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ABSTRACT Fabrication and Characterization of Torsional Micro-Hinge Structures Mike Marrujo There are many electronic devices that operate on the micrometer-scale such as Digital Micro-Mirror Devices (DMD). Micro actuators are a common type of DMD that employ a diaphragm supported by torsional hinges, which deform during actuation and are critical for the devices to have high stability and reliability. The stress developed within the hinge during actuation controls how the actuator will respond to the actuating force. Electrostatically driven micro actuators observe to have a fully recoverable non-linear viscoelastic response. The device consists of a micro-hinge which is suspended by two hinges that sits inside a micro machined well. To achieve a specific angle of rotation when actuated, the mechanical forces need to be characterized with a range of different forces applied to the edge of the micro-hinge. This research investigates the mechanical properties and the amount of force needed to rotate to specific angles by comparing theoretical performance to experimentally measured values. Characterizing the mechanical forces on the micro-hinge will further the understanding of how the device operates under a specific applied force. The material response to the amount of stress within the hinges will control the amount of actuation that is achieved by that force. The test devices were fabricated using common semiconductor fabrication techniques. The micro-hinge device was created on a 500µm, double-sided polished, single crystal (100) silicon wafer. In order to create this device, both wet etching and dry etching techniques were employed to produce an 8µm thick plate structure. The bulk etching of 480µm was achieved by wet etching down into the silicon (Si) to create the wells. Dry etching was used for its high precision to release the micro-hinge structure. Once fabricated, the micro-hinge actuators were tested using a Technics turntable arm with a built in micrometer that applied a constant force while measuring the displacement of the actuator. The rotation of the hinge was measured by reflecting a Helium-Neon (HeNe) laser beam off a mirror, which is attached to the pivot of the arm that’s applying the force, and any type of displacement was recorded with a Photo Sensitive Device (PSD). The test stand applied a small force which replicated the amount of electrostatic forces needed to achieve a specific degree of rotation. Results indicate that the micro-hinge achieved a repeatable amount of rotation when forces were applied to it. The micro-hinge would endure deformation when too much force would be applied and yield a maximum amount of force allowed.

Rapid battery exchange systems were built for an electric van and pedal assist electric bike as a method of eliminating the need to recharge the vehicles batteries in order to increase the feasibility of using electric propulsion as a method of efficient student transportation. After selecting proper materials it was found that the systems would need a protective coating to ensure consistent operation. 1020 cold rolled steel samples coated with multiple thicknesses of vinyl resin paint, epoxy resin paint, and powder coating were subjected to environmental wear tests in order to determine if the type and thickness of common protective coatings has an effect on the durability of the system over its lifetime. The tests consisted of a 2400 hour extended salt spray test, coating delamination testing, and modified impact testing. The extended salt spray test, delamination test, and deformation tests of the coatings all found that the type of coating and the thickness of the coating to have a significant effect on the measured outputs. The significant effect shown in the deformation test could not determine the proper material without the aid of microscopic studies of the surface geometry change due to the induced deformation. Powder coating the rapid battery exchange systems would result in proper performance if coupled with epoxy paint for repairs. Testing of the Rapid battery exchange system indicated that the use of mechanical aiming was not suitable for the application, a further adaptation of the system indicated that the system may be better suited toward personal bicycles as there was a large increase in transportation efficiency.

<p>This thesis presents studies of the X-ray linear dichroism (XLD) in individual single-walled (SW) and multi-walled (MW) carbon nanotubes (CNT) measured by a scanning transmission X-ray microscope (STXM). The C 1s spectra of CNT showed a large XLD at the C 1s→π* transition. The magnitude of the XLD was found to be related to the quality of CNT such that in high quality CNT, it was fairly large and as the quality lowered it decreased. This dichroic effect was used to map defects along individual CNT. In addition, STXM was employed to map chemical components in pristine, purified, and dodecyl functionalized SWCNT bundles to investigate the changes occurring in them due to chemical functionalization.<br />STXM has limited spatial resolution. Thus, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) was used to obtain similar information about CNT, but at much higher spatial resolution. The measurements performed in the scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) mode produced signals analogous to the XLD when the orientation of the momentum transfer (q) was resolved. This was achieved by displacing the pattern of electron scattering from CNT relative to the EELS entrance aperture. TEM-EELS was also utilized to map defects in pristine and focused ion beam (FIB) modified CNT.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Continuum atomistic and mesoscopic models are developed and utilized in the context of studying microstructural evolution and phase selection in materials systems. Numerous phenomena are examined, ranging from defect-solute interaction in solid state systems to microstructural evolution under external driving conditions. Emphasis is placed on the derivation and development of models capable of self consistently describing the intricate mechanisms at work in the systems undergoing these phenomena.</p> <p>Namely, grain growth dynamics are studied in nanocrystalline systems under external driving conditions using a newly developed phase-field-crystal model, which couples an additional free energy source term to the standard phase-field-crystal model. Such external driving can be attributed to incident energetic particles. The nanocrystalline system is found to be susceptible to enhanced grain growth as a function of the intensity/flux associated with the external driving and the energy of driving. Static kinetic phase diagram calculations also seem to confirm that systems under external driving conditions can be forced into long metastable states.</p> <p>Early stage solute clustering and precipitation in Al alloys is also examined with a variant of the phase-field-crystal method, so-called structural phase-field-crystal models for multi-component alloys developed as part of this thesis. We find that clustering is aided by quenched-in defects (dislocations), whereby the nucleation barrier is reduced and at times eliminated, a mechanism proposed by Cahn for a single dislocation for spinodal systems. In a three-component system, we predict a multi-step mechanism for clustering, where the nature and amount of the third species plays an important role in relieving stresses caused by the quenched-in dislocations before clustering, i.e., segregation as predicted by the equilibrium phase diagram, can occur.</p> <p>Finally, we present a new coarse-graining procedure for generating complex amplitude models, i.e., complex order-parameter phase-field models, derived from phase-field-crystal models. They retain many salient atomistic features and behaviours of the original phase-field-crystal model, however is now capable of describing mesoscopic length scales like the phase-field model. We demonstrate the scheme by generating an amplitude model of the two-dimensional structural phase-fieldcrystal model, which allows multiple crystal structures to be stable in equilibrium, a crucial aspect of proper multi-scale modelling of materials systems. The dynamics are demonstrated by examining solidification and coarsening, peritectic growth, along with grain growth and the emergence of secondary phases.</p> / Doctor of Science (PhD)

Accelerated bridge construction (ABC) has become a popular alternative to using traditional construction techniques in new bridge construction and existing bridge deck replacement because of the reduction of time spent in field activities. A key feature of bridges built using ABC techniques is the extensive use of prefabricated components. Prefabricated components are joined in the field using small volume closure pours involving high performance materials (steel and concrete) to ensure adequate transfer of forces between components. To date, the materials developed for closure pours have been based on proprietary components, so a need has arisen for development of mixes that use generic components. The goal of this research was to create a method to develop concrete mixtures that are designed using generic constituents and that satisfy performance requirements of accelerated bridge construction closure pours in New England, primarily high early strength and long-term durability. Two concrete mixtures were developed with a primary goal of reaching high-early strength while maintaining constructability. The secondary goal of the concrete mixtures was to be durable; therefore, measures were taken during the development of the concrete mixture to generate a mixture that also had durable properties.

