• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2010

We used activated carbon (AC), activated carbon fiber (ACF) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) as carbon sources and titanium n-butoxide as titanium source to prepare carbon-$TiO_2$ composites. For characterization their properties, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), BET surface area, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) were used. And the photoactivity of the carbon-$TiO_2$ composites, under UV irradiation, was tested using the fixed concentration of methylene blue (MB, $C_{16}H_{18}N_3S{\cdot}Cl{\cdot}3H_2O$) in aqueous solution. After UV irradiation for a certain time, the concentration of MB solution was determined by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.297-309
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• 2012

Different amounts of foaming agents were employed in natural rubber(NR)/butadiene rubber(BR) blends to understand the foaming behavior in presence of nano-reinforcing agent, zinc methacrylate (ZMA). The ZMA greatly improved most of the mechanical properties of the rubber foams, however it did not show considerable effect on the cell morphology, such as cell size, density and porosity. It was also observed that the foaming agent concentration affected all the mechanical parameters. When the content of foaming agent was increased, the number of foams was increased leading to a decrease in density of the compounds. But the size and distribution of foams remained unchanged with increased foaming agent. The effect of high styrene-butadiene rubber (HSBR) was also studied. The size of cells became smaller and the cell uniformity was improved with increasing HSBR. The foam rubber compounds showed much efficient energy absorbing capability at higher strains.

• Composites Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2001

The pressing roller was designed and manufactured with high modulus carbon fiber composite material to exploit the high specific stiffness of the composite material. the optimal stacking sequence for the pressing roller was obtained from the FE analysis and the shape of the rubber coating layer was determined based on the calculated deflection for the uniform pressure on the film along the axial length of the pressing roller. Then the static deflection of the manufactured composite pressing roller was experimentally evaluated in comparison with analysis result and dynamic characteristics were measured through vibrational test.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.290-298
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• 2009

In this paper, the Fe-activated carbon fiber (ACF)/$TiO_2$ composite catalysts were prepared by a sol-gel method. The synthesized photocatalysts were used for the photo degradation of Methylene blue solution under UV light. From Brunauer-Emmett-Teller measurements (BET) data, it was shown the blocking of the micropores on the surface of ACF by treatment of Fe and Ti compound. As shown in SEM images, the ferric compounds and titanium dioxides were fixed onto the ACF surfaces. The result of X-ray powder diffraction showed that the crystal phase contained a mixing anatase and rutile structure and the 'FeO+$TiO_2$' from the composites. The EDX spectra for the elemental analysis showed the presence of C, O, and Ti with Fe peaks. Degradation activity of MB could be attributed to +OH radicals derived from electron/hole pair's reactions due to photolysis of $TiO_2$ and photo-Fenton effect of Fe.

• Composites Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.1-8
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• 2007

In this study, carbon fiber reinforced polymeric (CFRP) composites with different resin composition were manufactured and resin formulation in composite materials were presented through tensile tests for cryogenic use. Thermo-mechanical cyclic loading (up to 6 cycles) was applied to CFRP unidirectional laminate specimens from room temperature to $-150^{\circ}C$. Tensile tests were then performed at $-150^{\circ}C$ using an environmental test chamber. In addition, matrix-dominant properties such as the transverse and in-plane shear characteristics of each composite model were measured at $-150^{\circ}C$ to examine the effects of resin formulation on their interfacial properties. The tensile tests showed that the composite models with large amounts of bisphenol-A epoxy and CTBN modified rubber in their resin composition had good mechanical performance at cryogenic temperature (CT).

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.106-111
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• 2009

Tissue engineering is a research field for artificial substitutes to improve or replace biological functions. Scaffolds play a important role in tissue engineering. Scaffold porosity and pore size provide adequate space, nutrient transportation and cell penetration throughout the scaffold structure. Scaffold structure is directly related to fabrication methods. This review will introduce the current technique of 3D scaffold fabrication for tissue engineering. The conventional technique for scaffold fabrication includes salt leaching, gas foaming, fiber bonding, phase seperation, melt moulding, and freeze drying. These conventional scaffold fabrication has the limitations of cell penetration and interconnectivity. In this paper, we will present the solid freeform fabrication (SFF) such as stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), and fused deposition modeling (FDM), and 3D printing (3DP).

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.40-43
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• 2010

In this study, polyimide(PI) nanofibers mats were prepared by electrospinning and three different fiber morphologies of random, uniaxial, and biaxial orientation were prepared by controlling the speed of drum-shaped collector and other parameters. The SEM studies reveal that the aforesaid morphologies were obtained on the nano-fibrous mats prepared. The ionic conductivity was measured using an in-plane type conductivity tester for the PI mats soaked in the mixture of 1M lithium trifluoro-methane-sulfonate and tetra-ethylene glycol dimethyl ether. The ionic conductivity was surprisingly higher for the biaxial PI mats. For the uniaxially-oriented mats, the ionic conductivity was found to be higher in the parallel direction compared to the perpendicular direction of the fiber orientation. A curious cyclic fluctuation was found in the ionic conductivity with time. The observed behavior was explained by considering the distance between fibers and transport speed of ions used in this study.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.690-700
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• 2000

In this study, an elastomer-assistered compression molding process was investigated by experiments as well as modeling for the long-fiber reinforced thermoset composites. The consolidation pressure generated by fixed-volume and variable-volume conditions was thermodynamically derived for both elastomer and curing prepregs, and was compared with the pressure measured during curing of epoxy matrix. Exhibiting non-linear viscoelastic characteristics in the compressive stress-strain tests, the measured stress was well compared with a modifed KWW (Kohlrausch-Williame-Watts) equation, which is based on the Maxwell viscoelastic model. Using the developed model equations, the consolidation pressure generated by the elastomer was successfully predicted for the compression molding process of thermoset composite materials in tile closed mold system.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.120-127
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• 2020

In this study, molding shrinkage of PPS resin was investigated. Two types of PPS resins with differing glass fiber and calcium carbonate content were used for this purpose. To observe mold shrinkage, molding conditions based on injection temperature, injection speed, and the position of the cushion were selected. Circular and rectangular specimens were used for the study model. Injection molding simulation was performed to predict the filling pattern and mold shrinkage, and the simulation results were compared with the experimental conclusions. It was observed that the mold shrinkage showed the highest shrinkage (distributed from 0.05% to 0.32%) dependence on the injection temperature, and the lowest shrinkage (distributed from 0.05% to 0.31%) dependence on the injection speed. The role of the position of the cushion in mold shrinkage was difficult to observe. The results of the simulation mostly agreed with the experimental results; however, for some molding conditions, the mold shrinkage in the simulation was overestimated as compared to that in the experiment.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.300-305
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• 2013

Part shrinkage in injection molding is inevitable phenomenon. Thus, it is necessary not only study on the reducing part shrinkage but characterization of part shrinkage. In this study, part shrinkage in injection molded 2.5 dimensional annular shaped specimens has been studied using glass fiber reinforced PC. Annular shaped specimens were designed with various sizes of outer diameter and thickness. Injection temperature, packing time and packing pressure were selected for operational conditions. Profile variations of outer and inner diameters of molded specimens for various operational conditions were investigated. Sizes of outer and inner diameters of injection molded specimens were smaller than the sizes of mold. Part shrinkage decreased as outer diameter and thickness increased. Part shrinkage showed anisotropic behavior and it depended upon gate location. Subsequently, molded specimens were not circular but oval in shape, and showed the largest shrinkage in the direction of gate. It was realized that the mold design such as gate design is important to control the shape of molded products.