Sound Absorption Performance and Mechanism of Aluminum Foams with Double Main Pore-Porous Cell Wall Structure

To enhance the sound absorption performance of open-cell aluminum foam, the double main pores-porous cell walls (DMP-PCW) aluminum foams via infiltration casting of preforms mixed with two sizes of NaCl particles are prepared. The pore structure, sound absorption performance, and mechanism of DMP-PCW aluminum foam are investigated. The pore structure consists of double-sized main pores similar to the NaCl particles and the cell wall pores formed by the connections between NaCl particles. It is found that the static flow resistivity of DMP-PCW aluminum foam reaches an optimum value of 28105 Pa.s m⁻² when the volume proportion of small main pores increases, the size of cell wall pores decreases, and the number of cell wall pores per unit main pore surface area (NPPA) increases. At 800–6300 Hz, the average absorption coefficient is 0.89. In addition, the Wilson model predicts the sound absorption properties of DMP-PCW aluminum foam. The predicted values agree well with the measured values. The finite-element acoustic simulations and dynamic viscous-thermal permeability calculations reveal that the improved sound absorption performance of DMP-PCW aluminum foam is correlated to the enhanced sound transmission caused by increased NPPA and increased viscous-thermal loss due to the double main pore structure.     

Low frequency damping properties of a NiMnTi shape memory alloy

The present study investigated the low frequency damping properties of a NiMnTi shape memory alloy (SMA) for the first time. The NiMnTi SMA had a high β?θ′ internal friction peak at approximately 125 °C and a low relaxation peak at approximately − 45 °C in the dynamic mechanical analysis cooling tan δ curve. The relaxation peak possessed an activation energy of 0.64 ± 0.03 eV and its damping capacity gradually decreased with the increase of thermal cycling. The NiMnTi SMA also had a good inherent internal friction with tan δ = 0.009 at approximately 140 °C and is a promising high damping alloy for high temperature applications.     

Synthesis of vanadium oxide nanofibers and tubes using polylactide fibers as template

A new method to produce vanadium oxide nanofibers with dimensions <140 nm and tubes is reported. Vanadium oxide was coated on polylactide fibers by a sol-gel method using a reaction mix of ammonium vanadate and acetic acid as starting materials and water as solvent. Vanadium oxide tubes, of about 1 μm in diameter, were formed when this coated fiber was heated in nitrogen and oxygen at 300 and 250 °C for 1 h. Hydrothermal treatment of the polylactide fibers with the reaction mix at 160 °C for 12 h followed by heating in oxygen at 300 °C for 1 h formed vanadium oxide nanofibers, 60-140 nm in width and several microns in length. Electrochemical studies reveal that these vanadium oxide nanofibers are redox active and readily undergo reversible reactions with lithium in non-aqueous cells.     

闭孔EVA泡沫类静态缓冲性能的研究

目的 研究密度与应变率对闭孔EVA泡沫材料类静态缓冲性能的影响规律。方法 基于包装用缓冲材料静态压缩试验法和能量吸收图法,对密度为80、95、106、124和180kg/m³的闭孔EVA泡沫试样在不同应变率下进行类静态压缩试验,得到应力-应变曲线,基于此进一步处理得到相应的单位体积能量吸收、能量吸收效率、缓冲系数和最大比吸能等曲线,同时绘制试样类静态压缩过程中的能量吸收图。结果 闭孔EVA泡沫材料的密度越高,密实化应变越小,最大单位体积能量吸收越大;在压缩应变相同时,应变率越大,应力、单位体积能量吸收、能量吸收效率、最大比吸能越大;得到了5种密度闭孔EVA泡沫材料的本构方程和闭孔EVA泡沫材料的能量吸收图及其斜率与应变率的关系式;通过分析密实化应变与相对密度的关系,得到相关拟合公式。结论 密度与应变率对闭孔EVA泡沫材料的缓冲性能有着非常大的影响,在一定的应力水平下会有一个最佳的密度使得刚好能吸收完能量,并保护产品不破损,该最佳密度受应变率的影响,因此可以通过能量吸收图进行相关的缓冲包装优化设计。     

Effect of core thickness on wave number and damping properties in sandwich composites

Due to their higher strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios compared to metals, fiber reinforced composite materials are a great alternative for use in many structural applications. However these properties lead to poor acoustic performance as composite materials are excellent noise radiators. This is particularly true for sandwich composite structures. Therefore the focus of this study is to investigate the effect of a core thickness change on the vibrational properties of Rohacell foam/carbon-fiber face sheet sandwich composite beams. Four different foam core thicknesses were explored, using a combination of experimental and analytical methods to characterize sound and vibrational properties of the sandwich beams. First, the wave number responses of the beams were obtained, from which coincidence frequencies were identified. Second, from the frequency response functions the structural damping loss factor, η, was determined using the half-power bandwidth method. Experimental and analytical results show that the relationship between core thickness and coincidence frequency is non-linear. A drastic increase in coincidence frequency was observed for the sandwich beam with the thinnest core thickness due to the low bending stiffness. Moreover this low bending stiffness results in low damping values, and consequently high wave number amplitude responses at low frequency ranges (<1000 Hz).     

