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Nanotechnology is now recognized as one of the most promising areas for technological
development in the 21st century. In materials research, the development of
polymer nanocomposites is rapidly emerging as a multidisciplinary research activity
whose results could widen the applications of polymers to the benefit of many different
industries. Nanocomposites are a new class of composites that are particle-filled
polymers for which at least one dimension of the dispersed particle is in the nanometer
range. In the related area polymer/clay nanocomposites have attracted considerable
interest because they often exhibit remarkable property improvements when
compared to virgin polymer or conventional micro- and macro- composites.
The present work addresses the toughening and reinforcement of thermoplastics via
a novel method which allows us to achieve micro- and nanocomposites. In this work
two matrices are used: amorphous polystyrene (PS) and semi-crystalline polyoxymethylene
(POM). Polyurethane (PU) was selected as the toughening agent for POM
and used in its latex form. It is noteworthy that the mean size of rubber latices is
closely matched with that of conventional toughening agents, impact modifiers.
Boehmite alumina and sodium fluorohectorite (FH) were used as reinforcements.
One of the criteria for selecting these fillers was that they are water swellable/
dispersible and thus their nanoscale dispersion can be achieved also in aqueous
polymer latex. A systematic study was performed on how to adapt discontinuousand
continuous manufacturing techniques for the related nanocomposites.
The dispersion of nanofillers was characterized by transmission, scanning electron
and atomic force microcopy (TEM, SEM and AFM respectively), X-ray diffraction
(XRD) techniques, and discussed. The crystallization of POM was studied by means
of differential scanning calorimetry and polarized light optical microscopy (DSC and
PLM, respectively). The mechanical and thermomechanical properties of the composites
were determined in uniaxial tensile, dynamic-mechanical thermal analysis
(DMTA), short-time creep tests, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).
PS composites were produced first by a discontinuous manufacturing technique,
whereby FH or alumina was incorporated in the PS matrix by melt blending with and
without latex precompounding of PS latex with the nanofiller. It was found that direct melt mixing (DM) of the nanofillers with PS resulted in micro-, whereas the latex mediated
pre-compounding (masterbatch technique, MB) in nanocomposites. FH was
not intercalated by PS when prepared by DM. On the other hand, FH was well dispersed
(mostly intercalated) in PS via the PS latex-mediated predispersion of FH following
the MB route. The nanocomposites produced by MB outperformed the DM
compounded microcomposites in respect to properties like stiffness, strength and
ductility based on dynamic-mechanical and static tensile tests. It was found that the
resistance to creep (summarized in master curves) of the nanocomposites were improved
compared to those of the microcomposites. Master curves (creep compliance
vs. time), constructed based on isothermal creep tests performed at different temperatures,
showed that the nanofiller reinforcement affects mostly the initial creep
compliance.
Next, ternary composites composed of POM, PU and boehmite alumina were produced
by melt blending with and without latex precompounding. Latex precompounding
served for the predispersion of the alumina particles. The related MB was produced
by mixing the PU latex with water dispersible boehmite alumina. The composites
produced by the MB technique outperformed the DM compounded composites in
respect to most of the thermal and mechanical characteristics.
Toughened and/or reinforced PS- and POM-based composites have been successfully
produced by a continuous extrusion technique, too. This technique resulted in
good dispersion of both nanofillers (boehmite) and impact modifier (PU). Compared
to the microcomposites obtained by conventional DM, the nanofiller dispersion became
finer and uniform when using the water-mediated predispersion. The resulting
structure markedly affected the mechanical properties (stiffness and creep resistance)
of the corresponding composites. The impact resistance of POM was highly
enhanced by the addition of PU rubber when manufactured by the continuous extrusion
manufacturing technique. This was traced to the dispersed PU particle size being
in the range required from conventional, impact modifiers.
Noughts and Crosses
(2008)
The Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP) dataset is the only dataset providing information about the positions of parties for comparative researchers across time and countries. This article evaluates its structure and finds a peculiarity: A high number of zeros and their unequal distribution across items, countries and time. They influence the results of any procedure to build a scale, but especially those using factor analyses. The article shows that zeroes have different meanings: Firstly, there are substantial zeroes in line with saliency theory. Secondly, zeroes exist for non-substantial reasons: The length of a manifesto and the percentage of uncoded sentences, both strongly varying across time and country. We quantify the problem and propose a procedure to identify data points containing non-substantial zeroes. For the future comparative use of the dataset we plead for a theoretical selection of items combined with the information about the likelihood that zeroes are substantially meaningful.
This thesis is devoted to the study of tropical curves with emphasis on their enumerative geometry. Major results include a conceptual proof of the fact that the number of rational tropical plane curves interpolating an appropriate number of general points is independent of the choice of points, the computation of intersection products of Psi-classes on the moduli space of rational tropical curves, a computation of the number of tropical elliptic plane curves of given degree and fixed tropical j-invariant as well as a tropical analogue of the Riemann-Roch theorem for algebraic curves. The result are obtained in joint work with Hannah Markwig and/or Andreas Gathmann.
