The impact of processing conditions on the structural and optical properties of the as‐spun polyamides fibers

The development of crystallinity and orientation during the melt spinning of polyamides (nylon 66) was investigated. This study reports the question of the orientation and crystallinity determination of nylon 66 by means of differential scanning calorimetry, optical polarized microscope, and X‐ray diffraction techniques during the cold drawing process. The different structural properties such as crystallinity, crystal size, birefringence, and different orientation functions were measured as a function of the draw ratio. From the obtained thermogram, it is clear that the melting temperature of the drawn nylon 66 fibers did not show a significant change due to the cold drawing process. As the draw ratio increase, the crystallinity and crystal size increase. The drawing process improves the chain orientations along the fiber axis of nylon 66 fibers. The orientations of the chain segments enhanced due to the cold drawing process of nylon 66 fibers.     

A novel dynamic opto‐thermo‐mechanical stress testing device 1: Design of the device

This article presents a dynamic opto‐thermo‐mechanical stress testing device to characterize fiber properties. The device has multi‐modes and consists of many functions. These modes include stretching, bending, rotating, twisting, and heating processes. Every process can be controlled by micro‐controller unit via software programs specially designed for this purpose. The micro‐controller unit can execute two different processes at the same time. Such as, dynamic stretching process under the effect of thermal treatment, dynamic stretching process and relaxation, bending process under the effect of thermal treatment, and so forth. Software programs with their flow charts are designed for the application of these processes. The advantage of this device is that it can be done statically and dynamically to characterize all types of fibers (polymer and optical). The device is designed to be attached with two‐beam polarizing interference microscope to investigate the dynamic opto‐thermo‐mechanical properties of the tested fiber under the effect of different applied stresses. Isotactic polypropylene, iPP, fiber is used for some applications of this device, as examples, in stretching, rotation, and twisting modes. Interferograms and graphs are given for illustration.     

Measuring opto‐thermal parameters of basalt fibers using digital holographic microscopy

A method for studying the effect of temperature on the optical properties of basalt fiber is presented. It is based on recording a set of phase‐shifted digital holograms for the sample under the test. The holograms are obtained utilizing a system based on Mach–Zehnder interferometer, where the fiber sample inserted in an immersion liquid is placed within a temperature controlled chamber. From the recorded digital holograms the optical path differences which are used to calculate the refractive indices are determined. The accuracy in the measurement of refractive indices is in the range of 4 × 10^?4. The influence of temperature on the dispersion parameters, polarizability per unit volume and dielectric susceptibility are also obtained. Moreover, the values of dispersion and oscillation energies and Cauchy's constants are provided at different temperatures.     

Effect of gamma irradiation on the physical and structural properties of basalt fiber

Digital holographic interferometry (DHI), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to study the effects of gamma irradiation on the physical and structural properties of basalt fibers. For this purpose, set samples of basalt fibers were subjected to different doses of gamma irradiation (3, 10, 25, and 40 kGy). The Mach–Zehnder interferometer was used to capture holographic patterns which are used then to determine the unwrapped phase. From the unwrapped phase distributions, the optical path difference within the irradiated basalt samples was determined. Thus, refractive indices, and birefringence of irradiated basalt fibers were determined at different irradiation doses using DHI method. XRD technique was used to investigate the effect of irradiation doses on the crystalline behavior of fibers. FTIR was performed to each of the basalt samples to evaluate the changes in the surface chemical properties due to radiation exposure doses. The morphology of irradiated fibers was examined using SEM. The results indicate that basalt fiber has a resistance to gamma radiation. There are no significant effects on the physical, structural and chemical properties were demonstrated of basalt fibers in the doses range of irradiation.     

The impact of the thermal annealing conditions on the structural properties of polylactic acid fibers

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a prominent biomaterial for plentiful applications in medicine and industry. The main goal of using this new material is replacing polymers based on petrochemical. Different thermal and structural properties of PLA fibers were studied after the thermal treatment using two different conditions (taut and free ends). Different techniques were used to study the effect of the thermal treatment conditions on the crystallinity and molecular orientations for PLA fibers such as differential scanning calorimetry technique, X-ray diffraction technique, and polarized light microscopy. The impact of the thermal annealing treatment on both the crystallinity and crystalline orientation was calculated. In case of taut ends thermal annealing treatment method, the measured parameters were higher than the case of free ends thermal annealing condition. The oriented segment relaxation due to the thermal annealing results an increase in the crystallinity values, but it does not indicate that the molecular orientation will be high. Results showed that the orientation of crystal and crystallinity was improved after thermal treatment. The taut conditions of annealing show significant improvement of crystallinity than free conditions.     

