Engineering Commons^™

Characterization And Modeling To Design And Develop Tailored-Property Filled Glass Composites, Kevin Ewsuk

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Particle-filled-glass composites (FGCs) are being developed as new materials with structure and properties engineered for materials joining (e.g., for solid oxide fuel cells). Relative to conventional sealing glasses used to make hermetic glass-to-metal (GtM) seals, FGCs with tailored properties offer significant potential as more crack resistant hermetic seals with better performance and reliability. Additionally, compared to process sensitive crystallizable glasses, FGCs offer broader processing latitude and robustness, and afford greater control of seal microstructure and properties. FGCs are being developed using a combination of fundamental materials science and materials engineering, employing: 1) experimentally-validated molecular modeling to better understand and control …

Composite Metallic Nanofoam Structures, David Bahr, Matthew Howard, Mohamad Zbib, Raheleh Rahimi, John Balk

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Metallic nanofoams made of metals such as nickel (Ni) or gold (Au) with ligament sizes on the order of 10’s to 100’s of nm’s exhibit several remarkable properties as a consequence of their low relative density and high specific surface area, such as outstanding strength to weight ratios, enhanced plasmonic behavior and size-effect-enhanced catalytic behavior. However, these metallic nanofoams suffer from macroscopically brittle behavior due to plastic deformation in individual ligaments. With little or no barriers for slip, work-hardening is not possible within ligaments and extremely localized plasticity, once initiated, leads to a few ligaments necking and what appears to …

Powerful Artificial Muscles For Morphing Composites And Other Applications, Ray Baughman

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Three successive generations of twist-spun artificial muscles are described and used to make morphing composites and textiles that are electrically, thermally, or chemically powered.¹ Our first generation of twist-spun muscles, which are electrochemically powered by volume changes induced by double-layer charge injection, provide torsional rotation speeds of 590 rpm, and torsional strokes of 250° per millimeter of actuator length, which is 1000 times that for earlier artificial muscles. Our second generation muscles, which require no electrolyte and are based on guest-infiltrated carbon nanotube yarns, can torsionally actuate at 11,500 rpm and deliver 85 times higher power density during contraction …

Deterministic Three-Dimensional Composite Structures For Energy Storage, Paul Brown

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Through mesoscale design of a 3D current collector, high power density and high energy density primary and secondary (rechargeable) large format and microbatteries (Figure 1) were fabricated. At the most fundamental level, mesostructuring enables optimization of the trade-off between energy and power density in energy storage systems due to unavoidable ohmic and other losses that occur during charge or discharge. Of course, it is at fast charge and discharge, where these effects are most important. By efficient design of the ion and electron transport pathways, we and others have shown it is possible to significantly improve the power-energy relationship. We …

Augmented Finite Element Method For Virtual Testing Of High Temperature Cmcs, Qingda Yang, Jaedal Jung, Bao-Chan Do

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) have been increasingly used in high heat flux applications due to their ultra-high temperature resisting capabilities. However, CMCs are prone to processing-induced or in-serve cracking due to the large thermal stresses. Thermally-induced cracking are dangerous because they provide pathways for further damaging processes such as oxidation and vapor-assisted corrosion, which may lead to catastrophic failure [1]. High-fidelity thermal-mechanical analyses to CMCs with consideration of arbitrary cracking are very challenging because the heterogeneous nature makes it impossible to know the cracking locations a priori. Yet correct and efficient treatment of crack coalescence and bifurcation is critical …

Novel Anti-Decay Self-Setting Paste Of Hydroxyapatite/Collagen Nanocomposite Utilizing Gptms, Masanori Kikuchi, Taira Sato, Mamoru Aizawa, Yuki Shirosaki

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Bone is a typical inorganic/ortganic nanocomposite mainly composed of hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanocrystals and collagen molecules. The composition and nanostructure is closely related to bone’s biomechanical and biochemical properties. One of the most important things for bone is a bone remodeling process that maintains mechanical strength of bone to allow walking and running as well as homeostasis of calcium in our body. In fact, sintered HAp composed of HAp crystals approximately 1 µm in particle size is considered as non-bioresorbable; however HAp nanocrystals easily resorbed by osteoclasts. A hydroxyapatite/collagen bone-like nanocomposite (HAp/Col) was successfully synthesized by the authors via self-organizing process. …

