Blind equalization for underwater communications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blom, K.C.H.

2014-01-01

Underwater wireless (sensor) networks would vastly improve man's ability to explore and exploit remote aquatic environments. Despite underwater sensor and vehicle technology being relatively mature, underwater communications is still a major challenge. The most challenging characteristics of the

Modelling of the underwater disposal of uranium mine tailings in Elliot Lake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halbert, B.E.; Scharer, J.M.; Chakravatti, J.L.; Barnes, E.

1982-01-01

Underwater disposal of uranium mine tailings from the Elliot Lake area operations offers potential advantages in controlling radon gas release, emission of airborne particulate matter, and acid production from pyrites in the tailings. In addition, the proximity of the three active properties, one owned by Denison Mines Limited and two by Rio Algom Limited, to a large deep lake has spurred interest in the concept. It has been estimated that the placement of approximately 150 million tonnes of tailings from future planned production would occupy less than 20% of the lake volume. To assess the applicability of the underwater tailings disposal concept, a multi-stage study was developed in conjunction with the regulatory agencies. The most important facet identified for investigation during the first-stage investigations was an assessment of the effects of underwater disposal on water quality in the Serpent River Basin watershed. To simulate the effects of underwater disposal, a computer simulation routine was developed and integrated with a water quality model previously developed for the Basin which predicts levels of total dissolved solids, ammonia, dissolved radium-226 and pH. The underwater disposal model component reflects the effects of direct input of tailings into the hypolimnion, the chemical/biological transformation of dissolved constituents in the water column, the reactions of pyritic tailings deposited on the bottom, and the flux of dissolved constituents from the tailings into the water column. To establish site-specific values for the underwater disposal model, field and laboratory experiments were utilized to evaluate rates of pyrite and ammonia oxidation, and pH-alkalinity relationships. The results of these studies and their use in the water quality model are discussed. In addition, the results of two model run simulations are presented. (author)

Underwater wireless communication system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goh, J H; Shaw, A; Al-Shamma'a, A I

2009-01-01

Underwater communication has a range of applications including remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) communication and docking in the offshore industry. Current underwater transmission techniques is primarily utilise sound waves for large distance at lower frequencies and the velocity of sound in water is approximately 1500m/s the resultant communications have problems with multi-path propagation and low bandwidth problems. The use of electromagnetic (EM) techniques underwater has largely been overlooked because of the attenuation due to the conductivity of seawater. However, for short range applications, the higher frequencies and much higher velocity can prove advantageous. This paper will outline a project which will utilise recent investigations that demonstrate EM wave propagation up to the MHz frequency range is possible in seawater.

Underwater Scene Composition

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Nanyoung

2009-01-01

In this article, the author describes an underwater scene composition for elementary-education majors. This project deals with watercolor with crayon or oil-pastel resist (medium); the beauty of nature represented by fish in the underwater scene (theme); texture and pattern (design elements); drawing simple forms (drawing skill); and composition…

Resources for Underwater Robotics Education

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Michael L.; Freitas, William M.

2016-01-01

4-H clubs can build and program underwater robots from raw materials. An annotated resource list for engaging youth in building underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) is provided. This article is a companion piece to the Research in Brief article "Building Teen Futures with Underwater Robotics" in this issue of the "Journal of…

A new technique for robot vision in autonomous underwater vehicles using the color shift in underwater imaging

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-01

FOR ROBOT VISION IN AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLES USING THE COLOR SHIFT IN UNDERWATER IMAGING by Jake A. Jones June 2017 Thesis Advisor...techniques to determine the distances from each pixel to the camera. 14. SUBJECT TERMS unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs), autonomous ... AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLES USING THE COLOR SHIFT IN UNDERWATER IMAGING Jake A. Jones Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy B.S

Synthesis of polyoxometalate-loaded epoxy composites

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Benjamin J

2014-10-07

The synthesis of a polyoxometalate-loaded epoxy uses a one-step cure by applying an external stimulus to release the acid from the polyoxometalate and thereby catalyze the cure reaction of the epoxy resin. Such polyoxometalate-loaded epoxy composites afford the cured epoxy unique properties imparted by the intrinsic properties of the polyoxometalate. For example, polyoxometalate-loaded epoxy composites can be used as corrosion resistant epoxy coatings, for encapsulation of electronics with improved dielectric properties, and for structural applications with improved mechanical properties.

ROV Based Underwater Blurred Image Restoration

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIU Zhishen; DING Tianfu; WANG Gang

2003-01-01

In this paper, we present a method of ROV based image processing to restore underwater blurry images from the theory of light and image transmission in the sea. Computer is used to simulate the maximum detection range of the ROV under different water body conditions. The receiving irradiance of the video camera at different detection ranges is also calculated. The ROV's detection performance under different water body conditions is given by simulation. We restore the underwater blurry images using the Wiener filter based on the simulation. The Wiener filter is shown to be a simple useful method for underwater image restoration in the ROV underwater experiments. We also present examples of restored images of an underwater standard target taken by the video camera in these experiments.

Underwater 3D filming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Rinaldi

2014-12-01

Full Text Available After an experimental phase of many years, 3D filming is now effective and successful. Improvements are still possible, but the film industry achieved memorable success on 3D movie’s box offices due to the overall quality of its products. Special environments such as space (“Gravity” and the underwater realm look perfect to be reproduced in 3D. “Filming in space” was possible in “Gravity” using special effects and computer graphic. The underwater realm is still difficult to be handled. Underwater filming in 3D was not that easy and effective as filming in 2D, since not long ago. After almost 3 years of research, a French, Austrian and Italian team realized a perfect tool to film underwater, in 3D, without any constrains. This allows filmmakers to bring the audience deep inside an environment where they most probably will never have the chance to be.

Epoxy-based carbon nanotubes reinforced composites

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kesavan Pillai, Sreejarani

2011-04-01

Full Text Available of the three major epoxy resin producers worldwide [May, 1987]. Epoxy resin is most commonly used as a matrix for advanced composites due to their superior thermal, mechanical and electrical properties; dimensional stability and chemical resistance. Epoxy... and modifiers to create products with an almost unlimited range and variety of performance properties [The epoxy book, 2000]. Epoxy resins are widely used as high-grade synthetic resins, for example, in the electronics, aeronautics and astronautic industries...

Interaction of water with epoxy.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Powers, Dana Auburn

2009-07-01

The chemistries of reactants, plasticizers, solvents and additives in an epoxy paint are discussed. Polyamide additives may play an important role in the absorption of molecular iodine by epoxy paints. It is recommended that the unsaturation of the polyamide additive in the epoxy cure be determined. Experimental studies of water absorption by epoxy resins are discussed. These studies show that absorption can disrupt hydrogen bonds among segments of the polymers and cause swelling of the polymer. The water absorption increases the diffusion coefficient of water within the polymer. Permanent damage to the polymer can result if water causes hydrolysis of ether linkages. Water desorption studies are recommended to ascertain how water absorption affects epoxy paint.

Underwater welding of steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ibarra, S.; Olson, D.L.

1992-01-01

A fundamental basis to understand the behavior of wet underwater welding of steel is introduced. Both the pyrometallurgical and physical metallurgy concepts are discussed. Modifications of welding consumables and practice are suggested. This chapter promotes further contributions of meatllurgical research to improve and promote wet underwater welding. (orig.)

Colour reconstruction of underwater images

OpenAIRE

Hoth, Julian; Kowalczyk, Wojciech

2017-01-01

Objects look very different in the underwater environment compared to their appearance in sunlight. Images with correct colouring simplify the detection of underwater objects and may allow the use of visual SLAM algorithms developed for land-based robots underwater. Hence, image processing is required. Current algorithms focus on the colour reconstruction of scenery at diving depth where different colours can still be distinguished. At greater depth this is not the case. In this study it is i...

Quantum imaging for underwater arctic navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Lanzagorta, Marco

2017-05-01

The precise navigation of underwater vehicles is a difficult task due to the challenges imposed by the variable oceanic environment. It is particularly difficult if the underwater vehicle is trying to navigate under the Arctic ice shelf. Indeed, in this scenario traditional navigation devices such as GPS, compasses and gyrocompasses are unavailable or unreliable. In addition, the shape and thickness of the ice shelf is variable throughout the year. Current Arctic underwater navigation systems include sonar arrays to detect the proximity to the ice. However, these systems are undesirable in a wartime environment, as the sound gives away the position of the underwater vehicle. In this paper we briefly describe the theoretical design of a quantum imaging system that could allow the safe and stealthy navigation of underwater Arctic vehicles.

Autonomous Underwater Gliders

OpenAIRE

Wood,; Stephen,

2009-01-01

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles are only now being marketed as robust commercial vehicles for many industries, and of these vehicles underwater gliders are becoming the new tool for oceanographers. Satellites have provided scientists and marine specialists with measurements of the sea surface such as temperature since the late 1970s, and data via subsurface oceanographic moorings since the 1950's. As stated by David Smeed of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, England, that "gliders...

Underwater welding using remote controlled robots. Development of remote underwater welding technology with a high power YAG laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miwa, Yasuhiro; Sato, Syuuichi; Kojima, Toshio; Owaki, Katsura; Hirose, Naoya

2002-01-01

As components in nuclear power plant have been periodically carried out their inspection and repair to keep their integrity, on radioactive liquid wastes storage facility, because of difficulty on their inspection by human beings, some are remained without inspection, and even when capable of inspection, conversion from human works to remote operations is desired from a viewpoint of their operation efficiency upgrading. For response to these needs, some developments on a technology capable of carrying out inspection of their inside at underwater environment and repairing welding with YAG laser by means of remote operation, have been performed. Remote underwater inspection and repair technology is a combination technology of already applied underwater mobile technique (underwater inspection robot) with underwater YAG laser welding technique which is recently at actual using level. Therefore, this technology is composed of an inspection robot and a repair welding robot. And, testing results using the underwater inspection robot and welding test results using the underwater repair welding robot, were enough preferable to obtain forecasting applicable to actual apparatuses. This technology is especially effective for inspection and repair of inside of nuclear fuel cycle apparatuses and relatively high dose apparatuses, and can be thought to be applicable also to large capacity tanks, tanks dealing with harmful matters, underwater structures, and so on, in general industries. (G.K.)

A Scalable Method toward Superhydrophilic and Underwater Superoleophobic PVDF Membranes for Effective Oil/Water Emulsion Separation.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Tao; Meng, Jianqiang; Hao, Tingyu; Wang, Zihong; Zhang, Yufeng

2015-07-15

A superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic PVDF membrane (PVDFAH) has been prepared by surface-coating of a hydrogel onto the membrane surface, and its superior performance for oil/water emulsion separation has been demonstrated. The coated hydrogel was constructed by an interfacial polymerization based on the thiol-epoxy reaction of pentaerythritol tetrakis (3-mercaptopropionate) (PETMP) with diethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (PEGDGE) and simultaneously tethered on an alkaline-treated commercial PVDF membrane surface via the thio-ene reaction. The PVDFAH membranes can be fabricated in a few minutes under mild conditions and show superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic properties for a series of organic solvents. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis shows that the hydrogel coating was efficient throughout the pore lumen. The membrane shows superior oil/water emulsion separation performance, including high water permeation, quantitative oil rejection, and robust antifouling performance in a series oil/water emulsions, including that prepared from crude oil. In addition, a 24 h Soxhlet-extraction experiment with ethanol/water solution (50:50, v/v) was conducted to test the tethered hydrogel stability. We see that the membrane maintained the water contact angle below 5°, indicating the covalent tethering stability. This technique shows great promise for scalable fabrication of membrane materials for handling practical oil emulsion purification.

Contact allergy to epoxy resin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bangsgaard, Nannie; Thyssen, Jacob Pontoppidan; Menné, Torkil

2012-01-01

Background. Epoxy resin monomers are strong skin sensitizers that are widely used in industrial sectors. In Denmark, the law stipulates that workers must undergo a course on safe handling of epoxy resins prior to occupational exposure, but the effectiveness of this initiative is largely unknown...... in an educational programme. Conclusion. The 1% prevalence of epoxy resin contact allergy is equivalent to reports from other countries. The high occurrence of epoxy resin exposure at work, and the limited use of protective measures, indicate that reinforcement of the law is required....

Underwater Acoustic Networking Techniques

CERN Document Server

Otnes, Roald; Casari, Paolo; Goetz, Michael; Husøy, Thor; Nissen, Ivor; Rimstad, Knut; van Walree, Paul; Zorzi, Michele

2012-01-01

This literature study presents an overview of underwater acoustic networking. It provides a background and describes the state of the art of all networking facets that are relevant for underwater applications. This report serves both as an introduction to the subject and as a summary of existing protocols, providing support and inspiration for the development of network architectures.

OFDM for underwater acoustic communications

CERN Document Server

Zhou, Shengli

2014-01-01

A blend of introductory material and advanced signal processing and communication techniques, of critical importance to underwater system and network development This book, which is the first to describe the processing techniques central to underwater OFDM, is arranged into four distinct sections: First, it describes the characteristics of underwater acoustic channels, and stresses the difference from wireless radio channels. Then it goes over the basics of OFDM and channel coding. The second part starts with an overview of the OFDM receiver, and develops various modules for the receiver des

Underwater Acoustic Tracer System

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-13

for controlling and utilizing supercavitating projectile dynamics to produce a distinctive radiated noise signal. (2) Description of the Prior Art...metallic objects which travel relatively closely to a magnetic pickup. For larger, high speed, underwater projectiles, supercavitating underwater vehicles...have been proposed for use. The conditions for supercavitation are known in the art. Supercavitation allows for higher speeds to be sustainable

Wettability of nano-epoxies to UHMWPE fibers.

Science.gov (United States)

Neema, S; Salehi-Khojin, A; Zhamu, A; Zhong, W H; Jana, S; Gan, Y X

2006-07-01

Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers have a unique combination of outstanding mechanical, physical, and chemical properties. However, as reinforcements for manufacturing high performance composite materials, UHMWPE fibers have poor wettability with most polymers. As a result, the interfacial bonding strength between the fibers and polymer matrices is very low. Recently, developing so-called nano-matrices containing reactive graphitic nanofibers (r-GNFs) has been proposed to promote the wetting of such matrices to certain types of fiber reinforcements. In this work, the wettability of UHMWPE fibers with different epoxy matrices including a nano-epoxy, and a pure epoxy was investigated. Systematic experimental work was conducted to determine the viscosity of the epoxies, the contact angle between the epoxies and the fibers. Also obtained are the surface energy of the fibers and the epoxies. The experimental results show that the wettability of the UHMWPE fibers with the nano-epoxy is much better than that of the UHMWPE fibers with the pure epoxy.

Human Factors Issues When Operating Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

etiquette (Parasuraman & Miller, 2004). Through natural and intuitive communication, Johnson et al., (2007) hope that this interface will instill greater...and etiquette in high criticality automated systems. Communications of the ACM, 47(4), 51-55. Parasuraman, R., & Riley, V. (1997). Humans and... protocols for underwater wireless communications. IEEE Communications Magazine, pp. 97-102. Quazi, A. H., & Konrad, W. L. (1982, March 1982). Underwater

Epoxy-based carbon nanotubes reinforced composites

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kesavan Pillai, Sreejarani

2011-04-01

Full Text Available of the three major epoxy resin producers worldwide [May, 1987]. Epoxy resin is most commonly used as a matrix for advanced composites due to their superior thermal, mechanical and electrical properties; dimensional stability and chemical resistance. Epoxy... are electrical insulators, and the widespread use of the epoxy resins for many high-performance applications is constrained because of their inherent brittleness, delamination and fracture toughness limitations. There were quite a few approaches to enhance...

Determining spherical lens correction for astronaut training underwater.

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Jason; Gibson, C Robert; Strauss, Samuel

2011-09-01

To develop a model that will accurately predict the distance spherical lens correction needed to be worn by National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronauts while training underwater. The replica space suit's helmet contains curved visors that induce refractive power when submersed in water. Anterior surface powers and thicknesses were measured for the helmet's protective and inside visors. The impact of each visor on the helmet's refractive power in water was analyzed using thick lens calculations and Zemax optical design software. Using geometrical optics approximations, a model was developed to determine the optimal distance spherical power needed to be worn underwater based on the helmet's total induced spherical power underwater and the astronaut's manifest spectacle plane correction in air. The validity of the model was tested using data from both eyes of 10 astronauts who trained underwater. The helmet's visors induced a total power of -2.737 D when placed underwater. The required underwater spherical correction (FW) was linearly related to the spectacle plane spherical correction in air (FAir): FW = FAir + 2.356 D. The mean magnitude of the difference between the actual correction worn underwater and the calculated underwater correction was 0.20 ± 0.11 D. The actual and calculated values were highly correlated (r = 0.971) with 70% of eyes having a difference in magnitude of astronauts. The model accurately predicts the actual values worn underwater and can be applied (more generally) to determine a suitable spectacle lens correction to be worn behind other types of masks when submerged underwater.

Dynamics and Control of Underwater Gliders I: Steady Motions

OpenAIRE

Mahmoudian, N.; Geisbert, J.; Woolsey, C.

2007-01-01

This paper describes analysis of steady motions for underwater gliders, a type of highly efficient underwater vehicle which uses gravity for propulsion. Underwater gliders are winged underwater vehicles which locomote by modulating their buoyancy and their attitude. Several such vehicles have been developed and have proven their worth as efficient long-distance, long-duration ocean sampling platforms. To date, the primary emphasis in underwater glider development has been on locomotive effici...

Thermally activated, single component epoxy systems

KAUST Repository

Unruh, David A.; Pastine, Stefan J.; Moreton, Jessica C.; Frechet, Jean

2011-01-01

A single component epoxy system in which the resin and hardener components found in many two-component epoxies are combined onto the same molecule is described. The single molecule precursor to the epoxy resin contains both multiple epoxide moieties and a diamine held latent by thermally degradable carbamate linkages. These bis-carbamate "single molecule epoxies" have an essentially infinite shelf life and access a significant range in curing temperatures related to the structure of the carbamate linkages used. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

Thermally activated, single component epoxy systems

KAUST Repository

Unruh, David A.

2011-08-23

A single component epoxy system in which the resin and hardener components found in many two-component epoxies are combined onto the same molecule is described. The single molecule precursor to the epoxy resin contains both multiple epoxide moieties and a diamine held latent by thermally degradable carbamate linkages. These bis-carbamate "single molecule epoxies" have an essentially infinite shelf life and access a significant range in curing temperatures related to the structure of the carbamate linkages used. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

Underwater welding and repair technologies applied in PWR environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scandella, Fabrice; Carpreau, Jean-Michel

2012-01-01

The authors describe several welding processes and technologies which have been used for underwater applications and which can be applied when repairing components of a PWR type reactor. They address, describe and discuss wet arc welding processes, the peculiarities of underwater welding, and the use of various processes such as 111, 114 and 135 processes, underwater welding with the hybrid plasma MIG-MAG process, underwater welding with the laser wire process, underwater welding with the FSW, FSP or UWFSW processes, underwater welding with variants of the friction welding process (friction surfacing, taper stitch welding, hydro-pillar processing

Polar Cooperative Navigation Algorithm for Multi-Unmanned Underwater Vehicles Considering Communication Delays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheping Yan

2018-03-01

Full Text Available To solve the navigation accuracy problems of multi-Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (multi-UUVs in the polar region, a polar cooperative navigation algorithm for multi-UUVs considering communication delays is proposed in this paper. UUVs are important pieces of equipment in ocean engineering for marine development. For UUVs to complete missions, precise navigation is necessary. It is difficult for UUVs to establish true headings because of the rapid convergence of Earth meridians and the severe polar environment. Based on the polar grid navigation algorithm, UUV navigation in the polar region can be accomplished with the Strapdown Inertial Navigation System (SINS in the grid frame. To save costs, a leader-follower type of system is introduced in this paper. The leader UUV helps the follower UUVs to achieve high navigation accuracy. Follower UUVs correct their own states based on the information sent by the leader UUV and the relative position measured by ultra-short baseline (USBL acoustic positioning. The underwater acoustic communication delay is quantized by the model. In this paper, considering underwater acoustic communication delay, the conventional adaptive Kalman filter (AKF is modified to adapt to polar cooperative navigation. The results demonstrate that the polar cooperative navigation algorithm for multi-UUVs that considers communication delays can effectively navigate the sailing of multi-UUVs in the polar region.

Human Injury Criteria for Underwater Blasts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel M Lance

Full Text Available Underwater blasts propagate further and injure more readily than equivalent air blasts. Development of effective personal protection and countermeasures, however, requires knowledge of the currently unknown human tolerance to underwater blast. Current guidelines for prevention of underwater blast injury are not based on any organized injury risk assessment, human data or experimental data. The goal of this study was to derive injury risk assessments for underwater blast using well-characterized human underwater blast exposures in the open literature. The human injury dataset was compiled using 34 case reports on underwater blast exposure to 475 personnel, dating as early as 1916. Using severity ratings, computational reconstructions of the blasts, and survival information from a final set of 262 human exposures, injury risk models were developed for both injury severity and risk of fatality as functions of blast impulse and blast peak overpressure. Based on these human data, we found that the 50% risk of fatality from underwater blast occurred at 302±16 kPa-ms impulse. Conservatively, there is a 20% risk of pulmonary injury at a kilometer from a 20 kg charge. From a clinical point of view, this new injury risk model emphasizes the large distances possible for potential pulmonary and gut injuries in water compared with air. This risk value is the first impulse-based fatality risk calculated from human data. The large-scale inconsistency between the blast exposures in the case reports and the guidelines available in the literature prior to this study further underscored the need for this new guideline derived from the unique dataset of actual injuries in this study.

Underwater Gliders by Dr. Kevin Smith [video

OpenAIRE

Naval Postgraduate School Physics

2015-01-01

NPS Physics NPS Physics Research Projects Underwater glider research is currently underway in the physics department at the naval postgraduate in Monterey Ca. Dr. Kevin Smith is a specialist in underwater acoustics and sonar systems. He and his team are currently focused on autonomous underwater gliders and developing systems capable of detecting parameters in the ocean and listening for various sources of sound.

Characterization of Epoxy Functionalized Graphite Nanoparticles and the Physical Properties of Epoxy Matrix Nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Sandi G.; Bauer, Jonathan L.; Maryanski, Michael J.; Heimann, Paula J.; Barlow, Jeremy P.; Gosau, Jan-Michael; Allred, Ronald E.

2010-01-01

This work presents a novel approach to the functionalization of graphite nanoparticles. The technique provides a mechanism for covalent bonding between the filler and matrix, with minimal disruption to the sp2 hybridization of the pristine graphene sheet. Functionalization proceeded by covalently bonding an epoxy monomer to the surface of expanded graphite, via a coupling agent, such that the epoxy concentration was measured as approximately 4 wt.%. The impact of dispersing this material into an epoxy resin was evaluated with respect to the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of the graphite-epoxy nanocomposite. At a loading as low as 0.5 wt.%, the electrical conductivity was increased by five orders of magnitude relative to the base resin. The material yield strength was increased by 30% and Young s modulus by 50%. These results were realized without compromise to the resin toughness.

Underwater Ranging

OpenAIRE

S. P. Gaba

1984-01-01

The paper deals with underwater laser ranging system, its principle of operation and maximum depth capability. The sources of external noise and methods to improve signal-to-noise ratio are also discussed.

Underwater Gliders: A Review

OpenAIRE

Javaid Muhammad Yasar; Ovinis Mark; Nagarajan T; Hashim Fakhruldin B M

2014-01-01

Underwater gliders are a type of underwater vehicle that transverse the oceans by shifting its buoyancy, during which its wings develop a component of the downward motion in the horizontal plane, thus producing a forward force. They are primarily used in oceanography sensing and data collection and play an important role in ocean research and development. Although there have been considerable developments in these gliders since the development of the first glider concept in 1989, to date, no ...

Underwater Calibration of Dome Port Pressure Housings

Science.gov (United States)

Nocerino, E.; Menna, F.; Fassi, F.; Remondino, F.

2016-03-01

Underwater photogrammetry using consumer grade photographic equipment can be feasible for different applications, e.g. archaeology, biology, industrial inspections, etc. The use of a camera underwater can be very different from its terrestrial use due to the optical phenomena involved. The presence of the water and camera pressure housing in front of the camera act as additional optical elements. Spherical dome ports are difficult to manufacture and consequently expensive but at the same time they are the most useful for underwater photogrammetry as they keep the main geometric characteristics of the lens unchanged. Nevertheless, the manufacturing and alignment of dome port pressure housing components can be the source of unexpected changes of radial and decentring distortion, source of systematic errors that can influence the final 3D measurements. The paper provides a brief introduction of underwater optical phenomena involved in underwater photography, then presents the main differences between flat and dome ports to finally discuss the effect of manufacturing on 3D measurements in two case studies.

Surface treated fly ash filled modified epoxy composites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uma Dharmalingam

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Fly ash, an inorganic alumino silicate has been used as filler in epoxy matrix, but it reduces the mechanical properties due to its poor dispersion and interfacial bonding with the epoxy matrix. To improve its interfacial bonding with epoxy matrix, surface treatment of fly ash was done using surfactant sodium lauryl sulfate and silane coupling agent glycidoxy propyl trimethoxy silane. An attempt is also made to reduce the particle size of fly ash using high pressure pulverizer. To improve fly ash dispersion in epoxy matrix, the epoxy was modified by mixing with amine containing liquid silicone rubber (ACS. The effect of surface treated fly ash with varying filler loadings from 10 to 40% weight on the mechanical, morphological and thermal properties of modified epoxy composites was investigated. The surface treated fly ash was characterized by particle size analyzer and FTIR spectra. Morphological studies of surface treated fly ash filled modified epoxy composites indicate good dispersion of fillers in the modified epoxy matrix and improves its mechanical properties. Impact strength of the surface treated fly ash filled modified epoxy composites show more improvement than unmodified composites.

Effect of the hardener to epoxy monomer ratio on the water absorption behavior of the DGEBA/TETA epoxy system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayrton Alef Castanheira Pereira

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract The water absorption behavior of the DGEBA/TETA epoxy system was evaluated as a function of the epoxy monomer to amine hardener ratio. Weight gain versus immersion time curves were obtained and the experimental points were fitted using Fickian and Non-Fickian diffusion models. The results obtained showed that for all epoxy monomer to hardener ratios analyzed water diffusion followed non-Fickian behavior. It was possible to correlate the water absorption behavior to the macromolecular structure developed when the epoxy/ hardener ratio was varied. All epoxy/hardener ratios present a two-phase macromolecular structure, composed of regions with high crosslink density and regions with lower crosslinking. Epoxy rich systems have a more open macromolecular structure with a lower fraction of the dense phase than the amine rich systems, which present a more compact two-phase structure.

The application of epoxy resin coating in grounding grid

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Q.; Chen, Z. R.; Xi, L. J.; Wang, X. Y.; Wang, H. F.

2018-01-01

Epoxy resin anticorrosion coating is widely used in grounding grid corrosion protection because of its wide range of materials, good antiseptic effect and convenient processing. Based on the latest research progress, four kinds of epoxy anticorrosive coatings are introduced, which are structural modified epoxy coating, inorganic modified epoxy coating, organic modified epoxy coating and polyaniline / epoxy resin composite coating. In this paper, the current research progress of epoxy base coating is analyzed, and prospected the possible development direction of the anti-corrosion coating in the grounding grid, which provides a reference for coating corrosion prevention of grounding materials.

Contact allergy to epoxy (meth)acrylates.

Science.gov (United States)

Aalto-Korte, Kristiina; Jungewelter, Soile; Henriks-Eckerman, Maj-Len; Kuuliala, Outi; Jolanki, Riitta

2009-07-01

Contact allergy to epoxy (meth)acrylates, 2,2-bis[4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloxypropoxy) phenyl]propane (bis-GMA), 2,2-bis[4-(2-hydroxy-3-acryloxypropoxy)phenyl]-propane (bis-GA), 2,2-bis[4-(methacryl-oxyethoxy)phenyl] propane (bis-EMA), 2,2-bis[4-(methacryloxy)phenyl]-propane (bis-MA), and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) is often manifested together with contact allergy to diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin. To analyse patterns of concomitant allergic reactions to the five epoxy (meth)acrylates in relation to exposure. We reviewed the 1994-2008 patch test files at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) for reactions to the five epoxy (meth)acrylates, and examined the patients' medical records for exposure. Twenty-four patients had an allergic reaction to at least one of the studied epoxy (meth)acrylates, but specific exposure was found only in five patients: two bis-GMA allergies from dental products, two bis-GA allergies from UV-curable printing inks, and one bis-GA allergy from an anaerobic glue. Only 25% of the patients were negative to DGEBA epoxy resin. The great majority of allergic patch test reactions to bis-GMA, bis-GA, GMA and bis-EMA were not associated with specific exposure, and cross-allergy to DGEBA epoxy resin remained a probable explanation. However, independent reactions to bis-GA indicated specific exposure. Anaerobic sealants may induce sensitization not only to aliphatic (meth)acrylates but also to aromatic bis-GA.

Design of carbon nanofiber embedded conducting epoxy resin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gantayat, Subhra; Sarkar, Niladri; Rout, Dibyaranjan; Swain, Sarat K.

2017-01-01

Acid treated carbon nanofiber (t-CNF) reinforced epoxy nanocomposites were fabricated by hand lay-up method with various wt % of t-CNF loadings. Pristine or unmodified carbon nano fibers (u-CNFs) were made compatible with epoxy matrix by means of mixed acid treatment. Fabricated nanocomposites were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Mechanical and thermal properties of the nanocomposites were measured as a function of t-CNF content. Effect of acid treated CNFs on to the mechanical properties of epoxy nanocomposites was justified by comparing the mechanical properties of epoxy/t-CNF and epoxy/u-CNF nanocomposites with same loading level. The electrical conductivity was achieved by epoxy resin with a threshold at 1 wt % of t-CNF. Substantial improvement in thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of the synthesized epoxy/t-CNF nanocomposites may be suitable for fabricating electronic devices. - Highlights: • Epoxy/t-CNF nanocomposites are characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, AFM and TEM. • Electrical conductivity was achieved by epoxy with a threshold at 1 wt% of t-CNF. • Tensile strength is enhanced by 40% due to dispersion of t-CNF. • Synthesized nanocomposites are suitable for fabricating electronic devises.

Design of carbon nanofiber embedded conducting epoxy resin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gantayat, Subhra [Department of Chemistry, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, Sambalpur 768018, Odisha (India); School of Applied Sciences, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha (India); Sarkar, Niladri [Department of Chemistry, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, Sambalpur 768018, Odisha (India); Rout, Dibyaranjan [School of Applied Sciences, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha (India); Swain, Sarat K., E-mail: swainsk2@yahoo.co.in [Department of Chemistry, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, Sambalpur 768018, Odisha (India)

2017-01-15

Acid treated carbon nanofiber (t-CNF) reinforced epoxy nanocomposites were fabricated by hand lay-up method with various wt % of t-CNF loadings. Pristine or unmodified carbon nano fibers (u-CNFs) were made compatible with epoxy matrix by means of mixed acid treatment. Fabricated nanocomposites were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Mechanical and thermal properties of the nanocomposites were measured as a function of t-CNF content. Effect of acid treated CNFs on to the mechanical properties of epoxy nanocomposites was justified by comparing the mechanical properties of epoxy/t-CNF and epoxy/u-CNF nanocomposites with same loading level. The electrical conductivity was achieved by epoxy resin with a threshold at 1 wt % of t-CNF. Substantial improvement in thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of the synthesized epoxy/t-CNF nanocomposites may be suitable for fabricating electronic devices. - Highlights: • Epoxy/t-CNF nanocomposites are characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, AFM and TEM. • Electrical conductivity was achieved by epoxy with a threshold at 1 wt% of t-CNF. • Tensile strength is enhanced by 40% due to dispersion of t-CNF. • Synthesized nanocomposites are suitable for fabricating electronic devises.

Underwater 3D filming

OpenAIRE

Rinaldi, Roberto

2014-01-01

After an experimental phase of many years, 3D filming is now effective and successful. Improvements are still possible, but the film industry achieved memorable success on 3D movie’s box offices due to the overall quality of its products. Special environments such as space (“Gravity” ) and the underwater realm look perfect to be reproduced in 3D. “Filming in space” was possible in “Gravity” using special effects and computer graphic. The underwater realm is still difficult to be handled. Unde...

Thermo-curable epoxy systems for nanoimprint lithography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Chun-Chang; Hsu, Steve Lien-Chung

2010-01-01

In this work, we have used solvent-free thermo-curable epoxy systems for low-pressure and moderate-temperature nanoimprint lithography (NIL). The curing kinetic parameters and conversion of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) resin with different ambient-cure 930 and 954 hardeners were studied by the isothermal DSC technique. They are useful for the study of epoxy resins in the imprinting application. The DGEBA/930 and DGEBA/954 epoxy resists can be imprinted to obtain high-density nano- and micro-scale patterns on a flexible indium tin oxide/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (ITO/PET) substrate. The DGEBA/930 epoxy resin is not only suitable for resist material, but also for plastic mold material. Highly dense nanometer patterns can be successfully imprinted using a UV-curable resist from the DGEBA/930 epoxy mold. Using the replicated DGEBA/930 epoxy mold instead of the expensive master can prevent brittle failure of the silicon molds in the NIL

Fatigue life extension of epoxy materials using ultrafast epoxy-SbF5 healing system introduced by manual infiltration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. J. Ye

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The present paper is devoted to the verification of the capability of epoxy-SbF5 system as a healing chemistry for rapidly retarding and/or arresting fatigue cracks in epoxy materials at room temperature. Owing to the very fast curing speed of epoxy catalyzed by SbF5, epoxy monomer and the hardener (ethanol solution of SbF5–ethanol complex are successively infiltrated into the fracture plane under cyclic loading during the tension-tension fatigue test. As a result, the mechanisms including hydrodynamic pressure crack tip shielding, polymeric wedge and adhesive bonding of the healing agent are revealed. It is found that the healing agent forms solidified wedge at the crack tip within 20 s after start of polymerization of the epoxy monomer, so that the highest healing effect is offered at the moment. The epoxy-SbF5 system proves to be effective in rapidly obstructing fatigue crack propagation (despite that its cured version has lower fracture toughness than the matrix, and satisfies the requirement of constructing fast self-healing polymeric materials.

IVO develops a new repair technique for underwater sites. Viscous doughlike substance underwater cracks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klingstedt, G.; Leisio, C. [ed.

1998-07-01

A viscous sealant is revolutionizing repair of the stone and concrete masonry of underwater dams, bridges and canals. There is now no need for expensive and time-consuming cofferdams, since a diver can extrude quick-setting mortar into underwater structures needing repair. This technique has worked well in recent years in various parts of Finland even in strongly flowing water. IVO experts are now starting to look more beyond the borders of Finland

Design and Analysis of Drive Shaft using Kevlar/Epoxy and Glass/Epoxy as a Composite Material

Science.gov (United States)

Karthikeyan, P.; Gobinath, R.; Kumar, L. Ajith; Jenish, D. Xavier

2017-05-01

In automobile industry drive shaft is one of the most important components to transmit power form the engine to rear wheel through the differential gear. Generally steel drive shaft is used in automobile industry, nowadays they are more interested to replace steel drive shaft with that of composite drive shaft. The overall objective of this paper is to analyze the composite drive shaft using to find out the best replacement for conventional steel drive shaft. The uses of advanced composite materials such as Kevlar, Graphite, Carbon and Glass with proper resins ware resulted in remarkable achievements in automobile industry because of its greater specific strength and specific modulus, improved fatigue and corrosion resistances and reduction in energy requirements due to reduction in weight as compared to steel shaft. This paper is to presents, the modeling and analysis of drive shaft using Kevlar/Epoxy and Glass/Epoxy as a composite material and to find best replacement for conventional steel drive shafts with an Kevlar/epoxy or Glass/Epoxy resin composite drive shaft. Modeling is done using CATIA software and Analysis is carried out by using ANSYS 10.0 software for easy understanding. The composite drive shaft reduces the weight by 81.67 % for Kevlar/Epoxy and 72.66% for Glass/Epoxy when compared with conventional steel drive shaft.

A man-made object detection for underwater TV

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Binbin; Wang, Wenwu; Chen, Yao

2018-03-01

It is a great challenging task to complete an automatic search of objects underwater. Usually the forward looking sonar is used to find the target, and then the initial identification of the target is completed by the side-scan sonar, and finally the confirmation of the target is accomplished by underwater TV. This paper presents an efficient method for automatic extraction of man-made sensitive targets in underwater TV. Firstly, the image of underwater TV is simplified with taking full advantage of the prior knowledge of the target and the background; then template matching technology is used for target detection; finally the target is confirmed by extracting parallel lines on the target contour. The algorithm is formulated for real-time execution on limited-memory commercial-of-the-shelf platforms and is capable of detection objects in underwater TV.

Design of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tadahiro Hyakudome

2011-03-01

Full Text Available There are concerns about the impact that global warming will have on our environment, and which will inevitably result in expanding deserts and rising water levels. While a lot of underwater vehicles are utilized, AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle were considered and chosen, as the most suitable tool for conduction survey concerning these global environmental problems. AUVs can comprehensive survey because the vehicle does not have to be connected to the support vessel by tether cable. When such underwater vehicles are made, it is necessary to consider about the following things. 1 Seawater and Water Pressure Environment, 2 Sink, 3 There are no Gas or Battery Charge Stations, 4 Global Positioning System cannot use, 5 Radio waves cannot use. In the paper, outline of above and how deal about it are explained.

Comparison of structural health assessment capabilities in epoxy – carbon black and epoxy – carbon nanotube nanocomposites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Inam

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A novel method for comparing structural health of different types of brittle epoxy nanocomposites filled with carbon nanostructured fillers is presented. Epoxy – 0.2 vol% carbon black (CB and epoxy – 0.2 vol% carbon nanotube (CNT nanocomposite bars were prepared by calendering and thermal curing. Nanocomposite bars were subjected to Vickers diamond indentation to produce sub-surface damage. Electrical conductivities were analysed by 4-point method to estimate the structural damage caused by indentation. For comprehensive comparison, fracture toughness and percolation threshold were analysed as well. Because of the systematically induced indentation damage, a sharp decrease of 89% was observed in the electrical conductivity of epoxy – CNT nanocomposite as compared to 25% in the electrical conductivity of epoxy – CB nanocomposite. CNTs impart superior damage sensing capability in brittle nanocomposite structures, in comparison to CB, due to their high aspect ratio (fibrous nature and high electrical conductivity.

Fracture behavior of α-zirconium phosphate-based epoxy nanocomposites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sue, H.-J.; Gam, K.T.; Bestaoui, N.; Clearfield, A.; Miyamoto, M.; Miyatake, N.

2004-01-01

The fracture behaviors of α-zirconium phosphate (α-ZrP) based epoxy nanocomposites, with and without core-shell rubber (CSR) toughening, were investigated. The state of exfoliation and dispersion of α-ZrP nanofiller in epoxy were characterized using X-ray scattering and various microscopy tools. The level of enhancement in storage moduli of epoxy nanocomposite against neat epoxy is found to depend on the state of exfoliation of α-ZrP as well as the damping characteristics of the epoxy matrix. The fracture process in epoxy nanocomposite is dominated by preferred crack propagation along the weak intercalated α-ZrP interfaces, and the presence of α-ZrP does not alter the fracture toughness of the epoxy matrix. However, the toughening using CSR can significantly improve the fracture toughness of the nanocomposite. The fracture mechanisms responsible for such a toughening effect in CSR-toughened epoxy nanocomposite are rubber particle cavitation, followed by shear banding of epoxy matrix. The ductility and toughenability of epoxy do not appear to be affected by the incorporation of α-ZrP. Approaches for producing toughened high performance polymer nanocomposites are discussed

Environmental Degradation and Durability of Epoxy-Clay Nanocomposites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raman P. Singh

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This experimental investigation reports on the durability of epoxy-clay nanocomposites upon exposure to multiple environments. Nanocomposites are fabricated by mixing the clay particles using various combinations of mechanical mixing, high-shear dispersion, and ultrasonication. Clay morphology is characterized using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Specimens of both neat epoxy and the epoxy-clay nanocomposite are subjected to two environmental conditions: combined UV radiation and condensation on 3-hour repeat cycle and constant temperature-humidity, for a total exposure duration of 4770 hours. The presence of nanoscale clay inhibits moisture uptake, as demonstrated by exposure to constant temperature-humidity. Nonetheless, both materials lose mass under exposure to combined UV radiation and condensation due to the erosion of epoxy by a synergistic process. Surprisingly, the epoxy-clay specimens exhibit greater mass loss, as compared to neat epoxy. Mechanical testing shows that either environment does not significant affect the flexure modulus of either material. On the other hand, both materials undergo degradation in flexural strength when exposed to either environment. However, the epoxy-clay nanocomposite retains 37% more flexure strength than the neat epoxy after 4072 hours of exposure.

Environmental Degradation and Durability of Epoxy-Clay Nanocomposites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, R.P.; Zunjarrao, S.C.; Pandey, G.; Khait, M.; Korach, C.S.

2010-01-01

This experimental investigation reports on the durability of epoxy-clay nanocomposites upon exposure to multiple environments. Nanocomposites are fabricated by mixing the clay particles using various combinations of mechanical mixing, high-shear dispersion, and ultrasonication. Clay morphology is characterized using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Specimens of both neat epoxy and the epoxy-clay nanocomposite are subjected to two environmental conditions: combined UV radiation and condensation on 3-hour repeat cycle and constant temperature-humidity, for a total exposure duration of 4770 hours. The presence of nanoscale clay inhibits moisture uptake, as demonstrated by exposure to constant temperature-humidity. Nonetheless, both materials lose mass under exposure to combined UV radiation and condensation due to the erosion of epoxy by a synergistic process. Surprisingly, the epoxy-clay specimens exhibit greater mass loss, as compared to neat epoxy. Mechanical testing shows that either environment does not significant affect the flexure modulus of either material. On the other hand, both materials undergo degradation in flexural strength when exposed to either environment. However, the epoxy-clay nanocomposite retains 37% more flexure strength than the neat epoxy after 4072 hours of exposure.

Occupational exposure to epoxy resins

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Terwoert, J.; Kersting, K.

2014-01-01

Products based on epoxy resins as a binder have become popular in various settings, among which the construction industry and in windmill blade production, as a result of their excellent technical properties. However, due to the same properties epoxy products are a notorious cause of allergic skin

Remote Underwater Characterization System - Innovative Technology Summary Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Willis, Walter David

1999-01-01

Characterization and inspection of water-cooled and moderated nuclear reactors and fuel storage pools requires equipment capable of operating underwater. Similarly, the deactivation and decommissioning of older nuclear facilities often requires the facility owner to accurately characterize underwater structures and equipment which may have been sitting idle for years. The underwater characterization equipment is often required to operate at depths exceeding 20 ft (6.1 m) and in relatively confined or congested spaces. The typical baseline approach has been the use of radiation detectors and underwater cameras mounted on long poles, or stationary cameras with pan and tilt features mounted on the sides of the underwater facility. There is a perceived need for an inexpensive, more mobile method of performing close-up inspection and radiation measurements in confined spaces underwater. The Remote Underwater Characterization System (RUCS) is a small, remotely operated submersible vehicle intended to serve multiple purposes in underwater nuclear operations. It is based on the commercially-available ''Scallop'' vehicle, but has been modified by Department of Energy's Robotics Technology Development Program to add auto-depth control, and vehicle orientation and depth monitoring at the operator control panel. The RUCS is designed to provide visual and gamma radiation characterization, even in confined or limited access areas. It was demonstrated in August 1998 at Idaho National Engineering and environmental Laboratory (INEEL) as part of the INEEL Large Scale Demonstration and Deployment Project. During the demonstration it was compared in a ''head-to-head'' fashion with the baseline characterization technology. This paper summarizes the results of the demonstration and lessons learned; comparing and contrasting both technologies in the areas of cost, visual characterization, radiological characterization, and overall operations

An Underwater Image Enhancement Algorithm for Environment Recognition and Robot Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kun Xie

2018-03-01

Full Text Available There are many tasks that require clear and easily recognizable images in the field of underwater robotics and marine science, such as underwater target detection and identification of robot navigation and obstacle avoidance. However, water turbidity makes the underwater image quality too low to recognize. This paper proposes the use of the dark channel prior model for underwater environment recognition, in which underwater reflection models are used to obtain enhanced images. The proposed approach achieves very good performance and multi-scene robustness by combining the dark channel prior model with the underwater diffuse model. The experimental results are given to show the effectiveness of the dark channel prior model in underwater scenarios.

Comparison of structural health assessment capabilities in epoxy – carbon black and epoxy – carbon nanotube nanocomposites

OpenAIRE

F. Inam; B. R. Bhat; N. Luhyna; T. Vo

2014-01-01

A novel method for comparing structural health of different types of brittle epoxy nanocomposites filled with carbon nanostructured fillers is presented. Epoxy – 0.2 vol% carbon black (CB) and epoxy – 0.2 vol% carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposite bars were prepared by calendering and thermal curing. Nanocomposite bars were subjected to Vickers diamond indentation to produce sub-surface damage. Electrical conductivities were analysed by 4-point method to estimate the structural damage caused by...

