Engineering Commons^™

A Conductivity Testing System Coupled With A Tensile Testing Machine To Measure The Surface Properties Of Polymer Specimens, Nguyen T. Nguyen

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Polymers play an essential role in our everyday life due to their employment in a widespread range of applications. Polymers are used in industries such as space, biomedical, electronics, etc. in which their electrical and mechanical properties are major aspects which need to be investigated prior to implementation. When subjected to mechanical stimulations, polymers may exhibit changes in electrical conductivity which can vary locally within the specimens, especially in those of conducting polymers. In mechanical investigations a tensile testing machine is used to understand polymers’ strength, elasticity or other mechanical properties. In electrical analysis, using a four-point probe to examine …

Microstructure Selection Of Sm-Co-Al Alloys To Increase Magnetization, Brian Dick

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

An ever increasing demand for higher performing magnets drives the need for new and innovative methods to achieve this goal. Sm-Co rare earth permanent magnets have a unique eutectic microstructure that, through refinement, could become a two-phase magnet which would significantly increase their energy product. The eutectic structure of Sm₈Co₉₂ is comprised of αCo rods embedded within a Sm₂Co₁₇ matrix. If the rods are small enough to encourage exchange coupling and the matrix is smaller than the single domain limit, then an efficient two-phase magnet is created.

Refining the Co rods and matrix size …