TOP STORY
CCM Researchers Take Lesson from Nature in Developing Self-Healing Systems By Diane Kukich Despite continuous improvements in advanced materials technology, nature still holds some secrets about composites that engineers would like to unlock. In a collaborative project that brings together a variety of sub-disciplines within the field of composites, Shridhar Yarlagadda and Kristi Kiick are attempting to tap some of that knowledge from nature to develop self-healing material systems. Yarlagadda, CCM Assistant Director of Research and Research Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, brings to the project a broad understanding of fiber-reinforced polymer composites. Kiick, Assistant Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, has expertise in the synthesis, characterization, and application of biologically inspired and biologically produced materials. |
Glassy needles of silica made by a marine sponge. |
Together, the two are carrying out very basic research that has the potential for tremendous long-term payoffs but raises new questions with each new piece of information it yields.
“The concept of self-healing materials is not novel,” Yarlagadda says, “but most previous efforts have focused on healing of the polymer and not the fiber. Polymer healing is important in some applications where matrix cracking is an issue—for example, in cryogenic environments.”
“However, for load-carrying applications, both the fiber and the matrix are important,” he continues, “so we're interested in self-healing systems where not only the polymer but also the fiber can repair itself.”
While the damaged area of a composite with broken fibers may be very small, it compromises the integrity of the entire composite. Repairs to fix broken fibers are generally made by cutting out a wedge that is much larger than the damaged area to ensure load transfer across the repair.
Led by Center Director Jack Gillespie, CCM researchers conceived an idea for a repair based on the creation of a fibrous network across the break to heal the damage. They approached Kiick to determine whether the concept, based on biomineralization, was even feasible.
Kiick felt that the idea had potential, and the researchers began experimenting with silica-based systems. “Glass fibers are very common in composites,” says Yarlagadda, “and glass is silica-based.”
“Various organisms in nature can produce ornate silica-based structures,” Kiick says. “It's amazing because the synthesis is conducted at ambient temperature, and the resulting materials have fabulous mechanical properties, which originate from the elaborate assembly of silica with proteinaceous materials.”
Examples include sponges and diatoms, which can create multi-layer fibers with a protein core. “It's the multilayer aspect of these formations that provides the superior mechanical properties,” Kiick says. “We're trying to mimic the process so that we can solve the problem of composite repair in the long term.”
“Research in the biomineralization field,” she continues, “has demonstrated that there are classes of proteins which serve not only as templates but also as catalysts in the biomineralization process. Although it is known which amino acids catalyze the silica formation, our ability to recreate the higher order structures in the lab is not even close to what nature can create.”
While the team's long-term goal is to propagate silica formation across a break, they are taking “baby steps” along the way to that goal. The first is to control silica propagation so healing occurs at the break instead of a mass of silica forming randomly on the material. The results suggest the possibility for such control. The team is also addressing the issues of load transfer across the fiber-silica interface and optimization of silica formation.
“We need to produce something more robust,” says Kiick. “The silica products in nature are amorphous but strong, which is what we'd like to achieve. We want to duplicate the mechanically strong system that is formed from these layers of silica and protein ‘adhesive'.”
“We've achieved initial success at propagating load across the broken ends of a fiber,” says Yarlagadda. “We have a long way to go, but the long-term possibilities are very exciting. It's a very multi-faceted problem, but the potential for this technology if we're successful is tremendous.”
OTHER NEWS
Prof. Panchapakesan wins NSF Career Award
UD's Balaji Panchapakesan, who is conducting leading-edge research in the development and use of carbon nanotubes, has won an NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award. Story in UDaily
INAUGURAL LECTURE:
PROCESS MODELING AND SIMULATIONS
IN COMPOSITE MANUFACTURING PRACTICE:
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
Suresh G. Advani
Wed., March 22, 2006
4:00 P.M.