Underwater fiber-wireless communication with a passive front end

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jing; Sun, Bin; Lyu, Weichao; Kong, Meiwei; Sarwar, Rohail; Han, Jun; Zhang, Wei; Deng, Ning

2017-11-01

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel concept on underwater fiber-wireless (Fi-Wi) communication system with a fully passive wireless front end. A low-cost step-index (SI) plastic optical fiber (POF) together with a passive collimating lens at the front end composes the underwater Fi-Wi architecture. We have achieved a 1.71-Gb/s transmission at a mean BER of 4.97 × 10-3 (1.30 × 10-3 when using power loading) over a 50-m SI-POF and 2-m underwater wireless channel using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). Although the wireless part is very short, it actually plays a crucial role in practical underwater implementation, especially in deep sea. Compared with the wired solution (e.g. using a 52-m POF cable without the UWOC part), the proposed underwater Fi-Wi scheme can save optical wet-mate connectors that are sophisticated, very expensive and difficult to install in deep ocean. By combining high-capacity robust POF with the mobility and ubiquity of underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC), the proposed underwater Fi-Wi technology will find wide application in ocean exploration.

Biobased Epoxy Nanocomposites Derived from Lignin-Based Monomers.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Shou; Abu-Omar, Mahdi M

2015-07-13

Biobased epoxy nanocomposites were synthesized based on 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (dihydroeugenol, DHE), a molecule that has been obtained from the lignin component of biomass. To increase the content of hydroxyl groups, DHE was o-demethylated using aqueous HBr to yield propylcatechol (DHEO), which was subsequently glycidylated to epoxy monomer. Optimal conditions in terms of yield and epoxy equivalent weight were found to be 60 °C with equal NaOH/phenolic hydroxyl molar ratio. The structural evolution from DHE to cured epoxy was followed by (1)H NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The nano-montmorillonite modified DHEO epoxy exhibited improved storage modulus and thermal stability as determined from dynamic mechanical analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. This study widens the synthesis routes of biobased epoxy thermosets from lignin-based molecules.

Atomistic modeling of thermomechanical properties of SWNT/Epoxy nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Fasanella, Nicholas; Sundararaghavan, Veera

2015-09-01

Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to compute thermomechanical properties of cured epoxy resins reinforced with pristine and covalently functionalized carbon nanotubes. A DGEBA-DDS epoxy network was built using the ‘dendrimer’ growth approach where 75% of available epoxy sites were cross-linked. The epoxy model is verified through comparisons to experiments, and simulations are performed on nanotube reinforced cross-linked epoxy matrix using the CVFF force field in LAMMPS. Full stiffness matrices and linear coefficient of thermal expansion vectors are obtained for the nanocomposite. Large increases in stiffness and large decreases in thermal expansion were seen along the direction of the nanotube for both nanocomposite systems when compared to neat epoxy. The direction transverse to nanotube saw a 40% increase in stiffness due to covalent functionalization over neat epoxy at 1 K whereas the pristine nanotube system only saw a 7% increase due to van der Waals effects. The functionalized SWNT/epoxy nanocomposite showed an additional 42% decrease in thermal expansion along the nanotube direction when compared to the pristine SWNT/epoxy nanocomposite. The stiffness matrices are rotated over every possible orientation to simulate the effects of an isotropic system of randomly oriented nanotubes in the epoxy. The randomly oriented covalently functionalized SWNT/Epoxy nanocomposites showed substantial improvements over the plain epoxy in terms of higher stiffness (200% increase) and lower thermal expansion (32% reduction). Through MD simulations, we develop means to build simulation cells, perform annealing to reach correct densities, compute thermomechanical properties and compare with experiments.

Atomistic modeling of thermomechanical properties of SWNT/Epoxy nanocomposites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fasanella, Nicholas; Sundararaghavan, Veera

2015-01-01

Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to compute thermomechanical properties of cured epoxy resins reinforced with pristine and covalently functionalized carbon nanotubes. A DGEBA-DDS epoxy network was built using the ‘dendrimer’ growth approach where 75% of available epoxy sites were cross-linked. The epoxy model is verified through comparisons to experiments, and simulations are performed on nanotube reinforced cross-linked epoxy matrix using the CVFF force field in LAMMPS. Full stiffness matrices and linear coefficient of thermal expansion vectors are obtained for the nanocomposite. Large increases in stiffness and large decreases in thermal expansion were seen along the direction of the nanotube for both nanocomposite systems when compared to neat epoxy. The direction transverse to nanotube saw a 40% increase in stiffness due to covalent functionalization over neat epoxy at 1 K whereas the pristine nanotube system only saw a 7% increase due to van der Waals effects. The functionalized SWNT/epoxy nanocomposite showed an additional 42% decrease in thermal expansion along the nanotube direction when compared to the pristine SWNT/epoxy nanocomposite. The stiffness matrices are rotated over every possible orientation to simulate the effects of an isotropic system of randomly oriented nanotubes in the epoxy. The randomly oriented covalently functionalized SWNT/Epoxy nanocomposites showed substantial improvements over the plain epoxy in terms of higher stiffness (200% increase) and lower thermal expansion (32% reduction). Through MD simulations, we develop means to build simulation cells, perform annealing to reach correct densities, compute thermomechanical properties and compare with experiments. (paper)

Delay Tolerance in Underwater Wireless Communications: A Routing Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Safdar Hussain Bouk

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Similar to terrestrial networks, underwater wireless networks (UWNs also aid several critical tasks including coastal surveillance, underwater pollution detection, and other maritime applications. Currently, once underwater sensor nodes are deployed at different levels of the sea, it is nearly impossible or very expensive to reconfigure the hardware, for example, battery. Taking this issue into account, considerable amount of research has been carried out to ensure minimum energy costs and reliable communication between underwater nodes and base stations. As a result, several different network protocols were proposed for UWN, including MAC, PHY, transport, and routing. Recently, a new paradigm was introduced claiming that the intermittent nature of acoustic channel and signal resulted in designing delay tolerant routing schemes for the UWN, known as an underwater delay tolerant network. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of underwater routing protocols with emphasis on the limitations, challenges, and future open issues in the context of delay tolerant network routing.

Toughening Mechanisms in Silica-Filled Epoxy Nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Binay S.

Epoxies are widely used as underfill resins throughout the microelectronics industry to mechanically couple and protect various components of flip-chip assemblies. Generally rigid materials largely surround underfill resins. Improving the mechanical and thermal properties of epoxy resins to better match those of their rigid counterparts can help extend the service lifetime of flip-chip assemblies. Recently, researchers have demonstrated that silica nanoparticles are effective toughening agents for lightly-crosslinked epoxies. Improvements in the fracture toughness of silica-filled epoxy nanocomposites have primarily been attributed to two toughening mechanisms: particle debonding with subsequent void growth and matrix shear banding. Various attempts have been made to model the contribution of these toughening mechanisms to the overall fracture energy observed in silica-filled epoxy nanocomposites. However, disparities still exist between experimental and modeled fracture energy results. In this dissertation, the thermal, rheological and mechanical behavior of eight different types of silica-filled epoxy nanocomposites was investigated. Each nanocomposite consisted of up to 10 vol% of silica nanoparticles with particle sizes ranging from 20 nm to 200 nm, with a variety of surface treatments and particle structures. Fractographical analysis was conducted with new experimental approaches in order to accurately identify morphological evidence for each proposed toughening mechanism. Overall, three major insights into the fracture behavior of real world silica-filled epoxy nanocomposites were established. First, microcracking was observed as an essential toughening mechanism in silica-filled epoxy nanocomposites. Microcracking was observed on the surface and subsurface of fractured samples in each type of silica-filled epoxy nanocomposite. The additional toughening contribution of microcracking to overall fracture energy yielded excellent agreement between experimental

3D Laser Scanner for Underwater Manipulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Palomer, Albert; Ridao, Pere; Youakim, Dina; Ribas, David; Forest, Josep; Petillot, Yvan

2018-04-04

Nowadays, research in autonomous underwater manipulation has demonstrated simple applications like picking an object from the sea floor, turning a valve or plugging and unplugging a connector. These are fairly simple tasks compared with those already demonstrated by the mobile robotics community, which include, among others, safe arm motion within areas populated with a priori unknown obstacles or the recognition and location of objects based on their 3D model to grasp them. Kinect-like 3D sensors have contributed significantly to the advance of mobile manipulation providing 3D sensing capabilities in real-time at low cost. Unfortunately, the underwater robotics community is lacking a 3D sensor with similar capabilities to provide rich 3D information of the work space. In this paper, we present a new underwater 3D laser scanner and demonstrate its capabilities for underwater manipulation. In order to use this sensor in conjunction with manipulators, a calibration method to find the relative position between the manipulator and the 3D laser scanner is presented. Then, two different advanced underwater manipulation tasks beyond the state of the art are demonstrated using two different manipulation systems. First, an eight Degrees of Freedom (DoF) fixed-base manipulator system is used to demonstrate arm motion within a work space populated with a priori unknown fixed obstacles. Next, an eight DoF free floating Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator System (UVMS) is used to autonomously grasp an object from the bottom of a water tank.

Mechanical properties of graphene oxide (GO/epoxy composites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shivan Ismael Abdullah

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In this study, the effects of graphene oxide (GO on composites based on epoxy resin were analyzed. Different contents of GO (1.5–6 vol.% were added to epoxy resin. The GO/epoxy composite was prepared using the casting method and was prepared under room temperature. Mechanical tests’ results such as tensile test, impact test and hardness test show enhancements of the mechanical properties of the GO/epoxy composite. The experimental results clearly show an improvement in the Young’s modulus, tensile strength and hardness. The impact strength was seen to decrease, pointing to brittleness increase of the GO/epoxy composite. A microstructure analysis using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM and X-ray diffraction (XRD analysis was also performed, which showed how GO impeded the propagation of cracks in the composite. From the SEM images we observed the interface between the GO and the epoxy composite. As can be seen from this research, the GO/epoxy composites can be used for a large number of applications. The results of this research are a strong evidence for GO/epoxy composites being a potential candidate for use in a variety of industrial applications, especially for automobile parts, aircraft components, and electronic parts such as supercapacitors, transistors, etc.

Underwater hearing in the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kirstin Anderson; Larsen, Ole Næsbye; Wahlberg, Magnus

2016-01-01

The underwater hearing threshold of a great cormorant (Phalacrocroax carbo sinensis) was measured at 2 kHz using psychophysical methods. Previous in-air and underwater testing suggests that cormorants have rather poor in-air hearing compared to other birds of similar size (Johansen, 2016). Prelim......The underwater hearing threshold of a great cormorant (Phalacrocroax carbo sinensis) was measured at 2 kHz using psychophysical methods. Previous in-air and underwater testing suggests that cormorants have rather poor in-air hearing compared to other birds of similar size (Johansen, 2016...

Intelligent Navigation for a Solar Powered Unmanned Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco García-Córdova

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an intelligent navigation system for an unmanned underwater vehicle powered by renewable energy and designed for shadow water inspection in missions of a long duration is proposed. The system is composed of an underwater vehicle, which tows a surface vehicle. The surface vehicle is a small boat with photovoltaic panels, a methanol fuel cell and communication equipment, which provides energy and communication to the underwater vehicle. The underwater vehicle has sensors to monitor the underwater environment such as sidescan sonar and a video camera in a flexible configuration and sensors to measure the physical and chemical parameters of water quality on predefined paths for long distances. The underwater vehicle implements a biologically inspired neural architecture for autonomous intelligent navigation. Navigation is carried out by integrating a kinematic adaptive neuro-controller for trajectory tracking and an obstacle avoidance adaptive neuro- controller. The autonomous underwater vehicle is capable of operating during long periods of observation and monitoring. This autonomous vehicle is a good tool for observing large areas of sea, since it operates for long periods of time due to the contribution of renewable energy. It correlates all sensor data for time and geodetic position. This vehicle has been used for monitoring the Mar Menor lagoon.

Optimal Node Placement in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Network

KAUST Repository

Felemban, Muhamad

2011-10-01

Almost 70% of planet Earth is covered by water. A large percentage of underwater environment is unexplored. In the past two decades, there has been an increase in the interest of exploring and monitoring underwater life among scientists and in industry. Underwater operations are extremely difficult due to the lack of cheap and efficient means. Recently, Wireless Sensor Networks have been introduced in underwater environment applications. However, underwater communication via acoustic waves is subject to several performance limitations, which makes the relevant research issues very different from those on land. In this thesis, we investigate node placement for building an initial Underwater Wireless Sensor Network infrastructure. Firstly, we formulated the problem into a nonlinear mathematic program with objectives of minimizing the total transmission loss under a given number of sensor nodes and targeted volume. We conducted experiments to verify the proposed formulation, which is solved using Matlab optimization tool. We represented each node with a truncated octahedron to fill out the 3D space. The truncated octahedrons are tiled in the 3D space with each node in the center where locations of the nodes are given using 3D coordinates. Results are supported using ns-3 simulator. Results from simulation are consistent with the obtained results from mathematical model with less than 10% error.

Epoxy resin systems for FGD units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brytus, V.; Puglisi, J.S.

1984-01-01

This paper discusses ongoing research work which is directed towards epoxy resins and curing agents which are designed to withstand aggressive environments. This work includes not only a chemical description of the materials involved, but the application testing necessary to verify the usefulness of these systems. It demonstrates that new high performance epoxy systems are superior to those which traditionally come to mind when one thinks epoxy. Finally, it discusses the results of testing designed specifically to screen candidates for use in FGD units

Underwater television camera for monitoring inner side of pressure vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takayama, Kazuhiko.

1997-01-01

An underwater television support device equipped with a rotatable and vertically movable underwater television camera and an underwater television camera controlling device for monitoring images of the inside of the reactor core photographed by the underwater television camera to control the position of the underwater television camera and the underwater light are disposed on an upper lattice plate of a reactor pressure vessel. Both of them are electrically connected with each other by way of a cable to rapidly observe the inside of the reactor core by the underwater television camera. The reproducibility is extremely satisfactory by efficiently concentrating the position of the camera and image information upon inspection and observation. As a result, the steps for periodical inspection can be reduced to shorten the days for the periodical inspection. Since there is no requirement to withdraw fuel assemblies over a wide reactor core region, and the device can be used with the fuel assemblies being left as they are in the reactor, it is suitable for inspection of detectors for nuclear instrumentation. (N.H.)

3D Laser Scanner for Underwater Manipulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Albert Palomer

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, research in autonomous underwater manipulation has demonstrated simple applications like picking an object from the sea floor, turning a valve or plugging and unplugging a connector. These are fairly simple tasks compared with those already demonstrated by the mobile robotics community, which include, among others, safe arm motion within areas populated with a priori unknown obstacles or the recognition and location of objects based on their 3D model to grasp them. Kinect-like 3D sensors have contributed significantly to the advance of mobile manipulation providing 3D sensing capabilities in real-time at low cost. Unfortunately, the underwater robotics community is lacking a 3D sensor with similar capabilities to provide rich 3D information of the work space. In this paper, we present a new underwater 3D laser scanner and demonstrate its capabilities for underwater manipulation. In order to use this sensor in conjunction with manipulators, a calibration method to find the relative position between the manipulator and the 3D laser scanner is presented. Then, two different advanced underwater manipulation tasks beyond the state of the art are demonstrated using two different manipulation systems. First, an eight Degrees of Freedom (DoF fixed-base manipulator system is used to demonstrate arm motion within a work space populated with a priori unknown fixed obstacles. Next, an eight DoF free floating Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator System (UVMS is used to autonomously grasp an object from the bottom of a water tank.

Enhancement of mechanical properties of epoxy/graphene nanocomposite

Science.gov (United States)

Berhanuddin, N. I. C.; Zaman, I.; Rozlan, S. A. M.; Karim, M. A. A.; Manshoor, B.; Khalid, A.; Chan, S. W.; Meng, Q.

2017-10-01

Graphene is a novel class of nanofillers possessing outstanding characteristics including most compatible with most polymers, high absolute strength, high aspect ratio and cost effectiveness. In this study, graphene was used to reinforce epoxy as a matrix, to enhance its mechanical properties. Two types of epoxy composite were developed which are epoxy/graphene nanocomposite and epoxy/modified graphene nanocomposite. The fabrication of graphene was going through thermal expansion and sonication process. Chemical modification was only done for modified graphene where 4,4’-Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) is used. The mechanical properties of both nanocomposite, such as Young’s modulus and maximum stress were investigated. Three weight percentage were used for this study which are 0.5 wt%, 1.0 wt% and 1.5 wt%. At 0.5 wt%, modified and unmodified shows the highest value compared to neat epoxy, where the value were 8 GPa, 6 GPa and 0.675 GPa, respectively. For maximum stress, neat epoxy showed the best result compared to both nanocomposite due to the changes of material properties when adding the filler into the matrix. Therefore, both nanocomposite increase the mechanical properties of the epoxy, however modification surface of graphene gives better improvement.

Centralised versus Decentralised Control Reconfiguration for Collaborating Underwater Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Furno, Lidia; Nielsen, Mikkel Cornelius; Blanke, Mogens

2015-01-01

The present paper introduces an approach to fault-tolerant reconfiguration for collaborating underwater robots. Fault-tolerant reconfiguration is obtained using the virtual actuator approach, Steen (2005). The paper investigates properties of a centralised versus a decentralised implementation an...... an underwater drill needs to be transported and positioned by three collaborating robots as part of an underwater autonomous operation....

Adhesion between coating layers based on epoxy and silicone

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Jacob R.; Kontogeorgis, Georgios; Kiil, Søren

2007-01-01

The adhesion between a silicon tie-coat and epoxy primers, used in marine coating systems, has been studied in this work. Six epoxy coatings (with varying chain lengths of the epoxy resins), some of which have shown problems with adhesion to the tie-coat during service life, have been considered....... The experimental investigation includes measurements of the surface tension of the tie-coat and the critical surface tensions of the epoxies, topographic investigation of the surfaces of cured epoxy coatings via atomic force microscopy (AFM), and pull-off tests for investigating the strength of adhesion...... to the silicon/epoxy systems. Calculations for determining the roughness factor of the six epoxy coatings (based on the AFM topographies) and the theoretical work of adhesion have been carried out. The coating surfaces are also characterized based on the van Oss-Good theory. Previous studies on the modulus...

Equipment and appliances for underwater operations. Pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krueger, P.

1976-01-01

The 6/75 edition of 'mt' reported on the 'ARGE underwater appliances' and the study on 'design development of appliances and equipment for underwater use' in a brief summary. One of these designs, the 'unmanned DSWS underwater appliance' was described in detail. The present article describes three further design developments mentioned in the above study and which are based on unmanned appliances connected to the mother-ship. These designs were developed by Preussag-Meerestechnik. (orig.) [de

Modification of (DGEBA epoxy resin with maleated depolymerised natural rubber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2008-04-01

Full Text Available In this work, diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DEGBA type epoxy resin has been modified with maleated depolymerised natural rubber (MDPR. MDPR was prepared by grafting maleic anhydride onto depolymerised natural rubber. MDPR has been characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. MDPR was blended with epoxy resin at three different ratios (97/3, 98/2 and 99/1, by keeping the epoxy resin component as the major phase and maleated depolymerised natural rubber component as the minor phase. The reaction between the two blend components took place between the acid/anhydride group in the MDPR and the epoxide group of the epoxy resin. The proposed reaction schemes were supported by the FT-IR spectrum of the uncured Epoxy/MDPR blends. The neat epoxy resin and Epoxy/MDPR blends were cured by methylene dianiline (DDM at 100°C for three hours. Thermal, morphological and mechanical properties of the neat epoxy and the blends were investigated. Free volume studies of the cured, neat epoxy and Epoxy/MDPR blends were correlated with the morphological and mechanical properties of the same systems using Positron Annihilation Lifetime Studies.

Underwater cladding with laser beam and plasma arc welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, R.A.; Fusaro, R.; Jones, M.G.; Solomon, H.D.; Milian-Rodriguez, R.R.

1997-01-01

Two welding processes, plasma arc (transferred arc) (PTA) and laser beam, were investigated to apply cladding to austenitic stainless steels and Inconel 600. These processes have long been used to apply cladding layers , but the novel feature being reported here is that these cladding layers were applied underwater, with a water pressure equivalent to 24 m (80 ft). Being able to apply the cladding underwater is very important for many applications, including the construction of off-shore oil platforms and the repair of nuclear reactors. In the latter case, being able to weld underwater eliminates the need for draining the reactor and removing the fuel. Welding underwater in reactors presents numerous challenges, but the ability to weld without having to drain the reactor and remove the fuel provides a huge cost savings. Welding underwater in reactors must be done remotely, but because of the radioactive corrosion products and neutron activation of the steels, remote welding would also be required even if the reactor is drained and the fuel removed. In fact, without the shielding of the water, the remote welding required if the reactor is drained might be even more difficult than that required with underwater welds. Furthermore, as shall be shown, the underwater welds that the authors have made were of high quality and exhibit compressive rather than tensile residual stresses

Underwater image mosaicking and visual odometry

Science.gov (United States)

Sadjadi, Firooz; Tangirala, Sekhar; Sorber, Scott

2017-05-01

This paper summarizes the results of studies in underwater odometery using a video camera for estimating the velocity of an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). Underwater vehicles are usually equipped with sonar and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) - an integrated sensor package that combines multiple accelerometers and gyros to produce a three dimensional measurement of both specific force and angular rate with respect to an inertial reference frame for navigation. In this study, we investigate the use of odometry information obtainable from a video camera mounted on a UUV to extract vehicle velocity relative to the ocean floor. A key challenge with this process is the seemingly bland (i.e. featureless) nature of video data obtained underwater which could make conventional approaches to image-based motion estimation difficult. To address this problem, we perform image enhancement, followed by frame to frame image transformation, registration and mosaicking/stitching. With this approach the velocity components associated with the moving sensor (vehicle) are readily obtained from (i) the components of the transform matrix at each frame; (ii) information about the height of the vehicle above the seabed; and (iii) the sensor resolution. Preliminary results are presented.

Underwater Gliders: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javaid Muhammad Yasar

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Underwater gliders are a type of underwater vehicle that transverse the oceans by shifting its buoyancy, during which its wings develop a component of the downward motion in the horizontal plane, thus producing a forward force. They are primarily used in oceanography sensing and data collection and play an important role in ocean research and development. Although there have been considerable developments in these gliders since the development of the first glider concept in 1989, to date, no review of these gliders have been done. This paper reviews existing underwater gliders, with emphasis on their respective working principles, range and payload capacity. All information on gliders available in the public domain or published in literature from the year 2000-2013 was reviewed. The majority of these gliders have an operational depth of 1000 m and a payload of less than 25 kg. The exception is a blend-body shape glider, which has a payload of approximately 800 kg and an operational depth around about 300 m. However, the commercialization of these gliders has been limited with only three know examples that have been successfully commercialized.

Underwater Object Segmentation Based on Optical Features

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhe Chen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Underwater optical environments are seriously affected by various optical inputs, such as artificial light, sky light, and ambient scattered light. The latter two can block underwater object segmentation tasks, since they inhibit the emergence of objects of interest and distort image information, while artificial light can contribute to segmentation. Artificial light often focuses on the object of interest, and, therefore, we can initially identify the region of target objects if the collimation of artificial light is recognized. Based on this concept, we propose an optical feature extraction, calculation, and decision method to identify the collimated region of artificial light as a candidate object region. Then, the second phase employs a level set method to segment the objects of interest within the candidate region. This two-phase structure largely removes background noise and highlights the outline of underwater objects. We test the performance of the method with diverse underwater datasets, demonstrating that it outperforms previous methods.

Action of ionizing radiation on epoxy resins

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van de Voorde, M. E.

1970-12-01

The resistance of classical and experimental epoxy resins to irradiation was studied. The resistance to irradiation of epoxy resins of diverse compositions as well as the development of resins having a radioresistance that approaches that of certain ceramics are discussed. Sources of irradiation and the techniques of dosimetry used are described. The structures of certain epoxy resins and of hardeners are given. The preparation of these resins and their physical properties is described. The effects of radiation on epoxy resins, as well as conditions of irradiation, and suggested mechanisms for degradation of the irradiated resins are discussed. The relationship between chemical structure of the resins and their physical properties is evaluated. (115 references) (JCB)

Flexural Properties of Activated Carbon Filled Epoxy Nano composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalil, H.P.S.A.; Khalil, H.P.S.A.; Alothman, O.Y.; Paridah, M.T.; Zainudin, E.S.

2014-01-01

Activated carbon (AC) filled epoxy nano composites obtained by mixing the desired amount of nano AC viz., bamboo stem, oil palm empty fruit bunch, and coconut shell from agricultural biomass with the epoxy resin. Flexural properties of activated carbons filled epoxy nano composites with 1 %, and 5 % filler loading were measured. In terms of flexural strength and modulus, a significant increment was observed with addition of 1 % vol and 5 % vol nano-activated carbon as compared to neat epoxy. The effect of activated carbon treated by two chemical agents (potassium hydroxide and phosphoric acid) on the flexural properties of epoxy nano composites were also investigated. Flexural strength of activated carbon-bamboo stem, activated carbon-oil palm, and activated carbon-coconut shell reinforced epoxy nano composites showed almost same value in case of 5 % potassium hydroxide activated carbon. Flexural strength of potassium hydroxide activated carbon-based epoxy nano composites was higher than phosphoric acid activated carbon. The flexural toughness of both the potassium hydroxide and phosphoric acid activated carbon reinforced composites range between 0.79 - 0.92 J. It attributed that developed activated carbon filled epoxy nano composites can be used in different applications. (author)

Atomistic Modeling of Thermal Conductivity of Epoxy Nanotube Composites

Science.gov (United States)

Fasanella, Nicholas A.; Sundararaghavan, Veera

2016-05-01

The Green-Kubo method was used to investigate the thermal conductivity as a function of temperature for epoxy/single wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) nanocomposites. An epoxy network of DGEBA-DDS was built using the `dendrimer' growth approach, and conductivity was computed by taking into account long-range Coulombic forces via a k-space approach. Thermal conductivity was calculated in the direction perpendicular to, and along the SWNT axis for functionalized and pristine SWNT/epoxy nanocomposites. Inefficient phonon transport at the ends of nanotubes is an important factor in the thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites, and for this reason discontinuous nanotubes were modeled in addition to long nanotubes. The thermal conductivity of the long, pristine SWNT/epoxy system is equivalent to that of an isolated SWNT along its axis, but there was a 27% reduction perpendicular to the nanotube axis. The functionalized, long SWNT/epoxy system had a very large increase in thermal conductivity along the nanotube axis (~700%), as well as the directions perpendicular to the nanotube (64%). The discontinuous nanotubes displayed an increased thermal conductivity along the SWNT axis compared to neat epoxy (103-115% for the pristine SWNT/epoxy, and 91-103% for functionalized SWNT/epoxy system). The functionalized system also showed a 42% improvement perpendicular to the nanotube, while the pristine SWNT/epoxy system had no improvement over epoxy. The thermal conductivity tensor is averaged over all possible orientations to see the effects of randomly orientated nanotubes, and allow for experimental comparison. Excellent agreement is seen for the discontinuous, pristine SWNT/epoxy nanocomposite. These simulations demonstrate there exists a threshold of the SWNT length where the best improvement for a composite system with randomly oriented nanotubes would transition from pristine SWNTs to functionalized SWNTs.

Halloysite reinforced epoxy composites with improved mechanical properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saif Muhammad Jawwad

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs reinforced epoxy composites with improved mechanical properties were prepared. The prepared HNTs reinforced epoxy composites demonstrated improved mechanical properties especially the fracture toughness and flexural strength. The flexural modulus of nanocomposite with 6% mHNTs loading was 11.8% higher than that of neat epoxy resin. In addition, the nanocomposites showed improved dimensional stability. The prepared halloysite reinforced epoxy composites were characterized by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA. The improved properties are attributed to the unique characteristics of HNTs, uniform dispersion of reinforcement and interfacial coupling.

Shape memory polymers from benzoxazine-modified epoxy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rimdusit, Sarawut; Lohwerathama, Montha; Dueramae, Isala; Hemvichian, Kasinee; Kasemsiri, Pornnapa

2013-01-01

Novel shape memory polymers (SMPs) were prepared from benzoxazine-modified epoxy resin. Specimens consisting of aromatic epoxy (E), aliphatic epoxy (N), Jeffamine D230 (D) and BA-a benzoxazine monomer (B) were evaluated. The mole ratio of D/B was used as a mixed curing agent for an epoxy system with a fixed E/N. The effects of BA-a content on the thermal, mechanical and shape memory properties of epoxy-based shape memory polymers (SMPs) were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), flexural test and shape recovery test. The results revealed that the obtained SMPs exhibited a higher flexural strength and flexural modulus than those of the unmodified epoxy-based SMP at room temperature and at 20 ° C above glass transition temperature (T g ). The presence of 1 mol BA-a as a curing agent provided the specimen with the highest T g , i.e. about 72 ° C higher than that of epoxy-based SMP cured by Jeffamine D230. All SMP samples needed only a few minutes to fully recover to their original shape. The samples exhibited high shape fixity (98–99%) and shape recovery ratio (90–100%). In addition, the recovery stress values increased with increasing BA-a mole ratio from 20 to 38 kPa, when BA-a up to 1 mol ratio was added. All of the SMP samples exhibited only minimum change in their flexural strength at the end of a 100 recovery cycles test. (paper)

Hydrodynamic Coefficients Identification and Experimental Investigation for an Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaorong XIE

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Hydrodynamic coefficients are the foundation of unmanned underwater vehicles modeling and controller design. In order to reduce identification complexity and acquire necessary hydrodynamic coefficients for controllers design, the motion of the unmanned underwater vehicle was separated into vertical motion and horizontal motion models. Hydrodynamic coefficients were regarded as mapping parameters from input forces and moments to output velocities and acceleration of the unmanned underwater vehicle. The motion models of the unmanned underwater vehicle were nonlinear and Genetic Algorithm was adopted to identify those hydrodynamic coefficients. To verify the identification quality, velocities and acceleration of the unmanned underwater vehicle was measured using inertial sensor under the same conditions as Genetic Algorithm identification. Curves similarity between measured velocities and acceleration and those identified by Genetic Algorithm were used as optimizing standard. It is found that the curves similarity were high and identified hydrodynamic coefficients of the unmanned underwater vehicle satisfied the measured motion states well.

4th Pacific Rim Underwater Acoustics Conference

CERN Document Server

Xu, Wen; Cheng, Qianliu; Zhao, Hangfang

2016-01-01

These proceedings are a collection of 16 selected scientific papers and reviews by distinguished international experts that were presented at the 4th Pacific Rim Underwater Acoustics Conference (PRUAC), held in Hangzhou, China in October 2013. The topics discussed at the conference include internal wave observation and prediction; environmental uncertainty and coupling to sound propagation; environmental noise and ocean dynamics; dynamic modeling in acoustic fields; acoustic tomography and ocean parameter estimation; time reversal and matched field processing; underwater acoustic localization and communication as well as measurement instrumentations and platforms. These proceedings provide insights into the latest developments in underwater acoustics, promoting the exchange of ideas for the benefit of future research.

Chromatographic assessment of two hybrid monoliths prepared via epoxy-amine ring-opening polymerization and methacrylate-based free radical polymerization using methacrylate epoxy cyclosiloxane as functional monomer.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hongwei; Ou, Junjie; Lin, Hui; Liu, Zhongshan; Huang, Guang; Dong, Jing; Zou, Hanfa

2014-11-07

Two kinds of hybrid monolithic columns were prepared by using methacrylate epoxy cyclosiloxane (epoxy-MA) as functional monomer, containing three epoxy moieties and one methacrylate group. One column was in situ fabricated by ring-opening polymerization of epoxy-MA and 1,10-diaminodecane (DAD) using a porogenic system consisting of isopropanol (IPA), H2O and ethanol at 65°C for 12h. The other was prepared by free radical polymerization of epoxy-MA and ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) using 1-propanol and 1,4-butanediol as the porogenic solvents at 60°C for 12h. Two hybrid monoliths were investigated on the morphology and chromatographic assessment. Although two kinds of monolithic columns were prepared with epoxy-MA, their morphologies looked rather different. It could be found that the epoxy-MA-DAD monolith possessed higher column efficiencies (25,000-34,000plates/m) for the separation of alkylbenzenes than the epoxy-MA-EDMA monolith (12,000-13,000plates/m) in reversed-phase nano-liquid chromatography (nano-LC). Depending on the remaining epoxy or methacrylate groups on the surface of two pristine monoliths, the epoxy-MA-EDMA monolith could be easily modified with 1-octadecylamine (ODA) via ring-opening reaction, while the epoxy-MA-DAD monolith could be modified with stearyl methacrylate (SMA) via free radical reaction. The chromatographic performance for the separation of alkylbenzenes on SMA-modified epoxy-MA-DAD monolith was remarkably improved (42,000-54,000 plates/m) when compared with that on pristine epoxy-MA-DAD monolith, while it was not obviously enhanced on ODA-modified epoxy-MA-EDMA monolith when compared with that on pristine epoxy-MA-EDMA monolith. The enhancement of the column efficiency of epoxy-MA-DAD monolith after modification might be ascribed to the decreased mass-transfer resistence. The two kinds of hybrid monoliths were also applied for separations of six phenols and seven basic compounds in nano-LC. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All

The influence of underwater turbulence on optical phase measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Redding, Brandon; Davis, Allen; Kirkendall, Clay; Dandridge, Anthony

2016-05-01

Emerging underwater optical imaging and sensing applications rely on phase-sensitive detection to provide added functionality and improved sensitivity. However, underwater turbulence introduces spatio-temporal variations in the refractive index of water which can degrade the performance of these systems. Although the influence of turbulence on traditional, non-interferometric imaging has been investigated, its influence on the optical phase remains poorly understood. Nonetheless, a thorough understanding of the spatio-temporal dynamics of the optical phase of light passing through underwater turbulence are crucial to the design of phase-sensitive imaging and sensing systems. To address this concern, we combined underwater imaging with high speed holography to provide a calibrated characterization of the effects of turbulence on the optical phase. By measuring the modulation transfer function of an underwater imaging system, we were able to calibrate varying levels of optical turbulence intensity using the Simple Underwater Imaging Model (SUIM). We then used high speed holography to measure the temporal dynamics of the optical phase of light passing through varying levels of turbulence. Using this method, we measured the variance in the amplitude and phase of the beam, the temporal correlation of the optical phase, and recorded the turbulence induced phase noise as a function of frequency. By bench marking the effects of varying levels of turbulence on the optical phase, this work provides a basis to evaluate the real-world potential of emerging underwater interferometric sensing modalities.

Optimal Node Placement in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

KAUST Repository

Felamban, M.; Shihada, Basem; Jamshaid, K.

2013-01-01

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are expected to play a vital role in the exploration and monitoring of underwater areas which are not easily reachable by humans. However, underwater communication via acoustic waves is subject to several performance

Operational experience in underwater photogrammetry

Science.gov (United States)

Leatherdale, John D.; John Turner, D.

Underwater photogrammetry has become established as a cost-effective technique for inspection and maintenance of platforms and pipelines for the offshore oil industry. A commercial service based in Scotland operates in the North Sea, USA, Brazil, West Africa and Australia. 70 mm cameras and flash units are built for the purpose and analytical plotters and computer graphics systems are used for photogrammetric measurement and analysis of damage, corrosion, weld failures and redesign of underwater structures. Users are seeking simple, low-cost systems for photogrammetric analysis which their engineers can use themselves.

Characterization and Curing Kinetics of Epoxy/Silica Nano-Hybrids

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Cheng-Fu; Wang, Li-Fen; Wu, Song-Mao; Su, Chean-Cheng

2015-01-01

The sol-gel technique was used to prepare epoxy/silica nano-hybrids. The thermal characteristics, curing kinetics and structure of epoxy/silica nano-hybrids were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), 29Si nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). To improve the compatibility between the organic and inorganic phases, a coupling agent was used to modify the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy. The sol-gel technique enables the silica to be successfully incorporated into the network of the hybrids, increasing the thermal stability and improving the mechanical properties of the prepared epoxy/silica nano-hybrids. An autocatalytic mechanism of the epoxy/SiO2 nanocomposites was observed. The low reaction rate of epoxy in the nanocomposites is caused by the steric hindrance in the network of hybrids that arises from the consuming of epoxide group in the network of hybrids by the silica. In the nanocomposites, the nano-scale silica particles had an average size of approximately 35 nm, and the particles were well dispersed in the epoxy matrix, according to the TEM images. PMID:28793616

Evaluating the SCC resistance of underwater welds in sodium tetrathionate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, R.A.; Angeliu, T.M.

1997-01-01

The susceptibility of welds to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is enhanced by the surface residual tensile stresses generated by the typical welding process. However, underwater plasma transferred arc (PTA) welding has been shown to produce compressive surface residual stresses, an encouraging result if repairs of cracked boiling water reactor (BWR) components are to be made without further endangering them to SCC. This program was designed to verify that underwater PTA welds are resistant to SCC and to determine if underwater PTA welding could mitigate SCC in potentially susceptible welds. This was achieved by exposing various welds on solution annealed (SA) and SA + thermally sensitized 304 stainless steel at 25 C in a solution of 1.5 gm/liter of sodium sulfide added to 0.05M sodium tetrathionate, titrated to a pH of 1.25 with H 2 SO 4 . The autogeneous welds were produced using gas tungsten arc (GTA) and plasma transferred arc (PTA) welding under atmospheric conditions, and PTA welding underwater. After 1 hour of sodium tetrathionate exposure, GTA and air PTA welds exhibited SCC while the underwater PTA weld heat affected zones were more resistant. Underwater PTA welds bisecting a GTA weld eliminated the cracking in the GTA weld heat affected zone under certain conditions. The lack of IG cracking in the region influenced by the underwater PTA weld is consistent with the measurement of compressive surface residual stresses inherent to the underwater welding process

High-performance fiber/epoxy composite pressure vessels

Science.gov (United States)

Chiao, T. T.; Hamstad, M. A.; Jessop, E. S.; Toland, R. H.

1978-01-01

Activities described include: (1) determining the applicability of an ultrahigh-strength graphite fiber to composite pressure vessels; (2) defining the fatigue performance of thin-titanium-lined, high-strength graphite/epoxy pressure vessel; (3) selecting epoxy resin systems suitable for filament winding; (4) studying the fatigue life potential of Kevlar 49/epoxy pressure vessels; and (5) developing polymer liners for composite pressure vessels. Kevlar 49/epoxy and graphite fiber/epoxy pressure vessels, 10.2 cm in diameter, some with aluminum liners and some with alternation layers of rubber and polymer were fabricated. To determine liner performance, vessels were subjected to gas permeation tests, fatigue cycling, and burst tests, measuring composite performance, fatigue life, and leak rates. Both the metal and the rubber/polymer liner performed well. Proportionately larger pressure vessels (20.3 and 38 cm in diameter) were made and subjected to the same tests. In these larger vessels, line leakage problems with both liners developed the causes of the leaks were identified and some solutions to such liner problems are recommended.

Trade-off Analysis of Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Tuna, G.; Das, R.

2017-09-01

In the last couple of decades, Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks (UASNs) were started to be used for various commercial and non-commercial purposes. However, in underwater environments, there are some specific inherent constraints, such as high bit error rate, variable and large propagation delay, limited bandwidth capacity, and short-range communications, which severely degrade the performance of UASNs and limit the lifetime of underwater sensor nodes as well. Therefore, proving reliability of UASN applications poses a challenge. In this study, we try to balance energy consumption of underwater acoustic sensor networks and minimize end-to-end delay using an efficient node placement strategy. Our simulation results reveal that if the number of hops is reduced, energy consumption can be reduced. However, this increases end-to-end delay. Hence, application-specific requirements must be taken into consideration when determining a strategy for node deployment.

Viscoelastic properties of graphene-based epoxy resins

Science.gov (United States)

Nobile, Maria Rossella; Fierro, Annalisa; Rosolia, Salvatore; Raimondo, Marialuigia; Lafdi, Khalid; Guadagno, Liberata

2015-12-01

In this paper the viscoelastic properties of an epoxy resin filled with graphene-based nanoparticles have been investigated in the liquid state, before curing, by means of a rotational rheometer equipped with a parallel plate geometry. Exfoliated graphite was prepared using traditional acid intercalation followed by a sudden treatment at high temperature (900°C). The percentage of exfoliated graphite was found to be 56%. The epoxy matrix was prepared by mixing a tetrafunctional precursor with a reactive diluent which produces a significant decrease in the viscosity of the epoxy precursor so that the dispersion step of nanofillers in the matrix can easily occur. The hardener agent, the 4,4-diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS), was added at a stoichiometric concentration with respect to all the epoxy rings. The inclusion of the partially exfoliated graphite (pEG) in the formulated epoxy mixture significantly modifies the rheological behaviour of the mixture itself. The epoxy mixture, indeed, shows a Newtonian behaviour while, at 3 wt % pEG content, the complex viscosity of the nanocomposite clearly shows a shear thinning behaviour with η* values much higher at the lower frequencies. The increase in complex viscosity with the increasing of the partially exfoliated graphite content was mostly caused by a dramatic increase in the storage modulus. All the graphene-based epoxy mixtures were cured by a two-stage curing cycles: a first isothermal stage was carried out at the lower temperature of 125°C for 1 hour while the second isothermal stage was performed at the higher temperature of 200°C for 3 hours. The mechanical properties of the cured nanocomposites show high values in the storage modulus and glass transition temperature.

Epoxy Nanocomposites Containing Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Cong; Mullins, Michael; Hawkins, Spencer; Kotaki, Masaya; Sue, Hung-Jue

2018-01-10

Zeolitic imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) is utilized as a functional filler and a curing agent in the preparation of epoxy nanocomposites. The imidazole group on the surface of the ZIF-8 initiates epoxy curing, resulting in covalent bonding between the ZIF-8 crystals and epoxy matrix. A substantial reduction in dielectric constant and increase in tensile modulus were observed. The implication of the present study for utilization of metal-organic framework to improve physical and mechanical properties of polymeric matrixes is discussed.

Plasma Treated Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs for Epoxy Nanocomposites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Lian

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Plasma nanocoating of allylamine were deposited on the surfaces of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs to provide desirable functionalities and thus to tailor the surface characteristics of MWCNTs for improved dispersion and interfacial adhesion in epoxy matrices. Plasma nanocoated MWCNTs were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM, surface contact angle, and pH change measurements. Mechanical testing results showed that epoxy reinforced with 1.0 wt % plasma coated MWCNTs increased the tensile strength by 54% as compared with the pure epoxy control, while epoxy reinforced with untreated MWCNTs have lower tensile strength than the pure epoxy control. Optical and electron microscopic images show enhanced dispersion of plasma coated MWCNTs in epoxy compared to untreated MWCNTs. Plasma nanocoatings from allylamine on MWCNTs could significantly enhance their dispersion and interfacial adhesion in epoxy matrices. Simulation results based on the shear-lag model derived from micromechanics also confirmed that plasma nanocoating on MWCNTs significantly improved the epoxy/fillers interface bonding and as a result the increased composite strength.

Development of AlN/Epoxy Composites with Enhanced Thermal Conductivity

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yonggang; Yang, Chi; Li, Jun; Zhang, Hailong; Hu, Song; Wang, Shiwei

2017-01-01

AlN/epoxy composites with high thermal conductivity were successfully prepared by infiltrating epoxy into AlN porous ceramics which were fabricated by gelcasting of foaming method. The microstructure, mechanical, and thermal properties of the resulting composites were investigated. The compressive strengths of the AlN/epoxy composites were enhanced compared with the pure epoxy. The AlN/epoxy composites demonstrate much higher thermal conductivity, up to 19.0 W/(m·K), compared with those by the traditional particles filling method, because of continuous thermal channels formed by the walls and struts of AlN porous ceramics. This study demonstrates a potential route to manufacture epoxy-based composites with extremely high thermal conductivity. PMID:29258277

Development of AlN/Epoxy Composites with Enhanced Thermal Conductivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yonggang; Yang, Chi; Li, Jun; Mao, Xiaojian; Zhang, Hailong; Hu, Song; Wang, Shiwei

2017-12-18

AlN/epoxy composites with high thermal conductivity were successfully prepared by infiltrating epoxy into AlN porous ceramics which were fabricated by gelcasting of foaming method. The microstructure, mechanical, and thermal properties of the resulting composites were investigated. The compressive strengths of the AlN/epoxy composites were enhanced compared with the pure epoxy. The AlN/epoxy composites demonstrate much higher thermal conductivity, up to 19.0 W/(m·K), compared with those by the traditional particles filling method, because of continuous thermal channels formed by the walls and struts of AlN porous ceramics. This study demonstrates a potential route to manufacture epoxy-based composites with extremely high thermal conductivity.

Radiation processing of carbon fiber-acrylated epoxy composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, A.; Saunders, C.B.

