Effect of the particle size ratio on macro- and mesoscopic shear characteristics of the geogrid-reinforced rubber and sand mixture interface

As a new type of material for civil engineering projects, the rubber and sand mixture is widely used in roadbed fillers, offering environmental benefits over traditional tyre disposal methods. This study uses a large-scale direct shear apparatus to examine the interface shear properties of the geogrid-reinforced rubber and sand mixture, considering different particle size ratios (r), rubber contents, and normal stresses. Based on indoor tests, direct shear models of the mixture with different values of r are established in PFC^3D, revealing the meso-mechanical mechanism of the mixture in the direct shear process. The results show that when r is greater than 1, incorporating a certain amount of rubber particles can increase the shear strength of the mixture. The r values of 15.78, 7.63, and 3.98 correspond to an optimal rubber content of 30%, 10%, and 20%, respectively. When r is less than 1, mixing rubber particles can only reduce the shear strength of the mixture. When the rubber content is low, the smaller the value of r, the greater is the thickness of the shear band. Furthermore, the normal and tangential contact forces are greater. The fabric anisotropy evolution law of the mixture is consistent with the change in the contact force distribution.     

The lateral stiffness and damping of a stretched rubber beam

A theory is presented for the effect of axial strain on the stiffness and damping of a rubber strip clamped at its ends and deformed laterally. Experiments on such a system were carried out, varying the tensile strain and the sample dimensions. Both free and forced oscillations were used, the former giving more accurate results for the damping. The results were compared with the theoretical predictions with very good agreement. The work suggests that it may be possible to vary the damping of an engineering component by design of the shape and mode of application of the forces, rather than by variation of the rubber compound out of which it is made. This presents possible advantages with regard to overall performance of the component, for example, the temperature sensitivity. It also suggests a mechanism for possible artefacts in characterisation tests for elastic and loss moduli of the material.     

Material behavior of rubber sealing for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Reliable sealing is necessary for the stable operation of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). In practical application, various materials have been tried in PEMFC sealing. However, the mechanical properties of these sealing materials, which play a key role in the sealing stability, have not been fully understood in PEMFC environment, especially after long-term operation. In this paper, according to the operating environment of PEMFC, sealing material experiments are carried out to explore the differences in mechanical behaviors of sealing materials, including silicone rubber (SR), fluororubber (FR), nitrile rubber (NBR) and ethylene-propylene-diene-terpolymer rubber (EPDM) and the variation of mechanical properties of these sealing materials is predicted as time goes on. The results indicate that compression rate has a great influence on sealing contact stress. SR and EPDM, with the variation of 0.15 MPa and 0.45 MPa in stress, show the best and worst mechanical stability at different compression rates, respectively. In terms of temperature, it is found that SR can adapt to different operating temperature of PEMFC and only 18% variation is found from 20 °C to 100 °C. Finally, based on Time-Temperature Superposition (TTS), high temperature experiments are conducted to predict long-term relaxation stress under PEMFC working condition. The analysis results are beneficial for choosing suitable sealing material, and it can also be applied to predict sealing ability in PEMFC.     

AEM对EVA电缆材料性能影响的研究

应用乙烯-丙烯酸酯橡胶(AEM)与乙烯-醋酸乙烯酯共聚物(EVA)、氢氧化镁(MH)、氢氧化铝(ATH)以及沉淀法白炭黑(SiO2)进行熔融共混复合,制备出系列EVA基电缆材料。应用扫描电镜(SEM)、差示扫描量热仪(DSC)、万能试验机和极限氧指数测试仪对EVA材料的结构和性能进行表征和测试。研究结果表明,AEM明显提高了EVA电缆材料的耐油性能,当AEM含量为3. 0%时,电缆材料综合性能优良,其LOI达到39. 3%,拉伸强度和断裂伸长率分别为11. 6 MPa和142%。     

