Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 18 of 18

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Exploring Stress Overshoot Phenomenon Upon Startup Deformation Of Entangled Linear Polymeric Liquids, Yangyang Wang, Shi-Qing Wang Dec 2009

Exploring Stress Overshoot Phenomenon Upon Startup Deformation Of Entangled Linear Polymeric Liquids, Yangyang Wang, Shi-Qing Wang

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

This work explores the picture associated with stress overshoot during sudden continual (i.e., startup) external deformation of entangled polymeric liquids and proposes a specific scaling form to depict the intermolecular interactions responsible for chain deformation. Following a previously proposed idea that the stress overshoot in startup deformation is a signature of yielding, we search for ingredients that should go into the description of the force imbalance at the yield point and show that the expression for the intermolecular locking force f(iml), derived from the characteristics associated with the yield point, can be tested against experiment. New rate-switching experiments support the …


Nature Of Steady Flow In Entangled Fluids Revealed By Superimposed Small Amplitude Oscillatory Shear, Pouyan E. Boukany, Shi-Qing Wang Dec 2009

Nature Of Steady Flow In Entangled Fluids Revealed By Superimposed Small Amplitude Oscillatory Shear, Pouyan E. Boukany, Shi-Qing Wang

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

We carry out a systematic investigation into steady-state shear behavior of six entangled solutions based on a superposition of continuous shear and small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS). During steady shear in the shear thinning regime, the superimposed SAOS frequency sweep measurements reveal characteristics of viscous liquids, e. g., terminal dynamics, on the experimental time scale of the reciprocal shear rate. The residual entanglement network retains the same level of elastic stiffness as the equilibrium system does. Consistent with the convective constraint release idea, chains in the network are forced to pass around each other as they must do so to …


Study Of Take-Up Velocity In Enhancing Tensile Properties Of Aligned Electrospun Nylon 6 Fibers, Johnny F. Najem Dec 2009

Study Of Take-Up Velocity In Enhancing Tensile Properties Of Aligned Electrospun Nylon 6 Fibers, Johnny F. Najem

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

The variation of both the tensile properties and thermal properties of aligned electrospun fibers with the take-up velocity (TUV) of disc collector has not been widely investigated due to the difficulty of handling aligned nanofibers and measuring low loads. In this thesis, 25% of nylon 6 was dissolved in formic acid and then electrospun into fibers and the fibers were aligned using a rotating disc collector. We evaluated the tensile and thermal properties, average fiber diameter, crystallinity, crystalline morphology, molecular and crystalline orientation of aligned electrospun nylon 6 nanofibers as a function of TUV based on a disc collector. It …


Nonlinearity In Large Amplitude Oscillatory Shear (Laos) Of Different Viscoelastic Materials, Xin Li, Shi-Qing Wang, Xiaorong Wang Oct 2009

Nonlinearity In Large Amplitude Oscillatory Shear (Laos) Of Different Viscoelastic Materials, Xin Li, Shi-Qing Wang, Xiaorong Wang

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

The present work investigates nonlinear behavior in large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) of four different polymeric materials using simultaneous conventional rheometric measurements and particle-tracking velocimetric observations. In contrast to most studies in the literature that treat nonlinearity in LAOS in steady state, we emphasize by the present four examples that nonlinearity in LAOS often arise in complex fluids due to time-dependent rearrangement of their microstructures in response to LAOS. Consequently, no correlation is obvious between strain dependence of the steady-state stress response and the time-dependent characteristics of the steady-state response. For instance, a highly viscoelastic material made of nano-sized polybutadiene …


Electrospinning Route For The Fabrication Of P-N Junction Using Nanofiber Yarns, A. F. Lotus, S. Bhargava, E. T. Bender, E. A. Evans, R. D. Ramsier, Darrell Hyson Reneker, G. G. Chase Jul 2009

Electrospinning Route For The Fabrication Of P-N Junction Using Nanofiber Yarns, A. F. Lotus, S. Bhargava, E. T. Bender, E. A. Evans, R. D. Ramsier, Darrell Hyson Reneker, G. G. Chase

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Electrospinning is a simple, versatile, and cost effective method for generating nanoscale fibers, wires, and tubes. Nanowires and nanotubes could be important building blocks for nanoscale electronics, optoelectronics, and sensors as they can function as miniaturized devices as well as electrical interconnects. We report on a simple method to fabricate free standing ceramic nanofiber heterostructures, which exhibit rectifying behavior of a p-n junction.


