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The performance of peristaltic pumps is mainly governed by their tubing or hose materials. Research and development in this area is therefore very important for peristaltic pump manufacturers to keep in front of the competition and to open up new applications to enable further market penetration. Another aspect of this is of course price; performance and cost have to be in balance. As an approach to fabricate a new tube material, the field of negative Poisson's ratio (or: auxetic) materials is explored. The combined deformations of tensile, compression and shear in a peristaltic pump tube may well benefit from the specific characteristics of auxetic materials. Materials can be designed to keep their dimensions constant in directions perpendicular to an applied load. This is referred to as “auxetic balancing”. Finite element modelling shows that lowering the Poisson's ratio will rapidly decrease the maximum stresses in the cross-section of an occluded tube. Optimum values for the Poisson's ratio are found to be between −0.1 and +0.1, preferentially being 0. The re-entrant honeycomb structure is selected for initial trials, but manufacturing of this structure at the desired dimension proved to be too difficult at this time. Instead, electrospun nanofibre membranes are selected as the reinforcement structure. A liquid silicone elastomer is used as the matrix material. Key characteristics for the new material are derived from baseline test results on existing tubing. Laminates are manufactured from electrospun nylon6 nanofibre membranes coated with a liquid silicone rubber. Compression moulding is used to cure the nylon6-silicone rubber laminate, to give two effects: it ensures impregnation of the membrane and the compression deforms the nanofibre structure in such a way that it will become auxetic through-the-thickness. Flat sheet laminates of 2 mm thickness are manufactured with 14 layers of reinforcement. A reinforcing effect and substantial lowering of the through-the-thickness Poisson's ratio is observed for the laminates at low strains. At higher strains (>50%) the effect of the reinforcement diminishes and the Poisson's ratio of the laminate and pure silicone rubber equalises. Finally, tubular laminates are manufactured and the resulting tubes are tested in a peristaltic pump with some promising results (>1 million occlusions before failure). Tube performance is not yet at the required level, but with further optimisation of the laminating process, mould design and (post-)curing large steps forward can be made.

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No description available.

Digital light Projection based Additive Manufacturing (AM) enables fabrication of complex three-dimensional (3D) geometries for applications ranging from rapid prototyping jet parts to scaffolds for cell cultures. Despite the ability in producing complex, three-dimensional architectures, the state of art DLP AM systems is limited to a single homogenous photo-polymer and it requires a large volume of resin bath to begin with. Extensible Multi-material Stereolithography (EMSL) is a novel high-resolution projection stereolithography system capable of manufacturing hybrid 3D objects. This system provides new capabilities, allowing more flexible design criteria through the incorporation of multiple feedstock materials throughout the structure. With EMSL manufacturing ability, multi-material programmable negative Poissons ratio honeycomb reentrant structures are realized. Researchers have been studying auxetic structures over decades, the mechanical property control of auxetic structure mainly relies on geometry design in previous studies. Now with the help of EMSL system, other design variables associated with auxetic structures, such as material properties of local structural members, are added into design process. The additional variables are then proved to have significant effects on the material properties of the auxetic structures. The ability to accurately manufacture multi-material digital design will not only allow for novel mechanical and material researches in laboratory, but also extend the additive manufacturing technology to numerous future applications with characteristics such as multiple electrical, electromechanical and biological properties. The design and optimization of EMSL system realizes novel structures have not been producible, therefore it will stimulate new possibilities for future additive manufacturing development. / Master of Science

This Thesis deals with the determination of Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio from the measurement of small strains (10-3 - 10-5 ) in triaxial tests on the overconsolidated Miocene clay from Moravia (Brno Tegel). The tests were performed in a hydraulic triaxial chamber, fitted with submersible local LVDT sensors, which were fixed directly on the sample. The tests were carried out on undisturbed samples of standard height and diameter (76x38 mm). There were three types of tests - isotropic loading probe, axial loading probe and shear test to the failure. The measured data were analyzed and the results were discussed. The research part of the Thesis briefly describes previous works on stiffness of Brno Tegel and also some works on stiffness of similar material to Brno Tegel - London Clay.

