• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.285-290
• /
• 2004

Nondestructive damage sensitivity of carbon nanotube(CNT) and nanofiber (CNF)/epoxy composites with their adding contents was investigated using electro-micromechanical technique. Carbon black (CB) was used only for the comparison with CNT and CNF. The fracture of carbon fiber was detected by acoustic emission (AE), which was correlated to the change in electrical resistance, ΔR under double-matrix composites (DMC) test. Stress sensing on carbon nanocomposites was performed by electro-pullout test under uniform cyclic loading. At the same volume fraction, the damage sensitivity for fiber fracture, matrix deformation and stress sensing were highest for CNT/epoxy composite, whereas for CB/epoxy composite they were the lowest among three carbon nanomaterials (CNMs). Damage sensitivity was correlated with morphological observation of carbon nanocomposites. Homogeneous dispersion among CNMs could be keying parameters for better damage monitoring. In this study, damage sensing of carbon nanocomposites could be evaluated well nondestructively by the electrical resistance measurement with AE.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.299-306
• /
• 2019

The natural fibre composites are termed as bio-composites. They have shown a promising replacement to the current carbon/glass fibre reinforced composites as environmental friendly materials in specific applications. Natural fibre reinforced composites are potential materials for various engineering applications in automobile, railways, building and Aerospace industry. The natural fibre selected to fabricate the composite material is plant-based fibre e.g., sisal fibre. Sisal fibre is a suitable reinforcement for use in composites on account of its low density, high specific strength, and high hardness. Epoxy is a thermosetting polymer which is used as a resin in natural fibre reinforced composites. Hand lay-up technique was used to fabricate the composites by reinforcing sisal fibres into the epoxy matrix. Composites were prepared with the unidirectional alignment of sisal fibres. Test specimens with different fibre orientations were prepared. The fabricated composites were tested for mechanical properties. Impact test, tensile test, flexural test, hardness test, compression test, and thermal test of composites had been conducted to assess its suitability in industrial applications. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test revealed the microstructural information of the fractured surface of composites.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.593-606
• /
• 2015

This paper presents a novel concept of healing some of the damages in wind turbine blades (WTBs) such as cracks and delamination. This is achieved through an inherent functioning autonomous repairing system. Such wind turbine blades have the benefit of reduced maintenance cost and increased operational period. Previous techniques of developing autonomous healing systems uses hollow glass fibres (HGFs) to deliver repairing fluids to damaged sites. HGFs have been reported with some limitations like, failure to fracture, which undermines their further usage. The self-healing technique described in this paper represents an advancement in the engineering of the delivery mechanism of a self-healing system. It is analogous to the HGF system but without the HGFs, which are replaced by multiple hollow channels created within the composite, inherently in the FRP matrix at fabrication. An in-house fabricated NACA 4412 WTB incorporating this array of network hollow channels was damaged in flexure and then autonomously repaired using the vascular channels. The blade was re-tested under flexure to ascertain the efficiency of the recovered mechanical properties.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.305-313
• /
• 2004

A vacuum pressure-difference technique for making a nano-precision replica is investigated for various applications. Master patterns for replication were fabricated using a nano-replication printing (nRP) process. In the nRP process, any picture and pattern can be replicated from a bitmap figure file in the range of several micrometers with resolution of 200nm. A liquid-state monomer is solidified by two-photon absorption (TPA) induced by a femto-second laser according to a voxel matrix scanning. After polymerization, the remaining monomers were removed simply by using ethanol droplets. And then, a gold metal layer of about 30nm thickness was deposited on the fabricated master patterns prior to polydimethylsiloxane molding for preventing bonding between the master and the polydimethylsiloxane mold. A few gold particles attached on the polydimethylsiloxane stamp during detaching process were removed by a gold selecting etchant. After fabricating the polydimethylsiloxane mold, a nano-precision polydimethylsiloxane replica was reproduced. More precise replica was produced by the vacuum pressure-difference technique that is proposed in this paper. Through this study, direct patterning on a glass plate, replicating a polydimethylsiloxane mold, and reproducing polydimethylsiloxane replica are demonstrated with a vacuum pressure-difference technique for various micro/nano-applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.714-717
• /
• 2007

In this study, a novel actuator was developed by employing the newly-synthesized ionic networking membrane (INM) of poly (styrene-alt-maleic anhydride) (PSMAn)-incorporated poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF). Based on the same original membrane, various samples of INM actuator were prepared through different reduction times with the electroless-plating technique. The as-prepared INM actuators were tested in terms of surface resistance, platinum morphology, resonance frequency, tip displacement, current and blocked force, and their performance was compared to that of the widely-used traditional Nafion actuator. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that much smaller and more uniform platinum particles were formed on the surfaces of the INM actuators as well as within their polymer matrix. Although excellent harmonic response was observed for the newly-developed INM actuators, this was found to be sensitive to the applied reduction times during the fabrication. The mechanical displacement of the INM actuator fabricated after optimum reduction times was much larger than that of its Nafion counterpart of comparable thickness under the stimulus of constant and alternating current voltage.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.30-37
• /
• 2000