1992-01-01

Advanced composites, specifically carbon fiber reinforced epoxies, are being used for a variety of demanding structural applications, primarily because of their high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios, corrosion resistance, and damage tolerance characteristics. For these composites the key advantages of using electron beam (EB), rather than thermal curing, are curing at ambient temperature, reduced curing times for individual components, improved resin stability, fewer volatiles, and better control of the profile of energy absorption. Epoxy compounds do, however, have to be modified to make them EB curable. The electron beam penetration limit, a function of beam energy, product density, and the thickness of any container required, must also be examined when considering EB processing. Research is being conducted to develop EB-curable carbon fiber-acrylated epoxy composites. The tensile properties of these laminates are comparable to those of thermally cured epoxy laminates. Research is continuing to develop suitable resin formulations and coupling agents to optimize the mechanical properties of EB-cured carbon fiber laminates. In this chapter the EB curing of epoxies, processing considerations, and typical properties of EB-cured carbon fiber-acrylated epoxy laminates are discussed. (orig.)

Filming Underwater in 3d Respecting Stereographic Rules

Science.gov (United States)

Rinaldi, R.; Hordosch, H.

2015-04-01

After an experimental phase of many years, 3D filming is now effective and successful. Improvements are still possible, but the film industry achieved memorable success on 3D movie's box offices due to the overall quality of its products. Special environments such as space ("Gravity") and the underwater realm look perfect to be reproduced in 3D. "Filming in space" was possible in "Gravity" using special effects and computer graphic. The underwater realm is still difficult to be handled. Underwater filming in 3D was not that easy and effective as filming in 2D, since not long ago. After almost 3 years of research, a French, Austrian and Italian team realized a perfect tool to film underwater, in 3D, without any constrains. This allows filmmakers to bring the audience deep inside an environment where they most probably will never have the chance to be.

FILMING UNDERWATER IN 3D RESPECTING STEREOGRAPHIC RULES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Rinaldi

2015-04-01

Full Text Available After an experimental phase of many years, 3D filming is now effective and successful. Improvements are still possible, but the film industry achieved memorable success on 3D movie’s box offices due to the overall quality of its products. Special environments such as space ("Gravity" and the underwater realm look perfect to be reproduced in 3D. "Filming in space" was possible in "Gravity" using special effects and computer graphic. The underwater realm is still difficult to be handled. Underwater filming in 3D was not that easy and effective as filming in 2D, since not long ago. After almost 3 years of research, a French, Austrian and Italian team realized a perfect tool to film underwater, in 3D, without any constrains. This allows filmmakers to bring the audience deep inside an environment where they most probably will never have the chance to be.

Wireless Underwater Monitoring Systems Based on Energy Harvestings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sea-Hee HWANGBO

2013-01-01

Full Text Available One of the important research fields for aquatic exploitation and conservation is underwater wireless sensor network. Since limited energy source for underwater nodes and devices is a main open problem, in this paper, we propose wireless underwater monitoring systems powered by energy harvester which resolves the energy constraint. The target system generates renewable energy from energy harvester and shares the energy with underwater sensor nodes. For the realization of the system, key components to be investigated are discriminated as follows: acoustic modem, actuator, smart battery charge controller, energy harvester and wireless power transfer module. By developing acoustic modem, actuator and smart battery charge controller and utilizing off-the-shelf energy harvester and wireless power transfer module, we design and implement a prototype of the system. Also, we verify the feasibility of concept of target system by conducting indoor and outdoor experiments.

Low-contrast underwater living fish recognition using PCANet

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xin; Yang, Jianping; Wang, Changgang; Dong, Junyu; Wang, Xinhua

2018-04-01

Quantitative and statistical analysis of ocean creatures is critical to ecological and environmental studies. And living fish recognition is one of the most essential requirements for fishery industry. However, light attenuation and scattering phenomenon are present in the underwater environment, which makes underwater images low-contrast and blurry. This paper tries to design a robust framework for accurate fish recognition. The framework introduces a two stage PCA Network to extract abstract features from fish images. On a real-world fish recognition dataset, we use a linear SVM classifier and set penalty coefficients to conquer data unbalanced issue. Feature visualization results show that our method can avoid the feature distortion in boundary regions of underwater image. Experiments results show that the PCA Network can extract discriminate features and achieve promising recognition accuracy. The framework improves the recognition accuracy of underwater living fishes and can be easily applied to marine fishery industry.

Thermal-mechanical properties of a graphitic-nanofibers reinforced epoxy.

Science.gov (United States)

Salehi-Khojin, Amin; Jana, Soumen; Zhong, Wei-Hong

2007-03-01

We previously developed a series of reactive graphitic nanofibers (r-GNFs) reinforced epoxy (nano-epoxy) as composite matrices, which have shown good wetting and adhesion properties with continuous fiber. In this work, the thermal-mechanical properties of the nano-epoxy system containing EponTM Resin 828 and Epi-cure Curing Agent W were characterized. Results from three-point bending tests showed that the flexural strength and flexural modulus of this system with 0.30 wt% of reactive nanofibers were increased by 16%, and 21% respectively, over pure epoxy. Fracture toughness increased by ca. 40% for specimens with 0.50 wt% of r-GNFs. By dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) test, specimens with 0.30 wt% of r-GNFs showed a significant increase in storage modulus E' (by ca. 122%) and loss modulus E" (by ca. 111%) with respect to that of pure epoxy. Also thermo-dilatometry analysis (TDA) was used to measure dimensional change of specimens as a function of temperature, and then, coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) before and after glass transition temperature (Tg) were obtained. Results implied that nano-epoxy materials had good dimensional stability and reduced CTE values when compared to those of pure epoxy.

Automatic stabilization of underwater robots in the time manipulation operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filaretov, V.F.; Koval, E.V.

1994-01-01

When carrying out underwater technical works by means of an underwater vehicles having a manipulator it is desirable to perform manipulation operations in the regime of the underwater vehicle hovering above the object without durable and complicated operations up its rigid fixation. Underwater vehicle stabilization is achieved by compensation all the effects on the vehicle caused by the operating manipulator in water medium. This automatic stabilization is formed due to input of the required control signals into corresponding vehicle propellers proportional to calculated components of the generalized forces and moments. The propellers should form stops reacting against effects

Green Preparation of Epoxy/Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites Using a Glycidylamine Epoxy Resin as the Surface Modifier and Phase Transfer Agent of Graphene Oxide.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Xinlei; Zhou, Yang; Peng, Mao

2016-01-27

In studies of epoxy/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites, organic solvents are commonly used to disperse GO, and vigorous mechanical processes and complicated modification of GO are usually required, increasing the cost and hindering the development and application of epoxy nanocomposites. Here, we report a green, facile, and efficient method of preparing epoxy/GO nanocomposites. When triglycidyl para-aminophenol (TGPAP), a commercially available glycidyl amine epoxy resin with one tertiary amine group per molecule, is used as both the surface modifier and phase transfer agent of GO, GO can be directly and rapidly transferred from water to diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A and other types of epoxy resins by manual stirring under ambient conditions, whereas GO cannot be transferred to these epoxy resins in the absence of TGPAP. The interaction between TGPAP and GO and the effect of the TGPAP content on the dispersion of GO in the epoxy matrix were investigated systematically. Superior dispersion and exfoliation of GO nanosheets and remarkably improved mechanical properties, including tensile and flexural properties, toughness, storage modulus, and microhardness, of the epoxy/GO nanocomposites with a suitable amount of TGPAP were demonstrated. This method is organic-solvent-free and technically feasible for large-scale preparation of high-performance nanocomposites; it opens up new opportunities for exploiting the unique properties of graphene or even other nanofillers for a wide range of applications.

WODA technical guidance on underwater sound from dredging

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thomsen, F.; Borsani, F.; Clarke, D.; Jong, C. de; Wit, P. de; Goethals, F.; Holtkamp, M.; Martin, E.S.; Spadaro, P.; Raalte, G. van; Victor, G.Y.V.; Jensen, A.

2016-01-01

The World Organization of Dredging Associations (WODA) has identified underwater sound as an environmental issue that needs further consideration. A WODA Expert Group on Underwater Sound (WEGUS) prepared a guidance paper in 2013 on dredging sound, including a summary of potential impacts on aquatic

Performance of epoxy-nanocomposite under corrosive environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Nanocomposite materials consisting of polymeric matrix materials and natural or synthetic layered minerals like clay are currently an expanding field of study because these new materials often exhibit a wide range of improved properties over their unmodified starting polymers. Epoxy/organoclay nanocomposites have been prepared by intercalating epoxy into the organoclay via direct mixing process. The clay exfoliation was monitored by X-ray diffraction (XRD and transmission electron microscopy (TEM. Water diffusion and sulfuric acid corrosion resistance of epoxy-based nanocomposites were evaluated. Diffusion was studied through epoxy samples containing up to 6 phr (parts per hundred resin of an organically treated montmorillonite. The diffusion of the environmental solution was measured by noting the increase in weight of the samples as a function of immersion time in these solutions at 80°C. The effect of the degree of exfoliation of the organoclay on water barrier and corrosion resistance was specifically studied. The data have been compared to those obtained from the neat epoxy resin to evaluate the diffusion properties of the nanocomposites. The flexural strength of the epoxy/organoclay nanocomposites samples made was examined to compare their mechanical performance under corrosive conditions as a function of immersion time and temperature. It was found, that the organoclay was mainly intercalated with some exfoliation and that addition of the organoclay yields better flexural strength retention under immersion into sulfuric acid.

Underwater laser imaging system (UWLIS)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DeLong, M. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

1994-11-15

Practical limitations with underwater imaging systems area reached when the noise in the back scattered radiation generated in the water between the imaging system and the target obscures the spatial contrast and resolution necessary for target discovery and identification. The advent of high power lasers operating in the blue-green portion of the visible spectrum (oceanic transmission window) has led to improved experimental illumination systems for underwater imaging. Range-gated and synchronously scanned devices take advantage of the unique temporal and spatial coherence properties of laser radiation, respectively, to overcome the deleterious effects of common volume back scatter.

Design and Evaluation Methods for Underwater Control Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chi, Lin

1996-12-31

This thesis on underwater control systems is written with the designer in mind, assuming that the reader has some knowledge of control theory. It can be used as a text for undergraduate students and engineers. To help readers better understand the system they will be working with, the thesis is organised in a stepwise way. The reader will gain basic knowledge about underwater operations, equipment and control systems. Then the reader will be able to follow the steps to develop a required control system for an underwater equipment by first understanding the characteristics of the design problem, customer requirement, functional requirement, and possible solution, and then to present a mathematical model of the control problem. Having developed the concept, the thesis guides the reader to develop evaluation criteria and different ways to make the decision. The thesis gives an overview of how to achieve a successful design rather than giving the techniques for detailed control system design. Chapter 1 describes underwater operations and systems. Chapter 2 discusses issues of underwater control systems and control methods. Chapter 3 deals with design method and control systems theory, focusing on human-centered control. Chapter 4 discusses methods used to evaluate and rank products, and chapter 5 applies the methods to an example. 113 refs., 115 figs., 80 tabs.

Design and Evaluation Methods for Underwater Control Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chi, Lin

1997-12-31

This thesis on underwater control systems is written with the designer in mind, assuming that the reader has some knowledge of control theory. It can be used as a text for undergraduate students and engineers. To help readers better understand the system they will be working with, the thesis is organised in a stepwise way. The reader will gain basic knowledge about underwater operations, equipment and control systems. Then the reader will be able to follow the steps to develop a required control system for an underwater equipment by first understanding the characteristics of the design problem, customer requirement, functional requirement, and possible solution, and then to present a mathematical model of the control problem. Having developed the concept, the thesis guides the reader to develop evaluation criteria and different ways to make the decision. The thesis gives an overview of how to achieve a successful design rather than giving the techniques for detailed control system design. Chapter 1 describes underwater operations and systems. Chapter 2 discusses issues of underwater control systems and control methods. Chapter 3 deals with design method and control systems theory, focusing on human-centered control. Chapter 4 discusses methods used to evaluate and rank products, and chapter 5 applies the methods to an example. 113 refs., 115 figs., 80 tabs.

Construction Method of the Topographical Features Model for Underwater Terrain Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Lihui

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Terrain database is the reference basic for autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV to implement underwater terrain navigation (UTN functions, and is the important part of building topographical features model for UTN. To investigate the feasibility and correlation of a variety of terrain parameters as terrain navigation information metrics, this paper described and analyzed the underwater terrain features and topography parameters calculation method. Proposing a comprehensive evaluation method for terrain navigation information, and constructing an underwater navigation information analysis model, which is associated with topographic features. Simulation results show that the underwater terrain features, are associated with UTN information directly or indirectly, also affect the terrain matching capture probability and the positioning accuracy directly.

In-situ Elevated Temperature Mechanical Performance of MWCNT/epoxy Nanocomposite

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bhanu Pratap Singh

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The present investigation has been focused on the effects of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT addition on the mechanical performance of epoxy under different in-service elevated temperature environments. Room temperature flexural test results revealed that addition of 0.1 wt. % MWCNT into epoxy resin resulted in modulus and strength enhancement of 21 % and 9 % respectively. With increase in service temperature, significant decrement in both modulus and strength was noticed for both materials (neat epoxy and MWCNT/epoxy nanocomposite, but the rate of degradation was found to be quite drastic for the nanocomposite. At 90 °C temperature, the CNT/epoxy nanocomposite exhibited inferior modulus and strength, which are 41 % and 59 % lower than neat epoxy respectively. The variation trend in elastic modulus with temperature obtained from both flexural testing and DMA for both these materials was also analyzed. It was found that addition of 0.1 % CNT in the epoxy reduced the glass transition temperature by about 16°C.

A PROPOSAL FOR A SUSTAINABLE MODEL BASED UPON UNDERWATER TOURISM RESEARCH IN AYVALIK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. GÖKDENİZ

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Underwater sports are the activities being done with the aims of witnessing the beauties, hunting, taking photos, the ecology and the archaeology of underwater analysing or finding out the human being’s boundaries by improving the physical and psychological skills of men. The initial aim of this project is to increase the underwater flora and the fauna heritage of Ayvalık and to bring them in tourism. Ayvalık is on the west coast of Turkey. It is getting more and more famous with its underwater richness. Also, to form a new underwater sports centre in order to contribute to the improvement of the region. By providing visual attractiveness, the tourists related to underwater sports will pay attention to Ayvalık and underwater tourism will contribute much to the economy of the region. The aim of this project is to improve the underwater sports which is now a hobby than a sport. In Ayvalık Underwater World study, we dealt with 247 divers and 4 underwater sports club. In this study, we analysed the expectation, satisfaction, demographic and economic level of 247 divers about the services in the region. Interview technique has been used in the study on the 4 underwater sports clubs which are hosting divers. As a conclusion, a report has been prepared in which detailed information and proposals are presented by developing a sustainable marketing model concerned with the underwater sports for those who want to possess information, shareholders of the sector and make analyse about tourism.

Blue-light digital communication in underwater environments utilizing orbital angular momentum

Science.gov (United States)

Baghdady, Joshua; Miller, Keith; Osler, Sean; Morgan, Kaitlyn; Li, Wenzhe; Johnson, Eric; Cochenour, Brandon

2016-05-01

Underwater optical communication has recently become the topic of much investigation as the demands for underwater data transmission have rapidly grown in recent years. The need for reliable, high-speed, secure underwater communication has turned increasingly to blue-light optical solutions. The blue-green visible wavelength window provides an attractive solution to the problem of underwater data transmission thanks to its low attenuation, where traditional RF solutions used in free-space communications collapse. Beginning with GaN laser diodes as the optical source, this work explores the encoding and transmission of digital data across underwater environments of varying turbidities. Given the challenges present in an underwater environment, such as the mechanical and optical turbulences that make proper alignment difficult to maintain, it is desirable to achieve extremely high data rates in order to allow the time window of alignment between the transmitter and receiver to be as small as possible. In this paper, work is done to increase underwater data rates through the use of orbital angular momentum. Results are shown for a range of data rates across a variety of channel types ranging in turbidity from that of a clear ocean to a dirty harbor.

Underwater 3D Surface Measurement Using Fringe Projection Based Scanning Devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Bräuer-Burchardt, Christian; Heinze, Matthias; Schmidt, Ingo; Kühmstedt, Peter; Notni, Gunther

2015-12-23

In this work we show the principle of optical 3D surface measurements based on the fringe projection technique for underwater applications. The challenges of underwater use of this technique are shown and discussed in comparison with the classical application. We describe an extended camera model which takes refraction effects into account as well as a proposal of an effective, low-effort calibration procedure for underwater optical stereo scanners. This calibration technique combines a classical air calibration based on the pinhole model with ray-based modeling and requires only a few underwater recordings of an object of known length and a planar surface. We demonstrate a new underwater 3D scanning device based on the fringe projection technique. It has a weight of about 10 kg and the maximal water depth for application of the scanner is 40 m. It covers an underwater measurement volume of 250 mm × 200 mm × 120 mm. The surface of the measurement objects is captured with a lateral resolution of 150 μm in a third of a second. Calibration evaluation results are presented and examples of first underwater measurements are given.

Single underwater image enhancement based on color cast removal and visibility restoration

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chongyi; Guo, Jichang; Wang, Bo; Cong, Runmin; Zhang, Yan; Wang, Jian

2016-05-01

Images taken under underwater condition usually have color cast and serious loss of contrast and visibility. Degraded underwater images are inconvenient for observation and analysis. In order to address these problems, an underwater image-enhancement method is proposed. A simple yet effective underwater image color cast removal algorithm is first presented based on the optimization theory. Then, based on the minimum information loss principle and inherent relationship of medium transmission maps of three color channels in an underwater image, an effective visibility restoration algorithm is proposed to recover visibility, contrast, and natural appearance of degraded underwater images. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, qualitative comparison, quantitative comparison, and color accuracy test are conducted. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively remove color cast, improve contrast and visibility, and recover natural appearance of degraded underwater images. Additionally, the proposed method is comparable to and even better than several state-of-the-art methods.

Study of archaeological underwater finds: deterioration and conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Crisci, G. M.; La Russa, M. F.; Macchione, M.; Malagodi, M.; Palermo, A. M.; Ruffolo, S. A.

2010-09-01

This study is aimed at an assessment of the methodologies, instruments and new applications for underwater archaeology. Research focused on study of the various kinds of degradation affecting underwater finds and stone materials aged in underwater environment, efficiency evaluation of various surface cleaning methods and study and mixing of protective products with consolidating resins and antimicrobial biocides to be applied to restored underwater finds. Transmitted light optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to study surface biofilms and the interactions with samples of different stone materials such as brick, marble and granite immersed in the submarine archaeological area of Crotone (South of Italy). Surface cleaning tests were performed with application of ion exchange resins, EDTA, hydrogen peroxide and ultrasound techniques. Capillary water absorption, simulated solar ageing and colourimetric measurements were carried out to evaluate hydrophobic and consolidant properties; to assess biocidal efficacy, heterotrophic micro-organisms ( Aspergillus niger) were inoculated on agar plates and growth inhibition was measured.

Efficient Weibull channel model for salinity induced turbulent underwater wireless optical communications

KAUST Repository

Oubei, Hassan M.; Zedini, Emna; Elafandy, Rami T.; Kammoun, Abla; Ng, Tien Khee; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Ooi, Boon S.

2017-01-01

Recent advances in underwater wireless optical communications necessitate a better understanding of the underwater channel. We propose the Weibull model to characterize the fading of salinity induced turbulent underwater wireless optical channels

Underwater laser cutting of metallic structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alfille, J.P.; Schildknecht, J.; Ramaswami, V.S.

1993-01-01

In the frame of an european contract, the feasibility of the underwater cutting with a CO 2 laser power is studied. The aim of this work is the dismantling metallic structures of reactors pools. The paper analyzes the general concept of the experimental device, the underwater cutting head, the experimenting vessel, examples of cuttings in dismantling situation with a 500 W CO 2 laser, and examples of cuttings with a 5 kW CO 2 laser. (author). 2 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs

Digital sonar design in underwater acoustics principles and applications

CERN Document Server

Li, Qihu

2012-01-01

"Digital Sonar Design in Underwater Acoustics Principles and Applications" provides comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of research on sonar design, including the basic theory and techniques of digital signal processing, basic concept of information theory, ocean acoustics, underwater acoustic signal propagation theory, and underwater signal processing theory. This book discusses the general design procedure and approaches to implementation, the design method, system simulation theory and techniques, sonar tests in the laboratory, lake and sea, and practical validation criteria and methods for digital sonar design. It is intended for researchers in the fields of underwater signal processing and sonar design, and also for navy officers and ocean explorers. Qihu Li is a professor at the Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Underwater wireless optical communications: From system-level demonstrations to channel modelling

KAUST Repository

Oubei, Hassan M.

2018-01-09

In this paper, we discuss about recent experimental advances in underwater wireless optical communications (UWOC) over various underwater channel water types using different modulation schemes as well as modelling and describing the statistical properties of turbulence-induced fading in underwater wireless optical channels using laser beam intensity fluctuations measurements.

Prediction of brittle fracture of epoxy-aluminum flanging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Korbel J.

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a fracture mechanical approach for estimation of critical bending load of different types of aluminum-epoxy flanging and comparison with experimental measurements. For this purpose, several designs of the flanges were investigated. The flanges were glued to the epoxy bars and adhesive-epoxy interface was considered as a bi-material notch. Prediction of the failure is based on generalized stress intensity factor and generalized fracture toughness.

Accelerated thermal aging of rubber modified epoxy encapsulants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sayre, J.A.

1979-01-01

A program is outlined to enable prediction of physical properties of rubber modified epoxy encapsulants over the life time of the extended life neutron generators. Preliminary results show that the chief aging phenomenon occurring is increased crosslink density of the epoxy matrix. No changes in the rubber phase have been detected. The effect of increased epoxy crosslink density has been higher volume resistivity at 66 0 C, increased tensile strength, and decreased ultimate elongation

WODA Technical Guidance on Underwater Sound from Dredging.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomsen, Frank; Borsani, Fabrizio; Clarke, Douglas; de Jong, Christ; de Wit, Pim; Goethals, Fredrik; Holtkamp, Martine; Martin, Elena San; Spadaro, Philip; van Raalte, Gerard; Victor, George Yesu Vedha; Jensen, Anders

2016-01-01

The World Organization of Dredging Associations (WODA) has identified underwater sound as an environmental issue that needs further consideration. A WODA Expert Group on Underwater Sound (WEGUS) prepared a guidance paper in 2013 on dredging sound, including a summary of potential impacts on aquatic biota and advice on underwater sound monitoring procedures. The paper follows a risk-based approach and provides guidance for standardization of acoustic terminology and methods for data collection and analysis. Furthermore, the literature on dredging-related sounds and the effects of dredging sounds on marine life is surveyed and guidance on the management of dredging-related sound risks is provided.

Thermoset epoxy polymers from renewable resources

Science.gov (United States)

East, Anthony [Madison, NJ; Jaffe, Michael [Maplewood, NJ; Zhang, Yi [Harrison, NJ; Catalani, Luiz H [Carapicuiba, BR

2009-11-17

Novel thermoset epoxy polymers using the bisglycidyl ethers of anhydrosugars, such as isosorbide, isomannide, and isoidide, are disclosed. The bisglycidyl ethers are useful as substitutes for bisphenol A in the manufacture of thermoset epoxy ethers. The anhydrosugars are derived from renewable sources and the bisglycidyl ethers are not xenoestrogenic and the thermoset curing agents are likewise derived form renewable resources.

Communication and cooperation in underwater acoustic networks

Science.gov (United States)

Yerramalli, Srinivas

In this thesis, we present a study of several problems related to underwater point to point communications and network formation. We explore techniques to improve the achievable data rate on a point to point link using better physical layer techniques and then study sensor cooperation which improves the throughput and reliability in an underwater network. Robust point-to-point communications in underwater networks has become increasingly critical in several military and civilian applications related to underwater communications. We present several physical layer signaling and detection techniques tailored to the underwater channel model to improve the reliability of data detection. First, a simplified underwater channel model in which the time scale distortion on each path is assumed to be the same (single scale channel model in contrast to a more general multi scale model). A novel technique, which exploits the nature of OFDM signaling and the time scale distortion, called Partial FFT Demodulation is derived. It is observed that this new technique has some unique interference suppression properties and performs better than traditional equalizers in several scenarios of interest. Next, we consider the multi scale model for the underwater channel and assume that single scale processing is performed at the receiver. We then derive optimized front end pre-processing techniques to reduce the interference caused during single scale processing of signals transmitted on a multi-scale channel. We then propose an improvised channel estimation technique using dictionary optimization methods for compressive sensing and show that significant performance gains can be obtained using this technique. In the next part of this thesis, we consider the problem of sensor node cooperation among rational nodes whose objective is to improve their individual data rates. We first consider the problem of transmitter cooperation in a multiple access channel and investigate the stability of

Understanding the thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of epoxy nanocomposites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarathi, R.; Sahu, R.K.; Rajeshkumar, P.

2007-01-01

In the present work, the electrical, mechanical and thermal properties of epoxy nanocomposite materials were studied. The electrical insulation characteristics were analyzed through short time breakdown voltage test, accelerated electrical ageing test, and by tracking test. The breakdown voltage increases with increase in nano-clay content up to 5 wt%, under AC and DC voltages. The volume resistivity, permittivity and tan(δ) of the epoxy nanocomposites were measured. The Weibull studies indicate that addition of nanoclay upto 5 wt% enhances the characteristic life of epoxy nanocomposite insulation material. The tracking test results indicate that the tracking time is high with epoxy nanocomposites as compared to pure epoxy. Ageing studies were carried out to understand the surface characteristic variation through contact angle measurement. The hydrophobicity of the insulating material was analysed through contact angle measurement. The diffusion coefficients of the material with different percentage of clay in epoxy nanocomposites were calculated. The exfoliation characteristics in epoxy nanocomposites were analyzed through wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) studies. The thermal behaviour of the epoxy nanocomposites was analyzed by carrying out thermo gravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) studies. Heat deflection temperature of the material was measured to understand the stability of the material for intermittent temperature variation. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results indicated that storage modulus of the material increases with small amount of clay in epoxy resin. The activation energy of the material was calculated from the DMA results

Modeling and mechanical performance of carbon nanotube/epoxy resin composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srivastava, Vijay Kumar

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► The MWCNT fillers are uniformly dispersed in the epoxy resin, which improved the mechanical properties of epoxy resin. ► Modified Halpin–Tsai model is useful to calculate the Young’s modulus of MWCNT/epoxy resin composite. ► The experimental moduli are within the variation of 27% with the theoretical values. -- Abstract: The effect of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) addition on mechanical properties of epoxy resin was investigated to obtain the tensile strength, compressive strength and Young’s modulus from load versus displacement graphs. The result shows that the tensile strength, compressive strength and Young’s modulus of epoxy resin were increased with the addition of MWCNT fillers. The significant improvements in tensile strength, compressive strength and Young’s modulus were obtained due to the excellent dispersion of MWCNT fillers in the epoxy resin. The dispersion of MWCNT fillers in epoxy resin was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. Also, Halpin–Tsai model was modified by considering the average diameter of internal/external of multi-walled nanotube and orientation factor (α) to calculate the Young’s modulus of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/epoxy resin composite. There was a good correlation between the experimentally obtained Young’s modulus and modified Halpin–Tsai model.

The failure mode of natural silk epoxy triggered composite tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eshkour, R A; Ariffin, A K; Zulkifli, R; Sulong, A B; Azhari, C H

2012-01-01

In this study the quasi static compression test over natural silk epoxy triggered composite tubes has been carried out, the natural silk epoxy composite tubes consist of 24 layer of woven natural silk as reinforcement and thermoset epoxy resin as matrix which both of them i e natural silk and epoxy have excellent mechanical properties More over the natural silk have better moisture resistance in comparison with other natural reinforcements, the length of tubes are 50, 80 and 120 mm The natural silk epoxy composite tubes are associated with an external trigger which includes 4 steel pieces welded on downside flat plate fixture The hand lay up fabrication method has been used to make the natural silk epoxy composite tubes Instron universal testing machine with 250 KN load capacity has been employed to accomplish this investigation The failure modes of natural silk epoxy triggered composite tubes has been investigated by representative photographs which has been taken by a high resolution camera(12 2 Mp) during the quasi static compression test, from the photographs is observed the failure modes is progressive local buckling

Fracture behaviour of a self-healing microcapsule-loaded epoxy system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The effect of temperature on the fracture behaviour of a microcapsule-loaded epoxy matrix was investigated. Microencapsulated epoxy and mercaptan-derivative healing agents were incorporated into an epoxy matrix to produce a polymer composite capable of self-healing. Maximum fracture loads were measured using the double-torsion method. Thermal aging at 55 and 110°C for 17 hours [hrs] was applied to heal the pre-cracked samples. The addition of microcapsules appeared to increase significantly the load carrying capacity of the epoxy after healing. Once healed, the composites achieved as much as 93–171% of its virgin maximum fracture load at 18, 55 and 110°C. The fracture behavior of the microcapsule- loaded epoxy matrix was influenced by the healing temperature. The high self-healing efficiency may be attributed to the result of the subsurface micro-crack pinning or deviation, and to a stronger microencapsulated epoxy and mercaptanderivative binder than that of the bulk epoxy. The results show that the healing temperature has a significant effect on recovery of load transferring capability after fracture.

Epoxy/α-alumina nanocomposite with high electrical insulation performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yun Chen

2017-10-01

Full Text Available An experimental study was conducted to improve the electrical insulation of epoxy resin. The effects of boehmite, γ-alumina and α-alumina nanoparticles on the volume resistivity, dielectric strength and glass transition temperature of epoxy nanocomposites were investigated. The results showed that α-alumina nanoparticles displayed obvious advantages in enhancing electrical insulation performance of epoxy nanocomposites, compared to boehmite and γ-alumina nanoparticles. The direct current volume resistivity and breakdown strength of epoxy nanocomposite with 2.0 wt% α-alumina nanoparticles was improved to 2.2 × 1018 Ω cm and 76.1 kV mm−1 respectively. And these improved values of electrical insulation properties are much higher than these of epoxy nanocomposites reported in previous studies. The main reason of these improvements may be that the epoxy/α-alumina interaction zone was enhanced by crosslink. Keywords: Nanocomposite, Epoxy resin, Insulation, α-alumina

Survivability design for a hybrid underwater vehicle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Biao; Wu, Chao; Li, Xiang; Zhao, Qingkai; Ge, Tong [State Key Lab of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China)

2015-03-10

A novel hybrid underwater robotic vehicle (HROV) capable of working to the full ocean depth has been developed. The battery powered vehicle operates in two modes: operate as an untethered autonomous vehicle in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) mode and operate under remote control connected to the surface vessel by a lightweight, fiber optic tether in remotely operated vehicle (ROV) mode. Considering the hazardous underwater environment at the limiting depth and the hybrid operating modes, survivability has been placed on an equal level with the other design attributes of the HROV since the beginning of the project. This paper reports the survivability design elements for the HROV including basic vehicle design of integrated navigation and integrated communication, emergency recovery strategy, distributed architecture, redundant bus, dual battery package, emergency jettison system and self-repairing control system.

Survivability design for a hybrid underwater vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Biao; Wu, Chao; Li, Xiang; Zhao, Qingkai; Ge, Tong

2015-01-01

A novel hybrid underwater robotic vehicle (HROV) capable of working to the full ocean depth has been developed. The battery powered vehicle operates in two modes: operate as an untethered autonomous vehicle in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) mode and operate under remote control connected to the surface vessel by a lightweight, fiber optic tether in remotely operated vehicle (ROV) mode. Considering the hazardous underwater environment at the limiting depth and the hybrid operating modes, survivability has been placed on an equal level with the other design attributes of the HROV since the beginning of the project. This paper reports the survivability design elements for the HROV including basic vehicle design of integrated navigation and integrated communication, emergency recovery strategy, distributed architecture, redundant bus, dual battery package, emergency jettison system and self-repairing control system

Feasibility of in situ beta ray measurements in underwater environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hye Min; Park, Ki Hyun; Kang, Sung Won; Joo, Koan Sik

2017-09-01

We describe an attempt at the development of an in situ detector for beta ray measurements in underwater environment. The prototype of the in situ detector is based on a CaF2: Eu scintillator using crystal light guide and Si photomultiplier. Tests were conducted using various reference sources for evaluating the linearity and stability of the detector in underwater environment. The system is simple and stable for long-term monitoring, and consumes low power. We show here an effective detection distance of 7 mm and a 2.273 MeV end-point energy spectrum of 90 Sr/ 90 Y when using the system underwater. The results demonstrate the feasibility of in situ beta ray measurements in underwater environment and can be applied for designing an in situ detector for radioactivity measurement in underwater environment. The in situ detector can also have other applications such as installation on the marine monitoring platform and quantitative analysis of radionuclides. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimization of an Intelligent Controller for an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Fauzi Nor Shah

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Underwater environment poses a difficult challenge for autonomous underwater navigation. A standard problem of underwater vehicles is to maintain it position at a certain depth in order to perform desired operations. An effective controller is required for this purpose and hence the design of a depth controller for an unmanned underwater vehicle is described in this paper. The control algorithm is simulated by using the marine guidance navigation and control simulator. The project shows a radial basis function metamodel can be used to tune the scaling factors of a fuzzy logic controller. By using offline optimization approach, a comparison between genetic algorithm and metamodeling has been done to minimize the integral square error between the set point and the measured depth of the underwater vehicle. The results showed that it is possible to obtain a reasonably good error using metamodeling approach in much a shorter time compared to the genetic algorithm approach.

Selective Clay Placement Within a Silicate-Clay Epoxy Blend Nanocomposite

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Sandi G (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A clay-epoxy nanocomposite may be prepared by dispersing a layered clay in an alkoxy epoxy, such as a polypropylene oxide based epoxide before combining the mixture with an aromatic epoxy to improve the nanocomposite's thermal and mechanical properties.

Positron lifetime study of electron-irradiated epoxy resins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suevegh, K.; Vertes, A.; Wojnarovits, L.; Foeldiak, G.; Liszkai, L.; Kajcsos, Zs.

1990-01-01

Two bisphenol-A type epoxy resins were irradiated by electron beam and studied afterwards by positron lifetime spectroscopy. An interesting result is that despite of the considerable amount of free-radicals, no inhibition of positronium formation was observed in the two epoxies. Nevertheless, several serious differences were detected between the studied polymers. The results suggest that the radiation-resistant properties of epoxies depend strongly on the amount of the curing agent. (author) 8 refs.; 2 figs

A bio-inspired electrocommunication system for small underwater robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei; Liu, Jindong; Xie, Guangming; Wen, Li; Zhang, Jianwei

2017-03-29

Weakly electric fishes (Gymnotid and Mormyrid) use an electric field to communicate efficiently (termed electrocommunication) in the turbid waters of confined spaces where other communication modalities fail. Inspired by this biological phenomenon, we design an artificial electrocommunication system for small underwater robots and explore the capabilities of such an underwater robotic communication system. An analytical model for electrocommunication is derived to predict the effect of the key parameters such as electrode distance and emitter current of the system on the communication performance. According to this model, a low-dissipation, and small-sized electrocommunication system is proposed and integrated into a small robotic fish. We characterize the communication performance of the robot in still water, flowing water, water with obstacles and natural water conditions. The results show that underwater robots are able to communicate electrically at a speed of around 1 k baud within about 3 m with a low power consumption (less than 1 W). In addition, we demonstrate that two leader-follower robots successfully achieve motion synchronization through electrocommunication in the three-dimensional underwater space, indicating that this bio-inspired electrocommunication system is a promising setup for the interaction of small underwater robots.

Underwater Shock Wave Research Applied to Therapeutic Device Developments

Science.gov (United States)

Takayama, K.; Yamamoto, H.; Shimokawa, H.

2013-07-01

The chronological development of underwater shock wave research performed at the Shock Wave Research Center of the Institute of Fluid Science at the Tohoku University is presented. Firstly, the generation of planar underwater shock waves in shock tubes and their visualization by using the conventional shadowgraph and schlieren methods are described. Secondly, the generation of spherical underwater shock waves by exploding lead azide pellets weighing from several tens of micrograms to 100 mg, that were ignited by irradiating with a Q-switched laser beam, and their visualization by using double exposure holographic interferometry are presented. The initiation, propagation, reflection, focusing of underwater shock waves, and their interaction with various interfaces, in particular, with air bubbles, are visualized quantitatively. Based on such a fundamental underwater shock wave research, collaboration with the School of Medicine at the Tohoku University was started for developing a shock wave assisted therapeutic device, which was named an extracorporeal shock wave lithotripter (ESWL). Miniature shock waves created by irradiation with Q-switched HO:YAG laser beams are studied, as applied to damaged dysfunctional nerve cells in the myocardium in a precisely controlled manner, and are effectively used to design a catheter for treating arrhythmia.

UTOFIA: an underwater time-of-flight image acquisition system

Science.gov (United States)

Driewer, Adrian; Abrosimov, Igor; Alexander, Jonathan; Benger, Marc; O'Farrell, Marion; Haugholt, Karl Henrik; Softley, Chris; Thielemann, Jens T.; Thorstensen, Jostein; Yates, Chris

2017-10-01

In this article the development of a newly designed Time-of-Flight (ToF) image sensor for underwater applications is described. The sensor is developed as part of the project UTOFIA (underwater time-of-flight image acquisition) funded by the EU within the Horizon 2020 framework. This project aims to develop a camera based on range gating that extends the visible range compared to conventional cameras by a factor of 2 to 3 and delivers real-time range information by means of a 3D video stream. The principle of underwater range gating as well as the concept of the image sensor are presented. Based on measurements on a test image sensor a pixel structure that suits best to the requirements has been selected. Within an extensive characterization underwater the capability of distance measurements in turbid environments is demonstrated.

Experimental design applied optimization of a state in epoxy clay dispersion; Planejamento de experimentos aplicado a otimizacao do estado de dispersao de argilas em epoxi

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paz, Juliana D' Avila; Bertholdi, Jonas; Folgueras, Marilena Valadares; Pezin, Sergio Henrique; Coelho, Luiz Antonio Ferreira, E-mail: julianadpaz@yahoo.com.b [Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), Joinville, SC (Brazil). Centro de Ciencias Tecnologicas

2010-07-01

This paper presents some analysis showed that the exfoliation / intercalation of a montmorillonite clay in epoxy resin such as viscosity, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetry (TG). Increasing the viscosity of epoxy resin diglycidyl ether bisphenol A with the addition of clay associated with the sonification system at the time of dispersion is a good indication of exfoliation. The X-ray diffraction already cured composite shows a decrease of crystallinity of clay and EDS microanalysis of SEM, non-uniform dispersion of clay in epoxy resin. Thermal analysis TG composite clay / epoxy shows an increase in thermal stability relative to pure epoxy. (author)

Underwater photogrammetry successful in Spain and France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1988-01-01

Underwater photogrammetry has been used to measure distortions in fuel assembly alignment pins in the upper internals of the Almarez and Dampierre PWRs. Photogrammetry is a three-dimensional precision measurement method using photographic techniques for the on-site measurement phase. On the strength of the operations at the two PWRs, underwater photogrammetry is now considered as a practical and effective technique for dimensional inspection at nuclear plants. (U.K.)

OPTICAL correlation identification technology applied in underwater laser imaging target identification

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Guang-tao; Zhang, Xiao-hui; Ge, Wei-long

2012-01-01

The underwater laser imaging detection is an effective method of detecting short distance target underwater as an important complement of sonar detection. With the development of underwater laser imaging technology and underwater vehicle technology, the underwater automatic target identification has gotten more and more attention, and is a research difficulty in the area of underwater optical imaging information processing. Today, underwater automatic target identification based on optical imaging is usually realized with the method of digital circuit software programming. The algorithm realization and control of this method is very flexible. However, the optical imaging information is 2D image even 3D image, the amount of imaging processing information is abundant, so the electronic hardware with pure digital algorithm will need long identification time and is hard to meet the demands of real-time identification. If adopt computer parallel processing, the identification speed can be improved, but it will increase complexity, size and power consumption. This paper attempts to apply optical correlation identification technology to realize underwater automatic target identification. The optics correlation identification technology utilizes the Fourier transform characteristic of Fourier lens which can accomplish Fourier transform of image information in the level of nanosecond, and optical space interconnection calculation has the features of parallel, high speed, large capacity and high resolution, combines the flexibility of calculation and control of digital circuit method to realize optoelectronic hybrid identification mode. We reduce theoretical formulation of correlation identification and analyze the principle of optical correlation identification, and write MATLAB simulation program. We adopt single frame image obtained in underwater range gating laser imaging to identify, and through identifying and locating the different positions of target, we can improve

Deep Learning Methods for Underwater Target Feature Extraction and Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gang Hu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The classification and recognition technology of underwater acoustic signal were always an important research content in the field of underwater acoustic signal processing. Currently, wavelet transform, Hilbert-Huang transform, and Mel frequency cepstral coefficients are used as a method of underwater acoustic signal feature extraction. In this paper, a method for feature extraction and identification of underwater noise data based on CNN and ELM is proposed. An automatic feature extraction method of underwater acoustic signals is proposed using depth convolution network. An underwater target recognition classifier is based on extreme learning machine. Although convolution neural networks can execute both feature extraction and classification, their function mainly relies on a full connection layer, which is trained by gradient descent-based; the generalization ability is limited and suboptimal, so an extreme learning machine (ELM was used in classification stage. Firstly, CNN learns deep and robust features, followed by the removing of the fully connected layers. Then ELM fed with the CNN features is used as the classifier to conduct an excellent classification. Experiments on the actual data set of civil ships obtained 93.04% recognition rate; compared to the traditional Mel frequency cepstral coefficients and Hilbert-Huang feature, recognition rate greatly improved.

Bio-Based Aromatic Epoxy Monomers for Thermoset Materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feifei Ng

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The synthesis of polymers from renewable resources is a burning issue that is actively investigated. Polyepoxide networks constitute a major class of thermosetting polymers and are extensively used as coatings, electronic materials, adhesives. Owing to their outstanding mechanical and electrical properties, chemical resistance, adhesion, and minimal shrinkage after curing, they are used in structural applications as well. Most of these thermosets are industrially manufactured from bisphenol A (BPA, a substance that was initially synthesized as a chemical estrogen. The awareness on BPA toxicity combined with the limited availability and volatile cost of fossil resources and the non-recyclability of thermosets implies necessary changes in the field of epoxy networks. Thus, substitution of BPA has witnessed an increasing number of studies both from the academic and industrial sides. This review proposes to give an overview of the reported aromatic multifunctional epoxide building blocks synthesized from biomass or from molecules that could be obtained from transformed biomass. After a reminder of the main glycidylation routes and mechanisms and the recent knowledge on BPA toxicity and legal issues, this review will provide a brief description of the main natural sources of aromatic molecules. The different epoxy prepolymers will then be organized from simple, mono-aromatic di-epoxy, to mono-aromatic poly-epoxy, to di-aromatic di-epoxy compounds, and finally to derivatives possessing numerous aromatic rings and epoxy groups.

Thermal conductivity and Kapitza resistance of cyanate ester epoxy mix and tri-functional epoxy electrical insulations at superfluid helium temperature

CERN Document Server

Pietrowicz, S; Jones, S; Canfer, S; Baudouy, B

2012-01-01

In the framework of the European Union FP7 project EuCARD, two composite insulation systems made of cyanate ester epoxy mix and tri-functional epoxy (TGPAP-DETDA) with S-glass fiber have been thermally tested as possible candidates to be the electrical insulation of 13 T Nb$_{3}$Sn high field magnets under development for this program. Since it is expected to be operated in pressurized superfluid helium at 1.9 K and 1 atm, the thermal conductivity and the Kapitza resistance are the most important input parameters for the thermal design of this type of magnet and have been determined in this study. For determining these thermal properties, three sheets of each material with different thicknesses varying from 245 μm to 598 μm have been tested in steady-state condition in the temperature range of 1.6 K - 2.0 K. The thermal conductivity for the tri-functional epoxy (TGPAP-DETDA) epoxy resin insulation is found to be k=[(34.2±5.5).T-(16.4±8.2)]×10-3 Wm-1K-1 and for the cyanate ester epoxy k=[(26.8±4.8).T- (9...

Underwater video enhancement using multi-camera super-resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Quevedo, E.; Delory, E.; Callicó, G. M.; Tobajas, F.; Sarmiento, R.

2017-12-01

Image spatial resolution is critical in several fields such as medicine, communications or satellite, and underwater applications. While a large variety of techniques for image restoration and enhancement has been proposed in the literature, this paper focuses on a novel Super-Resolution fusion algorithm based on a Multi-Camera environment that permits to enhance the quality of underwater video sequences without significantly increasing computation. In order to compare the quality enhancement, two objective quality metrics have been used: PSNR (Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio) and the SSIM (Structural SIMilarity) index. Results have shown that the proposed method enhances the objective quality of several underwater sequences, avoiding the appearance of undesirable artifacts, with respect to basic fusion Super-Resolution algorithms.

