Fatigue fracture of a highly stretchable acrylic elastomer

Dielectric elastomer has been extensively explored in various applications as soft active material. In most applications, dielectric elastomer is subjected to cyclic loading-unloading condition. As a result, a small initial defect in a dielectric elastomer may finally grow to a critical size to induce catastrophic rupture. In this article, we carried out an experimental study of the crack growth in an acrylic dielectric elastomer under cyclic loading-unloading. Pure-shear test specimens were used to measure the relationship between crack growth rate and energy release rate. Such relationship can be simply fit to a power-law. We further used the measured power-law to successfully predict the fatigue lifetime of the acrylic elastomer with an edge crack and subject to simple extension cyclic loading-unloading test.     

A finite element method based comparative fracture assessment of carbon black and silica filled elastomers: Reinforcing efficacy of carbonaceous fillers in flexible composites

This study is focused on numerical investigation on fracture behaviors of carbon black (CB) and silica filled elastomeric composites. Finite element analysis (FEA) in compliance with multi-specimen method is used to calculate J-integral and geometry factor of the rubber composites up to a displacement of 20 mm for single edge notch in tension (SENT) and double edge notch in tension (DENT) specimens. An empirical relationship between crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and crack advancement is established depending on notch to width ratio (NWR). The stress contours across the notches for SENT and DENT specimens is discussed briefly. It is found that fracture propagation resistance of CB filled elastomer is 125% more than that of silica filled elastomer. Although, Silica filled elastomer have good tensile strength and crosslink density but it fails to replace carbon black in terms of fracture properties. The critical J-integral for CB filled elastomer is 18.7% and 32.2% more than silica filled elastomer for SENT and DENT specimens respectively. The effect of specimen type on various fracture properties is also explored. The factor of safety is found to be significantly more in case of CB filled elastomers making them less vulnerable to crack propagation and catastrophic failure.     

Investigation of sub‐micron size cenosphere fillers and filler loading on the mechanical and tribological peculiarity of polyester composites

This paper investigates the effect of sub‐micron size cenosphere filler and filler loading on mechanical and dry sliding wear property of polyester composites. Composites are fabricated by filling with 10 and 20 wt% of 800 and 200‐nm size of cenosphere filler particles. Neat polyester composite is also prepared for comparison analysis. Dry sliding wear test is conducted for these composites over a range of sliding distance with different sliding velocities and applied loads on a pin‐on‐disc wear test machine. Taguchi methodology and analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to analyze the friction and wear characteristics of the composites. The artificial neural network (ANN) approach is implemented to the friction and wear data for corroboration. In this work, mechanical properties of composites such as hardness, tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, and compressive strength revealed that mechanical properties and wear resistance of the composites increase with a decrease in the particle size. The measured Young's moduli are comparable to standard theoretical prediction models. The morphology of worn composite specimens has been examined by scanning electron microscopy to understand the dominant wear mechanisms. Finally, optimal factor settings are determined using a genetic algorithm (GA). Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Calcification of intraocular implant lens surfaces

Calcification of octacalcium phosphate [Ca8H2(PO4)6 x 5H2O, OCP] on differently packaged "Ultem" and "Surefold" intraocular implant lens surfaces has been studied in vitro in solutions supersaturated with respect to OCP at pH = 7.10 and 37 degrees C. No mineral deposition was observed on the lenses packaged in Ultem vials even after treatment with behenic acid, one of the fatty acids identified on explanted lenses. Following treatment with behenic acid, nucleation of OCP occurred on the lenses from Surefold vials, which incorporate silicone gaskets; induction periods preceding calcification were about 6 h. No mineralization was found on the lenses in vials with other gasket materials, including polytetrafluoroethylene, fluorocarbon elastomer, and polypropylene. The results of this study indicate that both silicone and fatty acids such as behenic acid play important roles in inducing the in vivo calcification of OCP on IOL lenses; all of the lens treatment steps were necessary for nucleation induction.     