The influence of grafting process on the optical,geometrical, and structural parameters of nylon‐6 fibers

Mach–Zehnder interferometer technique is utilized to study the impact of grafting of the nylon‐6 fibers with poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer on the optical, geometrical, and structural properties. He–Ne laser diffraction technique is applied to study the changes in the fiber thickness of two samples (nylon‐6 blank and nylon‐6 grafted with PMMA) at different positions along the fiber length. The geometrical parameters are investigated by determining the cross‐sectional shape of the two samples. The results of the interferometric and the diffraction techniques show that there is no variation in the thickness of nylon‐6 fiber but variations in the thickness of the grafted nylon‐6 fiber are obvious. The optical and physical properties along the axis of these fibers are characterized by measuring their refractive indices, birefringence, polarizability per unit volume, dielectric constant, surface reflectivity and the refractive index profile. The results show that PMMA polymer changed the optical, geometrical, and structural properties of the nylon‐6 blank fiber. Microinterferograms are given for illustrations.     

Effect of rare earths on mechanical and tribological properties of carbon fibers reinforced PTFE composite

The effect of a rare earth (RE) surface treatment on the mechanical and tribological properties of carbon fiber (CF) reinforced polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composites was experimentally investigated. The tensile properties of the CF reinforced PTFE (CF/PTFE) composites treated with air oxidation and RE modifier were superior to those of untreated CF/PTFE composites, while RE treatment was most effective in promoting the tensile strength and strain at break of the CF/PTFE composite. The bending strength of the RE treated CF/PTFE composite was improved by about 16% compared with that of untreated composites, while 2% improvement was achieved by air oxidation. Under oil-lubricated conditions, RE treatment was more effective than air oxidation to reduce the friction coefficient and wear of PTFE composite. RE treatment effectively improved the interfacial adhesion between CF and PTFE. The strong interfacial coupling of the composite made CF not easy to detach from the PTFE matrix, and prevented the rubbing-off of PTFE, accordingly improved the friction and wear properties of the composite.     

Adaptive investigation of the optical properties of polymer fibers from mixing noisy phase shifting microinterferograms using deep learning algorithms

In this article, an adaptive denoising method is suggested to accurate investigate the optical and structural features of polymeric fibers from noisy phase shifting microinterferograms. The mixed class of noise that may produce in the phase-shifting interferometric techniques is established. To our knowledge, this is an early study considered the mixing noises that may occur in microinterferograms. The suggested method utilized the convolution neural networks to detect the noise class and then denoising, it according to its class. Four convolution neural networks (Googlenet, VGG-19, Alexnet, and Alexnet–SVM) are refined to perform the automatic classification process for the noise class in the established data set. The network with the highest validation and testing accuracy of these networks is considered to apply the suggested method on realistic noisy microinterferograms for polymeric fibers, polypropylene and antimicrobial polyethylene terephthalate)/titanium dioxide, recoded using interference microscope. Also, the suggested method is applied on noisy microinterferograms include crazing and nanocomposite material. The demodulated phase maps and the three-dimensional birefringence profiles are calculated for tested fibers according to the suggested method. The obtained results are compared with the published data for these fibers and found to be in good agreements.     

Tuning the mechanical properties of self‐assembled mixed‐peptide tubes

In this study, nano‐ and microscale fibrillar and tubular structures formed by mixing two aromatic peptides known to self‐assemble separately, (diphenylalanine and di‐D‐2‐napthylalanine) have been investigated. The morphology, mechanical strength and thermal stability of the tubular structures formed have been studied. The tubes are shown to consist of both peptides with some degree of nanoscale phase separation. The ability of the mixed peptides to form structures, which display variable mechanical properties dependent on the percentage composition of the peptides is presented. Such materials with tuneable properties will be required for a range of applications in nanotechnology and biotechnology.     

