Network Theoretic Approach to Atomistic Material Modeling Using Spectral Sparsification

Network theory is used to formulate an atomistic material network. Spectral sparsification is applied to the network as a method for approximating the interatomic forces. Local molecular forces and the total force balance is quantified when the internal forces are approximated. In particular, we compare spectral sparsification to conventional thresholding (radial cut-off distance) of molecular forces for a Lennard-Jones potential and a Coulomb potential. The spectral sparsification for the Lennard-Jones potential yields comparable results while spectral sparsification of the Coulomb potential outperforms the thresholding approach. The results show promising opportunities which may accelerate molecular simulations containing long-range electrical interactions which are relevant to many multifunctional materials.

Redox Transistor Battery: An Emerging Architecture for Electrochemical Energy Storage

In this article, it is proposed that a membrane with tunable ionic conductivity can be used as a separator between the electrodes of a supercapacitor to both allow normal charge/discharge operation and minimize self-discharge when not in use. It is shown that the redox active conducting polymer PPy(DBS), when polymerized on a porous substrate, will span across the pores of the membrane. PPy(DBS) is also shown to function as an ionic redox transistor, in which the transmembrane ionic conductivity of the polymer membrane is a function of its redox state. The PPy(DBS) ionic redox transistor is applied between the electrodes in a supercapacitor as a smart membrane separator. It is demonstrated that the maximum tunable ionic conductivity of the smart membrane separator is comparable in operation to an industry standard separator at maximum ionic conductivity, with a self-discharge leakage current of ∼0.12mA/cm2 at 1V. The minimum tunable ionic conductivity of the smart membrane separator is shown to decrease the supercapacitor self-discharge when not in use by a factor of 10, with a leakage current of 0.012mA/cm2 at 1V. This range of tunable ionic conductivity could lead to the emergence of redox transistor batteries with high energy density and low self-discharge for short and long-term storage applications.

Active Vortex Generator Deployed on Demand by Active Hybrid Composites From Shape Memory Alloys and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

High performance airfoils with laminar airflow exhibit minimum drag and maximum lift, but tend to sudden stall due to flow separation at low air speed. This requires an increased approach speed of the aircraft, resulting in less steep approaches and a higher noise exposure of the surroundings. New active vortex generators, deployed only on demand at low speed, energizing the boundary layer of air flow and reducing flow separation, can help to overcome this critical situation. Active hybrid composites, combining the actuation capability of shape memory alloys (SMA) with the possibility of tailoring the compliance of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) on the materials level, provide an active aerodynamic system with high lightweight potential and small space requirements. Being one of the first applications of active hybrid structures from SMA and FRP we will demonstrate the potential of this new technology with an integrated system of active vortex generators for a glider. In this contribution we present - the design process, based on a FE-model and careful characterization of the actuating SMA and the composite material - manufacturing relevant aspects for reliable series production - the testing of single vortex generators in lab scale under aerodynamic load - and an overview of the whole system.

Resonant Frequency Tuning Strategies for Vibration-Based Energy Harvesters

Vibration-based energy harvesting has been widely investigated to as a means to generate low levels of electrical energy for applications such as wireless sensor networks. However, due to the fact that vibration from the environment is typically random and varies with different magnitudes and frequencies, it is a challenge to implement frequency matching in order to maximize the power output of the energy harvester with a wider frequency bandwidth for applications where there is a time-dependent, varying source frequency. Possible solutions of frequency matching include widening the bandwidth of the energy harvesters themselves in order to implement frequency matching and to perform resonance-based tuning approach, the latter of which shows the most promise to implement a frequency matching design. Here three tuning strategies are discussed. First a two-dimensional resonant frequency tuning technique for the cantilever-geometry energy harvesting device which extended previous 1D tuning approaches was developed. This 2D approach could be used in applications where space constraints impact the available design space of the energy harvester. In addition, two novel resonant frequency tuning approaches (tuning via mechanical stretch and tuning via applied bias voltage, respectively) for electroactive polymer (EAP) membrane-based geometry energy harvesters was proposed, such that the resulting changes in membrane tension were used to tune the device for applications targeting variable ambient frequency environments.

