Recoverable shear strain of liquid crystal‐forming concentrated hydroxypropyl cellulose solutions

The recoverable shear strain (S_R) for the liquid crystal‐forming hydroxypropyl cellulose solutions was determined by means of a concentric cylinder rotational apparatus as functions of shear stress prior to recovery and concentration of the solutions at 30°C. S_R greatly depended on shear stress and concentration; the phase of the solution (the single phase or biphase) governed the dependences of S_R on stress and concentration. S_R increased with increasing stress for the single phase and decreased for the biphase. S_R seemed to be related to the die swell (B): S_R ∝ Bⁿ. S_R exhibited a maximum and a minimum with respect to concentration. S_R for the cellulosic cholesteric liquid crystalline solutions was greater than that for the isotropic solutions. A model was proposed for explaining the greater S_R. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 865–872, 2002     

Relationship between molecular structure and zero‐shear viscosity of polymers

The relationship between molecular structure and zero‐shear viscosity of polymers was studied. In this study we propose a new equation, which is based on Berry and Fox's equation. This new equation is constructed from some molecular parameters, such as mean square length and average molecular weight of statistical skeletal unit, characteristic ratio, entanglement molecular weight, glass‐transition temperature, free volume fraction at glass‐transition temperature, and thermal expansion coefficient of free volume. It is proposed that some of these molecular parameters could be predicted by group contribution methods, except for the free volume parameters. We also propose new empirical relations between free volume parameters and molecular structures of polymers, which make it possible for free volume parameters to be obtained from molecular structure. Using these relationships, it is possible that the zero‐shear viscosity and its temperature dependence are obtainable from the molecular structure of polymers. We applied this formula to some polymers, including both amorphous and semicrystalline polymers. Comparison between the measured and calculated zero‐shear viscosity showed quite good agreement. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 80: 1609–1618, 2001     

Viscosity and shear strength of natural‐rubber‐based adhesives in the presence of gum rosin and petroresin

The viscosity and shear strength of pressure‐sensitive adhesives based on natural rubber (standard Malaysian rubber grade L) were studied with gum rosin and petroresin as the tackifying resins. Effects of the concentration of the tackifying resin and the molecular weight of rubber on the two properties were systematically investigated. Toluene was used as the solvent throughout the study to prepare the adhesives. The viscosity and shear strength of the adhesives were determined with a rotary viscometer and a texture analyzer, respectively. For the shear test, a hand coater was used to coat the adhesives on the release paper substrate to provide coating thicknesses of 60 and 120 μm. The results indicated that the viscosity increased with the resin loading and molecular weight of rubber increasing. The viscosity of the adhesive prepared from petroresin had a higher value than that of the gum‐rosin‐based adhesive. The shear strength of the adhesives decreased gradually with increasing resin content for both tackifying resins and coating thicknesses, and this observation was attributed to the decrease in the cohesive strength due to the dilution effect of the resins. However, the shear strength passed through a maximum at a molecular weight of rubber of 8.5 × 10⁴ for both resins. The gum‐rosin‐based adhesive consistently showed higher shear strength than that of the petroresin/natural rubber adhesive because of the better cohesiveness and compatibility of the former system. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Effect of steady shear on the microstructural evolution of melt‐intercalated polymer/clay nanocomposites

A sheet sample composed of poly(butylene terephthalate) and clay prepared by solid‐state compression was melt‐annealed in a rheometer under steady shear flow to investigate the whole hybridization process. The results of the offline morphology and thermogravimetric analysis as well as Fourier transform infrared characterization show that shear flow can reduce the dynamic process of hybridization, facilitating the formation of an intercalated nanoscale structure. With an increase in the shear intensity, the detachment level of clay increases more remarkably than the swollen degree. However, an increase in the shear intensity does not induce an exfoliated structure but can decrease the average thickness of the clay tactoids, leading to a remarkable enhancement in the thermal stability due to the increase in the effective filling volume of the clay. Furthermore, those intercalated nanocomposites annealed at a high shear rate still present a distinct hierarchical structure, which suggests that steady shear is not as good as dynamic or complex shear for promoting hybridization effectively. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Enhancement of recombinant β‐D‐glucuronidase production under low‐shear modeled microgravity in Pichia pastoris