Influence of degradation on the film‐forming properties of polyolester oils

The film thicknesses of two polyolester degraded oils were measured over a wide range of temperatures to investigate the influence of degradation on film‐forming properties. The results have been interpreted in the light of the idea that degradation of an ester lubricant can produce two different types of product which have opposing influences on film‐forming properties. One is the formation of smaller, polar molecules, such as acids, which may result in a decrease in effective pressure—viscosity coefficient. The other is the formation of larger, bulky molecules such as sludge, which result in increased pressure—viscosity coefficient. The effective pressure—viscosity coefficient decrease with degradation of the oil thus is made up of an earlier stage involving a series of reactions, followed in a later stage by an increase.     

Effect of mechanical shear on the thin‐film properties of base oil‐polymer mixtures

The thickness and frictional characteristics of thin lubricant films are known to affect the fuel economy properties of oils. The base oil and polymer compositions of the lubricant are generally considered to be critical chemical factors that can influence these thin‐film lubricant properties in new oils. However, it is important to produce lubricants with good fuel economy properties that are maintained after the lubricant is degraded. Lubricants in use can undergo oxidation and mechanical shear degradation. The effect of oxidation degradation on thin‐film physical properties has previously been studied. This paper investigates the effect of mechanical shearing on thin‐film properties. Dispersant olefin copolymers are found to reduce thin‐film friction in simple mixtures and in fully formulated oils. In simple mixtures, shearing the dispersant olefin copolymers does not affect the friction‐reducing ability of these polymers. In fully formulated oils, even though shearing diminishes to a degree the friction‐reducing ability of dispersant olefin copolymers, these copolymers can still provide significant friction reduction.     

Three‐dimensional morphology of cerebellar climbing fibers. A study by means of confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy

The intracortical pathway of cerebellar climbing fibers have been traced by means of scanning electron microscpy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to study the degree of lateral collateralization of these fibers in the granular Purkinje cell and molecular layers. Samples of teleost fish were processed for conventional and freeze‐fracture SEM. Samples of hamster cerebellum were examined by means of CLSM using FM4–64 as an intracellular stain. High resolution in lens SEM of primate cerebellar cortex was carried out using chromium coating. At scanning electron and confocal laser microscopy levels, the climbing fibers appeared at the white matter and granular layer as fine fibers with a typical arborescence or crossing‐over branching pattern, whereas the mossy fibers exhibited a characteristic dichotomous bifurcation. At the granular layer, the parent climbing fibers and their tendrils collaterals appeared to be surrounding granule and Golgi cells. At the interface between granule and Purkinje cell layers, the climbing fibers were observed giving off three types of collateral processes: those remaining in the granular layer, others approaching the Purkinje cell bodies, and a third type ascending directly to the molecular layer. At this layer, retrograde collaterals were seen descending to the granular layer. By field emission high‐resolution SEM of primate cerebellar cortex, the climbing fiber terminal collaterals were appreciated ending by means of round synaptic knobs upon the spines of secondary and tertiary Purkinje cell dendrites.     

Structural, mechanical and tribological investigations of sputter deposited CrN-WS2 nanocomposite solid lubricant coatings

Nanocomposite coatings of CrN-WS₂ were prepared at different Cr contents (approximately 8-39 at%) using an unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. Structural changes in CrN-WS₂ coatings with variation in Cr content were studied using X-ray diffraction. CrN-WS₂ coatings displayed a dense, compact microstructure with reduced columnar growth in the field emission scanning electron microscopy data. Nanoindentation and nanoscratch data showed that CrN-WS₂ coatings exhibited improved mechanical and adhesive properties, respectively. Micro-tribometer tests at a load of 2 N indicated that CrN-WS₂ coatings prepared at 31 at% Cr exhibited a stable friction coefficient of 0.20-0.24 even after 8 h.     