Controlling cellular activity by manipulating silicone surface roughness

Silicone elastomers exhibit a broad range of beneficial properties that are exploited in biomaterials. In some cases, however, problems can arise at silicone elastomer interfaces. With breast implants, for example, the fibrous capsule that forms at the silicone interface can undergo contracture, which can lead to the need for revision surgery. The relationship between surface topography and wound healing – which could impact on the degree of contracture – has not been examined in detail. To address this, we prepared silicone elastomer samples with rms surface roughnesses varying from 88 to 650 nm and examined the growth of 3T3 fibroblasts on these surfaces. The PicoGreen^® assay demonstrated that fibroblast growth decreased with increases in surface roughness. Relatively smooth (∼88 nm) PDMS samples had ca. twice as much fibroblast DNA per unit area than the ‘bumpy’ (∼378 nm) and very rough (∼604 and ∼650 nm) PDMS samples. While the PDMS sample with roughness of ∼650 nm had significantly fewer fibroblasts at 24 h than the TCP control, fibroblasts on the smooth silicone surprisingly reached confluence much more rapidly than on TCP, the gold standard for cell culture. Thus, increasing the surface roughness at the sub-micron scale could be a strategy worthy of consideration to help mitigate fibroblast growth and control fibrous capsule formation on silicone elastomer implants.     

润滑剂对聚氨酯弹性体的反增塑效应

聚氨酯嵌段聚合物的硬链段易于聚集形成微晶相分散于软链段连续相中,原位组成橡塑合金使聚氨酸弹性体兼具高模量、高动态力学性能、高耐磨性等性质,但是决定这些性质的软、硬段形态结构强烈地受组成和制备工艺的影响,使聚合物具有优良的综合性能并不简单．影响软、硬段...     

High frequency circular translation pin-on-disc wear testing of UHMWPE using a ball-on-flat contact along a hypotrochoidal track

To intensify experimental research within the field of orthopaedic tribology, a three-station, dual motion, high frequency (25.3 Hz) circular translation pin-on-disc wear test device was recently introduced. In the present study, the pins were CoCr with a spherical, polished bearing surface of 28 mm radius, whereas the flat discs were conventional UHMWPE. This configuration was intended to simulate the wear mechanisms of total knee prostheses. The number of wear cycles run was as high as 200 million. The mean wear rate was 0.35 mg per one million cycles (0.77 mg/24 h) which corresponded to a mean wear factor of 3.5 × 10⁻⁶ mm³/Nm. The study provided further proof that a wear test for orthopaedic implant materials can be accelerated by substantially increasing the cycle frequency, provided that the sliding velocity remains close to the values obtained from biomechanical studies. Hence, the moderate frictional heating will not lead to unrealistic wear mechanisms.     

Effects of thinner on RTV silicone rubber nanocomposites reinforced with GR and CNTs

The effects of thinner on rubber specimens with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphitic nanofillers (GR) was studied for robotics applications. Rubber specimens were prepared by dispersing GR, CNTs and thinner in room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber through solution mixing. Microscopic studies have confirmed occurrence of swelling in polymer chains due to migration of thinner. It results an increase in topological depth from 40 nm (no thinner) to 120 nm (40 phr of thinner). An elastic modulus of ~4.4 MPa (without thinner) was higher than 2.8 MPa (10 phr of thinner). At 100% strain, the lower dissipation losses of 110% (without thinner) and 70% (40 phr of thinner) were obtained. The resistance increases from 4.6 kΩ (without thinner) to 5.7 kΩ (10 phr of thinner). At 0.4‐mm‐thick elastomer slab, an actuation displacement of 0.81 mm (without thinner) was obtained which increased to 1.1 mm (60 phr of thinner). Thus, the thinner can be useful for easier processing, controlled stiffness, minimizing dissipation losses, increasing the actuation displacement and decreasing the cost of the device. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wear behavior of light‐cured dental composite reinforced with silane‐treated nanosilica filler

