Huiming Ning

Evaluation of piezoelectric property of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)–poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanocomposites

We improved the piezoelectric property of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) by employing graphene. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO)–PVDF nanocomposites were prepared by a solution casting method and the rGO contents ranged from 0.0 wt% to 0.2 wt%. To induce the piezoelectric β-phase crystal structure, the nanocomposite films were drawn in a ratio of 4–5 and polarized by a step-wise poling method. To evaluate the piezoelectric property, the output voltages of the rGO–PVDF nanocomposite films were measured through extensive experimental vibration tests. The experimental results show that the rGO–PVDF nanocomposite film with 0.05 wt% rGO loading possesses the highest output voltage compared with other loadings, which is around 293% of that of the pure PVDF film. Moreover, it can be found that with the increase of the rGO content from 0 wt% to 0.2 wt%, the output voltage tends to have a peak at 0.05 wt%. The main reason for this phenomenon is that a more β-crystalline phase can be formed at those rGO loadings, as confirmed by XRD and FT-IR spectrum analyses.

Damage evaluation based on a wave energy flow map using multiple PZT sensors.

A new wave energy flow (WEF) map concept was proposed in this work. Based on it, an improved technique incorporating the laser scanning method and Bettis reciprocal theorem was developed to evaluate the shape and size of damage as well as to realize visualization of wave propagation. In this technique, a simple signal processing algorithm was proposed to construct the WEF map when waves propagate through an inspection region, and multiple lead zirconate titanate (PZT) sensors were employed to improve inspection reliability. Various damages in aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced plastic laminated plates were experimentally and numerically evaluated to validate this technique. The results show that it can effectively evaluate the shape and size of damage from wave field variations around the damage in the WEF map.

Multi-scale numerical simulations of thermal expansion properties of CNT-reinforced nanocomposites

In this work, the thermal expansion properties of carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced nanocomposites with CNT content ranging from 1 to 15 wt% were evaluated using a multi-scale numerical approach, in which the effects of two parameters, i.e., temperature and CNT content, were investigated extensively. For all CNT contents, the obtained results clearly revealed that within a wide low-temperature range (30°C ~ 62°C), thermal contraction is observed, while thermal expansion occurs in a high-temperature range (62°C ~ 120°C). It was found that at any specified CNT content, the thermal expansion properties vary with temperature - as temperature increases, the thermal expansion rate increases linearly. However, at a specified temperature, the absolute value of the thermal expansion rate decreases nonlinearly as the CNT content increases. Moreover, the results provided by the present multi-scale numerical model were in good agreement with those obtained from the corresponding theoretical analyses and experimental measurements in this work, which indicates that this multi-scale numerical approach provides a powerful tool to evaluate the thermal expansion properties of any type of CNT/polymer nanocomposites and therefore promotes the understanding on the thermal behaviors of CNT/polymer nanocomposites for their applications in temperature sensors, nanoelectronics devices, etc.

Pull-out simulations of a capped carbon nanotube in carbon nanotube-reinforced nanocomposites

Systematic atomic simulations based on molecular mechanics were conducted to investigate the pull-out behavior of a capped carbon nanotube (CNT) in CNT-reinforced nanocomposites. Two common cases were studied: the pull-out of a complete CNT from a polymer matrix in a CNT/polymer nanocomposite and the pull-out of the broken outer walls of a CNT from the intact inner walls (i.e., the sword-in-sheath mode) in a CNT/alumina nanocomposite. By analyzing the obtained relationship between the energy increment (i.e., the difference in the potential energy between two consecutive pull-out steps) and the pull-out displacement, a set of simple empirical formulas based on the nanotube diameter was developed to predict the corresponding pull-out force. The predictions from these formulas are quite consistent with the experimental results. Moreover, the much higher pull-out force for a capped CNT than that of the corresponding open-ended CNT implies a significant contribution from the CNT cap to the interfacial properties of the CNT-reinforced nanocomposites. This finding provides a valuable insight for designing nanocomposites with desirable mechanical properties.

