Engineering Science and Materials Commons^™

Electrically-Conductive Asphalt Mastic: Temperature Dependence And Heating Efficiency, Ali Arabzadeh, Halil Ceylan, Sunghwan Kim, Alireza Sassani, Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan, Mani Mina

Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Publications

Asphalt mastic, a pitch-matrix composite, consists of bitumen and mineral fillers (very fine aggregates), that fills the voids created by coarser aggregates in asphalt concrete. In this study, asphalt mastic was modified with carbon fiber (CF) and graphite powder (GP) to produce single-phase (containing only CF) and two-phase (containing both CF and GP) electrically-conductive asphalt mastic (ECAM) for anti-icing and deicing applications. Volume resistivities of ECAMs were measured at two different temperatures and the influence of temperature on electrical conductivity was evaluated, revealing that reduction in temperature enhances the ECAM's electrical conductivity. After analyzing the volume resistivity data for ...

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Engineering And Computer Science, Fall 2017, Buenaventura "Ven" Basco

Buenaventura "Ven" Basco

No abstract provided.

Experimental Tests And Numerical Simulations For Failure Investigation On Corrugated Boxes Used On Household Appliance Packaging, Diego Fernandes Rodrigues, José Carlos Pereira

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Packages made of corrugated paper are fundamental to the protection, transportation and handling of the appliance product market. During the storage and sales stages of a product, the package must resist compressive loads in different directions beyond moderate impacts. In this context, the objective of this work is to develop and implement a post-processor that allows the simultaneous analysis of two of the most common failure modes of packages made of corrugated paper: failure due to tensile or compressive stress limit, and failure due to local buckling, when the buckling of the faces of the corrugated paper between two peaks ...

Post-Wrapping Behavior Of High-Performance Stretch Film, Jake Wyns, John Cook, Kyle Dunno

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Compressive force is the energy a stretch film exerts onto the corners of a unit load of product, this paper analyzes the effects of compressive force overtime after application to a unit load. Previous research has shown how storage conditions, pallet configurations, and storage duration affect the performance of various packaging materials, however, there is a lack of this type of study relating to stretch film and load unitization. This paper looks at trends in compressive force depending on whether a film is applied with negative or positive secondary stretch. When a load is stretch wrapped with negative secondary stretch ...

Microstructure Design Using Graphs, Pengfei Du, Adrian Zebrowski, Jaroslaw Zola, Baskar Ganapathysubramanian, Olga Wodo

Mechanical Engineering Publications

Thin films with tailored microstructures are an emerging class of materials with applications such as battery electrodes, organic electronics, and biosensors. Such thin film devices typically exhibit a multi-phase microstructure that is confined, and show large anisotropy. Current approaches to microstructure design focus on optimizing bulk properties, by tuning features that are statistically averaged over a representative volume. Here, we report a tool for morphogenesis posed as a graph-based optimization problem that evolves microstructures recognizing confinement and anisotropy constraints. We illustrate the approach by designing optimized morphologies for photovoltaic applications, and evolve an initial morphology into an optimized morphology exhibiting ...

Electrospun Collagen Fibers For Tissue Regeneration Applications, Ying Li

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Tissue engineering aims to regenerate damaged and deceased tissue by combining cells with scaffold made from an appropriate biomaterial and providing a conducive environment to guide cell growth and the formation or regeneration of new tissue or organ. While collagen, an important material of the extracellular matrix (ECM), is a natural choice as a scaffold biomaterial, the conducive environment can only be created by having the ability to control the geometry, organization, structural and mechanical properties of the scaffold. Moreover, degradability and degradation rate control of the scaffold has to be taken into consideration too. In this work, we aim ...

Developing Strategies To Toughen Bio-Inspired Adhesives, Narelli P. Narciso, Samuel Lee Huntington, Jonathan J. Wilker

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Mussels and other marine creatures adhere very well in underwater environments, having the ability to withstand the force of the sea. These animals have inspired synthetic biomimetic adhesives for wet systems, presenting potential for biomedical applications. However, most current commercial adhesives tend to be brittle, not resisting repetitive movements. This study assesses toughening strategies to improve the mussel-inspired adhesives’ ductility while maintaining its strength. The strategies included altering the polymer’s chemical structure by changing the percentage of polyethylene glycol (PEG) in the molecule and by adding fillers, such as calcium carbonate, silica and nacre - a calcium carbonate compound found ...

