Effects of hybrid composition of LCP and glass fibres on abrasive wear of reinforced LLDPE

The hybrid of liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) fibres and glass fibres (GF) provide a combination of modulus and toughness to semi-crystalline linear-low-density-polyethylene (LLDPE). LCP and GF fibres reinforced composites were studied using two-body abrasion tester under different applied loads. Two sets of fibre reinforced LLDPE, 10 and 20 vol%, were investigated. The contents of LCP and glass fibres were varied as 25, 50, 75 and 100 vol% of overall volume of fibres in LLDPE. The effect of replacing glass fibre with LCP fibre on wear is reported. Wear loss increased with the applied loads and glass fibre contents in LLDPE. The replacements of glass fibres with LCP fibres improved abrasive wear resistance of composite. The composite containing 20 vol% of glass fibres in LLDPE showed the specific wear rate nearly double to that of LCP fibre reinforced LLDPE. Incorporation of LCP fibre improved wear resistance of glass fibre reinforced LLDPE. Worn surfaces were studied using SEM. Glass fibres were broken in small debris and removed easily whereas LCP fibres yielded to fibrillation during abrasive action. The overall wear rate was governed by the composition and test conditions.     

Flux trapping and its effect on AC susceptibility of granular superconductors

Experimental data on the real (x′) and imaginary (x″) parts of AC magnetic susceptibility as a function of DC bias field (H) shows the effect of trapped flux in granular highT _c superconductors. The aim was to substantiate our recent theoretical findings on the basis of a two-component critical state model suitable for granular highT _c superconductors. Stress has been given to understanding the origin of hysteresis inx′(H) andx″(H). It was seen in the experimental data that above a certain value of DC field range irreversibility appears inx′(H) andx″(H) creating hysteresis like loops. Comparison of data with calculated loops shows good agreement.x′(H) andx″(H) curves show considerable asymmetry in presence of trapped flux.     

The compression strength of composites with kinked,misaligned and poorly adhering fibres

Experiments carried out on pultruded fibre reinforced polyester resins show that, at moderate fibre volume fractions, the compressive strength of aligned fibre composites depends linearly on the volume fraction. The strength falls off when the fibre volume fraction,V _f=0.4 with Kevlar and high strength carbon fibres. The effective fibre strength atV _f<0.4 is much less than the tensile strength but it is close to the tensile strength with E-glass fibres and high modulus carbon fibres. Poor adhesion between fibres and matrix reduces the compressive strength, as does kinking the fibres when the fibre radius of curvature is reduced to below 5 mm. Misalignment of the fibres reduces the compressive strength when the average angle of misalignment exceeds about 10° for glass and carbon fibres. However, with Kevlar no such reduction is observed because the compression strength of Kevlar reinforced resin is only a very little better than that of the unreinforced resin.     

Determining the power spectral density of the waviness of unidirectional glass fibres in polymer composites

A pilot study has been completed into the accurate measurement of 3D fibre waviness in high packing fraction, unidirectional, glass fibre reinforced polymer epoxy. It has been shown that the confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) can determine fibre waviness amplitudes,A40 µm andsimultaneously fibre wavelengths, 4 mm. Knowing the fibre-centre coordinates in 3D with sub-micron precision, the fibre waviness may be characterised in terms of the power spectral densitiesS _u andS _w orthogonal to the fibre direction (taken to be in they direction) and also in terms of the power spectral densities of fibre slopes,S _u andS _w. In future studies, these characterisation parameters will enable models linking random fibre waviness to compressive strength to be evaluated.     

Transmission electron microscopy on the microstructure of 7050 aluminium alloy in the T74 condition

The microstructure of 7050 aluminium alloy in the T74 condition has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the alloy contains the superlattice Al₃Zr phase, η′ phase and Al₇Cu₂Fe constituent phase. The η′ phase is proposed to have an orthorhombic crystal structure witha=0.492 nm,b=0.852 nm andc=0.701 nm. The orientation relationship between the matrix and η′ phase is [11−2]_m//[100]_η′; [1−]_m//[010]_η′;[−1−1−1]_m//[001]_η′. The phases on the small-angle grain boundary are found to be mainly η′ phase and Cu/Si-rich phase, whereas on the large-angle grain boundary there is only η phase.     