In this paper, the numerical simulation for nano-indentation is performed to measure time-dependent behavior of polymeric films. The possibility to extract the relaxed shear modulus of the polymer is evaluated using a rigid ball indenter. The viscoelastic behavior of the polymer was represented by the standard model. The effects of Poisson’s ratio are also discussed. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Soft materials have attracted much scientific and technical interest in recent years. In this thesis, attention has been placed on the underpinning relations between molecular structure and properties of one type of soft matter - main chain liquid crystalline elastomers (MCLCEs), which may have application as shape memory or as auxetic materials. In this work, a number of siloxane-based MCLCEs and their linear polymer analogues (MCLCPs) with chemical variations were synthesized and examined. Among these chemical variations, rigid p-phenylene transverse rod and flat-shaped anthraquinone (AQ) mesogenic monomers were specifically incorporated. Thermal and X-ray analysis found a smectic C phase in most of our MCLCEs, which was induced by the strong self-segregation of siloxane spacers, hydrocarbon spacers and mesogenic rods. The smectic C mesophase of the parent LCE was not grossly affected by terphenyl transverse rods. Mechanical studies of MCLCEs indicated the typical three-region stress-strain curve and a polydomain-to-monodomain transition. Strain recovery experiments of MCLCEs showed a significant dependence of strain retentions on the initial strains but not on the chemical variations, such as the crosslinker content and the lateral substituents on mesogenic rods. The MCLCE with p-phenylene transverse rod showed a highly ordered smectic A mesophase at room temperature with high stiffness. Mechanical properties of MCLCEs with AQ monomers exhibit a strong dependence on the specific combination of hydrocarbon spacer and siloxane spacer, which also strongly affect the formation of ð-ð stacking between AQ units. Poisson s ratio measurement over a wide strain range found distinct trends of Poisson s ratio as a function of the crosslinker content as well as terphenyl transverse rod loadings in its parent MCLCEs.

In der Aufbau und Verbindungstechnik von mikroelektronischen Komponenten finden vermehrt polymere Werkstoffe Einzug. Zum Beispiel wird klassisches Metalllot durch elektrisch leitfähige Klebstoffe ersetzt, beziehungsweise werden zur Fixierung von oberflächenkontaktierten elektronischen Bauelementen schnell härtende Epoxidharzklebstoffe eingesetzt. Insbesondere im automobilen Einsatzbereich werden hohe Anforderungen an die Funktionszuverlässigkeit an die elektronischen Komponenten gesetzt. Große Temperaturschwankungen sowie unterschiedlichste mechanische Lastfälle wirken auf die Elektronik ein. Die vorliegende Arbeit behandelt die Beschreibung des viskoelastischen Materialverhaltens am Beispiel eines Epoxidharzklebstoffs zur Fixierung mikroelektronischer Bauelemente in einem ausgedehnten Temperatur- und Zeitbereich. Es werden unterschiedliche experimentelle Vorgehensweisen zur Ermittlung des Relaxationsverhaltens diskutiert und eine für den großen Temperaturbereich optimierte Zeit-Temperaturverschiebung präsentiert. Die experimentellen Ergebnisse des Relaxationsverhaltens werden mittels einer Vielparameteranpassung unter Zuhilfenahme genetischer Algorithmen in ein Materialmodell übertragen. Zur Beschreibung des dreidimensionalen viskoelastischen Stoffverhaltens wird neben dem E-Modul auch die Poissonzahl mit unterschiedlichen Messmethoden in Abhängigkeit von Temperatur und Zeit untersucht. Insbesondere die berührungslose Messung von Längs- und Querdehnung im Zugrelaxationsversuch und anschließender Auswertung mittels Grauwertkorrelation wird als zielführend bewertet. Es wird ein Funktionsansatz vorgestellt, mit dem sich die Poissonzahl in Abhängigkeit von Temperatur und Zeit beschreiben lässt. Damit lässt sich das Relaxationsverhalten für sowohl den Schub- als auch dem Kompressionsmodul darstellen. Dies erhöht die Aussagegenauigkeit von numerischen Beanspruchungsanalysen und verbessert somit auch die Präzision der darauf basierenden von Lebensdauerprognosen.

I conducted an amplitude vs. offset (AVO) analysis on newly acquired 3D seismic reflection data to detect elevated pore fluid content and pore fluid pressure along the Costa Rica convergent margin to address dewatering processes of subduction zone sediments. These data provide the highest quality 3D seismic data acquired to date along a convergent margin for detailed analysis of geophysical properties along the plate boundary fault interface. In 2011, a 55 km by 11 km 3D seismic reflection survey was completed using the R/V Marcus G. Langseth offshore western Costa Rica at the convergent margin of the Cocos and Caribbean plates. We applied pre-stack Kirchhoff time migration to a subset of these data across the frontal prism where amplitude versus offset (AVO) attributes were extracted along the decollement. When pore fluid pressure, l , exceeds 0.7, the pressure at which Poisson’s ratio begins to approach that of water, the AVO response of a fluid-filled, clay-rich decollement requires a high Poisson’s ratio and an excessively low seismic P-wave and S-wave velocity. Acute wedge taper, undercompacted subducted hemipelagic and pelagic sediments, and a smooth decollement in the northwest half of the survey correspond with decollement AVO response of relatively high values of Poisson’s ratio. These findings suggest increased pore fluid content and vertical containment of near-lithostatic pore fluid pressures within the decollement. In contrast, increased wedge taper angles, thin hemipelagic and pelagic sediments, and a rugose decollement beneath the southeastern frontal prism produce an AVO response interpreted as due to lower pore fluid contents and pressures. We propose that large-offset subducting basement normal faults in this area, as close as 20 m from the decollement, induce vertical fractures within the decollement that allow for fluid expulsion into the frontal prism and lower fluid pressure. Lateral variability of overpressure within the decollement shear zone of subduction margins is important in understanding the evolution of frontal prism strain accumulation and seismogenic rupture. / text