Elastic response of Carbon Black reinforced polyester based composites using micromechanical models: Role of interphase

Carbon-based reinforcements have been widely reported in improving mechanical properties of polymers. However, still few studies exist on the incorporation of the interphase as a result of the interfacial interactions into analytical prediction tools. To better understand the effect of interfacial interphase, this study compares and correlates the experimental mechanical response of polyester based composites filled with carbon black (CB) with the elastic behavior obtained from the micromechanical models. Mold cast composites of polyester reinforced with 0 wt%–10 wt% of CB were fabricated. To determine the length of cooperative rearranging region (CRR) as a measure of the interphase, thermal studies focusing on the variations in the specific heat capacity or the relaxation strength of the composites around the glass transition temperature ( Tg) range were performed using a thermodynamical model. Micromechanical models such as the Halpin-Tsai and Tandon-Weng were used to determine the Young’s modulus with respect to the CB wt% and diameter as well as the interphase thickness and modulus. The results exhibited the sensitivity of the models to the existence of the interphase as a secondary mechanism, which was correlated to the cross-link density and interfacial bonding. The impact results showed the decrease in the impact resistance upon the addition of higher filler loadings ascribed to the destroyed bonding at the interface and CBs agglomeration confirmed by morphological studies. The research results can be further utilized in the explanation of the changes in the elastic response of carbon-based reinforced thermosetting composites emphasizing the key role of interphase.

Simulation of time-dependent radiative heat motion over a stretching/shrinking sheet of hybrid Nanofluid: Stability analysis for dual solutions

The heat transfer characteristics for the flow of a time-dependent hybrid nanofluid with thermal radiation and source/sink over a stretching/shrinking sheet are examined in the current investigation. We have transformed the governing equations of the presented study into the similarity equations utilizing similarity variables. However, a numerical solution is obtained by using in-build MATLAB code bvp5c. The mass and energy profiles for diverse values of thermophysical parameters are studied together with their physical quantities. It is observed that dual solutions exist, that is, one is upper, and the other is lower branch solution for a definite choice of the unsteadiness parameter. Also, stability analysis is executed to determine the long-term stability of dual solutions, indicating that out of the two, only one is stable and the other is unstable. It is revealed that comparatively, the first solution shows stability, while the second solution shows instability. There is a considerable influence of second-order slip on the problem’s respective flow and heat transfer characteristics. Further, major outcomes also show the dimensionless frictional stress and the magnitude of conventional heat transfer enhancement with growing suction parameter values.

Wave propagation and directionality in two-dimensional periodic lattices considering shear deformations

The effects of shear deformation on analysis of the wave propagation in periodic lattices are often assumed negligible. However, this assumption is not always true, especially for the lattices made of beams with smaller aspect ratios. Therefore, in the present paper, the effect of shear deformation on wave propagation in periodic lattices with different topologies is studied and their wave attenuation and directionality performances are compared. Current experimental limitations make the researchers focus more on the wave propagation in the direction perpendicular to the plane of periodicity in micro/nanoscale lattice materials while for their macro/mesoscale counterparts, in-plane modes can also be analyzed as well as the out-of-plane ones. Four well-known topologies of hexagonal, triangular, square, and Kagomé are considered in the current paper and their wave propagation is investigated both in the plane of periodicity and in the out-of-plane direction. The finite element method is used to formulate the governing equations and Bloch’s theorem is used to solve the dispersion relations. To investigate the effect of shear deformation, both the Timoshenko and Euler-Bernoulli beam theories are implemented. The results indicate that including shear deformation in wave propagation has a softening effect on the band diagrams of wave propagation and moves the dispersion branches to lower frequencies. It can also reveal some bandgaps that are not predicted without considering the shear deformation.

