MODELING FUNCTIONALLY GRADED INTERPHASE REGIONS IN CARBON NANOTUBE REINFORCED COMPOSITES

A combination of micromechanics methods and molecular dynamics simulations are used to obtain the effective properties of the carbon nanotube reinforced composites with functionally graded interphase regions. The multilayer composite cylinders method accounts for the effects of non-perfect load transfer in carbon nanotube reinforced polymer matrix composites using a piecewise functionally graded interphase. The functional form of the properties in the interphase region, as well as the interphase thickness, is derived from molecular dynamics simulations of carbon nanotubes in a polymer matrix. Results indicate that the functional form of the interphase can have a significant effect on all the effective elastic constants except for the effective axial modulus for which no noticeable effects are evident

Phase Transformation Characteristics of High-Temperature Shape Memory Alloy under Tension, Compression, and Bending Actuation Cycling

Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are a unique class of intermetallic alloys that can cyclically sustain large deformations and recover a designed geometry through a solid-to-solid phase transformation. SMAs provide favorable actuation energy density properties, making them suitable for engineering applications requiring a significant, repeated, work output. To facilitate the development and validation of an SMA constitutive model considering the evolving anisotropic material response for High-Temperature SMA (HTSMA), uniaxial and pure bending actuation cycling tests on HTSMA specimens are performed by a custom-built testing frames. The phase transformation characteristics for Ni$_{50.3}$TiHf$_{20}$ HTSMA under uniaxial tension/compression and four-point bending actuation cycles are investigated. The experimental results show that the polycrystalline HTSMAs has a strong tension-compression asymmetry under uniaxial actuation cycling loading conditions. Furthermore, the four-point beam bending test shows that there is an intrinsic phenomenon when HTSMAs are subjected to cyclic actuation bending conditions, i.e., the zero-strain neutral axis shifts as a result of the asymmetric tension-compression phase transformations and the asymmetric generation of TRIP strains on different sides of the beam. The conducted experiments provide invaluable information to develop and improve the SMA constitutive model considering tension-compression asymmetry and TRIP strain generation within a unified modeling effort. As future work, additional experiments on other HTSMA components, such as torque tubes and specimens with notches or cutouts, under actuation cycling would provide more comprehensive validation data and component performance for HTSMA-based actuators

FABRICATION OF Bi NANOWIRES USING A VACUUM MELTING AND MECHANICAL INJECTION TECHNIQUE

ABSTRACT A mechanical pressure injection technique has been developed to fabricate uniform metallic nanowires in the pores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template. The AAO template was prepared from general purity aluminum by a two-step anodization followed by heat treatment to achieve highly ordered nanochannels. The nanowires were fabricated by an injection process using a hydraulic pressure method. A mold containing the AAO template and a metal foil was placed inside a vacuum chamber and heated up to the melting temperature of the given metal using a hot plate. The hot chamber was then removed from the hot plate and pressure was applied on the melt through the sliding column of the chamber, using a hydraulic jack to impregnate the molten metal into the nanochannels of the AAO. The nanowires were found to be dense and continuous with uniform diameter throughout their length. Diffraction experiment in the transmission electron microscope revealed that individual nanowires are single crystalline. This paper will present the fabrication process of the AAO template, and the fabrication of Bi nanowires as well as their characterization conducted using SEM, TEM, XRD and DSC

Influence of Test Procedures on the Thermomechanical Properties of a 55NiTi Shape Memory Alloy

Over the past few decades, binary NiTi shape memory alloys have received attention due to their unique mechanical characteristics, leading to their potential use in low-temperature, solid-state actuator applications. However, prior to using these materials for such applications, the physical response of these systems to mechanical and thermal stimuli must be thoroughly understood and modeled to aid designers in developing SMA-enabled systems. Even though shape memory alloys have been around for almost five decades, very little effort has been made to standardize testing procedures. Although some standards for measuring the transformation temperatures of SMA s are available, no real standards exist for determining the various mechanical and thermomechanical properties that govern the usefulness of these unique materials. Consequently, this study involved testing a 55NiTi alloy using a variety of different test methodologies. All samples tested were taken from the same heat and batch to remove the influence of sample pedigree on the observed results. When the material was tested under constant-stress, thermal-cycle conditions, variations in the characteristic material responses were observed, depending on test methodology. The transformation strain and irreversible strain were impacted more than the transformation temperatures, which only showed an affect with regard to applied external stress. In some cases, test methodology altered the transformation strain by 0.005-0.01mm/mm, which translates into a difference in work output capability of approximately 2 J/cu cm (290 in!lbf/cu in). These results indicate the need for the development of testing standards so that meaningful data can be generated and successfully incorporated into viable models and hardware. The use of consistent testing procedures is also important when comparing results from one research organization to another. To this end, differences in the observed responses will be presented, contrasted and rationalized, in hopes of eventually developing standardized testing procedures for shape memory alloys

Micromechanics Modeling of Functionally Graded Interphase Regions in Carbon Nanotube-Polymer Composites

The effective elastic properties of a unidirectional carbon fiber/epoxy lamina in which the carbon fibers are coated with single-walled carbon nanotubes are modeled herein through the use of a multi-scale method involving the molecular dynamics/equivalent continuum and micromechanics methods. The specific lamina representative volume element studied consists of a carbon fiber surrounded by a region of epoxy containing a radially varying concentration of carbon nanotubes which is then embedded in the pure epoxy matrix. The variable concentration of carbon nanotubes surrounding the carbon fiber results in a functionally graded interphase region as the properties of the interphase region vary according to the carbon nanotube volume fraction. Molecular dynamics and equivalent continuum methods are used to assess the local effective properties of the carbon nanotube/epoxy comprising the interphase region. Micromechanics in the form of the Mori-Tanaka method are then applied to obtain the global effective properties of the graded interphase region wherein the carbon nanotubes are randomly oriented. Finally, the multi-layer composite cylinders micromechanics approach is used to obtain the effective lamina properties from the lamina representative volume element. It was found that even very small quantities of carbon nanotubes (0.36% of lamina by volume) coating the surface of the carbon fibers in the lamina can have a significant effect (8% increase) on the transverse properties of the lamina (E22, k23, G23 and G12) with almost no affect on the lamina properties in the fiber direction (E11 and v12)

Analytic and computational micromechanics of clustering and interphase effects in carbon nanotube composites.

Effective elastic properties for carbon nanotube reinforced composites are obtained through a variety of micromechanics techniques. Using the in-plane elastic properties of graphene, the effective properties of carbon nanotubes are calculated utilizing a composite cylinders micromechanics technique as a first step in a two-step process. These effective properties are then used in the self-consistent and Mori-Tanaka methods to obtain effective elastic properties of composites consisting of aligned single or multi-walled carbon nanotubes embedded in a polymer matrix. Effective composite properties from these averaging methods are compared to a direct composite cylinders approach extended from the work of Hashin and Rosen (1964) and Christensen and Lo (1979). Comparisons with finite element simulations are also performed. The effects of an interphase layer between the nanotubes and the polymer matrix as result of functionalization is also investigated using a multi-layer composite cylinders approach. Finally, the modeling of the clustering of nanotubes into bundles due to interatomic forces is accomplished herein using a tessellation method in conjunction with a multi-phase Mori-Tanaka technique. In addition to aligned nanotube composites, modeling of the effective elastic properties of randomly dispersed nanotubes into a matrix is performed using the Mori-Tanaka method, and comparisons with experimental data are made. Computational micromechanical analysis of high-stiffness hollow fiber nanocomposites is performed using the finite element method. The high-stiffness hollow fibers are modeled either directly as isotropic hollow tubes or equivalent transversely isotropic effective solid cylinders with properties computed using a micromechanics based composite cylinders method. Using a representative volume element for clustered high-stiffness hollow fibers embedded in a compliant matrix with the appropriate periodic boundary conditions, the effective elastic properties are obtained from the finite element results. These effective elastic properties are compared to approximate analytical results found using micromechanics methods. The effects of an interphase layer between the high-stiffness hollow fibers and matrix to simulate imperfect load transfer and/or functionalization of the hollow fibers is also investigated and compared to a multi-layer composite cylinders approach. Finally the combined effects of clustering with fiber-matrix interphase regions are studied. The parametric studies performed herein were motivated by and used properties for single-walled carbon nanotubes embedded in an epoxy matrix, and as such are intended to serve as a guide for continuum level representations of such nanocomposites in a multi-scale modeling approach

Experimental Characterization of a Binary Actuated Parallel Manipulator

This paper describes the BAPAMAN (Binary Actuated Parallel MANipulator) series of parallel manipulators that has been conceived at LARM. Basic common characteristics of BAPAMAN series are described. In particular, it is outlined the use of a reduced number of active degrees of freedom, the use of design solutions with flexural joints and Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuators for achieving miniaturization, cost reduction and easy operation features. Given the peculiarities of BAPAMAN architecture, specific experimental tests have been proposed and carried out with the aim to validate the proposed design and to evaluate the practical operation performance and the characteristics of a built prototype, in particular, in terms of operation and workspace characteristics

Thermomechanical couplings in shape memory alloy materials

In this work we address several theoretical and computational issues which are related to the thermomechanical modeling of shape memory alloy materials. More specifically, in this paper we revisit a non-isothermal version of the theory of large deformation generalized plasticity which is suitable for describing the multiple and complex mechanisms occurring in these materials during phase transformations. We also discuss the computational implementation of a generalized plasticity based constitutive model and we demonstrate the ability of the theory in simulating the basic patterns of the experimentally observed behavior by a set of representative numerical examples