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- Alimadadi, Majid
(författare)
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Foam-formed Fiber Networks: Manufacturing, Characterization, and Numerical Modeling : With a Note on the Orientation Behavior of Rod-like Particles in Newtonian Fluids
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Fiber networks are ubiquitous and are seen in both industrial materials (paper and nonwovens) and biological materials (plant cells and animal tissues). Nature intricately manipulates these network structures by varying their density, aggregation, and fiber orientation to create a variety of functionalities.In conventional papermaking, fibrous materials are dispersed in water to form a sheet of a highly oriented two-dimensional (2D) network. In such a structure, the in-plane mechanical and transport properties are very different from those in the out-of-plane direction. A three-dimensional (3D) network, however, may offer unique properties not seen in conventional paper products.Foam, i.e., a dispersed system of gas and liquid, is widely used as the suspending medium in different industries. Recently, foam forming was studied extensively to develop the understanding of foam-fiber interactions in order to find potential applications of this technology in papermaking.In this thesis, a method for producing low-density, 3D fiber networks by utilizing foam forming is investigated and the structures and mechanical properties of such networks are studied. Micro-computed tomography is used to capture the 3D structure of the network and subsequently to reproduce artificial networks. The finite element method is utilized to model the compression behavior of both the reproduced physical network and the artificial networks in order to understand how the geometry and constitutive elements of the foam-formed network affect its bulk mechanical properties. Additionally, a method was studied in order to quantify the orientation behavior of particles in a laminar Newtonian flow based on the key parameters of the flow which control the orientation.The resulting foam-formed structures were extremely bulky. Yet despite this high bulk, the fiber networks retained good structural integrity. The compression behavior in the thickness direction was characterized by extreme compressibility and high strain recovery after compression. The results from the modeling showed that the finite-deformation mechanical response of the fiber network in compression was satisfactorily captured by the simulation. However, the artificial network shows higher stiffness than the simulated physical network and the experiment. This discrepancy in stiffness was attributed to macroscopic structural non-uniformities in the physical network, which result in increased local compliance. It was also found that the friction between the fibers, as well as the fiber curvature, had a negligible impact on the compression response of the fiber network, while defects (in the form of kinks) had an effect on the response in the last stages of compression. The study of the orientation behavior of particles at different flow velocities, particle sizes, and channel geometries suggests that it might be possible to utilize the flow shear rate as a means to quantify the orientation behavior.
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| 2. |
- Olsen, Martin, 1971-
(författare)
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Nanomechanics – Quantum Size Effects, Contacts, and Triboelectricity
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Nanomechanics is different from the mechanics that we experience in everyday life. At the nano-scale, typically defined as 1 to 100 nanometers, some phenomena are of crucial importance, while the same phenomena can be completely neglected on a larger scale. For example, the feet of a gekko are covered by nanocontacts that yield such high adhesion forces that the animal can run up on walls and even on the ceiling. At small enough distances, matter and energy become discrete, and the description of the phenomena occurring at this scale requires quantum mechanics. However, at room temperature the transitions between quantized energy levels may be concealed by the thermal vibrations of the system. As two surfaces approach each other and come into contact, electrostatic forces and van der Waals forces may cause redistribution of matter at the nano level. One effect that may occur upon contact between two surfaces is the triboelectric effect, in which charge is transferred from one surface to the other.This effect can be used to generate electricity in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), where two surfaces are repeatedly brought in and out of contact, and where the charge transfer is turned into electrical energy.This thesis concerns nanomechanics addressing whether quantum mechanics play a role in elastic deformation, as well as various mechanical aspects of nanocontacts including electric charging. The objectives are to contribute to the understanding when quantum effects are of importance at the nanolevel, increase the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms responsible for triboelectric phenomena and apply the triboelectric effect to a wind harvesting device.For more insight into whether quantum effects are of importance in nanomechanics, we use a one dimensional jellium model and the standard beam theory allowing the spring constant of an oscillating nanowire cantilever to be calculated. As the nanowire bends, more electron states fit in its cross section, giving rise to an amplitude dependent resonance frequency of the nanowire oscillations.Furthermore, a model for electric field induced surface diffusion of adatoms was developed. The model takes electrostatic forces and van der Waals forces into account as a voltage is applied between a scanning tunneling microscope tip and a sample. The calculated force on the adatoms at the surface of the sample, which is stemming from the inhomogeneous electric field and the dipole moment of the adatoms, is relatively small, but due to thermal vibrations adatoms diffuse and form mounds at the sample.When bringing two different materials into contact, the difference in triboelectric potentials between the materials results in electric charging. To increase the understanding of triboelectricity, a two-level Schottky model, assuming ion transfer, was developed to describe the temperature dependence of the triboelectric effect for a TENG. The two levels correspond to the binding energy for ions on the two surfaces that are brought into contact, where the difference in binding energy enters the Boltzmanndistribution. The model describes the decreasing triboelectric effect in TENG:s with increasing temperature as described in the literature, and results in a separation energy, which is of the right order of magnitude for physically adsorbed atoms.It was recently demonstrated that TENGs can convert wind energy into electrical energy. Here, a TENG based on a plastic film fluttering between two copper electrodes was constructed. It was found that the frequency of the the fluttering film increases linearly with the wind speed. TENG:s designed in this way generate electricity already at low wind speed, and we therefore expect such TENG:s to be useful both as generators and speed sensors in the future.While quantum mechanics is of importance in a limited number of nanomechanical systems, nanocontacts have a broader meaning, and are crucial for the understanding of triboelectric phenomena. We anticipate that the findings in this thesis will contribute to a better understanding of nanomechanics, in particular the mechanism of triboelectricity.
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