Yielding of glassy polymers in the second quadrant of principal stress space

Second quadrant crazing and shear yielding studies were performed on glassy poly(methyl methacrylate) by means of combined torsion-tension loading. The results are in quantitative agreement with the shear and normal stress yielding criteria proposed by Sternstein and Ongchin. It is shown that four distinct regions of material response exist in the second quadrant and, depending on the stress state, 1) no crazing and no shear yielding, 2) crazing alone, 3) shear yielding alone, or 4) crazing and shear yielding can occur. An analysis of stress field induced brittle-ductile transitions is presented which is in agreement with other studies of high-pressure yielding.     

隔热材料的纳米成型与性能分析

经不同工艺和过程制备二氧化硅气凝胶,初步摸索出制备温度、溶剂、催化剂、反应时间最佳参数.在分析气凝胶干燥开裂的原因后,以三甲基氯硅烷(TMCS)为表面修饰剂,正己烷为干燥介质的表面改性工艺,一定程度控制了气凝胶的干燥收缩和开裂.在室温、常压下的通过不同的改性方案制备出四种不同气凝胶样品,揭示了改性条件、干燥温度对于气凝胶孔隙分布、微观结构的影响.     

STICK-SLIP TYPE CRACK GROWTH DURING INSTRUMENTED HIGH-SPEED IMPACT OF HDPE AND HDPE/SELAR® DISCONTINUOUS LAMINAR MICROLAYER COMPOSITES

Stick-slip type crack growth was triggered in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and HDPE/Selar® discontinuous laminar microlayer composites by instrumented Charpy impact under suitable test conditions (temperature ?40°C, hammer speed 3.7 m/s). Fractographic analysis showed that crazing is responsible for this peculiar fracture. The onset of this stick-slip phenomenon was favored by a mixed plane strain/plane stress condition prevailing in the specimens. The relative orientation of the Selar microlayers in respect to the crack growth direction affected the stick-slip type crack growth and the related failure considerably. No stick-slip type crack propagation was observed when gasoline-plasticized specimens were impacted, which failed by ductile tearing instead of crazing.     

Dependence of solvent crazing in bisphenol–A polycarbonate on molecular weight of organic liquids

Solvent crazing has been investigated for bisphenol-A poly-carbonate exposed to the liquids of n-alcohols, di-n-alkylphthalates, and adipic acid polyesters. The critical strain at which crazes appeared was determined with a Bergen elliptical strain device. In the case of the n-alcohol and di-n-alkylphthalate liquids with a small number of carbons in the alkyl chain, crazes spread rapidly to areas of lower strain with time and ceased within 30 min at room temperature. Such a lower limiting value of critical strain can be predicted by using polar-nonpolar solubility parameter plotting representations employing the molar volume term. On the other hand, craze initiation was more delayed for two higher molecular weight liquids, di-n-octylphthalate and adipic acid polyester. Sorption studies were also conducted on polycarbonate immersed in both liquids. The values of the activation energy and diffusion coefficient estimated from the experimental data on craze initiation were found to be nearly comparable with the ones from the sorption experiments. In conclusion, the induction time-that is, the time at which crazes appear for a given strain–is controlled by the diffusion of the crazing liquid into the polymer. Thus, in the case of these liquids, which are miscible with the polymer, the crazing mechanism can be explained in terms of facilitated craze formation of a plasticized polymer.     

Physical basis of distortional and dilational plastic flow in glassy polymers

A molecular theory for distortional plasticity is described based on thermally activated production of molecular kink pairs which incrementally align short molecular segments and thereby produce strain. The process of crazing is described as a micromechanical problem of elastic-plastic expansion of initially stable micropores produced by a thermally activated mechanism under stress to form a craze nucleus, followed by lateral extension of the craze nucleus by a time-dependent addition of craze matter at points of the craze boundary where the local conditions of craze matter conversion can be satisfied. The analysis of the condition of craze nucleation provides a natural framework for the derivation of the dilational yield condition of Sternstein and Ongchin by crazing. The process of fracture by propagation of cracks pushing plastic craze wedges in front of them is also briefly described qualitatively.     

