Dewatering of cellulose nanofibrils using ultrasound

Although cellulose nanomaterials have promising properties and performance in a wide application space, one hinderance to their wide scale industrial application has been associated with their economics of dewatering and drying and the ability to redisperse them back into suspension without introducing agglomerates or lose of yield. The present work investigates the dewatering of aqueous suspensions of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) using ultrasound as a potentially low-cost, non-thermal, and scalable alternative to traditional heat-based drying methods such as spray drying. Specifically, we use vibrating mesh transducers to develop a direct-contact mode ultrasonic dewatering platform to remove water from CNF suspensions in a continuous manner. We demonstrate that the degree of dewatering is modulated by the number of transducers, their spatial configuration, and the flow rate of the CNF suspension. Water removal of up to 72 wt.% is achieved, corresponding to a final CNF concentration of 11 wt.% in 30 min using a two-transducer configuration. To evaluate the redispersibility of the dewatered CNF material, we use a microscopic analysis to quantify the morphology of the redispersed CNF suspension. By developing a custom software pipeline to automate image analysis, we compare the histograms of the dimensions of the redispersed dewatered fibrils with the original CNF samples and observe no significant difference, suggesting that no agglomeration is induced due to ultrasonic dewatering. We also perform SEM analysis to evaluate the nanoscale morphology of these fibrils showing a width range of 20 nm–4 um. We estimate that this ultrasound dewatering technique is also energy-efficient, consuming up to 36% less energy than the enthalpy of evaporation per kilogram of water. Together with the inexpensive cost of transducers (<?$1), the potential for scaling up in parallel flow configurations, and excellent redispersion of the dewatered CNFs, our work offers a proof-of-concept of a sustainable CNF dewatering system, that addresses the shortcomings of existing techniques.

     

Experiments on crack identification in cantilever beams

In this paper we present an experimental investigation of the identification of crack location and size. By providing the first three natural frequencies through vibration measurements, curves of crack equivalent stiffness versus crack location are plotted, and the intersection of the three curves predicts the crack location and size. In the experiments, the cracked specimens were made using a wire-cut electrical discharge machine, and the cantilever beams were excited next to the free end by means of an impulse force hammer. In order to obtain the accurate natural frequencies from the transient signal measured, the method of zoom fast Fourier transform is adopted to improve frequency resolution. From experimental results, it is observed that the identification errors of crack location and size are less than 2% and 4%, respectively. The effectiveness of crack identification through vibration measurements is verified.     

Miscible Thermo-Viscous Fingering Instability in Porous Media. Part 1: Linear Stability Analysis

The development of the thermo-viscous fingering instability of miscible displacements in homogeneous porous media is examined. In this first part of the study dealing with stability analysis, the basic equations and the parameters governing the problem in a rectilinear geometry are developed. An exponential dependence of viscosity on temperature and concentration is represented by two parameters, thermal mobility ratio β _T and a solutal mobility ratio β _C , respectively. Other parameters involved are the Lewis number Le and a thermal-lag coefficient λ. The governing equations are linearized and solved to obtain instability characteristics using either a quasi-steady-state approximation (QSSA) or initial value calculations (IVC). Exact analytical solutions are also obtained for very weakly diffusing systems. Using the QSSA approach, it was found that an increase in thermal mobility ratio β _T is seen to enhance the instability for fixed β _C , Le and λ. For fixed β _C and β _T , a decrease in the thermal-lag coefficient and/or an increase in the Lewis number always decrease the instability. Moreover, strong thermal diffusion at large Le as well as enhanced redistribution of heat between the solid and fluid phases at small λ is seen to alleviate the destabilizing effects of positive β _T . Consequently, the instability gets strictly dominated by the solutal front. The linear stability analysis using IVC approach leads to conclusions similar to the QSSA approach except for the case of large Le and unity λ flow where the instability is seen to get even less pronounced than in the case of a reference isothermal flow of the same β _C , but β _T  = 0. At practically, small value of λ, however, the instability ultimately approaches that due to β _C only.     

A note on the flow regimes in the unsteady, rectilinear flow of a perfect gas

Homentropic, unsteady, rectilinear flows can be classified in (i) constant flows, (ii) simple waves, (iii) general flows. After a short discussion of this standard theory, an attempt is discussed to extend this scheme to non-homentropic flows. The principal result is that a flow with the constraint du+(1/a) dp=0 everywhere is physically impossible. In two final sections two suggestions are discussed to remedy the situation, and the linearized case is discussed where analogous features are present.     

The method of matched asymptotic expansions for the periodic solution of the van der pol equation

The purpose of this paper is to apply the method of intermediate matching for connecting the four local asymptotic solutions of the Van der Pol equation, given by Dorodnicyn [1]. It turns out that for the approximation of the periodic solution a fifth local solution is needed. The present approach results in a reduction of the computational work. The amplitude of the periodic solution is determined up to a higher order accuracy in v than has been done so far.     

Ten-deg off-axis test for shear properties in fiber composites

A combined theoretical and experimental investigation was conducted to assess the suitability of the 10-deg off-axis tensile-test specimen for the intralaminar-shear characterization of unidirectional composites. Composite mechanics, a combined-stress failure criterion and a finiteelement analysis were used to determine theoretically the stress-strain variation across the specimen width and the relative stress and strain magnitudes at the 10-deg plane. Strain gages were used to measure the strain variation across the specimen width at specimen midlength and near the end tabs. Specimens from Mod-I/epoxy. T-300/epoxy, and S-glass/epoxy were used in the experimental program. It was found that the 10-deg off-axis tensile-test specimen is suitable for intralaminar-shear characterization and it, is recommended that it should be considered as a possible standard test specimen for such a characterization.     

Étude du comportement viscoélastique du polycarbonate de bisphénol-A partiellement cristallisé

Résumé On étudie dans cet article un procédé pour obtenir des polycarbonates de bisphénol-A de divers taux de cristallinité. On détermine la variation thermique du module-(10 sec) et la résistance au choc des ces polymères. On étudie également l'influence du recuit sur les propriétés mécaniques.

---

Summary This paper describes a procedure to obtain polycarbonate of bisphenol A samples of various degrees of crystallinity. The modulus-temperature curves and the impact strength of these materials are investigated. The results show the importance of the annealing procedure on the mechanical properties of these systems.