Rheological properties of boehmite sols during ageing at room temperature (30 ±1°C) under closed condition

Boehmite sols were obtained by peptizing boehmite precipitates with glacial acetic acid. The sols were aged at room temperature (30 ±1°C) under closed condition. Rheological properties of the sols were studied at different ageing times. The sol characteristics were interpreted by measuring their viscosity, areas of hysteresis of the flow curves and yield stress (τ_y). Viscosity and the area of hysteresis of the flow curves increased with increasing ageing time of the sols. A sharp change of yield stress was observed during the ageing period from 15 to 36 days. The change in viscous to elastic nature and the appearance of gel point of the sol was observed by studying their oscillatory flow behaviour, i.e. by measuring loss modulus(G″), elastic modulus (G′), and loss tangent (tan δ) of the sols. Gel point of boehmite sol was found at 36 days of ageing under closed condition at room temperature (30 ±1°C).     

Dielectric relaxation behaviour of Sr<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">2</Emphasis></Subscript>SbMnO<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">6</Emphasis></Subscript> ceramics fabricated from nanocrystalline powders prepared by molten salt synthesis

Double perovskite polycrystalline single phase and dense Sr ₂ SbMnO ₆ (SSM) ceramics, fabricated using the nanocrystalline powders synthesized by molten salt method, exhibited high dielectric constant with low dielectric loss as compared to that of SSM ceramics obtained from the powders prepared by solid-state synthesis method. The dielectric data obtained over a wide frequency (100 Hz–1 MHz) and temperature (190 K–300 K) ranges exhibited distinct relaxations owing to both the grain and grain boundary. The dielectric dispersion was modeled using the Cole–Cole equation consisting of two separate relaxation terms corresponding to the grain and grain boundary. The grain and grain boundary relaxations observed in the Nyquist plots (Z ^′ and Z ^″) were modeled by an equivalent circuit consisting of two parallel RC circuits connected in series with each other. A careful analysis of both the impedance (Z ^″ vs ω) and modulus (M ^″ vs ω) behaviour corroborated the conclusions drawn from the dielectric data.     

Effect of norbornene content on deformation properties and hot embossing of cyclic olefin copolymers

The dynamic mechanical behaviour of a series of cyclic olefin copolymers (COCs) with varying norbornene content has been examined in the vicinity of the glass transition temperature, T _g. Using dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), the temperature of the glass transition in COC increased linearly with increase in % norbornene. Above T _g, the magnitude of the elastic storage modulus, E′, decreased exponentially with rise in temperature for all of the copolymers. The loss modulus, E″, has also sharply decreased at temperatures above the transition with a levelling-off in E″ at ≥20 °C above T _g for all grades. The results of DMTA have been used in the identification of the optimum conditions for hot embossing experiments. Hot embossing of COC at ≥20 °C above the transition temperature in a region of viscous liquid flow has resulted in a full replication of channel depth without cracking or distortion.     

The environmental response of hybrid composites

Hybrid composite specimens containing a total of 60 or 75 vol % of unidirectional fibre were prepared from HT S-carbon fibre and E-glass fibre, HT S-carbon fibre and Kevlar 49 fibre, and E-glass fibre and Kevlar 49 fibre with a standard anhydride cured epoxide resin. The specimens were divided into four groups and subjected to the following environments: (A) room temperature and humidity; (B) soaked in water for 300 h at 95° C and then oven dried at 60° C to a constant weight; (C) thermally cycled 100 times between –196 and 95° C; (D) cycled 35 times between –196 and water at 95° C. The flexural properties of the samples were measured at room temperature after exposure. The modulus of the hybrid materials was not significantly affected by any of the treatments, although thermal cycling with or without water caused a large decrease in the modulus of all Kevlar fibre/resin and to a lesser extent all glass fibre specimens. The flexural strength of the unexposed carbon fibre/glass fibre and glass fibre/Kevlar fibre hybrids showed a positive deviation from the rule of mixtures behaviour at low volume loadings of the lower extension fibre. Wet thermal cycling or soaking in water caused a substantial reduction in the flexural strength of glass fibre/Kevlar fibre specimens. The interlaminar shear strength of all three fibre combinations was not affected by dry thermal cycling, but the effects of soaking in water and especially thermal cycling with water exposure were significant and irreversible.     

