• Current Optics and Photonics
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.66-71
• /
• 2019

Application of liquid crystal (LC) materials to a flexible device is challenging because the bending of LC displays easily causes change in thickness of the LC layer and orientation of LCs, resulting in deterioration in a displayed image quality. In this work, we demonstrate a prototype device combining a flexible polymer substrate and an optically isotropic LC-polymer composite in which the device consists of interdigitated in-plane switching electrodes deposited on a flexible colorless polyimide substrate and the composite consisting of nano-sized LC droplets in a polymer matrix. The device can keep good electro-optic characteristics even when it is in a bending state because the LC orientation is not disturbed in both voltage-off and -on states. The proposed device shows a high potential to be applicable for future flexible LC devices.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
• /
• v.10 no.9
• /
• pp.4603-4624
• /
• 2016

In this paper, a new reversible watermarking algorithm with adaptive embedding threshold matrix is proposed. Firstly, to avoid the overflow and underflow, two flexible thresholds, TL and TR, are applied to preprocess the image histogram with least histogram shift cost. Secondly, for achieving an optimal or near optimal tradeoff between the embedding capacity and imperceptibility, the embedding threshold matrix, composed of the embedding thresholds of all blocks, is determined adaptively by the combination between the composite chaos and the average energy of Integer Wavelet Transform (IWT) block. As a non-liner system with good randomness, the composite chaos is suitable to search the optimal embedding thresholds. Meanwhile, the average energy of IWT block is calculated to adjust the block embedding capacity, and more data are embedded into those IWT blocks with larger average energy. The experimental results demonstrate that compared with the state-of-the-art reversible watermarking schemes, the proposed scheme has better performance for the tradeoff between the embedding capacity and imperceptibility.

• Journal of Photoscience
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.101-106
• /
• 2004

The photorefractive composites fabricated by blending NLO chromophores such as 3-(4-{bis-[4-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-phenyl]-amino}-phenyl)-2-isocyano-acrylonitrile (PAIA), bis-[4-(2-ethyl-hexyloxy)-phenyl]-{4-[2-(4-nitrophenyl)-vinyl]-phenyl}-amine (PNPA) with photoconducting crosslinkable matrix, bis-(4-ethynylphenyl)-(4-octyloxyphenyl)-amine (BEOPEA), showed photorefractive property due to the high composition of NLO chromophores caused by introducing alkoxy chain, and many problems faced in typical organic photorefractive systems such as timeconsuming chemical synthesis, difficulty in rational design, intrinsic instability and phase separation could be avoided.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.28 no.12
• /
• pp.1914-1922
• /
• 2004

This paper provides a comprehensive study of optimum design of a helicopter tailrotor driveshaft made of the flexible matrix composites (FMCs). Since the driveshaft transmits power while subjected to large bending deformation due to aerodynamic loadings, the FMCs can be ideal for enhancing the drivetrain performance by absorbing the lateral deformation without shaft segmentation. However, the increased lateral flexibility and high internal damping of the FMCs may induce whirling instability at supercritical operating conditions. Thus, the purpose of optimization in this paper is to find a set of tailored FMC parameters that compromise between the lateral flexibility and the whirling stability while satisfying several criteria such as torsional buckling safety and the maximum shaft temperature at steadystate conditions. At first, the drivetrain was modeled based on the finite element method and the classical laminate theory with complex modulus approach. Then, an objective function was defined as a combination of an allowable bending deformation and external damping and a genetic algorithm was applied to search for an optimum set with respect to ply angles and stack sequences. Results show that an optimum laminate consists of two groups of layers: (i) one has ply angles well below 45$^{\circ}$ and the other far above 45$^{\circ}$ and (ii) the number of layers with low ply angles is much bigger than that with high ply angles. It is also found that a thick FMC shaft is desirable for both lateral flexibility and whirling stability. The genetic algorithm was effective in converging to several local optimums, whose laminates exhibit similar patterns as mentioned above.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.52-57
• /
• 2015

Soft morphing robotics making use of smart material and based on biomimetic principles are capable of continuous locomotion in harmony with its environment. Since these robots do not use traditional mechanical components, they can be built to be light weight and capable of a diverse range of locomotion. This paper illustrates a flexible smart phone robot made of smart soft composite (SSC) with inchworm-like locomotion capable of two-way linear motion. Since rigid components are embedded within the robot, bending actuators with embedded rigid segments were investigated in order to obtain the maximum bending curvature. To verify the results, a simple mechanical model of this actuator was built and compared with experimental data. After that, the flexible robot was implemented as part of a smart phone robot where the rigid components of the phone were embedded within the matrix. Then, experiments were conducted to test the smart phone robot actuation force under different deflections to verify its load carrying capability. After that, the communication between the smart phone and robot controller was implemented and a corresponding phone application was developed. The locomotion of the smart phone robot actuated through an independent controller was also tested.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
• /
• 1994.04a
• /
• pp.57-64
• /
• 1994

