Engineering Commons^™

Evaluation Of The Transient Thermal Performance Of A Graphite Foam/Phase Change Material Composite, Michael Paul Trammell

Masters Theses

The thermal transient response of graphite foam infiltrated with paraffin wax as a thermal protection composite was investigated. Graphite foam is a rigid open-celled porous carbon material that exhibits high thermal conductivity along the ligaments. To increase the ability of graphite foam to store heat energy, it was infiltrated with a phase change material, paraffin wax. Filling the foam with a phase change material (PCM) creates a composite that transfers heat through an interconnected network of ligaments to a large surface area of PCM for absorption. Foams were made at various pressures to understand the effect of porosity, which also …

Mesophase Pitch-Based Carbon Fiber And Its Composites: Preparation And Characterization, Chang Liu

Masters Theses

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship among process, structure, and property of the UTSI pitch-based carbon fibers and optimize carbon fiber’s mechanical properties through the stabilization process. Various analysis techniques were employed throughout these investigations which include the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), optical microscope, Dia-stron system, MTS, and ImageJ.

Several fiber process techniques including fiber spinning, stabilization, and carbonization were explored to determine the effect of the thermal process on the fiber yield, fiber diameter, the sheath-core structure of stabilized fibers, the pac-man and hollow core structures of carbonized fibers, and the resulting mechanical properties of …