纤维束动态拉伸力学性能的实验研究

对Ｐｏｌｙｖｉｎｙ－ａｌｃｏｈｏｌ（ＰＶＡ），Ｅ－ｇｌａｓｓ和Ｋｅｖｌａｒ４９纤维束的应变率相关性和能量吸收能力进行了对比，冲击拉伸实验结果表明，除ＰＶＡ纤维束的初始弹性模量外，三种纤维束的力学性能均具有应变率相关性，其中ＰＶＡ和Ｅ－ｇｌａｓｓ的应变率敏感性较Ｋｅｖｌａｒ４９强烈；Ｋｅｖｌａｒ４９的能量吸收能力高于ＰＶＡ并且明显优于Ｅ－ｇｌａｓｓ。     

Influence of visco-elastic binder properties on ram extrusion of a hardmetal paste

The influence of the viscous and elastic components of a visco-elastic binder phase on the extrusion behaviour of a tungsten carbide–cobalt hardmetal paste was investigated by studying the paste over a range of temperatures, 30–42 °C, where the binder changed from a semi-solid gel to a viscous liquid. The extrusion behaviour of the paste was studied by ram extrusion and quantified by the Benbow–Bridgwater (BB) method. The elastic and viscous components of the binder were studied separately by means of oscillatory and steady shear techniques in a controlled stress rheometer using rough parallel plates. The paste behaviour fitted the four parameter BB model well: the initial bulk yield stress parameter, σ₀, increased linearly with the binder elastic modulus, G′, while both the velocity dependence parameters α and β were linearly related to the binder steady shear viscosity. Analysis of paste-wall slip parameters gave estimated slip layer thicknesses of 2–5 particle diameters.     

Electron-beam enhanced fusion of binary metals and alloying in melts

Binary mixing and alloying during electron-beam fusion in bi-metal joints have been investigated and presented in this paper. In case of beam-power densities greater than about 10¹⁰ Wm⁻², rapid fusion of metals is accompanied by violent agitation of the melts. The resulting mass transport in the melt is described here from an enhanced mass diffusion coefficientD =D _s(W′/a ₀ η)^1/2, whereD _s is mass diffusivity in solid,W′ is beam-power density,a ₀ is acceleration in melt growth andη is the coefficient of viscosity. Moreover, a uniformly mixed central-widthw′ is predicted in the fusion zone (total widthw), where,w′ is significantly dependent onη andw throughW′. For these conditions, the continuity of mass transport in stationary and travel modes of the source has been solved using line and plane source models and conservation principles. The predictions from these calculations have been validated through quantitative analyses of experiments.     

Conductive carbon black-filled ethylene acrylic elastomer vulcanizates: physico-mechanical,thermal, and electrical properties

The effect of conductive carbon black (CCB) on the physico-mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties have been investigated by various characterization techniques. Physico-mechanical properties of the vulcanizates were studied with variation of filler loading, which revealed that the tensile strength increased up to 20 phr (parts per hundred rubber) CCB loading, whereas at higher filler loading it decreased marginally. Furthermore, tensile modulus, tear strength, and hardness gradually increased with increase in filler loading. The compression set and abrasion loss decreased with increasing CCB loading. The bound rubber content (Bdr) of unvulcanized rubber was found to increase significantly with increasing CCB content. The crosslink density increased, whereas the swelling decreased with CCB loading. The thermal stability of the vulcanizates evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed a minor increment with increase in CCB content. It is observed from the dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) that the storage modulus (E′), loss modulus (E″), and glass transition temperature (T _g) of ethylene acrylic elastomer (AEM) matrix increased by incorporation of CCB. The dielectric relaxation characteristics of AEM vulcanizates such as dielectric permittivity (ε′), electrical conductivity (σ _ac), and electric moduli (M′ and M″) have been studied as a function of frequency (10¹ to 10⁶ Hz) at different filler loading. The variation of ε′ with frequency and filler loading was explained based on the interfacial polarization of the fillers within a heterogeneous system. The ε′ increased with increasing the CCB loading and it decreased with applied frequency. The frequency dependency of σ _ac was investigated using conduction path theory and percolation threshold limit. The σ _ac increased with increase in both CCB concentration and applied frequency. The M′ increased with applied frequency, however, it decreased above 30 phr filler. The M″ peak shifted towards higher frequency region and above 20 phr filler loading the peaks were not observed within the tested frequency region. The electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMISE) was studied in the X-band frequency region (8–12 GHz), which significantly improved with increase in CCB loading.     

Role of matrix modification on interlaminar shear strength of glass fibre/epoxy composites

Interlaminar shear properties of fibre reinforced polymer composites are important in many structural applications. Matrix modification is an effective way to improve the composite interlaminar shear properties. In this paper, diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-F/diethyl toluene diamine system is used as the starting epoxy matrix. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and reactive aliphatic diluent named n-butyl glycidyl ether (BGE) are employed to modify the epoxy matrix. Unmodified and modified epoxy resins are used for fabricating glass fibre reinforced composites by a hot-press process. The interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of the glass fibre reinforced composites is investigated and the results indicate that introduction of MWCNT and BGE obviously enhances the ILSS. In particular, the simultaneous addition of 0.5 wt.% MWCNTs and 10 phr BGE leads to the 25.4% increase in the ILSS for the glass fibre reinforced composite. The fracture surfaces of the fibre reinforced composites are examined by scanning electron microscopy and the micrographs are employed to explain the ILSS results.     

Impact and fatigue behaviour of hemp fibre composites

A series of experiments has been carried out to characterize the residual tensile and fatigue properties following impact of non-woven hemp fibre mat reinforced polyester. Additionally, the degradation of tensile modulus during fatigue cycling has been studied and related to the damage accumulation. For comparison purposes, ±45° glass fibre reinforced polyester samples have also been subjected to similar tests. It was found necessary to apply a relatively high pressure to the hemp composite during the curing stage in order to ensure a high enough fibre fraction to provide a significant reinforcing effect. With similar fibre weight fractions, the hemp and glass reinforced materials exhibited similar static tensile properties and fatigue lifetimes. Although the slightly steeper S–N curve of the hemp based material indicated a higher rate of reduction in fatigue strength with increasing cycles, it remained above the S–N curve for the glass based material showing that it was able to withstand slightly higher cyclic stress levels for equivalent numbers of cycles. The major difference in mechanical performance was the poorer resistance of the hemp based composite to impact. Also, the hemp based material failed in a much more brittle manner, without any visible signs of damage, such as the matrix cracking that was seen in the glass fibre based composite. It was found that, if the fatigue lifetime data of impact damaged samples were normalized against the post-impact residual tensile strength, then all data points lay close to a common S–N curve. This implies that residual fatigue lifetimes of damaged samples could be predicted from knowledge of their residual strength and the S–N curve for undamaged material.     

Internal material damping of polymer matrix composites under off-axis loading

The objective of this paper is to determine theoretically the material damping of short fibre-reinforced polymer matrix composites. The major damping mechanism in such composites is the viscoelastic behaviour of the polymer matrix. The analysis was carried out by developing a finite-element program which is capable of evaluating the stress and strain distribution of short fibre composites under axial loading (see Fig. 1a). Using the concept of balance of force we can express the modulusE _x along the loading direction as a function of the mechanical properties of the fibre and matrix materials, fibre aspect ratio,l/d, loading angle,, and fibre volume fraction,V _f. Then we apply the elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle to replace all the mechanical properties of the composite, fibre and matrix materials such asE _x,E _f,E _m,G _m, by the corresponding complex moduli such asE _x +iE _x , andE _f +iE _f . After separation of the real and imaginary parts, we can expressE _' ^x/t' andE _x ^t" as functions of the fibre aspect ratio,l/d, loading angle,, stiffness ratio,E _f/E _m, fibre volume fraction,V _f, and damping properties of the fibre and matrix materials such as _f and _m. Numerical results of the composite storage modulus,E _x , loss modulus,E _x , and loss factor (damping), _C, are plotted as functions of parameters such asl/d,,V _f, and are discussed in terms of variations ofl/d,, andE _f/E _m, in detail. It is observed that for a given composite, there exist optimum values ofl/d and at whichE _x and _c are maximized. The results of this paper can be used to optimize the performance of composite structures.Nomenclature A _c,A _f,A _m cross-sectional area of composite, fibre and matrix, respectively - d fibre diameter - E _L longitudinal modulus of composite (along the fibre direction) (see Fig. 1a) - E _T transverse modulus of composite (see Fig. 1a) - E _x modulus of composite along thex-direction (see Fig. 1b) - E _f tensile modulus of fibre - E _m tensile modulus of matrix - G _m shear modulus of matrix - G _LT in-plane shear modulus of composite (see Fig. 1a) - l fibre length - m tip to tip distance between fibres - i (–1)^1/2 - R one-half of centre-to-centre fibre spacing - V _f fibre volume fraction - x distance along fibre from end of fibre - defined in Equation 22 - defined in Equation 3 - ^* defined in Equation 19 - _L extensional (longitudinal strain) of composite - _f, _m extensional (longitudinal strain) of fibre and matrix, respectively - _c, _f, _m extensional loss factor of composite, fibre and matrix respectively - G _m shear loss factor of matrix - angle between fibre and thex-direction - ¯ _c, ¯ _f, ¯ _m average longitudinal stress in composite, fibre and matrix, respectively - longitudinal stress in fibre - shear stress at fibre-matrix interface - defined in Equation 23     

