Viscoelastic and Processing Effects on the Fiber-Matrix Interphase Strength. Part I. The Effects of Loading Rate, Test Temperature, Fiber Sizing and Global Strain Level

The effects of loading rate, fiber sizing, test temperature and global strain level on the adhesion strength between carbon fibers and a thermosetting epoxy (Epon 815) are studied using the single fiber fragmentation test procedure. Analytical methodology describing the viscoelastic behavior observed is also presented. The possibility of rate-temperature-interphase thickness superposition for the interfacial strength function is illustrated based on the analytical models discussed. Experimental data are discussed using Weibull statistics and also presented in the form of percent relative frequency histograms for the fiber fragments in a collective fashion. The use of histograms allows for interpretation of the skewness in the data population.     

Evaluation of processing effects in injection‐molded amorphous and crystalline thermoplastics using an excimer laser

The ablation behavior of amorphous [polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC)] and crystalline [PET, glass‐filled poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT)] polymers by 248‐nm KrF excimer laser irradiation were investigated for different injection‐molding conditions, namely, injection flow rate, injection pressure, and mold temperature, as a possible method for evaluating processing effects in the specimens. For this purpose, dumbbell‐shaped samples were injection‐molded under different sets of processing conditions, and weight loss measurements were carried out for the different injection‐molding conditions. Some of the crystalline (PET) samples were annealed at different annealing times and temperatures. For PET, the weight loss decreased with increasing mold temperature and remained insensitive to injection flow rate. Annealing time and temperature significantly reduced weight loss in PET. For PBT, the weight loss due to laser ablation decreased with increasing material packing due to pressure, and it also showed some sensitivity to flow rate variation. The major effect was seen with glass‐filled PBT samples. The weight loss decreased drastically with increasing glass fiber content. Laser ablation allowed us to observe process‐induced fiber orientation by scanning electron microscopy in PBT samples. For PS and PC, the weight loss increased with increasing injection flow rate and mold temperature and decreased with increasing injection pressure. The position near the gate showed higher ablation than the position at the end for all the conditions. A decrease in the material orientation with injection speed and mold temperature led to an increase in the weight loss, whereas an increase in the injection pressure, and consequently orientation, led to a lower weight loss for PS and PC. Higher residual stress samples showed higher weight losses. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2006     

Increasing single-lap joint strength by adherend curvature-induced residual stresses

Single-lap joint (SLJ) geometry is the most widely used type of adhesive joint geometry. In this joint, peel stresses occur at the overlap ends due to load eccentricity and the presence of shear-free adhesive termination surfaces. These peel stresses, along with the transverse tensile stresses which occur along the overlap longitudinal axes, and adhesive shear stresses, ultimately cause joint failure. Obviously, reductions in these stresses should result in higher joint strength and increased load capacity. To this end, we exploited elastic spring-back capability of (steel) metal adherends by initially forming curved segments of varying arc lengths and radii at overlap ends. These adherends with curved-end sections were then bonded in single-lap configuration, simply by applying sufficient bonding pressure to elastically flatten the curved segments to result in typically flat overlap sections subsequent to adhesive cure and the removal of bonding pressure. Since the elastic adherend overlap ends tend to revert back to their initial curved form, they exert compressive residual stresses on the adhesive layer in the overlap end regions. We determined that the compressive residual stresses induced in this fashion considerably increased the load capacity of SLJs subjected to tension.     

An Analysis of the Curling Phenomenon in Viscoelastic Bimaterial Strips

A mathematical analysis is performed to obtain relations for the radius of curvature and flexural moments for initially stretched bimaterial strips in which at least one of the materials exhibits viscoelastic behavior. One practical application of this analysis is for pressure sensitive tapes. Consequently, the radius of curvature and flexural moment relations are obtained as functions of backing and adhesive thicknesses and moduli for typical pressure sensitive tapes. The analysis shows that the flexural moment decreases as the backing thickness and/or backing modulus increase. Furthermore, the flexural moment decreases as the adhesive thickness and/or adhesive modulus decreases.     

Perpendicularly Aligned,Size‐and Spacing‐Controlled Nanocylinders by Molecular‐Weight Adjustment of a Homopolymer Blended in an Asymmetric Triblock Copolymer

Perpendicularly arrayed and size‐controlled nanocylinders have been prepared by simply blending an asymmetric polystyrene‐block‐polyisoprene‐block‐polystyrene triblock copolymer with polystyrene (the minority component) homopolymers of different molecular weights. The preference for perpendicular orientation or hexagonal ordering of the nanocylinders over a large area in the asymmetric block copolymer can be controlled by adjusting the molecular weight of the blended homopolymer, and the perfection of hexagonal ordering of the perpendicular cylinders can be tuned by using a substrate whose surface tension is much different from that of the majority component of the block copolymer. Such highly controlled nanostructured block‐copolymer materials, which have been obtained by a simple method independent of film thickness and interfacial tension between the blocks and the substrates, have wide‐ranging commercial potential, e.g., for use in membranes and nanotemplates with size‐tunable pores, bandgap‐controlled photonic crystals, and other nanotechnological fields demanding a specific nanosize and nanomorphology.     

Temperature-Dependent Phase Behaviors in Cylinder-Forming Block Copolymers

We demonstrate that the temperature-dependent phase behaviors of parallel and perpendicular cylinder-forming block copolymers are governed by domain-domain segregation forces inherently present in block copolymer material itself. With increasing temperature, a parallel cylinder-forming block copolymer experienced a parallel cylinder straightening process before the order-disorder transition (ODT) and did not show long-range composition fluctuations near the ODT temperature due to the weak segregation forces between the block domains. A perpendicular cylinder-forming block copolymer with a strong segregation force between the block domains displayed cylinder orientation transition from perpendicular to parallel below the ODT temperature. On the other hand, a perpendicular cylinder-forming block copolymer material with an exceptionally strong segregation force between the block domains maintained its initial perpendicular cylinder orientation up to near the ODT temperature. In both cases of perpendicular cylinder-forming block copolymers, submicrometer-scale long-range composition fluctuations were observed well above the ODT temperature due to their intrinsically strong segregation forces between the block domains.     

Conduction Efficiency and Strength of Electronically Conductive Adhesive Joints

Electronically conductive adhesives are being considered as an alternative to solder for interconnection in microelectronics. In order to gain insight regarding electrical and mechanical performance properties of this class of adhesive interconnections, overlap joints were made. Joint resistance and mechanical bond strength were measured before and after environmental stressing.     

A Comparison of Linear with Nonlinear Viscoelastic Solutions for Shear Stress Concentration in Double Lap Joints

The correspondence principle based on the Maxwell model and a nonlinear viscoelastic solution involving an iterative scheme are used to describe the time dependent variation of the adhesive maximum shear stress in adhesively bonded double lap joints. The results indicate that if the correspondence principle is applied, the use of Maxwell chain is necessary to approximate the continuous change in the relaxation time and to coincide with the results calculated using the nonlinear viscoelastic theory.