Structural Materials Commons^™

Seeing Red: Characterizing Historic Bricks At Sylvester Manor, Long Island, Ny 1652-1735, Martin John Schmidheiny

Graduate Masters Theses

The goal of this project is to develop a basic material characterization of the bricks excavated at the site of Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island, New York. In the early Manor period of 1650-1690, this early Northern provisioning plantation supplied Barbadian sugar operations and pursued mercantile interests independent of state control. Accounting for the range of production defects and material characteristics of the bricks suggests on-site or local manufacture as a regional ceramic industry developed. Qualitative visual analysis and petrographic thin-sections were used to characterize the internal composition, variation and production evidence in the bricks. Interpreting the results of this …

Early-Age Hydration Studies Of Portland Cement, Fengjuan Liu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Our current knowledge on cement hydration during setting is based on the discrete observation of hydrated paste. An advanced micro/nano-level technique which can perform the in-situ observation on the continuous hydration of cement paste is demanded. In this study, Raman spectroscopy (RS) was chosen as such a method to continuously investigate wet pastes. The objective of this research is to explore the hydration process and microstructural development of fresh pastes with this technique. This research was conducted in three phases. First, the RS analysis was used to continuously observe the cement hydration from 20 minutes after mixing to 9 hours. …

Development Of Micro-Hall Devices For Current Sensing, Thomas White

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this work, micro-Hall devices were developed for the purpose of sensing current within a high temperature and high power environment. GaAs HEMT, InGaAs pHEMT, and GaN HEMT structures were studied. These structures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Processing techniques including photolithography, metallization, Si deposition, wet etching, and dry etching were studied. Electrical characterization measurements including low frequency noise, Hall effect, sensitivity, capacitance-voltage, and current-voltage were performed.

Electron mobility and sheet carrier density studies were performed for both the InGaAs pHEMT and GaAs HEMT structures. Results indicated the InGaAs pHEMT was superior and thus fabricated as the micro-Hall device. …

Atom-Based Geometrical Fingerprinting Of Conformal Two-Dimensional Materials, Mehrshad Mehboudi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The shape of two-dimensional materials plays a significant role on their chemical and physical properties. Two-dimensional materials are basic meshes that are formed by mesh points (vertices) given by atomic positions, and connecting lines (edges) between points given by chemical bonds. Therefore the study of local shape and geometry of two-dimensional materials is a fundamental prerequisite to investigate physical and chemical properties. Hereby the use of discrete geometry to discuss the shape of two-dimensional materials is initiated.

The local geometry of a surface embodied in 3D space is determined using four invariant numbers from the metric and curvature tensors which …

The Development Of A Laminated Copolyester Electric Guitar, Addison S. Karnes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an investigation of the fabrication and assembly methodologies employed in the development of a proof-of-principle prototype electric guitar composed of laminated copolyester. The objective of the project was to develop the processes and procedures to create an optimized physical and visual bond between layers to minimize vibratory dissipation, thus maximizing sustain. A high speed CNC router, abrasive waterjet, laser engraver-cutter, as well as various manual fabrication and assembly methods were investigated in the construction of the guitar prototypes. The lamination processes explored include low-temperature, heat-assisted pressure bonding, solvent and chemical welding, and contact adhesives. The project concluded …

High Strength Steel Fiber Reinforced Flow-Able Or Scc Concrete With Variable Fiber By Volume Fractions For Thin Plate And Shell Structures, Abebe Berhe

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to incorporate discrete, short, mechanically deformed, small diameter steel fibers into high strength concrete with f'c > 70 MPa (10 ksi) in an attempt to reduce and partially eliminate the need for steel rebar in concrete construction. By introducing steel fibers to high strength concrete mixture, the overall tensile, compressive and shear strength of the mixture can be improved immensely thus, replacing portions or major parts of the longitudinal, temperature and shrinkage reinforcements. The reduction or elimination of longitudinal and transverse reinforcements in the construction of structural or non-structural members can result in savings in …

