Improvement in toughness of poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) through reactive blending with acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS): Morphology and properties

Poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) was melt-blended with acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS) with the aim of enhancing impact strength and elongation at break of PLLA, but not sacrificing its modulus and stiffness significantly. However, PLLA and ABS were found to be thermodynamically immiscible by simply melt blending and the formed blends show deteriorated mechanical properties. The reactive styrene/acrylonitrile/glycidyl methacrylate copolymer (SAN-GMA) by incorporating with ethyltriphenyl phosphonium bromide (ETPB) as the catalyst was used as the in situ compatibilizer for PLLA/ABS blends to improve the compatibility between PLLA and ABS. The reactive process during melt blending was investigated by Fourier transformed infra-red (FTIR). It showed that the epoxide group of SAN-GMA reacted with PLLA end groups under the mixing conditions and that the addition of ETPB accelerated the reaction. Phase structure and physical properties of the compatibilized blends were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), tensile tests and impact property measurements. It was found that the size of ABS domains in PLLA matrix is significantly decreased by addition of the reactive compatibilizer. The dynamic mechanical analysis revealed markedly shifted glass transition temperatures for both PLLA and ABS, indicating the improved compatibility between PLLA and ABS. The mechanical tests showed the compatibilized PLLA/ABS blends had a very nice stiffness-toughness balance, i.e., the improved impact strength and the elongation at break with a slightly loss in the modulus.     

Shock wave propagation through a model one dimensional heterogeneous medium

We study the problem of impact-induced shock wave propagation through a model one-dimensional heterogeneous medium. This medium is made of a model material with spatially varying parameters such that it is heterogeneous to shock waves but homogeneous to elastic waves. Using the jump conditions and maximal dissipation criteria, we obtain the exact solution to the shock propagation problem. We use it to study how the nature of the heterogeneity changes material response, the structure of the shock front and the dissipation.     

Experimental investigation of dynamic pressure loads during dam break

The objective of this research work has been to conduct experimental measurements on a dam break flow over a horizontal dry bed in order to provide a detailed insight, with emphasis on the pressure loads, into the dynamics of the dam break wave impacting a vertical wall downstream the dam. The experimental setup is described in detail, comprising state of the art miniaturized pressure sensors, high sampling rate data acquisition systems and high frame-rate video camera. It is a 1:2 scale of the highly cited (Lee et al., 2002, Journal of Fluids Engineering, 124) article experimental apparatus. Kinematics has been analyzed focusing on the free surface and wave front evolution. Experimental observations regarding liquid height and wave front speed have found to be in agreement with existing literature. This agreement enables the authors, assuming a similar framework, to discuss the measured pressure loads as a consequence of the dam break wave front impacting on the downstream wall. These loads show a substantial variability which has been statistically characterized. The measured quantities have been compared with the scarce available data in the literature, whose consistency is discussed. Measurements have been conducted with two filling heights. Scaling effects for such heights are also analyzed. As a direct result of the present initiative, an extensive set of data for computational tools validation is provided as Supplementary Materials, including pressure signals, wave height measurements and experimental videos.     

相容剂对PP/POE共混体系脆韧转变行为的影响

采用熔融挤出法制备了不同相容剂含量的PP/POE共混体系,测试了不同体系的脆韧转变温度、热性能和力学性能.结果表明,乙烯-丙烯多嵌段共聚物相容剂的加入降低了PP/POE共混物的脆韧转变温度,提高了共混物的韧性.AFM和STEM照片显示相容剂的加入减小了橡胶分散相的临界粒子间距,PP和POE在两相界面结合处相互扩散或渗透,实现了POE弹性体在PP树脂中合适的尺度分布以及良好的形态分散.当相容剂含量达到10％时,POE分散相尺寸细小均匀,分散相粒子粒径为0.54μm,粒子间距为0.1 μm,PP结晶链段更多地插入到弹性体内部,弹性体POE分散相形成明显的“硬核-软壳”结构.DSC曲线中结晶峰和熔融峰的变化说明适量的相容剂对于材料结晶度的提高具有一定的促进作用.力学性能测试结果可以看出相容剂的加入在提高材料韧性,降低其脆韧转变温度的同时也保持了材料的刚性性能.     