Damping capacities and microstructures of magnesium matrix composites reinforced by graphite particles

Magnesium matrix composites reinforced by graphite particles were fabricated using stir casting with graphite particle size of 50 μm and graphite particle volume fractions of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%, respectively. A dynamic mechanical analyzer was used to measure the damping capacities of as-cast composites. The experimental results reveal that the graphite particles play an important role on the damping capacities of as-cast composites. The strain amplitude independent damping of as-cast composites increases significantly as the graphite particle volume fraction increases from 0% to 15%, but decreases when the volume fraction exceeds 15%. The damping values of as-cast composites rise slowly with increasing temperature from room temperature to 125 °C, and have no obvious change with increasing temperature from 125 °C to 250 °C, but rise rapidly with increasing temperature from 250 °C to 400 °C.     

Viscoelastic properties of hollow glass particle filled vinyl ester matrix syntactic foams: effect of temperature and loading frequency

Viscoelastic properties of hollow particle-reinforced composites called syntactic foams are studied using a dynamic mechanical analyzer. Glass hollow particles of three different wall thicknesses are incorporated in the volume fraction range of 0.3–0.6 in vinyl ester resin matrix to fabricate twelve compositions of syntactic foams. Storage modulus, loss modulus, and glass transition temperature are measured and related to the microstructural parameters of syntactic foams. In the first step, a temperature sweep from ?75 to 195 °C is applied at a fixed loading frequency of 1 Hz to obtain temperature dependent properties of syntactic foams. In the next step, selected four compositions of syntactic foams are studied for combined effect of temperature and loading frequency. A frequency sweep is applied in the range 1–100 Hz and the temperature is varied in the range 30–140 °C. Time–temperature superposition (TTS) principle is used to generate master curves for storage modulus over a wide frequency range. The room temperature loss modulus and maximum damping parameter, Tanδ, are found to have a linear relationship with the syntactic foam density. Increasing volume fraction of particles helps in improving the retention of storage modulus at high temperature in syntactic foams. Cole–Cole plot and William–Landel–Ferry equation are used to interpret the trends obtained from TTS. The correlations developed between the viscoelastic properties and material parameters help in tailoring the properties of syntactic foams as per requirements of an application.     

微结构对泡沫材料蠕变性能的影响

针对较低密度开孔泡沫的正四面体模型,通过引入支柱结点处的体积修正使新模型能够用于预测较大密度范围内的泡沫材料的蠕变性能,并且基于该修正模型,分析了斜支柱的弯曲变形机制以及剪切变形机制对蠕变应变率的影响。结果表明:当泡沫材料的相对密度较低时,支柱的弯曲变形机制决定了其蠕变速率;而当相对密度较高时,支柱的剪切变形作用机制开始主导其蠕变速率。通过与实验结果的比较验证了本文预测的有效性。      

Influence of press temperature on the properties of binderless particleboard made from oil palm trunk

The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the properties of binderless particleboard manufactured from oil palm trunk as a function of press temperature. Particleboard samples were manufactured with a target density of 0.80 g/cm³ using press temperatures of 160 °C, 180 °C and 200 °C. The modulus of rupture, internal bond strength, water absorption and thickness swelling of the boards were determined based on Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS). Thermal gravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and field-emission scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis were employed to characterize the properties of the raw materials and the manufactured panels. The moduli of rupture of the samples were observed to increase with increasing press temperature, but they did not meet the standard values. However, the internal bond strength of the samples attained satisfactory values according to the JIS standard for all three temperature levels. Water absorption and thickness swelling of the boards decreased with increasing pressing temperature. Based on the findings in this study, increasing the pressing temperature may be considered a potential way of improving the properties of binderless particleboard.     

