BLENDS OF POLY[3,3-BIS(CHLOROMETHYL)OXETANE] WITH POLY(VINYL ACETATE) .1. THERMAL AND MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES

Blends of poly[3,3-bis(chloromethyl)oxetane] (Penton) with poly(vinyl acetate) were prepared. Compatibility, morphology, thermal behavior, and mechanical properties of blends with various compositions were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical measurements (DMA), tensile tests, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). DMA study showed that the blends have two glass transition temperatures (T(g)). The T(g) of the PVAc rich phase shifts significantly to lower temperatures with increasing Penton content, suggesting that a considerable amount of Penton dissolves in the PVAc rich phase, but that the Penton rich phase contains little PVAc. The Penton/PVAc blends are partially compatible. DSC results suggest that PVAc can act as a beta-nucleator for Penton in the blend. Marked negative deviations from simple additivity were observed for the tensile strength at break over the entire composition range. The Young's modulus curve appeared to be S-shaped, implying that the blends are heterogeneous and have a two-phase structure. This was confirmed by SEM observations.

STUDY ON STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIP OF POLYIMIDE BLENDS .1. A DYNAMIC MECHANICAL STUDY OF THE MISCIBILITY OF POLYIMIDE POLYIMIDE BLENDS

Three pairs of polyimide/polyimide blends (50/50 wt%) with different molecular structures were prepared by two ways, i.e. mixing of the polyamic acid precursors with subsequent imidization, and direct solution mixing of the polyimides. The blends were studied with DMA technique. The results obtained show that all the blends prepared with these two different ways are miscible, as there existed only one glass transition temperature(Tg) for all the blends. It is suggested that the miscibility of these polyimide/polyimide blends is a result of the strong inter-molecular charge-transfer interaction between the chains of their components.

MORPHOLOGY AND DYNAMIC MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF AB CROSS-LINKED POLYMERS BASED ON POLYURETHANES

Polyoxypropylene glycol (PPG) (or castor oil) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI) were mixed, and the prepolymer polyurethane (PU) (I) was formed. Vinyl-terminated polyurethane (II) was prepared from (I), and hydroxyethyl acrylate, AB crosslinked polymers (ABCPs) were synthesized from (II) and vinyl monomers such as styrene, methyl methacrylate, vinyl acetate, etc. The dynamic mechanical properties and morphology of ABCPs were measured. The ABCPs based on PPG have double glass transition temperatures (T(g)) on the sigma-vs. temperature curves. They display a two-phase morphology with plastic components forming the continous phase and PU-rich domains forming the separated phase on the electron micrographs. Irregular shapes and a highly polydisperse distribution of PU-rich domain sizes were observed. The crosslink density of ABCPs has a notable effect on the morphology and properties. The average diameter of the PU-rich domains depends on the molecular weight of prepolymer PPG. The highly crosslinked structures will produce large numbers of very small domains. ABCPs based on castor oil show a single T(g) relaxation on the dynamic mechanical spectra. The compatibility between the two components is much better in ABCPs based on castor oil than in those based on PPG, because there is a high crosslink density in the former. Comparison of the dynamic mechanical spectra of ABCP and interpenetrating networks (IPN) based on castor oil with similar crosslink density and composition imply that the two components in ABCP are compatible whereas microphase separation occurs in IPN. An improvement in the compatibility is achieved by the crosslinking between the two networks.

STUDY ON CYCLODEXTRIN AND ITS INCLUSION COMPLEXES - MOLECULAR MECHANICAL CALCULATION

We studied several inclusion complexes of beta-CD by means of molecular mechanical calculation. The inclusion process and the driving force were discussed, and the conclusion on stability agrees with the results of electrochemical experiments.

STUDY ON POLYANILINE FILM WITH HIGH-DENSITY AND HIGH MECHANICAL STRENGTH

Free-standing film of polyaniline with excellent mechanical and electrical properties has been successfully prepared by using the solution-casting method. The results show that its tensile strength, Young's modulus and elongation at break are about 87.9 MPa, 1563.9 MPa and 10.2%, respectively. It is essential that the soluble polyaniline should be appropriately treated in some suitable organic solvents before making a free-standing film. Films having lustrous, smooth surface, high density and good flexibili...

Effect of mechanical deformation on permeation of hydrogen in iron

Rate of hydrogen permeation was measured under static as well as dynamic mechanical deformation conditions, Cylindrical tensile test specimens were used for the study and hydrogen permeation was measured electrochemically, It was observed that the hydrogen diffusivity decreased as plastic deformation increased for the static deformation experiments while elastic deformation had no significant effect on diffusivity but increased the steady state permeation flux, For the dynamic loading experiment, an elastic deformation increased the hydrogen permeation rate almost linearly. Onset of plastic deformation led a sudden decrease of permeation rate and the reduced rate was rapidly recovered when the plastic deformation ceased. These rapid changes in the permeation rates were explained that the absorbed hydrogen was trapped by dislocations and creation rate and density of dislocations changed drastically when plastic deformation started and stopped.

Pure mechanical wear loss measurement in corrosive wear

The method for the measurement of the pure mechanical wear loss for 321 stainless steel, 1045 steel and pure iron in the study of the synergy between corrosion and wear was studied, The methods studied included the measurement in distilled water, by cathodic protection and by adding inhibitor KI, and all were compared with the wear loss in air. The experiment showed that the pure mechanical wear losses and friction coefficients obtained by the three methods were close to each other and can be used to calculate the various wear components in the study of the interaction of corrosion and wear, but the measurements in distilled water for pure iron and 1045 steel are not recommended due to their corrosion.

Quantitative Inference in a Mechanical Design Compiler

This paper presents the ideas underlying a program that takes as input a schematic of a mechanical or hydraulic power transmission system, plus specifications and a utility function, and returns catalog numbers from predefined catalogs for the optimal selection of components implementing the design. It thus provides the designer with a high level "language" in which to compose new designs, then performs some of the detailed design process for him. The program is based on a formalization of quantitative inferences about hierarchically organized sets of artifacts and operating conditions, which allows design compilation without the exhaustive enumeration of alternatives.

SketchIT: A Sketch Interpretation Tool for Conceptual Mechanical Design

We describe a program called SketchIT capable of producing multiple families of designs from a single sketch. The program is given a rough sketch (drawn using line segments for part faces and icons for springs and kinematic joints) and a description of the desired behavior. The sketch is "rough" in the sense that taken literally, it may not work. From this single, perhaps flawed sketch and the behavior description, the program produces an entire family of working designs. The program also produces design variants, each of which is itself a family of designs. SketchIT represents each family of designs with a "behavior ensuring parametric model" (BEP-Model), a parametric model augmented with a set of constraints that ensure the geometry provides the desired behavior. The construction of the BEP-Model from the sketch and behavior description is the primary task and source of difficulty in this undertaking. SketchIT begins by abstracting the sketch to produce a qualitative configuration space (qc-space) which it then uses as its primary representation of behavior. SketchIT modifies this initial qc-space until qualitative simulation verifies that it produces the desired behavior. SketchIT's task is then to find geometries that implement this qc-space. It does this using a library of qc-space fragments. Each fragment is a piece of parametric geometry with a set of constraints that ensure the geometry implements a specific kind of boundary (qcs-curve) in qc-space. SketchIT assembles the fragments to produce the BEP-Model. SketchIT produces design variants by mapping the qc-space to multiple implementations, and by transforming rotating parts to translating parts and vice versa.