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- All Subjects: Materials Science
- All Subjects: engineering
- Creators: Neithalath, Narayanan
Description
The alkali activation of aluminosilicate materials as binder systems derived from industrial byproducts have been extensively studied due to the advantages they offer in terms enhanced material properties, while increasing sustainability by the reuse of industrial waste and byproducts and reducing the adverse impacts of OPC production. Fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag are commonly used for their content of soluble silica and aluminate species that can undergo dissolution, polymerization with the alkali, condensation on particle surfaces and solidification. The following topics are the focus of this thesis: (i) the use of microwave assisted thermal processing, in addition to heat-curing as a means of alkali activation and (ii) the relative effects of alkali cations (K or Na) in the activator (powder activators) on the mechanical properties and chemical structure of these systems. Unsuitable curing conditions instigate carbonation, which in turn lowers the pH of the system causing significant reductions in the rate of fly ash activation and mechanical strength development. This study explores the effects of sealing the samples during the curing process, which effectively traps the free water in the system, and allows for increased aluminosilicate activation. The use of microwave-curing in lieu of thermal-curing is also studied in order to reduce energy consumption and for its ability to provide fast volumetric heating. Potassium-based powder activators dry blended into the slag binder system is shown to be effective in obtaining very high compressive strengths under moist curing conditions (greater than 70 MPa), whereas sodium-based powder activation is much weaker (around 25 MPa). Compressive strength decreases when fly ash is introduced into the system. Isothermal calorimetry is used to evaluate the early hydration process, and to understand the reaction kinetics of the alkali powder activated systems. A qualitative evidence of the alkali-hydroxide concentration of the paste pore solution through the use of electrical conductivity measurements is also presented, with the results indicating the ion concentration of alkali is more prevalent in the pore solution of potassium-based systems. The use of advanced spectroscopic and thermal analysis techniques to distinguish the influence of studied parameters is also discussed.
ContributorsChowdhury, Ussala (Author) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramanium D. (Committee member) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Concrete is the most widely used infrastructure material worldwide. Production of portland cement, the main binding component in concrete, has been shown to require significant energy and account for approximately 5-7% of global carbon dioxide production. The expected continued increased use of concrete over the coming decades indicates this is an ideal time to implement sustainable binder technologies. The current work aims to explore enhanced sustainability concretes, primarily in the context of limestone and flow. Aspects such as hydration kinetics, hydration product formation and pore structure add to the understanding of the strength development and potential durability characteristics of these binder systems. Two main strategies for enhancing this sustainability are explored in this work: (i) the use of high volume limestone in combination with other alternative cementitious materials to decrease the portland cement quantity in concrete and (ii) the use of geopolymers as the binder phase in concrete. The first phase of the work investigates the use of fine limestone as cement replacement from the perspective of hydration, strength development, and pore structure. The nature of the potential synergistic benefit of limestone and alumina will be explored. The second phase will focus on the rheological characterization of these materials in the fresh state, as well as a more general investigation of the rheological characterization of suspensions. The results of this work indicate several key ideas. (i) There is a potential synergistic benefit for strength, hydration, and pore structure by using alumina and in portland limestone cements, (ii) the limestone in these systems is shown to react to some extent, and fine limestone is shown to accelerate hydration, (iii) rheological characteristics of cementitious suspensions are complex, and strongly dependent on several key parameters including: the solid loading, interparticle forces, surface area of the particles present, particle size distribution of the particles, and rheological nature of the media in which the particles are suspended, and (iv) stress plateau method is proposed for the determination of rheological properties of concentrated suspensions, as it more accurately predicts apparent yield stress and is shown to correlate well with other viscoelastic properties of the suspensions.
