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APPLICATION OF NANOPOROUS MATERIALS IN MECHANICAL SYSTEMS
| Title: | APPLICATION OF NANOPOROUS MATERIALS IN MECHANICAL SYSTEMS |
| Author: | Kong, Xinguo |
| Description: | The rapid progress in processing techniques has greatly promoted the use of nanoporous materials in chemical engineering and biosciences fields for catalysis, selective absorption, purification, etc. The most attractive property of these materials is their high specific area which is typically in the range of 100-1000 m2/g. However, the application of them in mechanical systems was seldom reported. In the current study, we perform first-order analyses and proof-of-concept experiments for a novel application of nanoporous materials in developing high-performance nanoporous energy absorption systems (NEAS) and thermally/electrically controllable active nanoporous systems (ANS). When nanoporous particles are immersed in a nonwetting liquid, due to the capillary effect the infiltration will not occur unless the applied pressure reaches the critical value . In a NEAS, as the pressure is reduced the confined liquid remains in the energetically unfavorable nanopores. Thus, the large increase in interface energy is “absorbed”. The energy absorption efficiency is higher by orders of magnitude than that of composites or shape memory alloys that are used in protection devices such as car bumpers and soldier armors For ANS, on the other hand, if temperature or electrical potential is changed, due to the variation in interface energy caused by the thermocapillary or electrocapillaryeffect, the confined liquid can “flow” into or out of the nanopores, resulting in a significant system volume change. Since this process is reversible, it leads to a “volume memory” characteristic. The energy density and displacement of such a system are much higher than that of conventional intelligent materials such as piezoelectrics and magnetostrictives. In addition to the experimental study, a framework has been established to analyze the aggregate response of nanoporous materials in context of effective phase transformation. The forced infiltration is characterized by the evolution of the number density of nanopore clusters. This model provides a scientific basis for the design of experiments for future study and the first-order system optimization. |
| Permanent Link: |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1150255954
http://hdl.handle.net/2374.OX/3881 |
| Date: | 2006 |
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