Nonlinear-Optical Studies Of A Fluorinated Poled Polyimide Guest-Host System, S. F. Hubbard, K. D. Singer, F. Li, Stephen Z. D. Cheng, F. W. Harris Jun 2009

Nonlinear-Optical Studies Of A Fluorinated Poled Polyimide Guest-Host System, S. F. Hubbard, K. D. Singer, F. Li, Stephen Z. D. Cheng, F. W. Harris

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

We report on poling of a low dielectric constant preimidized fluorinated fully aromatic guest-host polyimide nonlinear optical material including thermal stability of optical nonlinearities and waveguiding properties. We measured a second-harmonic coefficient (d33 = 4.9 +/- 0.5 pm/V at 1217 nm fundamental wavelength) which is accurately predicted by a thermodynamic model of poled polymers. The optical nonlinearity of a poled sample was thermally stable at 80-degrees-C for over 300 h. Films were observed to have negative birefringence. Optical losses for slab waveguides in lowest order TE and TM modes were greater-than-or-equal-to 7.7 dB/cm for doped waveguides at 800 nm wavelength …


Universal Scaling Behavior In Startup Shear Of Entangled Linear Polymer Melts, Pouyan E. Boukany, Shi-Qing Wang, Xiaorong Wang Jun 2009

Universal Scaling Behavior In Startup Shear Of Entangled Linear Polymer Melts, Pouyan E. Boukany, Shi-Qing Wang, Xiaorong Wang

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

We have studied stress overshoot behavior in startup shear of four monodisperse polymer melts with a range of chain entanglement from Z = 24 to 160 entanglement points per chain. In the elastic deformation regime defined by (gamma)over dot tau(R) > 1 where tau(R) is the Rouse relaxation time, (i) the peak shear stress sigma(max) scales with the time t(max) at the peak to -1/2 power, in contrast to an exponent of -1/4 in the viscoelastic regime (for (gamma)over dot tau(R) < 1), (ii) sigma(max) changes linearly with the elapsed strain at the stress peak gamma(max), which scales with the applied shear rate as (gamma)over dot(1/3), (iii) a supermaster curve collapses time-dependent shear stress growth curves up to the stress maximum at all shear rates for all the four styrene-butadiene rubber samples. (C) 2009 The Society of Rheology. [DOI: 10.1122/1.3086872]


Effects Of Photointensity Gradient On Directional Crystal Growth In Blends Of Crystalline Polymer And Photoreactive Monomer Undergoing Photopolymerization-Induced Phase Transformation, Pankaj Rathi, Soo Jeoung Park, Thein Kyu May 2009

Effects Of Photointensity Gradient On Directional Crystal Growth In Blends Of Crystalline Polymer And Photoreactive Monomer Undergoing Photopolymerization-Induced Phase Transformation, Pankaj Rathi, Soo Jeoung Park, Thein Kyu

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Effects of light intensity gradient on development of intricate hierarchical morphology of semicrystalline polyethylene oxide (PEO) and photoreactive diacrylate (DA) blends undergoing photopolymerization-induced crystallization have been demonstrated experimentally and theoretically. The melting temperature of PEO was found to decline upon addition of DA monomer. A solid-liquid phase diagram has been established by self-consistently solving the combined phase field free energy of crystal solidification and Flory-Huggins (FH) free energy of liquid-liquid demixing. Dynamic calculations were performed using time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (model C) equations by incorporating the combined phase field and FH free energy densities coupled with the photopolymerization kinetics. The spatiotemporal development …


Static And Dynamic Responsive Behavior Of Polyelectrolyte Brushes Under External Electrical Field, Hui Ouyang, Zhenhai Xia, Jiang Zhe Apr 2009

Static And Dynamic Responsive Behavior Of Polyelectrolyte Brushes Under External Electrical Field, Hui Ouyang, Zhenhai Xia, Jiang Zhe

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

The static and dynamic behaviors of partially charged and end-grafted polyelectrolyte brushes in response to electric fields were investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulation. The results show that the polymer brushes can be partially or fully stretched by applying an external electric field. Moreover, the brushes can switch reversibly from collapsed to stretched states, fully responding to the AC electric stimuli, and the gating response frequency can reach a few hundred MHz. The effects of the grafting density, the charge fraction of the brushes and the strength of the electric field on the average height of the polymer brushes …