ContributorsVance, Kirk (Author) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Committee member) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Chawla, Nikhilesh (Committee member) / Marzke, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The main objective of this study is to investigate the behaviour and applications of strain hardening cement composites (SHCC). Application of SHCC for use in slabs of common configurations was studied and design procedures are prepared by employing yield line theory and integrating it with simplified tri-linear model developed in Arizona State University by Dr. Barzin Mobasher and Dr. Chote Soranakom. Intrinsic material property of moment-curvature response for SHCC was used to derive the relationship between applied load and deflection in a two-step process involving the limit state analysis and kinematically admissible displacements. For application of SHCC in structures such as shear walls, tensile and shear properties are necessary for design. Lot of research has already been done to study the tensile properties and therefore shear property study was undertaken to prepare a design guide. Shear response of textile reinforced concrete was investigated based on picture frame shear test method. The effects of orientation, volume of cement paste per layer, planar cross-section and volume fraction of textiles were investigated. Pultrusion was used for the production of textile reinforced concrete. It is an automated set-up with low equipment cost which provides uniform production and smooth final surface of the TRC. A 3-D optical non-contacting deformation measurement technique of digital image correlation (DIC) was used to conduct the image analysis on the shear samples by means of tracking the displacement field through comparison between the reference image and deformed images. DIC successfully obtained full-field strain distribution, displacement and strain versus time responses, demonstrated the bonding mechanism from perspective of strain field, and gave a relation between shear angle and shear strain.
ContributorsAswani, Karan (Author) / Mobasher, Barzin (Thesis advisor) / Dharmarajan, Subramaniam (Committee member) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
For decades, microelectronics manufacturing has been concerned with failures related to electromigration phenomena in conductors experiencing high current densities. The influence of interconnect microstructure on device failures related to electromigration in BGA and flip chip solder interconnects has become a significant interest with reduced individual solder interconnect volumes. A survey indicates that x-ray computed micro-tomography (µXCT) is an emerging, novel means for characterizing the microstructures' role in governing electromigration failures. This work details the design and construction of a lab-scale µXCT system to characterize electromigration in the Sn-0.7Cu lead-free solder system by leveraging in situ imaging.
In order to enhance the attenuation contrast observed in multi-phase material systems, a modeling approach has been developed to predict settings for the controllable imaging parameters which yield relatively high detection rates over the range of x-ray energies for which maximum attenuation contrast is expected in the polychromatic x-ray imaging system. In order to develop this predictive tool, a model has been constructed for the Bremsstrahlung spectrum of an x-ray tube, and calculations for the detector's efficiency over the relevant range of x-ray energies have been made, and the product of emitted and detected spectra has been used to calculate the effective x-ray imaging spectrum. An approach has also been established for filtering `zinger' noise in x-ray radiographs, which has proven problematic at high x-ray energies used for solder imaging. The performance of this filter has been compared with a known existing method and the results indicate a significant increase in the accuracy of zinger filtered radiographs.
The obtained results indicate the conception of a powerful means for the study of failure causing processes in solder systems used as interconnects in microelectronic packaging devices. These results include the volumetric quantification of parameters which are indicative of both electromigration tolerance of solders and the dominant mechanisms for atomic migration in response to current stressing. This work is aimed to further the community's understanding of failure-causing electromigration processes in industrially relevant material systems for microelectronic interconnect applications and to advance the capability of available characterization techniques for their interrogation.
In order to enhance the attenuation contrast observed in multi-phase material systems, a modeling approach has been developed to predict settings for the controllable imaging parameters which yield relatively high detection rates over the range of x-ray energies for which maximum attenuation contrast is expected in the polychromatic x-ray imaging system. In order to develop this predictive tool, a model has been constructed for the Bremsstrahlung spectrum of an x-ray tube, and calculations for the detector's efficiency over the relevant range of x-ray energies have been made, and the product of emitted and detected spectra has been used to calculate the effective x-ray imaging spectrum. An approach has also been established for filtering `zinger' noise in x-ray radiographs, which has proven problematic at high x-ray energies used for solder imaging. The performance of this filter has been compared with a known existing method and the results indicate a significant increase in the accuracy of zinger filtered radiographs.