006 Kirkbride Hall
Reception following in the P.S. DuPont Hall Library
RSVP (302)831-2401 or ddalex@udel.edu
This professorship honors the memory of George W. Laird, an alumnus of the University of Delaware’s College of Engineering. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Hamilton College in 1964, Mr. Laird attended UD, where he was awarded a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with highest honors in 1968 and a master’s degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 1971. He was killed in a tragic accident in 1977 at the age of 35. The funds for this endowment were provided through the George W. Laird Fund in Mechanical Engineering, which was established in 1991 through a gift from the George W. Laird Computer-Aided Engineering Foundation. This foundation was established in 1987 by Mr. Laird’s father, William W. (Chick) Laird, to provide support to the University of Delaware’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Suresh G. Advani is an internationally recognized authority on modeling and simulation of composite manufacturing processes. His research interests are in rheology, fluid mechanics and heat transfer as applied to manufacturing processes especially for polymers and polymer composites, nano composites and more recently in fuel cells. He received his B. Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering from I.I.T. Bombay, India in 1982 and joined the University of Delaware in 1987 after receiving his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been a visiting faculty member at Imperial College in London and the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Dr. Advani was selected to be a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1999 and is the North American Editor for the journal Composites A: Applied Science and Manufacturing. He also serves on the Scientific
Advisory Committee of the Journal of Forming Processes and Flow Processes in Composites Manufacturing. Recently, he chaired an NSF workshop on Future of Modeling in Composite Manufacturing Processes. Prof. Advani has co-authored over 300 journal and conference proceeding articles, has contributed chapters in over twenty books, and co-authored a textbook on “Process Modeling in Composites Manufacturing”. He has graduated 28 Master’s and 17 Ph.D. students, of which six are currently faculty members at other universities.
SAMPE-UD Members Win Baltimore/Washington SAMPE Awards
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The Baltimore-Washington SAMPE chapter holds an annual student symposium which provides local student SAMPE members with the opportunity to compete for a SAMPE-sponsored trip to the annual International SAMPE Symposium and Exhibition (ISS&E). The symposium consists of paper and poster presentation categories. The winner of the paper presentation is an automatic finalist in the Student symposium at ISS&E. The winner of the poster presentation is given the opportunity to write a paper for submittal to SAMPE for further review and if chosen, the poster presenter now has the chance to present their work at ISS&E in the same category as the paper winner. The winner of the PhD category at ISS&E receives a SAMPE sponsored trip to present their research at, either, SAMPE-Japan or SAMPE-Europe. All other awards are monetary. |
UD graduate students Justin Clews and Solange Amouroux Solange Amouroux and Justin Clews represented SAMPE-UD at the 11 th annual Baltimore-Washington SAMPE Student Night held at University of Maryland at Baltimore County on February 8 th , 2006. Amouroux presented a talk titled “Membrane – Based VARTM: Membrane and Resin Interactions” in the paper competition and was awarded first place. Clews presented a talk titled “Ultrasonic Consolidation for Metal Matrix Composite Processing” in the poster competition and was awarded second place. Both received monetary awards. Amouroux receives a SAMPE-sponsored trip to present her research at the annual SAMPE Student Symposium, held on Tuesday May 2 nd at the 51 st ISS&E at the Long Beach Convention Center .
CONSORTIUM
CCM would like to welcome Kubota Research Associates, Inc., Hockessin, DE, Hexcel Research & Technology, Sequin, TX,
Ten Cate, Pendergrass, GA, Aerojet, Gainesville, VA, and Materia, Pasadena, CA to the University-Industry Consortium. We would also like to thank AGY, Huntingdon, PA, and BAE Systems (a.k.a. UDLP), Santa Clara, CA, for the recent renewal of their membership and for continuing to participate in consortium activities.
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Book Chapters
Deitzel, J. M., C. Krauthauser, D. Harris, C. Pergantis, and J. Kleinmeyer, “Key Parameters Influencing the Onset and Maintenance of the Electrospinning Jet,” Polymeric Nanofibers , Chapter 5, pp. 56-73, Polymeric Nanofibers , ASC Symposium Series 918, Darrell H. Reneker and Hao Fong, Editors, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 2006.
Krauthauser, C., J. M. Deitzel, D. O'Brien, and J. Hrycushko, “Optical Properties of Transparent Resins with Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers,” Polymeric Nanofibers , Chapter 25, pp. 353-369, Polymeric Nanofibers , ASC Symposium Series 918, Darrell H. Reneker and Hao Fong, Editors, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 2006.