Physical Aging And Glass Transition Of Single Component Nanocomposites, Hilmar Koerner

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Matrix free assemblies of polymer-grafted, “hairy” nanoparticles (HNP) exhibit novel morphology, dielectric and mechanical properties, as well as providing means to overcome dispersion challenges ubiquitous to conventional polymer-inorganic blended nanocomposites. Physical aging of the amorphous polymer glass between the close-packed nanoparticles (NPs) will dominate long-term stability. However, the energetics of cooperative relaxation of tethered chains confined within the interstitial spaces in single component nanocomposites is unknown. Herein, we compare glass transition temperature (Tg) and physical aging behavior of matrix free assemblies of HNPs (aHNPs) to conventional NP-polymer blends, across different nano-silica loadings (0-50 v/v%) and brush architecture of grafted polystyrene …

Designing Fire Safe Composites, Maude Jimenez

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Composites are increasingly used in transportation (railway, aircrafts,…) and their applications are more and more oriented toward structural parts. However the fire risk linked to the use of such organic materials has to be strongly reduced to keep this attractiveness and hence flame retardant solutions have to be used to fire proof them. A classical way to achieve fire performance is to incorporate fire retardants (FRs) in the bulk of the polymeric matrix of the composites at loading between 15 and 40wt%. However with such an approach, flammability properties of the composites will be achieved at the expense of their …

Mechanisms And Models For Sic Fiber Strength Changes After Oxidation In Air And Steam, Randall Hay

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

The strengths of Hi-Nicalon^TM-S SiC fibers were measured after oxidation in wet air, dry air, and Si(OH)₄ saturated steam between 600° and 1400°C. Amorphous and crystalline SiO₂ scale thickness was measured by TEM. Deal-Grove kinetics for oxidation and Kolmogorov-Johnson-Mehl-Avrami kinetics for crystallization were determined. Fibers oxidized in steam much more rapidly than in dry or wet air. Hi-Nicalon^TM-S fibers were completely oxidized to crystalline SiO₂ after 100h at 1100°C. The corresponding scale thickness for dry air was 1.3 mm. Fiber strength changes after oxidation in dry and wet air were similar, but with …

Thermally Conductive Composites, Oren Regev

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

The rapidly increasing device densities in electronics calls for efficient thermal management. If successfully exploited, graphene, which possesses extraordinary thermal properties, can be commercially utilized in polymer composites with ultrahigh thermal conductivity (TC). The total potential of graphene to enhance TC, however, is restricted by the large interfacial thermal resistance between the polymer-mediated graphene boundaries. We report a facile and scalable dispersion of commercially available graphene nano platelets (GnPs) in a polymer matrix, which forms composite with ultra-high TC of 12.4 W/mK (vs. 0.2 W/mK for neat polymer). This ultra-high TC is achieved by applying high compression forces during the …

Controlling The Interfacial Properties Of One-Dimensional Nanostructures, Kirk Ziegler

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

The high surface area of nanomaterials dictates that the interface with their surroundings is important in determining their properties or functionality. For example, all atoms in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) exist on the surface and, therefore, have excellent sensing capabilities. The interface of SWCNTs with their surroundings is also important to their application in polymer composites, devices, drug delivery, bioimaging and biosensing. Understanding and ultimately controlling these surface layers is important because of its influence on dispersion, reactivity, adsorption of pollutants, and interaction with biological materials. SWCNT interfaces are often altered with surfactants to improve their dispersion in aqueous suspensions. …

Bio-Inspired Hybrid Nanocomposites In Single Crystalline Hosts: From Structure To Function, Boaz Pokroy

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Often crystals in nature exhibit fascinating mechanical, optical, magnetic and other characteristics. Such natural single crystals are very different than man-made crystals: they are in fact hybrid nanocomposites due to the incorporation of organic molecules within heir crystalline lattice and often reveal intricate shapes and morphologies rather than clear facets.

In this talk I will show that we can emulate these two specific features demonstrated by organisms so as to form new structural materials with new properties and characteristics.