Peristaltic flow of electrically conducting nanofluid under the action of Joule and radiative heat within an asymmetric microchannel

The proposed mathematical model is based upon the peristaltic flow of an electrical conducting nanofluid within an asymmetric microchannel. The flow takes place under the action of dissipative heat energy due to the occurrence of the magnetic field that is basically known as Joule heating and radiative heat proposed as thermal radiation along with the additional heat source. Moreover, the impact of upper/lower wall zeta potential and the expression for the electric potential is presented using the Poisson Boltzmann equation and Debey length approximation. The well-known numerical practice is used for distorted governing equations with appropriate boundary conditions. Further, computation of the pressure gradient is obtained for the associated physical parameters. The graphical illustration shows the characteristics of the pertinent parameters on the flow problem and the tabular result represents the simulated values for the rate coefficients. In the significant examination, the study reveals that the mobility parameter due to the occurrence of the electric field vis-à-vis time parameter encourages the velocity distribution within the center of the channel furthermore significant retardation occurs near the wall region.

On the buckling and bending analysis of FG straight-sided quadrilateral nanoplates using a continuum mechanics-based surface elastic model

In this research, an elastic model based on the continuum mechanics is developed to study the static behaviors of functionally graded (FG) arbitrary straight-sided quadrilateral nanoplates. The model is constructed in the framework of Gurtin-Murdoch’s surface and Mindlin’s plate theories to account for the surface energy and shear deformation effects, simultaneously. The variational differential quadrature (VDQ) method is used along with a mapping technique to do the discretization process in a variational framework by means of differential and integral operators. Consequently, a weak form of governing equations is obtained from the energy quadratic representation of the problem. The solution method is of a distinguished feature as it involves just the first-order derivative of the field components in the mapping and discretization. After assuring the effectiveness of presented model by doing comparative studies, the critical buckling load and static deflection of the FG nanoplates with different shapes in geometry are investigated considering the surface effects. It is found that the surface energies effect on the static behavior of the rectangular nanoplates is more significant as compared to the non-rectangular nanoplates.

Chaotic vibrations of carbon nanotubes subjected to a traversing force considering nonlocal elasticity theory

The existence of chaos in the lateral vibration of the carbon nanotube (CNT) can contribute to source of instability and inaccuracy within the nano mechanical systems. So, chaotic vibrations of a simply supported CNT which is subjected to a traversing harmonic force are studied in this paper. The model of the system is formulated by using nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli beam theory. The equation of motion is solved using the Rung–Kutta method. The effects of the nonlocal parameter, velocity and amplitude of the traversing harmonic force on the nonlinear dynamic response of the system are analyzed by the bifurcation diagrams, phase plane portrait, power spectra analysis, Poincaré map and the maximum Lyapunov exponent. The results indicate that the nonlocal parameter, velocity and amplitude of the traversing harmonic force have considerable effects on the bifurcation behavior and can be used as effective control parameters for avoiding chaos.

Unsteady squeezing flow of a magnetized nano-lubricant between parallel disks with Robin boundary conditions

The aim of the present work is to examine the impact of magnetized nanoparticles (NPs) in enhancement of heat transport in a tribological system subjected to convective type heating (Robin) boundary conditions. The regime examined comprises the squeezing transition of a magnetic (smart) Newtonian nano-lubricant between two analogous disks under an axial magnetism. The lower disk is permeable whereas the upper disk is solid. The mechanisms of haphazard motion of NPs and thermophoresis are simulated. The non-dimensional problem is solved numerically using a finite difference method in the MATLAB bvp4c solver based on Lobotto quadrature, to scrutinize the significance of thermophoresis parameter, squeezing number, Hartmann number, Prandtl number, and Brownian motion parameter on velocity, temperature, nanoparticle concentration, Nusselt number, factor of friction, and Sherwood number distributions. The obtained results for the friction factor are validated against previously published results. It is found that friction factor at the disk increases with intensity in applied magnetic field. The haphazard (Brownian) motion of nanoparticles causes an enhancement in thermal field. Suction and injection are found to induce different effects on transport characteristics depending on the specification of equal or unequal Biot numbers at the disks. The main quantitative outcome is that, unequal Biot numbers produce significant cooling of the regime for both cases of disk suction or injection, indicating that Robin boundary conditions yield substantial deviation from conventional thermal boundary conditions. Higher thermophoretic parameter also elevates temperatures in the regime. The nanoparticles concentration at the disk is boosted with higher values of Brownian motion parameter. The response of temperature is similar in both suction and injection cases; however, this tendency is quite opposite for nanoparticle concentrations. In the core zone, the resistive magnetic body force dominates and this manifests in a significant reduction in velocity, that is damping. The heat build-up in squeeze films (which can lead to corrosion and degradation of surfaces) can be successfully removed with magnetic nanoparticles leading to prolonged serviceability of lubrication systems and the need for less maintenance.