Modeling of a Bio-Inspired Canal-Type Lateral Line System

It is of interest to exploit the insight from the lateral line system of fish for flow sensing applications. The lateral line consists of arrays of flow sensors, known as neuromasts, with hair cells encased within a gel-like structure called cupula. There are two types of neuromasts, superficial neuromasts, which reside on the surface, and canal neuromasts, which are recessed within a channel with its ends open at the body’s surface. In this work we investigate the modeling of a canal-type artificial lateral line system. The canal is filled with viscous fluid to emulate its biological counterpart. The artificial neuromast consists of an ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) sensor embedded within a soft molded cupula structure. The displacement of the cupula structure and the resulting short-circuit current of the IPMC sensor under an oscillatory flow are modeled and solved with finite-element methods. The Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) model is used to describe the fundamental physics within the IPMC, where the bending stimulus due to the cupula displacement is coupled to the PNP model through the cation convective flux term. Comparison of the numerically computed cupula displacement with an analytical approximation is conducted. The effects of material stiffness and and device size on the device sensitivity are further explored.

Numerical Verification of the Tuned Inertial Mass Effect of a Wave Energy Converter

This paper introduces the mechanism of a buoy-type wave energy converter (WEC) with a tuned inertial mass (TIM) mechanism. The TIM mechanism consists of a rotational mass and motor connected in series with a tuning spring. While it is common to control the current of the power take-off system, the stiffness of the spring is tuned in addition so that the inertial mass part resonates with the dominant frequency of the wave motion. The method to design the parameters to maximize the power generation capability is introduced and numerical studies for both narrowband and broadband sea states are carried out. It is shown that the proposed device demonstrates better energy harvesting performance compared to the WEC without the TIM mechanism to band-limited stationary random vibration.

Experimental Investigation of High-Speed/High-Voltage SMA Actuation

The thermal shape memory effect describes the ability of a deformed material to return to its original shape when heated. This effect is found in shape memory alloys (SMAs) such as nickel-titanium (NiTi). SMA actuator wire is known for its high energy density and allows for the construction of compact systems. An additional advantage is the so-called “self-sensing” effect, which can be used for sensor tasks within an actuator-sensor-system. In most applications, a current is used to heat the SMA wires through joule heating. Usually a current between zero and four ampere is recommended by the SMA wire manufacturers depending on the wire diameter. Therefore, supply voltage is adjusted to the SMA wire’s electrical resistance to reach the recommended current. The focus of this work is to use supply voltages of magnitudes higher than the recommended supply voltages on SMA actuator wires. This actuation method has the advantage of being able to use industry standard voltage supplies for SMA actuators. Additionally, depending on the application, faster actuation and higher strokes can be achieved. The high voltage results in a high current in the SMA wire. To prevent the wire from being destroyed by the high current, short pulses in the micro- and millisecond range are used. As part of the presented work, a test setup has been constructed to examine the effects of the crucial parameters such as supply voltage amplitude, pulse duration, wire diameter and wire pre-tension. The monitored parameters in this setup are the wire displacement, wire current and force generated by the SMA wire. All sensors in this setup and their timing is validated through several experiments. Additionally, a highspeed optical camera system is used to record qualitative videos of the SMA wire’s behavior under there extreme conditions. This optical feedback is necessary to fully understand and interpret the measured force and displacement signals.

