Thermoresponsive gels based on ABA triblock copolymers: Does the asymmetry matter?

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the asymmetry of the triblock copolymers on their thermoresponsive self‐assembly behavior. To this end, nine ABA‐type triblock copolymers with n‐butyl methacrylate and 2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) consisting of the A and the B blocks, respectively, were synthesized. Polymers of three different DMAEMA contents (50, 60, and 70 wt %) were synthesized while varying the length ratio of the two hydrophobic A blocks. Specifically, one symmetric ABA triblock copolymer and two asymmetric ABA′ triblock copolymers with the length of the second A block to be twice or four times bigger than the length of the first A block (AB2A and AB4A triblock copolymer) were synthesized for each DMAEMA composition. Three statistical copolymers were also synthesized for comparison. The thermoresponsive behavior of the copolymers was studied and it was found that the cloud point and rheological properties of the polymers were strongly affected by the architecture (statistical vs. block) and less strongly by the DMAEMA composition and the asymmetry of the polymers. Nevertheless, interestingly the asymmetry of the ABA triblock copolymers did influence the thermoresponsive behavior with the more symmetric polymers presenting a sol–gel transition at lower temperatures. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 2850–2859.     

Investigation of the viscoelastic properties of 4-propoxy-biphenyl-4-carbonitrile

ABSTRACT

We report on the temperature-dependent measurements of dielectric permittivity, birefringence, elastic constants and rotational viscosity for 4-propoxy-biphenyl-4-carbonitrile in the nematic region. The temperature dependence of the three elastic constants was determined from studies of the Freédericksz transition. The thermal dependence of elastic constants shows features similar to the literature (bend > splay > twist). Elastic constants are proportional to the square of the order parameter. Temperature-dependent dielectric characterisation was carried out at a frequency of 10 kHz. The compound shows positive dielectric anisotropy in the nematic phase. The rotational viscosity is found to be relatively low. Temperature dependence of order parameter is estimated using Haller’s method. The figure of merit was also calculated as a function of temperature.     

Elastic distortions in simple piston-cylinder units at pressures up to 100 MPa

Abstract

The study of elastic distortions in piston-cylinder units of primary standards piston gauges is of importance for the improvement of pressure measurement accuracy. Preliminary work (GF. Molinar et al., 1989) on distortion calculations was carried out on a tungsten carbide (t.c.) piston-cylinder of 0.2 cm² nominal effective area in the 100 MPa pressure range. The same calculations are now applied in the study of a similar piston-cylinder unit of hard steel (h.s.). The distortions on the outer surface of the cylinder are measured with strain gages and with a capacitance sensor. The calculated distortions, which can be also derived with other methods (G. Klingenberg 1989, R. Wisniewski et al. 1989), are compared with the experimental results obtained on the outer surface of the cylinder. The present two piston-cylinder units of h.s. and of t.c. were cross-floated up to 100 MPa and the ratio R = f(P) = Ae_h.s./Ae_t.c. obtained experimentally is compared with the calculated.     

Analytical modeling and vibration analysis of fiber reinforced composite hexagon honeycomb sandwich cylindrical-spherical combined shells

Applied Mathematics and Mechanics - This study analyzes and predicts the vibration characteristics of fiber-reinforced composite sandwich (FRCS) cylindrical-spherical (CS) combined shells with...     

Theoretical investigation on the electronic structure,elastic properties, and intrinsic hardness of Si2N20

According to the density functional theory we systematically study the electronic structure, the mechanical prop- erties and the intrinsic hardness of Si2N2O polymorphs using the first-principles method. The elastic constants of four Si2N2O structures are obtained using the stress-strain method. The mechanical moduli （bulk modulus, Young’s mod-ulus, and shear modulus） are evaluated using the Voigt-Reuss-Hill approach. It is found that the tetragonal Si2N2O exhibits a larger mechanical modulus than the other phases. Some empirical methods are used to calculate the Vickers hardnesses of the Si2N2O structures. We further estimate the Vickers hardnesses of the four Si2N2O crystal structures, suggesting all Si2N2O phases are not the superhard compounds. The results imply that the tetragonal Si2N2O is the hardest phase. The hardness of tetragonal Si2N2O is 31.52 GPa which is close to values of β-Si3N4 and γ-Si3N4.     

Slip-line field solution for ultimate bearing capacity of a pipeline on clay soils

A slip-line field solution is presented for the ultimate bearing capacity of the pipeline on a purely-cohesive clay soil, taking into account of circular configuration of the pipe, the pipe embedment, and the pipe-soil interfacial cohesion. The derived bearing capacity factors for a smooth rigid pipe may degenerate into those for the conventional rectangular-shaped strip footing while the pipe embedment approaches zero. Parametric studies indicate that, the pipe-soil interfacial properties have much influence on the bearing capacity for the pipe foundation on clayedy soils.     

基于非局部效应和表面效应的输流碳纳米管稳定性分析简

应用非局部黏弹性夹层梁模型分析双参数弹性介质中输送脉动流碳纳米管的稳定性. 新模型中同时考虑了由管道内、外壁上的薄表面层引起的表面弹性效应和表面残余应力，经典的欧拉梁模型因此通过引入非局部参数和表面参数得到了改进. 用平均法对其控制方程进行求解，得到了管道稳定性区域. 数值算例揭示了纳米材料的非局部效应、表面效应及两个弹性介质参数对管道固有频率、临界流速和动态稳定性的复杂影响，结论可为纳米流体机械的结构设计和振动分析提供理论基础.     

Dynamic stress intensity factors of two 3D rectangular cracks in a transversely isotropic elastic material under a time-harmonic elastic P-wave

The dynamic stress intensity factors (DSIFs) of two 3D rectangular cracks in a transversely isotropic elastic material under an incident harmonic stress wave are investigated by generalized Almansi’s theorem and the Schmidt method in the present paper. Using 2D Fourier transform and defining the jumps of displacement components across the crack surface as the unknown functions, three pairs of dual integral equations are derived. To solve the dual integral equations, the jumps of the displacement components across the crack surfaces are expanded in a series of Jacobi polynomials. Numerical examples are provided to show the effects of the geometric shape of the rectangular crack, the characteristics of the harmonic wave and the distance between two rectangular cracks on the DSIFs of the transversely isotropic elastic material.     

Characterization of well‐defined poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels prepared by thiol‐ene chemistry

Considering the large number of applications for hydrogels, a better understanding of the relation between molecular structure and mechanical properties for well‐defined hydrogel is essential. A new library has been compiled of poly(ethylene glycol) polymers (PEG) of different length end functionalized with diallyl, dithiol, and dimethacrylate, and crosslinked with complementary trifunctional crosslinkers. In this study, the hydrogels were initially analyzed by FT‐Raman and NMR to study the conversion ratio of the functional groups. The effects of solvent type, solid content concentration, curing time and length of the PEG chains on the final leaching, swelling and tensile properties of the hydrogels were studied. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011