Effect of AlF3, CaF2 and MgF2 on hot-pressed hydroxyapatite-nanophase alpha-alumina composites

Nanophase alpha-alumina and hydroxyapatite composites (with and without 5 wt% AlF₃, CaF₂ or MgF₂, added separately) were hot pressed at 1100 °C and 1200 °C to investigate their mechanical properties and phase stability. Hydroxyapatite slightly decomposed to tri-calcium-phosphate when there was no F⁻ present. With the addition of AlF₃, CaF₂ or MgF₂ into the composite, it improved its thermal stability and mechanical properties. Substitution of OH⁻ by F⁻ ions in hydroxyapatite was verified by the change in hydroxyapatite's hexagonal lattice parameters and unit cell volume. A fracture toughness of 2.8 MPa  and μ-hardness of 8.25 GPa were calculated for the composite containing CaF₂ after the hot pressing at 1200 °C.     

Effects of statistics of cell’s size and shape irregularity on mechanical properties of 2D and 3D Voronoi foams

In the study of the mechanical properties of metallic foam, the relative density (or porosity) and the average size of cells are two key parameters of the meso-geometry, but it is also well known experimentally that the two parameters alone are not enough since the mechanical properties of metallic foams are different even with the same initial relative density and average cell size. In this paper, we have classified the irregularity of cells into two types to describe polygonal and polyhedral cells in 2D and 3D metallic foams, which are called size irregularity and shape irregularity, respectively. The former reflects the deviation of the size of a cell from the average cell size in the foam and the latter reflects the deviation of the shape of a cell from a circle with the same area (2D) or a globe with the same volume (3D). With the two kinds of definitions, effects of the irregularity of cells in aluminum foam on mechanical properties are investigated using the Voronoi tessellation technique and the finite element method. The well- designed 2D and 3D Voronoi models are constructed, of which the statistic distributions of size and shape irregularity are presented. The compression simulations of Voronoi-based models indicate that the yield stress of metallic foam is seldom affected by the size irregularity, but significantly affected by the shape irregularity. The more regular the foams, the higher will be their yield plateau at constant overall relative density and average cell size.     

Synthesis of the nanocrystalline CoFe2O4 ferrite thin films by a novel sol-gel method using glucose as an additional agent

Polycrystalline and nanometer-sized CoFe₂O₄ ferrite thin films are successfully synthesized using glucose as an addition agent. The thermal gravimetric/differential thermal analyzer, X-ray diffractometer, electron diffraction, scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope and vibrating sample magnetometer are used to characterize the effects of the calcination temperature on the crystalline structure, morphology and magnetic properties of the Co-ferrite thin films. CoFe₂O₄ ferrite thin films have a single phase inverse spinel structure and are crystallized at and above 300 °C which is much lower than the required temperature in the traditional ceramic method (about 500-600 °C). Co-ferrite thin films annealed at relative low temperature of 400 °C show very small particle size with average of 32 nm and excellent magnetic properties for information storage applications.     

Effect of the sintering temperature on the properties of Ce0.85La0.10Ca0.05O2−δ electrolyte material

Rare earth and alkaline earth co-doped Ce_0.85La_0.10Ca_0.05O_2−δ electrolyte material with the powder obtained by solid-state reaction method was sintered at 1300, 1400, 1500 and 1600 °C respectively. The results showed that the ionic conductivity of the sample sintered at 1400 °C was slightly lower compared to that sintered at 1500 °C in the temperature range of 300-550 °C, while the sample sintered at 1400 °C showed the highest ionic conductivity in all the samples above 550 °C. The ionic conductivity of ∼0.021 S/cm at 600 °C and the relative density of 98.2% were observed for the sample sintered at 1400 °C. In addition, the highest flexural strength with 145 MPa was also obtained for the sample sintered at 1400 °C. It suggested that the sintering temperature for Ce_0.85La_0.10Ca_0.05O_2−δ electrolyte may be reduced to as low as 1400 °C with desired properties.     

Mechanical,thermal and morphological characterization of cellulose fiber-reinforced phenolic foams

In this work, the compressive mechanical properties, thermal stability and morphology of cellulose fiber-reinforced phenolic foams were studied. The cellulose fiber-reinforced phenolic foam showed the greatest compressive mechanical properties by incorporating 2 wt.% of the reinforcement. The compressive modulus and strength of 2 wt.% cellulose fiber-reinforced phenolic foam were increased by 21% and 18%, respectively, relative to the unreinforced material. The addition of the cellulose fibers to the phenolic foam slightly decreased the thermal stability of the material. The study on the morphology of the cellulose-reinforced phenolic foams via Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated a strong bonding between the fibers and phenolic matrix. In addition, the incorporation of the cellulose fibers into the foam resulted in a decreased cell size and increased cell density of the material. The incorporation of 2 wt.% of cellulose fibers into the phenolic foam led to obtain the material with the best features.     

Piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties of K0.5Na0.5NbO3 ceramics synthesized by spray drying method

Potassium-sodium niobate was synthesized at 800 °C for 1 h using dried precursors in a powder form obtained by the spray drying method. Different samples were sintered from 1060 to 1120 °C for 2 h reaching a relative density as high as 96% of the theoretical value. Piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties were studied for these samples and some of the most prominent results are: k_p, d₃₁, 2P_r, and 2E_C of 0.36, 39 pC/N, 29 μC/cm² and 16.5 kV/cm, respectively, for the sample sintered at 1080 °C. The methodology presented in this study can be used to synthesize submicrometer powders.     

Production of aluminum foam by spherical carbamide space holder technique-processing parameters

Spherical carbamide has been employed to produce aluminum foams by space holder technique via powder metallurgy route. The effect of different processing parameters such as applied pressure, dissolving time of spacer, sintering temperature and time, metallic additives, on compression properties of the resultant foams has been evaluated. Aluminum foam samples with 40–85 vol.% porosity were successfully produced. Addition of 1 wt.% Sn and Mg to aluminum powder increased strength of the sintered foams. The results indicate that the appropriate compressive properties of foams are achieved under 330 MPa compacting pressure, sintering temperature and time of 640 °C and 2 h, respectively.     

Preparation of nanostructured TiO2 ceramics by spark plasma sintering

The effect of spark plasma sintering (SPS) on the densification of TiO₂ ceramics was investigated using a nanocrystalline TiO₂ powder. A fully-dense TiO₂ specimen with an average grain size of ∼200 nm was obtained by SPS at 700 °C for 1 h. In contrast, a theoretical density specimen could only be obtained using conventional sintering above 900 °C for 1 h with an average grain size of 1-2 μm.     

Bioactivity and mechanical properties of CaSiO3/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites prepared by a new surface loading method of CaSiO3 powder

CaSiO₃/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites with flexibility and biocompatibility were prepared by a new surface loading method. CaSiO₃ powder was synthesized by coprecipitation method with heating at 1300 °C for 2 h. The obtained α-CaSiO₃ powder was sieved to 45-75 μm (sample M) and 75-150 μm (sample C). Fine powder sample (sample F) was prepared by grinding the powder being the average particle size of 2.9 μm. These powders were sprinkled on the melted HDPE sheets heated at 160, 180 and 200 °C. The amounts of sprinkled powder were only <0.1 vol.% but the ratios of surface coverage area were >50% in all the samples. Apatite formation in simulated body fluid (SBF) was observed by soaking for 5 days in sample F while within 1 day in samples M and C. The sample M retained flexible properties of HDPE together with excellent biocompatible properties.     

Solid state and solution synthesis of Ba(Mg1/3Ta2/3)O3: A comparative study

Ba(Mg_1/3Ta_2/3)O₃ [BMT] dielectric ceramics are prepared by solid state (one step, two step and molten salt synthesis) and wet chemical methods (precipitation, citrate gel and sol-gel). The formation mechanism of BMT in each synthesis technique is discussed. The formation temperature and particle size of the formed BMT were found to be much lesser (in nanometer range) for solution synthesized powders. It is found that synthesis by sol-gel method resulted in the formation of ultra pure nanopowders of BMT at about 600 °C with average crystallite size of about 18 nm where as in solid state synthesis the formation of BMT was formed at about 1100 °C with average crystallite size of 220 nm. On sintering these powders, densification and grain growth of the chemically derived powders were found to be lower than that of solid state synthesized BMT powder. This has resulted in a slight decrease in density and microwave dielectric properties of the solution synthesized BMT samples. It is found that the microwave dielectric properties improved with increase in the average grain diameter of the sintered BMT ceramics.     

Fatigue and cyclic creep of replicated microcellular aluminium

The cyclic behaviour of 400 μm pore size replicated aluminium foam is assessed in tension-tension fatigue with a stress ratio equal to 0.1, keeping the load amplitude constant, for relative density values comprised between 0.175 and 0.220. The number of cycles to failure ranges from 6 × 10² (lowest relative density) to 5 × 10⁶ (highest relative density). The foams display cyclic creep coupled with a strong influence of relative density on their general fatigue performance. Data analysis shows that the foam fatigue behaviour is dominated by cyclic creep, which governs both the deformation and the fatigue life of the cycled specimens, yielding characteristics globally in line with what is expected knowing the metal making the foam.