Miscibility and isothermal crystallization behavior of polyamide 6/poly(vinyl alcohol) blend

An investigation of miscibility and isothermal crystallization behavior of Polyamide 6 (PA6)/Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blends was conducted. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) analysis indicated that the interactions between the carbonyl groups of PA6 and hydroxyl groups of PVA increase as the weight ratios of PA6 to PVA of PA6/PVA specimens increase. This interaction between PA6 and PVA leads to their miscibility in the amorphous region and even some extent effects on their crystal phase, respectively. Further isothermal crystallization behavior of PA6/PVA indicate that the miscibility of PVA in PA6 leading difficulty in crystallization of PA6. Several kinetics equations are employed to describe the effects of PVA on the crystallization properties of PA6 in PA6/PVA blends in detail. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 1360–1368, 2008     

Modulation of the polarization state of light using a weak anisotropic thin film

The polarization state of light is modulated by an anisotropic thin film. An anisotropic MgF(2) film is deposited onto a plate that is put in contact with a BK7 prism to form a BK7 prism/film/air configuration. It is shown that the polarization state of reflected light can be easily modulated from a linear state to a circular state by rotating the thin-film plate.     

Fatigue damage in centrally notched GR/EP laminates

The fatigue properties of graphite/epoxy (Gr/Ep) T300/5208 composite laminates of 16 plies with a central circular hole subjected to tension-tension (T-T) constant-stress amplitudes at room temperature and low humidity have been fully investigated. Studied are four types of notched laminates which are classified as unidirectional, off-axis, orthotropic shear and quasi-isotropic. Some of them were precracked to initiate and guide the crack growth transversely. Our work is experimental and the analysis is based on a semiempirical approach. We have experimentally measured S-N curves, failure surfaces, crack lengths and their corresponding growth directions, delamination areas and transverse delamination lengths for the above series of composites. The fatigue failure mechanism was observed and expressed schematically. To analyze the experimental results, we have categorized the S-N curves by three common equations. The effective transverse crack length of quasi-isotropic laminates was found to be independent of the applied stress. For simplicity, it was modeled by a power law of applied cycles. It was also found that the delamination area could be expressed by a power law of applied cycles. Hence, the so-called modified Paris law, i.e., the power law of cycles, proposed here has been verified as satisfactorily acceptable.     

A video technique for obtaining corrected true compressive stress

A modification of the method of Watts and Ford is presented, which, when combined with the utilization of a video camera, allows standard compression tests to yield reliable true compressive stress versus strain data. The video images permit diameter measurements to an uncertainty of less than one percent. If radial asymmetries are minimized by proper consideration of end effects, area uncertainties of less than two percent can be achieved. Furthermore, if replicated experiments and statistical calculations are used at each step in the data reduction, one can determine the maximum uncertainty associated with the final true stress versus strain data.     

Automatic grid generation of complex geometries in Cartesian co-ordinates

A method of automatic grid generation for complex boundaries in Cartesian co-ordinates is proposed in this paper. In addition to the Cartesian grid lines the diagonal segments are used for the approximations of complex geometries in Cartesian co-ordinates. A structured Cartesian grid is employed for the sake of the numerical simplicity and the potential of automatic grid generation. The automatic grid generation is achieved by this diagonal Cartesian method and the accuracy estimations of geometry approximations are given. The approximations of a few complex geometries, such as the multibody system in porous media, lake banks, grooved channels and spheres are shown and analyzed. The proposed method is verified by the numerical solutions of a rotated cavity flow. It is shown that the diagonal Cartesian method improves both the accuracy of geometry approximations and the numerical solution of a rotated cavity flow, comparing with the traditional saw-tooth method in which only Cartesian grid lines are utilized for geometry approximations. The stability and convergence of the proposed method is demonstrated. Finally, the application of the diagonal Cartesian method for the prediction of a grooved channel flow is presented. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrolytic stability and high Tg of polyimides derived from the novel 4,9‐bis[4‐(3,4‐dicarboxyphenoxy)phenyl]‐diamantane dianhydride

This work reports the synthesis and characterization of diamantane‐based polyimides obtained from 4,9‐bis[4(3,4‐dicarboxyphenoxy)phenyl]diamantane dianhydride and various aromatic diamines. Interestingly, the diamantane‐based polyimides were very stable to hydrolysis. This novel polyimide exhibits a low dielectric constant (2.65–2.77), low moisture absorption (<0.67%), good solubility, high T_g and unusually high thermal stability. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) reveals that the diamantane‐based polyimides have high T_g ranging from 281 to 379 °C. The high‐temperature β₁ subglass transition around 285 °C was observed in polyimide 6a derived from 2,2′‐bis(trifluoromethyl)benzidine. This class of novel diamantane‐based polyimide is very promising for electronic applications, because of its good mechanical properties, good thermal stability, low dielectric constant, excellent hydrolytic resistance, and low moisture absorption. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 1673–1684, 2009     

Morphology and temperature responsiveness–swelling relationship of poly(N‐isopropylamide–chitosan) copolymers and their application to drug release

Poly [N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm)–chitosan] crosslinked copolymer particles were synthesized by soapless emulsion copolymerization of NIPAAm and chitosan. An anionic initiator [ammonium persulfate (APS)] and a cationic initiator [2,2′‐azobis(2‐methylpropionamidine)dihydrochloride (AIBA)] were used to initiate the reaction of copolymerization. The chitosan–NIPAAm copolymer synthesized by using APS as the initiator showed a homogeneous morphology and exhibited the characteristic of a lower critical solution temperature (LCST). The copolymer synthesized by using AIBA as an initiator showed a core–shell morphology, and the characteristic of LCST was insignificant. The LCST of the chitosan–NIPAAm copolymer depended on the morphology of the copolymer particles. In addition, the chitosan–NIPAAm copolymer particles were processed to form copolymer disks. Then, the effect of various variables such as the chitosan/NIPAAm weight ratio, the concentration of crosslinking agent, and the pH values on the swelling ratio of chitosan–NIPAAm copolymer disks were investigated. Furthermore, caffeine was used as the model drug to study the characteristics of drug loading of the chitosan–NIPAAm copolymer disks. Variables such as the chitosan/NIPAAm weight ratio and the concentration of the crosslinking agent significantly influenced the behavior of caffeine loading. Two factors (pore size and swelling ratio) affected the behavior of caffeine release from the chitosan–NIPAAm copolymer disks. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 3029–3037, 2004     

Profile monitoring of reflow process using approximations of mixture second‐order polynomials

Lately, profile monitoring has received considerable attention in the statistical process control research field. This paper proposes a novel monitoring framework for the reflow process data, which uses two goodness‐of‐fit criteria to select the change points in the mixture polynomial model. Among change points, the mixture second‐order polynomials are utilized to piecewisely approximate the nonlinear profile data of the reflow process. The well‐known Hotelling T² and proposed EWMA₄ control charts are then employed to monitor the parameter estimates. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed monitoring framework presents better performances in detecting outlying profiles than the conventional methods in phase I. In phase II, the performance of the proposed framework is assessed in terms of the out‐of‐control average run length. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.