Restoration and Enhancement of Underwater Images Based on Bright Channel Prior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yakun Gao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposed a new method of underwater images restoration and enhancement which was inspired by the dark channel prior in image dehazing field. Firstly, we proposed the bright channel prior of underwater environment. By estimating and rectifying the bright channel image, estimating the atmospheric light, and estimating and refining the transmittance image, eventually underwater images were restored. Secondly, in order to rectify the color distortion, the restoration images were equalized by using the deduced histogram equalization. The experiment results showed that the proposed method could enhance the quality of underwater images effectively.

Magnetism in graphene oxide induced by epoxy groups

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Dongwook, E-mail: dongwookleedl324@gmail.com [Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE (United Kingdom); Division of Physics and Applied Physics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371 (Singapore); Seo, Jiwon, E-mail: jiwonseo@yonsei.ac.kr [Department of Physics and IPAP, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of); School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Zhu, Xi; Su, Haibin [Division of Materials Science, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Cole, Jacqueline M. [Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE (United Kingdom); Argonne National Laboratory, 9700S Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)

2015-04-27

We have engineered magnetism in graphene oxide. Our approach transforms graphene into a magnetic insulator while maintaining graphene's structure. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra reveal that graphene oxide has various chemical groups (including epoxy, ketone, hydroxyl, and C-O groups) on its surface. Destroying the epoxy group with heat treatment or chemical treatment diminishes magnetism in the material. Local density approximation calculation results well reproduce the magnetic moments obtained from experiments, and these results indicate that the unpaired spin induced by the presence of epoxy groups is the origin of the magnetism. The calculation results also explain the magnetic properties, which are generated by the interaction between separated magnetic regions and domains. Our results demonstrate tunable magnetism in graphene oxide based on controlling the epoxy group with heat or chemical treatment.

Underwater inverse LIBS (iLIBS) for marine archaeology

Science.gov (United States)

Asmus, J.; Magde, M.; Elford, J.; Magde, D.; Parfenov, V.

2013-05-01

In recent years there have been enormous advances in nautical archaeology through developments in SONAR technologies as well as in manned and robotic submersible vehicles. The number of sunken vessel discoveries has escalated in many of the seas of the world in response to the widespread application of these and other new tools. Customarily, surviving artifacts within the debris field of a wreck are collected and then moved to laboratories, centers, or institutions for analyses and possible conservation. Frequently, the conservation phase involves chemical treatments to stabilize an artefact to standard temperature, pressure, and humidity instead of an undersea environment. Many of the artefacts encountered at an underwater site are now characterized and restored in-situ in accordance with modern trends in art conservation. Two examples of this trend are exemplified by the resting place of the wreck of the Titanic in the Atlantic and the Cancun Underwater Park in the Caribbean Sea. These two debris fields have been turned into museums for diving visitors. Several research groups have investigated the possibility of adapting the well-established analytical tool Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to in-situ elemental analyses of underwater cultural, historic, and archaeological artefacts where discovered, rather than as a phase of a salvage operation. As the underwater laser ablation associated with LIBS generates a "snowplough" shockwave within the aqueous matrix, the atomic emission spectrum is usually severely attenuated in escaping from the target. Consequently, probative experiments to date generally invoke a submerged air chamber or air jet to isolate water from the interaction zone as well as employ more complex double-pulse lasers. These measures impose severe logistical constraints on the examination of widely dispersed underwater artefacts. In order to overcome this constraint we report on water-immersion LIBS experiments performed with oblique

The characteristics of epoxy resin cured by {gamma}-ray and E-beam

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nho, Y.C. E-mail: ycnho@kaeri.re.kr; Kang, Phil Hyun; Park, Jong Seok

2004-10-01

Epoxy resins are widely used as high-performance thermosetting resins for many industrial applications. In this study, the effect of an electron beam (E-beam) and {gamma}-ray irradiation on the curing of epoxy resins was investigated. Diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A(DGEBA), diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-F(DGEBF) as epoxy resins, triarylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate(TASHFA), and triarylsulfonium hexafluorophosphate(TASHFP) as initiators were used in this study. The chemical and mechanical characteristics of irradiated epoxy resins were compared after curing of E-beam and {gamma}-ray irradiation up to 50 kGy in N{sub 2} and air atmosphere. We ascertained the effect of oxygen on the radiation curing of epoxy resin. The thermal properties of cured epoxy were investigated using DMA and TGA. Mechanical properties such as flexural strength were measured. The chemical structures of cured epoxy were characterized by FT-NIR. The gel fraction and the stress at yield of epoxy resins irradiated by E-beam and {gamma}-ray in N{sub 2} atmosphere were also compared with those of epoxy resins irradiated by E-beam and {gamma}-ray in air.

Corrosion Protection of Steel by Epoxy-Organoclay Nanocomposite Coatings

OpenAIRE

Domna Merachtsaki; Panagiotis Xidas; Panagiotis Giannakoudakis; Konstantinos Triantafyllidis; Panagiotis Spathis

2017-01-01

The purpose of the present work was to study the corrosion behavior of steel coated with epoxy-(organo) clay nanocomposite films. The investigation was carried out using salt spray exposures, optical and scanning electron microscopy examination, open circuit potential, and electrochemical impedance measurements. The mechanical, thermomechanical, and barrier properties of pristine glassy epoxy polymer and epoxy-clay nanocomposites were examined. The degree of intercalation/exfoliation of clay ...

Remarks on the observability of single beacon underwater navigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jouffroy, Jerome; Ross, Andrew

This paper contributes a simple and intuitive result in the analysis of underwater navigation using a single ranging beacon. This analysis should help with the design of small and lightweight underwater vehicles by reducing the amount of instrumentation required for accurate navigation. The concept...

Efficient Weibull channel model for salinity induced turbulent underwater wireless optical communications

KAUST Repository

Oubei, Hassan M.

2017-12-13

Recent advances in underwater wireless optical communications necessitate a better understanding of the underwater channel. We propose the Weibull model to characterize the fading of salinity induced turbulent underwater wireless optical channels. The model shows an excellent agreement with the measured data under all channel conditions.

Effects of Nanofillers on the Thermo-Mechanical Properties and Chemical Resistivity of Epoxy Nanocomposites.

Science.gov (United States)

Atchudan, Raji; Pandurangan, Arumugam; Joo, Jin

2015-06-01

MWCNTs was synthesized using Ni-Cr/MgO by CVD method and were purified. The purified MWCNT was used as a filler material for the fabrication of epoxy nanocomposites. The epoxy nanocomposites with different amount (wt% = 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0) of nanofillers (CB, SiO2 and MWCNTs) were prepared by casting method. The effects of nanofillers on the properties of neat epoxy matrix were well studied. The thermal properties of nanocomposites were studied using DSC, TGA and flame retardant, and also the mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength, compressive strength, impact strength, determination of hardness and chemical resistance were studied extensively. Based on the experiment's results, 2 wt% MWCNTs loading in epoxy resin showed the highest improvement in tensile strength, as compared to neat epoxy and to other epoxy systems (CB/epoxy, SiO2/epoxy). Improvements in tensile strength, glass transition temperature and decomposition temperature were observed by the addition of MWCNTs. The mechanical properties of the epoxy nanocomposites were improved due to the interfacial bonding between the MWCNTs and epoxy resin. Strain hardening behavior was higher for MWCNT/epoxy nanocomposites compared with CB/epoxy and SiO2/epoxy nanocomposites. The investigation of thermal and mechanical properties reveals that the incorporation of MWCNTs into the epoxy nanocomposites increases its thermal stability to a great extent. Discrete increase of glass transition temperature of nanocomposites is linearly dependent on MWCNTs content. Due to strong interfacial bonding between MWCNTs and epoxy resin, the chemical resistivity of MWCNT/epoxy nanocomposites is superior to neat epoxy and other epoxy systems.

A Secure Communication Suite for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angelica Lo Duca

2012-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper we describe a security suite for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks comprising both fixed and mobile nodes. The security suite is composed of a secure routing protocol and a set of cryptographic primitives aimed at protecting the confidentiality and the integrity of underwater communication while taking into account the unique characteristics and constraints of the acoustic channel. By means of experiments and simulations based on real data, we show that the suite is suitable for an underwater networking environment as it introduces limited, and sometimes negligible, communication and power consumption overhead.

Silane coupling agent for attaching fusion-bonded epoxy to steel.

Science.gov (United States)

Tchoquessi Diodjo, Madeleine R; Belec, Lénaïk; Aragon, Emmanuel; Joliff, Yoann; Lanarde, Lise; Perrin, François-Xavier

2013-07-24

We describe the possibility of using γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (γ-APS) to increase the durability of epoxy powder coating/steel joints. The curing temperature of epoxy powder coatings is frequently above 200 °C, which is seen so far as a major limitation for the use of the heat-sensitive aminosilane coupling agent. Despite this limitation, we demonstrate that aminosilane is a competitive alternative to traditional chromate conversion to enhance the durability of epoxy powder coatings/steel joints. Fourier-transform reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy (FT-RAIRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to identify the silane deposition conditions that influence the adhesion of epoxy powder coatings on steel. We show that AFM analysis provides highly sensitive measurements of mechanical property development and, as such, the degree of condensation of the silane. The joint durability in water at 60 °C was lower when the pH of the γ-APS solution was controlled at 4.6 using formic acid, rather than that at natural pH (10.6). At the curing temperature of 220 °C, oxidation of the carbon adjacent to the amine headgroup of γ-APS gives amide species by a pseudofirst-order kinetics. However, a few amino functionalities remain to react with oxirane groups of epoxy resin and, thus, strengthen the epoxy/silane interphase. The formation of ammonium formate in the acidic silane inhibits the reaction between silane and epoxy, which consequently decreases the epoxy/silane interphase cohesion. We find that the nanoroughness of silane deposits increases with the cure temperature which is beneficial to the wet stability of the epoxy/steel joints, due to increased mechanical interlocking.

Underwater Acoustic Target Tracking: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Ying; Fan, Liying

2018-01-01

Advances in acoustic technology and instrumentation now make it possible to explore marine resources. As a significant component of ocean exploration, underwater acoustic target tracking has aroused wide attention both in military and civil fields. Due to the complexity of the marine environment, numerous techniques have been proposed to obtain better tracking performance. In this paper, we survey over 100 papers ranging from innovative papers to the state-of-the-art in this field to present underwater tracking technologies. Not only the related knowledge of acoustic tracking instrument and tracking progress is clarified in detail, but also a novel taxonomy method is proposed. In this paper, algorithms for underwater acoustic target tracking are classified based on the methods used as: (1) instrument-assisted methods; (2) mode-based methods; (3) tracking optimization methods. These algorithms are compared and analyzed in the aspect of dimensions, numbers, and maneuvering of the tracking target, which is different from other survey papers. Meanwhile, challenges, countermeasures, and lessons learned are illustrated in this paper. PMID:29301318

Afocal viewport optics for underwater imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Dan

2014-09-01

A conventional camera can be adapted for underwater use by enclosing it in a sealed waterproof pressure housing with a viewport. The viewport, as an optical interface between water and air needs to consider both the camera and water optical characteristics while also providing a high pressure water seal. Limited hydrospace visibility drives a need for wide angle viewports. Practical optical interfaces between seawater and air vary from simple flat plate windows to complex water contact lenses. This paper first provides a brief overview of the physical and optical properties of the ocean environment along with suitable optical materials. This is followed by a discussion of the characteristics of various afocal underwater viewport types including flat windows, domes and the Ivanoff corrector lens, a derivative of a Galilean wide angle camera adapter. Several new and interesting optical designs derived from the Ivanoff corrector lens are presented including a pair of very compact afocal viewport lenses that are compatible with both in water and in air environments and an afocal underwater hyper-hemispherical fisheye lens.

Underwater running device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kogure, Sumio; Matsuo, Takashiro; Yoshida, Yoji

1996-01-01

An underwater running device for an underwater inspection device for detecting inner surfaces of a reactor or a water vessel has an outer frame and an inner frame, and both of them are connected slidably by an air cylinder and connected rotatably by a shaft. The outer frame has four outer frame legs, and each of the outer frame legs is equipped with a sucker at the top end. The inner frame has four inner frame legs each equipped with a sucker at the top end. The outer frame legs and the inner frame legs are each connected with the outer frame and the inner frame by the air cylinder. The outer and the inner frame legs can be elevated or lowered (or extended or contracted) by the air cylinder. The sucker is connected with a jet pump-type negative pressure generator. The device can run and move by repeating attraction and releasing of the outer frame legs and the inner frame legs alternately while maintaining the posture of the inspection device stably. (I.N.)

Smelling and Tasting Underwater.

Science.gov (United States)

Atema, Jelle

1980-01-01

Discusses differences between smell and taste, comparing these senses in organisms in aquatic and terrestrial environments. Describes the chemical environment underwater and in air, differences in chemoreceptors to receive stimuli, and the organs, brain, and behavior involved in chemoreception. (CS)

Polarization Calculation and Underwater Target Detection Inspired by Biological Visual Imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Shen

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In challenging underwater environments, the polarization parameter maps calculated by the Stokes model are characterized by the high noise and error, harassing the underwater target detection tasks. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a novel bionic polarization calculation and underwater target detection method by modeling the visual system of mantis shrimps. This system includes many operators including a polarization-opposition calculation, a factor optimization and a visual neural network model. A calibration learning method is proposed to search the optimal value of the factors in the linear subtraction model. Finally, a six-channel visual neural network model is proposed to detect the underwater targets. Experimental results proved that the maps produced by the polarization-opposition parameter is more accurate and have lower noise than that produced by the Stokes parameter, achieving better performance in underwater target detection tasks.

Epoxy Nanocomposites filled with Carbon Nanoparticles.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin-Gallego, M; Yuste-Sanchez, V; Sanchez-Hidalgo, R; Verdejo, R; Lopez-Manchado, M A

2018-01-10

Over the past decades, the development of high performance lightweight polymer nanocomposites and, in particular, of epoxy nanocomposites has become one the greatest challenges in material science. The ultimate goal of epoxy nanocomposites is to extrapolate the exceptional intrinsic properties of the nanoparticles to the bulk matrix. However, in spite of the efforts, this objective is still to be attained at commercially attractive scales. Key aspects to achieve this are ultimately the full understanding of network structure, the dispersion degree of the nanoparticles, the interfacial adhesion at the phase boundaries and the control of the localization and orientation of the nanoparticles in the epoxy system. In this Personal Account, we critically discuss the state of the art and evaluate the strategies to overcome these barriers. © 2018 The Chemical Society of Japan & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Application of underwater radon measurements in geology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Varhegyi, A.; Baranyi, I.; Gerzson, I. (Mecsek Ore Mining Enterprise, Pecs (Hungary)); Somogyi, G.; Hakl, J.; Hunyadi, I. (Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia, Debrecen (Hungary). Atommag Kutato Intezete)

1988-01-01

Based on the observed phenomenon of geogas migration in microbubble form from deeper regions, the authors have developed a new model for the vertical transport of radon released from deeper sources. The physical properties of the rock relating to the upflow of microbubbles below the groundwater level are considered and the radon transport parameter of rocks is introduced. The vertical distribution of radon concentration in the case of a multi-layered geological model is given and the penetration depth of underwater radon measurements is examined. Aspects of underwater radon detection by the nuclear track detector technique are analyzed. The radon transport model gives a new theoretical basis for several applications of radon measurements in geology. The advantages of underwater radon detection have already been proved in uranium exploration. Further geological applications are proposed in earthquake prediction, in volcanology, in the survey of active faults and thermal waters. (author).

Mechanical Reinforcement of Epoxy Composites with Carbon Fibers and HDPE

Science.gov (United States)

He, R.; Chang, Q.; Huang, X.; Li, J.

2018-01-01

Silanized carbon fibers (CFs) and a high-density polyethylene with amino terminal groups (HDPE) were introduced into epoxy resins to fabricate high-performance composites. A. mechanical characterization of the composites was performed to investigate the effect of CFs in cured epoxy/HDPE systems. The composites revealed a noticeable improvement in the tensile strength, elongation at break, flexural strength, and impact strength in comparison with those of neat epoxy and cured epoxy/HDPE systems. SEM micrographs showed that the toughening effect could be explained by yield deformations, phase separation, and microcracking.

Object detection from images obtained through underwater turbulence medium

Science.gov (United States)

Furhad, Md. Hasan; Tahtali, Murat; Lambert, Andrew

2017-09-01

Imaging through underwater experiences severe distortions due to random fluctuations of temperature and salinity in water, which produces underwater turbulence through diffraction limited blur. Lights reflecting from objects perturb and attenuate contrast, making the recognition of objects of interest difficult. Thus, the information available for detecting underwater objects of interest becomes a challenging task as they have inherent confusion among the background, foreground and other image properties. In this paper, a saliency-based approach is proposed to detect the objects acquired through an underwater turbulent medium. This approach has drawn attention among a wide range of computer vision applications, such as image retrieval, artificial intelligence, neuro-imaging and object detection. The image is first processed through a deblurring filter. Next, a saliency technique is used on the image for object detection. In this step, a saliency map that highlights the target regions is generated and then a graph-based model is proposed to extract these target regions for object detection.

Functionalizing CNTs for Making Epoxy/CNT Composites

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jian; Rajagopal, Ramasubramaniam

2009-01-01

Functionalization of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with linear molecular side chains of polyphenylene ether (PPE) has been shown to be effective in solubilizing the CNTs in the solvent components of solutions that are cast to make epoxy/CNT composite films. (In the absence of solubilization, the CNTs tend to clump together instead of becoming dispersed in solution as needed to impart, to the films, the desired CNT properties of electrical conductivity and mechanical strength.) Because the PPE functionalizes the CNTs in a noncovalent manner, the functionalization does not damage the CNTs. The functionalization can also be exploited to improve the interactions between CNTs and epoxy matrices to enhance the properties of the resulting composite films. In addition to the CNTs, solvent, epoxy resin, epoxy hardener, and PPE, a properly formulated solution also includes a small amount of polycarbonate, which serves to fill voids that, if allowed to remain, would degrade the performance of the film. To form the film, the solution is drop-cast or spin-cast, then the solvent is allowed to evaporate.

Preparation and Performance of Amphiphilic Random Copolymer Noncovalently Modified MWCNTs/Epoxy Composite

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MA Qiang

2016-09-01

Full Text Available An amphiphilic random copolymer of polyglycidyl methacrylate-co-N-vinyl carbazole P(GMA-co-NVC was synthesized by free radical polymerization and was used to noncovalently modify multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs. The obtained P(GMA-co-NVC/MWCNTs was mixed with epoxy resin and used to reinforce epoxy resin. Polymer modified carbon nanotubes/epoxy resin composites were prepared by a casting molding method. Tensile test, electrical resistivity test and differential scanning calorimeter(DSC analysis were used to study the effect of polymer modified carbon nanotubes on the mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of epoxy resin. The results show that the epoxy composite reinforced with P(GMA-co-NVC/MWCNTs shows a remarkable enhancement in both tensile strength and elongation at break compared to either the pure epoxy or the pristine MWCNTs/epoxy composites. In addition, the electrical conductivity of epoxy is significantly improved and the volume resistivity decreases from 1014Ω·m to 106Ω·m with 0.25% mass fraction loading of P(GMA-co-NVC/MWCNTs. Moreover, glass transition temperature of the epoxy composite also increases from 144℃ to 149℃.

Dermatosis profesional por resina epoxi: Presentación de un caso clínico Professional dermatosis for epoxy resin: A clinical case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Gaviola

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Mostramos un caso de dermatosis profesional originado por plásticos (resinas epoxi y la importancia de la detección precoz. Las resinas epoxi son de gran utilización en todo tipo de industrias (artes graficas, construcción, electrónica, componentes de prótesis traumatológicas, prótesis odontológicas, etc. y sus componentes pueden ser causa de dermatitis de contacto irritativa y por sensibilización.We describe a case of professional dermatosis caused by exposition to plastic products (epoxy resin and importance of early detection. The epoxy resins are widely used in all types of industries (graphics arts, construction, electronics, traumathological and odontological prothesis, etc. and their components may be the cause of contact dermatitis and sensitivity. Risk factors at work with epoxy resins are present during the production base resins, hardening agents, plasticizers and dilutants increase the risk of exposition at work. This requires preventive measures and early diagnosis.

Multiscale Modeling of Carbon Nanotube-Epoxy Nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Fasanella, Nicholas A.

Epoxy-composites are widely used in the aerospace industry. In order to improve upon stiffness and thermal conductivity; carbon nanotube additives to epoxies are being explored. This dissertation presents multiscale modeling techniques to study the engineering properties of single walled carbon nanotube (SWNT)-epoxy nanocomposites, consisting of pristine and covalently functionalized systems. Using Molecular Dynamics (MD), thermomechanical properties were calculated for a representative polymer unit cell. Finite Element (FE) and orientation distribution function (ODF) based methods were used in a multiscale framework to obtain macroscale properties. An epoxy network was built using the dendrimer growth approach. The epoxy model was verified by matching the experimental glass transition temperature, density, and dilatation. MD, via the constant valence force field (CVFF), was used to explore the mechanical and dilatometric effects of adding pristine and functionalized SWNTs to epoxy. Full stiffness matrices and linear coefficient of thermal expansion vectors were obtained. The Green-Kubo method was used to investigate the thermal conductivity as a function of temperature for the various nanocomposites. Inefficient phonon transport at the ends of nanotubes is an important factor in the thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites, and for this reason discontinuous nanotubes were modeled in addition to long nanotubes. To obtain continuum-scale elastic properties from the MD data, multiscale modeling was considered to give better control over the volume fraction of nanotubes, and investigate the effects of nanotube alignment. Two methods were considered; an FE based method, and an ODF based method. The FE method probabilistically assigned elastic properties of elements from the MD lattice results based on the desired volume fraction and alignment of the nanotubes. For the ODF method, a distribution function was generated based on the desired amount of nanotube alignment

Remote Underwater Characterization System - Innovative Technology Summary Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Willis, W.D.

1999-01-01

Characterization and inspection of water-cooled and moderated nuclear reactors and fuel storage pools requires equipment capable of operating underwater. Similarly, the deactivation and decommissioning of older nuclear facilities often requires the facility owner to accurately characterize underwater structures and equipment which may have been sitting idle for years. The Remote Underwater Characterization System (RUCS) is a small, remotely operated submersible vehicle intended to serve multiple purposes in underwater nuclear operations. It is based on the commercially-available Scallop vehicle 1 , but has been modified by the Department of Energys Robotics Technology Development Program to add auto-depth control, and vehicle orientation and depth monitoring at the operator control panel. The RUCS is designed to provide visual and gamma radiation characterization, even in confined or limited access areas. It was demonstrated in August 1998 at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) as part of the INEEL Large Scale Demonstration and Deployment Project. During the demonstration it was compared in a ''head-to-head fashion with the baseline characterization technology. This paper summarizes the results of the demonstration and lessons learned; comparing and contrasting both technologies in the areas of cost, visual characterization, radiological characterization, and overall operations

Cure monitoring of epoxy resin by using fiber bragg grating sensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jin Hyuk [KEPCO, Naju (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Dae Hyun [Dept. of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-15

In several industrial fields, epoxy resin is widely used as an adhesive for co-curing and manufacturing various structures. Controlling the manufacturing process is required for ensuring robust bonding performance and the stability of the structures. A fiber optic sensor is suitable for the cure monitoring of epoxy resin owing to the thready shape of the sensor. In this paper, a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor was applied for the cure monitoring of epoxy resin. Based on the experimental results, it was demonstrated that the FBG sensor can monitor the status of epoxy resin curing by measuring the strain caused by volume shrinkage and considering the compensation of temperature. In addition, two types of epoxy resin were used for the cure-monitoring; moreover, when compared to each other, it was found that the two types of epoxy had different cure-processes in terms of the change of strain during the curing. Therefore, the study proved that the FBG sensor is very profitable for the cure-monitoring of epoxy resin.

DE-Sync: A Doppler-Enhanced Time Synchronization for Mobile Underwater Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Feng; Wang, Qi; Nie, DongHu; Qiao, Gang

2018-05-25

Time synchronization is the foundation of cooperative work among nodes of underwater sensor networks; it takes a critical role in the research and application of underwater sensor networks. Although numerous time synchronization protocols have been proposed for terrestrial wireless sensor networks, they cannot be directly applied to underwater sensor networks. This is because most of them typically assume that the propagation delay among sensor nodes is negligible, which is not the case in underwater sensor networks. Time synchronization is mainly affected by a long propagation delay among sensor nodes due to the low propagation speed of acoustic signals. Furthermore, sensor nodes in underwater tend to experience some degree of mobility due to wind or ocean current, or some other nodes are on self-propelled vehicles, such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). In this paper, we propose a Doppler-enhanced time synchronization scheme for mobile underwater sensor networks, called DE-Sync. Our new scheme considers the effect of the clock skew during the process of estimating the Doppler scale factor and directly substitutes the Doppler scale factor into linear regression to achieve the estimation of the clock skew and offset. Simulation results show that DE-Sync outperforms existing time synchronization protocols in both accuracy and energy efficiency.

Rapid microwave processing of epoxy nanocomposites using carbon nanotubes

OpenAIRE

Luhyna, Nataliia; Inam, Fawad; Winnington, Ian

2013-01-01

Microwave processing is one of the rapid processing techniques for manufacturing nanocomposites. There is very little work focussing on the addition of CNTs for shortening the curing time of epoxy nanocomposites. Using microwave energy, the effect of CNT addition on the curing of epoxy nanocomposites was researched in this work. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to determine the degree of cure for epoxy and nanocomposite samples. CNT addition significantly reduced the duration ...

Structural and electrical properties of functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube/epoxy composite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gantayat, S.; Rout, D.; Swain, S. K.

2016-01-01

The effect of the functionalization of multiwalled carbon nanotube on the structure and electrical properties of composites was investigated. Samples based on epoxy resin with different weight percentage of MWCNTs were prepared and characterized. The interaction between MWCNT & epoxy resin was noticed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The structure of functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube (f-MWCNT) reinforced epoxy composite was studied by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The dispersion of f-MWCNT in epoxy resin was evidenced by high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). Electrical properties of epoxy/f-MWCNT nanocomposites were measured & the result indicated that the conductivity increased with increasing concentration of f-MWCNTs.

Experimental design applied optimization of a state in epoxy clay dispersion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paz, Juliana D'Avila; Bertholdi, Jonas; Folgueras, Marilena Valadares; Pezin, Sergio Henrique; Coelho, Luiz Antonio Ferreira

2010-01-01

This paper presents some analysis showed that the exfoliation / intercalation of a montmorillonite clay in epoxy resin such as viscosity, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetry (TG). Increasing the viscosity of epoxy resin diglycidyl ether bisphenol A with the addition of clay associated with the sonification system at the time of dispersion is a good indication of exfoliation. The X-ray diffraction already cured composite shows a decrease of crystallinity of clay and EDS microanalysis of SEM, non-uniform dispersion of clay in epoxy resin. Thermal analysis TG composite clay / epoxy shows an increase in thermal stability relative to pure epoxy. (author)

Determinants of epoxy allergy in the construction industry: a case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Spee, Ton; Timmerman, Johan G; Rühl, Reinhold; Kersting, Klaus; Heederik, Dick J J; Smit, Lidwien A M

2016-05-01

Workers exposed to epoxy products are at risk of developing allergic contact dermatitis. To compare workers throughout the German construction industry with and without skin allergy to epoxy resins, hardeners, and/or reactive diluents, and to investigate which determinants are related to the development of epoxy allergy. A questionnaire was completed by 179 epoxy allergy cases, and 151 epoxy workers as controls. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by the use of backwards stepwise logistic regression analysis. A multiple imputation approach was used to deal with missing data. Epoxy allergy was associated with an unusually high level of exposure to epoxy products [OR 2.13 (95%CI: 1.01-4.51)], wearing short sleeves or short trousers [OR 2.38 (95%CI: 1.03-5.52)], and not always using the correct type of gloves [OR 2.12 (95%CI: 1.12-4.01)]. A monotonic increasing risk was found with increasing exposure hours per week [OR 1.72 (95%CI: 1.39-2.14)]. Not using skin cream was inversely associated with epoxy allergy [OR 0.22 (95%CI: 0.08-0.59)]. Years working with epoxy products were inversely associated with epoxy allergy [OR 0.41 (95%CI: 0.27-0.61) per 10-year increase], suggesting a healthy worker survivor effect. Occupational epoxy allergy may be prevented by improving occupational hygiene behaviour and personal protection. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Robotics Vision-based Heuristic Reasoning for Underwater Target Tracking and Navigation

OpenAIRE

Kia, Chua; Arshad, Mohd Rizal

2006-01-01

This paper presents a robotics vision-based heuristic reasoning system for underwater target tracking and navigation. This system is introduced to improve the level of automation of underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) operations. A prototype which combines computer vision with an underwater robotics system is successfully designed and developed to perform target tracking and intelligent navigation. This study focuses on developing image processing algorithms and fuzzy inference system ...

A review of underwater bio-mimetic propulsion: cruise and fast-start

Science.gov (United States)

Chao, Li-Ming; Cao, Yong-Hui; Pan, Guang

2017-08-01

This paper reviews recent developments in the understanding of underwater bio-mimetic propulsion. Two impressive models of underwater propulsion are considered: cruise and fast-start. First, we introduce the progression of bio-mimetic propulsion, especially underwater propulsion, where some primary conceptions are touched upon. Second, the understanding of flapping foils, considered as one of the most efficient cruise styles of aquatic animals, is introduced, where the effect of kinematics and the shape and flexibility of foils on generating thrust are elucidated respectively. Fast-start propulsion is always exhibited when predator behaviour occurs, and we provide an explicit introduction of corresponding zoological experiments and numerical simulations. We also provide some predictions about underwater bio-mimetic propulsion.

A review of underwater bio-mimetic propulsion: cruise and fast-start

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chao, Li-Ming; Cao, Yong-Hui; Pan, Guang, E-mail: PanGuang_010@163.com [School of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xian 710072 (China)

2017-08-15

This paper reviews recent developments in the understanding of underwater bio-mimetic propulsion. Two impressive models of underwater propulsion are considered: cruise and fast-start. First, we introduce the progression of bio-mimetic propulsion, especially underwater propulsion, where some primary conceptions are touched upon. Second, the understanding of flapping foils, considered as one of the most efficient cruise styles of aquatic animals, is introduced, where the effect of kinematics and the shape and flexibility of foils on generating thrust are elucidated respectively. Fast-start propulsion is always exhibited when predator behaviour occurs, and we provide an explicit introduction of corresponding zoological experiments and numerical simulations. We also provide some predictions about underwater bio-mimetic propulsion. (review)

Cardiovascular response during submaximal underwater treadmill exercise in stroke patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Jeehyun; Lim, Kil-Byung; Lee, Hong-Jae; Kwon, Yong-Geol

2014-10-01

To evaluate the cardiovascular response during head-out water immersion, underwater treadmill gait, and land treadmill gait in stroke patients. Ten stroke patients were recruited for underwater and land treadmill gait sessions. Each session was 40 minutes long; 5 minutes for standing rest on land, 5 minutes for standing rest in water or on treadmill, 20 minutes for treadmill walking in water or on land, 5 minutes for standing rest in water or on treadmill, and 5 minutes for standing rest on land. Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were measured during each session. In order to estimate the cardiovascular workload and myocardial oxygen demand, the rate pressure product (RPP) value was calculated by multiplying systolic BP (SBP) by HR. SBP, DBP, mean BP (mBP), and RPP decreased significantly after water immersion, but HR was unchanged. During underwater and land treadmill gait, SBP, mBP, DBP, RPP, and HR increased. However, the mean maximum increases in BP, HR and RPP of underwater treadmill walking were significantly lower than that of land treadmill walking. Stroke patients showed different cardiovascular responses during water immersion and underwater gait as opposed to standing and treadmill-walking on land. Water immersion and aquatic treadmill gait may reduce the workload of the cardiovascular system. This study suggested that underwater treadmill may be a safe and useful option for cardiovascular fitness and early ambulation in stroke rehabilitation.

Channel coding for underwater acoustic single-carrier CDMA communication system

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lanjun; Zhang, Yonglei; Zhang, Pengcheng; Zhou, Lin; Niu, Jiong

2017-01-01

CDMA is an effective multiple access protocol for underwater acoustic networks, and channel coding can effectively reduce the bit error rate (BER) of the underwater acoustic communication system. For the requirements of underwater acoustic mobile networks based on CDMA, an underwater acoustic single-carrier CDMA communication system (UWA/SCCDMA) based on the direct-sequence spread spectrum is proposed, and its channel coding scheme is studied based on convolution, RA, Turbo and LDPC coding respectively. The implementation steps of the Viterbi algorithm of convolutional coding, BP and minimum sum algorithms of RA coding, Log-MAP and SOVA algorithms of Turbo coding, and sum-product algorithm of LDPC coding are given. An UWA/SCCDMA simulation system based on Matlab is designed. Simulation results show that the UWA/SCCDMA based on RA, Turbo and LDPC coding have good performance such that the communication BER is all less than 10-6 in the underwater acoustic channel with low signal to noise ratio (SNR) from -12 dB to -10dB, which is about 2 orders of magnitude lower than that of the convolutional coding. The system based on Turbo coding with Log-MAP algorithm has the best performance.

A Review of the Emerging Field of Underwater Mass Spectrometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily Chua

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Mass spectrometers are versatile sensor systems, owing to their high sensitivity and ability to simultaneously measure multiple chemical species. Over the last two decades, traditional laboratory-based membrane inlet mass spectrometers have been adapted for underwater use. Underwater mass spectrometry has drastically improved our capability to monitor a broad suite of gaseous compounds (e.g., dissolved atmospheric gases, light hydrocarbons, and volatile organic compounds in the aquatic environment. Here we provide an overview of the progress made in the field of underwater mass spectrometry since its inception in the 1990s to the present. In particular, we discuss the approaches undertaken by various research groups in developing in situ mass spectrometers. We also provide examples to illustrate how underwater mass spectrometers have been used in the field. Finally, we present future trends in the field of in situ mass spectrometry. Most of these efforts are aimed at improving the quality and spatial and temporal scales of chemical measurements in the ocean. By providing up-to-date information on underwater mass spectrometry, this review offers guidance for researchers interested in adapting this technology as well as goals for future progress in the field.

Molecular Modeling of Aerospace Polymer Matrices Including Carbon Nanotube-Enhanced Epoxy

Science.gov (United States)

Radue, Matthew S.

Carbon fiber (CF) composites are increasingly replacing metals used in major structural parts of aircraft, spacecraft, and automobiles. The current limitations of carbon fiber composites are addressed through computational material design by modeling the salient aerospace matrix materials. Molecular Dynamics (MD) models of epoxies with and without carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforcement and models of pure bismaleimides (BMIs) were developed to elucidate structure-property relationships for improved selection and tailoring of matrices. The influence of monomer functionality on the mechanical properties of epoxies is studied using the Reax Force Field (ReaxFF). From deformation simulations, the Young's modulus, yield point, and Poisson's ratio are calculated and analyzed. The results demonstrate an increase in stiffness and yield strength with increasing resin functionality. Comparison between the network structures of distinct epoxies is further advanced by the Monomeric Degree Index (MDI). Experimental validation demonstrates the MD results correctly predict the relationship in Young's moduli for all epoxies modeled. Therefore, the ReaxFF is confirmed to be a useful tool for studying the mechanical behavior of epoxies. While epoxies have been well-studied using MD, there has been no concerted effort to model cured BMI polymers due to the complexity of the network-forming reactions. A novel, adaptable crosslinking framework is developed for implementing 5 distinct cure reactions of Matrimid-5292 (a BMI resin) and investigating the network structure using MD simulations. The influence of different cure reactions and extent of curing are analyzed on the several thermo-mechanical properties such as mass density, glass transition temperature, coefficient of thermal expansion, elastic moduli, and thermal conductivity. The developed crosslinked models correctly predict experimentally observed trends for various properties. Finally, the epoxies modeled (di-, tri-, and tetra

Euclidean reconstruction of natural underwater scenes using optic imagery sequence

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Han

The development of maritime applications require monitoring, studying and preserving of detailed and close observation on the underwater seafloor and objects. Stereo vision offers advanced technologies to build 3D models from 2D still overlapping optic images in a relatively inexpensive way. However, while image stereo matching is a necessary step in 3D reconstruction procedure, even the most robust dense matching techniques are not guaranteed to work for underwater images due to the challenging aquatic environment. In this thesis, in addition to a detailed introduction and research on the key components of building 3D models from optic images, a robust modified quasi-dense matching algorithm based on correspondence propagation and adaptive least square matching for underwater images is proposed and applied to some typical underwater image datasets. The experiments demonstrate the robustness and good performance of the proposed matching approach.

Epoxy modified bitumen : Chemical hardening and its interpretation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Apostolidis, P.; Pipintakos, G.; van de Ven, M.F.C.; Liu, X.; Erkens, Sandra; Scarpas, Athanasios

2018-01-01

Epoxy modified bitumen (EMB) is a promising technology for long lasting paving materials ensuring higher resistance to rutting, oxygen- and moisture-induced damage. In this paper, an analysis of the chemical reactions that take place during the chemical hardening process (curing) of epoxy modified

Thermomechanical Behavior of High Performance Epoxy/Organoclay Nanocomposites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Artur Soares Cavalcanti Leal

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Nanocomposites of epoxy resin containing bentonite clay were fabricated to evaluate the thermomechanical behavior during heating. The epoxy resin system studied was prepared using bifunctional diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA, crosslinking agent diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS, and diethylenetriamine (DETA. The purified bentonite organoclay (APOC was used in all experiments. The formation of nanocomposite was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Specimens of the fabricated nanocomposites were characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA. According to the DMA results a significant increase in glass transition temperature and storage modulus was evidenced when 1 phr of clay is added to epoxy resin.

Generalized morphea/eosinophilic fasciitis overlap after epoxy exposure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Warren H. Chan, MS

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Generalized morphea is associated with epoxy resin vapors and is characterized by the development of lesions shortly after exposure. Morphea presenting along with eosinophilic fasciitis (EF, or morphea/EF overlap, is rare and an indicator of poor prognosis and resistance to treatment. Here we present a case of generalized morphea/EF overlap linked to epoxy exposure. Our patient received multiple therapies—ultraviolet A1 phototherapy, prednisone, methotrexate, azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine, and rituximab—none of which led to a significant response. The refractory nature of this disease warrants vigilance in its association with epoxy exposure.

State-of-the-Art System Solutions for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. E. Yilmaz

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs have gained popularity for the last decades, especially for the purpose of not risking human life in dangerous operations. On the other hand, underwater environment introduces numerous challenges in navigation, control and communication of such vehicles. Certainly, this fact makes the development of these vehicles more interesting and engineering-wise more attractive. In this paper, we first revisit the existing technology and methodology for the solution of aforementioned problems, then we try to come up with a system solution of a generic unmanned underwater vehicles.

Fabrication and characterization of TiO2-epoxy nanocomposite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chatterjee, Amit; Islam, Muhammad S.

2008-01-01

A systematic study has been conducted to investigate the matrix properties by introducing nanosize TiO 2 (5-40 nm, 0.5-2% by weight) fillers into an epoxy resin. Ultrasonic mixing process, via sonic cavitations, was employed to disperse the particles into the resin system. The thermal, mechanical, morphology and the viscoelastic properties of the nanocomposite and the neat resin were measured with TGA, DMA, TEM and Instron. The nano-particles are dispersed evenly throughout the entire volume of the resin. The nanofiller infusion improves the thermal, mechanical and viscoelastic properties of the epoxy resin. The nanocomposite shows increase in storage modulus, glass transition temperature, tensile modulus, flexural modulus and short beam shear strength from neat epoxy resin. The mechanical performance and thermal stability of the epoxy nanocomposites are depending on with the dispersion state of the TiO 2 in the epoxy matrix and are correlated with loading (0.0015-0.006% by volume). In addition, the nanocomposite shows enhanced flexural strength. Several reasons to explain these effects in terms of reinforcing mechanisms were discussed

Physical, structural and thermomechanical properties of oil palm nano filler/kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saba, N., E-mail: naheedchem@gmail.com [Laboratory of Biocomposite Technology, Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products(INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia); Paridah, M.T. [Laboratory of Biocomposite Technology, Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products(INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia); Abdan, K. [Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang Selangor (Malaysia); Ibrahim, N.A. [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia)

2016-12-01

The present research study deals with the fabrication of kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites by the incorporation of oil palm nano filler, montmorillonite (MMT) and organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) at 3% loading, through hand lay-up technique. Effect of adding different nano fillers on the physical (density), structural [X-ray diffraction (XRD)] and thermomechanical analysis (TMA) of kenaf/epoxy composites were carried out. Density results revealed that the incorporation of nano filler in the kenaf/epoxy composites increases the density which in turn increases the hardness of the hybrid nanocomposites. XRD analysis confirmed the presence of nano fillers in the structure of their respective fabricated hybrid nanocomposites. All hybrid nanocomposites displayed lower coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) with respect to kenaf/epoxy composites. Overall results predicted that the properties improvement in nano OPEFB/kenaf/epoxy was quite comparable to MMT/kenaf/epoxy but relatively lesser to OMMT/kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites and higher with respect to kenaf/epoxy composites. The improvement ascribed due to improved interfacial bonding or cross linking between kenaf fibers and epoxy matrix by addition of nano filler. - Highlights: • Nano OPEFB/kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites were fabricated by hand lay-up. • Effect of nano OPEFB on density & structure of kenaf/epoxy were investigated. • Thermal expansion coefficients of kenaf/epoxy and hybrid nanocomposites evaluated. • Comparative studies were made with MMT and OMMT kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites.

Physical, structural and thermomechanical properties of oil palm nano filler/kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saba, N.; Paridah, M.T.; Abdan, K.; Ibrahim, N.A.

2016-01-01

The present research study deals with the fabrication of kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites by the incorporation of oil palm nano filler, montmorillonite (MMT) and organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) at 3% loading, through hand lay-up technique. Effect of adding different nano fillers on the physical (density), structural [X-ray diffraction (XRD)] and thermomechanical analysis (TMA) of kenaf/epoxy composites were carried out. Density results revealed that the incorporation of nano filler in the kenaf/epoxy composites increases the density which in turn increases the hardness of the hybrid nanocomposites. XRD analysis confirmed the presence of nano fillers in the structure of their respective fabricated hybrid nanocomposites. All hybrid nanocomposites displayed lower coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) with respect to kenaf/epoxy composites. Overall results predicted that the properties improvement in nano OPEFB/kenaf/epoxy was quite comparable to MMT/kenaf/epoxy but relatively lesser to OMMT/kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites and higher with respect to kenaf/epoxy composites. The improvement ascribed due to improved interfacial bonding or cross linking between kenaf fibers and epoxy matrix by addition of nano filler. - Highlights: • Nano OPEFB/kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites were fabricated by hand lay-up. • Effect of nano OPEFB on density & structure of kenaf/epoxy were investigated. • Thermal expansion coefficients of kenaf/epoxy and hybrid nanocomposites evaluated. • Comparative studies were made with MMT and OMMT kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites.

The aquatic tympanic ear: convergent adaptations for underwater hearing in three tetrapods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Wahlberg, Magnus; Larsen, Ole Næsbye

pressure, low particle motion medium, and the consequence is that an efficient underwater ear is sensitive to sound pressure. It is often stated that underwater hearing can work efficiently without a middle ear apparatus by bone conduction, since sound is transmitted from water to inner ear tissue...... is modified (cartilaginous or partly cartilaginous). In all three species, the lowest threshold to underwater sound is at this peak frequency and is around 80 dB re 1 µPa. The sensitivity to sound pressure is slightly lower in water than in air, making underwater hearing much more efficient in terms of sound...

Collective Modular Underwater Robotic System for Long-Term Autonomous Operation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, David Johan; Andersen, Jens Christian; Blanke, Mogens

This paper provides a brief overview of an underwater robotic system for autonomous inspection in confined offshore underwater structures. The system, which is currently in development, consist of heterogeneous modular robots able to physically dock and communicate with other robots, transport...

Underwater Sensor Networks: A New Energy Efficient and Robust Architecture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Climent, Salvador; Capella, Juan Vincente; Meratnia, Nirvana; Serrano, Juan José

2012-01-01

The specific characteristics of underwater environments introduce new challenges for networking protocols. In this paper, a specialized architecture for underwater sensor networks (UWSNs) is proposed and evaluated. Experiments are conducted in order to analyze the suitability of this protocol for

Underwater methods for study of salmonids in the Intermountain West

Science.gov (United States)

Russell F. Thurow

1994-01-01

This guide describes underwater methods using snorkeling gear to study fish populations in flowing waters of the Intermountain West. It outlines procedures for estimating salmonid abundance and habitat use and provides criteria for identifying and estimating the size of fish underwater.