The obtained results indicate the conception of a powerful means for the study of failure causing processes in solder systems used as interconnects in microelectronic packaging devices. These results include the volumetric quantification of parameters which are indicative of both electromigration tolerance of solders and the dominant mechanisms for atomic migration in response to current stressing. This work is aimed to further the community's understanding of failure-causing electromigration processes in industrially relevant material systems for microelectronic interconnect applications and to advance the capability of available characterization techniques for their interrogation.
ContributorsMertens, James Charles Edwin (Author) / Chawla, Nikhilesh (Thesis advisor) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Jiao, Yang (Committee member) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Laminated composite materials are used in aerospace, civil and mechanical structural systems due to their superior material properties compared to the constituent materials as well as in comparison to traditional materials such as metals. Laminate structures are composed of multiple orthotropic material layers bonded together to form a single performing part. As such, the layup design of the material largely influences the structural performance. Optimization techniques such as the Genetic Algorithm (GA), Differential Evolution (DE), the Method of Feasible Directions (MFD), and others can be used to determine the optimal laminate composite material layup. In this thesis, sizing, shape and topology design optimization of laminated composites is carried out. Sizing optimization, such as the layer thickness, topology optimization, such as the layer orientation and material and the number of layers present, and shape optimization of the overall composite part contribute to the design optimization process of laminates. An optimization host program written in C++ has been developed to implement the optimization methodology of both population based and numerical gradient based methods. The performance of the composite structural system is evaluated through explicit finite element analysis of shell elements carried out using LS-DYNA. Results from numerical examples demonstrate that optimization design processes can significantly improve composite part performance through implementation of optimum material layup and part shape.
ContributorsMika, Krista (Author) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Thesis advisor) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Committee member) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The studies on aluminosilicate materials to replace traditional construction materials such as ordinary Portland cement(OPC) to reduce the effects caused has been an important research area for the past decades. Many properties like strength have already been studied and the primary focus is to learn about the reaction mechanism and the effect of the parameters on the formed products. The aim of this research was to explore the structural changes and reaction product analysis of geopolymers (Slag & Fly Ash) using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and deconvolution
techniques. Spectroscopic techniques give valuable information at a molecular level but not all methods are economic and simple. To understand the mechanisms of alkali activated aluminosilicate materials, attenuated total reflectance (ATR) FTIR has been used where the effect of the parameters on the reaction products have been analyzed. To analyze complex systems like geopolymers using FTIR, deconvolution techniques help to obtain the properties of a particular peak attributed to a certain molecular vibration.
Time and temperature dependent analysis were done on slag pastes to understand the polymerization of reactive silica in the system with time and temperature variance. For time dependent analysis slag has been activated with sodium and potassium silicates using two different `n'values and three different silica modulus [Ms- (SiO2 /M2O)] values. The temperature dependent analysis was done by curing the samples at 60C and 80C. Similarly fly ash has been studied by activating with alkali hydroxides and alkali silicates. Under the same curing conditions the fly ash samples were evaluated to analyze the effects of added silicates for alkali activation.
The peak shifts in the FTIR explains the changes in the structural nature of the matrix and can be identified using the deconvolution technique. A strong correlation is found between the concentrations of silicate monomer in the activating position of the main Si-O-T (where T is Al/Si) stretching band in the FTIR spectrum, which
gives an indication of the relative changes in the Si/Al ratio. Also, the effect of the cation and silicate concentration in the activating solution has been discussed using the Fourier self deconvolution technique.
techniques. Spectroscopic techniques give valuable information at a molecular level but not all methods are economic and simple. To understand the mechanisms of alkali activated aluminosilicate materials, attenuated total reflectance (ATR) FTIR has been used where the effect of the parameters on the reaction products have been analyzed. To analyze complex systems like geopolymers using FTIR, deconvolution techniques help to obtain the properties of a particular peak attributed to a certain molecular vibration.
Time and temperature dependent analysis were done on slag pastes to understand the polymerization of reactive silica in the system with time and temperature variance. For time dependent analysis slag has been activated with sodium and potassium silicates using two different `n'values and three different silica modulus [Ms- (SiO2 /M2O)] values. The temperature dependent analysis was done by curing the samples at 60C and 80C. Similarly fly ash has been studied by activating with alkali hydroxides and alkali silicates. Under the same curing conditions the fly ash samples were evaluated to analyze the effects of added silicates for alkali activation.
The peak shifts in the FTIR explains the changes in the structural nature of the matrix and can be identified using the deconvolution technique. A strong correlation is found between the concentrations of silicate monomer in the activating position of the main Si-O-T (where T is Al/Si) stretching band in the FTIR spectrum, which
gives an indication of the relative changes in the Si/Al ratio. Also, the effect of the cation and silicate concentration in the activating solution has been discussed using the Fourier self deconvolution technique.
ContributorsMadavarapu, Sateesh Babu (Author) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Committee member) / Marzke, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Commercially pure (CP) and extra low interstitial (ELI) grade Ti-alloys present excellent corrosion resistance, lightweight, and formability making them attractive materials for expanded use in transportation and medical applications. However, the strength and toughness of CP titanium are affected by relatively small variations in their impurity/solute content (IC), e.g., O, Al, and V. This increase in strength is due to the fact that the solute either increases the critical stress required for the prismatic slip systems ({10-10}<1-210>) or activates another slip system ((0001)<11-20>, {10-11}<11-20>). In particular, solute additions such as O can effectively strengthen the alloy but with an attendant loss in ductility by changing the behavior from wavy (cross slip) to planar nature. In order to understand the underlying behavior of strengthening by solutes, it is important to understand the atomic scale mechanism. This dissertation aims to address this knowledge gap through a synergistic combination of density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics. Further, due to the long-range strain fields of the dislocations and the periodicity of the DFT simulation cells, it is difficult to apply ab initio simulations to study the dislocation core structure. To alleviate this issue we developed a multiscale quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics approach (QM/MM) to study the dislocation core. We use the developed QM/MM method to study the pipe diffusion along a prismatic edge dislocation core. Complementary to the atomistic simulations, the Semi-discrete Variational Peierls-Nabarro model (SVPN) was also used to analyze the dislocation core structure and mobility. The chemical interaction between the solute/impurity and the dislocation core is captured by the so-called generalized stacking fault energy (GSFE) surface which was determined from DFT-VASP calculations. By taking the chemical interaction into consideration the SVPN model can predict the dislocation core structure and mobility in the presence and absence of the solute/impurity and thus reveal the effect of impurity/solute on the softening/hardening behavior in alpha-Ti. Finally, to study the interaction of the dislocation core with other planar defects such as grain boundaries (GB), we develop an automated method to theoretically generate GBs in HCP type materials.
ContributorsBhatia, Mehul Anoopkumar (Author) / Solanki, Kiran N (Thesis advisor) / Peralta, Pedro (Committee member) / Jiang, Hanqing (Committee member) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Committee member) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Concrete design has recently seen a shift in focus from prescriptive specifications to performance based specifications with increasing demands for sustainable products. Fiber reinforced composites (FRC) provides unique properties to a material that is very weak under tensile loads. The addition of fibers to a concrete mix provides additional ductility and reduces the propagation of cracks in the concrete structure. It is the fibers that bridge the crack and dissipate the incurred strain energy in the form of a fiber-pullout mechanism. The addition of fibers plays an important role in tunnel lining systems and in reducing shrinkage cracking in high performance concretes. The interest in most design situations is the load where cracking first takes place. Typically the post crack response will exhibit either a load bearing increase as deflection continues, or a load bearing decrease as deflection continues. These behaviors are referred to as strain hardening and strain softening respectively. A strain softening or hardening response is used to model the behavior of different types of fiber reinforced concrete and simulate the experimental flexural response. Closed form equations for moment-curvature response of rectangular beams under four and three point loading in conjunction with crack localization rules are utilized. As a result, the stress distribution that considers a shifting neutral axis can be simulated which provides a more accurate representation of the residual strength of the fiber cement composites. The use of typical residual strength parameters by standards organizations ASTM, JCI and RILEM are examined to be incorrect in their linear elastic assumption of FRC behavior. Finite element models were implemented to study the effects and simulate the load defection response of fiber reinforced shotcrete round discrete panels (RDP's) tested in accordance with ASTM C-1550. The back-calculated material properties from the flexural tests were used as a basis for the FEM material models. Further development of FEM beams were also used to provide additional comparisons in residual strengths of early age samples. A correlation between the RDP and flexural beam test was generated based a relationship between normalized toughness with respect to the newly generated crack surfaces. A set of design equations are proposed using a residual strength correction factor generated by the model and produce the design moment based on specified concrete slab geometry.
ContributorsBarsby, Christopher (Author) / Mobasher, Barzin (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Committee member) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Ultra-concealable multi-threat body armor used by law-enforcement is a multi-purpose armor that protects against attacks from knife, spikes, and small caliber rounds. The design of this type of armor involves fiber-resin composite materials that are flexible, light, are not unduly affected by environmental conditions, and perform as required. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) characterizes this type of armor as low-level protection armor. NIJ also specifies the geometry of the knife and spike as well as the strike energy levels required for this level of protection. The biggest challenges are to design a thin, lightweight and ultra-concealable armor that can be worn under street clothes. In this study, several fundamental tasks involved in the design of such armor are addressed. First, the roles of design of experiments and regression analysis in experimental testing and finite element analysis are presented. Second, off-the-shelf materials available from international material manufacturers are characterized via laboratory experiments. Third, the calibration process required for a constitutive model is explained through the use of experimental data and computer software. Various material models in LS-DYNA for use in the finite element model are discussed. Numerical results are generated via finite element simulations and are compared against experimental data thus establishing the foundation for optimizing the design.
ContributorsVokshi, Erblina (Author) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Thesis advisor) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Committee member) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Concrete is relatively brittle, and its tensile strength is typically only about one-tenth of its compressive strength. Regular concrete is therefore normally uses reinforcement steel bars to increase the tensile strength. It is becoming increasingly popular to use random distributed fibers as reinforcement and polymeric fibers is once such kind. In the case of polymeric fibers, due to hydrophobicity and lack of any chemical bond between the fiber and matrix, the weak interface zone limits the ability of the fibers to effectively carry the load that is on the matrix phase. Depending on the fiber’s surface asperity, shape, chemical nature, and mechanical bond characteristic of the load transfer between matrix and fiber can be altered so that the final composite can be improved. These modifications can be carried out by means of thermal treatment, mechanical surface modifications, or chemical changes The objective of this study is to measure and document the effect of gamma ray irradiation on the mechanical properties of macro polymeric fibers. The objective is to determine the mechanical properties of macro-synthetic fibers and develop guidelines for treatment and characterization that allow for potential positive changes due to exposure to irradiation. Fibers are exposed to various levels of ionizing radiation and the tensile, interface and performance in a mortar matrix are documented. Uniaxial tensile tests were performed on irradiated fibers to study fiber strength and failure pattern. SEM tests were carried out in order to study the surface characteristic and effect of different radiation dose on polymeric fiber. The interaction of the irradiated fiber with the cement composite was studied by a series of quasi-static pullout test for a specific embedded length. As a final task, flexural tests were carried out for different irradiated fibers to sum up the investigation. An average increase of 13% in the stiffness of the fiber was observed for 5 kGy of radiation. Flexural tests showed an average increase of 181% in the Req3 value and 102 % in the toughness of the sample was observed for 5 kGy of dose.
ContributorsTiwari, Sanchay Sushil (Author) / Mobasher, Barzin (Thesis advisor) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Thesis advisor) / Dharmarajan, Subramaniam (Committee member) / Holbert, Keith E. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018