Grain Size Effects On Viscoelastic Relaxation Of Sub-Micron Thickness Fcc Metallic Films, Jeffrey Smyth

Theses and Dissertations

Sub-micron thickness metallic thin films are known to exhibit mechanical size effects, where the thin film mechanical behavior can differ significantly from that of a bulk version of the same material. One such mechanical behavior, and the focus of this work, is the unique thin film viscoelastic deformation response to sub-yield, low-strain stimuli in near-ambient temperature environments. In engineering components using bulk materials, strains within the elastic regime are generally considered instantaneous. It is only at higher operating temperatures that temporal deformation processes, such as creep, are considered in bulk component design. However, in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), specifically Radio Frequency ...

Aberration Corrected Analytical Electron Microscopy Studies Of Nanometallic Catalysts, Sultan Althahban

Theses and Dissertations

Catalysis by nanoscopic metal structures, ranging from nanoparticles to sub-nm clusters and even individual atoms, is amongst the most intensely studied topics in nanoscience. The catalytic performance of supported metal nanoparticles is governed by their crysallographic structure, shape, size, composition and interaction with the support. Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (AC-STEM), with its ultra-high spatial resolution for imaging and compositional analysis, is an ideal tool for characterizing such features in metallic nanocatalysts. In this thesis, five case studies are presented where AC-STEM has been invaluable in elucidating synthesis route - structure - performance relationships in some technologically important catalyst systems.

Ice Adhesion Analysis Of Severely Aged Pdms Rubbers, Theodore R. Woll

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to evaluate and optimize the ice adhesion test initially developed by the University of Denver and to examine Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based silicone rubbers for their ice-phobicity as a function of their physical and chemistry properties, and under severe oxidative aging. The test is based on an ice block bonded to a silicone rubber substrate and subjected to shear. In its original state, the test had severe limitations that caused the ice to be dislodged through a mixture of shear and peeling. Several steps were taken in this research to improve the test, and the ...

Full Field Computing For Elastic Pulse Dispersion In Inhomogeneous Bars, A. Berezovski, R. Kolman, M. Berezovski, D. Gabriel, V. Adamek

Publications

In the paper, the finite element method and the finite volume method are used in parallel for the simulation of a pulse propagation in periodically layered composites beyond the validity of homogenization methods. The direct numerical integration of a pulse propagation demonstrates dispersion effects and dynamic stress redistribution in physical space on example of a one-dimensional layered bar. Results of numerical simulations are compared with analytical solution constructed specifically for the considered problem. Analytical solution as well as numerical computations show the strong influence of the composition of constituents on the dispersion of a pulse in a heterogeneous bar and ...

Tunable Plasmonic Resonances In Highly Porous Nano-Bamboo Si-Au Superlattice-Type Thin Films, Ufuk Kılıç, Alyssa Mock, René Feder, Derek Sekora, Matthew J. Hilfiker, Rafal Korlacki, Eva Schubert, Christos Argyropoulos, Mathias Schubert

Faculty Publications from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

We report on fabrication of spatially-coherent columnar plasmonic nanostructure superlattice-type thin films with high porosity and strong optical anisotropy using glancing angle deposition. Subsequent and repeated depositions of silicon and gold lead to nanometer-dimension subcolumns with controlled lengths. The superlattice-type columns resemble bamboo structures where smaller column sections of gold form junctions sandwiched between larger silicon column sections (“nano-bamboo”). We perform generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements and finite element method computations to elucidate the strongly anisotropic optical properties of the highly-porous nano-bamboo structures. The occurrence of a strongly localized plasmonic mode with displacement pattern reminiscent of a dark quadrupole mode is ...

Artificial Neural Network And Finite Element Modeling Of Nanoindentation Tests On Silica, Kianoosh Koocheki

Civil Engineering Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research

Two major forms of Silica include the crystalline form named Quartz which consist of the sand grains in nature, and amorphous form named Silica Glass or Fused Silica which is commonly known as glass. Fused Silica is an amorphous crystal that can show plastic behavior at micro-scale despite its brittle behavior in large scales. Due to the amorphous and ductile nature of Fused Silica, this behavior may not be explained well using the traditional dislocation-based mechanism of plasticity for crystalline solids. The crystal plasticity happens due to shear stress and stored energy in the material as dislocations which does not ...

Continuous Flow Process For Recovery Of Metal Contaminants From Industrial Wastewaters With Magnetic Nanocomposites, David Hutchins

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Remediation of metal-containing industrial effluents presents both a technical challenge and an economic opportunity. Many industrial waste streams contain low levels of metal ions requiring treatment prior to discharge. Existing treatment technologies are frustrated by disparate compositions and low metal concentrations. Chemical precipitation is effective; however, it requires excessive reagents and discourages selective recovery. Ion-exchange enables recovery, but requires a batch process with extensive operational and maintenance demands, and is rarely implemented in large-scale applications. A continuous flow process capable of selective recovery would present many advantages over existing technologies.