Mechanical properties of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>/MIG welded structural rolled steel and stainless steel

To accomplish long-term use of specific parts of steel, welding technology is widely applied. In this study, to compare the efficiency in improving mechanical properties, rolled steel (SS400) was welded with stainless steel (STS304) by both CO₂ welding method and MIG (metal inert gas) welding method, respectively. Multi-tests were conducted on the welded specimen, such as X-ray irradiation, Vickers’ Hardness, tensile test, fatigue test and fatigue crack growth test. Based on the fatigue crack growth test performed by two different methods, the relationship of da/dN was analyzed. Although the hardness by the two methods was similar, tensile test and fatigue properties of MIG welded specimen are superior to CO₂ welded one.     

第一性原理研究压力下NiTi合金B2相的结构、力学以及热力学性质

运用第一性原理研究0~40 GPa下B2相NiTi合金的机械性能、 电子性质以及热力学性能. 计算发现, 几何优化后NiTi晶体的晶格常数与实验值和其他文献提供的数值大体一致, 表明随着压力的增加该型合金力学稳定且没有相变产生. NiTi合金的体模量B、 剪切模量G和杨氏模量E以及B/G的值随压力增大呈线性增加, 表明压力使其抗体积变形能力、 抗剪变能力及塑性增强. 研究发现, 压力也会使NiTi合金的各向异性发生改变. 对NiTi合金态密度的研究表明, 该合金同时显现出共价性与离子性, 并且压力对其电子性质无明显影响. 此外, 本文还研究了不同温度和压力下NiTi合金的热力学性能, 包括德拜温度ΘD,热容Cv和Cp的变化, 为今后实验提供理论数据.     

Synthesis and tribological behaviour of oleic acid‐capped lanthanum borate/graphene oxide nanocomposites

The lanthanum borate/graphene oxide (LB/GO) nanocomposites were obtained by GO decorated by LB using an eco‐friendly hydrothermal method. For improving the oil solubility of the LB/GO nanocomposites, the oleic acid (OA)‐capped LB/GO (OA–LB/GO) nanocomposites were achieved. The as‐prepared nanocomposites were determined by a series of characterisations such as Fourier transform‐infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman, UV‐vis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and SEM. The results indicated that most of LB nanoparticles with the size of 50–100 nm were well loaded on the surface of GO nanosheets. In addition, the tribological properties of the as‐prepared nanocomposites were tested by a four‐ball friction machine. The results demonstrated that the OA–LB/GO nanocomposites were of good anti‐wear ability and excellent load‐carrying capacity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of different calcium contents on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg‐5Al‐1Bi‐0.3Mn magnesium alloy

The effect of different Ca contents on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg‐5Al‐1Bi‐0.3Mn (AMB501) magnesium alloys was investigated by conventional melting and casting technique using different Ca contents (1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 wt %). Increasing the Ca content resulted in higher hardness and yield strength, but decreased elongation. The improved tensile properties of the AM50‐1Bi‐xCa alloys were due to the changes in AMB501 alloy microstructure when the Ca content increased, as demonstrated by scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrum, and X‐ray diffractometer. The alloy microstructure indicated that the amount of β‐Mg₁₇Al₁₂ phase on grain boundaries decreased and the morphology of β‐Mg₁₇Al₁₂ phase on grain boundaries changed from quasicontinuous‐net shape to dispersed particles. The Mg₁₇Al₁₂ phase disappeared and a new secondary phase Al₂Ca appeared after a 3.0 wt % Ca addition. Microsc. Res. Tech. 78:65–69, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Moisture and gamma‐ray irradiation effects on the mechanical properties of carbon fibre–reinforced plastics

The effects of γ‐irradiation and moisture absorption on the mechanical properties of carbon fibres–epoxy resin composites were studied. The properties dominated by the matrix and fibre–matrix interface (interlaminar and in‐plane shear strength) were measured at room temperature using standard tests. These tests were carried out before and after exposures to gamma irradiation and before and after immersion in water at 80°C during 21 days. The dosage of gamma irradiation was up to 11.7 MGy. The micrographs of surfaces fractured in performed tests were observed on a scanning electron microscope. They were analyzed with consulting the stated effects on mechanical properties and the measured values of the glass transition temperature of tested coupons before and after irradiation and immersion in water. The obtained results show that moisture and irradiation, if they act one after the other, have a significant influence on the degradation of matrix‐dominated mechanical properties of the tested carbon–epoxy composite.