I will show that we can grow inorganic single crystals in which different organic molecules are incorporated on a nanometer scale. …

Multilayer Nanocoatings Capable Of Separating Gases, Killing Bacteria And Stopping Fire, Jaime Grunlan

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly is a conformal coating “platform” technology capable of imparting a multiplicity of functionalities on nearly any type of surface in a relatively environmentally friendly way. At its core, LbL is a solution deposition technique in which layers of cationic and anionic materials (e.g. nanoparticles, polymers and even biological molecules) are built up via electrostatic attractions in an alternating fashion, while controlling process variables such as pH, coating time, and concentration. Here we are producing nanocomposite multilayers (50 – 1000 nm thick), having 10 – 96 wt% clay, that are completely transparent and exhibit oxygen transmission rates below …

Hard/Soft Composited Materials For Stretchable Electronics, Hyun-Joong Chung, Xinda Li, Yi Chen

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Convergence between scientific disciplines creates myriads of new opportunities to the problems that traditional approaches have not provided the answers. For example, researches on materials engineering and nanofabrication can shed a light to the current challenges in clinical biomedical science. Specifically, this presentation describes how materials science is employed to solve fundamental and practical problems in the intimate integration of the state-of-art inorganic devices onto living organs or skins for biomedical research. [1]

Firstly, bioresorbable elastomers make a basic building block for tissue scaffolds for soft, moving organs (such as heart, blood vessels, and smooth muscles) and for substrate material …

Magnetically Assisted Assembly Of Bioinspired Composites, Tobias Niebel, Hortense Le Ferrand, Florian Bouville, André Studart

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Heterogeneous composites with intricate microstructures can be found widely in nature fulfilling the functional demands imposed by their environment. Reaching this level of intricacy in synthetic composites remains a challenge due to the lack of suitable and easily available processing tools. We present a new method to produce bioinspired composites with a broad variety of locally controlled composition, texture and shape using low magnetic fields. Nacre-like all-ceramic, polymer-ceramic and metal-ceramic composites with volume fractions of ceramic phase spanning from 40 to values as high as 95 vol% are achieved. By mixing magnetically responsive alumina microplatelets with ceramic nanoparticles, we can …

Atomistic Structures And Transport Phenomena At Interfaces In Lithium Battery Materials, Akihide Kuwabara

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are widely used in mobile devices. Increasingly they are also being scaled up for use as energy-storage devices in hybrid vehicles and fully electric ones. All-solid-state LIBs are expected to be one of the candidates as next generation LIBs because the LIBs can realize higher energy density and safety without liquid electrolytes. In these devices, the solid-solid interfaces, specifically those between electrodes and an electrolyte and grain boundaries within each component, are thought to strongly affect the battery performance. Despite their clear scientific and technical importance, however, so far, few studies have focused on the internal interfaces …

Mica Platelet-Reinforced, Geopolymer Composites, Patrick Keane

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

The mica flakes were obtained from the Cogebi Company as phlogopite mica paper type Cobebi P160 containing no organic or inorganic binder. Mica can withstand temperatures in excess of 1000°C. Phlogopite, of composition (KMg₃(AlSi₃O₁₀)(OH)₂ is flame-retardant, non-flammable, does not give off fumes. It conducts very little heat, especially perpendicular to its strata. Natural mica has a dielectric strength greater than 25 kV/mm (625 V/mil), has good resistance to arcing and electrical erosion, and is permeable to microwaves. Mica has good compressive strength. It behaves well in the presence of tensile and bending stresses. …

Probing Micro- And Nano-Scale Elastic Modulus Variation In Organic-Rich Shale—A Naturally Occurring Composite, Corinne Packard, Taylor Wilkinson, Saeed Zargari, Manika Prasard

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Organic-rich shales are heterogeneous, naturally occurring composites that act as source rocks for oil and gas, which can be extracted through the process of hydraulic fracturing. Shales are composed of clays, minerals, and evolving organic matter and developed through long periods of sedimentation and compression. An elastic modulus mapping technique based on spatially continuous dynamic nanoindentation is applied to map microscale variations in a fine-grained, organic-rich shale consisting of inorganic minerals with an inter-

penetrating network of microscale pores filled with organic matter. A sample of Bakken shale from the Williston Basin was chosen for analysis, in which the organic …