The goal of a multicriteria program is to explore different possibilities and their respective compromises which adequately represent the nondominated set. An exact description will in most cases fail because the number of efficient solutions is either too large or even infinite. We approximate the nondominated by computing a finite collection of nondominated points. Different ideas have been applied, including nonnegative weighted scalarization, Tchebycheff weighted scalarization, block norms and epsilon-constraints. Block norms are the building blocks for the inner and outer approximation algorithms proposed by Klamroth. We review these algorithms and propose three different variants. However, block norm based algorithms require to solve a sequence of subproblems, the number of subproblems becomes relatively high for six criteria and even intractable for real applications with nine criteria. Thus, we use bilevel linear programming to derive an approximation algorithm. We finally analyze and compare the approximation quality, running time and numerical convergence of the proposed methods.
Today’s high-resolution digital images and videos require large amounts of storage space and transmission bandwidth. To cope with this, compression methods are necessary that reduce the required space while at the same time minimize visual artifacts. We propose a compression method based on a piecewise linear color interpolation induced by a triangulation of the image domain. We present methods to speed up significantly the optimization process for finding the triangulation. Furthermore, we extend the method to digital videos. Laser scanners to capture the surface of three-dimensional objects are widely used in industry nowadays, e.g., for reverse engineering or quality measurement. Hand-held scanning devices have the advantage that the laser device can be moved to any position, permitting a scan of complex objects. But operating a hand-held laser scanner is challenging. The operator has to keep track of the scanned regions in his mind, and has no feedback of the sample density unless he starts the surface reconstruction after finishing the scan. We present a system to support the operator by computing and rendering high-quality surface meshes of the captured data online, i.e., while he is still scanning, and in real time. Furthermore, it color-codes the rendered surface to reflect the surface quality. Thereby, instant feedback is provided, resulting in better scans in less time.
Sublimation (Evaporation) is widely used in different industrial applications. The important applications are the sublimation (evaporation) of small particles (solid and liquid), e.g., spray drying and fuel droplet evaporation. Since a few decades, sublimation technology has been used widely together with aerosol technology. This combination is aiming to get various products with desired compositions and morphologies. It can be used in the fields of nanoparticles generation, particle coating through physical vapor deposition (PVD) and particle structuring. This doctoral thesis deals with the experimental and theoretical investigations of sublimation (evaporation) kinetics of fine aerosol particles (droplets). The experimental study was conducted in a test plant including on-line control of the most important paramters, such as heating temperature, gas flow and pressure. On-line and in-line particle measurements (Optical sensor, APS) were employed. Relevant parameters in sublimation (evaporation) such as heating temperature, particle concentration and aerosol residence time were investigated. Polydispersed particles (droplets) were introduced into the test plant as precursor aerosols. Two kinds of materials were used as test materials, including inorganic particles of NH4Cl and organic particles of DEHS. NH4Cl particles with smooth surface and porous structure were put into the experiments, respectively. The influence of the particle morphology on the sublimation process was studied. Basing on the experiments, different theoretical models were developed. The simulation results under different parameters were compared with experimental results. The change of concentration of particles was specially discussed. The discussion was focused on the relationship of the total particle concentration and the change of single particles with diverse initial diameters. The study of the sublimation kinetics of particles with different morphologies and different specific surface areas was carried out. The factor of increased surface area on the sublimation process was taken into the simulation and the results were compared with experimental results. A sublimation (evaporation) kinetics was investigated in this thesis. Basing on the property of a material, such as molecular weight, molecular size and vapor pressure, the sublimation (evaporation) kinetics was described. The optimum sublimation (evaporation) conditions with respect to the material properties were advanced. A Phase Transition Effect during the sublimation (evaporation) was found, which describes the increase of the large particles on the cost of small particles. A similar effect is observed in crystal suspension (called Ostwald ripening) but with another physical background. In order to meet the need of in-line particle measurement, a hot gas sensor (O.P.C.) was developed in this study, for measuring the particle size and the size distribution of an aerosol. With the newly developed measuring cell, the operating conditions of the aerosol could be increased up to 500°C.