In this study, the effect of varying different weight fraction of silane‐treated nanosilica (0‐15 wt%) on the wear behavior of Bisphenol‐A glycidyl methacrylate/tri‐ethylene glycol dimethacrylate–based dental composite was analyzed. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, and thermo‐gravimetric analysis were used to characterize silane‐treated filler. The in vitro wear tests were performed up to 20 000 cycles using dental wear simulator. Four different working conditions were discussed including 2‐body wear in distilled water and artificial saliva as well as 3‐body wear in slurry of poppy seed mixed in distilled water and poppy seed mixed in artificial saliva. The results suggested that composites with increased in nanosilica fillers exhibited lower wear volume and smoother worn surface in all working mediums. In 2‐body abrasive wear, the wear rate in distilled water was 10.05% more than that in artificial saliva condition. However, in 3‐body abrasive wear, the wear rate in slurry of poppy seed mixed in artificial saliva was 15.96% more than that in the medium of poppy seed mixed in distilled water condition. Also, the 2‐body abrasive wear rate was 56% and 22% more than the 3‐body abrasive wear rate in the slurry of distilled water and artificial saliva condition, respectively.     

Biodegradable aliphatic thermoplastic polyurethane based on poly(ε‐caprolactone) and L‐lysine diisocyanate

A biodegradable aliphatic thermoplastic polyurethane based on L ‐lysine diisocyanate and 1,4‐butanediol hard block segments, and 2000 g/mol poly(ε‐caprolactone) diol soft block segments was synthesized. The resulting polymer was a tough thermoplastic with ultimate tensile strength of 33 MPa and elongation of 1000%. The polymer displayed classic segmented thermoplastic elastomer morphology with distinct hard block and soft block phases. Thermal and dynamic mechanical analyses determined that the material has a useful service temperature range of around ?40 °C to +40 °C, making it an excellent candidate for low‐temperature elastomer and film applications, and potentially as a material for use in temporary orthopedic implant devices. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2990–3000, 2006     

对苯二异氰酸酯基聚氨酯弹性体交联度对其形态与摩擦性能的影响

聚氨酯弹性体的摩擦性能在诸如船舶、汽车、生物医用等领域具有十分重要的意义,而通过化学修饰策略实现该类材料摩擦性能的精细设计,仍具有十分迫切的研究需求和广泛的应用前景。 本工作以对苯二异氰酸酯(PPDI)与聚四氢呋喃醚二醇(PTMG)为原料,通过调节1,4-丁二醇与三羟甲基丙烷两种扩链交联剂的混合比例,采用预聚体法合成了具备不同交联度的PPDI基聚氨酯弹性体。 其中,傅里叶变换衰减全反射光谱(FTIR-ATR)、广角X射线衍射(WAXD)、差示扫描量热仪(DSC)等表征结果表明,聚氨酯弹性体中硬段和软段的结晶度随交联度的提升均呈下降趋势。 同时,力学测试表明,材料的弹性模量随之降低,而PPDI基聚氨酯弹性体摩擦系数则明显增大。 此外,滞后回环曲线表明,交联度的改变影响了PPDI基聚氨酯弹性体的阻尼特性,而聚氨酯弹性体阻尼的差异在其摩擦性能对速率的依赖关系中则有所体现。 本工作由此提出,利用不同交联度下PPDI基聚氨酯中软硬段结晶度的变化,在对材料弹性模量和损耗模量进行可控调节的同时,能够实现对其摩擦性能的改变,为PPDI基聚氨酯弹性体的摩擦性能调控提供了一种简单有效的途径。     

温度对丁腈羟聚氨酯固化反应及性能的影响

端羟基液体丁二烯-丙烯腈共聚物(简称丁腈羟,以HTBN表示)通常用甲苯二异氰酸酯作固化剂,N,N′-二羟丙基苯胺为链延伸剂经二步法固化成丁腈羟聚氨酯弹性体。本文报导丁腈羟-甲苯二异氰酸酯预聚体和N,N′-二羟丙基苯胺体系中同化温度对同化反应及固化弹性体性能的影响规律。     