Preparation Of Chitosan-Siloxane Porous Hybrids With Hydroxyapatite For Repair Of Skull Defect, Yuki Shirosaki

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

A craniotomy is performed for various neurological diseases, injuries, or conditions such as brain tumors, hematomas, aneurysms, and skull fractures. First, the small-sized holes, called “burr holes” were made to insert some surgical tools such as a shunt, a drain, an intracranial pressure monitor, and endoscope, etc. or be the starting point of removing large skull fracture. After surgery, the holes should be closed by the calcium phosphate cements or the titanium plates, because the skull defects are not spontaneously regenerated.

Calcium phosphate cements (CPCs) have attracted great interest as bone substitute material. However, the cements easily flow into the …

Manufacturing And Testing Of Lightweight, Liner-Less All-Composite Tanks For Storage And Transportation Of Cng, Ranji Vaidyanathan

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Compressed natural gas is one viable fuel source to replace gasoline or diesel in cars, trucks and other passenger vehicles. There are 5 types of tanks that can be used for storage and transportation of CNG. Out of these 5 types, 3 types of tanks have some form of composite structure introduced into the tank construction. Additionally, the type V tank is an all-composite construction, which has not been introduced into the NGV market in a significant manner. In this presentation, we will describe the manufacturing and testing of type V all-composite tanks by the team formed between a small …

In Situ Study Of Phase Transformations And Phase Equilibria In The Tantala And Hafnia Binary System, Waltraud Kriven

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Tantala (Ta₂O₅) has useful dielectric, optical, catalytic and chemical properties while hafnia (HfO₂) has found applications as a high temperature structural ceramic. Tantala and hafnia ceramics have yet to be studied in detailed. During this study, the Ta₂O₅-HfO₂ binary system was investigated using high temperature x-ray diffraction from room temperature to 1650˚C in air using synchrotron radiation. The crystal structures of Ta₂O₅, HfO₂ and Hf₆Ta₂O₁₇ were examined with their corresponding phase transformations and 3-D thermal expansions.

Exploration Of The Materials Paradigm With Respect To Bioinspiration, John Nychka

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

From the perspective of materials science and engineering the materials paradigm has traditionally been made of four grouped, and interrelated, fundamental aspects of materials: structure, properties, processing/synthesis, and performance. In order to make connections between these aspects we often rely on characterization techniques. When considering the field of bioinspiration, does the materials paradigm adequately cover what nature has to offer? Our way of approaching the issue of bioinspiration has largely been based in applying the materials paradigm, however, is there anything missing in our approach? Can we map nature to the materials paradigm? How can we? What can the paradigms …

Enhancing Grain Boundary Ionic Conductivity In Mixed Ionic Electronic Conductors, Kyle Brinkman, Ye Lin, Shumin Fang, Frank Chen, Dong Su

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

The emergent properties arising from the interactions of phases including interfacial contributions and phase evolution at the mesoscale present new opportunities, as well as challenges, for materials performance and functionality. Mixed ionic-electronic conductors are widely used in devices for energy conversion and storage. Grain boundaries in these materials have nanoscale spatial dimensions, which can generate substantial resistance to ionic transport due to dopant segregation. Here, we report a concept of targeted phase formation in a Ce_0.8Gd_0.2O_2-δ-CoFe₂O₄ (CGO-CFO) composite that serves to enhance the grain boundary ionic conductivity. Using spatially resolved electron …

Characterizing The Functionality Of Transmembrane Ion Channels Using Planar Bilayer Membranes Device And Stopped Flow Spectrometer, Andrew Jo, Hiofan Hoi, C. Montemagno

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Transmembrane ion channels can be used in biomaterials as a way to selectively allow only certain molecules to pass through a given membrane. To produce these types of membranes predictably and reliably for commercial activity, its characterization is crucial. We have characterized the conductivity and ion selectivity of NaChBac, a voltage-gated sodium channel from Bacillus haloduran, using a planar bilayer membrane device. Furthermore, we have devised a dye-free flux assay to measure the channel function using stopped flow spectrometer.. Planar bilayer membrane is a common technique for ion channels function characterization. We first incorporated purified NaChBac protein into lipid vesicle. …