硅灰石与纳米MoS2对丙烯酸酯橡胶摩擦磨损性能的影响

采用无转子硫化仪、环-块式摩擦试验机、电子和光学显微镜等分析表征手段,考察了硅灰石及其与纳米二硫化钼(MoS2)并用对丙烯酸酯橡胶(ACM)摩擦磨损性能的影响。结果表明,随着硅灰石用量的增加,改性ACM硫化胶的摩擦因数逐渐降低,而磨损体积呈现出先降低后升高的趋势;当硅灰石用量为35 phr时,硫化胶具有较小的摩擦因数和最好的耐磨性。在35 phr硅灰石改性ACM基础上添加1 phr纳米MoS2时,硫化胶的摩擦因数和磨损体积分别下降到0.4和1.54 mm3,表现出最低的摩擦因数和磨损体积,同时还保持较好的硫化和力学性能。纳米MoS2与硅灰石并用改性ACM时,硫化胶表现出轻微的磨粒磨损特征,磨损面平整光滑,形成的转移膜薄且完整均匀。     

改性石墨烯对天然橡胶/丁腈橡胶复合材料热性能的影响

采用超声辅助超临界CO2方法制备石墨烯,经3-氨丙基三乙氧基硅烷(APTES)改性后,采用"预混合"的方法,得到硬脂酸/石墨烯母料。通过机械共混法制备天然橡胶(NR)/改性石墨烯(GNs)与丁腈橡胶(NBR)/GNs复合材料。通过分析复合材料的导热性能、热管理性能和压缩生热性能的变化情况,验证石墨烯的性能与硬脂酸/石墨烯"预混合"对石墨烯分散的影响。结果表明,添加3份GNs时,NRC-3、NBRC-3的导热性能分别提升了108%和194%,压缩温升降低了8. 9℃和9. 9℃。该方法制备的石墨烯导热性能优秀,硬脂酸/石墨烯的"预混合"有效改善了石墨烯在聚合物中的分散性。     

基于TRIZ的真空注型机改进设计

应用发明问题解决理论(TRIZ理论)的物质-场模型及冲突矩阵方法,分析制模硅胶脱气和树脂真空注型工艺过程,提出真空注型机关键工艺功能改进设计方案;开发了硅胶脱气自动除泡装置和真空注型多工位浇注系统。样机验证结果表明,改进设计的真空注型机功能设计合理有效,劳动强度明显降低,工作效率显著提高。     

Mechanical properties,corrosion resistance,and rubber pad forming of cold differential speed-rolled pure titanium for bipolar plates of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells

Due to problems such as pores on surface-treated coatings, the corrosion resistance of pure titanium bipolar plates for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells can be further improved by increasing the corrosion resistance of pure titanium by using differential speed-rolling (DSR); however, these materials have not yet reached the standard requirements of bipolar plates (corrosion current density i_corr＜10³ nA·cm^?2). In this work, the corrosion resistance of pure titanium was improved by optimizing the DSR process while the strength was maintained. The best corrosion resistance of the DSR pure titanium was achieved when the roller speed ratio was 2, while i_corr was 429 nA·cm^?2 in a solution of 0.5 M H₂SO₄ and 2 mg/L HF at room temperature. The formability of the DSR pure titanium for bipolar plates was verified. The optimal holding pressure range was 6.8–7.0 kN.     

Robust model for optimization of forming process for metallic bipolar plates of cleaner energy production system

Energy production systems such as proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has a promising future in the cleaner energy market due to zero emissions. Rubber pad forming (RPF) process of metallic bipolar plates of PEMFCs is gaining attention among the researchers. Studies based on design of experiments have been conducted to find the crucial parameters of the forming process. These methods are based on the assumptions of the model structure, correlated residuals, etc., which can cause uncertainty in estimation ability of the model on unseen data. Therefore, the present study focuses on the design of robust models of these parameters for PEMFCs using an optimization approach of genetic programming (GP). The inputs from the experiments considered in GP are radius, the friction coefficient, the filling factor and the minimum thickness. Experiments on PEMFCs validates the performance of the GP models. Further, the relationships between the two inputs and the three outputs for PEMFCs are generated as well as the contributions of each input to each of the output. Optimization of the models generated by GP can further determine the forming quality of metallic bipolar plates of PEMFCs by an appropriate setting of the two inputs.