Dry Sliding and Rolling Tribotests of Carbon Black Filled EPDM Elastomers and Their FE Simulations
(2008)
Unlubricated sliding systems being economic and environmentally benign are already realized in bearings, where dry metal-plastic sliding pairs successfully replace lubricated metal-metal ones. Nowadays, a considerable part of the tribological research concentrates to realize unlubricated elastomer-metal sliding systems, and to extend the application field of lubrication-free slider elements. In this Thesis, characteristics of the dry sliding and friction are investigated for elastomer-metal sliding pairs. In this study ethylene-propylene-diene rubbers (EPDM) with and without carbon black (CB) filler were used. The filler content of the EPDMs was varied: EPDMs with 0-, 30-, 45- and 60 part per hundred rubber (phr) CB amount were investigated. Quasistatic tension and compression tests and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) were carried out to analyze the static a viscoelastic behavior of the EPDMs. The tribological properties of the EPDMs were investigated using dry roller (metal) – on – plate (rubber) type tests (ROP). During the ROP tests the normal load was varied. The coefficient of friction (COF) and the temperature were registered online during the tests, the loss volumes were determined after certain test durations. The worn surfaces of the rubbers and of the steel counterparts were analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) to determine the wear mechanisms. Because possible chemical changes may take place during dry sliding due to the elevated contact temperature the chemical composition of the surfaces was also analyzed before and after the tribotests. For the latter investigations X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), sessil drop tests and Raman spectroscopy were used. In addition, the dry sliding tribotests were simulated using finite element (FE) codes for the better understanding of the related wear mechanisms. Finally, as the internal damping effect of the elastomers plays a great role in the sliding wear process, their viscoelasticity has been taken into account. The effect of viscoelasticity was shown on example of rolling friction. To study the rolling COF for the EPDM with 30 phr CB (EPDM 30) an FE model was created which considered the viscoelastic behavior of the rubber during rolling. The results showed that the incorporated CB enhanced the mechanical and tribological properties (both COF and wear rate have been reduced) of the EPDMs. Further on, the CB content of the EPDM influences fundamentally the observed wear mechanisms. The wear characteristics changed also with the applied normal load. In case of the EPDM 30 a rubber tribofilm was found on the steel counterpart when tests were performed at high normal loads. Analysis of the chemical composition of the surfaces before and after the wear tests does not result in notable changes. It was demonstrated, that the FE method is powerful tool to model both, the dry sliding and rolling performances of elastomers.
This thesis shows an approach to combine the advantages of MBS tyre models and FEM models for the use in full vehicle simulations. The procedure proposed in this thesis aims to describe a nonlinear structure with a Finite Element approach combined with nonlinear model reduction methods. Unlike most model reduction methods - as the frequently used Craig-Bampton approach - the method of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) offers a projection basis suitable for nonlinear models. For the linear wave equation, the POD method is studied comparing two different choices of snapshot sets. Set 1 consists of deformation snapshots, and set 2 additionally contains velocities and accelerations. An error analysis proves no convergence guarantee for deformations only. For inclusion of derivatives it yields an error bound diminishing for small time steps. The numerical results show a better behaviour for the derivative snapshot method, as long as the sum of the left-over eigenvalues is significant. For the reduction of nonlinear systems - especially when using commercial software - it is necessary to decouple the reduced surrogate system from the full model. To achieve this, a lookup table approach is presented. It makes use of the preceding computation step with the full model necessary to set up the POD basis (training step). The nonlinear term of inner forces and the stiffness matrix are output and stored in a lookup table for the reduced system. Numerical examples include a nonlinear string in Matlab and an airspring computed in Abaqus. Both examples show that effort reductions of two orders of magnitude are possible within a reasonable error tolerance. The lookup approaches perform faster than the Trajectory Piecewise Linear (TPWL) method and produce comparable errors. Furthermore, the Abaqus example shows the influence of training excitation on the quality of the reduced model.
In recent years, formal property checking has become adopted successfully in industry and is used increasingly to solve the industrial verification tasks. This success results from property checking formulations that are well adapted to specific methodologies. In particular, assertion checking and property checking methodologies based on Bounded Model Checking or related techniques have matured tremendously during the last decade and are well supported by industrial methodologies. This is particularly true for formal property checking of computational System-on-Chip (SoC) modules. This work is based on a SAT-based formulation of property checking called Interval Property Checking (IPC). IPC originates in the Siemens company and is in industrial use since the mid 1990s. IPC handles a special type of safety properties, which specify operations in intervals between abstract starting and ending states. This paves the way for extremely efficient proving procedures. However, there are still two problems in the IPC-based verification methodology flow that reduce the productivity of the methodology and sometimes hamper adoption of IPC. First, IPC may return false counterexamples since its computational bounded circuit model only captures local reachability information, i.e., long-term dependencies may be missed. If this happens, the properties need to be strengthened with reachability invariants in order to rule out the spurious counterexamples. Identifying strong enough invariants is a laborious manual task. Second, a set of properties needs to be formulated manually for each individual design to be verified. This set, however, isn’t re-usable for different designs. This work exploits special features of communication modules in SoCs to solve these problems and to improve the productivity of the IPC methodology flow. First, the work proposes a decomposition-based reachability analysis to solve the problem of identifying reachability information automatically. Second, this work develops a generic, reusable set of properties for protocol compliance verification.
We present a new efficient and robust algorithm for topology optimization of 3D cast parts. Special constraints are fulfilled to make possible the incorporation of a simulation of the casting process into the optimization: In order to keep track of the exact position of the boundary and to provide a full finite element model of the structure in each iteration, we use a twofold approach for the structural update. A level set function technique for boundary representation is combined with a new tetrahedral mesh generator for geometries specified by implicit boundary descriptions. Boundary conditions are mapped automatically onto the updated mesh. For sensitivity analysis, we employ the concept of the topological gradient. Modification of the level set function is reduced to efficient summation of several level set functions, and the finite element mesh is adapted to the modified structure in each iteration of the optimization process. We show that the resulting meshes are of high quality. A domain decomposition technique is used to keep the computational costs of remeshing low. The capabilities of our algorithm are demonstrated by industrial-scale optimization examples.