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Description
Polymer and polymer matrix composites (PMCs) materials are being used extensively in different civil and mechanical engineering applications. The behavior of the epoxy resin polymers under different types of loading conditions has to be understood before the mechanical behavior of Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs) can be accurately predicted. In many

Polymer and polymer matrix composites (PMCs) materials are being used extensively in different civil and mechanical engineering applications. The behavior of the epoxy resin polymers under different types of loading conditions has to be understood before the mechanical behavior of Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs) can be accurately predicted. In many structural applications, PMC structures are subjected to large flexural loadings, examples include repair of structures against earthquake and engine fan cases. Therefore it is important to characterize and model the flexural mechanical behavior of epoxy resin materials. In this thesis, a comprehensive research effort was undertaken combining experiments and theoretical modeling to investigate the mechanical behavior of epoxy resins subject to different loading conditions. Epoxy resin E 863 was tested at different strain rates. Samples with dog-bone geometry were used in the tension tests. Small sized cubic, prismatic, and cylindrical samples were used in compression tests. Flexural tests were conducted on samples with different sizes and loading conditions. Strains were measured using the digital image correlation (DIC) technique, extensometers, strain gauges, and actuators. Effects of triaxiality state of stress were studied. Cubic, prismatic, and cylindrical compression samples undergo stress drop at yield, but it was found that only cubic samples experience strain hardening before failure. Characteristic points of tensile and compressive stress strain relation and load deflection curve in flexure were measured and their variations with strain rate studied. Two different stress strain models were used to investigate the effect of out-of-plane loading on the uniaxial stress strain response of the epoxy resin material. The first model is a strain softening with plastic flow for tension and compression. The influence of softening localization on material behavior was investigated using the DIC system. It was found that compression plastic flow has negligible influence on flexural behavior in epoxy resins, which are stronger in pre-peak and post-peak softening in compression than in tension. The second model was a piecewise-linear stress strain curve simplified in the post-peak response. Beams and plates with different boundary conditions were tested and analytically studied. The flexural over-strength factor for epoxy resin polymeric materials were also evaluated.
ContributorsYekani Fard, Masoud (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Li, Jian (Committee member) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Rajadas, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
Iodide-based ionic liquids have been widely employed as sources of iodide in electrolytes for applications utilizing the triiodide/iodide redox couple. While adding a low-viscosity solvent such as water to ionic liquids can greatly enhance their usefulness, mixtures of highly viscous iodide-containing ILs with water have never been studied. Thus, this

Iodide-based ionic liquids have been widely employed as sources of iodide in electrolytes for applications utilizing the triiodide/iodide redox couple. While adding a low-viscosity solvent such as water to ionic liquids can greatly enhance their usefulness, mixtures of highly viscous iodide-containing ILs with water have never been studied. Thus, this paper investigates, for the first time, mixtures of water and the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide ([BMIM][I]) through a combined experimental and molecular dynamics study. The density, melting point, viscosity and conductivity of these mixtures were measured experimentally. The composition region below 50% water by mole was found to be dramatically different from the region above 50% water, with trends in density and melting point differing before and after that point. Water was found to have a profound effect on viscosity and conductivity of the IL, and the effect of hydrogen bonding was discussed. Molecular dynamics simulations representing the same mixture compositions were performed. Molecular ordering was observed, as were changes in this ordering corresponding to water content. Molecular ordering was related to the experimentally measured mixture properties, providing a possible explanation for the two distinct composition regions identified by experiment.
ContributorsNgan, Miranda L (Author) / Dai, Lenore (Thesis director) / Nofen, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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Description
Carbon nanotube (CNT) membranes (buckypaper) are manufactured with multiple procedures, vacuum filtration, surfactant-free, and 3D printing. A post-manufacturing process for resin impregnation is subjected to the membranes. The effects of manufacturing processes on the microstructure and material properties are investigated for both pristine and resin saturated samples manufactured using all