Enhanced thermal and mechanical properties of epoxy composites by mixing thermotropic liquid crystalline epoxy grafted graphene oxide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Qi

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Graphene oxide (GO sheets were chemically grafted with thermotropic liquid crystalline epoxy (TLCP. Then we fabricated composites using TLCP-g-GO as reinforcing filler. The mechanical properties and thermal properties of composites were systematically investigated. It is found that the thermal and mechanical properties of the composites are enhanced effectively by the addition of fillers. For instance, the composites containing 1.0 wt% of TLCP-g-GO present impact strength of 51.43 kJ/m2, the tensile strength of composites increase from 55.43 to 80.85 MPa, the flexural modulus of the composites increase by more than 48%. Furthermore, the incorporation of fillers is effective to improve the glass transition temperature and thermal stability of the composites. Therefore, the presence of the TLCP-g-GO in the epoxy matrix could make epoxy not only stronger but also tougher.

Predicting the mechanical behaviour of Kevlar/epoxy and carbon/epoxy filament-wound tubes

Science.gov (United States)

Cazeneuve, C.; Joguet, P.; Maile, J. C.; Oytana, C.

1992-11-01

The axial, hoop and shear moduli and failure conditions of carbon/epoxy and Kevlar/epoxy filament-wound tubes have been determined through respective applications of internal pressure, tension and torsion. The introduction in the laminated plate theory of a gradual reduction in individual moduli makes it possible to overcome the limitations of the theory and enables accurate predictions to be made of the linear and non-linear stress/strain curves of 90 deg +/- 0/90 deg tubes. The existence of a dominant layer in the failure of the multilayered tubes has been shown experimentally. When associated with a failure criterion applied to the dominant layer, the new model permits the prediction of tube failure. Agreement between calculated and experimental data is better than 5 percent.

Optical emission behavior and radiation resistance of epoxy resins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawanishi, Shunichi; Udagawa, Akira; Hagiwara, Miyuki

1987-11-01

To make clear a mechanism of radiation resistance of epoxy resin systems, a role of energy trapping site induced in bisphenol A type epoxy resins cured with 4 kinds of aromatic amines (Φ N ) was studied in comparison with the case of aliphatic amine curing system through a measurement of optical emission. In the system of the epoxy resin cured with DETA, the optical emission from an excited state of bisphenol A unit of epoxy resin and a charge transfer complex was observed. On the other hand, the optical emission from Φ N was observed in the aromatic amine curing system. Their excitation spectrum consists of peaks of absorption spectrum of BA and those of Φ N , showing that the excited state of Φ N is formed through the excitation of both BA and Φ N . Therefore, the excited energy of BA transfers to the excited state of Φ N . Emission intensity of Φ N band was 20 ∼ 100 times as large as that of BA. These results indicate that the radiation energy is effectively released as an optical emission from excited state of Φ N in the epoxy resin when cured with aromatic amine. It can be concluded from the above results that aromatic amine hardeners contribute to enhancement of the radiation resistance of epoxy resin by acting as an energy transfer agent. (author)

Epoxy encapsulant as serendipitous dosimeters during radiological/nuclear events

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barkyoumb, J.H. [Carderock Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, 9500 MacArthur Blvd., West Bethesda, MD 20817-5700 (United States)], E-mail: jhbarky@earthlink.net; Mathur, V.K. [Carderock Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, 9500 MacArthur Blvd., West Bethesda, MD 20817-5700 (United States)

2008-02-15

The radiation response of a smart chip (embedded integrated circuit) module has been reported earlier using the technique of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). It was found that a smart chip module could be used to evaluate the personnel exposure in the accident dosimetry range. Through subsequent experiments, the radiation sensitivity of the chip module was traced to the epoxy encapsulant provided to protect the chip from the environment and physical damage and that the radiation sensitivity of the epoxy is due to the silica used as the 'filler' for controlling the thixotropic properties of the epoxy used for 'glob top' or 'dam-and-fill' encapsulation. It is desirable to retain the ability to use the smart chip as an accident dosimeter without requiring a modification of standard manufacturing process for which an infrastructure already exists to avoid additional costs. For this reason, we have investigated commercially available filled and unfilled epoxies both as received from the manufacturer and compared their response with epoxies to which commercial fillers are added. In this work we investigate the OSL response of various epoxies commonly used for potting of electronic circuits with and without various filler materials for their potential to be used as a casualty dosimeter in the exposure range of 0.5-10 Gy.

Underwater detection by using ultrasonic sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Bakar, S. A. A.; Ong, N. R.; Aziz, M. H. A.; Alcain, J. B.; Haimi, W. M. W. N.; Sauli, Z.

2017-09-01

This paper described the low cost implementation of hardware and software in developing the system of ultrasonic which can visualize the feedback of sound in the form of measured distance through mobile phone and monitoring the frequency of detection by using real time graph of Java application. A single waterproof transducer of JSN-SR04T had been used to determine the distance of an object based on operation of the classic pulse echo detection method underwater. In this experiment, the system was tested by placing the housing which consisted of Arduino UNO, Bluetooth module of HC-06, ultrasonic sensor and LEDs at the top of the box and the transducer was immersed in the water. The system which had been tested for detection in vertical form was found to be capable of reporting through the use of colored LEDs as indicator to the relative proximity of object distance underwater form the sensor. As a conclusion, the system can detect the presence of an object underwater within the range of ultrasonic sensor and display the measured distance onto the mobile phone and the real time graph had been successfully generated.

Evaluation of epoxy resin for cryogenic use by positron annihilation method. Change of characteristics of epoxy resin with cross-linking density and positron lifetime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishijima, Shigehiro; Honda, Yoshihide; Okada, Toichi; Kobayashi, Yoshinori; Namba, Shingo.

1994-01-01

The positron annihilation method has been applied to evaluate unoccupied space in epoxy aiming at the design of the molecular structure for cryogenic use. To confirm the model in which molecular free space is needed in the epoxy for cryogenic use, the molecular weight between cross-linkings in epoxy was changed. The increase of molecular weight between cross-linkings brought an increase of fracture toughness even at liquid helium temperature and the model was found to be confirmed. The increase of molecular weight between cross-linkings was also found to decrease the 3rd lifetime of positrons. It suggested that the epoxy main chains were folded and this was confirmed by the molecular mechanical calculation. (author)

Thermal conductivity of pillared graphene-epoxy nanocomposites using molecular dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Lakshmanan, A.; Srivastava, S.; Ramazani, A.; Sundararaghavan, V.

2018-04-01

Thermal conductivity in a pillared graphene-epoxy nanocomposite (PGEN) is studied using equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. PGEN is a proposed material for advanced thermal management applications because it combines high in-plane conductivity of graphene with high axial conductivity of a nanotube to significantly enhance the overall conductivity of the epoxy matrix material. Anisotropic conductivity of PGEN has been compared with that of pristine and functionalized carbon nanotube-epoxy nanocomposites, showcasing the advantages of the unique hierarchical structure of PGEN. Compared to pure carbon allotropes, embedding the epoxy matrix also promotes a weaker dependence of conductivity on thermal variations. These features make this an attractive material for thermal management applications.

Thermoset Blends of an Epoxy Resin and Polydicyclopentadiene

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rohde, Brian J.; Le, Kim Mai; Krishnamoorti, Ramanan; Robertson, Megan L.

2016-12-13

The mechanical properties of two chemically distinct and complementary thermoset polymers were manipulated through development of thermoset blends. The thermoset blend system was composed of an anhydride-cured diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)-based epoxy resin, contributing high tensile strength and modulus, and polydicyclopentadiene (PDCPD), which has a higher toughness and impact strength as compared to other thermoset polymers. Ultra-small-angle and small-angle X-ray scattering analysis explored the morphology of concurrently cured thermoset blends, revealing a macroscopically phase separated system with a surface fractal structure across blended systems of varying composition. The epoxy resin rich and PDCPD rich phases exhibited distinct glass transitions (Tg’s): the Tg observed at higher temperature was associated with the epoxy resin rich phase and was largely unaffected by the presence of PDCPD, whereas the PDCPD rich phase Tg systematically decreased with increasing epoxy resin content due to inhibition of dicyclopentadiene ring-opening metathesis polymerization. The mechanical properties of these phase-separated blends were in reasonable agreement with predictions by the rule of mixtures for the blend tensile strength, modulus, and fracture toughness. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the tensile and fracture specimen fracture surfaces showed an increase in energy dissipation mechanisms, such as crazing, shear banding, and surface roughness, as the fraction of the more ductile component, PDPCD, increased. These results present a facile method to tune the mechanical properties of a toughened thermoset network, in which the high modulus and tensile strength of the epoxy resin can be largely retained at high epoxy resin content in the blend, while increasing the fracture toughness.

Task Allocation and Path Planning for Collaborative Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Operating through an Underwater Acoustic Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yueyue Deng

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Dynamic and unstructured multiple cooperative autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV missions are highly complex operations, and task allocation and path planning are made significantly more challenging under realistic underwater acoustic communication constraints. This paper presents a solution for the task allocation and path planning for multiple AUVs under marginal acoustic communication conditions: a location-aided task allocation framework (LAAF algorithm for multitarget task assignment and the grid-based multiobjective optimal programming (GMOOP mathematical model for finding an optimal vehicle command decision given a set of objectives and constraints. Both the LAAF and GMOOP algorithms are well suited in poor acoustic network condition and dynamic environment. Our research is based on an existing mobile ad hoc network underwater acoustic simulator and blind flooding routing protocol. Simulation results demonstrate that the location-aided auction strategy performs significantly better than the well-accepted auction algorithm developed by Bertsekas in terms of task-allocation time and network bandwidth consumption. We also demonstrate that the GMOOP path-planning technique provides an efficient method for executing multiobjective tasks by cooperative agents with limited communication capabilities. This is in contrast to existing multiobjective action selection methods that are limited to networks where constant, reliable communication is assumed to be available.

Cooperative OFDM underwater acoustic communications

CERN Document Server

Cheng, Xilin; Cheng, Xiang

2016-01-01

Following underwater acoustic channel modeling, this book investigates the relationship between coherence time and transmission distances. It considers the power allocation issues of two typical transmission scenarios, namely short-range transmission and medium-long range transmission. For the former scenario, an adaptive system is developed based on instantaneous channel state information. The primary focus is on cooperative dual-hop orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). This book includes the decomposed fountain codes designed to enable reliable communications with higher energy efficiency. It covers the Doppler Effect, which improves packet transmission reliability for effective low-complexity mirror-mapping-based intercarrier interference cancellation schemes capable of suppressing the intercarrier interference power level. Designed for professionals and researchers in the field of underwater acoustic communications, this book is also suitable for advanced-level students in electrical enginee...

ULTRA: Underwater Localization for Transit and Reconnaissance Autonomy

Science.gov (United States)

Huntsberger, Terrance L.

2013-01-01

This software addresses the issue of underwater localization of unmanned vehicles and the inherent drift in their onboard sensors. The software gives a 2 to 3 factor of improvement over the state-of-the-art underwater localization algorithms. The software determines the localization (position, heading) of an AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) in environments where there is no GPS signal. It accomplishes this using only the commanded position, onboard gyros/accelerometers, and the bathymetry of the bottom provided by an onboard sonar system. The software does not rely on an onboard bathymetry dataset, but instead incrementally determines the position of the AUV while mapping the bottom. In order to enable long-distance underwater navigation by AUVs, a localization method called ULTRA uses registration of the bathymetry data products produced by the onboard forward-looking sonar system for hazard avoidance during a transit to derive the motion and pose of the AUV in order to correct the DR (dead reckoning) estimates. The registration algorithm uses iterative point matching (IPM) combined with surface interpolation of the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm. This method was used previously at JPL for onboard unmanned ground vehicle localization, and has been optimized for efficient computational and memory use.

Underwater laser cladding and seal welding for INCONEL 52

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamura, Masataka; Kouno, Wataru; Makino, Yoshinobu; Kawano, Shohei; Yoda, Masaki

2007-01-01

Recently, stress corrosion cracking (SCC) has been observed at aged components of nuclear power plants under water environment and high exposure of radiation. Toshiba has been developing both an underwater laser welding directly onto surface of the aged components as maintenance and repair techniques. This paper reports underwater laser cladding and seal welding for INCONEL 52. (author)

Self-healing woven glass fabric/epoxy composites with the healant consisting of micro-encapsulated epoxy and latent curing agent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yin Tao; Zhou Lin; Rong Minzhi; Zhang Mingqiu

2008-01-01

This paper reports a study of self-healing woven glass fabric reinforced epoxy composites. The healing agent was a two-component one synthesized in the authors' laboratory, which consisted of epoxy-loaded urea-formaldehyde microcapsules as the polymerizable binder and CuBr 2 (2-methylimidazole) 4 (CuBr 2 (2-MeIm) 4 ) as the latent hardener. Both the microcapsules and the matching catalyst were pre-embedded and pre-dissolved in the composites' matrix, respectively. When the microcapsules are split by propagating cracks, the uncured epoxy can be released into the damaged areas and then consolidated under the catalysis of CuBr 2 (2-MeIm) 4 that was homogeneously distributed in the composites' matrix on a molecular scale. As a result, the cracked faces can be bonded together. The influence of the content of the self-healing agent on the composites' tensile properties, interlaminar fracture toughness and healing efficiency was evaluated. It was found that a healing efficiency over 70% relative to the fracture toughness of virgin composites was obtained in the case of 30 wt% epoxy-loaded microcapsules and 2 wt% latent hardener

Safety aspects for underwater vehicles

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Madhan, R.; Navelkar, G.S.; Desa, E.S.; Afzulpurkar, S.; Prabhudesai, S.P.; Dabholkar, N.; Mascarenhas, A.A.M.Q.; Maurya, P.

instrumentation is intelligent small Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV’s), autonomous profilers, gliders [1], etc. The ultimate aim in all autonomous platforms research and development is to reach the stage of unescorted missions with minimum failures...

The WODA guidance paper on underwater sound from dredging (abstract)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thomsen, F.; Borsani, F.; Clarke, D.; Jong, C.A.F. de; Witt, P. de; Holtkamp, M.; Goethals, F.; San Martin, E.; Spadaro, P.; Raalte, G. van; Jensen, A.

2013-01-01

The World Organisation of Dredging Associations (WODA) has identified underwater sound as an environmental issue that needs further consideration. A WODA Expert Group on Underwater Sound (WEGUS) was established to provide a guidance paper on dredging sound, impact on aquatic biota and advice on

Defect detectability of eddy current testing for underwater laser beam welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueno, Souichi; Kobayashi, Noriyasu; Ochiai, Makoto; Kasuya, Takashi; Yuguchi, Yasuhiro

2011-01-01

We clarified defect detectability of eddy current testing (ECT) as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding works of dissimilar metal welding (DMW) of reactor vessel nozzle. The underwater laser beam welding procedure includes groove caving as a preparation, laser beam welding in the grooves and welded surface grinding as a post treatment. Therefore groove and welded surface inspections are required in the underwater condition. The ECT is a major candidate as this inspection technique because a penetrant testing is difficult to perform in the underwater condition. Several kinds of experiments were curried out using a cross coil an ECT probe and ECT data acquisition system in order to demonstrate the ECT defect detectability. We used specimens, simulating groove and DMW materials at an RV nozzle, with electro-discharge machining (EDM) slits over it. Additionally, we performed a detection test for artificial stress corrosion cracking (SCC) defects. From these experimental results, we confirmed that an ECT was possible to detect EDM slits 0.3 mm or more in depth and artificial SCC defects 0.02 mm to 0.48 mm in depth on machined surface. Furthermore, the underwater ECT defect detectability is equivalent to that in air. We clarified an ECT is sufficiently usable as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding works. (author)

Experimental Study on the Measurement of Water Bottom Vibration Induced by Underwater Drilling Blasting

OpenAIRE

Wenbin, Gu; Jianghai, Chen; Zhenxiong, Wang; Zhihua, Wang; Jianqing, Liu; Ming, Lu

2015-01-01

Due to the lack of proper instrumentations and the difficulties in underwater measurements, the studies about water bottom vibration induced by underwater drilling blasting are seldom reported. In order to investigate the propagation and attenuation laws of blasting induced water bottom vibration, a water bottom vibration monitor was developed with consideration of the difficulties in underwater measurements. By means of this equipment, the actual water bottom vibration induced by underwater ...

Fabrication and mechanical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes/epoxy nanocomposites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yeh, M.-K.; Hsieh, T.-H.; Tai, N.-H.

2008-01-01

Carbon nanotubes have better physical and mechanical behavior than the traditional materials. In this study, the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were added to the epoxy resin as a reinforcement to fabricate MWNTs/epoxy nanocomposites. The pressure and temperature were applied to cure the MWNTs/epoxy compound by hot press method. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, Young's modulus, and Poisson's ratio were measured. The effect of weight percentages of the MWNTs was investigated. Morphologies of the fracture surface of MWNTs/epoxy nanocomposites were observed by scanning electron microscope

Stronger Fire-Resistant Epoxies

Science.gov (United States)

Fohlen, George M.; Parker, John A.; Kumar, Devendra

1988-01-01

New curing agent improves mechanical properties and works at lower temperature. Use of aminophenoxycyclotriphosphazene curing agents yields stronger, more heat- and fire-resistant epoxy resins. Used with solvent if necessary for coating fabrics or casting films.

Applicability evaluation of eddy current testing for underwater laser beam welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Noriyasu; Kasuya, Takashi; Ueno, Souichi; Ochiai, Makoto; Yuguchi, Yasuhiro

2010-01-01

We clarified a defect detecting capability of eddy current testing (ECT) as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding. An underwater laser beam welding procedure includes groove caving as a preparation, laser beam welding in groove and welding surface grinding as a post treatment. Therefore groove and grinded welding surface inspections are required underwater. We curried out defect detection tests using three kinds of specimens simulated a groove, reactor vessel nozzle dissimilar metal welding materials and a laser beam welding material with a cross coil ECT probe. From experimental results, we confirmed that it is possible to detect 0.3 mm or more depth electro-discharge machining slits on machining surfaces in all specimens and an ECT has possibility as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding. (author)

A Survey of Routing Issues and Associated Protocols in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Khalid

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Underwater wireless sensor networks are a newly emerging wireless technology in which small size sensors with limited energy and limited memory and bandwidth are deployed in deep sea water and various monitoring operations like tactical surveillance, environmental monitoring, and data collection are performed through these tiny sensors. Underwater wireless sensor networks are used for the exploration of underwater resources, oceanographic data collection, flood or disaster prevention, tactical surveillance systems, and unmanned underwater vehicles. Sensor nodes consist of a small memory, a central processing unit, and an antenna. Underwater networks are much different from terrestrial sensor networks as radio waves cannot be used in underwater wireless sensor networks. Acoustic channels are used for communication in deep sea water. Acoustic signals have many limitations, such as limited bandwidth, higher end-to-end delay, network path loss, higher propagation delay, and dynamic topology. Usually, these limitations result in higher energy consumption with a smaller number of packets delivered. The main aim nowadays is to operate sensor nodes having a smaller battery for a longer time in the network. This survey has discussed the state-of-the-art localization based and localization-free routing protocols. Routing associated issues in the area of underwater wireless sensor networks have also been discussed.

Evaluation of Underwater Image Enhancement Algorithms under Different Environmental Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marino Mangeruga

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Underwater images usually suffer from poor visibility, lack of contrast and colour casting, mainly due to light absorption and scattering. In literature, there are many algorithms aimed to enhance the quality of underwater images through different approaches. Our purpose was to identify an algorithm that performs well in different environmental conditions. We have selected some algorithms from the state of the art and we have employed them to enhance a dataset of images produced in various underwater sites, representing different environmental and illumination conditions. These enhanced images have been evaluated through some quantitative metrics. By analysing the results of these metrics, we tried to understand which of the selected algorithms performed better than the others. Another purpose of our research was to establish if a quantitative metric was enough to judge the behaviour of an underwater image enhancement algorithm. We aim to demonstrate that, even if the metrics can provide an indicative estimation of image quality, they could lead to inconsistent or erroneous evaluations.

Fullerene–epoxy nanocomposites-enhanced mechanical properties at low nanofiller loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafiee, Mohammad A.; Yavari, Fazel; Rafiee, Javad; Koratkar, Nikhil

2011-01-01

In this study, we characterized the mechanical properties of fullerence (C 60 ) epoxy nanocomposites at various weight fractions of fullerene additives in the epoxy matrix. The mechanical properties measured were the Young’s modulus, ultimate tensile strength, fracture toughness, fracture energy, and the material’s resistance to fatigue crack propagation. All of the above properties of the epoxy polymer were significantly enhanced by the fullerene additives at relatively low nanofiller loading fractions (∼0.1 to 1% of the epoxy matrix weight). By contrast, other forms of nanoparticle fillers such as silica, alumina, and titania nanoparticles require up to an order of magnitude higher weight fraction to achieve comparable enhancement in properties.

Thermal properties of oil palm nano filler/kenaf reinforced epoxy hybrid nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Saba, N.; Paridah, M. T.; Abdan, K.; Ibrahim, N. A.

2016-11-01

The aim of this research study was to fabricate nano oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB)/kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites and to make comparative study on the thermal properties of nano OPEFB/kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites with the montmorillonite (MMT)/kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites and organically modified MMT (OMMT)/kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites. Epoxy based kenaf hybrid nanocomposites was prepared by dispersing the nano filler (nano OPEFB filler, MMT, OMMT) at 3% loading through high speed mechanical stirrer followed by hand lay-up technique. Thermal properties of hybrid nanocomposites were analyzed through thermogravimetry analyzer (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Obtained results specified that addition of nano OPEFB filler improves the thermal stability and char yield of kenaf/epoxy composites. Furthermore, the increase in decomposition temperature by the nano OPEFB filler was quite comparable to the MMT/kenaf/epoxy but relatively less than OMMT/kenaf/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites. We concluded from overall consequences that the nano OPEFB filler can be used as the promising and innovative alternative of existing expensive nano filler, with relatively lesser impact on the environment having marked pronounced impact on the construction, automotive, aerospace, electronics and semiconducting sectors as future industries based on bio-wastes with satisfactory light weight and thermal stability on other side.

Stochastic estimation of acoustic impedance of glass-reinforced epoxy coating 128-134

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, No Hyu [School of MechatronicEngineering, Korea University of Technology and Education, Chunan (Korea, Republic of); Nah, Hwan Seon [Structural Engineering Lab., Korea Electric Power Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-04-15

An epoxy coating applied to the concrete surface of a containment building deteriorates in hazardous environments such as those containing radiation, heat, and moisture. Unlike metals, the epoxy coating on a concrete liner absorbs and discharges moisture during the degradations process, so it has a different density and volume during service. In this study, acoustic impedance was adopted for characterizing the degradation of a glass-reinforced epoxy coating using the acoustic reflection coefficient (reflectance) on a rough epoxy coating. For estimating the acoustic reflectance on a wavy epoxy coating surface, a probabilistic model was developed to represent the multiple irregular reflections of the acoustic wave from the wavy surface on the basis of the simulated annealing technique. A number of epoxy-coated concrete specimens were prepared and exposed to accelerated aging conditions to induce an artificial aging degradation in them. The acoustic impedance of the degraded epoxy coating was estimated successfully by minimizing the error between a waveform calculated from the mathematical model and a waveform measured from the surface of the rough coating.

Stochastic estimation of acoustic impedance of glass-reinforced epoxy coating 128-134

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, No Hyu; Nah, Hwan Seon

2014-01-01

An epoxy coating applied to the concrete surface of a containment building deteriorates in hazardous environments such as those containing radiation, heat, and moisture. Unlike metals, the epoxy coating on a concrete liner absorbs and discharges moisture during the degradations process, so it has a different density and volume during service. In this study, acoustic impedance was adopted for characterizing the degradation of a glass-reinforced epoxy coating using the acoustic reflection coefficient (reflectance) on a rough epoxy coating. For estimating the acoustic reflectance on a wavy epoxy coating surface, a probabilistic model was developed to represent the multiple irregular reflections of the acoustic wave from the wavy surface on the basis of the simulated annealing technique. A number of epoxy-coated concrete specimens were prepared and exposed to accelerated aging conditions to induce an artificial aging degradation in them. The acoustic impedance of the degraded epoxy coating was estimated successfully by minimizing the error between a waveform calculated from the mathematical model and a waveform measured from the surface of the rough coating.

Hansen solubility parameters for a carbon fiber/epoxy composite

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Launay, Helene; Hansen, Charles M.; Almdal, Kristoffer

2007-01-01

In this study, the physical affinity between an epoxy matrix and oxidized, unsized carbon fibers has been evaluated using Hansen solubility (cohesion) parameters (HSP). A strong physical compatibility has been shown, since their respective HSP are close. The use of a glassy carbon substrate...... as a model for unsized carbon fiber has been demonstrated as appropriate for the study of interactions between the materials in composite carbon fiber-epoxy systems. The HSP of glassy carbon are similar to those of carbon fibers and epoxy matrix. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....

Electrical and Mechanical Properties of 3D-Printed Graphene-Reinforced Epoxy

Science.gov (United States)

Compton, Brett G.; Hmeidat, Nadim S.; Pack, Robert C.; Heres, Maximilian F.; Sangoro, Joshua R.

2018-03-01

Recent developments in additive manufacturing have demonstrated the potential for thermoset polymer feedstock materials to achieve high strength, stiffness, and functionality through incorporation of structural and functional filler materials. In this work, graphene was investigated as a potential filler material to provide rheological properties necessary for direct-write three-dimensional (3D) printing and electrostatic discharge properties to the printed component. The rheological properties of epoxy/graphene mixtures were characterized, and printable epoxy/graphene inks formulated. Sheet resistance values for printed epoxy/graphene composites ranged from 0.67 × 102 Ω/sq to 8.2 × 103 Ω/sq. The flexural strength of printed epoxy/graphene composites was comparable to that of cast neat epoxy ( 80 MPa), suggesting great potential for these new materials in multifunctional 3D-printed devices.

Degradation of modified carbon black/epoxy nanocomposite coatings under ultraviolet exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghasemi-Kahrizsangi, Ahmad; Shariatpanahi, Homeira; Neshati, Jaber; Akbarinezhad, Esmaeil

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Degradation behavior of modified Carbon Black (CB) epoxy coating was studied under UV irradiation using based on EIS technique. • By using SDS as a surfactant, nano particles of CB were uniformly dispersed in an epoxy matrix. • ATR-FTIR analysis showed that the CB coatings were degraded less than epoxy coating. • EIS results showed the coating with 2.5 wt% CB nanoparticles had higher corrosion resistance than neat epoxy. - Abstract: Degradation of epoxy coatings with and without Carbon Black (CB) nanoparticles under ultraviolet (UV) radiation were investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used to obtain a good dispersion of CB nanoparticles in a polymer matrix. TEM analysis proved a uniform dispersion of modified CB nanoparticles in epoxy coating. The coatings were subjected to UV radiation to study the degradation behavior and then immersed in 3.5 wt% NaCl. The results showed that the electrochemical behavior of neat epoxy coating was related to the formation and development of microcracks on the surface. The occurrence of microcracks on the surface of the coatings and consequently the penetration of ionic species reduced by adding CB nanoparticles into the formulation of the coatings. CB nanoparticles decreased degradation of CB coatings by absorbing UV irradiation. The ATR-FTIR results showed that decrease in the intensity of methyl group as main peak in presence of 2.5 wt% CB was lower than neat epoxy. In addition, the reduction in impedance of neat epoxy coating under corrosive environment was larger than CB coatings. The CB coating with 2.5 wt% nanoparticles had the highest impedance to corrosive media after 2000 h UV irradiation and 24 h immersion in 3.5 wt% NaCl.

Degradation of modified carbon black/epoxy nanocomposite coatings under ultraviolet exposure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghasemi-Kahrizsangi, Ahmad, E-mail: ahmad_usk@yahoo.com [Corrosion Department, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), P.O. Box 18745-4163, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Shariatpanahi, Homeira, E-mail: shariatpanahih@ripi.ir [Coating Research Center, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), P.O. Box 18745-4163, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Neshati, Jaber [Corrosion Department, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), P.O. Box 18745-4163, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Akbarinezhad, Esmaeil [Coating Research Center, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), P.O. Box 18745-4163, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-10-30

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Degradation behavior of modified Carbon Black (CB) epoxy coating was studied under UV irradiation using based on EIS technique. • By using SDS as a surfactant, nano particles of CB were uniformly dispersed in an epoxy matrix. • ATR-FTIR analysis showed that the CB coatings were degraded less than epoxy coating. • EIS results showed the coating with 2.5 wt% CB nanoparticles had higher corrosion resistance than neat epoxy. - Abstract: Degradation of epoxy coatings with and without Carbon Black (CB) nanoparticles under ultraviolet (UV) radiation were investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used to obtain a good dispersion of CB nanoparticles in a polymer matrix. TEM analysis proved a uniform dispersion of modified CB nanoparticles in epoxy coating. The coatings were subjected to UV radiation to study the degradation behavior and then immersed in 3.5 wt% NaCl. The results showed that the electrochemical behavior of neat epoxy coating was related to the formation and development of microcracks on the surface. The occurrence of microcracks on the surface of the coatings and consequently the penetration of ionic species reduced by adding CB nanoparticles into the formulation of the coatings. CB nanoparticles decreased degradation of CB coatings by absorbing UV irradiation. The ATR-FTIR results showed that decrease in the intensity of methyl group as main peak in presence of 2.5 wt% CB was lower than neat epoxy. In addition, the reduction in impedance of neat epoxy coating under corrosive environment was larger than CB coatings. The CB coating with 2.5 wt% nanoparticles had the highest impedance to corrosive media after 2000 h UV irradiation and 24 h immersion in 3.5 wt% NaCl.

Adhesive properties and adhesive joints strength of graphite/epoxy composites

Science.gov (United States)

Rudawska, Anna; Stančeková, Dana; Cubonova, Nadezda; Vitenko, Tetiana; Müller, Miroslav; Valášek, Petr

2017-05-01

The article presents the results of experimental research of the adhesive joints strength of graphite/epoxy composites and the results of the surface free energy of the composite surfaces. Two types of graphite/epoxy composites with different thickness were tested which are used to aircraft structure. The single-lap adhesive joints of epoxy composites were considered. Adhesive properties were described by surface free energy. Owens-Wendt method was used to determine surface free energy. The epoxy two-component adhesive was used to preparing the adhesive joints. Zwick/Roell 100 strength device were used to determination the shear strength of adhesive joints of epoxy composites. The strength test results showed that the highest value was obtained for adhesive joints of graphite-epoxy composite of smaller material thickness (0.48 mm). Statistical analysis of the results obtained, the study showed statistically significant differences between the values of the strength of the confidence level of 0.95. The statistical analysis of the results also showed that there are no statistical significant differences in average values of surface free energy (0.95 confidence level). It was noted that in each of the results the dispersion component of surface free energy was much greater than polar component of surface free energy.

Mechanical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotube/epoxy polysulfide nanocomposite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirkavand Hadavand, Behzad; Mahdavi Javid, Kimya; Gharagozlou, Mehrnaz

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Preparation of epoxy polysulfide nanocomposite. ► Multi-walled carbon nanotubes have been modified and dispersed in epoxy polysulfide matrix. ► Mechanical properties of MWNT/epoxy polysulfide have been studied. - Abstract: In this research, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were modified by acid functionalization (H 2 SO 4 :HNO 3 = 1:3 by volume) and then mechanical properties of reinforced epoxy polysulfide resin by the both pure and treated MWNTs have been evaluated. For achieving this goal, different weight percentages of pure and treated MWCNT (0.1–0.3 wt%) were dispersed in the epoxy polysulfide resin separately and then mixed with curing agent. Experimental results have shown significant difference between acid treated and untreated MWCNTs in mechanical properties of epoxy polysulfide nanocomposites. In nanocomposite with 0.1–0.3% acid treated MWCNTs we observed increase of Young’s modulus from 458 to 723 MPa, tensile strength from 5.29 to 8.83 MPa and fracture strain from 0.16% to 0.25%. For understanding the structure and morphology of nanocomposite, the dispersion states were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and field emission electron microscopy (FESEM). The results showed better dispersion of modified carbon nanotube than unmodified in polymeric matrix

Study on underwater plasma arc cutting technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yada, Toshio; Nakamura, Uhachiro; Tomidokoro, Sakae; Fukuzawa, Mitsuo

1980-01-01

The zirconium alloy tube of the impile creep test facility had been subjected to inner pressure in the Japan Material Testing Reactor (JMTR) environment. In the near future, it will be necessary to dismantle the facility and to take out the tube for such examinations as irradiation effects on material properties. In order to establish the dismantling technology for the radioactive facility, a study on underwater plasma arc cutting has been carried out since 1977. Primarily, optimum underwater cutting sequence and conditions were studied in details for developing the remote control handling and the cutting system. Further, the amounts of particles suspended in water as well as those contained in bubbled gas were quantitatively analyzed for developing a safe removal system for contaminants which were produced by cutting the radioactive material. As a result of this study, it has been concluded that the underwater plasma arc cutting method is generally suitable and effective for dismantling such radioactive material as the impile creep test facility of the JMTR. (author)

Modeling and Control of Underwater Robotic Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schjoelberg, I:

1996-12-31

This doctoral thesis describes modeling and control of underwater vehicle-manipulator systems. The thesis also presents a model and a control scheme for a system consisting of a surface vessel connected to an underwater robotic system by means of a slender marine structure. The equations of motion of the underwater vehicle and manipulator are described and the system kinematics and properties presented. Feedback linearization technique is applied to the system and evaluated through a simulation study. Passivity-based controllers for vehicle and manipulator control are presented. Stability of the closed loop system is proved and simulation results are given. The equation of motion for lateral motion of a cable/riser system connected to a surface vessel at the top end and to a thruster at the bottom end is described and stability analysis and simulations are presented. The equations of motion in 3 degrees of freedom of the cable/riser, surface vessel and robotic system are given. Stability analysis of the total system with PD-controllers is presented. 47 refs., 32 figs., 7 tabs.

Thermal and mechanical interfacial properties of epoxy composites based on functionalized carbon nanotubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin Fanlong; Ma Changjie; Park, Soo-Jin

2011-01-01

Highlights: → CNTs were functionalized by acid and amine treatments. → Epoxy resin/CNT composites were prepared. → T g of the composites increased by about 10 deg. C compared to neat epoxy resins. → Toughness of the composites was significantly improved by the addition of functionalized CNTs. - Abstract: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were treated by a mixture of acid and functionalized subsequently by amine treatment to improve interfacial interactions and dispersion of CNTs in epoxy matrix. The thermal stabilities and mechanical interfacial properties of epoxy/CNT composites were investigated using several techniques. The dispersion state of CNTs in the epoxy matrix was observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As a result, the glass transition temperature of epoxy/CNT composites increased by about 11 deg. C compared to neat epoxy resins. The mechanical interfacial property of the composites was significantly increased by the addition of amine treated CNTs. The SEM and TEM results showed that the separation and uniform dispersion of CNTs in the epoxy matrix.

Kevlar 49/Epoxy COPV Aging Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Sutter, James K.; Salem, Jonathan L.; Thesken, John C.; Russell, Richard W.; Littell, Justin; Ruggeri, Charles; Leifeste, Mark R.

2008-01-01

NASA initiated an effort to determine if the aging of Kevlar 49/Epoxy composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV) affected their performance. This study briefly reviews the history and certification of composite pressure vessels employed on NASA Orbiters. Tests to evaluate overwrap tensile strength changes compared 30 year old samples from Orbiter vessels to new Kevlar/Epoxy pressure vessel materials. Other tests include transverse compression and thermal analyses (glass transition and moduli). Results from these tests do not indicate a noticeable effect due to aging of the overwrap materials.

Hydrodynamic design of an underwater hull cleaning robot and its evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Man Hyung Lee

2012-12-01

Full Text Available An underwater hull cleaning robot can be a desirable choice for the cleaning of large ships. It can make the cleaning process safe and economical. This paper presents a hydrodynamic design of an underwater cleaning robot and its evaluation for an underwater ship hull cleaning robot. The hydrodynamic design process of the robot body is described in detail. Optimal body design process with compromises among conflicting design requirements is given. Experimental results on the hydrodynamic performance of the robot are given.

Monterey Bay ambient noise profiles using underwater gliders

OpenAIRE

Chandrayadula, Tarun K.; Miller, Chris W.; Joseph, John

2013-01-01

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4799131 In 2012, during two separate week-long deployments, underwater gliders outfitted with external hydrophones profiled the upper 100-200 m of the Monterey Bay. The environment contained various noises made by marine mammals, ships, winds, and earthquakes. Unlike hydrophone receivers moored to a fixed location, moving gliders measure noise variability across a wide terrain. However, underwater mobile s...

Fabrication of High Gas Barrier Epoxy Nanocomposites: An Approach Based on Layered Silicate Functionalized by a Compatible and Reactive Modifier of Epoxy-Diamine Adduct

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ran Wei

2018-05-01

Full Text Available To solve the drawbacks of poor dispersion and weak interface in gas barrier nanocomposites, a novel epoxy-diamine adduct (DDA was synthesized by reacting epoxy monomer DGEBA with curing agent D400 to functionalize montmorillonite (MMT, which could provide complete compatibility and reactivity with a DGEBA/D400 epoxy matrix. Thereafter, sodium type montmorillonite (Na-MMT and organic-MMTs functionalized by DDA and polyether amines were incorporated with epoxy to manufacture nanocomposites. The effects of MMT functionalization on the morphology and gas barrier property of nanocomposites were evaluated. The results showed that DDA was successfully synthesized, terminating with epoxy and amine groups. By simulating the small-angle neutron scattering data with a sandwich structure model, the optimal dispersion/exfoliation of MMT was observed in a DDA-MMT/DGEBA nanocomposite with a mean radius of 751 Å, a layer thickness of 30.8 Å, and only two layers in each tactoid. Moreover, the DDA-MMT/DGEBA nanocomposite exhibited the best N2 barrier properties, which were about five times those of neat epoxy. Based on a modified Nielsen model, it was clarified that this excellent gas barrier property was due to the homogeneously dispersed lamellas with almost exfoliated structures. The improved morphology and barrier property confirmed the superiority of the adduct, which provides a general method for developing gas barrier nanocomposites.

Energy Harvesting Hybrid Acoustic-Optical Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks Localization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasir Saeed

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Underwater wireless technologies demand to transmit at higher data rate for ocean exploration. Currently, large coverage is achieved by acoustic sensor networks with low data rate, high cost, high latency, high power consumption, and negative impact on marine mammals. Meanwhile, optical communication for underwater networks has the advantage of the higher data rate albeit for limited communication distances. Moreover, energy consumption is another major problem for underwater sensor networks, due to limited battery power and difficulty in replacing or recharging the battery of a sensor node. The ultimate solution to this problem is to add energy harvesting capability to the acoustic-optical sensor nodes. Localization of underwater sensor networks is of utmost importance because the data collected from underwater sensor nodes is useful only if the location of the nodes is known. Therefore, a novel localization technique for energy harvesting hybrid acoustic-optical underwater wireless sensor networks (AO-UWSNs is proposed. AO-UWSN employs optical communication for higher data rate at a short transmission distance and employs acoustic communication for low data rate and long transmission distance. A hybrid received signal strength (RSS based localization technique is proposed to localize the nodes in AO-UWSNs. The proposed technique combines the noisy RSS based measurements from acoustic communication and optical communication and estimates the final locations of acoustic-optical sensor nodes. A weighted multiple observations paradigm is proposed for hybrid estimated distances to suppress the noisy observations and give more importance to the accurate observations. Furthermore, the closed form solution for Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB is derived for localization accuracy of the proposed technique.

Energy Harvesting Hybrid Acoustic-Optical Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks Localization.

Science.gov (United States)

Saeed, Nasir; Celik, Abdulkadir; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2017-12-26

Underwater wireless technologies demand to transmit at higher data rate for ocean exploration. Currently, large coverage is achieved by acoustic sensor networks with low data rate, high cost, high latency, high power consumption, and negative impact on marine mammals. Meanwhile, optical communication for underwater networks has the advantage of the higher data rate albeit for limited communication distances. Moreover, energy consumption is another major problem for underwater sensor networks, due to limited battery power and difficulty in replacing or recharging the battery of a sensor node. The ultimate solution to this problem is to add energy harvesting capability to the acoustic-optical sensor nodes. Localization of underwater sensor networks is of utmost importance because the data collected from underwater sensor nodes is useful only if the location of the nodes is known. Therefore, a novel localization technique for energy harvesting hybrid acoustic-optical underwater wireless sensor networks (AO-UWSNs) is proposed. AO-UWSN employs optical communication for higher data rate at a short transmission distance and employs acoustic communication for low data rate and long transmission distance. A hybrid received signal strength (RSS) based localization technique is proposed to localize the nodes in AO-UWSNs. The proposed technique combines the noisy RSS based measurements from acoustic communication and optical communication and estimates the final locations of acoustic-optical sensor nodes. A weighted multiple observations paradigm is proposed for hybrid estimated distances to suppress the noisy observations and give more importance to the accurate observations. Furthermore, the closed form solution for Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) is derived for localization accuracy of the proposed technique.

Energy Harvesting Hybrid Acoustic-Optical Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks Localization

KAUST Repository

Saeed, Nasir; Celik, Abdulkadir; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2017-01-01

Underwater wireless technologies demand to transmit at higher data rate for ocean exploration. Currently, large coverage is achieved by acoustic sensor networks with low data rate, high cost, high latency, high power consumption, and negative impact on marine mammals. Meanwhile, optical communication for underwater networks has the advantage of the higher data rate albeit for limited communication distances. Moreover, energy consumption is another major problem for underwater sensor networks, due to limited battery power and difficulty in replacing or recharging the battery of a sensor node. The ultimate solution to this problem is to add energy harvesting capability to the acoustic-optical sensor nodes. Localization of underwater sensor networks is of utmost importance because the data collected from underwater sensor nodes is useful only if the location of the nodes is known. Therefore, a novel localization technique for energy harvesting hybrid acoustic-optical underwater wireless sensor networks (AO-UWSNs) is proposed. AO-UWSN employs optical communication for higher data rate at a short transmission distance and employs acoustic communication for low data rate and long transmission distance. A hybrid received signal strength (RSS) based localization technique is proposed to localize the nodes in AO-UWSNs. The proposed technique combines the noisy RSS based measurements from acoustic communication and optical communication and estimates the final locations of acoustic-optical sensor nodes. A weighted multiple observations paradigm is proposed for hybrid estimated distances to suppress the noisy observations and give more importance to the accurate observations. Furthermore, the closed form solution for Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) is derived for localization accuracy of the proposed technique.

Energy Harvesting Hybrid Acoustic-Optical Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks Localization

KAUST Repository

Saeed, Nasir

2017-12-26

Underwater wireless technologies demand to transmit at higher data rate for ocean exploration. Currently, large coverage is achieved by acoustic sensor networks with low data rate, high cost, high latency, high power consumption, and negative impact on marine mammals. Meanwhile, optical communication for underwater networks has the advantage of the higher data rate albeit for limited communication distances. Moreover, energy consumption is another major problem for underwater sensor networks, due to limited battery power and difficulty in replacing or recharging the battery of a sensor node. The ultimate solution to this problem is to add energy harvesting capability to the acoustic-optical sensor nodes. Localization of underwater sensor networks is of utmost importance because the data collected from underwater sensor nodes is useful only if the location of the nodes is known. Therefore, a novel localization technique for energy harvesting hybrid acoustic-optical underwater wireless sensor networks (AO-UWSNs) is proposed. AO-UWSN employs optical communication for higher data rate at a short transmission distance and employs acoustic communication for low data rate and long transmission distance. A hybrid received signal strength (RSS) based localization technique is proposed to localize the nodes in AO-UWSNs. The proposed technique combines the noisy RSS based measurements from acoustic communication and optical communication and estimates the final locations of acoustic-optical sensor nodes. A weighted multiple observations paradigm is proposed for hybrid estimated distances to suppress the noisy observations and give more importance to the accurate observations. Furthermore, the closed form solution for Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) is derived for localization accuracy of the proposed technique.

Surface modification of titanium hydride with epoxy resin via microwave-assisted ball milling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ning, Rong; Chen, Ding; Zhang, Qianxia; Bian, Zhibing; Dai, Haixiong; Zhang, Chi

2014-01-01

Highlights: • TiH 2 was modified with epoxy resin by microwave-assisted ball milling. • The epoxy ring was opened under the coupling effect of microwave and ball milling. • Microwave-assisted ball milling improved the compatibility of TiH 2 with epoxy. - Abstract: Surface modification of titanium hydride with epoxy resin was carried out via microwave-assisted ball milling and the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermo-gravimetry (TG) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). A sedimentation test was performed to investigate the compatibility of the modified nano titanium hydride with the epoxy resin. The results show that the epoxy resin molecules were grafted on the surface of nano titanium hydride particles during the microwave-assisted ball milling process, which led to the improvement of compatibility between the nanoparticles and epoxy resin. According to the FT-IR, the grafting site was likely to be located around the epoxy group due to the fact that the epoxy ring was opened. However, compared with microwave-assisted ball milling, the conventional ball milling could not realize the surface modification, indicating that the coupling effect of mechanical force and microwave played a key role during the process

Cutting method and device underwater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takano, Genta; Kamei, Hiromasa; Beppu, Seiji

1998-01-01

A place of material to be cut is surrounded by an openable/closable box. The material to be cut is cut underwater, and materials generated in this case are removed from the cut portion by a pressurized water jet. The removed materials are sucked and recovered together with water in the box. Among the materials caused by the cutting underwater, solid materials not floating on water are caused to stay in the midway of a sucking and recovering channel. A large sucking force might be required for the entire region of the sucking and recovering channel when sucking and recovering large sized solid materials not floating on water, but even large sized materials can be recovered easily according to the present invention since they are recovered after being sucked and stayed in the midway of the sucking and recovering channel. (N.H.)

