Complex dependence on the elastically active chains density of the strain induced crystallization of vulcanized natural rubbers, from low to high strain rate

Strain Induced Crystallization (SIC) of Natural Rubbers (NR) with different network chain densities (¿) is studied. For the weakly vulcanized rubber, the melting stretching ratio ¿m at room temperature is the lowest. This is correlated with larger crystallites in this material measured by in situ WAXS, suggesting their higher thermal stability. SIC kinetics is then studied via stretching at various strain rates (from 5.6 × 10-5 s-1 up to 2.8 × 101 s-1). For the slowest strain rates, SIC onset (¿c) is clearly the lowest in weakly vulcanized rubber. By increasing the strain rate, ¿c of the different materials increase and converge. For the highest strain rates, ¿c values still increase but less rapidly for the weakly vulcanized sample. This complex dependence on the elastically active chains (EAC) density of SIC has been confirmed by in situ WAXS during dynamic experiments and interpreted as a consequence of both the polymer chain network topology and of the entanglements dynamics.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Characteristic-time of strain induced crystallization of crosslinked natural rubber

International audienceReal time Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS) measurements during cyclic tensile tests at high strain rates (from 8 s−1–280 s−1) and at room temperature on crosslinked Natural Rubber (NR) are performed thanks to a specific homemade device. From the observed influence of the frequency on the crystallization index at the maximum sample elongation, a characteristic crystallization time is deduced. This is done taking into account the material self-heating during such unusually high strain rates. Two regimes for the dynamic process of strain induced crystallization are evidenced. For the NR tested, the obtained characteristic time is around 20 ms when the material average elongation during the cyclic test is above a critical elongation value λc. λc is the minimum elongation needed to induce crystallization during low strain rate tensile tests. Moreover, a rapid increase of this characteristic time is found when the average elongation decreases below this critical value

Strain induced crystallization and melting of natural rubber during dynamic cycles

Strain-induced crystallization (SIC) of natural rubber (NR) is studied during dynamic cycles at high frequencies (with equivalent strain rates ranging from 7.2 s-1 to 290 s-1). The testing parameters are varied: the frequency, the temperature and the stretching ratio domain. It is found that an increase of the frequency leads to an unexpected form of the CI–¿ curve, with a decrease of the crystallinity during both loading and unloading steps of the cycle. Nevertheless, the interpretation of the curves needs to take into account several phenomena such as (i) instability of the crystallites generated during the loading step, which increases with the frequency, (ii) the memory of the previous alignment of the chains, which depends on the minimum stretching ratio of the cycle ¿min and the frequency, and (iii) self-heating which makes the crystallite nucleation more difficult and their melting easier. Thus, when the stretching ratio domain is above the expected stretching ratio at complete melting ¿melt, the combination of these phenomena, at high frequencies, leads to unexpected results such as complete melting at ¿min, and hysteresis in the CI–¿ curves.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Porous ceramic scaffolds with complex architectures

This work compares two novel techniques for the fabrication of ceramic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering with complex porosity: robocasting and freeze casting. Both techniques are based on the preparation of concentrated ceramic suspensions with suitable properties for the process. In robocasting, the computer-guided deposition of the suspensions is used to build porous materials with designed three dimensional (3-D) geometries and microstructures. Freeze casting uses ice crystals as a template to form porous lamellar ceramic materials. Preliminary results on the compressive strengths of the materials are also reported

Tough, bio-inspired hybrid materials

The notion of mimicking natural structures in the synthesis of new structural materials has generated enormous interest but has yielded few practical advances. Natural composites achieve strength and toughness through complex hierarchical designs extremely difficult to replicate synthetically. Here we emulate Nature's toughening mechanisms through the combination of two ordinary compounds, aluminum oxide and polymethylmethacrylate, into ice-templated structures whose toughness can be over 300 times (in energy terms) that of their constituents. The final product is a bulk hybrid ceramic material whose high yield strength and fracture toughness ({approx}200 MPa and {approx}30 MPa{radical}m) provide specific properties comparable to aluminum alloys. These model materials can be used to identify the key microstructural features that should guide the synthesis of bio-inspired ceramic-based composites with unique strength and toughness

First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

Spinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signalto- noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far

First measurement of the Hubble Constant from a Dark Standard Siren using the Dark Energy Survey Galaxies and the LIGO/Virgo Binary–Black-hole Merger GW170814

International audienceWe present a multi-messenger measurement of the Hubble constant H 0 using the binary–black-hole merger GW170814 as a standard siren, combined with a photometric redshift catalog from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The luminosity distance is obtained from the gravitational wave signal detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) on 2017 August 14, and the redshift information is provided by the DES Year 3 data. Black hole mergers such as GW170814 are expected to lack bright electromagnetic emission to uniquely identify their host galaxies and build an object-by-object Hubble diagram. However, they are suitable for a statistical measurement, provided that a galaxy catalog of adequate depth and redshift completion is available. Here we present the first Hubble parameter measurement using a black hole merger. Our analysis results in , which is consistent with both SN Ia and cosmic microwave background measurements of the Hubble constant. The quoted 68% credible region comprises 60% of the uniform prior range [20, 140] km s−1 Mpc−1, and it depends on the assumed prior range. If we take a broader prior of [10, 220] km s−1 Mpc−1, we find (57% of the prior range). Although a weak constraint on the Hubble constant from a single event is expected using the dark siren method, a multifold increase in the LVC event rate is anticipated in the coming years and combinations of many sirens will lead to improved constraints on H 0

A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant

On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO 1 and Virgo 2 detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system 3 . Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source 4-6 . This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities 7 , resulting in the identification 8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren' 14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder' 19 : the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements 20,21 , while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta