Molecular engineering of interphases in polymer/carbon nanotube composites to reach the limits of mechanical performance
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Difficulty incorporating radioactive Tc-99 into glass during vitrification of low-activity waste (LAW) at the Hanford Site is a technical challenge. Previous studies suggested that the presence of sulfate salts in the melt hinder the incorporation of Re, a non-radioactive surrogate for Tc-99, into nuclear waste glass. In this study, we assessed the capability of a Ba-Sn composite to sequester sulfate during vitrification of AN-102 LAW feed and the resulting effects on Re retention in the glass. We also investigated a feed where the initial soluble sulfate source in the simulated LAW (Na2SO4) was replaced with insoluble BaSO4. The Ba-Sn composite-treated feed and BaSO4-substitute feed were compared to a control, AN-102 baseline. The feeds were prepared and then heated to temperatures from 400-1000 °C at 5 °C/min and air-quenched to room temperature. The heated samples and dried feeds were leached in deionized water. The solutions from the leach test were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) to determine the amount of soluble sulfate as a function of temperature and the resulting solids were analyzed for Re retention. Although the Ba-Sn composite material successfully sequestered sulfate in the as-prepared LAW feed, heating to 400 °C resulted in most of the sulfate partitioning to a soluble salt phase. By 700°C, sulfate partitioning in the composite-treated feed was identical to the baseline feed. Throughout the entire temperature range the BaSO4-substitute feed behaved similarly to the composite-treated feed. The results of the study show that sequestering sulfate into a BaSO4 phase is ineffective for rhenium retention as the sulfate salt behavior was identical in the three feeds at =700 °C. The fraction of rhenium retained in the glass at 1000°C varied from 39.4-46.6% for the three feeds, which is shown to be an insignificant difference.
The phase behavior of ternary polymer blends comprising poly(cyclohexylethylene) (C) and polyethylene (E) homopolymers and a compositionally asymmetric CE diblock copolymer with f C = 0.67 was investigated, where f C is the volume fraction of C. Morphology was established in the phase prism (volume fractions of C, E, and CE vs. temperature) by optical transmission, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements. The locations of lamellar (LAM), hexagonally packed cylinders (HEX), and gyroid (GYR) ordered phases are shifted significantly towards lower fractions of C homopolymer compared to previous results obtained from ternary polymer blends with a symmetric diblock copolymer (f C = 0.5). Conversely, the Scott line of critical points, which delineates the boundary between single-phase disorder and macroscopic phase separation, remains virtually unchanged, coincident with the fraction of C homopolymer associated with the binary homopolymer blend critical composition. A central finding of this study is that the line of nearly congruent order-disorder transitions, where the LAM phase melts virtually directly into the disordered state, is decoupled in composition from that of the Scott line of critical points. A wide range of phase space between the compositions associated with the congruent transition and Scott line was identified as containing a microemulsion morphology. This study demonstrates that diblock copolymer compositional asymmetry significantly impacts the ordered phase regime but has a marginal effect on the region displaying macroscopic phase separation. It also provides useful guidance for tuning interfacial curvature, a crucial factor in the formation of bicontinuous microemulsions (BµEs).
In 2015, NERC’s reliability standards were revised to require the use of dynamic load models in transmission planning studies. To comply with the standards, planners must use load models that explicitly represent the dynamic behavior of the different constituents of load at each load bus within their transmission planning models. The most important of these constituents are motor-driven and power electronics-based loads. Collectively, these representations are known as composite load models. In anticipation of the compliance date for the new standards, NERC’s Load Modeling Task Force (LMTF), in 2019, initiated a field test of composite load models involving the regional reliability planning entities. In support of the field test, DOE and BPA researchers developed region-specific composite load models that could be assigned to each non-industrial load bus in the planning models for each of the North American interconnections. Separate models were developed for each hour of a summer peak day, a winter peak day, and a spring light-load day. This report is the technical documentation for the load composition analysis that was conducted to develop these non-industrial composite load models.
Plastic and glass track detectors on rockets and Apollo spacecraft have been used to determine the composition of particles from He to Ni at energies from 0.1 to 50 MeV per nucleon in several solar flares of widely varying intensities. At low energies the composition of solar particles is enriched in heavy elements by an amount, relative to the asymptotic high-energy composition, that increases with atomic number from Z = 2 up to at least Z = 50, that decreases with energy, and that varies from flare to flare. At high energies (usually beyond an energy of 5 to 20 MeV per nucleon) the composition becomes independent of energy and, though somewhat variable from flare to flare, approximates the composition of the solar atmosphere. A table of abundances of the even-Z elements from He to Ni (plus N) in solar particles is constructed by averaging the asymptotic high-energy abundances in several flares.