Underwater Optical Wireless Communications, Networking, and Localization: A Survey

KAUST Repository

Saeed, Nasir; Celik, Abdulkadir; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2018-01-01

Underwater wireless communications can be carried out through acoustic, radio frequency (RF), and optical waves. Compared to its bandwidth limited acoustic and RF counterparts, underwater optical wireless communications (UOWCs) can support higher data rates at low latency levels. However, severe aquatic channel conditions (e.g., absorption, scattering, turbulence, etc.) pose great challenges for UOWCs and significantly reduce the attainable communication ranges, which necessitates efficient networking and localization solutions. Therefore, we provide a comprehensive survey on the challenges, advances, and prospects of underwater optical wireless networks (UOWNs) from a layer by layer perspective which includes: 1) Potential network architectures; 2) Physical layer issues including propagation characteristics, channel modeling, and modulation techniques 3) Data link layer problems covering link configurations, link budgets, performance metrics, and multiple access schemes; 4) Network layer topics containing relaying techniques and potential routing algorithms; 5) Transport layer subjects such as connectivity, reliability, flow and congestion control; 6) Application layer goals and state-of-the-art UOWN applications, and 7) Localization and its impacts on UOWN layers. Finally, we outline the open research challenges and point out the future directions for underwater optical wireless communications, networking, and localization research.

Underwater Optical Wireless Communications, Networking, and Localization: A Survey

KAUST Repository

Saeed, Nasir

2018-02-28

Underwater wireless communications can be carried out through acoustic, radio frequency (RF), and optical waves. Compared to its bandwidth limited acoustic and RF counterparts, underwater optical wireless communications (UOWCs) can support higher data rates at low latency levels. However, severe aquatic channel conditions (e.g., absorption, scattering, turbulence, etc.) pose great challenges for UOWCs and significantly reduce the attainable communication ranges, which necessitates efficient networking and localization solutions. Therefore, we provide a comprehensive survey on the challenges, advances, and prospects of underwater optical wireless networks (UOWNs) from a layer by layer perspective which includes: 1) Potential network architectures; 2) Physical layer issues including propagation characteristics, channel modeling, and modulation techniques 3) Data link layer problems covering link configurations, link budgets, performance metrics, and multiple access schemes; 4) Network layer topics containing relaying techniques and potential routing algorithms; 5) Transport layer subjects such as connectivity, reliability, flow and congestion control; 6) Application layer goals and state-of-the-art UOWN applications, and 7) Localization and its impacts on UOWN layers. Finally, we outline the open research challenges and point out the future directions for underwater optical wireless communications, networking, and localization research.

A thermal engine for underwater glider driven by ocean thermal energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Yanan; Wang, Yanhui; Ma, Zhesong; Wang, Shuxin

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Thermal engine with a double-tube structure is developed for underwater glider. • Isostatic pressing technology is effective to increase volumetric change rate. • Actual volumetric change rate reaches 89.2% of the theoretical value. • Long term sailing of 677 km and 27 days is achieved by thermal underwater glider. - Graphical Abstract: - Abstract: Underwater glider is one of the most popular platforms for long term ocean observation. Underwater glider driven by ocean thermal energy extends the duration and range of underwater glider powered by battery. Thermal engine is the core device of underwater glider to harvest ocean thermal energy. In this paper, (1) model of thermal engine was raised by thermodynamics method and the performance of thermal engine was investigated, (2) thermal engine with a double-tube structure was developed and isostatic pressing technology was applied to improve the performance for buoyancy driven, referencing powder pressing theory, (3) wall thickness of thermal engine was optimized to reduce the overall weight of thermal engine, (4) material selection and dimension determination were discussed for a faster heat transfer design, by thermal resistance analysis, (5) laboratory test and long term sea trail were carried out to test the performance of thermal engine. The study shows that volumetric change rate is the most important indicator to evaluating buoyancy-driven performance of a thermal engine, isostatic pressing technology is effective to improve volumetric change rate, actual volumetric change rate can reach 89.2% of the theoretical value and the average power is about 124 W in a typical diving profile. Thermal engine developed by Tianjin University is a superior thermal energy conversion device for underwater glider. Additionally, application of thermal engine provides a new solution for miniaturization of ocean thermal energy conversion.

Summary of the guideline on underwater laser beam repair welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichikawa, Hiroya; Yoda, Masaki; Motora, Yuichi

2013-01-01

It is known that stress corrosion cracking (SCC) might occur at the weld of a reactor pressure vessel or core internals. Underwater laser beam clad welding for mitigation of SCC has been already established and the guideline 'Underwater laser beam clad welding' was published. Moreover, the guideline 'Seal welding' was also published as a repair method for SCC. In addition to these guidelines, the guideline 'Underwater laser beam repair welding' was newly published in November, 2012 for the repair welding after completely removing a SCC crack occurred in weld or base metal. This paper introduces the summary of this guideline. (author)

ROV-based Underwater Vision System for Intelligent Fish Ethology Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui Nian

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Fish ethology is a prospective discipline for ocean surveys. In this paper, one ROV-based system is established to perform underwater visual tasks with customized optical sensors installed. One image quality enhancement method is first presented in the context of creating underwater imaging models combined with homomorphic filtering and wavelet decomposition. The underwater vision system can further detect and track swimming fish from the resulting images with the strategies developed using curve evolution and particular filtering, in order to obtain a deeper understanding of fish behaviours. The simulation results have shown the excellent performance of the developed scheme, in regard to both robustness and effectiveness.

Application of YAG laser processing in underwater welding and cutting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ohwaki, Katsura; Morita, Ichiro; Kojima, Toshio; Sato, Shuichi [Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

2002-09-01

The high-power YAG laser is a new fabrication tool. The laser torch is easy to combine with complex with complex mechanics because of beam delivery through optical fiber. A direct underwater laser welding technology has been developed and applied to the preservation, maintenance and removal of nuclear power plants. For subdividing or removing operations for retirement of plants, the laser cutting properties were confirmed to allow a maximum cutting thickness of 80 mm. For repairing inner surface of stainless steel tanks, an underwater laser welding system using a remote-controlled robot was developed and the high quality of underwater laser welding was confirmed. (author)

Optimum LED wavelength for underwater optical wireless communication at turbid water

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenkrantz, Etai; Arnon, Shlomi

2014-10-01

Underwater optical wireless communication is an emerging technology, which can provide high data rate. High data rate communication is required for applications such as underwater imaging, networks of sensors and swarms of underwater vehicles. These applications pursue an affordable light source, which can be obtained by light emitting diodes (LED). LEDs offer solutions characterized by low cost, high efficiency, reliability and compactness based on off-the-shelf components such as blue and green light emitting diodes. In this paper we present our recent theoretical and experimental results in this field.

Epoxy based nanocomposites with fully exfoliated unmodified clay: mechanical and thermal properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Binghai; Zhang, Xiaohong; Gao, Jianming; Song, Zhihai; Qi, Guicun; Liu, Yiqun; Qiao, Jinliang

2010-09-01

The unmodified clay has been fully exfoliated in epoxy resin with the aid of a novel ultrafine full-vulcanized powdered rubber. Epoxy/rubber/clay nanocomposites with exfoliated morphology have been successfully prepared. The microstructures of the nanocomposites were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the unmodified clay was fully exfoliated and uniformly dispersed in the resulting nanocomposite. Characterizations of mechanical properties revealed that the impact strength of this special epoxy/rubber/clay nanocomposite increased up 107% over the neat epoxy resin. Thermal analyses showed that thermal stability of the nanocomposite was much better than that of epoxy nanocomposite based on organically modified clay.

Underwater videography and photography in Gulf of Kachchh. Sponsored by Gujarat Ecological Society, Vadodara, Gujarat

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Marine Archaeology Centre (MAC) has been carrying out underwater explorations and excavations of ancient ports and sunken shipwrecks to preserve underwater cultural heritage. MAC has the infrastructure facility to carry out underwater investigations...

Epoxy resin/phosphonium ionic liquid/carbon nanofiller systems: Chemorheology and properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Maka

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Epoxy nanocomposites with commercial carbon nanotubes (CNT or graphene (GN have been prepared using phosphonium ionic liquid [trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl phosphinate, IL-f]. IL-f served simultaneously as nanofiller dispersing medium and epoxy resin catalytic curing agent. An influence of IL-f/epoxy weight ratio (3, 6 and 9/100, phr, carbon nanofiller type and content on viscosity of epoxy compositions during storage at ambient temperature was evaluated. Curing process was controlled for neat and CNT or GN modified epoxy compositions (0.25-1.0 wt.% load using differential scanning calorimetry and rheometry. Epoxy nanocomposites exhibited slightly increased glass transition temperature values (146 to 149°C whereas tan δ and storage modulus decreased (0.30 to 0.27 and 2087 to 1070 MPa, respectively as compared to reference material. Crosslink density regularly decreased for composites with increasing CNT content (11 094 to 7 020 mol/m3. Electrical volume resistivity of the nanocomposites was improved in case of CNT to 4•101 Ω•m and GN to 2•105 Ω•m (nanofiller content 1 wt.%. Flame retardancy was found for modified epoxy materials with as low GN and phosphorus content as 0.25 and 0.7 wt.%, respectively (increase of limiting oxygen index to 26.5%.

Los cambios de temperatura en los revestimientos epoxi II

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernández Cánovas, M.

1970-04-01

Full Text Available This article is the second part of a previous paper published by the author in no. 189 of this magazine. It describes the tests carried out to check the theoretical results published in the earlier article. The tests have consisted in submitting concrete slabs covered with a layer of epoxi mortar to certain thermal conditions, to check the behaviour of the covering in the face of thermal changes. In all the tests, described in detail in the article, the epoxi layer has behaved extremely well, and no bonding failure has been observed, nor failures in the concrete base or in the epoxi layer.Este artículo es la segunda parte de un trabajo publicado por el autor en el número 189 de esta revista, y en él se realiza una descripción de los ensayos prácticos llevados a cabo para complementar el estudio teórico publicado en aquella primera parte. Los ensayos han consistido en someter a placas de hormigón revestidas de una Kipa de mor tero epoxi a determinadas condiciones térmicas, con el fin de poder comprobar el comportamiento del revestimiento frente a los cambios de temperatura. En todos los ensayos realizados y que, con detalle, están descritos en este artículo, el comportamiento de los revestimientos de mortero epoxi ha sido excelente, no habiéndose notado ningún fallo de adherencia, ni roturas en la base de hormigón, ni en la capa de mortero epoxi.

Underwater nuclear power plant structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Severs, S.; Toll, H.V.

1982-01-01

A structure for an underwater nuclear power generating plant comprising a triangular platform formed of tubular leg and truss members upon which are attached one or more large spherical pressure vessels and one or more small cylindrical auxiliary pressure vessels. (author)

Energy absorption and failure response of silk/epoxy composite square tubes: Experimental

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oshkovr, Simin Ataollahi; Taher, Siavash Talebi; A. Eshkoor, Rahim

2012-01-01

This paper focuses on natural silk/epoxy composite square tubes energy absorption and failure response. The tested specimens were featured by a material combination of different lengths and same numbers of natural silk/epoxy composite layers in form of reinforced woven fabric in thermosetting epoxy...

Analysing deterioration of marble stones exposed to underwater conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Cámara, Beatriz; Álvarez de Buergo, Mónica; Bethencourt, Manuel; Freire-Lista, David; Fort, Rafael

2016-04-01

The peculiar conditions of the marine environment make the conservation of underwater archaeological sites an extremely complex procedure. This is due to the fact that the prevailing conditions in this environment promote the development of deterioration phenomena in submerged artefacts through the synergistic action of physical, chemical and biological factors. The objective of the present investigation was to determine how petrophysical properties of cultural heritage materials can be affected by being exposed to the specific underwater conditions of the sea bottom, and so, to evaluate how this can affect, in a long term, in their durability and evolution when they part of an archaeological site. For this purpose, two types of marble (the Italian Carrara and the Spanish Macael) were subjected to an experiment consisting of exposing stone materials for one and a half year to underwater conditions. The experimental test was located in an archaeological site in the Bay of Cadiz (southern Spain), Bajo del Chapitel (recognized as Cultural Interest), which includes remains of shipwrecks from different periods. In this site, samples were submerged to 12 m depth and placed in the sea bottom simulating the different positions in which underwater archaeological objects can be found (fully exposed, half buried and covered). Petrophysical characterisation involved determination of the apparent and bulk densities, water saturation (maximum water content a material may contain), open porosity (porosity accessible to water), chromatic parameters and ultrasonic velocity. Before measuring, samples were subjected to mechanical cleaning (in those samples with biological colonization) and to removal of salt deposits. Results showed significant differences in these petrophysical properties after underwater submersion, which were directly related to the type of underwater exposure condition. Comparative analysis of petrophysical properties, like the one conducted in this study

FILMING UNDERWATER IN 3D RESPECTING STEREOGRAPHIC RULES

OpenAIRE

R. Rinaldi; H. Hordosch

2015-01-01

After an experimental phase of many years, 3D filming is now effective and successful. Improvements are still possible, but the film industry achieved memorable success on 3D movie’s box offices due to the overall quality of its products. Special environments such as space ("Gravity") and the underwater realm look perfect to be reproduced in 3D. "Filming in space" was possible in "Gravity" using special effects and computer graphic. The underwater realm is still difficult to be handled. Under...

Measurements of print-through in graphite fiber epoxy composites

Science.gov (United States)

Jaworske, Donald A.; Jeunnette, Timothy T.; Anzic, Judith M.

1989-01-01

High-reflectance accurate-contour mirrors are needed for solar dynamic space power systems. Graphite fiber epoxy composites are attractive candidates for such applications owing to their high modulus, near-zero coefficient of thermal expansion, and low mass. However, mirrors prepared from graphite fiber epoxy composite substrates often exhibit print-through, a distortion of the surface, which causes a loss in solar specular reflectance. Efforts to develop mirror substrates without print-through distortion require a means of quantifying print-through. Methods have been developed to quantify the degree of print-through in graphite fiber epoxy composite specimens using surface profilometry.

Void-free epoxy castings for cryogenic insulators and seals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quirk, J.F.

1983-01-01

The design of the Westinghouse Magnet for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Large Coil Program (LCP) incorporates a main lead bushing which transmits heat-leak loads by conduction to the supercritical helium stream. The bushing, which consists of epoxy resin cast about a copper conductor, must be electrically insulated, vacuum tight and be capable of withstanding the stresses encountered in cryognic service. The seal design of the bushing is especially important; leakage from either the helium system or the external environment into the vacuum will cause the magnet to quench. Additionally, the epoxy-resin casting must resist mechanical loads caused by the weight of leads attached to the bushing and thermal stresses transmitted to the epoxy via the conductor. The epoxy resin is cast about the conductor in such a way as to provide the required vacuum tight seal. The technique by which this is accomplished is reviewed. Equally important is the elimination of voids in the epoxy which will act as stress-concentrating discontinuities during cooling to or warming from 4K. The types of voids that could be expected and their causes are described. The paper reviews techniques employed to eliminate voids within the cast-resin portion of the bushing

Flexural properties of treated and untreated kenaf/epoxy composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yousif, B.F.; Shalwan, A.; Chin, C.W.; Ming, K.C.

2012-01-01

Graphical abstract: Untreated kenaf fibre/epoxy composites. Treated kenaf fibre/epoxy composites. Highlights: ► Treatment of kenaf fibres with 6% NaOH has improved the flexural properties of epoxy composites. ► Interfacial adhesion of the natural fibres is controlled by the microstructure of the fibres. ► Kenaf fibres have a potential to replace glass fibres for flexural applications. -- Abstract: In the current work, flexural properties of unidirectional long kenaf fibre reinforced epoxy (KFRE) composites are studied. The kenaf fibres were prepared into two types as untreated and treated (with 6% NaOH). The failure mechanism and damage features of the materials were categorized with the surface observation by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results revealed that reinforcement of epoxy with treated kenaf fibres increased the flexural strength of the composite by about 36%, while, untreated fibres introduced 20% improvement. This was mainly due to the high improvement of the chemical treatment (NaOH) on the interfacial adhesion of the fibres and the porosity of the composites which prevented the debonding, detachments or pull out of fibres. For untreated KFRE, the fracture mechanisms were debonding, tearing, detachments and pull out of fibres. The developed composite exhibited superior properties compared to the previous composites based on natural and synthetic fibres.

Characterization of epoxy hybrid composites filled with cellulose fibers and nano-SiC

KAUST Repository

Alamri, H.

2012-04-06

Three different approaches have been applied and investigated to enhance the thermal and mechanical properties of epoxy resin. Epoxy system reinforced with either recycled cellulose fibers (RCF) or nanosilicon carbide (n-SiC) particles as well as with both RCF and n-SiC has been fabricated and investigated. The effect of RCF/n-SiC dispersion on the mechanical and thermal properties of these composites has been characterized. The fracture surface morphology and toughness mechanisms were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The dispersion of n-SiC particles into epoxy nanocomposites was studied by synchrotron radiation diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Results indicated that mechanical properties increased as a result of the addition of n-SiC. The presence of RCF layers significantly increased the mechanical properties of RCF/epoxy composites when compared with neat epoxy and its nanocomposites. The influence of the addition of n-SiC to RCF/epoxy composites in mechanical properties was found to be positive in toughness properties. At high temperatures, thermal stability of neat epoxy increased due to the presence of either n-SiC particles or RCF layers. However, the presence of RCF accelerated the thermal degradation of neat epoxy as well as the addition of n-SiC to RCF/epoxy samples increased the rate of the major thermal degradation. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

ORGANIC/INORGANIC HYBRID EPOXY NANOCOMPOSITES BASED ON OCTA(AMINOPHENYL)SILSESQUIOXANE

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Hai-bo Fan; Rong-jie Yang; Xiang-mei Li

2013-01-01

Octa(aminophenyl)silsesquioxane (OAPS) was used as the curing agent of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) epoxy resin.A study on comparison of DGEBA/OAPS with DGEBA/4,4'-diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS) epoxy resins was achieved.Differential scanning calorimetry was used to investigate the curing reaction and its kinetics,and the glass transition of DGEBA/OAPS.Thermogravimetric analysis was used to investigate thermal decomposition of the two kinds of epoxy resins.The reactions between amino groups and epoxy groups were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe morphology of the two epoxy resins.The results indicated that OAPS had very good compatibility with DGEBA in molecular level,and could form a transparent DGEBA/OAPS resin.The curing reaction of the DGEBA/OAPS prepolymer could occur under low temperatures compared with DGEBA/DDS.The DGEBA/OAPS resin didn't exhibit glass transition,but the DGEBA/DDS did,which meant that the large cage structure of OAPS limited the motion of chains between the cross-linking points.Measurements of the contact angle indicated that the DGEBA/OAPS showed larger angles with water than the DGEBA/DDS resin.Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the incorporation of OAPS into epoxy system resulted in low mass loss rate and high char yield,but its initial decomposition temperature seemed to be lowered.

Development of underwater and hyperbaric medicine in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Rozali, A; Rampal, K G; Zin, B Mohd; Sherina, M S; Khairuddin, H; Abd Halim, M; Sulaiman, A

2006-12-01

Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine is a treatment modality gaining recognition in Malaysia. It uses the hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) approach where patients are placed in recompression chambers and subjected to oxygen therapy under pressure. In Malaysia it was introduced as early as the 1960's by the Royal Malaysian Navy to treat their divers for decompression illness (DCI), arterial gas embolism (AGE) and barotraumas. Other sectors in the armed forces, universities and private health centres began developing this approach too in the late 1990's, for similar purposes. In 1996, Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine began gaining its popularity when the Institute of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine at the Armed Forces Hospital in Lumut started treating specific clinical diseases such as diabetic foot ulcers, osteomyelitis, and carbon monoxide poisoning and other diseases using HBOT. This paper discusses the development of this interesting treatment modality, giving a brief historical overview to its current development, as well as provides some thought for its future development in Malaysia.

Optimal Node Placement in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

KAUST Repository

Felamban, M.

2013-03-25

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are expected to play a vital role in the exploration and monitoring of underwater areas which are not easily reachable by humans. However, underwater communication via acoustic waves is subject to several performance limitations that are very different from those used for terresstrial networks. In this paper, we investigate node placement for building an initial underwater WSN infrastructure. We formulate this problem as a nonlinear mathematical program with the objective of minimizing the total transmission loss under a given number of sensor nodes and targeted coverage volume. The obtained solution is the location of each node represented via a truncated octahedron to fill out the 3D space. Experiments are conducted to verify the proposed formulation, which is solved using Matlab optimization tool. Simulation is also conducted using an ns-3 simulator, and the simulation results are consistent with the obtained results from mathematical model with less than 10% error.

Exit Presentation: Infrared Thermography on Graphite/Epoxy

Science.gov (United States)

Comeaux, Kayla

2010-01-01

This slide presentation reports on the internship project that was accomplished during the summer of 2010. The objectives of the project were to: (1) Simulate Flash Thermography on Graphite/Epoxy Flat Bottom hole Specimen and thin void specimens, (2) Obtain Flash Thermography data on Graphite/Epoxy flat bottom hole specimens, (3) Compare experimental results with simulation results, Compare Flat Bottom Hole Simulation with Thin Void Simulation to create a graph to determine size of IR Thermography detected defects

Realtime 3D stress measurement in curing epoxy packaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Richter, Jacob; Hyldgård, A.; Birkelund, Karen

2007-01-01

This paper presents a novel method to characterize stress in microsystem packaging. A circular p-type piezoresistor is implemented on a (001) silicon chip. We use the circular stress sensor to determine the packaging induced stress in a polystyrene tube filled with epoxy. The epoxy curing process...

Actuated Recoil Absorbing Mounting System for use with an Underwater Gun

Science.gov (United States)

1998-03-31

fire supercavitating bullets, requires that 20 the new projectile launchers be tested. The firing of projectile 21 launchers involving a high...of projectile launcher 12 includes an underwater gun 15 that fires supercavitating bullets underwater and has a high 16 discharge energy. However

Enhanced Flexural Strength of Tellurium Nanowires/epoxy Composites with the Reinforcement Effect of Nanowires

Science.gov (United States)

Balguri, Praveen Kumar; Harris Samuel, D. G.; Aditya, D. B.; Vijaya Bhaskar, S.; Thumu, Udayabhaskararao

2018-02-01

Investigating the mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposite materials has been greatly increased in the last decade. In particular, flexural strength plays a major role in resisting bending and shear loads of a composite material. Here, one dimensional (1D) tellurium nanowires (TeNWs) reinforced epoxy composites have been prepared and the flexural properties of resulted TeNWs/epoxy nanocomposites are studied. The diameter and length of the TeNWs used to make TeNWs/epoxy nanocomposites are 21±2.5 nm and 697±87 nm, respectively. Plain and TeNWs/epoxy nanocomposites are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential thermal analysis (DTA). Furthermore, significant enhancement in the flexural strength of TeNWs/epoxy nanocomposite is observed in comparison to plain epoxy composite, i.e. flexural strength is increased by 65% with the addition of very little amount of TeNWs content (0.05 wt.%) to epoxy polymer. Structural details of plain and TeNWs/epoxy at micrometer scale were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We believe that our results provide a new type of semiconductor nanowires based high strength epoxy polymer nanocomposites.

On the Performance of the Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2015-05-01

performance of UWSN. 5.1 Hardware and Software Details 5.1.1 Equipment Our experimental model consisted of an indoor swimming pool , two pairs...UWSN has many constraints mainly due to limited capacity, propagation loss, as well as power limitation since in underwater environment solar energy ...since in underwater environment solar energy cannot be used to recharge batteries. In our approach, we estimate the number of operating receivers

International Conference on Underwater Environment

CERN Document Server

Jaulin, Luc; Creuze, Vincent; Debese, Nathalie; Quidu, Isabelle; Clement, Benoît; Billon-Coat, Annick

2016-01-01

This volume constitutes the results of the International Conference on Underwater Environment, MOQESM’14, held at “Le Quartz” Conference Center in Brest, France, on October 14-15, 2014, within the framework of the 9th Sea Tech Week, International Marine Science and Technology Event. The objective of MOQESM'14 was to bring together researchers from both academia and industry, interested in marine robotics and hydrography with application to the coastal environment mapping and underwater infrastructures surveys. The common thread of the conference is the combination of technical control, perception, and localization, typically used in robotics, with the methods of mapping and bathymetry. The papers presented in this book focus on two main topics. Firstly, coastal and infrastructure mapping is addressed, focusing not only on hydrographic systems, but also on positioning systems, bathymetry, and remote sensing. The proposed methods rely on acoustic sensors such as side scan sonars, multibeam echo sounders, ...

A novel underwater dam crack detection and classification approach based on sonar images.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Pengfei; Fan, Xinnan; Ni, Jianjun; Khan, Zubair; Li, Min

2017-01-01

Underwater dam crack detection and classification based on sonar images is a challenging task because underwater environments are complex and because cracks are quite random and diverse in nature. Furthermore, obtainable sonar images are of low resolution. To address these problems, a novel underwater dam crack detection and classification approach based on sonar imagery is proposed. First, the sonar images are divided into image blocks. Second, a clustering analysis of a 3-D feature space is used to obtain the crack fragments. Third, the crack fragments are connected using an improved tensor voting method. Fourth, a minimum spanning tree is used to obtain the crack curve. Finally, an improved evidence theory combined with fuzzy rule reasoning is proposed to classify the cracks. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is able to detect underwater dam cracks and classify them accurately and effectively under complex underwater environments.

A novel underwater dam crack detection and classification approach based on sonar images.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pengfei Shi

Full Text Available Underwater dam crack detection and classification based on sonar images is a challenging task because underwater environments are complex and because cracks are quite random and diverse in nature. Furthermore, obtainable sonar images are of low resolution. To address these problems, a novel underwater dam crack detection and classification approach based on sonar imagery is proposed. First, the sonar images are divided into image blocks. Second, a clustering analysis of a 3-D feature space is used to obtain the crack fragments. Third, the crack fragments are connected using an improved tensor voting method. Fourth, a minimum spanning tree is used to obtain the crack curve. Finally, an improved evidence theory combined with fuzzy rule reasoning is proposed to classify the cracks. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is able to detect underwater dam cracks and classify them accurately and effectively under complex underwater environments.

Underwater electric field detection system based on weakly electric fish

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Wei; Wang, Tianyu; Wang, Qi

2018-04-01

Weakly electric fish sense their surroundings in complete darkness by their active electric field detection system. However, due to the insufficient detection capacity of the electric field, the detection distance is not enough, and the detection accuracy is not high. In this paper, a method of underwater detection based on rotating current field theory is proposed to improve the performance of underwater electric field detection system. First of all, we built underwater detection system based on the theory of the spin current field mathematical model with the help of the results of previous researchers. Then we completed the principle prototype and finished the metal objects in the water environment detection experiments, laid the foundation for the further experiments.

Behaviour of Epoxy Silica Nanocomposites Under Static and Creep Loading

Science.gov (United States)

Constantinescu, Dan Mihai; Picu, Radu Catalin; Sandu, Marin; Apostol, Dragos Alexandru; Sandu, Adriana; Baciu, Florin

2017-12-01

Specific manufacturing technologies were applied for the fabrication of epoxy-based nanocomposites with silica nanoparticles. For dispersing the fillers in the epoxy resin special equipment such as a shear mixer and a high energy sonicator with temperature control were used. Both functionalized and unfunctionalized silica nanoparticles were added in three epoxy resins. The considered filling fraction was in most cases 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 wt%.. The obtained nanocomposites were subjected to monotonic uniaxial and creep loading at room temperature. The static mechanical properties were not significantly improved regardless the filler percentage and type of epoxy resin. Under creep loading, by increasing the stress level, the nanocomposite with 0.1 wt% silica creeps less than all other materials. Also the creep rate is reduced by adding silica nanofillers.

Airborne lidar detection of an underwater thermal vent

Science.gov (United States)

Roddewig, Michael R.; Churnside, James H.; Shaw, Joseph A.

2017-07-01

We report the lidar detection of an underwater feature that appears to be a thermal vent in Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, USA, with the Montana State University Fish Lidar. The location of the detected vent was 30 m from the closest vent identified in a United States Geological Survey of Yellowstone Lake in 2008. A second possible vent is also presented, and the appearance of both vents in the lidar data is compared to descriptions of underwater thermal vents in Yellowstone Lake from the geological literature.

Underwater Shock Response Analysis of a Floating Vessel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.E. van Aanhold

1998-01-01

Full Text Available The response of a surface vessel to underwater shock has been calculated using an explicit finite element analysis. The analysis model is two-dimensional and contains the floating steel structure, a large surrounding water volume and the free surface. The underwater shock is applied in the form of a plane shock wave and cavitation is considered in the analysis. Advanced computer graphics, in particular video animations, provide a powerful and indispensable means for the presentation and evaluation of the analysis results.

Synthesis and characterization of polyimide-epoxy hybrid films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butt, M.S.; Akhter, Z.; Siddiqi, H.M.

2011-01-01

Composites from polyimide and epoxy-amine were prepared aiming for enhancing its thermal and mechanical properties. Polyimide-epoxy-amine hybrid films were prepared by blending of polyimide and epoxy-amine in different ratios whereas, polyimide was prepared by reacting 1,2-di(p-aminophenyloxy)ethylene with 3,3/sub '/4,4/sub '/-benzophenone tetracarboxylic acid dianhydride. The blend systems with Araldite LY564 (1,4-butanediolediglycidyl ether) (BDDE) and Hardener HY2954 (3,3/sub '/-dimethyl-4,4/sub '/-diamino dicyclohexyl)methane (MACM) were investigated in term of thermal, mechanical and viscoelastic measurements. Thermal stability was determined using thermogravimetric analysis. The effect of the polyimide content on the glass transition temperature (Tg) and thermal stability was observed. Viscoelastic measurements showed that the glass transition temperature shifted with the increase of polyimide content. The composites showed higher thermal stability in comparison with neat epoxy-amine matrix for higher polyimide concentration. The effect of polyimide content on the mechanical properties was also investigated. The tensile measurements of the films showed that with the increase of polyimide content the tensile modulus of the films was increased. (author)

Characterization of Hybrid Epoxy Nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Simcha, Shelly; Dotan, Ana; Kenig, Samuel; Dodiuk, Hanna

2012-01-01

This study focused on the effect of Multi Wall Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT) content and its surface treatment on thermo-mechanical properties of epoxy nanocomposites. MWCNTs were surface treated and incorporated into two epoxy systems. MWCNT's surface treatments were based on: (a) Titania coating obtained by sol-gel process and (b) a nonionic surfactant. Thermo-mechanical properties improvement was obtained following incorporation of treated MWCNT. It was noticed that small amounts of titania coated MWCNT (0.05 wt %) led to an increase in the glass transition temperature and stiffness. The best performance was achieved adding 0.3 wt % titania coated MWCNT where an increase of 10 °C in the glass transition temperature and 30% in storage modulus were obtained. PMID:28348313

Reconstruction Accuracy Assessment of Surface and Underwater 3D Motion Analysis: A New Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly de Jesus

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study assessed accuracy of surface and underwater 3D reconstruction of a calibration volume with and without homography. A calibration volume (6000 × 2000 × 2500 mm with 236 markers (64 above and 88 underwater control points—with 8 common points at water surface—and 92 validation points was positioned on a 25 m swimming pool and recorded with two surface and four underwater cameras. Planar homography estimation for each calibration plane was computed to perform image rectification. Direct linear transformation algorithm for 3D reconstruction was applied, using 1600000 different combinations of 32 and 44 points out of the 64 and 88 control points for surface and underwater markers (resp.. Root Mean Square (RMS error with homography of control and validations points was lower than without it for surface and underwater cameras (P≤0.03. With homography, RMS errors of control and validation points were similar between surface and underwater cameras (P≥0.47. Without homography, RMS error of control points was greater for underwater than surface cameras (P≤0.04 and the opposite was observed for validation points (P≤0.04. It is recommended that future studies using 3D reconstruction should include homography to improve swimming movement analysis accuracy.

An energy-harvesting power supply for underwater bridge scour monitoring sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuli; Li, Yingjie; He, Longzhuang; Shamsi, Pourya; Zheng, Yahong R.

2018-03-01

The natural force of scouring has become one of the most critical risk endangering the endurance of bridges, thus leading to the necessity of deploying underwater monitoring sensors to actively detect potential scour holes under bridges. Due to the difficulty in re-charging batteries for underwater sensors, super capacitors with energy harvesting (EH) means are exploited to prolong the sustainability of underwater sensors. In this paper, an energy harvesting power supply based on a helical turbine is proposed to power underwater monitoring sensors. A small helical turbine is designed to convert water flow energy to electrical energy with favorable environmental robustness. A 3-inch diameter, 2.5-inch length and 3-bladed helical turbine was designed with two types of waterproof coupling with the sensor housing. Both designs were prototyped and tested under different flow conditions and we get valid voltage around 0.91 V which is enough to power monitoring sensor. The alternating current (AC) electrical energy generated by the helical turbine is then rectified and boosted to drive a DC charger for efficiently charging one super capacitor. The charging circuit was designed, prototyped and tested thoroughly with the helical turbine harvester. The results were promising, that the overall power supply can power an underwater sensor node with wireless transceivers for long-term operations

The Basic Research for Pulverization of Rice Using Underwater Shock Wave by Electric Discharge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Ide

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the food self-support rate of Japan is 40%, and this value is the lowest level in major developed countries. This reason includes decreasing of diverting rice consumption in Japan and increasing abandonment of cultivation. Therefore, these problems are solved by using rice powder instead of expensive flour, and we manage to increase the food selfsupport rate. Previously, the rice powder is manufactured by two methods. One is dry type, and the other is wet type. The former is the method getting rice powder by running dried rice to rotating metal, and has a problem which that starch is damaged by heat when processing was performed. The latter is performed same method against wet rice, and has a problem which a large quantity of water is used. As a method to solve these problems, an underwater shock wave is used. Shock wave is the pressure wave which is over speed of sound by discharging high energy in short time. Propagating shock wave in water is underwater shock wave. The characters of underwater shock wave are long duration of shock wave because water density is uniform, water is low price and easy to get and not heat processing. Thinking of industrialization, the electric discharge is used as the generating source of underwater shock wave in the experiment. As the results, the efficiency of obtaining enough grain size, 100ìm, of rice powder was too bad only using the simple processing using underwater shock wave. Therefore, in Okinawa National College of Technology collaborating with us, obtaining rice powder with higher efficiency by using converged underwater shock wave is the goal of this research. In this research, the underwater shock wave with equal energy of the experimental device of underwater shock wave is measured by the optical observation. In addition, the appearance converging underwater shock wave is simulated by numerical analysis, and the pressure appreciation rate between the first wave and converged

Thermal properties and corrosion resistance of organoclay/epoxy resin film

Science.gov (United States)

Baiquni, M.; Soegijono, B.

2018-03-01

Hybrid materials organoclay/epoxy resin films were prepared by varying organoclay content in epoxy resin as a matrix. The film were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermal conductivity. TGA and FT-IR results confirmed that the melting temperature shifted to a lower point. The thermal conductivity and corrosion resistant generally increase with increasing organoclay content. The changes on these properties may due to cross link between organoclay and epoxy.

Preparation and Various Characteristics of Epoxy/Alumina Nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Kozako, Masahiro; Ohki, Yoshimichi; Kohtoh, Masanori; Okabe, Shigemitsu; Tanaka, Toshikatsu

Epoxy/ alumina nanocomposites were newly prepared by dispersing 3, 5, 7, and 10 weight (wt) % boehmite alumina nanofillers in a bisphenol-A epoxy resin using a special two-stage direct mixing method. It was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy imaging that the nanofillers were homogeneously dispersed in the epoxy matrix. Dielectric, mechanical, and thermal properties were investigated. It was elucidated that nanofillers affects various characteristics of epoxy resins, when they are nanostructrued. Such nano-effects we obtained are summarized as follows. Partial discharge resistance increases as the filler content increases; e.g. 7 wt% nanofiller content creates a 60 % decrease in depth of PD-caused erosion. Weibull analysis shows that short-time electrical treeing breakdown time is prolonged to 265 % by 5 wt% addition of nanofillers. But there was more data scatter in nanocomposites than in pure epoxy. Permittivity tends to increase from 3.7 to 4.0 by 5 wt% nanofiller addition as opposed to what was newly found in the recent past. Glass transition temperature remains unchanged as 109 °C. Mechanical properties such as flexural strength and flexural modulus increase; e.g. flexural strength and flexural modulus are improved by 5 % and 8 % with 5 wt% content, respectively. Excess addition causes a reverse effect. It is concluded from permittivity and glass transition temperature characteristics that interfacial bonding seems to be more or less weak in the nanocomposite specimens prepared this time, even though mechanical strengths increase. There is a possibility that the nanocomposites specimens will be improved in interfacial quality.

Liquid crystalline epoxy nanocomposite material for dental application.

Science.gov (United States)

Tai, Yun-Yuan; Hsu, Sheng-Hao; Chen, Rung-Shu; Su, Wei-Fang; Chen, Min-Huey

2015-01-01

Novel liquid crystalline epoxy nanocomposites, which exhibit reduced polymerization shrinkage and effectively bond to tooth structures, can be applied in esthetic dentistry, including core and post systems, direct and indirect restorations, and dental brackets. The purposes of this study were to investigate the properties of liquid crystalline epoxy nanocomposites including biocompatibility, microhardness, and frictional forces of bracket-like blocks with different filler contents for further clinical applications. In this study, we evaluated liquid crystalline epoxy nanocomposite materials that exhibited various filler contents, by assessing their cell activity performance using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and their microhardness with or without thermocycling. We also evaluated the frictional force between bracket-like duplicates and commercially available esthetic bracket systems using Instron 5566. The liquid crystalline epoxy nanocomposite materials showed good biocompatibility. The materials having high filler content demonstrated greater microhardness compared with commercially available bracket materials, before and after the thermocycling treatment. Thus, manufacturing processes are important to reduce frictional force experienced by orthodontic brackets. The microhardness of the bracket-like blocks made by our new material is superior to the commercially available brackets, even after thermocycling. Our results indicate that the evaluated liquid crystalline epoxy nanocomposite materials are of an appropriate quality for application in dental core and post systems and in various restorations. By applying technology to refine manufacturing processes, these new materials could also be used to fabricate esthetic brackets for orthodontic treatment. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The effects of MWNT on thermal conductivity and thermal mechanical properties of epoxy

Science.gov (United States)

Ismadi, A. I.; Othman, R. N.

2017-12-01

Multiwall nanotube (MWNT) was used as filler in various studies to improve thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of epoxy. Present study varied different weight loading (0, 0.1 %, 0.5 %, 1 %, 1.5 %, 3 % and 5 %) of MWNT in order to observe the effects on the epoxy. Nanocomposite was analyzed by dynamic-mechanical thermal analyser (DMTA) and KD2 pro analyzer. DMTA measured storage modulus (E') and glass transition temperature (Tg) of the nanocomposite. Result showed that Tg value of neat epoxy is higher than all MWNT epoxy nanocomposite. Tg values drop from 81.55 °C (neat epoxy) to 65.03 °C (at 0.1 wt%). This may happen due to the agglomeration of MWNT in the epoxy. However, Tg values increases with the increase of MWNT wt%. Tg values increased from 65.03 °C to 78.53 °C at 1 wt%. Increment of storage modulus (E') at 3 °C (glassy region) was observed as the MWNT loading increases. Maximum value of E' during glassy region was observed to be at 5 wt% with (7.26±0.7) E+08 Pa compared to neat epoxy. On the contrary, there is slight increased and slight decreased with E' values at 100 °C (rubbery region) for all nanocomposite. Since epoxy exhibits low thermal conductivity properties, addition of MWNT has enhanced the properties. Optimum value of thermal conductivity was observed at 3 wt%. The values increased up to 9.03 % compared to neat epoxy. As expected, the result showed decrease value in thermal conductivity at 5 wt% as a result of agglomeration of MWNT in the epoxy.

High Tg and fast curing epoxy-based anisotropic conductive paste for electronic packaging

Science.gov (United States)

Keeratitham, Waralee; Somwangthanaroj, Anongnat

2016-03-01

Herein, our main objective is to prepare the fast curing epoxy system with high glass transition temperature (Tg) by incorporating the multifunctional epoxy resin into the mixture of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) as a major epoxy component and aromatic diamine as a hardener. Furthermore, the curing behavior as well as thermal and thermomechanical properties were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and thermomechanical analysis (TMA). It was found that Tg obtained from tan δ of DGEBA/aromatic diamine system increased from 100 °C to 205 °C with the presence of 30 percentage by weight of multifunctional epoxy resin. Additionally, the isothermal DSC results showed that the multifunctional epoxy resin can accelerate the curing reaction of DGEBA/aromatic diamine system. Namely, a high degree of curing (˜90%) was achieved after a few minutes of curing at low temperature of 130 °C, owing to a large number of epoxy ring of multifunctional epoxy resin towards the active hydrogen atoms of aromatic diamine.

Non-isothermal cure and exfoliation of tri-functional epoxy-clay nanocomposites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Shiravand

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The non-isothermal cure kinetics of polymer silicate layered nanocomposites based on a tri-functional epoxy resin has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. From an analysis of the kinetics as a function of the clay content, it can be concluded that the non-isothermal cure reaction can be considered to consist of four different processes: the reaction of epoxy groups with the diamine curing agent; an intra-gallery homopolymerisation reaction which occurs concurrently with the epoxy-amine reaction; and two extra-gallery homopolymerisation reactions, catalysed by the onium ion of the organically modified clay and by the tertiary amines resulting from the epoxy-amine reaction. The final nanostructure displays a similar quality of exfoliation as that observed for the isothermal cure of the same nanocomposite system. This implies that the intra-gallery reaction, which is responsible for the exfoliation, is not significantly inhibited by the extra-gallery epoxy-amine cross-linking reaction.

Tensile properties of compressed moulded Napier/glass fibre reinforced epoxy composites

Science.gov (United States)

Fatinah, T. S.; Majid, M. S. Abdul; Ridzuan, M. J. M.; Hong, T. W.; Amin, N. A. M.; Afendi, M.

2017-10-01

This paper describes the experimental investigation of the tensile properties of compressed moulded Napier grass fibres reinforced epoxy composites. The effect of treatment 5% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentrated solution and hybridization of Napier with CSM E-glass fibres on tensile properties was also studied. The untreated and treated Napier fibres with 25% fibre loading were fabricated with epoxy resin by a cold press process. 7% fibre loading of CSM glass fibre was hybrid as the skin layer for 18% fibre loading of untreated Napier grass fibre. The tensile tests were conducted using Universal Testing Machine in accordance with ASTM D638. The tensile properties of the untreated Napier/epoxy composites were compared with treated Napier/epoxy and untreated Napier/CSM/epoxy composites. The results demonstrated that the tensile performance of untreated Napier fibre composites was significantly improved by both of the modification; alkali treatment and glass fibre hybridization. Napier grass fibres showed promising potentials to be used as reinforcement in the polymer based composites.

Plant Oil-Derived Epoxy Polymers toward Sustainable Biobased Thermosets.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhongkai; Yuan, Liang; Ganewatta, Mitra S; Lamm, Meghan E; Rahman, Md Anisur; Wang, Jifu; Liu, Shengquan; Tang, Chuanbing

2017-06-01

Epoxy polymers (EPs) derived from soybean oil with varied chemical structures are synthesized. These polymers are then cured with anhydrides to yield soybean-oil-derived epoxy thermosets. The curing kinetic, thermal, and mechanical properties are well characterized. Due to the high epoxide functionality per epoxy polymer chain, these thermosets exhibit tensile strength over an order of magnitude higher than a control formulation with epoxidized soybean oil. More importantly, thermosetting materials ranging from soft elastomers to tough thermosets can be obtained simply by using different EPs and/or by controlling feed ratios of EPs to anhydrides. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Chemical changes and tensile and electrical properties of epoxy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The properties of epoxy rsesin can be improved by the use of nanofiller such as carbon black (CB), The nanocomposite was synthesized by dispersion via sonication and shear mixing. The morphology, surface chemistry and the structure of CB and the epoxy/CB nanocomposites were investigated using XPS, FTIR, FESEM, ...

Education and Public Outreach for NASA's EPOXI Mission.

Science.gov (United States)

McFadden, Lucy-Ann A.; Crow, C. A.; Behne, J.; Brown, R. N.; Counley, J.; Livengood, T. A.; Ristvey, J. D.; Warner, E. M.