This study focused on the direct blending of bonding agents (resorcinol, hexamethylenetetramine, NaOH) into rubber compound to simplify the composite manufacturing process. The mechanism of direct blending system was studied by comparing the following two cases. The one is direct blending of bonding agents into rubber compound and then allows the reaction (Case I). The other is mixing of reactant obtained by reaction of bonding agents (Case II). According to the morphology analysis, the Case II showed the clean interfacial area between bonding agents and matrix rubber, while the Case I created the new interphase under proper processing condition. Also, the optimum adhesion strength between SBR and nylon cord could be obtained with bonding agents whose molar ratios of resprcinol/hexamethylenetetramine was 1.2/1 in the recipes.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.418-428
• /
• 2003

Fiber fracture is one of the dominant failure phenomena affecting the total mechanical Performance of the composites. Fiber fracture locations were measured through the conventional optical microscope and the nondestructive acoustic emission (AE) technique and then were compared together as a function of the epoxy matrix modulus and the fiber surface treatment by the electrodeposition method (ED). Interfacial shear strength (IFSS) was measured using tensile fragmentation test in combination of AE method. ED treatment of the fiber surface enlarged the number of fiber fracture locations in comparison to the untreated case. The number of fiber fracture events measured by the AE method was less than optically obtained one. However, fiber fracture locations determined by AE detection corresponded with those by optical observation with small errors. The source location of fiber breaks by AE analysis could be a nondestructive, valuable method to measure interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of matrix in non-, semi- and/or transparent polymer composites.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
• /
• 2002.10a
• /
• pp.216-219
• /
• 2002

Conventional piezoelectric lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) senor has high sensitivity, but it is very brittle. Recently polymer films such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) have been used use as a sensor. The advantages of PVDF are the flexibility and mechanical toughness. Simple process and possible several shapes are also additional advantages. PVDF sensor can be directly embedded and attached to a structure. In this study, PVDF sensor was embedded in single glass fiber/epoxy composites whereas PZT sensor with AE was attached to single fiber composites (SFC). Piezoelectric sensor responds to interfacial damage of SFC. The signals measured by PVDF sensor were compared to PZT sensor. PZT sensor detected the signals of fiber fracture, matrix crack, interfacial debonding and even sensor delamination, whereas PVDF sensor only detected fiber fracture signals so far, because PZT sensor is much more sensitive than current PVDF sensor. Wave voltage of fiber fracture measured by PVDF sensor was lower than that of PZT sensor, but the results of fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis were same. Wave velocity using two PZT sensors was also studied to know the internal and surface damage effect of epoxy specimens.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.30 no.4 s.247
• /
• pp.364-372
• /
• 2006

In this paper, we present a finger tip tactile sensor which can detect contact normal force as well as slip. The sensor is made up of two different materials, such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) known as piezoelectric polymer, and pressure variable resistor ink. In order to detect slip on the surface of the object, two PVDF strips are arranged along the normal direction in the robot finger tip and the thumb tip. The surface electrode of the PVDF strip is fabricated using silk-screening technique with silver paste. Also a thin flexible force sensor is fabricated in the form of a matrix using pressure variable resistor ink in order to sense the static force. The developed tactile sensor is physically flexible and it can be deformed three-dimensionally to any shape so that it can be placed on anywhere on the curved surface. In addition, a tactile sensing system is developed, which includes miniaturized charge amplifier to amplify the small signal from the sensor, and the fast signal processing unit. The sensor system is evaluated experimentally and its effectiveness is validated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2010.06a
• /
• pp.260-260
• /
• 2010

In recent years, polymer/clay nanocomposites have generated a great interest, both in industry and in academia, because they often exhibit remarkable improvement in material properties when compared with the virgin polymer or conventional micro and macro-composites. Among these properties are stiffness, strength, dimensional stability and permeability. [1-3] The dispersion of hydrophilic silicates in a hydrophobic matrix like Polyethylene (PE) is difficult because of the difference in character between PE and Montmorillonite (MMT). Therefore, it is necessary to modify PE with polar groups, which can increase the hydrophilicity of PE. In this study, High density polyethylene (HDPE)/$Mg(OH)_2$/Montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposites having a various compositions were prepared by a melt blending technique with an internal mixer and properties namely mechanical, morpology, rheological and thermal properties were investigated