This research examines and develops a continuous flow process for ...

Interface Structure And Deformation Mechanisms Of Mg/Nb Multilayers, Xinyan Xie

Mechanical (and Materials) Engineering -- Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Magnesium (Mg) and its alloys, as the lightest structural materials, are very attractive for a range of weight sensitive applications, such as aircraft engine, transportation industry and so on. However, their further applications are limited due to the weak properties, such as the low strength and poor ductility. In recent years, advanced techniques aiming at the modification of the microstructures, have been developed to promote the properties of Mg and its alloys, such as modifying the texture, refining the grain size, forming the intermetallic phase, and introducing the interfaces or stacking faults into the systems. Constructing Mg/Nb multilayers, which ...

Dynamic Behavior Of Granular Earth Materials Subjected To Pressure-Shear Loading, Jeff Wilson Lajeunesse

Dissertations (2009 -)

The dynamic response of granular earth materials such as sand has been of interest for many years. Multiple previous works have explored the shock response of sand in various grain shapes, sizes, and moisture contents, but the response during rapid combined loading has been relatively unexplored. The current study contributes to that lack of data by performing pressure-shear experiments on Oklahoma #1 silica sand, with quasi-smooth grains of 63 - 120 micron diameter and 99.8 wt.% Si02 composition. In these experiments, an oblique flyer plate impacts an equally inclined target, imparting a longitudinal (pressure) and transverse (shear) wave into a ...

Smart Bandage For Monitoring And Treatment Of Chronic Wounds, Pooria Mostafalu, Ali Tamayol, Rahim Rahimi, Manuel Ochoa, Akbar Khalilpour, Gita Kiaee, Iman K. Yazdi, Sara Bagherifard, Mehmet R. Dokmeci, Babak Ziaie, Sameer R. Sonkusale, Ali Khademhosseini

Mechanical & Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Chronic wounds are a major health concern and they affect the lives of more than 25 million people in the United States. They are susceptible to infection and are the leading cause of nontraumatic limb amputations worldwide. The wound environment is dynamic, but their healing rate can be enhanced by administration of therapies at the right time. This approach requires real-time monitoring of the wound environment with on-demand drug delivery in a closed-loop manner. In this paper, a smart and automated flexible wound dressing with temperature and pH sensors integrated onto flexible bandages that monitor wound status in real-time to ...

Energy Conversion System For Travelers (Ecost), Thipok Bovornratanaraks

The International Student Science Fair 2018

We have innovated “The Energy Conversion System for Travelers” or the ECoST. With the fact that most travelers have wheeled cabin-bags, whilst walking, the wheels will rotate so why don’t we harvest electricity from this kinetic energy? We thus install our innovation, the ECoST, to the bag to generate electricity from the spinning wheels. The electricity is then kept in the storage unit and ready to charge your empty battery devices in an emergency case via a USB port. To make life easy, our ECoST was designed to replicate the power bank charging method; therefore, we can charge it ...

A Coupled Thermo-Mechanical Theory Of Strain Gradient Plasticity For Small And Finite Deformations, Yooseob Song

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this work, a thermodynamically consistent coupled thermo-mechanical gradient enhanced continuum plasticity theory is developed for small and finite deformations. The proposed model is conceptually based on the dislocations interaction mechanisms and thermal activation energy. The thermodynamic conjugate microstresses are decomposed into energetic and dissipative components. This work incorporates the thermal and mechanical responses of microsystems. It addresses phenomena such as size and boundary effects and in particular microscale heat transfer in fast-transient processes. Not only the partial heat dissipation caused by the fast transient time, but also the distribution of temperature caused by the transition from the plastic work ...

Effect Of Material Viscoelasticity On Frequency Tuning Of Dielectric Elastomer Membrane Resonators, Liyang Tian

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Dielectric elastomers (DEs) capable of large voltage-induced deformation show promise for applications such as resonators and oscillators. However, the dynamic performance of such vibrational devices is not only strongly affected by the nonlinear electromechanical coupling and material hyperelasticity, but also significantly by the material viscoelasticity. The material viscoelasticity of DEs originates from the highly mobile polymer chains that constitute the polymer networks of the DE. Moreover, due to the multiple viscous polymer subnetworks, DEs possess multiple relaxation processes. Therefore, in order to predict the dynamic performance of DE-based devices, a theoretical model that accounts for the multiple relaxation processes is ...