High-Strength Composite Fibers: Realizing True Potential of Carbon Nanotubes in Polymer Matrix through Continuous Reticulate Architecture and Molecular Level Couplings

Carbon nanotubes have unprecedented mechanical properties as defect-free nanoscale building blocks, but their potential has not been fully realized in composite materials due to weakness at the interfaces. Here we demonstrate that through load-transfer-favored three-dimensional architecture and molecular level couplings with polymer chains, true potential of CNTs can be realized in composites as Initially envisioned. Composite fibers with reticulate nanotube architectures show order of magnitude improvement in strength compared to randomly dispersed short CNT reinforced composites reported before. The molecular level couplings between nanotubes and polymer chains results in drastic differences in the properties of thermoset and thermoplastic composite fibers, which indicate that conventional macroscopic composite theory falls to explain the overall hybrid behavior at nanoscale.

Experimental Study Of Multi-Hole Cooling For Integrally-Woven, Ceramic Matrix Composite Walls For Gas Turbine Applications

In this paper, multi-hole cooling is studied for an oxide/oxide ceramic specimen with normal injection holes and for a SiC/SiC ceramic specimen with oblique injection holes. A special purpose heat transfer tunnel was designed and built, which can provide a wide range of Reynolds numbers (10(5)similar to 10(7)) and a large temperature ratio of the primary flow to the coolant (up to 2.5). Cooling effectiveness determined by the measured surface temperature for the two types of ceramic specimens is investigated. It is found that the multi-hole cooling system for both specimens has a high cooling efficiency and it is higher for the SiC/SiC specimen than for the oxide/oxide specimen. Effects on the cooling effectiveness of parameters including blowing ratio, Reynolds number and temperature ratio, are studied. In addition, profiles of the mean velocity and temperature above the cooling surface are measured to provide further understanding of the cooling process. Duplication of the key parameters for multi-hole cooling, for a representative combustor flow condition (without radiation effects), is achieved with parameter scaling and the results show the high efficiency of multi-hole cooling for the oblique hole, SiC/SiC specimen. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development And Characterization Of Composite Ni-Cr-C-Caf2 Laser Cladding On Gamma-Tial Intermetallic Alloy

A process of laser cladding Ni-CF-C-CaF2 mixed powders to form a multifunctional composite coatingd on gamma-TiAl substrate was carried out. The microstructure of the coating was examined using XRD, SEM and EDS. The coating has a unique microstructure consisting of primary dendrite or short-stick TiC and block Al4C3 carbides reinforcement as well as fine isolated spherical CaF2 solid lubrication particles uniformly dispersed in the NiCrAlTi (gamma) matrix. The average microhardness of the composite coatings is approximately HV 650 and it is 2-factor greater than that of the TiAl substrate. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influences Of Precursor Constitution And Processing Speed On Microstructure And Wear Behavior During Laser Clad Composite Coatings On Gamma-Tial Intermetallic Alloy

The effects of constitution of precursor mixed powders and scan speed on microstructure and wear properties were designed and investigated during laser clad gamma/Cr7C3/TiC composite coatings on gamma-TiAl intermetallic alloy substrates with NiCr-Cr3C2 precursor mixed powders. The results indicate that both the constitution of the precursor mixed powders and the beam scan rate have remarkable influence on microstructure and attendant hardness as well as wear resistance of the formed composite coatings. The wear mechanisms of the original TiAl alloy and laser clad composite coatings were investigated. The composite coating with an optimum compromise between constitution of NiCr-Cr3C2 precursor mixed powders as well as being processed under moderate scan speed exhibits the best wear resistance under dry sliding wear test conditions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-strain composites and dual-matrix composite structures

Most space applications require deployable structures due to the limiting size of current launch vehicles. Specifically, payloads in nanosatellites such as CubeSats require very high compaction ratios due to the very limited space available in this typo of platform. Strain-energy-storing deployable structures can be suitable for these applications, but the curvature to which these structures can be folded is limited to the elastic range. Thanks to fiber microbuckling, high-strain composite materials can be folded into much higher curvatures without showing significant damage, which makes them suitable for very high compaction deployable structure applications. However, in applications that require carrying loads in compression, fiber microbuckling also dominates the strength of the material. A good understanding of the strength in compression of high-strain composites is then needed to determine how suitable they are for this type of application.

The goal of this thesis is to investigate, experimentally and numerically, the microbuckling in compression of high-strain composites. Particularly, the behavior in compression of unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced silicone rods (CFRS) is studied. Experimental testing of the compression failure of CFRS rods showed a higher strength in compression than the strength estimated by analytical models, which is unusual in standard polymer composites. This effect, first discovered in the present research, was attributed to the variation in random carbon fiber angles respect to the nominal direction. This is an important effect, as it implies that microbuckling strength might be increased by controlling the fiber angles. With a higher microbuckling strength, high-strain materials could carry loads in compression without reaching microbuckling and therefore be suitable for several space applications.

A finite element model was developed to predict the homogenized stiffness of the CFRS, and the homogenization results were used in another finite element model that simulated a homogenized rod under axial compression. A statistical representation of the fiber angles was implemented in the model. The presence of fiber angles increased the longitudinal shear stiffness of the material, resulting in a higher strength in compression. The simulations showed a large increase of the strength in compression for lower values of the standard deviation of the fiber angle, and a slight decrease of strength in compression for lower values of the mean fiber angle. The strength observed in the experiments was achieved with the minimum local angle standard deviation observed in the CFRS rods, whereas the shear stiffness measured in torsion tests was achieved with the overall fiber angle distribution observed in the CFRS rods.

High strain composites exhibit good bending capabilities, but they tend to be soft out-of-plane. To achieve a higher out-of-plane stiffness, the concept of dual-matrix composites is introduced. Dual-matrix composites are foldable composites which are soft in the crease regions and stiff elsewhere. Previous attempts to fabricate continuous dual-matrix fiber composite shells had limited performance due to excessive resin flow and matrix mixing. An alternative method, presented in this thesis uses UV-cure silicone and fiberglass to avoid these problems. Preliminary experiments on the effect of folding on the out-of-plane stiffness are presented. An application to a conical log-periodic antenna for CubeSats is proposed, using origami-inspired stowing schemes, that allow a conical dual-matrix composite shell to reach very high compaction ratios.