Shape memory polymers (SMPs) have been candidate materials for morphing applications. However, the SMPs have not been fully tested to work in relevant environments required for Air Force missions. In this study, an epoxy-based SMP was separately exposed to moisture, lubricating oil and UV radiation, which are simulated service environments designed to be reflective of anticipated performance requirements. The thermomechanical properties and shape memory effects were studied by using novel high-temperature nanoindentation technique. Results show that environmental conditions have affected the glass transition temperature and mechanical properties of the SMPs. In most cases, the conditioned SMPs exhibited higher elastic moduli than the unconditioned SMP. The shape recovery ability of the SMP was assessed by creating an indent and then observing the corresponding recovery according to the standard shape memory cycle. It was found that the deformation was mostly recovered for both conditioned and unconditioned SMP samples on heating the material above its glass transition temperature.

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have become an attractive alternative to conventional methods for external-strengthening of civil infrastructure, particularly as applied to flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) members. However, durability of the bond between FRP composite and concrete has shown degradation under some aggressive environments. Although numerous studies have been conducted on concrete members strengthened with FRP composites, most of those studies have focused on the degradation of FRP material itself, relatively few on bond behavior under repeated mechanical and environmental loading. This thesis investigates bond durability under accelerated environmental conditioning of two FRP systems commonly employed in civil infrastructure strengthening: epoxy and polyurethane systems. Five environments were considered under three different conditioning durations (3 months, 6 months, and 1 year). For each conditioning environment and duration (including controls), the following were laboratory tested: concrete cylinders, FRP tensile coupons, and FRP-strengthened concrete flexural members. Numerical investigations were performed using MSC MARC finite element software package to support the outcomes of durability experimental tests. Precise numerical studies need an accurate model for the bond between FRP and concrete, a linear brittle model is proposed in this work that is calibrated based on nonlinear regression of existing experimental lap shear data. Results of tensile tests on FRP coupons indicate that both epoxy and polyurethane FRP systems do not degrade significantly under environmental exposure. However, flexural tests on the FRP strengthened concrete beams indicate that bond between FRP and concrete shows significant degradation, especially for aqueous exposure. Moreover, a protective coating suppresses the measured degradation. Also, experimental load-displacement curves for control beams show excellent agreement with numerical load-displacement curves obtained using the proposed bond iii model. Finally, a bond-slip model is predicted for concrete leachate conditioned beams by matching load-displacement curves for those beams with numerical load-displacement curves.

The specific objectives of this research were to quantify the effects of certain environmental factors on the relative strength loss of soil-cement subjected to compaction delay and to develop a numerical tool that can be easily used by engineers and contractors for determining a maximum compaction delay time for a given project. These objectives were addressed through extensive laboratory work and statistical analyses. The laboratory work involved testing an aggregate base material and a subgrade soil, each treated with two levels of cement. Environmental factors included in the experimentation were wind speed, temperature, and relative humidity, and three levels of each were evaluated in combination with varying compaction delay times. The primary response variables in this research were relative compaction and relative strength. The findings indicate that relative strength is sensitive to variability among the selected independent variables within the ranges investigated in this research, while relative compaction is not. Inferring relative strength from relative compaction is therefore not a reliable approach on soil-cement projects. Consistent with theory, higher wind speed, higher air temperature, lower relative humidity, and higher compaction delay time generally result in lower relative strength. With the nomographs developed in this research, the maximum delay time permitted for compaction of either a base or subgrade material similar to those tested in this research can be determined. Knowing in advance how much time is available for working the soil-cement will help contractors schedule their activities more appropriately and ultimately produce higher quality roads. When acceptable compaction delays are not obtainable due to adverse environmental conditions, a contractor may consider using set retarder, mixing at water contents above OMC, or constructing at night as possible solutions for achieving target relative strength values.

A utilização de compósitos com matrizes termoplásticas na indústria aeronáutica aparece com forte tendência de utilização na construção de aeronaves, dado o seu potencial de produção a baixo custo, a sua possibilidade de reciclagem e a facilidade na execução de reparos. Dentre os polímeros termoplásticos utilizados em compósitos, o PEEK (poli(éter-éter-cetona)) tem atraído considerável interesse como um polímero avançado de engenharia, devido ao seu desempenho mecânico, que reforçado com fibras de carbono apresenta características de resistência mecânica desejáveis para serem utilizadas em estruturas de alto desempenho. Entretanto, os compósitos poliméricos podem apresentar mecanismos de degradação quando expostos a ambientes agressivos como a elevada temperatura e umidade e também, a radiação ultravioleta. Neste sentido, o objetivo do presente trabalho é avaliar a influência do condicionamento higrotérmico e da radiação ultravioleta na propriedade mecânica de resistência ao cisalhamento interlaminar (ILSS) e no comportamento viscoelástico (DMTA) do compósito termoplástico de PEEK/fibra de carbono, assim como, avaliar a influência dos parâmetros de processamento na obtenção do compósito via moldagem por compressão a quente. Os resultados mostram que no processamento, a utilização constante de pressão durante a etapa de resfriamento do compósito é fundamental para a sua consolidação, refletindo no ensaio de resistência ao cisalhamento interlaminar (18,4 MPa). As análises viscoelásticas das amostras submetidas aos condicionamentos ambientais (higrotérmico e ultravioleta) mostram que o condicionamento que mais afetou o compósito foi o higrotérmico. As análises demonstraram que a temperatura de transição vítrea das amostras ensaiadas por condicionamento higrotérmico (Tg=115 C) foi muito afetada, comparativamente as amostras não condicionadas (Tg=147 C), indicando o efeito deletério do condicionamento higrotérmico nas amostras. / The use of thermoplastic matrix composites in the aerospace industry comes up with a strong tendency to use in airplane applications, because of potential low cost production, recyclability and making repairs facilities. Among the thermoplastic polymers used in composites, PEEK (poly(ether ether ketone)) has attracted considerable interest as an advanced engineering polymer due to its mechanical performance which reinforced with carbon fibers, provides mechanical strength characteristics desirable for use in high performance structures. However, polymeric composites can present degradation mechanisms when exposed to aggressive atmosphere such as high temperature and moisture, also ultraviolet (UV) radiation. This way, the aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of hygrothermal conditioning and ultraviolet radiation on the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) mechanical property and the viscoelastic behavior (DMTA) of the PEEK/carbon fiber thermoplastic composite, and also to evaluate the processing parameters influence to make the composite via hot compression molding. The results show in this method that, the use of constant pressure is critical to its consolidation during the composite cooling step, reflecting the shear strength testing (18.4 MPa). The samples viscoelastic analysis subjected to the environmental conditioning (hygrothermal and UV) show that the hygrothermal conditioning the most affected the composite. Analysis showed that the samples glass transition temperature tested by hygrothermal conditioning (Tg=115 C) was very affected compared to non-conditioned samples (Tg=147 C), indicating the hygrothermal conditioning deleterious effect on the samples.