BACKGROUND: The effects of low‐shear modeled microgravity (LSMMG) on the production of recombinant proteins in a eukaryotic expression host have been investigated. The gene (GenBank Accession No.EU095019) derived from Penicillium purpurogenum Stoll (CGMCC 3. 3708) encoding β‐D ‐glucuronidase (EC 3.2.1.31, PGUS) was expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115. The behavior of P. pastoris growth and recombinant PGUS production during the methanol induction stage were examined in a high‐aspect ratio vessel (HARV) that could model the microgravity environment. RESULTS: The recombinant P. pastoris showed better growth under LSMMG than normal gravity (NG) during the methanol induction phase. It was also found that the efficiencies of PGUS production were enhanced 1.51 to 2.21‐fold under LSMMG compared with NG control at four different rotary speeds (P < 0.05), and 15 rpm was found to be the optimal for PGUS expression. Furthermore, the efficiency of PGUS secretion was also enhanced under LSMMG (all values above 30%). CONCLUSIONS: The LSMMG environment significantly enhances production and secretion of the recombinant PGUS expressed in P. pastoris GS115. Results suggest that simulated microgravity techniques could be used for the efficient production of recombinant proteins by microbial hosts. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Energy‐based predictive criterion for LCP fibrillation in LCP/thermoplastic polymer blends under shear

This article relates the fibrillation of liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) under shear in its blend with a thermoplastic polymer (TP) to the relative rate of energy utilization in the LCP and TP phases. The development of a criterion based on the energy relationship for predicting LCP fibrillation in the blend is discussed. The formation of LCP fibers in the blends of LCP with polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), high‐density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), and silica‐filled polypropylene (PP) was studied to validate the criterion and to demonstrate its applicability. For all the blends, viscosity data were obtained by using a capillary rheometer, which was subsequently used to estimate the rate of energy utilization in the LCP and the matrix phases. The predictions based on the proposed criterion were verified through the morphological investigations carried out on the extrudates obtained from the same capillary experiments. The energy‐based criterion was easy to implement, could account for the effect of variable LCP concentration and fillers in the blend, and could provide reliable predictions for a variety of LCP/TP blends. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 3314–3324, 2003     

Effect of silica on viscosity,tack, and shear strength of epoxidized natural rubber‐based pressure‐sensitive adhesives in the presence of coumarone‐indene resin

The viscosity, loop tack, and shear strength of silica‐filled epoxidized natural rubber (ENR 25 and ENR 50 grade) adhesive were investigated using coumarone‐indene as the tackifying resin. Silica loading was varied from 10–50 parts per hundred parts of rubber (phr), whereas the coumarone‐indene concentration was fixed at 40 phr. Toluene was used as the solvent throughout the study. Polyethylene terephthalate substrate was coated at various adhesive coating thicknesses, i.e., 30, 60, 90, and 120 μm using a SHEEN Hand Coater. Viscosity of the adhesive was determined by a HAAKE Rotary Viscometer whereas loop tack and shear strength were measured by a Llyod Adhesion Tester operating at 30 cm/min. Result shows that viscosity of the adhesive increases gradually with increase of silica loading due to the concentration effect of the filler. Both loop tack and shear strength show maximum value at 40 phr silica for ENR 25. However, the respective values for ENR 50 are 20 and 40 phr of filler. This observation is attributed to the maximum wettability and compatibility of adhesive on the substrate at the respective silica loadings. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Short‐beam three‐point bend tests in syntactic foams. Part II: Effect of microballoons content on shear strength

Epoxy binders containing microballoons ranging from 38.5 to 57.7% by volume were cast in a mold and cured, and the resulting slabs were sectioned to yield short‐beam test coupons. The strength changes with microballoons content were noted. These reveal an increase from 3.87 to 5.79 MPa for a decrease in microballoons content from 57.7 to 38.5%. Mechanical data were correlated with fractographic features employing scanning electron microscope. The failure features involving the microballoons and interface regions are highlighted in this article. The works show the existence of a dependence of strength parameters on the inter‐microballoon distances. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 680–686, 2005     