The evolution of major mineral compositions and trace element abundances during perfect fractional crystallization of a model lunar magma ocean was calculated. The minerals in the model lunar composition were olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase. Lunar bulk composition data, major mineral/melt equilibria data, and trace element partition data were taken from published sources. The results show olivine beginning to crystallize at 1380 C. Approximately 50% of the system crystallizes as olivine. From 50 to 60% solidification, orthopyroxene crystallizes alone. During the final 40% solidification, Ca-rich clinopyroxene and plagioclase crystallize together. Various changes in composition of all these minerals are also noted during the process. Concomitant evolution of major element abundances in the melt is followed along with that of trace element abundances. Consequences of the results for constraints on some aspects of the composition of the lunar magma ocean and of the primitive moon are discussed.
The impetus of composite mechanics on composite test methods and/or on interpreting test results is described by using examples from composite micromechanics, composite macromechanics and laminate theory. The specific examples included contributions such as criteria for selecting resin matrices for improved composite strength, the 10 deg off-axis tensile test, criteria for configuring hybrids and superhybrids for improved impact resistance and the reduced bending rigidities concept for buckling and vibration analyses.
Major areas of study include: (1) edge effects in finite width laminated composites subjected to mechanical, thermal and hygroscopic loading with temperature dependent material properties and the influence of edge effects on the initiation of failure; (2) shear and compression testing of composite materials at room and elevated temperatures; (3) optical techniques for precise measurement of coefficients of thermal expansion of composites; (4) models for the nonlinear behavior of composites including material nonlinearity and damage accumulation and verification of the models under biaxial loading; (5) compressive failure of graphite/epoxy plates with circular holes and the buckling of composite cylinders under combined compression and torsion; (6) nonlinear mechanical properties of borsic/aluminum, graphite/polyimide and boron/aluminum; (7) the strength characteristics of spliced sandwich panels; and (8) curved graphite/epoxy panels subjected to internal pressure.
The NASA Aircraft Energy Efficiency (ACEE) Composite Primary Aircraft Structures Program was designed to develop technology for advanced composites in commercial aircraft. Research on composite materials, aircraft structures, and aircraft design is presented herein. The following parameters of composite materials were addressed: residual strength, damage tolerance, toughness, tensile strength, impact resistance, buckling, and noise transmission within composite materials structures.
The present conference on interfacial factors in advanced composite materials discusses such topics in their development status and properties as silane coupling, the electrochemical and plasma-surface treatment of carbon fibers, fiber surface-analytical techniques, polymer molecular scale characterization by atom-probe field-ion microscopy, the study of carbon fiber-epoxy resin interface interactions by means of labeling techniques, and the surface tailoring of SiC by ion implantation. Also discussed are developments in laser light-scattered photoelasticity, microstructural evolutions under heat treatment and radiation damage, TEM for composites, the interfaces of carbon fiber-reinforced Al composites, the influence of the interface on macroscopic composite properties, and the status of the theoretical understanding of composite interfaces.
The boundary element method is utilized to analyze the effects of fiber/matrix interfaces on the micromechanical behavior of laminated composites as well as the elastic behavior of woven composites. Effective composite properties are computed for laminated SiC/RBSN and SiC/Ti-15-3 composites, as well as a woven SiC/SiC composite. The properties calculated using the computerized tool BEST-CMS match the experimental results well.
A study of past composite aircraft structures programs was conducted to determine the lessons learned during the programs. The study focused on finding major underlying principles and practices that experience showed have significant effects on the development process and should be recognized and understood by those responsible for using of composites. Published information on programs was reviewed and interviews were conducted with personnel associated with current and past major development programs. In all, interviews were conducted with about 56 people representing 32 organizations. Most of the people interviewed have been involved in the engineering and manufacturing development of composites for the past 20 to 25 years. Although composites technology has made great advances over the past 30 years, the effective application of composites to aircraft is still a complex problem that requires experienced personnel with special knowledge. All disciplines involved in the development process must work together in real time to minimize risk and assure total product quality and performance at acceptable costs. The most successful programs have made effective use of integrated, collocated, concurrent engineering teams, and most often used well-planned, systematic development efforts wherein the design and manufacturing processes are validated in a step-by-step or 'building block' approach. Such approaches reduce program risk and are cost effective.
Probabilistic composite micromechanics methods are developed that simulate expected uncertainties in unidirectional fiber composite properties. These methods are in the form of computational procedures using Monte Carlo simulation. The variables in which uncertainties are accounted for include constituent and void volume ratios, constituent elastic properties and strengths, and fiber misalignment. A graphite/epoxy unidirectional composite (ply) is studied to demonstrate fiber composite material property variations induced by random changes expected at the material micro level. Regression results are presented to show the relative correlation between predictor and response variables in the study. These computational procedures make possible a formal description of anticipated random processes at the intraply level, and the related effects of these on composite properties.