2009-09-01

NASA's EPOXI mission is reusing the Deep Impact (DI) flyby spacecraft to study comets and extra-solar planets around other stars. During the Extrasolar Planetary Observations and Characterization (EPOCh) phase of the mission extrasolar planets transiting their parent stars were observed to gain further knowledge and understanding of planetary systems. Observations of Earth also allowed for characterization of Earth as an extrasolar planet. A movie of a lunar transit of the Earth created from EPOCh images and links to existing planet finding activities from other NASA missions are available on the EPOXI website. The Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI) continues the Deep Impact theme of investigating comet properties and formation by observing comet Hartley 2 in November 2010. The EPOXI Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program is both creating new materials and updating and modifying existing Deep Impact materials based on DI mission results. Comparing Comets is a new educational activity under development that will guide students in conducting analyses of comet surface features similar to those the DIXI scientists will perform after observing comet Hartley 2. A new story designed to stimulate student creativity was developed in alignment with national educational standards. EPOXI E/PO also funded Family Science Night (FSN), a program bringing together students, families, and educators for an evening at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. FSN events include time for families to explore the museum, a presentation by a space scientist, and an astronomy themed IMAX film. Nine events were held during the 2008-2009 school year with a total attendance of 3,145 (attendance since inception reached 44,732). Half of attendance is reserved for schools with high percentages of underrepresented minorities. EPOXI additionally offers a bi-monthly newsletter to keep the public, teachers, and space enthusiasts updated on current mission activities. For more

Aging in CTBN modified epoxy resin stocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Creed, K.E. Jr.

1979-01-01

The cause of degradation in the glass transition temperature (T/sub G/) of a partially crystallized polymer was investigated. Sample epoxy resin filled capacitors were cured at 90 0 C for 24 hours, then stored at room atmospheric conditions. These showed typical degradation in T/sub G/ after storage for one month. One set of epoxy resin castings was stored at room atmosphere and another set was stored in a dry box at 0% relative humidity and 27 0 C. The samples at room atmospheric conditions showed typical degradation in T/sub G/, while the T/sub G/ for those stored in the dry box increased. Further tests were then made on epoxy resin castings at various curing temperatures and times at both room atmosphere and 0% humidity. Resulting data indicated that absorption of moisture during storage was the predominant cause of T/sub G/ degradation, with stress relaxation another, though smaller, contributing factor

Spall Strength Measurements in Transparent Epoxy Polymers

Science.gov (United States)

Pepper, Jonathan; Rahmat, Meysam; Petel, Oren

2017-06-01

Polymer nanocomposites are seeing more frequent use in transparent armour applications. The role of the microstructure on the performance of these materials under dynamic tensile loading conditions is of particular interest. In the present study, a series of plate impact experiments was conducted in order to evaluate the dynamic response of an epoxy (EPON 828) cured with two differed hardeners. The purpose was to compare the role of these hardeners on the dynamic performance of the resulting transparent epoxy. The material response was resolved with a multi-channel photonic Doppler velocimeter. This system was used to determine the shock Hugoniot and dynamic tensile (spall) strength of the materials. The experimental results are presented in reference to spall theory and are evaluated against results predicted by an analytical model of the impacts. While varying the hardener did not change the shock Hugoniot of the epoxy, it did have an effect on the measured spall strengths.

Epoxy-silicate nanocomposites: Cure monitoring and characterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussain, Farzana; Chen, Jihua; Hojjati, Mehdi

2007-01-01

Epoxy-clay nanocomposites were prepared with organically modified layered clay with varying clay contents (1-8 wt.%). Neat resin and nanocomposite were characterized using different techniques. At first, the effect of nanoclay concentration on the cure behaviour was investigated using an on-line dielectric cure monitoring technique. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to verify the dielectric measurement results. Furthermore, mechanical and thermal properties were studied using tensile test and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), respectively. Experimental results showed that properties of the epoxy were changed evidently because of the nanoclay loading. The tensile modulus of the nanocomposites increased by 47%, however, no improvement in tensile strength and glass transition temperature (T g ) was observed. Fracture surface of the tensile samples were analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The nanocomposites structures were characterized with Wide Angle X-Ray Diffraction (WAXD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), which revealed the intercalated morphology of clay layers in the epoxy resin systems

The Theseus Autonomous Underwater Vehicle: A Canadian Success Story

Science.gov (United States)

1997-04-01

P502414.PDF [Page: 1 of 9] P502414.PDF [Page: 2 of 9] P502414.PDF [Page: 3 of 9] The Theseus Autonomous Underwater Vehicle A Canadian Success Story...autonomous underwater vehicle, named Theseus , for laying optical fiber cables in ice- covered waters. In trials and missions conducted in 1996, this...stations. An acoustic telemetry system enables communication with Theseus from surface stations, and an optical telemetry system is used for system

Coordinated Formation Control of Multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for Pipeline Inspection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xianbo Xiang

2010-02-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the control problem of inspecting underwater pipeline on the seabed, with coordinated multiple autonomous underwater vehicles in a formation. Based on the leader-follower strategy, the dedicated nonlinear path following controller is rigorously built on Lyapunov-based design, driving a fleet of vehicles onto assigned parallel paths elevated and offset from the underwater pipeline, while keeping a triangle formation to capture complete 3D images for inspection. Due to the spatial-temporal decoupling characteristics of individual path following controller, the velocities of the followers can be adapted in the coordinated control level, only relying on the information of generalized along-path length from the leader, in order to build the desired formation. Thus, the communication variable broadcast from the leader is kept to a minimum, which is feasible under the severely constraints of acoustic communication bandwidth. Simulation results illustrate the efficiency of coordinated formation controller proposed for underwater pipeline inspection.

Radiation curing of γ-Al2O3 filled epoxy resin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Phil Hyun; Kim, Dong Jin; Nho, Young Chang

2003-01-01

Epoxy resins are widely utilized as high performance thermosetting resins for many industrial applications but characterized by a relatively low toughness. Recently, the incorporation with rigid inorganic was suggested to improve the mechanical properties of epoxy resins. In the present work, an attempt has been taken to disperse nano-sized γ- Al 2 O 3 particles into diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) epoxy resins for improvement of the mechanical properties. These hybrid epoxy-alumina composites were prepared using by the γ-ray curing technique that was conducted with 100kGy under nitrogen at room temperature. The composites were characterized by determining gel content, UTM (Instron model 4443), SEM, FT-IR studies

Underwater Welding Techniques

OpenAIRE

Esam F. Alajmi; Ahmad A. Alqenaei

2017-01-01

Welding demand in offshore and marine applications is increased with the increasing in oil and gas activities as well as increasing in the marine transportation and industrial applications. Applications of underwater welding well be increased in Kuwait in the coming years due to the strategic directive of the country toward starting the offshore oil and gas exploration and production, and the increase in marine transportation projects. Therefore, there is a need to understand the concept of u...

Preparations and applications in UV curing coatings of epoxy acrylates containing carboxyl

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Yu Min

1999-01-01

This paper introduces preparations of epoxy acrylates containing carboxyl through the reactions of epoxy acrylates with butanedioic anhydride, pentanedioic anhydride, cis-butenedioic anhydride, phthalic anhydride, tetrabromophthalic anhydride and -tetrahydrophthalic anhydride. These epoxy acrylates containing carboxyl have been applied to UV-curing coatings and their effects on properties of UV-curing coatings have been studied

Tracking the position of the underwater robot for nuclear reactor inspection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeo, J. W.; Kim, C. H.; Seo, Y. C.; Choi, Y. S.; Kim, S. H.

2003-01-01

The tracking procedure of the underwater mobile robot moving and submerging ahead to nuclear reactor vessel for visual inspection, which is required to find the foreign objects such as loose parts, is described. The yellowish underwater robot body tends to present a big contrast to boron solute cold water of nuclear reactor vessel, tinged with indigo by the Cerenkov effect. In this paper, we have found and tracked the positions of underwater mobile robot using the two color information, yellow and indigo. From the horizontal and vertical profiles analysis of the color image, the blue, green, and the gray component have the inferior signal-to-noise characteristics compared to the red component. The center coordinates extraction procedures areas follows. The first step is to segment the underwater robot body to cold water with indigo background. From the RGB color components of the entire monitoring image taken with the color CCD camera, we have selected the red color component. In the selected red image, we extracted the positions of the underwater mobile robot using the following process sequences; binarization, labelling, and centroid extraction techniques. In the experiment carried out at the Youngkwang unit 5 nuclear reactor vessel, we have tracked the center positions of the underwater robot submerged near the cold leg and the hot leg way, which is fathomed to 10m deep in depth. When the position of the robot vehicle fluctuates between the previous and the current image frame due to the flickering noise and light source, installed temporally in the bottom of the reactor vessel, we adaptively adjusted the ROI window. Adding the ROI windows of the previous frame to the current frame, and then setting up the ROI window of the next image frame, we can robustly track the positions of the underwater robot and control the target position's divergence. From these facts, we can conclude that using the red component from color camera is more efficient tracking method

ANALISIS ARAH DAN PERLAKUAN SERAT TAPIS SERTA RASIO EPOXY HARDENER TERHADAP SIFAT FISIS DAN MEKANIS KOMPOSIT TAPIS/EPOXY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Putu Lokantara

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Tapis kelapa (Coconut filter as natural fiber, in this time its resources very copius but no longer be exploited and thrown off hand as waste though in fact its used for other material dissimilar inovatif and high economic valuable that is as one of natural fiber alternative to be composite. The objective of this research is to investigate the behavior changing of physical and mechanical properties of composite tapis kelapa as reinforcement and epoxy 7120 with hardener Versamid 140 as matrix. The fiber is treated with the chemical NaOH and KMnO4 with percentage 0.5%, 1%, and 2% in weight, respectively. The ratio of epoxy and hardener is 7:3 and 6:4, and fiber orientation 0o, 45o, dan 90o. For testing of the speciment in tensile test with ASTM standard D3039 and three point bending test with ASTM standard D790. The result of this research obtained that fiber treatment with KMnO4 give the better effect to machine properties compared to NaOH. Variation of percentage 0.5%, 1%, and 2% NaOH and KMnO4 give the effect in fiber surface which higher percentage make the cleaner of surface, decrease of wax contain, and roughness of fiber surface so that stronger of linkage of fiber and matrix and increase of tensile strength, bending strength, and bending modulus of the composite. The highest tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and bending strength are 70.23 MPa, 446.24 GPa and 97.81 MPa respectively reached at composite with ratio epoxy/hardener 7:3; by 2% KMnO4 and fiber orientation 45o. While the highest modulus of elasticity is 385.48 GPa reached at composite with the ratio epoxy/hardener 6:4; 2% KMnO4 and fiber orientation 90o. Keywords: Tensile Strength, bending strength, ratio of epoxy/hardener, NaOH, KMnO4

Epoxy-resin adhesive and method for bonding using such an epoxy resin adhesive

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bhowmik, S.; Poulis, J.A.; Benedictus, R.

2008-01-01

The invention relates to an epoxy resin adhesive comprising a dotation of nano-substances, wherein the nano- substances are selected from the group comprising carbon-fibre nanotubes, carbon nano-fibres, silicate nano powders, and wherein the nano-substances are dispersed in the adhesive with a

A Game-theoretical Approach for Distributed Cooperative Control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

KAUST Repository

Lu, Yimeng

2018-01-01

design and learning process of the algorithm are modified to fit specific constraints of underwater exploration/monitoring tasks. The revised approach can take the real scenario of underwater monitoring applications such as the effect of sea current

Preparation and Properties of Epoxy Resin-Coated Micro-Sized Ferrosilicon Powder

OpenAIRE

Ku,Jiangang; Chen,Huihuang; He,Kui; Yan,Quanxiang

2016-01-01

Ferrosilicon powder surface coated with a dense epoxy resin membrane was prepared via coating precipitation methods using silane coupling agents as the modifier and epoxy resin as the coating agent. FTIR, FESEM, MPMS-XL, and TG-DSC were used to analyze the morphology, surface composition, magnetic property and thermostability of ferrosilicon powder before and after the modification and coating. The experimental results indicate that epoxy resin membranes of a certain thickness were successful...

The key kinematic determinants of undulatory underwater swimming at maximal velocity.

Science.gov (United States)

Connaboy, Chris; Naemi, Roozbeh; Brown, Susan; Psycharakis, Stelios; McCabe, Carla; Coleman, Simon; Sanders, Ross

2016-01-01

The optimisation of undulatory underwater swimming is highly important in competitive swimming performance. Nineteen kinematic variables were identified from previous research undertaken to assess undulatory underwater swimming performance. The purpose of the present study was to determine which kinematic variables were key to the production of maximal undulatory underwater swimming velocity. Kinematic data at maximal undulatory underwater swimming velocity were collected from 17 skilled swimmers. A series of separate backward-elimination analysis of covariance models was produced with cycle frequency and cycle length as dependent variables (DVs) and participant as a fixed factor, as including cycle frequency and cycle length would explain 100% of the maximal swimming velocity variance. The covariates identified in the cycle-frequency and cycle-length models were used to form the saturated model for maximal swimming velocity. The final parsimonious model identified three covariates (maximal knee joint angular velocity, maximal ankle angular velocity and knee range of movement) as determinants of the variance in maximal swimming velocity (adjusted-r2 = 0.929). However, when participant was removed as a fixed factor there was a large reduction in explained variance (adjusted r2 = 0.397) and only maximal knee joint angular velocity continued to contribute significantly, highlighting its importance to the production of maximal swimming velocity. The reduction in explained variance suggests an emphasis on inter-individual differences in undulatory underwater swimming technique and/or anthropometry. Future research should examine the efficacy of other anthropometric, kinematic and coordination variables to better understand the production of maximal swimming velocity and consider the importance of individual undulatory underwater swimming techniques when interpreting the data.

Experimental Measurements of Temporal Dispersion for Underwater Laser Communications and Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Cochenour, Brandon Michael

The challenge in implementing optical sensors underwater lies in the high variability of the ocean environment where propagation of light in the ocean is complicated by absorption and scattering. Most underwater optical sensors operate in the blue/green portion of the electromagnetic spectrum where seawater exhibits an absorption minimum. Mitigating scattering however is a greater challenge. In particular, scattering causes both spatial distortion (beam spreading) and temporal dispersion (pulse spreading or distortion). Each of type of dispersion decreases sensor performance (operating range, image resolution, data bandwidth, etc.). While spatial dispersion has received a great deal of attention in previous decades, technological limitations of sensor hardware have made experimental measurements of temporal dispersion underwater difficult until now. The main contribution of this thesis are experimental measurements of temporal dispersion of optical beams in turbid water, made with a high sensitivity/high dynamic range experimental technique. Measurements are performed as a function of water clarity (0-20 attenuation lengths), transmitter/receiver alignment (0-30 degrees, half angle), receiver field of view (1-7 degrees, full angle), and transmitter beam divergence (collimated and diffuse). Special attention is paid to the interdependency between spatial and temporal dispersion. This work provides severable notable contributions: 1. While experimental characterization of spatial dispersion has received significant attention underwater, there has been a lack of measurements characterizing temporal dispersion underwater. This work provides the most comprehensive set of experimental measurements to date regarding the temporal dispersion of optical beams underwater. 2. An experimental analysis of the influence of scattering phase function on temporal dispersion. Coarse estimates of the scattering phase function are used to determine the ranges (or attenuation lengths

Typical Underwater Tunnels in the Mainland of China and Related Tunneling Technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kairong Hong

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In the past decades, many underwater tunnels have been constructed in the mainland of China, and great progress has been made in related tunneling technologies. This paper presents the history and state of the art of underwater tunnels in the mainland of China in terms of shield-bored tunnels, drill-and-blast tunnels, and immersed tunnels. Typical underwater tunnels of these types in the mainland of China are described, along with innovative technologies regarding comprehensive geological prediction, grouting-based consolidation, the design and construction of large cross-sectional tunnels with shallow cover in weak strata, cutting tool replacement under limited drainage and reduced pressure conditions, the detection and treatment of boulders, the construction of underwater tunnels in areas with high seismic intensity, and the treatment of serious sedimentation in a foundation channel of immersed tunnels. Some suggestions are made regarding the three potential great strait-crossing tunnels—the Qiongzhou Strait-Crossing Tunnel, Bohai Strait-Crossing Tunnel, and Taiwan Strait-Crossing Tunnel—and issues related to these great strait-crossing tunnels that need further study are proposed. Keywords: Underwater tunnel, Strait-crossing tunnel, Shield-bored tunnel, Immersed tunnel, Drill and blast

Emerging from Water: Underwater Image Color Correction Based on Weakly Supervised Color Transfer

OpenAIRE

Li, Chongyi; Guo, Jichang; Guo, Chunle

2017-01-01

Underwater vision suffers from severe effects due to selective attenuation and scattering when light propagates through water. Such degradation not only affects the quality of underwater images but limits the ability of vision tasks. Different from existing methods which either ignore the wavelength dependency of the attenuation or assume a specific spectral profile, we tackle color distortion problem of underwater image from a new view. In this letter, we propose a weakly supervised color tr...

Impact Damage In Carbon/Epoxy And Carbon/PEEK Composites

Science.gov (United States)

Nettles, A. T.; Magold, N. J.

1991-01-01

Report describes results of drop-weight impact testing of specimens of carbon-fiber/epoxy and carbon-fiber/polyetheretherketone (PEEK) composite materials. Panels made of these materials assembled into lightweight, strong, stiff structures useful in automobiles, aircraft, sporting goods, and many other products. PEEK specimens showed less delamination than epoxy specimens at given impact energy.

Geometric and Optic Characterization of a Hemispherical Dome Port for Underwater Photogrammetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Menna

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The popularity of automatic photogrammetric techniques has promoted many experiments in underwater scenarios leading to quite impressive visual results, even by non-experts. Despite these achievements, a deep understanding of camera and lens behaviors as well as optical phenomena involved in underwater operations is fundamental to better plan field campaigns and anticipate the achievable results. The paper presents a geometric investigation of a consumer grade underwater camera housing, manufactured by NiMAR and equipped with a 7′′ dome port. After a review of flat and dome ports, the work analyzes, using simulations and real experiments, the main optical phenomena involved when operating a camera underwater. Specific aspects which deal with photogrammetric acquisitions are considered with some tests in laboratory and in a swimming pool. Results and considerations are shown and commented.

A flexible liquid crystal polymer MEMS pressure sensor array for fish-like underwater sensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kottapalli, A G P; Asadnia, M; Miao, J M; Barbastathis, G; Triantafyllou, M S

2012-01-01

In order to perform underwater surveillance, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) require flexible, light-weight, reliable and robust sensing systems that are capable of flow sensing and detecting underwater objects. Underwater animals like fish perform a similar task using an efficient and ubiquitous sensory system called a lateral-line constituting of an array of pressure-gradient sensors. We demonstrate here the development of arrays of polymer microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) pressure sensors which are flexible and can be readily mounted on curved surfaces of AUV bodies. An array of ten sensors with a footprint of 60 (L) mm × 25 (W) mm × 0.4 (H) mm is fabricated using liquid crystal polymer (LCP) as the sensing membrane material. The flow sensing and object detection capabilities of the array are illustrated with proof-of-concept experiments conducted in a water tunnel. The sensors demonstrate a pressure sensitivity of 14.3 μV Pa −1 . A high resolution of 25 mm s −1 is achieved in water flow sensing. The sensors can passively sense underwater objects by transducing the pressure variations generated underwater by the movement of objects. The experimental results demonstrate the array’s ability to detect the velocity of underwater objects towed past by with high accuracy, and an average error of only 2.5%. (paper)

Effect of epoxy resin and hardener containing microcapsules on healing efficiency of epoxy adhesive based metal joints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, Nazrul Islam; Halder, Sudipta; Goyat, M.S.

2016-01-01

Dual component microcapsules of epoxy resin and polyamine hardener with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) shell were synthesized using a water-oil-water emulsion solvent evaporation method. The high concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used to reduce the thickness of shell wall of dual component microcapsules. The dual microcapsules of 1:1 weight ratio were introduced in the epoxy adhesive to study the healing effect. The morphology, chemical structure and thermal characteristics of the microcapsules were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The insertion of dual component microcapsules in epoxy matrix reduced the lap shear strength of adhesive joints, which may be attributed to the generation of stress concentration cites because of micron sized capsules. However, the extension and absorbed failure energy of adhesive joints under uniaxial loading increased with the increase of concentration of dual microcapsules. The viscoelastic nature of the dual microcapsules may be responsible for this enhancement. Significant enhancement in the healing efficiency (90.93%) of the joints was achieved for 10 wt% of dual microcapsules. The crack pinning and crack blunting mechanisms at the vicinity of the crack path adjacent to the microcapsules were found responsible for significant enhancement in the healing efficiency of the adhesive joints. - Highlights: • High SDS concentration was used to control the dual component microcapsules shell wall thickness. • Self-healing performance of dual component microcapsules reinforced epoxy adhesive based single lap joints was studied. • 90.93% of the damage healing was achieved for self-healing adhesive based single lap joints. • Increase in concentration of microcapsules reduces the lap shear properties of the self-healing joints.

Effect of epoxy resin and hardener containing microcapsules on healing efficiency of epoxy adhesive based metal joints

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khan, Nazrul Islam [Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Silchar 788010, Assam (India); Halder, Sudipta, E-mail: shalder@nits.ac.in [Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Silchar 788010, Assam (India); Goyat, M.S. [Department of Physics, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248007 (India)

2016-03-01

Dual component microcapsules of epoxy resin and polyamine hardener with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) shell were synthesized using a water-oil-water emulsion solvent evaporation method. The high concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used to reduce the thickness of shell wall of dual component microcapsules. The dual microcapsules of 1:1 weight ratio were introduced in the epoxy adhesive to study the healing effect. The morphology, chemical structure and thermal characteristics of the microcapsules were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The insertion of dual component microcapsules in epoxy matrix reduced the lap shear strength of adhesive joints, which may be attributed to the generation of stress concentration cites because of micron sized capsules. However, the extension and absorbed failure energy of adhesive joints under uniaxial loading increased with the increase of concentration of dual microcapsules. The viscoelastic nature of the dual microcapsules may be responsible for this enhancement. Significant enhancement in the healing efficiency (90.93%) of the joints was achieved for 10 wt% of dual microcapsules. The crack pinning and crack blunting mechanisms at the vicinity of the crack path adjacent to the microcapsules were found responsible for significant enhancement in the healing efficiency of the adhesive joints. - Highlights: • High SDS concentration was used to control the dual component microcapsules shell wall thickness. • Self-healing performance of dual component microcapsules reinforced epoxy adhesive based single lap joints was studied. • 90.93% of the damage healing was achieved for self-healing adhesive based single lap joints. • Increase in concentration of microcapsules reduces the lap shear properties of the self-healing joints.

Improvement in electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of epoxy by filling carbon nanotube

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2008-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs reinforced Epon 862 epoxy have been evaluated. Firstly, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 wt% CNT were infused into epoxy through a high intensity ultrasonic liquid processor and then mixed with EpiCure curing agent W using a high speed mechanical agitator. Electric conductivity, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA, three point bending tests and fracture tests were then performed on unfilled, CNT-filled epoxy to identify the loading effect on the properties of materials. Experimental results show significant improvement in electric conductivity. The resistivity of epoxy decreased from 1014 Ω•m of neat epoxy to 10 Ω•m with 0.4% CNT. The experimental results also indicate that the frequency dependent behavior of CNT/epoxy nanocomposite can be modeled by R-C circuit, permittivity of material increase with increasing of CNT content. DMA studies revealed that filling the carbon nanotube into epoxy can produce a 90% enhancement in storage modulus and a 17°C increase in Tg. Mechanical test results showed that modulus increased with higher CNT loading percentages, but the 0.3 wt% CNT-infusion system showed the maximum strength and fracture toughness enhancement. The decrease in strength and fracture toughness in 0.4% CNT/epoxy was attributed to poor dispersions of nanotubes in the composite.

Multi-layer protective armour for underwater shock wave mitigation

OpenAIRE

Ahmed Hawass; Hosam Mostafa; Ahmed Elbeih

2015-01-01

The effect of underwater shock wave on different target plates has been studied. An underwater shock wave generator (shock tube) was used to study the interactions between water and different constructed targets which act as shock wave mitigation. Target plates, composed of sandwich of two aluminum sheets with rubber and foam in between, were prepared and studied. For comparison, the target plates composed of triple aluminum sheets were tested. The study includes the testing of the selected p...

A study of thermal diffusivity of carbon-epoxy and glass-epoxy composites using the modified pulse method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Terpiłowski Janusz

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Transient heat transfer is studied and compared in two planeparallel composite walls and one EPIDIAN 53 epoxy resin wall acting as a matrix for both composites. The first of the two walls is made of carbonepoxy composite; the other wall is made of glass-epoxy composite, both with comparable thickness of about 1 mm and the same number of carbon and glass fabric layers (four layers. The study was conducted for temperatures in the range of 20-120 °C. The results of the study of thermal diffusivity which characterizes the material as a heat conductor under transient conditions have a preliminary character. Three series of tests were conducted for each wall. Each series took about 24 h. The results from the three series were approximated using linear functions and were found between (0.7-1.35×10−7m2/s. In the whole range of temperature variation, the thermal diffusivity values for carbon-epoxy composite are from 1.2 to 1.5 times higher than those for the other two materials with nearly the same thermal diffusivity characteristics.

Underwater noise due to precipitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Crum, Lawrence A.; Pumphrey, Hugh C.; Prosperetti, Andrea

1989-01-01

In 1959, G. Franz published a thorough investigation of the underwater sound produced by liquid drop impacts [G. Franz, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 31, 1080 (1959)]. He discovered that, under certain conditions, a gas bubble was entrained by the impacting droplet, and the subsequent oscillation of this b...

The influence of stiffeners on axial crushing of glass-fabric-reinforced epoxy composite shells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Vasanthanathan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A generic static and impact experimental procedure has been developed in this work aimed at improving the stability of glass fabric reinforced epoxy shell structures by bonding with axial stiffeners. Crashworthy structures fabricated from composite laminate with stiffeners would offer energy absorption superior to metallic structures under compressive loading situations. An experimental material characterisation of the glass fabric reinforced epoxy composite under uni-axial tension has been carried out in this study. This work provides a numerical simulation procedure to describe the static and dynamic response of unstiffened glass fabric reinforced epoxy composite shell (without stiffeners and stiffened glass fabric reinforced epoxy composite shell (with axial stiffeners under static and impact loading using the Finite Element Method. The finite element calculation for the present study was made with ANSYS®-LS-DYNA® software. Based upon the experimental and numerical investigations, it has been asserted that glass fabric reinforced epoxy shells stiffened with GFRP stiffeners are better than unstiffened glass fabric reinforced epoxy shell and glass fabric reinforced epoxy shell stiffened with aluminium stiffeners. The failure surfaces of the glass fabric reinforced epoxy composite shell structures tested under impact were examined by SEM.

Autonomous docking control of visual-servo type underwater vehicle system aiming at underwater automatic charging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanou, Akira; Ohnishi, Shota; Ishiyama, Shintaro; Minami, Mamoru

2015-01-01

A visual-servo type remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system with binocular wide-angle lens was developed to survey submarine resources, decontaminate radiation from mud in dam lake and so on. This paper explores the experiments on regulator performance and underwater docking of the robot system utilizing Genetic Algorithm (GA) for real-time recognition of the robot's relative position and posture through 3D marker. The visual servoing performances have been verified as follows; (1) The stability performances of the proposed regulator system have been evaluated by exerting abrupt distrubane force while the ROV is controlled by visual servoing. (2) The proposed system can track time-variant desired target position in x-axis (front-back direction of the robot). (3) The underwater docking can be completed by switching visual servoing and docking modes based on the error threshold, and by giving time-varying desired target position and orientation to the controller as a desired pose. (author)

Synthesis and characterization of rubbery epoxy/organoclay hectorite nanocomposites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2007-12-01

Full Text Available The present research investigates the morphology, the mechanical, and the viscoelastic properties of rubbery epoxy/clay nanocomposites synthesized by in situ polymerisation of a prepolymer diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A crosslinked with an aliphatic diamine based on a polyoxypropylene backbone. The inorganic phase was hectorite, exchanged with octadecylammonium ions in order to give organophilic properties to the phyllosilicate. An ultrasonicator was used to disperse the silicate clay layer into epoxy-amine matrix. The morphology of epoxy-hectorite nanocomposites examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM showed that mixed delamination or intercalation or microdispersion could occur depending on type of organoclay. Moreover, the mechanical and viscoelastic properties were found to be improved with only the treated hectorite.

Epoxy coatings for anticorrosion challenges: a link between chemistry and performance?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sauvant-Moynot, Valerie; Schweitzer, Sylvie; Grenier, Jacky; Duval, Sebastien [Institut Francais du Petrole, 1 et 4 avenue Bois Preau, 92450 Rueil-Malmaison (France)

2004-07-01

Epoxy coatings have been used extensively for pipeline protection in the oil and gas industries over the past decades. Thank to their outstanding adhesive properties, epoxy resins are classically used for external coating of offshore pipelines although cathodic protection is applied. They provide corrosion protection while being used as neat coating or as primer layer in a three-layer coating. Protection of internal pipelines devoted to gas transport is another application of epoxy coatings. Whatever the case, the choice of the right epoxy formulation should be adapted to the service conditions, namely exposition medium and temperature, in order to provide efficient and sustainable corrosion protection. Epoxy resins constitute a wide family and classical formulations may not fulfill the requirements of today's challenges: as pipelines are require d to operate in more and more difficult conditions, coatings are expected to function in higher temperature conditions; additionally, practical conditions such as temporary injection of methanol make the environmental exposure of the epoxy coating harsher. Therefore, there is a need of a better knowledge of technical performance and limitations of high temperature epoxy resins. This paper examined the influence of the epoxy network architecture on their protection properties and durability while exposed to distilled / sea water at 110 deg. C and to methanol at room temperature. The objective was to investigate the link between resin chemistry and final performance with respect to anticorrosion applications. Five epoxy resin formulations mixed in stoichiometric proportions were cured and post-cured to infinite extent in order to achieve densely cross-linked networks exhibiting controlled and reproducible architectures. Gravimetric and pressurised differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements were performed to evaluate the plasticization effect of both water and methanol on formulations under study. The related

Flame resistant hybrid epoxy composites

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Śliwa, R.; Oleksy, M.; Heneczkowski, M.; Oliwa, R.; Budzik, G.; Kozik, B.; Markowska, O.; Strachota, Adam

2015-01-01

Roč. 60, č. 10 (2015), s. 667-670 ISSN 0032-2725 Institutional support: RVO:61389013 Keywords : epoxy resin * quaternary phosphonium salts * modified bentonite Subject RIV: CD - Macromolecular Chemistry Impact factor: 0.718, year: 2015

Characterization and analysis of epoxy/clay nanotubes composites; Cacaterizacao e analise de compositos de epoxi, argila e nanotubos de carbono

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-07-01

An DGEBA epoxy matrix was used aiming to achieve a nanocomposite material, through the dispersion of (CNT) via mechanical stirring followed by sonication. In this work the following characterization were performed: mechanical characterization, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angle X-ray diffraction (WXRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The addition of CNT and modified clays promoted the increase of modulus of the epoxy matrix, and a synergistic effect between CNT and both clays could be presumed. SEM images of the fracture surface show the difference between the fracture surface area and the presence of clusters among the samples, allowing a correlation with the modulus of elasticity. X-ray diffractograms from 2{Theta} = 5 deg showed no peaks for modified clay samples, however it is possible to affirm that modified clay platelets are forming a less organized structure compared to the structure of the clay as natural in epoxy. (author)

Robotics Vision-based Heuristic Reasoning for Underwater Target Tracking and Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chua Kia

2005-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a robotics vision-based heuristic reasoning system for underwater target tracking and navigation. This system is introduced to improve the level of automation of underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs operations. A prototype which combines computer vision with an underwater robotics system is successfully designed and developed to perform target tracking and intelligent navigation. This study focuses on developing image processing algorithms and fuzzy inference system for the analysis of the terrain. The vision system developed is capable of interpreting underwater scene by extracting subjective uncertainties of the object of interest. Subjective uncertainties are further processed as multiple inputs of a fuzzy inference system that is capable of making crisp decisions concerning where to navigate. The important part of the image analysis is morphological filtering. The applications focus on binary images with the extension of gray-level concepts. An open-loop fuzzy control system is developed for classifying the traverse of terrain. The great achievement is the system's capability to recognize and perform target tracking of the object of interest (pipeline in perspective view based on perceived condition. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by computer and prototype simulations. This work is originated from the desire to develop robotics vision system with the ability to mimic the human expert's judgement and reasoning when maneuvering ROV in the traverse of the underwater terrain.

Robotics Vision-based Heuristic Reasoning for Underwater Target Tracking and Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chua Kia

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a robotics vision-based heuristic reasoning system for underwater target tracking and navigation. This system is introduced to improve the level of automation of underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs operations. A prototype which combines computer vision with an underwater robotics system is successfully designed and developed to perform target tracking and intelligent navigation. This study focuses on developing image processing algorithms and fuzzy inference system for the analysis of the terrain. The vision system developed is capable of interpreting underwater scene by extracting subjective uncertainties of the object of interest. Subjective uncertainties are further processed as multiple inputs of a fuzzy inference system that is capable of making crisp decisions concerning where to navigate. The important part of the image analysis is morphological filtering. The applications focus on binary images with the extension of gray-level concepts. An open-loop fuzzy control system is developed for classifying the traverse of terrain. The great achievement is the system's capability to recognize and perform target tracking of the object of interest (pipeline in perspective view based on perceived condition. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by computer and prototype simulations. This work is originated from the desire to develop robotics vision system with the ability to mimic the human expert's judgement and reasoning when maneuvering ROV in the traverse of the underwater terrain.

A Survey on Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks: Progresses, Applications, and Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Premalatha J.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The endangered underwater species always drew the attention of the scientific society since their disappearance would cause irreplaceable loss. Asia is home to some of the most diverse habitats in the earth, but it is estimated that more than one in four species are endangered. In Underwater, a lot of factors are putting marine life under immense pressure. Extreme population pressure is leading to pollution, over-fishing and the devastation of crucial habitats. Consequently, the numbers of almost all fish are declining and many are already endangered. To help these species to survive, their habitat should be strictly protected. This can be achieved by strictly monitoring them. During this course, several parameters, constraints about the species and its environments are focused. Now, advances in sensor technology facilitate the monitoring of species and their habitat with less expenditure. Indeed, the increasing sophistication of underwater wireless sensors offers chances that enable new challenges in a lot of areas, like surveillance one. This paper endorses the use of sensors for monitoring underwater species endangered in their habitat. This paper further examines the key approaches and challenges in the design and implementation of underwater wireless sensor networks. We summarize major applications and the main phenomena related to acoustic propagation, and discuss how they affect the design and operation of communication systems and networking protocols at various layers.

Novel epoxy activated hydrogels for solving lactose intolerance.

Science.gov (United States)

Elnashar, Magdy M M; Hassan, Mohamed E

2014-01-01

"Lactose intolerance" is a medical problem for almost 70% of the world population. Milk and dairy products contain 5-10% w/v lactose. Hydrolysis of lactose by immobilized lactase is an industrial solution. In this work, we succeeded to increase the lactase loading capacity to more than 3-fold to 36.3 U/g gel using epoxy activated hydrogels compared to 11 U/g gel using aldehyde activated carrageenan. The hydrogel's mode of interaction was proven by FTIR, DSC, and TGA. The high activity of the epoxy group was regarded to its ability to attach to the enzyme's -SH, -NH, and -OH groups, whereas the aldehyde group could only bind to the enzyme's -NH2 group. The optimum conditions for immobilization such as epoxy chain length and enzyme concentration have been studied. Furthermore, the optimum enzyme conditions were also deliberated and showed better stability for the immobilized enzyme and the Michaelis constants, K m and V max, were doubled. Results revealed also that both free and immobilized enzymes reached their maximum rate of lactose conversion after 2 h, albeit, the aldehyde activated hydrogel could only reach 63% of the free enzyme. In brief, the epoxy activated hydrogels are more efficient in immobilizing more enzymes than the aldehyde activated hydrogel.

Electrically Conductive Epoxy Adhesives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lan Bai

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Conductive adhesives are widely used in electronic packaging applications such as die attachment and solderless interconnections, component repair, display interconnections, and heat dissipation. The effects of film thickness as functions of filler volume fraction, conductive filler size, shape, as well as uncured adhesive matrix viscosity on the electrical conduction behavior of epoxy-based adhesives are presented in this work. For this purpose, epoxy-based adhesives were prepared using conductive fillers of different size, shape, and types, including Ni powder, flakes, and filaments, Ag powder, and Cu powder. The filaments were 20 μm in diameter, and 160 or 260 μm in length. HCl and H3PO4 acid solutions were used to etch and remove the surface oxide layers from the fillers. The plane resistance of filled adhesive films was measured using the four-point method. In all cases of conductive filler addition, the planar resistivity levels for the composite adhesive films increased when the film thickness was reduced. The shape of resistivity-thickness curves was negative exponential decaying type and was modeled using a mathematical relation. The relationships between the conductive film resistivities and the filler volume fractions were also derived mathematically based on the experimental data. Thus, the effects of surface treatment of filler particles, the type, size, shape of fillers, and the uncured epoxy viscosity could be included empirically by using these mathematical relations based on the experimental data. By utilizing the relations we proposed to model thickness-dependent and volume fraction-dependent conduction behaviors separately, we were able to describe the combined and coupled volume fraction-film thickness relationship mathematically based on our experimental data.

Electroactive polymer gels based on epoxy resin

Science.gov (United States)

Samui, A. B.; Jayakumar, S.; Jayalakshmi, C. G.; Pandey, K.; Sivaraman, P.

2007-04-01

Five types of epoxy gels have been synthesized from common epoxy resins and hardeners. Fumed silica and nanoclay, respectively, were used as fillers and butyl methacrylate/acrylamide were used as monomer(s) for making interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) in three compositions. Swelling study, tensile property evaluation, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, thermo-gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and electroactive property evaluation were done. The gels have sufficient mechanical strength and the time taken for bending to 20° was found to be 22 min for forward bias whereas it was just 12 min for reverse bias.

Strong tracking adaptive Kalman filters for underwater vehicle dead reckoning

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

XIAO Kun; FANG Shao-ji; PANG Yong-jie

2007-01-01

To improve underwater vehicle dead reckoning, a developed strong tracking adaptive kalman filter is proposed. The filter is improved with an additional adaptive factor and an estimator of measurement noise covariance. Since the magnitude of fading factor is changed adaptively, the tracking ability of the filter is still enhanced in low velocity condition of underwater vehicles. The results of simulation tests prove the presented filter effective.

Microcontroller-based underwater acoustic ECG telemetry system.

Science.gov (United States)

Istepanian, R S; Woodward, B

1997-06-01

This paper presents a microcontroller-based underwater acoustic telemetry system for digital transmission of the electrocardiogram (ECG). The system is designed for the real time, through-water transmission of data representing any parameter, and it was used initially for transmitting in multiplexed format the heart rate, breathing rate and depth of a diver using self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA). Here, it is used to monitor cardiovascular reflexes during diving and swimming. The programmable capability of the system provides an effective solution to the problem of transmitting data in the presence of multipath interference. An important feature of the paper is a comparative performance analysis of two encoding methods, Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) and Pulse Position Modulation (PPM).

Quantitative Study of Interface/Interphase in Epoxy/Graphene-Based Nanocomposites by Combining STEM and EELS.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yu; Hamon, Ann-Lenaig; Haghi-Ashtiani, Paul; Reiss, Thomas; Fan, Benhui; He, Delong; Bai, Jinbo

2016-12-14

A quantitative study of the interphase and interface of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs)/epoxy and graphene oxide (GO)/epoxy was carried out by combining scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). The interphase regions between GNPs and epoxy matrix were clearly identified by the discrepancy of the plasmon peak positions in the low energy-loss spectra due to different valence electron densities. The spectrum acquisitions were carried out along lines across the interface. An interphase thickness of 13 and 12.5 nm was measured for GNPs/epoxy and GO/epoxy, respectively. The density of the GNPs/epoxy interphase was 2.89% higher than that of the epoxy matrix. However, the density of the GO/epoxy interphase was 1.37% lower than that of the epoxy matrix. The interphase layer thickness measured in this work is in good agreement with the transition layer theory, which proposed an area with modulus linearly varying across a finite width. The results provide an insight into the interphase for carbon-based polymer composites that can help to design the functionalization of nanofillers to improve the composite properties.

QFD-based conceptual design of an autonomous underwater robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thip Pasawang

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Autonomous underwater robots in the past few years have been designed according to the individual concepts and experiences of the researchers. To design a robot, which meets all the requirements of potential users, is an advanced work. Hence, a systematic design method that could include users’ preferences and requirements is needed. This paper presents the quality function deployment (QFD technique to design an autonomous underwater robot focusing on the Thai Navy military mission. Important user requirements extracted from the QFD method are the ability to record videos, operating at depth up to 10 meters, the ability to operate remotely with cable and safety concerns related to water leakages. Less important user requirements include beauty, using renewable energy, operating remotely with radio and ability to work during night time. The important design parameters derived from the user requirements are a low cost-controller, an autonomous control algorithm, a compass sensor and vertical gyroscope, and a depth sensor. Of low-importance ranked design parameters include the module design, use clean energy, a low noise electric motor, remote surveillance design, a pressure hull, and a beautiful hull form design. The study results show the feasibility of using QFD techniques to systematically design the autonomous underwater robot to meet user requirements. Mapping between the design and expected parameters and a conceptual drafting design of an autonomous underwater robot are also presented.

Experimental Study on the Measurement of Water Bottom Vibration Induced by Underwater Drilling Blasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gu Wenbin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the lack of proper instrumentations and the difficulties in underwater measurements, the studies about water bottom vibration induced by underwater drilling blasting are seldom reported. In order to investigate the propagation and attenuation laws of blasting induced water bottom vibration, a water bottom vibration monitor was developed with consideration of the difficulties in underwater measurements. By means of this equipment, the actual water bottom vibration induced by underwater drilling blasting was measured in a field experiment. It shows that the water bottom vibration monitor could collect vibration signals quite effectively in underwater environments. The followed signal analysis shows that the characteristics of water bottom vibration and land ground vibration induced by the same underwater drilling blasting are quite different due to the different geological environments. The amplitude and frequency band of water bottom vibration both exceed those of land ground vibration. Water bottom vibration is mainly in low-frequency band that induced by blasting impact directly acts on rock. Besides the low-frequency component, land vibration contains another higher frequency band component that induced by followed water hammer wave acts on bank slope.

Photocured epoxy/graphene nanocomposites with enhanced water vapor barrier properties

Science.gov (United States)

Periolatto, M.; Sangermano, M.; Spena, P. Russo

2016-05-01

A transparent, water vapor barrier film made of an epoxy resin and graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by photopolymerization process. The epoxy/GO film with just 0.05 wt% GO gives a 93% WVTR reduction with respect to the pristine polymer, reaching barrier properties better than other polymer composites containing higher amounts of graphene. The excellent water vapor barrier is attributed to the good dispersion of GO in the polymer matrix. Moreover, GO significantly enhances the toughness and the damping capacity of the epoxy resins. The hybrid film can have potential applications in anticorrosive coatings, electronic devices, pharmaceuticals and food packaging.

Photocured epoxy/graphene nanocomposites with enhanced water vapor barrier properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Periolatto, M.; Spena, P. Russo [Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, Bolzano (Italy); Sangermano, M. [Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino (Italy)

2016-05-18

A transparent, water vapor barrier film made of an epoxy resin and graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by photopolymerization process. The epoxy/GO film with just 0.05 wt% GO gives a 93% WVTR reduction with respect to the pristine polymer, reaching barrier properties better than other polymer composites containing higher amounts of graphene. The excellent water vapor barrier is attributed to the good dispersion of GO in the polymer matrix. Moreover, GO significantly enhances the toughness and the damping capacity of the epoxy resins. The hybrid film can have potential applications in anticorrosive coatings, electronic devices, pharmaceuticals and food packaging.

Photocured epoxy/graphene nanocomposites with enhanced water vapor barrier properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Periolatto, M.; Spena, P. Russo; Sangermano, M.

2016-01-01

A transparent, water vapor barrier film made of an epoxy resin and graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by photopolymerization process. The epoxy/GO film with just 0.05 wt% GO gives a 93% WVTR reduction with respect to the pristine polymer, reaching barrier properties better than other polymer composites containing higher amounts of graphene. The excellent water vapor barrier is attributed to the good dispersion of GO in the polymer matrix. Moreover, GO significantly enhances the toughness and the damping capacity of the epoxy resins. The hybrid film can have potential applications in anticorrosive coatings, electronic devices, pharmaceuticals and food packaging.

Synthesis of cuprous oxide epoxy nanocomposite as an environmentally antimicrobial coating.

