Polyamide Nanocomposites for Selective Laser Sintering

Current polyamide 11 and 12 are lacking in fire retardancy and high strength/high heat resistance characteristics for a plethora of finished parts that are desired and required for performance driven applications. It is anticipated that nanomodification of polyamide 11 and 12 will result in enhanced polymer performance, i.e., fire retardancy, high strength and high heat resistance for polyamide 11 and 12. It is expected that these findings will expand the market opportunities for polyamide 11 and 12 resin manufacturers. The objective of this research is to develop improved polyamide 11 and 12 polymers with enhanced flame retardancy, thermal, and mechanical properties for selective laser sintering (SLS) rapid manufacturing (RM). A nanophase was introduced into the polyamide 11 and 12 via twin screw extrusion to provide improved material properties of the polymer blends. Arkema RILSAN® polyamide 11 molding polymer pellets and Degussa VESTAMID® L1670 polyamide 12 were examined with three types of nanoparticles: chemically modified montmorillonite (MMT) organoclays, surface modified nanosilica, and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) to create polyamide 11 and 12 nanocomposites. Wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to determine the degree of dispersion. Injection molded test specimens were fabricated for physical, thermal, mechanical properties, and flammability tests. Thermal stability of these polyamide 11 and 12 nanocomposites was examined by TGA. Mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, and elongation at break were measured. Flammability properties were also obtained using the Cone Calorimeter at an external heat flux of 50 kW/m2. TEM micrographs, physical, mechanical, and flammability properties are included in the paper. Polyamide 11 and 12 nanocomposites properties are compared with polyamide 11 and 12 baseline polymers. Based on flammability and mechanical material performance, selective polymers including polyamide 11 nanocomposites and control polyamide 11 were cryogenically ground into fine powders and fabricated into SLS parts.Mechanical Engineerin

Innovative Selective Laser Sintering Rapid Manufacturing using Nanotechnology

The objective of this research is to develop an improved nylon 11 (polyamide 11) polymer with enhanced flame retardancy, thermal, and mechanical properties for selective laser sintering (SLS) rapid manufacturing (RM). A nanophase was introduced into nylon 11 via twin screw extrusion to provide improved material properties of the polymer blends. Atofina (now known as Arkema) RILSAN® nylon 11 injection molding polymer pellets was used with three types of nanoparticles: chemically modified montmorillonite (MMT) organoclays, nanosilica, and carbon nanofibers (CNF) to create nylon 11 nanocomposites. Wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to determine the degree of dispersion. Fifteen nylon 11 nanocomposites and control nylon 11 were fabricated by injection molding. Flammability properties (using a cone calorimeter with a radiant flux of 50 kW/m2 ) and mechanical properties such as tensile strength and modulus, flexural modulus, elongation at break were determined for the nylon 11 nanocomposites and compared with the baseline nylon 11. Based on flammability and mechanical material performance, five polymers including four nylon 11 nanocomposites and a control nylon 11 were cryogenically ground into fine powders for SLS RM. SLS specimens were fabricated for flammability, mechanical, and thermal properties characterization. Nylon 11-CNF nanocomposites exhibited the best overall properties for this study.Mechanical Engineerin

Pressure-stabilized tin selenide phase with an unexpected stoichiometry and a predicted superconducting state at low temperatures

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Real time plasma equilibrium reconstruction in a Tokamak

The problem of equilibrium of a plasma in a Tokamak is a free boundary problemdescribed by the Grad-Shafranov equation in axisymmetric configurations. The right hand side of this equation is a non linear source, which represents the toroidal component of the plasma current density. This paper deals with the real time identification of this non linear source from experimental measurements. The proposed method is based on a fixed point algorithm, a finite element resolution, a reduced basis method and a least-square optimization formulation

Interfacial friction in upward annular gas–liquid two-phase flow in pipes

Accurate prediction of interfacial friction between the gas and liquid in annular two-phase flow in pipes is essential for the proper modelling of pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient in pipeline systems. Many empirical relationships have been obtained over the last half century. However, they are restricted to limited superficial liquid and gas velocity ranges, essentially apply to atmospheric pressures, and the relationships are only relevant for pipes with inner diameters between 10 and 50 mm. In this study, we carried out experiments in a large diameter flow loop of 101.6 mm internal diameter with the superficial gas and liquid ranges of 11–29 m/s and 0.1–1.0 m/s respectively. An examination of published interfacial friction factor correlations was carried out using a diverse database which was collected from the open literature for vertical annular flow. The database includes measurements in pipes of 16–127 mm inner diameter for the liquid film thickness, interfacial shear stress, and pressure gradient for air-water, air-water/glycerol, and argon-water flows. Eleven studies are represented with experimental pressures of up to 6 bar. Significant discrepancies were found between many of the published correlations and the large pipe data, primarily in the thick film region at low interfacial shear stress. A correlation for the interfacial friction factor was hence derived using the extensive database. The correlation includes dimensionless numbers for the effect of the diameter across pipe scales to be better represented and better fit the wide range of experimental conditions, fluid properties, and operating pressures

Automatic recognition of lactating sow behaviors through depth image processing

Manual observation and classification of animal behaviors is laborious, time-consuming, and of limited ability to process large amount of data. A computer vision-based system was developed that automatically recognizes sow behaviors (lying, sitting, standing, kneeling, feeding, drinking, and shifting) in farrowing crate. The system consisted of a low-cost 3D camera that simultaneously acquires digital and depth images and a software program that detects and identifies the sow’s behaviors. This paper describes the computational algorithm for the analysis of depth images and presents its performance in recognizing the sow’s behaviors as compared to manual recognition. The images were acquired at 6 s intervals on three days of a 21-day lactation period. Based on analysis of the 6 s interval images, the algorithm had the following accuracy of behavioral classification: 99.9% in lying, 96.4% in sitting, 99.2% in standing, 78.1% in kneeling, 97.4% in feeding, 92.7% in drinking, and 63.9% in transitioning between behaviors. The lower classification accuracy for the transitioning category presumably stemmed from insufficient frequency of the image acquisition which can be readily improved. Hence the reported system provides an effective way to automatically process and classify the sow’s behavioral images. This tool is conducive to investigating behavioral responses and time budget of lactating sows and their litters to farrowing crate designs and management practices

Targeted online liquid chromatography electron capture dissociation mass spectrometry for the localization of sites of in vivo phosphorylation in human Sprouty2

We demonstrate a strategy employing collision-induced dissociation for phosphopeptide discovery, followed by targeted electron capture dissociation (ECD) for site localization. The high mass accuracy and low background noise of the ECD mass spectra allow facile sequencing of coeluting isobaric phosphopeptides, with up to two isobaric phosphopeptides sequenced from a single mass spectrum. In contrast to the previously described neutral loss of dependent ECD method, targeted ECD allows analysis of both phosphotyrosine peptides and lower abundance phosphopeptides. The approach was applied to phosphorylation analysis of human Sprouty2, a regulator of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling. Fifteen sites of phosphorylation were identified, 11 of which are novel