Engineering Science and Materials Commons^™

Modelagem Da Vida De Fadiga E Do Acúmulo De Deformações Permanentes Em Pavimentos Asfálticos Por Meio De Um Modelo De Dano Contínuo, Victor Ferreira Teixeira, Flavio V. Souza, Jorge Barbosa Soares

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

: It is known that the conditions of the Brazilian roadways have an enormous impact over the national economy. In face of this problem, there is a need for new methodologies for pavement analyses and design that can more accurately predict pavement distresses. Among the main methods currently used, one can find purely empirical methods and mechanistic-empirical methods which make use of the pavement structure response. The evolution of numerical methods such as the Finite Element Method (FEM) or the Boundary Element Method (BEM) has made the mechanistic-empirical methods more popular for pavement analysis applications. This work shows a mechanistic …

Effects Of Aggregates On Properties And Performance Of Mastics And Superpave Hot Mix Asphalt Mixtures, Francisco Aragão

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Superpave, a set of advancements in testing devices and specifications for asphalt binders and mixtures, was limited to address the effects of aggregates. Because aggregates represent around 95% in mass of the asphalt mixtures, it is important to understand how these materials affect properties and performance of such mixtures. This research focus on how different types and contents of aggregates affect properties of mastics and asphalt mixtures, and their performance considering the viscoelastic nature of the asphalt material.

Five different types of aggregates and hydrated lime were used for sample fabrication together with two different binders. Several different tests were …

Numerical Simulation Of Waves And Fronts In Inhomogeneous Solids, A. Berezovski, M. Berezovski, J. Engelbrecht, G. A. Maugin

Publications

Dynamic response of inhomogeneous materials exhibits new effects, which often do not exist in homogeneous media. It is quite natural that most of studies of wave and front propagation in inhomogeneous materials are associated with numerical simulations. To develop a numerical algorithm and to perform the numerical simulations of moving fronts we need to formulate a kinetic law of progress relating the driving force and the velocity of the discontinuity. The velocity of discontinuity is determined by means of the non-equilibrium jump relations at the front. The obtained numerical method generalizes the wave-propagation algorithm to the case of moving discontinuities …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Spring 2007, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge.

The senior design competition helps to focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects …

Influence Of Van Der Waals Forces On Increasing The Strength And Toughness In Dynamic Fracture Of Nanofibre Networks: A Peridynamic Approach, Florin Bobaru Ph.D.

Department of Engineering Mechanics: Faculty Publications

The peridynamic method is used here to analyse the effect of van der Waals forces on the mechanical behaviour and strength and toughness properties of three-dimensional nanofibre networks under imposed stretch deformation. The peridynamic formulation allows for a natural inclusion of long-range forces (such as van der Waals forces) by considering all interactions as ‘long-range’. We use van der Waals interactions only between different fibres and do not need to model individual atoms. Fracture is introduced at the microstructural (peridynamic bond) level for the microelastic type bonds, while van der Waals bonds can reform at any time. We conduct statistical …

Investigation On Magnetorheological Elastomers Based On Natural Rubber, Lin Chen

Articles

Magnetorheological Elastomers (MR Elastomers or MREs) are a kind of novel smart material, whose mechanical, electrical, magnetic properties are controllable under applied magnetic fields. They have attracted increasing attentions and broad application prospects. But conventional MREs are limited to wide applications because their MR effects and mechanical performances are not high enough. This paper aims to optimize the fabrication method and to fabricate good natural rubber based MREs with high modulus by investigating the influences of a variety of fabrication conditions on the MREs performances, such as matrix type, external magnetic flux density, and temperature, plasticizer and iron particles. Among …

Microstructures And Viscoelastic Properties Of Anisotropic Magnetorheological Elastomers, Lin Chen

Articles

The microstructures and viscoelastic properties of anisotropic magnetorheological elastomers were investigated in this paper. The measurement results show that their mechanical properties are greatly dependent on the magnetic flux density applied in preparation. A finite-column model was proposed to describe the relations between the microstructures and the viscoelastic properties. The simulation results agree well with the experimental results.

Origin Of Photomultiplication In C60 Based Devices, Jinsong Huang, Yang Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

In this manuscript, the origin of the photomultiplication effect was studied in C₆₀ based devices by evaluating the wavelength dependent external and internal quantum efficiencies under various biases. The effect of materials with disordered structures on the photomultiplication effect was determined by intentionally integrating both ordered and disordered material structures into one organic solar cell device with a configuration of indium tin oxide/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)/pentacene/C₆₀ fullerene/bathocuproine (BCP)/Al. Our results show that both the disordered structure of C₆₀ and the charge trapping effect at the C₆₀ /PEDOT:PSS interface contribute to the photomultiplication effect. By studying the C60-only …

A Novel Processing Route For The Production Of Nanoparticulate Zinc Oxide, Declan Mccormack, Grainne Duffy, Suresh Pillai

Articles

Zinc oxide nanoparticles have been processed from a novel isophthalate
precursor. In contrast to those processed from an oxalate precursor, this
material exhibits three-dimensional, non-directional aggregation behaviour.
Such non-directional aggregation of uniaxial crystallites may allow for the
production of structures with a higher proportion of catalytically active
surfaces than can be prepared through conventional sol–gel methods. XRD,
FTIR, TEM and SEM were used to characterize the synthesized materials.
Zinc oxide particles synthesized by using isophthalic acid
(C6H4-1,3-(COOH)2) are found to be slightly smaller than the previously
reported materials prepared through chelation with oxalic acid
(H2C2O2·2H2O).