Synthesis and photophysics of a novel photocatalyst for hydrogen production based on a tetrapyridoacridine bridging ligand

Molecular photocatalysts allow for selectively tuning their function on a molecular level based on an in-depth understanding of their chemical and photophysical properties. This contribution reports the synthesis and photophysical characterization of the novel molecular photocatalyst [(tbbpy)₂Ru(tpac)PdCl₂]²⁺RutpacPd (with tpac = tetrapyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c:3″,2″-h:2?,3?-j]acridine) and its mononuclear building block. Furthermore, detailed photocatalytic activity measurements of RutpacPd are presented. The introduction of the tpac-ligand into the molecular framework offers a potential route to reduce the impact of water as compared to the well-studied class of RutpphzPd (with tpphz = tetrapyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c:3″,2″-h:2?,3?-j]phenazine) complexes. The distinct impact of water on the electron-transfer processes in tpphz-ligands stems from the possibility of water to form hydrogen bonds to the phenazine nitrogen atoms and will potentially reduced when replacing the phenazine by the acridine unit. The effect of this structural variation on the catalytic properties and the underlying ultrafast intramolecular charge transfer behavior will be discussed in detail.     

Flat ended projectile penetrating ultra-high strength concrete plate target

Reactive powder concrete (RPC), a composite that has been developed in recent years, is a special mixture that is cured to have a higher compressive strength than that of concrete (about 200 MPa). Adding a few steel fibers can markedly increase its mechanical properties, such as tensile and bending strength, impact resistance and toughness. Hence, RPC is highly promising for use in the containment structures of nuclear power plants and in the protection of military facilities. This study evaluates the resistance of ultra-high strength concrete targets by high-velocity impact experiments. Test variables include the impact velocity and the amount of steel fibers added. The experimental results reveal that RPC plates, because of their higher compressive strength, are more fragile than normal concrete (NC) plates. However, adding a small amount of steel fibers significantly improved the impact resistance of the target plates. Moreover, a numerical simulation based on the nonlinear finite element code LS-DYNA was performed. The results of the numerical simulation have a good agreement with the experimental data and can be used for further research.     

Impact of woven fabric: Experiments and mesostructure-based continuum-level simulations

Woven fabric is an increasingly important component of many defense and commercial systems, including deployable structures, restraint systems, numerous forms of protective armor, and a variety of structural applications where it serves as the reinforcement phase of composite materials. With the prevalence of these systems and the desire to explore new applications, a comprehensive, computationally efficient model for the deformation of woven fabrics is needed. However, modeling woven fabrics is difficult due, in particular, to the need to simulate the response both at the scale of the entire fabric and at the meso-level, the scale of the yarns that compose the weave. Here, we present finite elements for the simulation of the three-dimensional, high-rate deformation of woven fabric. We employ a continuum-level modeling technique that, through the use of an appropriate unit cell, captures the evolution of the mesostructure of the fabric without explicitly modeling every yarn. Displacement degrees of freedom and degrees of freedom representing the change in crimp amplitude of each yarn family fully determine the deformed geometry of the mesostructure of the fabric, which in turn provides, through the constitutive relations, the internal nodal forces. In order to verify the accuracy of the elements, instrumented ballistic impact experiments with projectile velocities of 22-550 m/s were conducted on single layers of Kevlar^® fabric. Simulations of the experiments demonstrate that the finite elements are capable of efficiently simulating large, complex structures.     

Static and dynamic fracture of transparent nanograined alumina

Transparent nanograined alumina has a great technological potential for highly demanding applications which take advantage of its superior mechanical properties like hardness, wear resistance, and strength, in addition to its optical performance in the infrared and visible domain. Accurate fracture properties (toughness) of this material are rather scarce in the quasi-static regime, and almost non-existent in the dynamic regime. Therefore, the present work investigates the static and dynamic fracture toughness of polycrystalline, nanograined alumina. The results show a marked increase in the dynamic initiation toughness when compared with the quasi-static regime, a phenomenon that was previously observed for other quasi-brittle materials. A combined fractographic and numerical study is carried out in order to identify the underlying mechanism(s) for the observed high dynamic initiation toughness. It is proposed that the latter results from the combined effect of a geometrical crack-front perturbation along with the contribution of the kinetic energy of the specimen. A discussion of the dynamic fracture toughness as a material property concludes this work.