Alignment of carbon nanotubes under the influences of nematic liquid crystals and electric fields — an analytical study

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have benefits in various fields, they are disadvantageous due to their tendency to form aggregates and poorly controlled alignment of the CNT molecules (characterized by order parameters). These deficiencies can be overcome by dispersing the CNTs in nematic liquid crystal (LC) and placing the mixture under the influence of an electric field. In this study, Doi and Landau–de Gennes free energy density equations are used to analytically confirm that an electric field increases the order parameters of CNTs and LCs in a dispersion mixture. The anchoring strength of the nematic LC is also found to affect the order parameters of the CNTs and LC. Further, increasing the length-to-diameter ratio of the CNTs increases their alignment without affecting the LC alignment. These findings indicate that CNT molecular alignment can be controlled by adjusting the CNT length-to-diameter ratio, anchoring the LCs, and adjusting the electric field strength.

Numerical simulation of thermal behavior in a naturally ventilated greenhouse

Inside a greenhouse, during the day, the temperature rises very quickly, while the plants have to face temperatures that rise to more than 35[Formula: see text]C. The plant closes its pores to limit sweating and stops growing. As soon as it gets hot, it is therefore necessary to ventilate the greenhouse. In this context, this research aims to investigate the behavior of the natural ventilation on the internal climate of the tunnel greenhouse, which contains two openings in the roof. The effect of the position of the openings on heat transfer is considered, thus promoting photosynthesis and plant growth. The vorticity transport equation, the Poisson equation and the energy equation are discretized by using the finite volume method. Two-dimensional simulations that described laminar flows in a steady state were carried out. Flows are studied for a range of parameters: the Rayleigh number, Ra, [Formula: see text], and three positions of opening ventilation. The results reveal that the ventilation through the top opening position allows the best creation of heat exchanges between the air inside the greenhouse and its atmosphere, which serves to conserve the plant under a favorable climate that allows its growth.

3D waviness effect of carbon nanotubes on fundamental natural frequency and modeling of resonance of nanocomposite structure

Optimum waviness of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) inside a matrix composite beam and composite bridge is endeavor to obtain its utmost natural frequencies considering a volume fraction of CNTs. 3D FE model of the beam is generated via ABAQUS along with Python programming and thereafter to calculate an optimal waviness under encastre boundary conditions and different vibration modes. The effect of waviness and the number of waves on mode shapes, natural frequency, and corresponding stiffness of a beam are examined, and the outcomes are compared to those of a pure polymer beam, straight CNT-based composite beam and nanobridge value. It was decided to conduct a convergence analysis and the optimum value of the number of elements and nodes was studied and found that 19666 nodes are reliable to give correct results. The FE analysis results reveal that the waviness effect of CNTs significantly depends on mode shapes. The fundamental natural frequency, as well as other related vibrational properties, is observed to be enhanced. By decreasing the waviness from 50 to 25, there is an increment in natural frequency in the 3rd mode by 68.68, 5th mode by 44.6 and 6th mode by 62.4, but in other modes, there is negligible difference. When single-wave CNTs were compared, the sine wave produced more frequency in the third mode by 206.03, 4th mode by 199.8 and 6th mode by 478.6[Formula: see text]Hz. After comparing the results of different waviness types, single sine waviness, multi-waved CNTs, straight CNTs and neat matrix, it is found that for the highest value of waviness of CNT fiber-based nanocomposites, the natural frequency of CNT-reinforced nanocomposite reaches the frequency of the neat matrix and further adding of CNTs does not increase the value of frequency. The result showed that the finite element model (FEM) is a good simulation of the vibratory system.

An analytical approach to evaluate effective coefficients of 1–3 piezoelectric composites

In this paper, a micromechanics method is developed to evaluate effective coefficients of piezoelectric fiber-reinforced composites. An exact solution is derived for effective elastic, piezoelectric and dielectric coefficients of such piezocomposites subjected to the applied load in the direction transverse to the fiber orientation. Simultaneously, based on finite element method, a numerical study is performed on a representative volume element of such piezo composite containing fiber in square packing arrangement. The finite element method provides a numerical solution to evaluate effective elastic, piezoelectric and dielectric coefficients for discrete volume fraction of fiber, the range being 0.1–0.6 for this study. The results are interpolated to understand the overall behavior of such piezocomposites. The results obtained from the micromechanics method and the finite element method are compared with the results obtained from other models based on strength of materials method given in the literature. It is observed that the method developed in this study provides better results for effective coefficients susceptible to fiber packing arrangements.

Electronic properties of SmxSr1−xMnO3 for solid oxide fuel cell application — a first-principles study

Electronic properties of orthorhombic SSM ([Formula: see text] and monoclinic SSM ([Formula: see text] are investigated using the first-principles calculation. The half-metallic behavior that leads to the mixed ionic and electronic conductivity (MIEC) property is identified in orthorhombic SSM. In addition, the strong covalent bonding between [Formula: see text]-p and [Formula: see text]-s orbitals of orthorhombic SSM is identified from the PDOS plot. The strong covalent bonding enhances the [Formula: see text] molecular adsorption on Mn atom. On the other hand, monoclinic SSM shows the pure conducting behavior and there is no covalent bonding between Mn and O atoms. Thus, the results suggest that the half-metal Sm[Formula: see text]Sr[Formula: see text]MnO3 might be a suitable cathode material for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells.