Search results for "MECHANICS"

Partial Discharge Tests Using CIGRE Method II Upon Nanocomposite Epoxy Resins

2007

Nanocomposite polymers are becoming a new family of dielectric materials with promising insulating properties. In order to apply this technology to insulation systems, a study about the material longterm endurance (life) is needed. In this paper results from comparative life tests performed upon base and nanostructured epoxy resin samples are presented. The nanofiller is a organophillic-modified ultra-clean montmorillonite. Specimens were subjected to ageing under surface discharge phenomena using a standard electrode configuration, that is the CIGRE method II. Life data and partial discharge phase resolved patterns, acquired during time under stress, are presented and commented, in order t…

Numerical model for composite material with polymer matrix reinforced by carbon nanotubes

2008

Due to the high stiffness and strength, as well as their ability to act as conductors, carbon nanotubes are under intense investigation as fillers in polymeric materials. The nature of the carbon nanotube/polymer bonding and the curvature of the carbon nanotubes within the polymer have arisen as particular factors in the efficacy of the carbon nanotubes to actually provide any enhanced stiffness or strength to the nanocomposite. Here the effects of carbon nanotube curvature and interface interaction with the matrix on the nanocomposite stiffness are investigated using nanomechanical analysis. In particular, the effects of poor bonding and thus poor shear lag load transfer to the carbon nano…

A numerical-analytical model for the characterization of composites reinforced by carbon nanotubes

2010

A mixed model, numerical-analytical, is presented that allows one to predict the elastic properties of carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer composites containing a random distribution of CNTs, while taking account of the curvature that they show when immersed in the polymer. This hybrid approach is a significant advance over micromechanical modeling and can be applied to all nanostructured composites.

Effect of the orientation and rheological behaviour of biodegradable polymer nanocomposites

2014

Abstract The recent increasing interest towards biodegradable polymers has favoured the investigation on these systems, showing also their limits. On the other hand, the success achieved by nanocomposites has fostered the search for new systems where the polymer matrix is biodegradable. The final properties can depend on a number of factors, including the biodegradable polymer used as well as the nanosized filler, their mutual compatibility, the filler dispersion and the processing conditions. In this work, nanocomposites based on a starch-derived matrix and three different lamellar silicates were prepared, and the effects of the elongational flow on the dispersion, the improvement of inter…

Thermomechanical degradation of polyethylene/polyamide 6 blend-clay nanocomposites

2014

Abstract Polymer nanocomposites are gaining a growing interest both in the academia and in the industrial field, because of some specific properties they can assure. However, the rise in the attention from the industry is also leading to concerns about their processing, which can involve issues which are not present in traditional polymers processing; furthermore, additional issues can arise when nanocomposites are based on a polymer blend rather than a single polymer. In this work, a systematic study on thermomechanical degradation and reprocessing behaviour of LDPE/PA6/Cloisite 15A systems has been performed. The characterization was based on rheological, mechanical and morphological anal…

Photoluminescence waveguiding in CdSe and CdTe QDs–PMMA nanocomposite films

2011

In this paper, active planar waveguides based on the incorporation of CdSe and CdTe nanocrystal quantum dots in a polymer matrix are demonstrated. In the case of doping the polymer with both types of quantum dots, the nanocomposite film guides both emitted colors, green (550 nm, CdTe) and orange (600 nm, CdSe). The optical pumping laser can be coupled not only with a standard end-fire coupling system, but also directing the beam to the surface of the sample, indicating a good absorption cross-section and waveguide properties. To achieve these results, a study of the nanocomposite optical properties as a function of the nanocrystal concentration is presented and the optimum conditions are fo…

Metal nanoparticle/polymer superlattice films: Fabrication and control of layer structure

1997

Reversible tuning of a block-copolymer nanostructure via electric fields

2007

Block copolymers consisting of incompatible components self-assemble into microphase-separated domains yielding highly regular structures with characteristic length scales of the order of several tens of nanometres. Therefore, in the past decades, block copolymers have gained considerable potential for nanotechnological applications, such as in nanostructured networks and membranes, nanoparticle templates and high-density data storage media. However, the characteristic size of the resulting structures is usually determined by molecular parameters of the constituent polymer molecules and cannot easily be adjusted on demand. Here, we show that electric d.c. fields can be used to tune the char…

Organolanthanides, catalysts for specific olefin-diene copolymerization: access to new materials

2001

Abstract Non-hindered ansa dicyclopentadienylallyl complexes of samarium, [(CMe2C5H4)2Sm(allyl)]n, and (CMe2C5H4)2Sm(allyl)L (L=THF or allylLi) polymerize isoprene without an aluminum cocatalyst. The polymerizations are highly stereospecific, affording nearly quantitatively 1–4 trans polyisoprene. In the presence of linear 1-olefins, copolymers are formed, with 6–10% of olefin inserted; the 1–4 trans structure of the polyisoprene chain is not altered, and only one olefin molecule is inserted between two polyisoprene fragments. In the common initiator of these three catalytic systems, the (CMe2C5H4)2Sm(allyl) moiety, only one vacant site would be available. As a consequence of the presence o…

Stabilisation of LDPE cross-linked in the presence of peroxides III. Mass spectrometric study of chemical changes taking place in the n-octadecane–di…

2000

Abstract An attempt was made to identify the products of the reaction between dicumyl peroxide and Irganox 1081, carried out in n -octadecane (saturated hydrocarbon), in conditions of fast decomposition of the peroxide (180°C, 5 min). Mass spectrometry (MS) was employed to find m/z values of molecular and fragment ions in analyses of the components ( n -octadecane, dicumyl peroxide, Irganox 1081) and of the following systems: n -octadecane–dicumyl peroxide, n -octadecane–Irganox 1081 and n -octadecane–dicumyl peroxide–Irganox 1081, after holding them at a temperature of 180°C for 5 min. The tendency of sulphur in Irganox 1081 to oxidise, specifically in the presence of dicumyl peroxide, was…