Mechanical and Morphological Properties and Deformation Mechanisms of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene/Poly(ϵ-Caprolactone) Blends with Varied Matrix Composition

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and poly(?-caprolactone) blends (ABS/PCL) were prepared by mixing styrene-co-acrylonitrile (SAN), polybutadiene-g-SAN (PB-g-SAN), and PCL with varied SAN and PCL composition. PCL is miscible with SAN and can improve the matrix toughness. The impact strength and elongation at break of the ABS/PCL blends increased with the PCL content. When the PCL content was lower than 20 wt%, the improvement of impact strength for the blends was not obvious. A significant increase of impact strength took place when the PCL content was between 20 and 25 wt%. When PCL content was more than 20 wt%, the impact strength was higher than 800 J/m which shows the super toughness. The addition of PCL improved the dispersed phase morphology of PB-g-SAN in the matrix and the interfacial adhesion increased. Deformation observations showed that, when the PCL content was lower than 20 wt%, crazing was the major deformation mode. When the PCL content was 20 wt%, crazing and slight shear yielding could be found. When the PCL content was more than 20 wt%, cavitation of rubber particles and shear yielding of the matrix were the major deformation modes. The cause of the change of the deformation mode lies in the varied matrix composition which modifies the crazing and yielding stresses of the matrix and the final fracture mode and impact toughness.     

Environmental effects on the tensile deformation of polymers at low temperatures

General experimental results are presented on the environmental effect exerted by nitrogen and argon on the tensile deformation of polymers in the neighborhood of 80° K. The primary features are the large dependence of tensile strength on strain rate and the occurrence of crazing, both of which are absent in helium and vacuum environments. The fracture stress in N₂ and Ar may be less or greater than that in He and vacuum in accordance with the strain rate being low or high, respectively. A brief theory for the low-temperature environmental crazing is presented. A central part of the theory is related to the fact that the adsorption of N₂ and Ar on all polymers around 80° K substantially reduces their surface free-energy by about 25 to 75%.     

Crazing in semicrystalline thermoplastics

The deformation processes in crystalline polymers have been studie ever since the discovery of chain folding in 1957. Since then, scientists have been intrigued by the different steps of the transformation of the folded-chain lamellar structure of single crystals or of macroscopically isotropic, often spherulitic, polymers into fibrous morphologies (see Refs. 1 and 2 for early reviews). The importance of molecular tilt, of inter- and intralamellar slip, and of micronecking were rapidly recognized [1–4]. In this paper, we discuss the analogies and differences with respect to crazing of glassy amorphous polymers. Obviously, there is an extensive body of literature on the micromechanics of crazing (see the reviews in Refs. 5–9). On the basis of these studies, it has been established that crazes in amorphous polymers are well-defined regions with approximately planar boundaries that extend perpendicular to the direction of maximum principal tensile stress and that contain highly stretched and voided material [7]. However, crazelike features have also been observed in many semicrystalline polymers (polyethylene [PE], isotactic polypropylene [IPP], isotatic polystyrene [IPS], polyoxymethylene [POM], polyamide 6 and 66 [PA6 and PA66], polycarbonate [PC], polyethylene terephthalate [PET], polybutylene terephthalate [PBT], polyvinylidene fluoride [PVDF], and polyether ether ketone [PEEK]). They are designated in the literature [3–10] as micronecks, true crazes, fibrillar deformation zones (DZs), or simply as crazes since they correspond well to the above definition.     

Nonlinear acoustic approach to material characterisation of polymers and composites in tensile tests

The paper reports on experimental study of elastic nonlinearity of polymers and glass fibre-reinforced (GFR-) composites in a wide range of tensile stress applied (up to a fracture limit). Focused slanted transmission mode (FSTM) of air-coupled ultrasound is adapted for remote generation and detection of flexural waves in the samples of plastics. Local noncontact measurements of flexural wave velocity as a function of static strain are used to calculate the second-order nonlinearity parameters beta2 and study their behaviour through a loading cycle. Molecular untangling and crazing phenomena are identified, respectively, with maxima of positive and negative beta2 in thermoplastics. In composites, mechanics of fibre-matrix interaction is considered for brittle and plastic fractures. Hysteresis in velocity variation during loading-unloading cycle is used as an indicator of residual defect accumulation.     

光学玻璃金刚石磨削机理

本文通过对各类光学玻璃进行广泛的金刚石磨削试验,和对光学玻璃及金刚石片各种性能的测试,研究了金刚石磨具对光学玻璃磨削效果与诸因素间的关系,并对金刚石加工中的三种过程-破碎性切削、塑性变形、塑性切削进行了分析,指出了这三种过程的特点。作者还通过单颗粒金刚石刻划抛光的玻璃表面的实验,验证了各个过程的存在。据此,提出了为减少裂纹层深度,光学玻璃的金刚石磨削应该在低压高速下进行的论点。     

Deformation and entanglement in semicrystalline polymers

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of amorphous and semicrystalline isotactic polystyrene (iPS) thin films deformed well below T _g, suggests the same crazing mechanism to operate in both cases. Therefore, by analogy with the amorphous case, highly entangled semicrystalline polymers, such as poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) should craze less readily in the glassy-semicrystalline state than iPS, which has a low degree of entanglement. Since this is confirmed by observation, it is reasonable to extend this analogy, and invoke entanglement in order to account for the high fracture resistance of highly entangled semicrystalline polymers, such as polyoxymethylene, using models previously applied to glassy amorphous polymers. There are nevertheless often significant decreases in fracture toughness in polyoxymethylene as the crystallization temperature is raised and/or the molecular weight is reduced, which we attribute to entanglement loss during lamellar folding.     