Ptau Bimetallic Heteronanostructures Made By Post-Synthesis Modification Of Pt-On-Au Nanoparticles, Zhenmeng Peng Apr 2009

Ptau Bimetallic Heteronanostructures Made By Post-Synthesis Modification Of Pt-On-Au Nanoparticles, Zhenmeng Peng

Chemical, Biomolecular, and Corrosion Engineering Faculty Research

imetallic PtAu heteronanostructures have been synthesized from Pt-on-Au nanoparticles, which were made from platinum acetylacetonate and gold nanoparticles. Using the Pt-on-Au nanoparticles as precursors, Ptsurface rich PtAu bimetallic heteronanostructures can be produced through controlled thermal treatments, as confirmed by field emission high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and elemental mapping using a high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscope (HAADF-STEM). Oxidation of formic acid was used as a model reaction to demonstrate the effects of varying composition and surface structure on the catalytic performance of PtAu bimetallic nanostructures. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) showed that these carbon-supported PtAu heteronanostructures were much more active …


Application Of The Thermal Flash Technique For Low Thermal Diffusivity Micro/Nanofibers, Michael T. Demko, Zhenting Dai, Han Yan, William P. King, Miko Cakmak, Alexis R. Abramson Mar 2009

Application Of The Thermal Flash Technique For Low Thermal Diffusivity Micro/Nanofibers, Michael T. Demko, Zhenting Dai, Han Yan, William P. King, Miko Cakmak, Alexis R. Abramson

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

The thermal flash method was developed to characterize the thermal diffusivity of micro/nanofibers without concern for thermal contact resistance, which is commonly a barrier to accurate thermal measurement of these materials. Within a scanning electron microscope, a micromanipulator supplies instantaneous heating to the micro/nanofiber, and the resulting transient thermal response is detected at a microfabricated silicon sensor. These data are used to determine thermal diffusivity. Glass fibers of diameter 15 mu m had a measured diffusivity of 1.21x10(-7) m(2)/s; polyimide fibers of diameters 570 and 271 nm exhibited diffusivities of 5.97x10(-8) and 6.28x10(-8) m(2)/s, respectively, which compare favorably with bulk …


Theory And Computation Of Photopolymerization-Induced Phase Transition And Morphology Development In Blends Of Crystalline Polymer And Photoreactive Monomer, Pankaj Rathi, Thein Kyu Mar 2009

Theory And Computation Of Photopolymerization-Induced Phase Transition And Morphology Development In Blends Of Crystalline Polymer And Photoreactive Monomer, Pankaj Rathi, Thein Kyu

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

A hypothetical phase diagram of a crystalline polymer/photoreactive monomer mixture has been calculated on the basis of phase field (PF) free energy of crystal solidification in conjunction with Flory-Huggins (FH) free energy of liquid-liquid demixing to guide the morphology development during photopolymerization of poly(ethylene oxide)/triacrylate blend. The self-consistent solution of the combined PF-FH theory exhibits a crystalline-amorphous phase diagram showing the coexistence of solid+liquid gap bound by the liquidus and solidus lines, followed by an upper critical solution temperature at a lower temperature. When photopolymerization was triggered in the isotropic region, i.e., slightly above the crystal melting transition temperatures, the …


Shear Banding Or Not In Entangled Dna Solutions Depending On The Level Of Entanglement, Pouyan E. Boukany, Shi-Qing Wang Feb 2009

Shear Banding Or Not In Entangled Dna Solutions Depending On The Level Of Entanglement, Pouyan E. Boukany, Shi-Qing Wang

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Entangled DNA solutions are ideal as a model system to examine nonlinear shear flow behavior. Even when the number of entanglements per chain, Z, is higher than 100, the solution is still soft enough with an elastic plateau modulus under 100 Pa and is thus amenable to experimental study by commercial rotational rheometry without ambiguity and uncertainty. We have investigated nonlinear flow behavior of three entangled DNA solutions with Z=24, 60, and 156, respectively, using a combination of particle-tracking velocimetric (PTV) and conventional rheometric measurements. We explore questions such as (a) whether shear banding also occurs in moderately entangled solutions, …


Understanding Rubber Friction In The Presence Of Water Using Sum-Frequency Generation Spectroscopy, Kumar Nanjundiah, Ping Yuan Hsu, Ali Dhinojwala Jan 2009

Understanding Rubber Friction In The Presence Of Water Using Sum-Frequency Generation Spectroscopy, Kumar Nanjundiah, Ping Yuan Hsu, Ali Dhinojwala

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Infrared-visible sum-frequency-generation spectroscopy (SFG) was used to study the molecular structure of water between a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and a sapphire substrate. The observation of SFG peaks associated with the dangling surface hydroxyl groups (3690 cm(-1)) and water bands (3000-3400 cm(-1)) indicates that the contact spot between the PDMS lens and the sapphire substrate is heterogeneous. Within the contact spot there are regions where the methyl groups of the PDMS chains are in direct contact with the surface hydroxyl groups on the sapphire substrate. In the other regions, a thin water layer is trapped between the two surfaces with spectral features …


Particle Swarm Optimization Approach For Maximizing The Yield Of A Coal Preparation Plant, Vishal Gupta, Hussain Unjawala, Ajay Mohan Mahajan, Manoj Mohanty Jan 2009

Particle Swarm Optimization Approach For Maximizing The Yield Of A Coal Preparation Plant, Vishal Gupta, Hussain Unjawala, Ajay Mohan Mahajan, Manoj Mohanty

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

This paper presents the use of particle swarm optimization to maximize the clean coal yield of a coal preparation plant that typically has multiple cleaning circuits that produce the same product quality so that the blend of clean coal meets the targeted product quality contraints. Particle swarm is used for the yield optimization while satisfying multiple product quality restraints. The results show a 2.73% increase in the yield can be achieved leading to additional revenue of $5,460,000 per annum for a plant producing 10 million tons of clean coal per year without significantly adding to the implementation/operation cost.


Material Selection Of Z-Fibre In Stitched Composites - Experimental And Analytical Comparison Approach, Kwek Tze Tan, N. Watanabe, M. Sano, M. Takase, Y. Iwahori, H. Hoshi Jan 2009

Material Selection Of Z-Fibre In Stitched Composites - Experimental And Analytical Comparison Approach, Kwek Tze Tan, N. Watanabe, M. Sano, M. Takase, Y. Iwahori, H. Hoshi

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Strain energy release rates are measured and compared for laminated composites stitched with different fibre materials – Carbon, Kevlar and Vectran. DCB test and FE simulation are performed to evaluate the interlaminar toughness. It is proven that Vectran provides the toughest interlaminar reinforcement and is most suitable for Zfibre application.


Numerical Modeling Of The Constraint Effects On Cleavage Fracture Toughness, Sunil Prakash, Xiaosheng Gao, T. S. Srivatsan Jan 2009

Numerical Modeling Of The Constraint Effects On Cleavage Fracture Toughness, Sunil Prakash, Xiaosheng Gao, T. S. Srivatsan

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Cleavage fracture has been an important subject for engineers primarily because of its catastrophic nature and consequences. Experimental studies of cleavage fracture did reveal a considerable amount of scatter and provided evidence of noticeable constraint effects. This did provide the motivation for the development of statistical-based and micromechanics-based methods in order to both study and analyze the problem. The Weibull stress model, which is based on the weakest link statistics, uses two parameters (m and σ u) to effectively describe the inherent distribution of the micro-scale cracks once plastic deformation has occurred and to concurrently define the relationship between the …


Exploring The Transition From Wall Slip To Bulk Shearing Banding In Well-Entangled Dna Solutions, Shi-Qing Wang, Pouyan Boukany Jan 2009

Exploring The Transition From Wall Slip To Bulk Shearing Banding In Well-Entangled Dna Solutions, Shi-Qing Wang, Pouyan Boukany

Shi-Qing Wang

In this study we have carried out a combination of rheometric and particle-tracking velocimetric (PTV) measurements to investigate nonlinear rheological behavior of three entangled DNA solutions (with ca. 150 entanglements per chain) and, in particular, to explore a transformation from slip-dominated steady-state flow to bulk shear inhomogeneity. In the stress plateau regime, an elastic recoil-like response occurs transiently at either interfaces or sample interior after stress overshoot during a startup shear. In both startup shear and creep mode, wall slip, bulk shear banding or a combination of both have been observed in both transient and steady states. The water-based solution …