Fiber Length And Orientation In Long Carbon Fiber Thermoplastic Composites, Imad Hanhan, Connor Sullivan, Bhisham Sharma, Michael Sangid

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Carbon fiber composites have become popular in aerospace applications because of their lightweight yet strong material properties. The injection molding process can be used to produce discontinuous fiber composites using less time and resources than traditional methods, thereby broadening carbon fiber composites’ applications in different industries. Utilization of longer fibers offers more load carrying capability and superior strength properties for injected molded composites. Since the fiber length and the orientation distribution in Long Fiber Thermoplastics (LFTs) directly affects LFT composites’ material properties, there is a need to study the microstructure of LFTs and characterize fiber length and orientation distributions. Therefore, …

Finite Element Analysis Of Bolted Connections Under Fire, Ke Liu, Qiaqia Zhu, Amit H. Varma

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Over the course of human history, fire disasters are one of the major catastrophes that causes loss of lives and properties. In order to ensure building safety against fire, civil engineers seek to understand the behavior of structures at high temperatures. Moreover, they need to study the behavior of bolted connections, given the important role it plays in steel structures. Sarraj (2007) proposed a plate-bearing computational model used to describe this behavior; however, it has never been experimentally verified. Prior to this specific project, a series of single-bolted connection tests at 400°C and 600°C were conducted in the Bowen Laboratory …

Molecular Exploration Tool, Weiyi Cao, Nicolas Onofrio, Alejandro Strachan

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Density Functional Theory (DFT) which is based on quantum mechanics theory has been broadly used to compute the energy and the structure of molecules and solids. However, the DFT method is limited when running calculations for a large system and only thousands of atoms can be solved. Alternatively, Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation can be used to investigate the properties of the atomic system for large systems in the classical mechanics approximation. When running the MD simulation, the electronic structure is approximated by Force Fields (FF) which can be parametrized against DFT calculations. Nevertheless, the accuracy of the MD results and …

Bio-Inspired Helicoidal Composites: 3d Printing And Experiments, Michael E. Jones, Pablo Zavattieri, Nobphadon Suksangpanya

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Materials that are impact resistant enough for personal protection in sports, transport, and combat are not also lightweight, strong, tough, and impact tolerant. Nature can provide inspiration for novel materials that can meet these needs. The hierarchical composite of the stomatopod’s, or mantis shrimp’s, dactyl club has been shown to have high impact resistance and damage tolerance due to its helicoidal fiber reinforcement(1,2). Analyzing helicoidal composites of different pitch angles (angles between adjacent rows of fibers) under quasi-static, displacement-controlled loading has provided insights into the fracture mechanisms of the composite structure and how they affect the macroscopic properties of the …

He+ Ion Irradiation On Tungsten Surface In Extreme Conditions, George I. Joseph, Jitendra Tripathi, Sivanandan S. Harilal, Ahmed Hassanein

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Higher melting point (3695K), lower sputtering yield and most importantly, lower in-bulk, and co-deposit retention at elevated temperature makes tungsten (W) as a potential candidate for plasma-facing component (PFC) in the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER)-divertor. Helium ion (He⁺) bombardment on W can cause wide variety of microstructural evolution, such as dislocation loops, helium holes/bubbles and fibre-form nanostructures (Fuzz) etc. In this work, 100 eV He⁺ ion irradiation, at temperature ranges from 500°C to 1000°C, will be performed on mechanically polished mirror like W surfaces. The surface modification and compositional analysis, due to ion irradiation, will be …

Microstructure Development Of Granular System During Compaction, Chen Shang, Marcial Gonzalez

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Granular materials is the second most manipulated material in the industry today. They are easy to transport and more and more newly developed materials cannot stand the process of traditional casting, like energetic materials and bio-materials, but will survive the powder compaction process. Having a better understanding of the microstructure development of granular systems during compaction process, especially for particles that will heavily deform under loading, will give an insight of how to better process the powders to produce materials with overall better performance comparing to bulk materials. The main theory and mechanism applied are Hertz law and nonlocal contact …