Stress whitening and yielding mechanism of rubber-modified PVC

Structure-property relationships were investigated for blends of grafted rubbery polymers with PVC. Increasing grafting levels as well as higher blending temperatures improved the dispersion of the graft copolymers in PVC, lowered the impact strength, and reduced stress whitening. Presuming a mechanistic connection between impact strength and stress whitening, the causes of whitening due to mechanical deformations were studied by a variety of methods. Electron microscopy of stress-whitened zones revealed a large number of cavities formed by rupture of rubber particles, which correlated with the extent of whitening. Density measurements and quantitative evaluations of the volume increase due to the cavities in the stress-whitened zones were in agreement and proved that crazing did not significantly contribute to either volume dilation or stress-whitening. Light scattering studies indicated the existence of reflecting planes oriented at an angle of 55 to 64° to the direction of the applied stress, depending on the particle size of the modifier in the blends. The orientation of the scattered light could not be attributed to the cavities in the rubber particles because of their smallness (< 0.5 μm). An explanation was finally found by transmission light microscopy at various resolving powers. It was demonstrated that the ruptured rubber particles were accumulated in bands which corresponded to shear bands in the PVC matrix. Thus it was concluded that the rubber particles improved the impact strength of PVC by initiating shear bands and not by generating crazes.     

Tensile failure of crystalline polymers

In the creep experiment the brittle fracture of the unoriented semicrystalline polymers at very small and very high tensile load with the intermediate ductile region may be explained by the competition between crazing and shear band formation during the microcrack growth phase. The former type of microcrack growth leads to brittle fracture while the latter type yields necking which transforms the original lamellar structure into the final fibrous structure. The actual fate of the strained sample depends on the growth time of the craze, t_g, and of the shear band formation time, t_s. If t_g<t_s, the material will break in a brittle manner, and if t_g > t_s, the material will deform plastically. The failure of the fibrous material seems to occur when the ratio between the average distance and diameter of the microcracks reaches a value about 3. The microcracks seem to form primarily at defects of the microfibrillar structure, i.e., at the ends of microfibrils where the axial connection of subsequent crystal blocks through the amorphous layers by a great many taut tie molecules is either completely interrupted or at least drastically reduced. The stress concentration resulting from the opening of these defects into microcracks may rupture also some of the adjacent microfibrils. Such nucleation and subsequent lateral growth of the microcrack ruptures the taut tie molecules in its path. The ruptured molecules yield free radicals which can be monitored by electron spin resonance.     

边界扫描测试在数字电路自动测试系统中的研究与应用[BT)]

边界扫描测试是当前数字电路模块故障隔离的主要手段,但测试能力受到模块可测试性设计限制,其它方面作用也被忽略。文中对数字电路自动测试系统设计提出了边界扫描测试应用技术,包括系统自检测试,模块功能测试和模块故障隔离。在系统自检测试中应用边界扫描,提高了设备自检故障隔离精度;而对于模块功能测试,边界扫描测试技术提供了一种新的选择;在故障隔离中扩展和延伸应用边界扫描技术,突破了模块自身测试性的限制,提高了边界扫描测试的故障覆盖率和故障隔离精度。通过实际测试验证表明,该设计方法稳定可靠,同时提升了测试系统自身和模块的测试能力和隔离精度。     

Effects of the use of personal music players on amplitude modulation detection and frequency discrimination

Measures of auditory performance were compared for an experimental group who listened regularly to music via personal music players (PMP) and a control group who did not. Absolute thresholds were similar for the two groups for frequencies up to 2 kHz, but the experimental group had slightly but significantly higher thresholds at higher frequencies. Thresholds for the frequency discrimination of pure tones were measured for a sensation level (SL) of 20 dB and center frequencies of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 kHz. Thresholds were significantly higher (worse) for the experimental than for the control group for frequencies from 3 to 8 kHz, but not for lower frequencies. Thresholds for detecting sinusoidal amplitude modulation (AM) were measured for SLs of 10 and 20 dB, using four carrier frequencies 0.5, 3, 4, and 6 kHz, and three modulation frequencies 4, 16, and 50 Hz. Thresholds were significantly lower (better) for the experimental than for the control group for the 4- and 6-kHz carriers, but not for the other carriers. It is concluded that listening to music via PMP can have subtle effects on frequency discrimination and AM detection.     