Effect of scale‐up on wall shear rates in circulating bubble columns

Effective wall shear rates were investigated experimentally in an external loop circulating bubble column made from transparent acrylic resin. The riser (D_R) and downcomer (D_D) diameters were 0.19 m and 0.14 m, respectively. The column working volume (V_R) was 170 dm³, with a scale‐up factor (A_D/A_R) of 0.54, and a dispersion height (H_D) of 2.25 m. Polymer solutions of xanthan gum and carboxymethyl cellulose were used to simulate non‐Newtonian behavior of biological systems. Effective wall shear rates for the non‐Newtonian solutions were found by analogy with Newtonian glycerol solutions, employing downcomer liquid velocity as the measurable and comparable parameter. The experimental shear rate results were found to fit between those of the literature data. A new single correlation taking into account all the relevant data in the literature and the results of this work is proposed. The new correlation is an improvement over the other correlations because it includes two important design constants: scale‐up factor and dispersion height. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Peel and shear strength of pressure‐sensitive adhesives prepared from epoxidized natural rubber

Peel and shear strength of two grades of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR 25 and ENR 50)‐based pressure‐sensitive adhesive was studied. Coumarone‐indene resin was used as the tackifier, whereas toluene was chosen as the solvent throughout the experiment. The tackifier loading was varied from 0 to 80 parts per hundred parts of rubber (phr). A SHEEN hand coater was used to coat the adhesive on substrate to give a coating thickness of 30, 60, 90, and 120 μm. Peel strength and shear strength of the adhesive were determined by using a Lloyd adhesion tester and Texture analyzer, respectively. Results show that maximum peel strength occurs at 40 phr of coumarone‐indene resin for both ENRs studied an observation, which is attributed to the maximum wettability of the substrate. However, the shear strength shows a gradual decrease with increasing tackifier loading because of the decrease in cohesive strength of adhesive. ENR 25 consistently indicates higher peel strength and shear strength than ENR 50. Generally, peel and shear strength increases with coating thickness. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007.     

Power consumption characteristics of an in‐line silverson high shear mixer

In‐line rotor stator mixers differ from in‐tank versions because the flow is often controlled independently of the rotor speed. For in‐tank devices the turbulent power can be adequately described by single impeller type power number. For an in‐line rotor‐stator mixer it is found that the power transmitted by the rotor consists of a power term and a flow term. The constants in this expression are normally obtained from a multilinear regression of a large matrix of experiments. Two simplified methods of obtaining these constants from limited data sets by (1) torque measurement and (2) by heat balance are described herein. These are used to determine the constants for a Silverson 150/250 MS inline mixer with different rotor stator arrangements from the laminar to turbulent regimes. The power and Metzner‐Otto constants determined are shown to be in good agreement to data for a larger matrix of experimental data. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 1683–1692, 2012     

Combined effect of shear and nucleating agent on the multilayered structure of injection‐molded bar of isotactic polypropylene

Molten polymers are usually exposed to varying levels of shear flow and temperature gradient in most processing operations. Many studies have revealed that the crystallization and morphology are significantly affected under shear. A so‐called “skin‐core” structure is usually formed in injection‐molded semicrystalline polymers such as isotactic polypropylene (iPP) or polyethylene (PE). In addition, the presence of nucleating agent has great effect on the multilayered structure formed during injection molding. To further understand the morphological development in injection‐molded products with nucleating agent, iPP with and without dibenzylidene sorbitol (DBS) were molded via both dynamic packing injection molding (DPIM) and conventional injection molding. The structure of these injection‐molded bars was investigated layer by layer via SEM, DSC, and 2 days‐WAXD. The results indicated that the addition of DBS had similar effect on the crystal size and its distribution as shear, although the later decreased the crystal size more obviously. The combination of shear and DBS lead to the formation of smaller spherulites with more uniform size distribution in the injection‐molded bars of iPP. A high value of c‐axis orientation degree in the whole range from the skin to the area near the core center was obtained in the samples molded via DPIM with or without DBS, while in samples obtained via conventional injection molding, the orientation degree decreased gradually from the skin to the core and the decreasing trend became more obvious as the concentration of DBS increased. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

New insights in dispersion mechanisms of carbon black in a polymer matrix under shear by rheo‐optics