An experimental method was further developed to quantify the anisotropy of multi-site fatigue crack initiation behaviors in high strength Al alloys by four-point bend fatigue testing under stress control. In this method, fatigue crack initiation sites (fatigue weak-links, FWLs) were measured on the sample surface at different cyclic stress levels. The FWL density in an alloy could be best described using a three-parameter Weibull function of stress, though other types of sigmoidal functions might also be used to quantify the relationship between FWL density and stress. The strength distribution of the FWLs was derived from the Weibull function determined by fitting the FWLs vs. stress curve experimentally obtained. As materials properties, the FWL density and strength distribution could be used to evaluate the fatigue crack nucleation behaviors of engineering alloys quantitatively and the alloy quality in terms of FWL density and strength distribution. In this work, the effects of environment, types of microstructural heterogeneities and loading direction on FWLs were all studied in detail in AA7075-T651, AA2026-T3511, and A713 Al alloys, etc. It was also found that FWLs should be quantified as a Weibull-type function of strain instead of stress, when the applied maximum cyclic stress exceeded the yield strength of the tested alloys. In this work, four-point bend fatigue tests were conducted on the L-T (Rolling-Transverse), L-S (Rolling-Short transverse) and T-S planes of an AA7075-T651 alloy plate, respectively, at room temperature, 20 Hz, R=0.1, in air. The FWL populations, measured on these surfaces, were a Weibull-type function of the applied maximum cyclic stress, from which FWL density and strength distribution could be determined. The alloy showed a significant anisotropy of FWLs with the weak-link density being 11 mm-2, 15 mm-2 and 4 mm-2 on the L-T, L-S and T-S planes, respectively. Fatigue cracks were predominantly initiated at Fe-containing particles on the L-T and L-S planes, but only at Si-bearing particles on the T-S plane, profoundly demonstrating that the pre-fractured Fe-containing particles were responsible for crack initiation on the L-T and L-S planes, since the pre-fracture of these particles due to extensive deformation in the L direction during the prior rolling operation could only promote crack initiation when the sample was cyclically stressed in the L direction on both the L-T and L-S planes. The fatigue strengths of the L-T, L-S and T-S planes of the AA7075 alloy were measured to be 243.6, 273.0 and 280.6 MPa, respectively. The differences in grain and particle structures between these planes were responsible for the anisotropy of fatigue strength and FWLs on these planes. Three types of fatigue cracks from particles, type-I: the micro-cracks in the particles could not propagate into the matrix, i.e., type-II: the micro-cracks were fully arrested soon after they propagated into the matrix, and type-III: the micro-cracks became long cracks, were observed in the AA7075-T651 alloy after fatigue testing. By cross-sectioning these three-types of particles using Focused Ion Beam (FIB), it was found that the thickness of the particles was the dominant factor controlling fatigue crack initiation at the particles, namely, the thicker a pre-fractured Fe-containing particle, the easier it became a type-III crack on the L-T and L-S planes. On the T-S plane, there were only types-I and III Si-bearing particles at which crack were initiated. The type-I particles were less than 6.5 μm in thickness and type-III particles were thicker than 8.3 μm. Cross-sectioning of these particles using FIB revealed that these particles all contained gas pores which promoted crack initiation at the particles because of higher stress concentration at the pores in connection with the particles. It was also found that fatigue cracks did not always follow the any specific crystallographic planes within each grain, based on the Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) measurement. Also, the grain orientation did not show a strong influence on crack initiation at particles which were located within the grains. The topography measurements with an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) revealed that Fe-containing particles were protruded on the mechanically polished surface, while the Si-bearing particles were intruded on the surface, which was consistent with hardness measurements showing that Si-bearing particles were softer (4.030.92 GPa) than Fe-containing ones (8.9 0.87 GPa) in the alloy. To verify the 3-D effects of the pre-fractured particles on fatigue crack initiation in high strength Al alloys, rectangular micro-notches of three different types of dimensions were fabricated using FIB in the selected grains on the T-S planes of both AA2024-T351 and AA7075-T651 Al alloys, to mimic the three types of pre-fractured particles found in these alloys. Fatigue testing on these samples with the micro-notches verified that the wider and deeper the micro-notches, the easier fatigue cracks could be initiated at the notches. In the AA2024-T351 samples, cracks preferred to propagate along the {111} slip plane with the smallest twist angle and relatively large Schmid factor. These experimental data obtained in this work could pave a way to building a 3-D quantitative model for quantification of fatigue crack initiation behaviors by taking into account the driving force and resistance to short crack growth at the particles in the surface of these alloys.