Thermodynamic design data for double effect absorption heat pump systems using water-lithium chloride—cooling

In this paper, thermodynamic design data are investigated for the water-lithium chloride pair and a comparative study of the water-LiCl pair with the water-LiBr pair is given, for double-effect absorption cooling systems used for the computer simulation. The computer simulation is based on mass, material and heat balance equations for each part of the system. Coefficients of performance and flow ratios for effects of different operating temperatures are investigated. It is found that the cooling COP is higher for the water-LiCl pair than for the water-LiBr pair, and FR is lower for the water-LiCl pair than for the water-LiBr pair.     

Structural and Thermodynamic Peculiarities of Core-Shell Particles at Fluid Interfaces from Triangular Lattice Models

A triangular lattice model for pattern formation by core-shell particles at fluid interfaces is introduced and studied for the particle to core diameter ratio equal to 3. Repulsion for overlapping shells and attraction at larger distances due to capillary forces are assumed. Ground states and thermodynamic properties are determined analytically and by Monte Carlo simulations for soft outer- and stiffer inner shells, with different decay rates of the interparticle repulsion. We find that thermodynamic properties are qualitatively the same for slow and for fast decay of the repulsive potential, but the ordered phases are stable for temperature ranges, depending strongly on the shape of the repulsive potential. More importantly, there are two types of patterns formed for fixed chemical potential—one for a slow and another one for a fast decay of the repulsion at small distances. In the first case, two different patterns—for example clusters or stripes—occur with the same probability for some range of the chemical potential. For a fixed concentration, an interface is formed between two ordered phases with the closest concentration, and the surface tension takes the same value for all stable interfaces. In the case of degeneracy, a stable interface cannot be formed for one out of four combinations of the coexisting phases, because of a larger surface tension. Our results show that by tuning the architecture of a thick polymeric shell, many different patterns can be obtained for a sufficiently low temperature.     

Numerical procedures for natural gas accurate thermodynamic properties calculation

Natural gas (NG) is a mixture of 21 elements and widely used in the industries and domestics. Knowledge of its thermodynamic properties is essential for designing appropriate process and equipments. In this study, the detailed numerical procedures for computing most thermodynamic properties of natural gas are discussed based on the AGA8 equation of state (EOS) and thermodynamics relationships. To validate the procedures, the numerical values are compared with available measured values. The validations show that the average absolute percent deviation (AAPD) for density calculations is 0.0831%, for heat capacity at the constant pressure is 0.87%, for heat capacity at the constant volume is 1.13%, for Joule-Thomson coefficient is 1.93%, for speed of sound is 0.133%, and for enthalpy is 1.06%. Furthermore, in this work, the new procedures are presented for computing the entropy and internal energy. Due to lack of experimental data for these properties, the validation is done for pure methane. The validation shows that AAPD is 0.078% and 0.0133% for internal energy and entropy, respectively.     

Ground State and Single Vortex for Bose-Einstein Condensates in Anisotropic Traps

For Bose-Einstein condensation of neutral atoms in anisotropic traps at zero temperature, we present simple analytical methods for computing the properties of ground state and single vortex of Bose-Einstein condensates, and compare those results to extensive numerical simulations. The critical angular velocity for production of vortices is calculated for both positive and negative scattering lengths a, and find an analytical expression for the large-N limit of the vortex critical angular velocity for a 〉0, and the critical number for condensate population approaches the point of collapse for a 〈 0, by using approximate variational method.     

蛛丝和蚕丝化学元素X射线荧光光谱分析及其应用

采用X射线荧光光谱(XRF)方法研究蛛丝和蚕丝的化学元素组成,探讨成丝机制中金属离子的作用及生物丝性能优良的元素基础。XRF分析蚕丝中C含量是47.10%、O为29.92%、N是16.52%;金属元素包括：Ca含量0.166 2%、Mg含量0.104 0%和K含量0.039 5%,而Na,Zn,Ni,Fe和Cr是微量元素。Ca和Mg元素含量高,在桑蚕吐丝机制中起着重要的作用。在蛛丝中,主要的非金属元素是：C含量44.09%、O含量26.64%和N含量22.34%。高含量的N元素可能是蛛丝优异的刚性和韧性性能的元素基础。在蛛丝中,Na含量0.268 0%、K含量0.081 4%和Mg含量0.011 6%,而Ca,Zn,Fe,Cu和Cr则是微量元素。蛛丝中Na和K元素含量高,在蜘蛛吐丝机制中可能起重要作用。运用数学统计方法研究生物丝元素组成与XRF元素分析结果吻合。