A Scientific Foundation Of Collaborative Engineering, S. C.-Y. Lu, W. Elmaraghy, G. Schuh, R. Wilhelm

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Collaborative engineering is the practical application of collaboration sciences to the engineering domain. In today’s highly connected technology-driven economy, the production industry must rely on the best practices of collaborative engineering to stay competitive when designing, manufacturing, and operating complex machines, processes, and systems on a global scale. Despite its importance, collaborative engineering is currently more of a practiced art than a scientific discipline. A better understanding of how engineers should collaborate with all stakeholders to accomplish complex tasks that fulfill our increasing social responsibilities is a grand challenge. However, because we currently lack well-defined sciences of human collaboration, we …

Improved Hole-Injection Contact For Top-Emitting Polymeric Diodes, Juo-Hao Li, Jinsong Huang, Yang Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

In this letter, an efficient hole-injection contact was achieved for the top-emitting polymeric light-emitting diodes (PLEDs). The anode has a structure of metal/molybdenum oxide/ poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). It has been found that hole injection was significantly improved by inserting a thin layer of MoO₃ between aluminum and PEDOT:PSS. An ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) was used to investigate the change of work function, and photovoltaic measurement confirmed that the improved hole injection is due to the reduction of barrier height, resulted from the addition of transition metal oxide. PEDOT:PSS layer was found necessary in anode structure to further enhance the …

Low Voltage And Fast Speed All-Polymeric Optocouplers, Yan Yao, Hsiang-Yu Chen, Jinsong Huang, Yang Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

An all-polymeric optocoupler has been demonstrated with a polymer light-emitting diode (PLED) as the light source (input unit) and a polymer/fullerene photodiode (PD) as the detector (output unit). The electroluminescence (EL) peak of the PLED is 560 nm, and the entire EL spectrum is within the response range of the PD. The optocoupler can work at low driving voltages, 5 V on the PLED and 0 V on the PD. The output photocurrent increases linearly with input current, and the current density transfer ratio reaches 1.5%. The frequency response of the optocoupler is at 500 kHz. With comparable performance to …

Deck-Mounted Steel Post Barrier System, John D. Reid, Ronald K. Faller, Jason A. Hascall

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

An existing mountable safety barrier system, previously crash tested successfully on a wood bridge deck, was evaluated for use on a fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) bridge deck. In an attempt to avoid expensive full-scale crash testing, components of the existing system were evaluated using worst case conditions on two dynamic bogie crash tests and a series of computer simulations using nonlinear finite-element analysis. Simulation results closely approximated the physical results, with both displaying similar deformation, damage, and force levels. Both testing and simulation demonstrated that the barrier should function sufficiently if used on the FRP deck system. Further, the development …

Regional Mechanical Properties And Stress Analysis Of The Human Anterior Lens Capsule, Ryan M. Pedrigi, G. David, J. Dziezyc, J. D. Humphrey

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The lens capsule of the eye functions, in part, as a deformable support through which the ciliary body applies tractions that can alter lens curvature and corresponding refractive power during the process of accommodation. Although it has long been recognized that characterization of the mechanical properties of the lens capsule is fundamental to understanding this physiologic process as well as clinical interventions, prior data have been limited by one-dimensional testing of excised specimens despite the existence of multiaxial loading in vivo. In this paper, we employ a novel experimental approach to study in situ the regional, multiaxial mechanical behavior of …

Time-Economic Lifetime Assessment For High Performance Thermal Barrier Coating Systems, Marion Bartsch, Bernd Baufeld, S. Dalkilic, Iulian Mircea, K. Lambrinou, T. Leist, J. Yan, Anette M. Karlsson

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Strategies for time-economic lifetime assessment of thermal barrier coatings (TBC) in service are described and discussed on the basis of experimental results, achieved on material systems with coatings applied by electron beam physical vapour deposition. Service cycles for gas turbine blades have been simulated on specimens in thermo-mechanical fatigue tests, accelerating the fatigue processes by an increase of load frequency. Time dependent changes in the material system were imposed by a separate ageing, where the samples were pre-oxidized prior to the fatigue test. Results of thermo-mechanical fatigue tests on pre-aged and as-coated specimens gave evidence of interaction between fatigue and …