Crack Propagation Simulation Tool, Nilofer Rajpurkar, Hojin Kim, Alejandro Strachan

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

In the massively engineered world that exists today, understanding material behavior is of paramount importance in caring for human safety in design. Molecular dynamic simulations on crack propagation through materials allow visualization of material behavior under stress. The tool, developed by the nanoHUB group as a part of the Network for Computational Nanotechnology at Purdue University, makes performing such simulations accessible to undergraduate students, highly qualified researchers, and all those in between. First, the input deck for the simulation parameters was simplified from the complex, language-specific code into a simple, user-friendly Graphic User Interface (GUI). Several interesting example cases were …

Dynamic Response Of Textile Material Under Transverse Impact, Yuchen Zheng, Matthew C. Hudspeth, Weinong W. Chen

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Textile materials, such as Dyneema and Kevlar, are the major raw materials for state of the art military or personal security armor vests. However, in impact experiments, actual observed penetration speed is much lower than theoretically predicted penetration speed. Each armor vest is composed of high performance yarns which are woven together to form fabrics, which when stacked together form a vest. Understanding penetration behavior of yarns is essential to evaluate the performance of fabric, which will be useful for the design of better vests. The project is composed of three parts: static experiments, dynamic yarn experiments and dynamic fabric …

Synthesis And Thermoelectric Properties Of Cusbs2, Tianyue Gao, Haiyu Fang, Yue Wu

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Copper antimony sulfide, CuSbS2 nanoparticles have a large potential of being a good thermoelectric material because they are made up of earth abundant elements. Thermoelectric materials can convert thermal energy into electricity, so that the wasted energy can be saved. Also, by using this earth abundant material, we can make thermoelectric materials much cheaper. The hypothesis of this study is that CuSbS2 could have a large Seebeck coefficient, one of the most important factors of thermoelectric materials, because of the complexity of its band structure. The other hypothesis is that thermal transport could be significantly suppressed through nanostructuring. There are …

Durability Of Silane Sealer In A Highly Alkaline Environment, Cameron David Murray

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a chemical reaction between siliceous minerals present in certain aggregates and alkalis in the concrete pore solution. The reaction can lead to expansion and severe damage in concrete members. One method to mitigate ASR expansion is to use a penetrating sealer such as silane. A set of columns located in a food preparation facility was treated with silane and a complimentary laboratory study was performed. A cleaning regimen involving application of an alkaline cleaner is employed at the facility, followed by rinsing with hot, pressurized water. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness …

Finite Volume Numerical Analysis Of The Thermal Property Of Cellular Concrete Based On Two And Three Dimensional X-Ray Computerized Tomography Images, She Wei, Yang Yonggan, Xie Deqing, Zhang Yunsheng

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

Cellular concrete is one kind of lightweight concrete, which are widely used in thermal insulation engineering project. In this study, a three dimensional (2D and 3D) finite-volume-based models was developed for analyzing the heat transfer mechanisms through the porous structures of cellular concretes under steady-state heat transfer condition and also for investigating the differences between 2D and 3D modeling results. 2D and 3D reconstructed pore networks were generated from the microstructural information measured by a 3D image captured by X-ray computerized tomography (X-CT). In addition, the 3D-computed value of the effective thermal conductivity was found to be in better agreement …

Influence Of Controlled Permeability Formwork On The Permeability Of Concrete, Wei Lin, Q. Jiang, J. Liu, J. Liu

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

Corrosion of steel reinforcement related to the intrusion of chloride ion is still the main threats to the durability of concrete structure, especially in marine environment. For the purpose of delaying the Cl⁻ concentration at the surface of steel reinforcement reaching the critical value leading to initial corrosion, the permeability of concrete is usually improved by optimizing the concrete mixture to achieve high compatibility as well as optimized pore structure. In recent years, controlled permeability formwork (CPF) which was originally developed to obtain much smoother surface of the concrete proves to promote the service performance of the concrete by …