The nonlocal parameter for three-dimensional nonlocal elasticity analyses of square graphene sheets: An exact buckling analysis

This paper studies buckling problem of square nano-plates under uniform biaxial pressure through using three-dimensional nonlocal elasticity theory. Equations of stability are solved analytically for square nano-plates with simple supports using a Navier-type method. Critical buckling stress is presented for nano square plates with different thickness-length and nonlocal parameter-length ratios. The critical buckling stress is also reported using different local (classical) and nonlocal two-dimensional plate theories constructed essentially based on some simplifying assumptions. Comparison of the results of two-dimensional and three-dimensional theories for both local and nonlocal cases shows that the nonlocal two-dimensional plate theories are not as accurate as the local two-dimensional ones. This issue however reveals importance of the nonlocal three-dimensional solutions. Finally, through comparison of the numerical results with those obtained from molecular dynamic simulations, the value of the nonlocal parameter is calibrated for square graphene sheets. This parameter can be also used for the other nonlocal three-dimensional mechanical analyses of square graphene sheets to find accurate solutions.

Theoretical analysis of SWCNT- MWCNT/H2O hybrid flow over an upward/downward moving rotating disk

The flow-through various disk movement has wide range of applications in manufacturing processes like, computer storage equipment’s, rotating machines, electronic and various types of medical equipment’s. Inspired from these applications, here we scrutinised the consequences of homogeneous-heterogeneous reactions and uniform heat source/sink on the three-dimensional (3D) hybrid SWCNT-MWCNT’s flow on time dependent moving upward/downward rotating disk. The renowned innovation of this paper is the application of the hybrid nanofluid made up of SWCNT and MWCNT’s. Heat generation/absorption effect for the disk that does not move up or down creates a dual flow on the disk. Alternatively, the rotation and upright motion of the disk creates a 3D flow on the surface which has not been considered in the open literature. The modelled PDE’s are reduced in to ODE’s by opting suitable similarity variables and boundary constraints. Here, we used RKF-45 method to obtain the numerical approximations by adopting shooting technique. The analysis of rate of heat transfer is done through graphs. Further, change in velocity, thermal and concentration profiles for various non-dimensional parameters are deliberated briefly and illustrated with the help of suitable plots. The results reveal that, the, rise in values of homogeneous and heterogeneous reaction parameters improve the rate of reaction which results in reduction of the distribution rate and diminishes the concentration gradient. An increase in expansion/contraction parameter enhances the velocity and thermal gradients.

Magneto convective flow of casson nanofluid due to Stefan blowing in the presence of bio-active mixers

The induced magnetic field for three-dimensional bio-convective flow of Casson nanofluid containing gyrotactic microorganisms along a vertical stretching sheet is investigated. The movement of these microorganisms cause bioconvection and they act as bio-active mixers that help in stabilising the nanoparticles in the suspension. The two forces, Thermophoresis and Brownian motion are incorporated in the Mathematical model along with Stefan blowing. The resulting model is transformed to ordinary differential equations using similarity transformations and are solved using [Formula: see text] method. The Velocity, Induced Magnetic field, Temperature, Concentration of Nanoparticles, and Motile density profiles are interpreted graphically. It is observed that the Casson parameter decreases the flow velocity and enhances the temperature, concentration, and motile density profiles and also it is noticed that the blowing enhances the nanofluid profiles whereas, suction diminishes the nanofluid profiles. On the other hand, it is perceived that the rate of heat conduction is enhanced with Thermophoresis and Brownian motion.