Carbon nanotube (CNT) membranes (buckypaper) are manufactured with multiple procedures, vacuum filtration, surfactant-free, and 3D printing. A post-manufacturing process for resin impregnation is subjected to the membranes. The effects of manufacturing processes on the microstructure and material properties are investigated for both pristine and resin saturated samples manufactured using all procedures. Microstructural characteristics that are studied include specific surface area, porosity, pore size distribution, density, and permeability. Scanning electron microscopy is used to characterize the morphology of the membrane. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis is conducted on membrane samples to determine the specific surface area. Barrett-Joyner-Halenda analysis is conducted on membrane samples to determine pore characteristics. Once the microstructure is characterized for each manufacturing process for both pristine and resin saturated samples, material properties of the membrane and nanocomposite structures are explored and compared on a manufacturing basis as well as a microstructural basis. Membranes samples are interleaved in the overlap of carbon fiber polymer matrix composite tubes, which are subjected to fracture testing. The effects of carbon nanotube membrane manufacturing technology on the fracture properties of nanocomposite structures with tubular geometries are explored. In parallel, the influences of manufacturing technology on the electromechanical properties of the membrane that effect a piezoresistive response are investigated for both pristine and resin saturated membranes manufactured using both methods. The result of this study is a better understanding of the relationships between manufacturing technology and the effected microstructure, and the resulting influences on material properties for both CNT membranes and derivative nanocomposite structures. Developing an understanding of these multiscale relationships leads to an increased capacity in designing manufacturing processes specific to optimizing the expression of desired characteristics for any given application.
ContributorsWoodward, John Michael (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis director) / Yekani Fard, Masoud (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
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Description
The problem of catastrophic damage purveys in any material application, and minimizing its occurrence is paramount for general health and safety. Thus, novel damage detection schemes are required that can sense the precursors to damage. Mechanochemistry is the area of research that involves the use of mechanical force to induce

The problem of catastrophic damage purveys in any material application, and minimizing its occurrence is paramount for general health and safety. Thus, novel damage detection schemes are required that can sense the precursors to damage. Mechanochemistry is the area of research that involves the use of mechanical force to induce a chemical change, with recent study focusing on directing the mechanical force to embedded mechanophore units for a targeted chemical response. Mechanophores are molecular units that provide a measureable signal in response to an applied force, often in the form of a visible color change or fluorescent emission, and their application to thermoset network polymers has been limited. Following preliminary work on polymer blends of cyclobutane-based mechanophores and epoxy, dimeric 9-anthracene carboxylic acid (Di-AC)-based mechanophore particles were synthesized and employed to form stress sensitive particle reinforced epoxy matrix composites.

Under an applied stress, the cyclooctane-rings in the Di-AC particles revert back to their fluorescent anthracene form, which linearly enhances the overall fluorescence of the composite in response to the applied strain. The fluorescent signal further allows for stress sensing in the elastic region of the stress-strain curve, which is considered to be a form of damage precursor detection. This behavior was further analyzed at the molecular scale with corresponding molecular dynamics simulations. Following the successful application of Di-AC to an epoxy matrix, the mechanophore particles were incorporated into a polyurethane matrix to show the universal nature of Di-AC as a stress-sensitive particle filler. Interestingly, in polyurethane Di-AC could successfully detect damage with less applied strain compared to the epoxy system.

While mechanophores of varying chemistries have been covalently incorporated into elastomeric and thermoplastic polymer systems, they have not yet been covalently incorporated a thermoset network polymer. Thus, following the study of mechanophore particles as stress-sensitive fillers, two routes of grafting mechanophore units into an epoxy system to form a self-sensing nanocomposite were explored. These involved the mechanophore precursor and mechanophore, cinnamamide and di-cinnamamide, respectively. With both molecules, the free amine groups can directly bond to epoxy resin to covalently incorporate themselves within the thermoset network to form a self-sensing nanocomposite.
ContributorsNofen, Elizabeth (Author) / Dai, Lenore L (Thesis advisor) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Emady, Heather (Committee member) / Mu, Bin (Committee member) / Nielsen, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
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Description
Poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) with an intrinsically conducting pyrrole polymer (ICP) backbone were synthesized and utilized as novel dispersants of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in various polar and nonpolar solvents. This is due to their highly tunable nature, in which the anions can be easily exchanged to form PILs of varying polarity

Poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) with an intrinsically conducting pyrrole polymer (ICP) backbone were synthesized and utilized as novel dispersants of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in various polar and nonpolar solvents. This is due to their highly tunable nature, in which the anions can be easily exchanged to form PILs of varying polarity but with the same polycation. These CNT dispersions were exceedingly stable over many months, and with the addition of hexane, Pickering emulsions with the PIL-stabilized CNTs at the droplet interfaces were formed. Depending on the hydrophobicity of the PIL, hexane-in-water and hexane-in-acetonitrile emulsions were formed, the latter marking the first non-aqueous stabilized-CNT emulsions and corresponding CNT-in-acetonitrile dispersion, further advancing the processability of CNTs. The PIL-stabilized CNT Pickering emulsion droplets generated hollow conductive particles by subsequent drying of the emulsions. With the emulsion templating, the hollow shells can be used as a payload carrier, depending on the solubility of the payload in the droplet phase of the emulsion. This was demonstrated with silicon nanoparticles, which have limited solubility in aqueous environments, but great scientific interest due to their potential electrochemical applications. Overall, this work explored a new class of efficient PIL-ICP hybrid stabilizers with tunable hydrophobicity, offering extended stability of carbon nanotube dispersions with novel applications in hollow particle formation via Pickering emulsion templating and in placing payloads into the shells.
ContributorsHom, Conrad Oliver (Co-author) / Chatterjee, Prithwish (Co-author) / Nofen, Elizabeth (Co-author, Committee member) / Xu, Wenwen (Co-author) / Jiang, Hanqing (Co-author) / Dai, Lenore (Co-author, Thesis director) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
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Description
Damage and failure of advanced composite materials and structures are often manifestations of nonlinear deformation that involve multiple mechanisms and their interactions at the constituent length scale. The presence and interactions of inelastic microscale constituents strongly influence the macroscopic damage anisotropy and useful residual life. The mechano-chemical interactions between constituents

Damage and failure of advanced composite materials and structures are often manifestations of nonlinear deformation that involve multiple mechanisms and their interactions at the constituent length scale. The presence and interactions of inelastic microscale constituents strongly influence the macroscopic damage anisotropy and useful residual life. The mechano-chemical interactions between constituents at the atomistic length scale play a more critical role with nanoengineered composites. Therefore, it is desirable to link composite behavior to specific microscopic constituent properties explicitly and lower length scale features using high-fidelity multiscale modeling techniques.In the research presented in this dissertation, an atomistically-informed multiscale modeling framework is developed to investigate damage evolution and failure in composites with radially-grown carbon nanotube (CNT) architecture. A continuum damage mechanics (CDM) model for the radially-grown CNT interphase region is developed with evolution equations derived using atomistic simulations. The developed model is integrated within a high-fidelity generalized method of cells (HFGMC) micromechanics theory and is used to parametrically investigate the influence of various input micro and nanoscale parameters on the mechanical properties, such as elastic stiffness, strength, and toughness. In addition, the inter-fiber stresses and the onset of damage in the presence of the interphase region are investigated to better understand the energy dissipation mechanisms that attribute to the enhancement in the macroscopic out-of-plane strength and toughness. Note that the HFGMC theory relies heavily on the description of microscale features and requires many internal variables, leading to high computational costs. Therefore, a novel reduced-order model (ROM) is also developed to surrogate full-field nonlinear HFGMC simulations and decrease the computational time and memory requirements of concurrent multiscale simulations significantly. The accurate prediction of composite sandwich materials' thermal stability and durability remains a challenge due to the variability of thermal-related material coefficients at different temperatures and the extensive use of bonded fittings. Consequently, the dissertation also investigates the thermomechanical performance of a complex composite sandwich space structure subject to thermal cycling. Computational finite element (FE) simulations are used to investigate the intrinsic failure mechanisms and damage precursors in honeycomb core composite sandwich structures with adhesively bonded fittings.
ContributorsVenkatesan, Karthik Rajan (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Liu, Yongming (Committee member) / Jiao, Yang (Committee member) / Yekani Fard, Masoud (Committee member) / Stoumbos, Tom (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
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Description
Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) are a promising engineering material because of their multifunctionality and desirable mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. The mechanical and fracture properties of CFRPs rely on effective stress transfer from the bulk matrix to individual carbon fibers. Pristine carbon fibers (CF) are chemically unreactive and smooth,

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) are a promising engineering material because of their multifunctionality and desirable mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. The mechanical and fracture properties of CFRPs rely on effective stress transfer from the bulk matrix to individual carbon fibers. Pristine carbon fibers (CF) are chemically unreactive and smooth, which inhibits stress transfer mechanisms and makes CF susceptible to matrix debonding. Current composite research aims to improve the synergy between the CF and surrounding matrix by engineering the interphase. The composite interphase is characterized by mechanical properties deviating from the fiber and matrix properties. Carbon nanotubes (CNT), graphene nanoplatelets, and other carbon nanofillers have been studied extensively for their interphase-enhancing capabilities.
ContributorsPensky, Alek R (Author) / Yekani Fard, Masoud (Thesis director) / Zhu, Haolin (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05