Mechanical and tribological performance of UHMWPE influenced by temperature change

Water-lubricated surface bearing components experience boundary and mixed lubrication during operation. The lack of lubrication induces temperature increase, affecting the properties of the component. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is commonly used for these applications and the influence of the temperature on the mechanical and tribological performance has not been clearly identified. This study evaluates the wear resistance and hardness of UHMWPE with the temperature increase in a range of 20 °C–60 °C. An important reduction of hardness and wear resistance was observed in this interval. The wear rate increased 94.8% when the temperature changed from 20 °C to 50 °C. The wear resistance decreased more rapidly than the hardness when the temperature was increased. The correlation between hardness and wear rate is less consistent when the hardness value was below 4.12 (Hv_0.3), reported at 40 °C. Plastic deformation and adhesion were highly enhanced with temperature.     

Dynamic crack growth characteristics of half-circular disk PMMA specimens with prefabricated penetration defects under impact loading

In this paper, the dynamic fracture experiment of half-circular disk PMMA specimens with prefabricated penetration defects under impact loading was carried out on the digital laser dynamic caustics experimental system (DLDC), the law of crack initiation, growth and traversing under different tilt angles (30°, 45°, 60°) was examined, and the variations of crack growth trajectory, velocity and DSIF at crack tip were compared for analysis. In addition, the discrete lattice spring method (DLSM) as a new development was employed to simulate how the dynamic cracks grew in PMMA specimens with defects, it was found that the numerical model can reproduce the experiment phenomenon. On the basis, the effect of the elastic modulus of the penetration defect medium on crack growth was analyzed. Referring to the experiment and numerical results, it was thus concluded that the angle and the elastic modulus of penetration defect would dramatically influence the crack growth characteristics.     

Improving chemical recycling rate by reclaiming polyurethane elastomer from polyurethane foam

Flexible polyurethane foam was decomposed into a polyol mixture by an extruder with diethanolamine (DEA) as a decomposing agent. The resulting decomposed product could be used as an alternative virgin polyol in reclaiming polyurethane. In the case of reclaiming elastomer by using the decomposed product without any purification, virgin polyol could be alternated by the decomposed product up to 80%. It is a great improvement compared with the reclamation to foam, whose percentage was maximum 5%. Furthermore, the percentage could be improved up to 100% by purifying the decomposed product. We have found that physical properties of reclaimed polyurethane elastomer, such as tensile strength, hardness, and elongation, can be regulated by the ratio of unrefined/refined polyol. Whereas the tensile strength and the hardness increased as the content increased, the elongation decreased.     

Determination of crack growth kinetics in non-reinforced semi-crystalline thermoplastics using the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) approach

The aim of this study was to find a satisfactory method to characterize the fatigue crack growth behavior of non-reinforced, semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymers using linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). For this, crack growth curves (crack length versus cycle number) as well as crack growth kinetics curves (crack growth rate da/dN versus amplitude stress intensity factor ΔK) had to be generated. As methods suggested by ISO 15850 and ASTM E 647-11 failed to provide satisfactory results for the crack growth curves, a more advanced method was searched for and finally found in the literature. Regarding the crack growth kinetics curve, the idea of the calculation was based on methods recommended in ISO 15850 and ASTM E 647-11. However, these methods had to be considerably modified and improved in order to get accurate results with little scatter. The whole methodology was developed and verified with fatigue crack growth tests on two semi-crystalline thermoplastics (polyoxymethylene POM and polyetheretherketone PEEK).     

Parameters influencing fatigue life prediction of dielectric elastomer generators

For energy scavenging applications, estimating fatigue life of dielectric elastomer is as crucial as computing the amount of scavenged energy. Crack growth approach, well known in rubber industry, is a fast methodology to estimate fatigue life. We adapt this methodology to dielectric silicone elastomers (Elastosil 2030) and we focus in particular on the factors influencing this estimation such as sample geometry, tearing energy, power law. We underline that the variation in tearing energy estimation induces a small dispersion on the fatigue life estimation whereas power law identification is the crucial and critical parameter. Finally, we define an index of performance based on fatigue life and scavenged energy density, and we compare two materials (acrylic 3MVHB4910 and silicone Elastosil 2030).     

CaSO_4晶须补强增韧聚氨酯弹性体机理的研究

提高聚氨酯弹性体的力学性能是聚氨酯研究领域里普遍关心的课题之一,一般采用刚性粒子和纤维类无机填料增强聚氨酯弹性体,但上述填料在提高强度的同时,会导致韧性降低,空易造成脆性断裂,因此填料能否同时补强增韧聚氨酯弹性体具有重要的实际应用价值,晶须是一种单晶纤维状材料,其直径极小,几乎不存在任何缺陷,由于内在的完整性,高度有序的原子排列,使其强度接近晶体理论－－原子间价键的强度,晶须凭借微细的直径、较短的长度、极高的强度,成为一种新型补强增韧剂,目前晶须的复合基体多为陶瓷基、金属基和树脂基,有关复合基体多为陶瓷基、金属基和树脂基,有关复合聚氨酯弹性体的理论及应用研究报道很少,本文制备了具有较高强度和韧性的CaSO4晶须／聚氨酯弹性体复合材料,通过微观分析揭示了CaSO4晶须对聚氨酯弹性体补强增韧的机理,并对其影响因素进行了讨论。     

Adhesive bonding of glassy polymer surfaces by an ultrathin layer of a semicrystalline polymer

To develop a greater understanding of interfacial interactions between a semicrystalline polymer and a glassy polymer, adhesion tests were performed on very thin layers of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) sandwiched between two layers of poly(tetramethyl bisphenol A polycarbonate) (TMPC). The tests were designed to provide intimate contact between the surfaces while they were heated above the melting point of the PEO and cooled back to room temperature. A contact mechanics approach, based on the Johnson, Kendall, and Roberts theory, was used to determine values of the energy release rate describing the energetic driving force for crack propagation within the interfacial region. The ability to measure crack propagation at large values of the energy release rate was limited by rupture of the silicone elastomer that was used to provide a sufficiently compliant matrix for the adhesion experiment. By cycling the tensile stress at relatively low loading levels, we were able to measure fatigue crack propagation at values of the energy release rate that did not result in failure of the elastomer. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 3809–3821, 2004     

Enhancing toughness of poly (lactic acid)/Thermoplastic polyurethane blends via increasing interface compatibility by polyurethane elastomer prepolymer and its toughening mechanism

Due to the environmental pollution caused by the petroleum-based polymer, poly (lactic acid) (PLA), a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer that obtained from natural and renewable sources, has attracted widespread attention. However, the brittleness of PLA greatly limits its application. In this study, the super toughened PLA-based blends were obtained by compatibilizing the PLA/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) blends with the polyurethane elastomer prepolymer (PUEP) as an active compatibilizer. The mechanical properties, thermal properties and corresponding toughening mechanism of PLA/TPU/PUEP system were studied by tensile test, instrumented impact test, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), scanning electronic microscope (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). All the results demonstrate that the isocyanate (−NCO) group in PUEP is successfully reacted with the –OH groups at both sides of the PLA and the obtained polyurethane (PU)~PLA copolymer (PU ~ cõ PLA) significantly improves the interfacial compatibility of PLA/TPU blends. The gradually refined dispersed phase size and fuzzy phase interface as displayed in SEM images suggest a good interfacial compatibilization in the PLA/TPU/PUEP blends, probably due to the isocyanate reaction between PLA and PUEP. And the interfacial reaction and compatibilization among the components led to the formation of super toughened PLA/TPU/PUEP blends. And the instrumented impact results indicate that most of the impact toughness is provided by the crack propagation rather than the crack initiation during the entire fracture process.