The purpose of this paper is to find minimum surface shape of pneumatic structure using the finite element method. The pneumatic membrane structure is a kind of large deformation problem and very flexible composite material, which mean geomatric nonlinearity. It is not to resist for compression and resultant moment. As the displacement due to internal pressure is getting bigger, it should be considered the direction of forces. It becomes non-linear problem with the non-conservative force. The follower-force depends on the deformation and the direction of force is normal to each element. The solution process is obtained the new stiffness matrix (load correction matrix) depending on deformation through each iterated step. However, the stiffness matrix have not the symmetry and influence on the time of covergence. So in this paper Newton-Rhapson method for solving non-linear problem and for using symmetic matrix, the load direction is changed in each iterated step using the transformation matrix.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.32 no.11
• /
• pp.508-514
• /
• 2022

Piezoelectric composite films which are enabled by inorganic piezoelectric nanomaterials-embedded polymer, have attracted enormous attention as a sustainable power source for low powered electronics, because of their ease of fabrication and flexible nature. However, the absorption of applied stress by the soft polymeric matrices is a major issue that must be solved to expand the fields of piezoelectric composite applications. Herein, a flexible and porous piezoelectric composite (piezoelectric sponge) comprised of BaTiO₃ nanoparticles and polydimethylsiloxane was developed using template method to enhance the energy conversion efficiency by minimizing the stress that vanishes into the polymer matrix. In the porous structure, effective stress transfer can occur between the piezoelectric active materials in compression mode due to direct contact between the ceramic particles embedded in the pore-polymer interface. The piezoelectric sponge with 30 wt% of BaTiO₃ particles generated an open-circuit voltage of ~12 V and a short-circuit current of ~150 nA. A finite element method-based simulation was conducted to theoretically back up that the piezoelectric output performance was effectively improved by introducing the sponge structure. Furthermore, to demonstrate the feasibility of pressure detecting applications using the BaTiO₃ particles-embedded piezoelectric sponge, the composite was arranged in a 3 × 3 array and integrated into a single pressure sensor. The fabricated sensor array successfully detected the shape of the applied pressure. This work can provide a cost-effective, biocompatible, and structural strategy for realizing piezoelectric composite-based energy harvesters and self-powered sensors with improved energy conversion efficiency.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 1989.07a
• /
• pp.341-344
• /
• 1989

A Modified equivalent circuit by combining a series and parallel of polymer matrix for estimating the dielectric constant ${\bar{K}}_{33}$ values changing the volume percent of $PbTiO_3$, the dependences of frequency for the 713 and dissipation factor for 0 - 3 composites was derived. The difference of the dielectric constant and dissipation factor between the calculated and measured values became smaller at higher volume percent of $PbTiO_3$. There was, good agreement between the calculated and observed results for 70 volume percent of $PbTiO_3$ and 30 volume percent of Eccogel composite at 1(KHz), 25($^{\circ}C$). The optimized variable x was 0.94 in $PbTiO_3$ ceramics. $PbTiO_3$ powder and Eccogel polymer were used as piezoelectric fillers and matrix, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.26 no.8
• /
• pp.620-623
• /
• 2013

The carbon nanotube / poly-vinylidene fluoride (CNT/PVDF) composite films for the nano-generator devices were fabricated by spray coating method using the CNT/PVDF solution, which was prepared by adding PVDF pellets into the CNT dispersed N-Methyl-2-pyrroli-done (NMP) solution. The flexible CNT/PVDF composite films were investigated by the scanning electron microscopy, which revealed that the CNTs were uniformly dispersed in the PVDF matrix and thickness of the films was approximately $20{\mu}m$. Fourier transform infra-red spectra were used to investigate crystal structure of the as-spray-coated CNT/PVDF films, and we found that they revealed extremely large portion of the ${\beta}$ phase PVDF. The capacitance of the CNT/PVDF films increased by adding CNTs into the PVDF matrix, and finally saturated. However, the resistance didn't show any saturation effect in the CNT concentration range of 0~4 wt%. Finally, the resulting nano-generator devices revealed reasonable current output after given mechanical stress.

• Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
• /
• v.68
• /
• pp.173-179
• /
• 2018

Electrochemical characterization was conducted on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-ceramic composite (PVA-CC) separators for supercapacitor applications. The PVA-CC separators were fabricated by mixing various ceramic particles including aluminum oxide ($Al_2O_3$), silicon dioxide ($SiO_2$), and titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) into a PVA aqueous solution. These ceramic particles help to create amorphous regions in the crystalline structure of the polymer matrix to increase the ionic conductivity of PVA. Supercapacitors were assembled using PVA-CC separators with symmetric activated carbon electrodes and electrochemical characterization showed enhanced specific capacitance, rate capability, cycle life, and ionic conductivity. Supercapacitors using the $PVA-TiO_2$ composite separator showed particularly good electrochemical performance with a 14.4% specific capacitance increase over supercapacitors using the bare PVA separator after 1000 cycles. With regards to safety, PVA becomes plasticized when immersed in 6 M KOH aqueous solution, thus there was no appreciable loss in tear resistance when the ceramic particles were added to PVA. Thus, the enhanced electrochemical properties can be attained without reduction in safety making the addition of ceramic nanoparticles to PVA separators a cost-effective strategy for increasing the ionic conductivity of separator materials for supercapacitor applications.