We will create a class of generalized ellipses and explore their ability to define a distance on a space and generate continuous, periodic functions. Connections between these continuous, periodic functions and the generalizations of trigonometric functions known in the literature shall be established along with connections between these generalized ellipses and some spectrahedral projections onto the plane, more specifically the well-known multifocal ellipses. The superellipse, or Lam\'{e} curve, will be a special case of the generalized ellipse. Applications of these generalized ellipses shall be explored with regards to some one-dimensional systems of classical mechanics. We will adopt the Ramberg-Osgood relation for stress and strain ubiquitous in engineering mechanics and define a general internal bending moment for which this expression, and several others, are special cases. We will then apply this general bending moment to some one-dimensional Euler beam-columns along with the continuous, periodic functions we developed with regard to the generalized ellipse. This will allow us to construct new solutions for critical buckling loads of Euler columns and deflections of beam-columns under very general engineering material requirements without some of the usual assumptions associated with the Ramberg-Osgood relation.

The objective of this research was to develop high performing polymer modified calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement materials for use in applications requiring superior adhesion characteristics. Little information is available describing interactions of CSA cement containing minor phase tri-calcium aluminate (C3A) with commonly used admixtures. Given the scarcity of information, a basic approach for developing cementitious materials was followed. The basic approach consisted of four tasks: cement design, admixture design, polymer design and testing developed materials. The iterative, time consuming process is necessary for understanding the influence of specific constituent components on overall system behavior. Results from the cement design task suggest calcium sulfate type influences microstructural characteristics and strength development for materials based upon the experimental CSA cement. Results from the admixture design task suggest lithium carbonate and tartaric acid are effective accelerating and retarding admixtures for hydration reactions including reactants yeelimite, calcium sulfate and water. Results from the polymer design task suggest vinyl acetate / ethylene (VAE) dispersible polymer powders (DPP) are compatible with systems containing the experimental CSA cement and other commonly used admixtures. Additionally, results from the polymer design task highlight a method for specifying the ductile behavior of materials containing the experimental CSA cement as majority hydraulic binding agent. Finally, results from the testing of developed materials task suggests adhesion performance for materials containing the experimental CSA cement can be influenced by adjusting the ratio of polymer to hydraulic binding agent in material formulations. Polymer modified CSA cement mortars demonstrated bond strength resulting in substrate failure when cast over porous concrete substrates. Developed mortars demonstrated consistent bonding performance when applied to non-porous substrate materials, metal and glass. Select polymer modified mortars displayed adhesion bond performance such that the glass substrate materials fractured during pull off testing.

Three-dimensional graphene foam (3D GrF) is an interconnected, porous structure of graphene sheets with excellent mechanical, electrical and thermal properties, making it a candidate reinforcement for polymer matrices. GrF’s 3D structure eliminates nanoparticle agglomeration and provides seamless pathways for electron travel. The objective of this work is to fabricate low density GrF reinforced epoxy composites with superior mechanical and electrical properties and study the underlying deformation mechanisms. Dip coating and mold casting fabrication methods are employed in order to tailor the microstructure and properties. The composite’s microstructure revealed good interfacial interaction. By adding mere 0.63 wt.% GrF, flexural strength was improved by 56%. The addition of 2 wt.% GrF showed a surge in glass transition temperature (56oC), improvement in damping behavior (150%), and electrical conductivity 11 orders of magnitude higher than pure epoxy. Dip coated and mold casted composites showed a gauge factor of ~2.4 indicating electromechanically robust composite materials.