The dispersion behavior of different carbon black grades was investigated in a common elastomer matrix under shear using a transparent plate‐and‐plate counter‐rotating shear cell coupled with an optical microscope. The objective was to investigate the effect of carbon black intrinsic characteristics (specific area and structure) on dispersion mechanisms. Shear conditions were selected to study independently erosion and rupture mechanisms. The independent study of rupture and erosion mechanisms brings new findings on the respective effect of the filler intrinsic characteristics on each mechanism: (a) Rupture is a sudden mechanism occurring above a critical shear stress, which depends on the pellet size. The rupture criterion appears not to depend on the carbon black specific area or the structure. (b) Erosion proceeds via the detachment of a fixed eroded volume per strain unit and is driven by the applied shear stress and strain. Erosion is a local mechanism. The erosion rate depends on the carbon black characteristics. Faster erosion was measured for a carbon black with a higher structure at equivalent specific area or with a lower specific area at equivalent structure. This in situ characterization of dispersion mechanisms highlights that the effect of the carbon black characteristics on the two main dispersion mechanisms (rupture and erosion) is completely different. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Studies on blends of high‐density polyethylene and polypropylene produced by oscillating shear stress field

Tensile strength and morphology of blends of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) obtained by oscillating packing injection molding were investigated via Universal Testing Machine, DSC, and SAXS. Tensile strength is greatly enhanced from 24.5 MPa to more than 90 MPa for pure HDPE and for blends with PP content less than 10 wt %. There exists a sharp decrease of tensile strength when PP content is more than 10 wt %. The shear‐induced morphologies with core in the center, oriented zone surrounding the core and skin layer are observed in the cross‐section areas of the samples. Interestingly, a sharp decrease of oriented zone is seen when PP content is more than 10 wt %, associated with the sharp decrease of tensile strength. DSC result shows double melting peaks with a high‐temperature melting peak that is not present in the endotherm obtained from the central core and obtained from the samples by static packing injection molding, which indicates the existence of shish‐kebab structure in the oriented zone. However, there is no difference of crystallinity between the samples by oscillating and by static packing injection molding. SAXS was used to analyze the complicated morphologies induced by shear stress, and results show that the crystal thickness could be greatly increased under shear stress. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 58–63, 2002     

基于抗剪机构和破坏模式的RC剪力墙极限承载力分析

以建立基于抗剪机构和破坏模式的钢筋混凝土(RC)剪力墙极限承载力的分析模型为目的,根据RC剪力墙破坏模式,剪力墙的抗剪机构可简化成倾角为θ的混凝土压杆、纵向及横向分布钢筋3部分。基于该抗剪机构,推导了RC剪力墙的极限承载力的计算公式,并编制了计算程序,对15片不同配筋、不同几何尺寸和受力状态的RC剪力墙进行了承载力分析,理论计算结果和试验结果吻合较好,该分析模型能够较好地反映RC剪力墙的极限承载力特性,可供RC剪力墙抗剪强度验算参考。     

Process intensification of gas–liquid downflow and upflow packed beds by a new low‐shear rotating reactor concept

In the present work, a new low‐shear rotating reactor concept was introduced for process intensification of heterogeneous catalytic reactions in cocurrent gas–liquid downflow and upflow packed‐bed reactors. To properly assess potential advantages of this new reactor concept, exhaustive hydrodynamic experiments were carried out using embedded low‐intrusive wire mesh sensors. The effect of the rotational velocity on liquid flow patterns in the bed cross‐section, liquid saturation, pressure drop, and regime transition was investigated. Furthermore, liquid residence time and Péclet number estimated by a stimulus‐response technique and a macro‐mixing model were presented and discussed with respect to the prevailing flow patterns. The results revealed that the column rotation induces different flow patterns in the cross‐section of the packed bed operating in a concurrent downflow or upflow mode. Moreover, the new reactor concept exhibits a more flexible adjustment of pressure drop, liquid saturation, liquid residence time, and back‐mixing at constant flow rates. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 283–294, 2017     

Shear creep resistance of styrene–isoprene–styrene (SIS)‐based hot‐melt pressure‐sensitive adhesives

The effects of the properties of substrates and tackifier on the shear creep of SIS‐based HMPSAs were investigated. The holding power (t_b) and shear adhesion failure temperature (SAFT) were measured. The relationship between the complex viscosity and the holding power was examined. The holding power and SAFT values of the triblock SIS blends were higher than those of the diblock‐containing SIS blends, perhaps because blends using triblock SIS have higher crossover temperature and complex viscosity than those using diblock‐containing SIS. Higher levels of aromatic resin‐modified aliphatic tackifier and rosin ester were found to decrease the holding power of the HMPSAs. This maybe due to the fact that rosin ester and aromatic‐modified aliphatic resin are compatible with both the ends and midblocks of SIS. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 825–831, 2006