Stress Inhomogeneity in Powder Specimens Tested in the Jenike Shear Cell: Myth or Fact?

In the mechanical characterization of powders using the direct shear testers such as the Jenike shear cell, the existence of a uniform or well‐defined stress field in a powder specimen is assumed. This assumption has not been subjected to any serious scrutiny in the literature. In this study, the normal stress variation in a silica powder was locally determined by locating a pressure‐sensitive TekScan pad at the bottom section of a Jenike shear cell. A computer simulation of the consolidation and pre‐shearing stages of the Jenike test procedure was performed using the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The paper presents both experimental and computational evidence for the existence of a complex stress field in the powder specimen, thus clearly invalidating the long‐standing stress homogeneity assumption in the direct shear testing of powders. The implications of the stress inhomogeneity in terms of the accuracy of the material properties extracted from the Jenike test are also presented.     

Preparation of stable colloidal suspensions of superdisintegrants via wet stirred media milling

Superdisintegrants are cross-linked polymers that can be used as dispersants for fast release of drug nanoparticles from nanocomposite microparticles during in vitro and in vivo dissolution.Currently available superdisintegrant particles have average sizes of approximately 5-130 μm,which are too big for drug nanocomposite applications.Hence,production of stable superdisintegrant suspensions with less than5 μm particles is desirable.Here,we explore the preparation of colloidal suspensions of anionic and nonionic superdisintegrants using a wet stirred media mill and assess their physical stability.Sodium starch glycolate(SSG) and crospovidone(CP) were selected as representative anionic and nonionic superdisintegrants,and hydroxy propyl cellulose(HPC) and sodium dodecyl sulfate(SDS) were used as a steric stabilizer and a wetting agent/stabilizer,respectively.Particle sizing,scanning electron microscopy,and zeta potential measurements were used to characterize the suspensions.Colloidal superdisintegrant suspensions were prepared reproducibly.The extensive particle breakage was attributed to the swelling-induced softening in water.SSG suspensions were stable even in the absence of stabilizers,whereas CP suspensions required HPC-SDS for minimizing particle aggregation.These findings were explained by the higher absolute(negative) zeta potential of the suspensions of the anionic superdisintegrant(SSG) as compared with those of the nonionic superdisintegrant(CP).     

PRODUCTION OF PIGMENT NANOPARTICLES USING A WET STIRRED MILL WITH POLYMERIC MEDIA

Pigment nanoparticles with a size range of 10-100 nm were produced from large agglonmerates via a stirred media mill operating in the wet-batch mode and using polymeric media,The effects of several operating variables such as the surfactant concentration,polystyrene media loading.and media size on the pigment size distribution of the product were studied.The process dynamics was also investigated.Dynamic light scattering and electron microscopy were used as the characerization techniques.The polymeric grinding media are found to be effective for the production of pigment nanoparticles.The experimental results suggest the existence of an optimum media size and surfactant concentration,A population balance model of the process reveals a transition from first-order breakage kinetice for rela-large agglomerates split in a first-order kinetics,with a delay period,for the smaller particles.The model implies that large agglomerates split in a first-order fashion whereas the breakage of individual naoparticles may depend on induced fatigue of the particles.     

Fluorene-based donor-acceptor-type multifunctional polymer with bicarbazole pendant moiety for optoelectronic applications

Since limited examples are in the literature in which both organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and electrochromic (EC) applications were performed using the same conjugated polymer, we presented comprehensive EC and electroluminescence (EL) studies of fluorene-based electroactive polymer (e.g., CFP6) consisting of a bicarbazole pendant moiety with quinoxaline as an acceptor bridge. CFP6 was synthesized by a Suzuki cross-coupling polymerization reaction and utilized as an active and emissive layers of the electrochromic device (ECD) and OLED, respectively, due to its high photoluminescence quantum yield intensity and fine thin film forming capability. The optical, electrochemical, cyclic voltammetry measurements, and density functional theory calculations were realized. Electrochemical cross-linking process was applied over the electroactive carbazole subunit of the CFP6 polymer. After the crosslinking process, EC performance was greatly improved. On the other hand, light emission and EL characteristics of OLEDs based on CFP6 emissive layer were realized in detail with six different device architectures to understand light output profile behavior. As a result, CFP6 emitted bright greenish yellow emission with a maximum brightness of 1777 cd/m² at 215 mA/cm² in the indium tin oxide (ITO)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS)/CFP6:%10 4,4′-bis(N-carbazolyl)-1,1′-biphenyl (CBP)/Alq3/LiF/Al device architecture.     

Controlling the stress–strain inhomogeneities in axially sheared and radially heated hollow rubber tubes via functional grading

Functional grading of rubber-like materials is suggested as a means of controlling their mechanical response within the context of finite thermoelasticity. To illustrate the concept of functional grading, we consider the axial shearing deformation of a radially heated, isotropic, incompressible, hollow rubber tube. The temperature stiffening, the strain stiffening, and the radially varying shear modulus of rubber tubes are modeled here by generalizing the Neo-Hookean and the Gent models. Local energy and momentum balance equations are solved to obtain the temperature and stress–strain fields in the sheared tube. The shear strain becomes highly inhomogeneous with an increase in temperature gradient, whereas functional grading of the tube can perfectly homogenize the strain. This paper indicates the potential of functionally grading rubbers to control their mechanical response in thermally hostile environments.     

Effect of material non-homogeneity on the inhomogeneous shearing deformation of a Gent slab subjected to a temperature gradient

It is well known that most rubber-like materials are non-homogeneous due to either imperfect manufacturing conditions or the action of severe thermo-oxidative environments in many practical applications. In this study, within the context of finite thermoelasticity, we theoretically analyze the inhomogeneous shearing deformation of a non-homogeneous rubber-like slab subjected to a thermal gradient across its thickness. The major objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the material non-homogeneity, which is the material-coordinate dependence of the material response functions, on the stress-strain fields for a given temperature gradient. First, we show the existence of a simple shearing deformation from which the generalized shear modulus and the generalized thermal conductivity of the slab could be obtained. Based on this information, the Gent material model is generalized to take the material non-homogeneity and the temperature dependence of the stress into account. To analyze the inhomogeneous shearing deformation of the non-homogeneous slab, deformation and temperature fields are postulated; then the decoupled temperature field is obtained analytically by solving the local energy balance equation. Finally, the static equilibrium equations are solved considering the linear temperature field. Our results show that the spatial pattern and the degree of the material non-homogeneity have profound effects on the stress-strain fields. The shear strain becomes nearly homogeneous and the stresses are relatively small for a certain spatial variation of the material non-homogeneity. This result suggests the possibility of designing a novel class of materials: functionally graded rubber-elastic materials (FGREMs).