Electrical conductivity and dielectric properties of cadmium thiogallate CdGa<Subscript>2</Subscript>S<Subscript>4</Subscript> thin films

Cadmium thiogallate CdGa₂S₄ thin films were prepared using a conventional thermal evaporation technique. The dark electrical resistivity calculations were carried out at different elevated temperatures in the range 303–423 K and in thickness range 235–457 nm. The ac conductivity and dielectric properties of CdGa₂S₄ film with thickness 457 nm has been studied as a function of temperature in the range from 303 to 383 K and in frequency range from 174 Hz to 1.4 MHz. The experimental results indicate that σ_ac(ω) is proportional to ω ^s and s ranges from 0.674 to 0.804. It was found that s increases by increasing temperature. The results obtained are discussed in terms of the non overlapping small polaron tunneling model. The dielectric constant (ε′) and dielectric loss (ε″) were found to be decreased by increasing frequency and increased by increasing temperature. The maximum barrier height (W _m) was estimated from the analysis of the dielectric loss (ε″) according to Giuntini’s equation. Its value for the as-deposited films was found to be 0.294 eV.     

Two Domains of the Parameter Space of the 2D Hubbard Model for High-Tc Superconductors

High-T _c superconducting cuprates have two types of Fermi surfaces: simple-2D-tight-binding-band type (LSCO type) and the much deformed one (Bi2212 type). The difference is attributed to that of band parameter values, i.e., t′ ∼ −0.1 and t″ ∼ 0 versus t′ ∼ −0.3 and t″ ∼ 0.2 in terms of the second- and third-neighbor transfer energies t′ and t″, respectively (energy unit is the nearest-neighbor transfer energy t). Assuming a moderate value of on-site Coulomb energy U ∼ 6 and performing the variational Monte Carlo computation, we found that the two superconducting parameter domains exist in fact around these parameter sets, respectively, in which superconductivity predominates over spin density wave (SDW) due to the latter being at the brink of vanishing. Stripes were obtained in the first domain but tend to disappear in the second. In the latter domain there seems to exist parameter sets for which superconductivity appears without doping.     

An investigation on electrical properties of microwave treated natural ilmenite (FeTiO3)

It has been observed that microwaves of 2.45 GHz heat dielectric materials. On subjecting natural ilmenite to microwave irradiation, the mineral is observed to heat, with a surface temperature in proportion to the irradiation time. With irradiation times from 40 to 240 seconds (increased in steps of 40 sec), the surface temperature measured on the samples were between 280 and 520 K. Electrical measurements made on the samples before and after irradiation show that the electrical properties are modified by the microwave irradiation. The real conductivity (σ′), dielectric constant (ɛ′) and the dielectric loss (ɛ″) plotted against frequency generally showed universal dielectric behaviour [1 and references therein] similar to that observed in other systems studied in the literature but using conventional heating techniques. Plots of σ′, ɛ′ and ɛ″ against the surface temperature of the sample showed frequency independent peaks around 460 K. The experimental dielectric loss (ɛ″) results fit a peak function of the form:

三维编织CF/KF混杂复合材料力学性能研究

考察了三维编织碳纤维/芳纶纤维混杂增强铸型尼龙(简称HF/MCPA)复合材料的力学性能,着重分析了复合材料的冲击、剪切和弯曲性能。试验结果表明:碳纤维和芳纶纤维混杂复合材料不仅有较好的弯曲强度、剪切强度,同时冲击强度也很好。随着碳纤维体积分数的增加,混杂复合材料的冲击强度降低;横向剪切强度先增大后降低;纵向剪切强度逐渐增大,出现最大值;弯曲强度和模量随之提高,达到最大值后开始下降,最大值时CF∶KF为3∶2。