Active-Passive Damping Characteristics of Extension and Shear Mode Piezoelectric Fiber Nano-Reinforced Composite (PFNRC)

This paper presents a simulation-based study to investigate the damping properties of a novel piezocomposite, consisting of piezoelectric fiber and epoxy reinforced with randomly orientated double walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNT), termed as piezoelectric fiber nano reinforced composite (PFNRC). Authors have observed that the past research dealt with the effect of aligned single walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) on active damping of piezoelectric composite in extension mode (e13 and e33). It is known from the past research that DWCNT inclusions improve the passive damping of a composite. Therefore, the authors use DWCNT inclusions to study the active-passive damping of the piezoelectric composite, in this article. The random orientation of the DWCNT is considered to replicate the physical composite as it known that aligning CNTs in a single direction is not feasible due to fabrication constraints. A multistep homogenization method involving Method of Cells (MOC) is employed to obtain effective properties of PFNRC. A modified 3D-MOC is used to obtain the effective properties of epoxy matrix with DWCNT inclusions (DWCNT-epoxy), considering the effect of nano particle agglomeration. A 2D-MOC is then implemented with long fiber PZT as the active material and DWCNT-epoxy as the matrix. This procedure is followed for computing the effective material properties of extension (e33) as well as shear (e15) mode of PFNRC, when DWCNT inclusions are added into the epoxy matrix at different weight percentages. The constitutive equations are derived with the help of Maple and simulated in MATLAB. These results are used to compare the active-passive damping performance of the composites using a single degree of freedom damping model, employing Newmark’s numerical integration method. The active damping performance of the composites is evaluated by varying the displacement and velocity gains in a negative feedback system. The main focus of the study is to find the most efficient operating mode of the proposed composite for damping of structural vibrations.

Thermo-Electromechanical Response of Polymer-Bonded Explosives for Structural Health Monitoring of Energetic Materials

Distributing a carbon nanotube sensing network throughout the binder phase of energetic composites is investigated in an effort for real time embedded sensing of localized heating in polymer bonded explosives (PBXs) through thermo-electromechanical response for in situ structural health monitoring (SHM) in energetic materials. The experimental effort herein is focused on using 70 wt% Ammonium Perchlorate (AP) (solid oxidizer used in solid rocket propellants) crystals embedded into epoxy binder having concentration of 0.1 wt% multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) relative to entire hybrid energetics. Electrical and dielectric properties of neat (i.e. no MWCNTs) energetics and MWCNT hybrid energetics are quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated under localized thermal loading. Electrical and dielectric properties showed variations for both neat energetics and MWCNT hybrid energetics depending on input frequency measurements. Significant thermo-electromechanical response was obtained for MWCNT AP hybrid energetics, providing a proof of concept for thermo-electromechanical sensing for realtime SHM in energetics.

Investigating the Effect of Thermoelectric Processing on Ionic Aggregation in Thermoplastic Ionomers

Ionomers are a class of polymers which contain a small fraction of charged groups in the polymer backbone. These ionic groups aggregate (termed ionic aggregates) to form temporary cross-links that break apart over the ionic dissociation temperature and re-aggregate on cooling, influencing the mechanical properties of these polymers. In addition to enhanced mechanical properties, some ionomers also exhibit self-healing behavior. The self-healing behavior is a consequence of weakly bonded ionic aggregates breaking apart and re-aggregating after puncture or a ballistic impact. The structure and properties of ionomers have been studied over the last several decades; however, there is a lack of understanding of the influence of an electrostatic field on ionic aggregate morphology. Characterizing the effect of temperature and electric field on the formation and structure of these ionic aggregates will lead to preparation of ionomers with enhanced structural properties. This work focuses on Surlyn 8940 which a poly-ethylene methacryclic acid co-polymer in which a fraction of the carboxylic acid is terminated by sodium. In this work, Surlyn is thermoelectrically processed over its ionic dissociation temperature in the presence of a strong electrostatic field. Thermal studies are performed on the ionomer to study the effect of the thermoelectric processing. It is shown that the application of a thermoelectric field leads to increase in the ionic aggregate order in these materials and reduction in crystal size distribution. Thermal Analysis is performed using a Differential Scanning Calorimeter and the resulting thermogram analysis shows that thermoelectric processing increases the peak temperature and onset temperature of melting by 4 C and 20 C respectively. The peak width at half maximum of the melting endotherm is reduced by 10 C due to thermoelectric processing. This serves as a measure of the increased crystallinity. A parametric study on the effect of field duration and field strength is also performed.