The Correlation Of Chloride Diffusion Coefficient And Concrete Maturity Value And Its Application In Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge Engineering, Pengping Li, Shengnian Wang, Jianbo Xiong, Rui Chai, Yu Yan

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

The correlation of chloride diffusion coefficient and concrete maturity value within 56 days of curing was investigated by the chemically combined water content method, rapid chloride migration (RCM) test, and concrete maturity test. The experimental results showed that chloride diffusion coefficient of concretes decreased not only with increasing curing ages but also with increasing curing temperature, which can promote the hydration degree of cementitous materials. There is a significant correlation between the chloride diffusion coefficient of indoor cured specimens and the concrete maturity value when expressed as a power function (R₂ = 0.976). In addition, the calculated values of …

Characterizing The Pore Structure Of Carbonated Natural Wollastonite, Chiara Villani, Robert Spragg, Raikhan Tokpatayeva, Jan Olek, W. Jason Weiss

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

This paper focuses on examining the pore structure of a cementitious paste made with a calcium silicate (wollastonite) that reacts with carbon dioxide and water to form a hardened solid. The pore structure of the hardened solid has been characterized using vapor sorption and desorption, low-temperature differential scanning calorimetry (LT-DSC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The total porosity was also measured using mass measurement in oven-dry and vacuum-saturated conditions. Evidence exists that support the hypothesis that the solid has two main pore sizes: large macropores (>10 nm) appear to form between the initial calcium silicate particles and small micropores …

Experimental Investigation Of Lateral Cyclic Behavior Of Wood-Based Screen-Grid Insulated Concrete Form Walls, John Stuart Garth

Dissertations and Theses

Insulated concrete forms (ICFs) are green building components that are primarily used for residential wall construction. Unlike most polystyrene based ICF variants, the Faswall ICFs used in these experiments were significantly denser because they were made from recycled wood particles and cement. The current design approach for structures constructed with this type of wall form only allows the designer to consider the contribution of the reinforced concrete cores. Previous research has shown that this approach may be conservative. This project experimentally evaluated the lateral structural response of these types of grid ICF walls under increasing amplitude of in-plane cyclic loading. …

High Cycle Rotating Bending Fatigue Of 6061-T6 Friction Stir Welded Extrusions, John Chang, Travis Miller

Materials Engineering

Fatigue testing was done on friction stir welded joints of 6061-T6 aluminum extrusions. Tests were run using a rotating bending fatigue machine at stresses from 111.5 to 138.7 MPa. Failures occurred on the order of 10⁵ to 10⁷ cycles, and an S-N curve was generated based off of the failure results. After the samples failed, the location of the failure and the number of cycles to failure were noted. Fatigue samples were designed in SolidWorks with a tapered 2 inch reduced section. The 2 inch reduced section will include the entire weld region as seen from the microhardness …

The Effect Of Clay, Cement And Fibers On The Strength And Durability Of Compressed Earth Blocks, Wyatt Adair Banker-Hix

Master's Theses

This Thesis examines the effect of soil characteristics, cement content and fibers on the strength and durability of compressed earth blocks (CEBs). This work expands on the available information regarding the constituent properties which affect the compressive and tensile strengths and durability of CEBs. Additionally, little research on the subject of synthetic fibers and their effect on strength and durability of CEBs is available and this work provides an initial study in this area.

To study the effects of fibers, as well as confirm the trends of previous research regarding the effects of clay and cement, 27 unique batches of …

Post-Fracture Capacity Of Railroad Flat Car Bridges, Teresa L. Washeleski

Purdue Road School

Railroad flatcars (RRFCs) are a convenient option to replace existing deteriorating bridge structures on low-volume roads. They are typically used as the bridge superstructure by placing two or more flatcars side-by-side to achieve the desired bridge width. Utilizing RRFCs as a bridge allows for rapid construction and greater cost savings compared to traditional practices. These benefits make them an attractive solution for rural communities in Indiana, as well as other states.

Uncertainty remains about the response under higher loads than could be easily achieved in the field and the level of redundancy of railroad flatcar bridges. Using RRFCs as bridges …

Post-Failure Capacity Of Built-Up Steel Members, Matthew H. Hebdon

Purdue Road School

Mechanically fastened built-up steel members have long been known to possess internal member redundancy and, as a result, multiple load paths which can be exploited to increase their functional life. Internal redundancy provides the ability to resist total member failure in the event of a fracture of an individual component. However, there is little experimental data in the literature regarding post-fracture capacity in terms of strength and subsequent fatigue life. The experimental study currently underway will provide needed information on parameters that affect the ability of built- up members to arrest a fracture as well as the available remaining fatigue …

Mechanical And Transport Properties Of Alkali-Activated Natural Pozzolans As Sustainable Binders, Brittany Radke

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

OPC production accounts for 5 to 7% of the global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, contributing to global warming. The desire to reduce CO₂ emissions and produce more durable concrete has given impetus to search for new binders. It is suggested that alkali-activated natural pozzolans have the potential for use as a sustainable replacement for OPC in concrete.

The current study presented herein evaluated fresh, mechanical, and transport properties of alkali-activated natural pozzolan mortars containing various concentrations of sodium hydroxide solutions as an alkaline activator. To this aim, alkali-activated natural pozzolan mortars were made with concentrations of sodium …

The Effect Of Surface Corrosion Damage On The Fatigue Life Of Extruded Aluminum Alloy 6061-T6, Matthew Weber

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Aluminum alloy 6061-T6 is a common engineering material used in aerospace, automotive, structural applications. Despite its wide use, little has been published about the effects of damage from surface corrosion on its fatigue life. An investigation was performed where 6061-T6 extrusions were exposed to a 3.5% NaCl solution at pH 2 for 2 days and 24 days. The length of time and pH were chosen in order to create distinct surface flaws. The effect of these flaws on the fatigue life was then investigated and analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Weibull statistics. It was determined that samples corroded …

Development Of Cementitious Materials For Adhesion Type Applications Comprising Calcium Sulfoaluminate (Csa) Cement And Latex Polymer, Joshua V. Brien

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

The objective of this research was to develop high performing polymer modified calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement materials for use in applications requiring superior adhesion characteristics. Little information is available describing interactions of CSA cement containing minor phase tri-calcium aluminate (C₃A) with commonly used admixtures. Given the scarcity of information, a basic approach for developing cementitious materials was followed. The basic approach consisted of four tasks: cement design, admixture design, polymer design and testing developed materials. The iterative, time consuming process is necessary for understanding the influence of specific constituent components on overall system behavior. Results from the cement …

Shape Memory Behavior Of Single And Polycrystalline Nickel Rich Nickel Titanium Alloys, Irfan Kaya

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

NiTi is the most commonly used shape memory alloy (SMA) and has been widely used for bio-medical, electrical and mechanical applications. Nickel rich NiTi shape memory alloys are coming into prominence due to their distinct superelasticity and shape memory properties as compared to near equi-atomic NiTi shape memory alloys. Besides, their lower density and higher work output than steels makes these alloys an excellent candidate for aerospace and automotive industry. Shape memory properties and phase transformation behavior of high Ni-rich Ni₅₄Ti₄₆ (at.%) polycrystals and Ni-rich Ni₅₁Ti₄₉ (at.%) single-crystals are determined. Their properties are sensitive …

Precipitation, Orientation And Composition Effects On The Shape Memory Properties Of High Strength Nitihfpd Alloys, Emre Acar

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

NiTiHf high temperature shape memory alloys are attractive due to their high operating temperatures (>100 ^oC) and acceptable transformation strain compared to NiTi. However, NiTiHf has limitations due to their lack of ductility and low strength, resulting in poor shape memory properties. In this study, Pd has been added to NiTiHf alloys in an attempt to improve their shape memory behavior. A combined approach of quaternary alloying and precipitation strengthening was used.

The characterization of a Ni_45.3Ti_29.7Hf₂₀Pd₅ (at. %) polycrystalline alloy was performed in compression after selected aging treatments. Transmission electron …