared by acid-base exfoliation reaction with a series of exfoliating agents. Furthermore, a novel phase transition was found, where platelet-platelet interaction was influenced synergistically by ionic strength and ion exchange. At low pH, directional inter-platelet attractions lead to the formation of low volume fraction colloidal gels. Alternative surface modification approaches, including biomolecule deposition and alkyl chain grafting were explored. Finally, self-assembly of platelets in emulsions and oil-water interface was examined. Surface modification was applied to link surface properties to stable emulsion-forming ability in mixed surfactant-particle system. Emulsion uniformity was achieved by microfluidic flow focusing method. Surface engineering and interaction control was demonstrated throughout this work to be viable approaches to the fundamental understanding of collective behaviors of individual building blocks.

Assembly Sequence Planning (ASP) is part of Assembly Planning. The assembly sequence is the most important part of an assembly plan. Assembly has an important share in both lead time and cost of a product. Therefore, its optimisation is necessary to ensure the competitivity of manufactured goods. The aim of this thesis is the optimisation of assembly sequences for mechanical products, for real/realistic problems and constraints. This thesis represents an integrated approach in assembly sequence planning and optimisation. It tackles real problems by building the generality in the models. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2003.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Dept. of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-120).

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, November, 1990. / Title from PDF t.p.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-171).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Harvard Graduate School of Education, 1994. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-331).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-120).