Experimentally Characterizing The Behavior Of Fiber Reinforced Composite Laminates Under Multi-Axial Loading: A Historical Review And Current State Of The Art, John Wolodko

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

The mechanical behaviour of fibre reinforced composite laminates under applied loading is a complex process due to a variety of factors including geometry effects at various scales (micro-, meso- and macro-level), complex constitutive responses, and the interaction and competition between progressive damage modes. While the study of fibre reinforced composite laminates under multi-axial loading conditions has been an area of study for over 40 years, the number of experimental studies is limited primarily due to the difficulty in performing relevant experiments. The importance of these types of experiments, however, is critical to help advance the understanding and prediction of laminate …

Nature’S Tough Composites: A Look Into Biological Fibrous Architectures, Christopher Salinas

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Over a period of hundreds of millions of years, numerous examples of biological organisms have evolved light-weight, strong, and tough composite materials in order to adapt to ecological pressures and thrive in their specific niches. These composite structures consist of fiber-reinforced materials with different architectures including lamellar, cellular and helicoidal motifs. This lamellar motif is a common design utilized by a variety of distantly related organisms from mollusks to plants (e.g., queen conch and bamboo). The strength of the structures are dependent on the orientation of the reinforcing fibers. The fiber-matrix interface increases the toughness of the composite through crack …

Printed And Structurally Integrated Electronics For Air Force Applications, Daniel Berrigan, Benjamin Leever, Michael Durstock

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Both printed and flexible electronic systems promise to integrate functional devices into new form factors (e.g., structures or clothing) and environments. Of particular interest are the mechanically harsh environmental conditions to which military systems are sometimes exposed, which can be quite severe (i.e., upward of 100,000 G peak acceleration within 0.1 ms), and commercial off-the-shelf components are not designed to maintain functionality under such rugged conditions. The overarching aim of this project is to leverage the unique ability of additive manufacturing to digitally control materials properties in three dimensions to create multifunctional systems whose structure is ruggedized for mechanically these …

Ice Formation In Iron Containing Hydrogel Films, Hyun-Joong Chung

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

The states of water in polymers, including ice formation, is of increasing interest for a broad range of science and engineering, including the application and the longevity of water-bourne polymeric coatings, cryogenic preservation of cells and organs, ice mediated porous structure formation, freeze-drying process in food preservation, low temperature operation of batteries and supercapacitors, and the tailing pond sedimentation in oil sands production. The freezing point of water is heavily influenced by the polymer-water interaction and the concentration of ionic species in the water and in the polymer backbones. Various species of salt ions are abundant in the operating conditions …

Simultaneously Strong And Tough Continuous Nanofibers For Next Generation Structural Supernanocomposites, Yuris Dzenis

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Modern advanced composites and fibers are strong but brittle. Optimization of damage progression in composites has led only to moderate toughening. The advent of novel nanomaterials such as CNT and graphene has raised hopes for the development of strong and tough structural materials. However, problems with dispersion, alignment, achieving high volume fraction of discontinuous nanoreinforcement, and interfacial stress transfer proved to be more difficult than was initially thought. Recently, a different class of nanomaterials, i.e. continuous nanofibers, has been shown to possess unusual mechanical properties. This presentation will review recent breakthroughs on ultra-high-performance continuous nanofibers and their composites. Controlled nanofiber …

Biopolymer Composites From High-Cellulose Pulps And/Or Nanocellulose, Fabiola Vilaseca

Composites at Lake Louise (CALL 2015)

Increasingly our society seeks an economy based on renewable resources (bio-based economy) with the goal of providing materials of high value and from renewable resources. One popular renewable resource is cellulose, or forest products in general. In this study, cellulose derivatives will be combined together with bio-plastics to produce granules of thermoplastic nano-biocomposites by melt processing. The intention is to get bio-based materials with highly advanced properties that can be shaped into complex geometries using widely used industrial melt-processes such as extrusion or injection molding.

The challenges in this study deal with production technologies for the realization of nanocomposites for …