Enhancement of PVDF’s piezoelectricity by VGCF and MWNT

Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) and vapor grown carbon fiber (VGCF) were blended into poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) to enhance the piezoelectricity of the neat polymer. The PVDF composite films were prepared by solution casting method, stretched uniaxially and poled in silicon oil. The nanofiller contents range from 0.05 to 0.3 wt.%. Open circuit output voltage and energy harvesting tests indicate that both the PVDF/MWNT and PVDF/VGCF composite films approached the maximum output at the nanofiller content of 0.05 wt.%. Compared to the neat PVDF films, the maximum increasing rates of open circuit voltage and harvested power density are 24% and 47% for the PVDF/MWNT films and 15% and 78% for the PVDF/VGCF films, respectively. X-ray diffraction analysis showed an increase in content of the β phase in the PVDF composites; thus, the piezoelectric properties, which are dependent on β phase content, were enhanced. Stretching of the films leads to the transformation of PVDF from α phase to β phase form. Moreover, the addition of nanofillers, such as MWNT and VGCF, improves this transformation since the nanofillers provide a phase transformation nucleation function.

The interfacial mechanical properties of functionalized graphene–polymer nanocomposites

The interfacial mechanical properties between graphene (GR) and a polymer matrix play a key role in load transfer capability for GR/polymer nanocomposites. Grafting of polymer molecular chains on GR can improve the dispersion of the GR in a polymer matrix and change the interfacial mechanical properties between the GR and the polymer matrix. In this work, we investigated the interfacial mechanical properties between GR functionalized with polymer molecular chains and a polyethylene (PE) matrix using molecular dynamics simulations. The influences of grafting density and chain length on the interfacial mechanical properties were analyzed. The results show that grafting of short PE molecular chains on GR can significantly improve the interfacial shear strength and interfacial Mode-II fracture toughness in functionalized GR/PE nanocomposites.

Tomographic reconstruction of damage images in hollow cylinders using Lamb waves.

Lamb wave tomography (LWT) is a potential and efficient technique for non-destructive tomographic reconstruction of damage images in structural components or materials. A two-stage inverse algorithm proposed by the authors for quickly reconstructing the damage images was applied to hollow cylinders. An aluminum hollow cylinder with an internal surface pit and a Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) laminated hollow cylinder with an artificial internal surface damage were used to validate the proposed method. The results show that the present method is capable of successfully reconstructing the images of the above damages in a larger inspection area with much less experimental data compared to some conventional ultrasonic tomography techniques.

An Efficient Algorithm Embedded in an Ultrasonic Visualization Technique for Damage Inspection Using the AE Sensor Excitation Method

To improve the reliability of a Lamb wave visualization technique and to obtain more information about structural damages (e.g., size and shape), we put forward a new signal processing algorithm to identify damage more clearly in an inspection region. Since the kinetic energy of material particles in a damaged area would suddenly change when ultrasonic waves encounter the damage, the new algorithm embedded in the wave visualization technique is aimed at monitoring the kinetic energy variations of all points in an inspection region to construct a damage diagnostic image. To validate the new algorithm, three kinds of surface damages on the center of aluminum plates, including two non-penetrative slits with different depths and a circular dent, were experimentally inspected. From the experimental results, it can be found that the new algorithm can remarkably enhance the quality of the diagnostic image, especially for some minor defects.

Investigation of interfacial mechanical properties of graphene-polymer nanocomposites

Abstract A series of graphene (GR) pull-out simulations based on molecular dynamics (MD) were carried out to investigate the interfacial mechanical properties between GR and a polymer matrix (polyethylene: PE). The effects of pull-out velocity, number of vacancy defect in GR and temperature on the interfacial mechanical properties of a GR/PE nanocomposite system were explored. The obtained results showed that the pull-out velocity and the temperature have significant influences on the interfacial mechanical properties for a perfect GR. Moderate vacancy defects in GR can effectively enhance the interfacial mechanical properties in GR-based polymer nanocomposites.

Molecular dynamics study of strengthening mechanism of nanolaminated graphene/Cu composites under compression

Molecular dynamics simulations of nanolaminated graphene/Cu (NGCu) and pure Cu under compression are conducted to investigate the underlying strengthening mechanism of graphene and the effect of lamella thickness. It is found that the stress-strain curves of NGCu undergo 3 regimes i.e. the elastic regime I, plastic strengthening regime II and plastic flow regime III. Incorporating graphene monolayer is proved to simultaneously contribute to the strength and ductility of the composites and the lamella thickness has a great effect on the mechanical properties of NGCu composites. Different strengthening mechanisms play main role in different regimes, the transition of mechanisms is found to be related to the deformation behavior. Graphene affected zone is developed and integrated with rule of mixtures and confined layer slip model to describe the elastic properties of NGCu and the strengthening effect of the incorporated graphene.