Journals
Abu Obaid, A., J. G. Sloan, M. A. Lamontia, A. Paesano, S. Khan, and J. W. Gillespie, Jr., “Test Method Development to Quantify the In-Situ Elastic and Plastic Behavior of 62%Sn-36%Pb-2%Ag Solder Ball Arrays in Commercial Area Array Packages at -40°C, 23°C, and 125°C,” Journal of Electronic Packaging , 127 (4), pp. 483-495, 2005.
Abu Obaid, A., J. G. Sloan, M. A. Lamontia, A. Paesano, S. Khan, and J. W. Gillespie, Jr., “Experimental In-situ Characterization and Creep Modeling of Tin-Based solder Joints on Commercial Area Array Packages at -40°C, 23°C, and 125°C,” Journal of Electronic Packaging , 127 (4), pp. 430-439, 2005.
Amouroux, S. C., “On the Role of Membrane to Improve Quality of VARTM Processed Composites,” SAMPE Journal , 42 (1), January/February 2006.
Simacek, P., and S. G. Advani, “Simulating Three Dimensional Flow in Compression Resin Transfer Molding,” Revue Europeenne Des Elements Finis , 14 , pp 777-802, 2005.
Markicevis, B., D. Litchfield, D. Heider, et al, “Role of Flow Enhancement Network during Filling of Fibrous Porous Media, Journal of Porous Media , 8 (3) pp. 281-297, 2005.
Zhou, F. P., S. G. Advani, and D. D. Wetzel, “Slow Drag in Polydisperse Granular Mixtures under High Pressure,” Physical Review E , 71 (6) Art. No. 061304, Part 1, June 2005.
Lawrence , J. M., and S. G. Advani, “Dependence Map Based Flow Control to Reduce Void Content in Liquid Composite Molding,” Materials and Manufacturing Processes , 20 (6), pp. 933-960, 2005.
Gokce, A., M. Chohra, S. G. Advani, and S. M. Walsh, “Permeability Estimation Algorithm to Simultaneously Characterize Distribution Media and Fabric Permeability Values in Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding Process, “ Composites Science and Technology , 65 (14), pp. 2129-2139, 2005.
Tang, W. and S. G. Advani, “Dynamic Simulation of Long Flexible Fibers in Shear Flow,” CMES: Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences , 8 , pp. 165-176, 2005.
Correia, N. C., F. Robitaille, A. C. Long, C. D. Rudd, P. Simacek, and S. G. Advani, “Analysis of the Vacuum Infusion Moulding Process: I Analytical Formulation,” Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing , 36 (12), pp. 1645-1656, 2005.
Hee, J-H., D. Jung, C-E. Hong, K. Y. Rhee, and S. G. Advani, “Properties of Polyethylene-Layered Silicate Nanocomposites Prepared by Melt Intercalation with a PP-g-MA Compatibilizer,” Composites Science and Technology , 65 , (13), pp. 1996-2002, 2005.
Fan, Z. and S. G. Advani, “Characterization of Orientation State of Carbon Nanotubes in Shear Flows,” Polymer , 46 (14), pp. 5232-5240, 2005.
Lawrence , J. M., P. Fried, and S. G. Advani, “Automated Manufacturing Environment to Address Bulk Permeability Variations and Race Tracking in Resin Transfer Molding by Redirecting Flow with Auxiliary Gates,” Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 36 (8), pp. 1128-1141, 2005.
Markicevic, B., D. Heider, S. G. Advani, and S. Walsh, “Stochastic Modeling of Preform Heterogeneity to Address Dry Spots Formation in the VARTM Process,” Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing , 36 (6) pp. 851-858, 2005.
Devillard, M., A. Laut, and G. S. Advani, “On-Line Mixing During Injection and Simultaneous Curing in Liquid Composite Molding Processes,” Polymer Composites , 26 (1), pp. 74-83, 2005.
Devillard, M., K-T. Hsiao, and S. G. Advani, “Flow Sensing and Control Strategies to Address Race-Tracking Disturbances in Resin Transfer Molding – Part II: Automation and Validation,” Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing , 36 , pp. 1581-1589, 2005.
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