Science.gov (United States)

M El Saeed, Ashraf; Abd El-Fattah, M; Azzam, Ahmed M; Dardir, M M; Bader, Magd M

2016-08-01

Cuprous oxide is commonly used as a pigment; paint manufacturers begin to employ cuprous oxide as booster biocides in their formulations, to replace the banned organotins as the principal antifouling compounds. Epoxy coating was reinforced with cuprous oxide nanoparticles (Cu2O NPs). The antibacterial as well as antifungal activity of Cu2O epoxy nanocomposite (Cu2O EN) coating films was investigated. Cu2O NPs were also experimented for antibiofilm and time-kill assay. The thermal stability and the mechanical properties of Cu2O EN coating films were also investigated. The antimicrobial activity results showed slowdown, the growth of organisms on the Cu2O EN coating surface. TGA results showed that incorporating Cu2O NPs into epoxy coating considerably enhanced the thermal stability and increased the char residue. The addition of Cu2O NPs at lower concentration into epoxy coating also led to an improvement in the mechanical resistance such as scratch and abrasion. Cu2O NPs purity was confirmed by XRD. The TEM photograph demonstrated that the synthesized Cu2O NPs were of cubic shape and the average diameter of the crystals was around 25nm. The resulting perfect dispersion of Cu2O NPs in epoxy coating revealed by SEM ensured white particles embedded in the epoxy matrix. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The non-isothermal DSC kinetics of polyethylene tereftalate–epoxy compatible blends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zvetkov, V.L.; Djoumaliisky, S.; Simeonova-Ivanova, E.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► The non-isothermal DSC kinetics of the reaction of DGEBA with DDS, in particular in the presence of phase separating PET, has been studied. ► The specific features in the kinetics of PET formulations in comparison to the pure system have been discussed. ► The fast pre-curing of the epoxy phase allows supposing sub-micro phase separation of PET and efficient toughening of the epoxy matrix. - Abstract: Polyethylene tereftalate has been dissolved in an epoxy resin based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A, DGEBA, and the epoxy component has been cross-linked with the aid of two diamine hardeners. Two series of samples have been tested at the epoxy-amine stoichiometry applying the differential scanning calorimetry, DSC, in scanning mode. One of the series of samples was pre-cured at low temperatures with the aid of an aliphatic diamine hardener near the gel point and post-cured with diaminodiphenyl sulfone, DDS. The other series of samples contained the higher temperature hardener only. Consequently, the experimental data obtained in this study on both systems relate to the non-isothermal curing of DGEBA with DDS. The kinetics has been estimated applying preferably isoconversional (model free) methods. It has been established that the fast pre-curing allows performing a sub-micro phase separation and efficient toughening of the epoxy matrix

The non-isothermal DSC kinetics of polyethylene tereftalate–epoxy compatible blends

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zvetkov, V.L., E-mail: zvetval@yahoo.com [Institute of Mechanics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, bl. I, Sofia 1113 (Bulgaria); Djoumaliisky, S.; Simeonova-Ivanova, E. [Institute of Mechanics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, bl. I, Sofia 1113 (Bulgaria)

2013-02-10

Highlights: ► The non-isothermal DSC kinetics of the reaction of DGEBA with DDS, in particular in the presence of phase separating PET, has been studied. ► The specific features in the kinetics of PET formulations in comparison to the pure system have been discussed. ► The fast pre-curing of the epoxy phase allows supposing sub-micro phase separation of PET and efficient toughening of the epoxy matrix. - Abstract: Polyethylene tereftalate has been dissolved in an epoxy resin based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A, DGEBA, and the epoxy component has been cross-linked with the aid of two diamine hardeners. Two series of samples have been tested at the epoxy-amine stoichiometry applying the differential scanning calorimetry, DSC, in scanning mode. One of the series of samples was pre-cured at low temperatures with the aid of an aliphatic diamine hardener near the gel point and post-cured with diaminodiphenyl sulfone, DDS. The other series of samples contained the higher temperature hardener only. Consequently, the experimental data obtained in this study on both systems relate to the non-isothermal curing of DGEBA with DDS. The kinetics has been estimated applying preferably isoconversional (model free) methods. It has been established that the fast pre-curing allows performing a sub-micro phase separation and efficient toughening of the epoxy matrix.

Colorless triphenylamine-based aliphatic thermoset epoxy for multicolored and near-infrared electrochromic applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Chuang, Ya-Wen; Yen, Hung-Ju; Wu, Jia-Hao; Liou, Guey-Sheng

2014-03-12

In this study, two novel colorless thermoset epoxy resins with anodically electrochromism were prepared from the thermal curing of two triphenylamine-based diamine monomers, 4,4'-diamino-4″-methoxytriphenylamine (1) and N,N'-bis(4-aminophenyl)-N,N'-di(4-methoxylphenyl)-1,4-phenylenediamine (2) with aliphatic epoxy triglycidyl isocyanurate, respectively. The resulting thermoset epoxy resins showed excellent softening temperature (Ts, 270 and 280 °C) due to the rigid structure and highly crosslinking density. In addition, novel colorless epoxy resin films revealed good reversible electrochemical oxidation and interesting multi-electrochromic behavior with high contrast ratio both in visible and near-infrared regions. The aliphatic thermoset epoxy resins also exhibited high transparency in visible region as colorless and great potential for practical electrochromic applications.

Damage detection and conductivity evolution in carbon nanofiber epoxy via electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tallman, T N; Wang, K W; Gungor, S; Bakis, C E

2014-01-01

Utilizing electrically conductive nanocomposites for integrated self-sensing and health monitoring is a promising area of structural health monitoring (SHM) research wherein local changes in conductivity coincide with damage. In this research we conduct proof of concept investigations using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) for damage detection by identifying conductivity changes and by imaging conductivity evolution in a carbon nanofiber (CNF) filled epoxy composite. CNF/epoxy is examined because fibrous composites can be manufactured with a CNF/epoxy matrix thereby enabling the entire matrix to become self-sensing. We also study the mechanisms of conductivity evolution in CNF/epoxy through electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) testing. The results of these tests indicate that thermal expansion is responsible for conductivity evolution in a CNF/epoxy composite. (paper)

Nanoindentation study of interphases in epoxy/amine thermosetting systems modified with thermoplastics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Jose Angel; Blanco, Miren; Zalakain, Iñaki; Mondragon, Iñaki

2009-08-15

The characterization of a mixture of epoxy/amine with different stoichiometric ratios was carried out by means of nanoindentation. The epoxy system was composed by diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A and 4,4'-methylene bis-(3-chloro 2,6-diethylaniline). Diffusion through interface formed by epoxy/amine system in stoichiometric ratio and several thermoplastic polymers was also analyzed by means of stiffness analysis, as studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and coupled nanoindentation tests. Used thermoplastics were an amorphous, atactic polystyrene, and two semicrystalline, syndiotactic polystyrene and poly(phenylene sulfide). Larger range diffusion was obtained in epoxy/amine systems modified with atactic polystyrene while the study of the influence of stoichiometric ratio suggests that the excess of epoxy generated stiffer material. In addition, larger indentation loads resulted in higher apparent stiffness because of the more number of polymer chains that had to re-accommodate owing to the increase in contact area.

Short-Range Sensor for Underwater Robot Navigation using Line-lasers and Vision

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Peter Nicholas; Nielsen, Mikkel Cornelius; Christensen, David Johan

2015-01-01

This paper investigates a minimalistic laser-based range sensor, used for underwater inspection by Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV). This range detection system system comprise two lasers projecting vertical lines, parallel to a camera’s viewing axis, into the environment. Using both lasers...

Ocean Research Enabled by Underwater Gliders.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudnick, Daniel L

2016-01-01

Underwater gliders are autonomous underwater vehicles that profile vertically by changing their buoyancy and use wings to move horizontally. Gliders are useful for sustained observation at relatively fine horizontal scales, especially to connect the coastal and open ocean. In this review, research topics are grouped by time and length scales. Large-scale topics addressed include the eastern and western boundary currents and the regional effects of climate variability. The accessibility of horizontal length scales of order 1 km allows investigation of mesoscale and submesoscale features such as fronts and eddies. Because the submesoscales dominate vertical fluxes in the ocean, gliders have found application in studies of biogeochemical processes. At the finest scales, gliders have been used to measure internal waves and turbulent dissipation. The review summarizes gliders' achievements to date and assesses their future in ocean observation.

Natural and bio-inspired underwater adhesives: Current progress and new perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Mengkui; Ren, Susu; Wei, Shicao; Sun, Chengjun; Zhong, Chao

2017-11-01

Many marine organisms harness diverse protein molecules as underwater adhesives to achieve strong and robust interfacial adhesion under dynamic and turbulent environments. Natural underwater adhesion phenomena thus provide inspiration for engineering adhesive materials that can perform in water or high-moisture settings for biomedical and industrial applications. Here we review examples of biological adhesives to show the molecular features of natural adhesives and discuss how such knowledge serves as a heuristic guideline for the rational design of biologically inspired underwater adhesives. In view of future bio-inspired research, we propose several potential opportunities, either in improving upon current L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine-based and coacervates-enabled adhesives with new features or engineering conceptually new types of adhesives that recapitulate important characteristics of biological adhesives. We underline the importance of viewing natural adhesives as dynamic materials, which owe their outstanding performance to the cellular coordination of protein expression, delivery, deposition, assembly, and curing of corresponding components with spatiotemporal control. We envision that the emerging synthetic biology techniques will provide great opportunities for advancing both fundamental and application aspects of underwater adhesives.

Natural and bio-inspired underwater adhesives: Current progress and new perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mengkui Cui

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Many marine organisms harness diverse protein molecules as underwater adhesives to achieve strong and robust interfacial adhesion under dynamic and turbulent environments. Natural underwater adhesion phenomena thus provide inspiration for engineering adhesive materials that can perform in water or high-moisture settings for biomedical and industrial applications. Here we review examples of biological adhesives to show the molecular features of natural adhesives and discuss how such knowledge serves as a heuristic guideline for the rational design of biologically inspired underwater adhesives. In view of future bio-inspired research, we propose several potential opportunities, either in improving upon current L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine-based and coacervates-enabled adhesives with new features or engineering conceptually new types of adhesives that recapitulate important characteristics of biological adhesives. We underline the importance of viewing natural adhesives as dynamic materials, which owe their outstanding performance to the cellular coordination of protein expression, delivery, deposition, assembly, and curing of corresponding components with spatiotemporal control. We envision that the emerging synthetic biology techniques will provide great opportunities for advancing both fundamental and application aspects of underwater adhesives.

E-Beam-Cured Layered-Silicate and Spherical Silica Epoxy Nanocomposites (Preprint)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Chen, Chenggang; Anderson, David P

2007-01-01

.... The nanofillers can be two dimensional (layered-silicate) and zero dimensional (spherical silica). Both the spherical silica epoxy nanocomposite and the layered-silicate epoxy nanocomposite can be cured to a high degree of curing...

Cluster protocols in Underwater Sensor Networks: a Research Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Ovaliadis

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSN have different characteristics in relation to terrestrial wireless sensor networks; such as limited bandwidth capacity, high propagation delays and limited battery power. Although there has been much work completed in developing protocols and models for terrestrial networks, these are rarely applicable for underwater sensor networks. Up to today major efforts have been made for designing efficient protocols while considering the underwater communication characteristics. An important issue on this research area is the construction of an efficient clustering algorithm. Clustering in the context of UWSN is important as it contributes a great deal towards the efficient use of energy resources. This paper reviews the most significant cluster based protocols proposed for UWSN. Major performance issues of these protocols with respect to the network conditions such as packet delivery ratio, average packet delay, node mobility effect and energy consumption are examined. The advantages and disadvantages of each protocol are also pointed out.

Automated gravity gradient tensor inversion for underwater object detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Lin; Tian, Jinwen

2010-01-01

Underwater abnormal object detection is a current need for the navigation security of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). In this paper, an automated gravity gradient tensor inversion algorithm is proposed for the purpose of passive underwater object detection. Full-tensor gravity gradient anomalies induced by an object in the partial area can be measured with the technique of gravity gradiometry on an AUV. Then the automated algorithm utilizes the anomalies, using the inverse method to estimate the mass and barycentre location of the arbitrary-shaped object. A few tests on simple synthetic models will be illustrated, in order to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of the new algorithm. Moreover, the method is applied to a complicated model of an abnormal object with gradiometer and AUV noise, and interference from a neighbouring illusive smaller object. In all cases tested, the estimated mass and barycentre location parameters are found to be in good agreement with the actual values

UV absorption by cerium oxide nanoparticles/epoxy composite thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dao, Ngoc Nhiem; Luu, Minh Dai; Nguyen, Quang Khuyen; Kim, Byung Sun

2011-01-01

Cerium oxide (CeO 2 ) nanoparticles have been used to modify properties of an epoxy matrix in order to improve the ultra-violet (UV) absorption property of epoxy thin films. The interdependence of mechanical properties, UV absorption property and the dispersed concentration of CeO 2 nanoparticles was investigated. Results showed that, by increasing the dispersed concentration of CeO 2 nanoparticles up to 3 wt%, tensile modulus increases while two other mechanical properties, namely tensile strength and elongation, decrease. The UV absorption peak and the absorption edges of the studied thin films were observed in the UV-Vis absorption spectra. By incorporating CeO 2 nanoparticles into the epoxy matrix, an absorption peak appears at around 318 nm in UV-Vis spectra with increasing CeO 2 concentration from 0.1 to 1.0 wt%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed that a good dispersion of nanoparticles in the epoxy matrix by an ultrasonic method was achieved

Improvement of Mechanical and Dielectric Properties of Epoxy Resin Using CNTs/ZnO Nanocomposite.

Science.gov (United States)

Vu, Pham Gia; Truc, Trinh Anh; Chinh, Nguyen Thuy; Tham, Do Quang; Trung, Tran Huu; Oanh, Vu Ke; Hang, To Thi Xuan; Olivier, Marjorie; Hoang, Thai

2018-04-01

In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/ZnO composites had been prepared using the sol-gel method and then incorporated into an epoxy resin for reinforcement of mechanical and electrical properties. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) analyses show that the ZnO nanoparticles deposited on CNTs were crystallized in a hexagonal wurtzite structure. Average particle size of ZnO deposited on the CNT was about 8 nm. The mechanical and dielectric properties of epoxy containing CNTs/ZnO were investigated in comparison to epoxy resin and epoxy resin containing only CNT or ZnO nanoparticles. The results indicated that tensile strength and elongation at break of the nanocomposite were substantially improved with the presence of CNTs/ZnO at the equal volume. The DSC analysis associate with the dielectric results shows that the behavior of epoxy/CNTs/ZnO is identical to epoxy/ZnO composite, and the CNTs is essential to the distributed arrangement of ZnO in the epoxy resin.

Epoxy-based broadband antireflection coating for millimeter-wave optics.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosen, Darin; Suzuki, Aritoki; Keating, Brian; Krantz, William; Lee, Adrian T; Quealy, Erin; Richards, Paul L; Siritanasak, Praween; Walker, William

2013-11-20

We have developed epoxy-based, broadband antireflection coatings for millimeter-wave astrophysics experiments with cryogenic optics. By using multiple-layer coatings where each layer steps in dielectric constant, we achieved low reflection over a wide bandwidth. We suppressed the reflection from an alumina disk to 10% over fractional bandwidths of 92% and 104% using two-layer and three-layer coatings, respectively. The dielectric constants of epoxies were tuned between 2.06 and 7.44 by mixing three types of epoxy and doping with strontium titanate powder required for the high dielectric mixtures. At 140 K, the band-integrated absorption loss in the coatings was suppressed to less than 1% for the two-layer coating, and below 10% for the three-layer coating.

DEGRADATION OF MAGNET EPOXY AT NSLS X-RAY RING.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

HU,J.P.; ZHONG,Z.; HAAS,E.; HULBERT,S.; HUBBARD,R.

2004-05-24

Epoxy resin degradation was analyzed for NSLS X-ring magnets after two decades of 2.58-2.8 GeV continuous electron-beam operation, based on results obtained from thermoluminescent dosimeters irradiated along the NSLS ring and epoxy samples irradiated at the beamline target location. A Monte Carlo-based particle transport code, MCNP, was utilized to verify the dose from synchrotron radiation distributed along the axial- and transverse-direction in a ring model, which simulates the geometry of a ring quadrupole magnet and its central vacuum chamber downstream of the bending-magnet photon ports. The actual life expectancy of thoroughly vacuum baked-and-cured epoxy resin was estimated from radiation tests on similar polymeric materials using a radiation source developed for electrical insulation and mechanical structure studies.

Protection of Steel Rebar in Salt-Contaminated Cement Mortar Using Epoxy Nanocomposite Coatings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

The Huu Nguyen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Epoxy reinforced with two kinds of nanoparticles dealing with nano-SiO2 and nano-Fe2O3 was coated on steel rebar embedded in a chloride contaminated cement mortar. NaCl was added to the fresh Portland cement paste (at 0.3% and 0.5% by weight of cement to simulate the chloride contamination at the critical level. The effect of incorporating nanoparticles on the corrosion resistance of epoxy-coated steel rebar was investigated by linear potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. For the 0.3 wt.% chloride mortars, the electrochemical monitoring of the coated steel rebars during immersion for 56 days in 0.1 M NaOH solutions suggested the beneficial role of nano-Fe2O3 particles in significantly improving the corrosion resistance of the epoxy-coated rebar. After 56 days of immersion, the nano-Fe2O3 reduced the corrosion current of epoxy-coated rebar by a factor of 7.9. When the chloride concentration in the cement mortar was 0.5 wt.%, the incorporation of nanoparticles into the epoxy matrix did not enhance the corrosion resistance of epoxy coating for the rebar. At this critical level, chloride ions initiated rebar corrosion through nanoparticles at the epoxy/rebar interface.

Underwater Robots Surface in Utah

Science.gov (United States)

Hurd, Randy C.; Hacking, Kip S.; Damarjian, Jennifer L.; Wright, Geoffrey A.; Truscott, Tadd

2015-01-01

Underwater robots (or ROVs: Remotely Operated Vehicles as they are typically called in industry) have recently become a very popular instructional STEM activity. Nationally, ROVs have been used in science and technology classrooms for several years in cities such as Seattle, San Diego, Virginia Beach, and other coastal areas. In the past two…

Nonuniform Illumination Correction Algorithm for Underwater Images Using Maximum Likelihood Estimation Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonali Sachin Sankpal

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Scattering and absorption of light is main reason for limited visibility in water. The suspended particles and dissolved chemical compounds in water are also responsible for scattering and absorption of light in water. The limited visibility in water results in degradation of underwater images. The visibility can be increased by using artificial light source in underwater imaging system. But the artificial light illuminates the scene in a nonuniform fashion. It produces bright spot at the center with the dark region at surroundings. In some cases imaging system itself creates dark region in the image by producing shadow on the objects. The problem of nonuniform illumination is neglected by the researchers in most of the image enhancement techniques of underwater images. Also very few methods are discussed showing the results on color images. This paper suggests a method for nonuniform illumination correction for underwater images. The method assumes that natural underwater images are Rayleigh distributed. This paper used maximum likelihood estimation of scale parameter to map distribution of image to Rayleigh distribution. The method is compared with traditional methods for nonuniform illumination correction using no-reference image quality metrics like average luminance, average information entropy, normalized neighborhood function, average contrast, and comprehensive assessment function.

Effect of Thermally Reduced Graphene Oxide on Mechanical Properties of Woven Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composite

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nitai Chandra Adak

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO was incorporated as a reinforcing filler in the epoxy resin to investigate the effect on the mechanical properties of carbon fiber (CF/epoxy composites. At first, the epoxy matrix was modified by adding different wt % of TRGO from 0.05 to 0.4 wt % followed by the preparation of TRGO/CF/epoxy composites througha vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process. The prepared TRGO was characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM techniques. It was observed that the wrinkled structure of synthesized TRGO may be helpful to interlock with the epoxy resin and CF.The inter-laminar shear strength, in-plane fracture toughness and impact strength increased by ~67%, 62% and 93% at 0.2 wt % of TRGO loading in the CF/epoxy composites as compared to the CF reinforced epoxy. The mechanical properties of the hybrid composites decreased beyond the 0.2 wt % of TRGO incorporation in the epoxy resin. The fracture surfaces of the hybrid composites were studied by FE-SEM image analysis to investigate the synergistic effect of TRGO in the CF/epoxy composite. This study suggested that TRGO could be used asgood nanofiller to resist the matrix and fiber fracture.

Characterization and analysis of epoxy/clay nanotubes composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sene, Tarcisio S.; Kock, Thyago; Coelho, Luiz A.F.; Becker, Daniela

2011-01-01

An DGEBA epoxy matrix was used aiming to achieve a nanocomposite material, through the dispersion of (CNT) via mechanical stirring followed by sonication. In this work the following characterization were performed: mechanical characterization, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angle X-ray diffraction (WXRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The addition of CNT and modified clays promoted the increase of modulus of the epoxy matrix, and a synergistic effect between CNT and both clays could be presumed. SEM images of the fracture surface show the difference between the fracture surface area and the presence of clusters among the samples, allowing a correlation with the modulus of elasticity. X-ray diffractograms from 2Θ = 5 deg showed no peaks for modified clay samples, however it is possible to affirm that modified clay platelets are forming a less organized structure compared to the structure of the clay as natural in epoxy. (author)

Mechanical Properties of Epoxy and Its Carbon Fiber Composites Modified by Nanoparticles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fang Liu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Compressive properties are commonly weak parts in structural application of fiber composites. Matrix modification may provide an effective way to improve compressive performance of the composites. In this work, the compressive property of epoxies (usually as matrices of fiber composites modified by different types of nanoparticles was firstly investigated for the following study on the compressive property of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites. Carbon fiber/epoxy composites were fabricated by vacuum assisted resin infusion molding (VARIM technique using stitched unidirectional carbon fabrics, with the matrices modified with nanosilica, halloysite, and liquid rubber. Testing results showed that the effect of different particle contents on the compressive property of fiber/epoxy composites was more obvious than that in epoxies. Both the compressive and flexural results showed that rigid nanoparticles (nanosilica and halloysite have evident strengthening effects on the compression and flexural responses of the carbon fiber composite laminates fabricated from fabrics.

Hydrothermal ageing of glass/epoxy composites for wind turbine blades

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rocha, I.B.C.M.; Raijmaekers, S.; Nijssen, R.P.L.; Van der Meer, F.P.

2015-01-01

In this work, a glass/epoxy material system commonly applied in wind turbine design was used to evaluate damage processes brought by water ingression during service life. Composite short-beams and neat epoxy beams and dog-bones were conditioned by water immersion at 50º until saturation and tested

Nickel-catalyzed regio- and enantioselective aminolysis of 3,4-epoxy alcohols.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chuan; Yamamoto, Hisashi

2015-04-08

The first catalytic regio- and enantioselective aminolysis of 3,4-epoxy alcohols has been accomplished. Under the catalysis of Ni(ClO4)2·6H2O, the C4 selective ring opening of various 3,4-epoxy alcohols proceeded in a stereospecific manner with high regioselectivities. Furthermore, with the Ni-BINAM catalytic system the enantioselective ring opening of 3,4-epoxy alcohols furnished various γ-hydroxy-δ-amino alcohols as products with complete regiocontrol and high enantioselectivities (up to 94% ee).

Novel Formulations of Phase Change Materials—Epoxy Composites for Thermal Energy Storage

OpenAIRE

Maria Elena Arce; Miguel Angel Alvarez Feijoo; Andres Suarez Garcia; Claudia C. Luhrs

2018-01-01

This research aimed to evaluate the thermal properties of new formulations of phase change materials (PCMs)-epoxy composites, containing a thickening agent and a thermally conductive phase. The composite specimens produced consisted of composites fabricated using (a) inorganic PCMs (hydrated salts), epoxy resins and aluminum particulates or (b) organic PCM (paraffin), epoxy resins, and copper particles. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was used to analyze the thermal behavior of the sa...

Creep behavior of an epoxy resin and an epoxy-based FRP in condition of simultaneous supply of radiation and stress at cryogenic temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishiura, Tetsuya; Nishijima, Shigehiro; Okada, Toichi

1995-01-01

Creep tests of an epoxy resin and an epoxy-based FRP in bending under irradiation condition have been carried out, to investigate the synergistic effects of radiation and stress on mechanical properties of FRP. Simultaneous supply of stress and irradiation on the epoxy resin and the FRP enhanced creep rates in comparison with that supply of the stress on a post-irradiated one did. ESR spectra measurement was also carried out to study the change of molecule of the resin irradiated. Increase of molecular weight between crosslinks was found out to be enhanced by the synergistic effect of radiation and stress. The mechanism of increased damage of FRP induced by the effects of simultaneous stress and irradiation is discussed. (author)

Determination of Young's modulus of epoxy coated polyethylene micro-cantilever using phase-shift shadow moiré method

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, J. H.; Ratnam, M. M.; Azid, I. A.; Mutharasu, D.

2011-11-01

Young's moduli of various epoxy coated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) micro-cantilevers were determined from the deflection results obtained using the phase-shift shadow moiré (PSSM) method. The filler materials for epoxy coatings were aluminum and graphite powders that were mixed with epoxy at various percentages. Young's moduli were calculated from theory based on the deflection results. The PET micro-cantilever coated with aluminum-epoxy coating showed increasing value of Young's modulus when the ratios of the aluminum-epoxy were increased. The graphite-epoxy coating on the PET micro-cantilever also showed the same trend. The experimental results also show that Young's modulus of the graphite-epoxy coating is higher than aluminum-epoxy coating in comparison at the same mixing ratio.

Preparation, Characterization, and Modeling of Carbon Nanofiber/Epoxy Nanocomposites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lan-Hui Sun

2011-01-01

Full Text Available There is a lack of systematic investigations on both mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanofiber (CNF-reinforced epoxy matrix nanocomposites. In this paper, an in-depth study of both static and dynamic mechanical behaviors and electrical properties of CNF/epoxy nanocomposites with various contents of CNFs is provided. A modified Halpin-Tsai equation is used to evaluate the Young's modulus and storage modulus of the nanocomposites. The values of Young's modulus predicted using this method account for the effect of the CNF agglomeration and fit well with those obtained experimentally. The results show that the highest tensile strength is found in the epoxy nanocomposite with a 1.0 wt% CNFs. The alternate-current (AC electrical properties of the CNF/epoxy nanocomposites exhibit a typical insulator-conductor transition. The conductivity increases by four orders of magnitude with the addition of 0.1 wt% (0.058 vol% CNFs and by ten orders of magnitude for nanocomposites with CNF volume fractions higher than 1.0 wt% (0.578 vol%. The percolation threshold (i.e., the critical CNF volume fraction is found to be at 0.057 vol%.

Tailored SWCNT functionalization optimized for compatibility with epoxy matrices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinez-Rubi, Y; Kingston, C T; Daroszewska, M; Barnes, M; Simard, B; Gonzalez-Dominguez, J M; Ansón-Casaos, A; Martinez, M T; Hubert, P; Cattin, C

2012-01-01

We have modified single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with well defined matrix-based architectures to improve interface interaction in SWCNT/epoxy composites. The hardener and two pre-synthesized oligomers containing epoxy and hardener moieties were covalently attached to the SWCNT walls by in situ diazonium or carboxylic coupling reactions. In this way, SWCNTs bearing amine or epoxide-terminated fragments of different molecular weights, which resemble the chemical structure of the cured resin, were synthesized. A combination of characterization techniques such as Raman and infrared absorption (FTIR) spectroscopy, elemental analysis and coupled thermogravimetry-FTIR spectroscopy were used to identify both the functional groups and degree of functionalization of SWCNTs synthesized by the laser ablation and arc-discharge methods. Depending on the type of reaction employed for the chemical functionalization and the molecular weight of the attached fragment, it was possible to control the degree of functionalization and the electronic properties of the functionalized SWCNTs. Improved dispersion of SWCNTs in the epoxy matrix was achieved by direct integration without using solvents, as observed from optical microscopy and rheology measurements of the SWCNT/epoxy mixtures. Composite materials using these fillers are expected to exhibit improved properties while preserving the thermosetting architecture. (paper)

AC electrical breakdown phenomena of epoxy/layered silicate nanocomposite in needle-plate electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jae-Jun; Lee, Jae-Young

2013-05-01

Epoxy/layered silicate nanocomposite for the insulation of heavy electric equipments were prepared by dispersing 1 wt% of a layered silicate into an epoxy matrix with a homogenizing mixer and then AC electrical treeing and breakdown tests were carried out. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation showed that nano-sized monolayers were exfoliated from a multilayered silicate in the epoxy matrix. When the nano-sized silicate layers were incorporated into the epoxy matrix, the breakdown rate in needle-plate electrode geometry was 10.6 times lowered than that of the neat epoxy resin under the applied electrical field of 520.9 kV/mm at 30 degrees C, and electrical tree propagated with much more branches in the epoxy/layered silicate nanocomposite. These results showed that well-dispersed nano-sized silicate layers retarded the electrical tree growth rate. The effects of applied voltage and ambient temperature on the tree initiation, growth, and breakdown rate were also studied, and it was found that the breakdown rate was largely increased, as the applied voltage and ambient temperature increased.

Synthesis and Development of Gold Polypyrrole Actuator for Underwater Application

Science.gov (United States)

Panda, S. K.; Bandopadhya, D.

2018-02-01

Electro-active polymer (EAP) such as Polypyrrole has gained much attention in the category of functional materials for fabrication of both active actuator and sensor. Particularly, PPy actuator has shown potential in fluid medium application because of high strain, large bending displacement and work density. This paper focuses on developing a low cost active actuator promising in delivering high performance in underwater environment. The proposed Au-pyrrole actuator is synthesized by adopting the layer-by-layer electrochemical polymerization technique and is fabricated as strip actuator from aqueous solution of Pyrrole and NaDBS in room temperature. In the follow-up, topographical analysis has been carried out using SEM and FESEM instruments showing surface morphology and surface integrity of chemical components of the structure. Several experiments have been conducted under DC input voltage evaluating performance effectiveness such as underwater bending displacement and tip force etc. This is observed that the actuator exhibits quite similar stress profile as of natural muscle, endowed with high modulus makes them effective in working nearly 10,000 cycles underwater environment. In addition, the bending displacement up to 5.4 mm with a low input voltage 1.3 V makes the actuator suitable for underwater micro-robotics applications.

Curing behaviors and properties of an extrinsic toughened epoxy/anhydride system and an intrinsic toughened epoxy/anhydride system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan, Mengjin; Liu, Jialin; Li, Xiangyuan; Cheng, Jue; Zhang, Junying

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Two curing systems (ETRS and ITRS) with similar chemical composite were prepared. ► The curing kinetics of the ETRS and the novel ITRS were comparatively studied. ► Crosslinking density can affect the kinetic schemes of the two curing systems. ► Their mechanical properties and thermal stabilities were also comparatively studied. ► Crosslinking density may play an influential role in mechanical properties. - Abstract: The curing kinetics of an extrinsic toughened epoxy (mixture of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A and 1,4-butanediol epoxy resin, DGEBA/DGEBD) and an intrinsic toughened epoxy (ethoxylated bisphenol-A epoxy resin with two oxyethylene units, DGEBAEO-2) using hexahydrophthalic anhydride (HHPA) as curing agent and tris-(dimethylaminomethyl) phenol (DMP-30) as accelerator were comparatively studied by non-isothermal DSC with a model-fitting Málek approach and a model-free advanced isoconversional method of Vyazovkin. The dynamic mechanical properties and thermal stabilities of the cured materials were investigated by DMTA and TGA, respectively. The results showed that Šesták–Berggren model can generally simulate well the reaction rates of these two systems. The activation energy of DGEBA/DGEBD/HHPA/DMP-30 at high fractional conversion changed much higher than that of DGEBAEO-2/HHPA/DMP-30, indicating the increased steric hindrance mainly affected the reaction kinetic scheme of DGEBA/DGEBD/HHPA/DMP-30. The T g and storage moduli of cured DGEBAEO-2/HHPA/DMP-30 were lower than those of cured DGEBA/DGEBD/HHPA/DMP-30 according to DMTA while TGA showed that the thermal stabilities of these two cured systems were similar

Curing behaviors and properties of an extrinsic toughened epoxy/anhydride system and an intrinsic toughened epoxy/anhydride system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fan, Mengjin; Liu, Jialin; Li, Xiangyuan [Key Laboratory of Carbon Fiber and Functional Polymers, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029 (China); Cheng, Jue, E-mail: chengjue@mail.buct.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Carbon Fiber and Functional Polymers, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029 (China); Zhang, Junying, E-mail: zjybuct@gmail.com [Key Laboratory of Carbon Fiber and Functional Polymers, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029 (China)

2013-02-20

Highlights: ► Two curing systems (ETRS and ITRS) with similar chemical composite were prepared. ► The curing kinetics of the ETRS and the novel ITRS were comparatively studied. ► Crosslinking density can affect the kinetic schemes of the two curing systems. ► Their mechanical properties and thermal stabilities were also comparatively studied. ► Crosslinking density may play an influential role in mechanical properties. - Abstract: The curing kinetics of an extrinsic toughened epoxy (mixture of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A and 1,4-butanediol epoxy resin, DGEBA/DGEBD) and an intrinsic toughened epoxy (ethoxylated bisphenol-A epoxy resin with two oxyethylene units, DGEBAEO-2) using hexahydrophthalic anhydride (HHPA) as curing agent and tris-(dimethylaminomethyl) phenol (DMP-30) as accelerator were comparatively studied by non-isothermal DSC with a model-fitting Málek approach and a model-free advanced isoconversional method of Vyazovkin. The dynamic mechanical properties and thermal stabilities of the cured materials were investigated by DMTA and TGA, respectively. The results showed that Šesták–Berggren model can generally simulate well the reaction rates of these two systems. The activation energy of DGEBA/DGEBD/HHPA/DMP-30 at high fractional conversion changed much higher than that of DGEBAEO-2/HHPA/DMP-30, indicating the increased steric hindrance mainly affected the reaction kinetic scheme of DGEBA/DGEBD/HHPA/DMP-30. The T{sub g} and storage moduli of cured DGEBAEO-2/HHPA/DMP-30 were lower than those of cured DGEBA/DGEBD/HHPA/DMP-30 according to DMTA while TGA showed that the thermal stabilities of these two cured systems were similar.

The Effect of Nanoparticles Percentage on Mechanical Behavior of Silica-Epoxy Nanocomposites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Islam, M.S.; Masoodi, R.; Rostami, H.

2013-01-01

Silica-epoxy nanocomposites are very common among nanocomposites, which makes them very important. Several researchers have studied the effect of nanoparticle’s size, shape, and loading on mechanical behavior of silica-epoxy nanocomposites. This paper reviews the most important research done on the effect of nanoparticle loading on mechanical properties of silica-epoxy nanocomposites. While the main focus is the tensile behavior of nanocomposite, the compressive behavior and flexural behavior were also reviewed. Finally, some of the published experimental data were combined in the graphs, using dimensionless parameters. Later, the best fitted curves were used to derive some empirical formulas for mechanical properties of silica-epoxy nanocomposites as functions of weight or volume fraction of nanoparticles.

Novel Epoxy Activated Hydrogels for Solving Lactose Intolerance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdy M. M. Elnashar

2014-01-01

Full Text Available “Lactose intolerance” is a medical problem for almost 70% of the world population. Milk and dairy products contain 5–10% w/v lactose. Hydrolysis of lactose by immobilized lactase is an industrial solution. In this work, we succeeded to increase the lactase loading capacity to more than 3-fold to 36.3 U/g gel using epoxy activated hydrogels compared to 11 U/g gel using aldehyde activated carrageenan. The hydrogel’s mode of interaction was proven by FTIR, DSC, and TGA. The high activity of the epoxy group was regarded to its ability to attach to the enzyme’s –SH, –NH, and –OH groups, whereas the aldehyde group could only bind to the enzyme’s –NH2 group. The optimum conditions for immobilization such as epoxy chain length and enzyme concentration have been studied. Furthermore, the optimum enzyme conditions were also deliberated and showed better stability for the immobilized enzyme and the Michaelis constants, Km and Vmax, were doubled. Results revealed also that both free and immobilized enzymes reached their maximum rate of lactose conversion after 2 h, albeit, the aldehyde activated hydrogel could only reach 63% of the free enzyme. In brief, the epoxy activated hydrogels are more efficient in immobilizing more enzymes than the aldehyde activated hydrogel.

Experimental study on underwater electrical explosion of a copper wire

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Qing; Zhang Jun; Tan Xiangyu; Ren Baozhong; Zhang Qiaogen

2010-01-01

Through analyzing the physical process of underwater electrical wire explosion, electrical wire explosions with copper wires were investigated underwater using pulsed voltage in the time scale of a few microseconds. A self-integrating Rogowsky coil and a voltage divider were used for current and voltage at the wire load, respectively. The shock wave pressure is measured with a piezoelectric pressure probe at the same distance. The current rise rate was adjusted by changing the applied voltage, circuit inductance, length and diameter of copper wire. The change of the current rise rate had a great effect on the process of underwater electrical wire explosion with copper wires. At last, the effect of discharge voltage, circuit inductance, length and diameter of copper wire were obtained on the explosion voltage and current as well as shock wave pressure. (authors)

Underwater Time Service and Synchronization Based on Time Reversal Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Hao; Wang, Hai-bin; Aissa-El-Bey, Abdeldjalil; Pyndiah, Ramesh

2010-09-01

Real time service and synchronization are very important to many underwater systems. But the time service and synchronization in existence cannot work well due to the multi-path propagation and random phase fluctuation of signals in the ocean channel. The time reversal mirror technique can realize energy concentration through self-matching of the ocean channel and has very good spatial and temporal focusing properties. Based on the TRM technique, we present the Time Reversal Mirror Real Time service and synchronization (TRMRT) method which can bypass the processing of multi-path on the server side and reduce multi-path contamination on the client side. So TRMRT can improve the accuracy of time service. Furthermore, as an efficient and precise method of time service, TRMRT could be widely used in underwater exploration activities and underwater navigation and positioning systems.

Interlaminar fracture in woven carbon/epoxy laminates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo N.B. Reis

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This paper describes an experimental study developed to characterize the mode I and mode II fracture toughness of carbon/epoxy woven composites, using DCB and ENF tests, respectively. The laminates were manufactured using an epoxy resin and twelve woven balanced bi-directional layers of carbon fibres, all of them with the same orientation (0/90º. Significant instantaneous delaminations were observed particularly for the DCB specimen, which were responsible for an oscillatory behaviour of GI versus crack length. The maximum values obtained for GIC and GIIC were 281 and 1800 J/m2, respectively.

Control of pore size in epoxy systems.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sawyer, Patricia Sue; Lenhart, Joseph Ludlow (North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND); Lee, Elizabeth (North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND); Kallam, Alekhya (North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND); Majumdar, Partha (North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND); Dirk, Shawn M.; Gubbins, Nathan; Chisholm, Bret J. (North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND); Celina, Mathias C.; Bahr, James (North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND); Klein, Robert J.

2009-01-01

Both conventional and combinatorial approaches were used to study the pore formation process in epoxy based polymer systems. Sandia National Laboratories conducted the initial work and collaborated with North Dakota State University (NDSU) using a combinatorial research approach to produce a library of novel monomers and crosslinkers capable of forming porous polymers. The library was screened to determine the physical factors that control porosity, such as porogen loading, polymer-porogen interactions, and polymer crosslink density. We have identified the physical and chemical factors that control the average porosity, pore size, and pore size distribution within epoxy based systems.

Preparation of a bio-based epoxy with comparable properties to those of petroleum-based counterparts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Q. Liu

2012-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper a bio-based epoxy with outstanding thermal and mechanical properties was synthesized using a rosin-based epoxy monomer and a rosin-based curing agent. The chemical structures of rosin based epoxy monomer and curing agent were confirmed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR spectra. The flexural mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties as well as thermal stability of the cured epoxy were investigated. The results showed that the cured epoxy exhibited a glass transition temperature (Tg of 164°C and its flexural strength and modulus were as high as 70 and 2200 MPa, respectively. This indicated that a wholly bio-based epoxy resin possessing high performance was successfully obtained.

Wear Behavior of Woven Roving Aramid / Epoxy Composite under Different Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asad A. Khalid

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Wear behavior studies of aramid woven roving /epoxy composite has been conducted. Sliding the material against smooth steel counter face under dry and  lubricated with oil conditions has been investigated. Powder of Silicon carbide has been mixed with the epoxy resin and tested also. The powder was mixed in a volumetric fraction of 10% with the epoxy resin. Four Laminates of six layers were fabricated by hand lay up  method. A pin on disc apparatus has been fabricated to conduct the sliding wear tests on specimens of (4 mm   4 mm   12 mm in size have been cut from the four laminates. The effect of sliding condition including dry, lubricated, dry with additives and lubricated with additives have been studied. Wear rate tests have been conducted at different sliding speeds and loads. Results show that the wear characteristics are influenced by the operating conditions and the construction of the composite material used. It was also found that the wear of aramid /epoxy composite onto the steel counter face were significantly reduced by using lubricant and additives but still took place.Keywords: Wear, Composite materials, Woven roving aramid, Epoxy, Additives, Lubricant.

Self-flowing underwater concrete mixtures for high rise structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yousri, K.M.

2005-01-01

Placement of conventional concrete mixtures in underwater construction results in a high percentage of material loss due to washout of cement paste. This paper presents the influence of anti washout admixture (AWA) on various properties of concrete. Eleven self-flowing concrete (SFC) mixtures using type II cement were proportioned. A combination of low water cement (w/c), high cement contents, anti washout admixtures, fly ash, and silica fume were used to enhance the resistance of fresh concrete to washout. The concrete mixtures proportioned to be highly flow able, self-leveling and cohesive. The water-cementitious materials ratios ranged between 0.356 and 0.392 which correspond a typical underwater concrete mixture. The concrete mixtures were tested for slump, slump flow, washout resistance and compressive strength. The compressive strength of each concrete mixture cast underwater was determined at 3, 7, 28 days and compared with the compressive strength of the same concrete mixture cast in normal condition (in air). Test results indicated that the use of an AWA facilitates the production of flow able concrete mixtures with the added benefit of lower washout loss. Concrete mixture proportioned using Type II cement and fly ash at level of replacement of 15% was found to develop self flowing concrete with better fresh and hardened properties and more resistant to washout. The self-flowing underwater concretes developed a 28-day compressive strengths ranging from 20 to 28 MPa

AEKF-SLAM: A New Algorithm for Robotic Underwater Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Yuan

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In this work, we focus on key topics related to underwater Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM applications. Moreover, a detailed review of major studies in the literature and our proposed solutions for addressing the problem are presented. The main goal of this paper is the enhancement of the accuracy and robustness of the SLAM-based navigation problem for underwater robotics with low computational costs. Therefore, we present a new method called AEKF-SLAM that employs an Augmented Extended Kalman Filter (AEKF-based SLAM algorithm. The AEKF-based SLAM approach stores the robot poses and map landmarks in a single state vector, while estimating the state parameters via a recursive and iterative estimation-update process. Hereby, the prediction and update state (which exist as well in the conventional EKF are complemented by a newly proposed augmentation stage. Applied to underwater robot navigation, the AEKF-SLAM has been compared with the classic and popular FastSLAM 2.0 algorithm. Concerning the dense loop mapping and line mapping experiments, it shows much better performances in map management with respect to landmark addition and removal, which avoid the long-term accumulation of errors and clutters in the created map. Additionally, the underwater robot achieves more precise and efficient self-localization and a mapping of the surrounding landmarks with much lower processing times. Altogether, the presented AEKF-SLAM method achieves reliably map revisiting, and consistent map upgrading on loop closure.

DUMAND-II (Deep Underwater Muon and Neutrino Detector) PROGRESS Report

OpenAIRE

Young, Kenneth K.

1994-01-01

The DUMAND-II detector will search for astronomical sources of high energy neutrinos. Successful deployment of the basic infrastructure, including the shore cable, the underwater junction box, and an environmental module was accomplished in December, 1993. One optical module string was also deployed and operated, logging data for about 10 hours. The underwater cable was connected to the shore station where we were able to successfully exercise system controls and log further environmental dat...

The thermal properties of a carbon nanotube-enriched epoxy: Thermal conductivity, curing, and degradation kinetics

KAUST Repository

Ventura, Isaac Aguilar

2013-05-31

Multiwalled carbon nanotube-enriched epoxy polymers were prepared by solvent evaporation based on a commercially available epoxy system and functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (COOH-MWCNTs). Three weight ratio configurations (0.05, 0.5, and 1.0 wt %) of COOH-MWCNTs were considered and compared with neat epoxy and ethanol-treated epoxy to investigate the effects of nano enrichment and processing. Here, the thermal properties of the epoxy polymers, including curing kinetics, thermal conductivity, and degradation kinetics were studied. Introducing the MWCNTs increased the curing activation energy as revealed by differential scanning calorimetry. The final thermal conductivity of the 0.5 and 1.0 wt % MWCNT-enriched epoxy samples measured by laser flash technique increased by up to 15% compared with the neat material. The activation energy of the degradation process, investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, was found to increase with increasing CNT content, suggesting that the addition of MWCNTs improved the thermal stability of the epoxy polymers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effect of electron beam irradiation on thermal and mechanical properties of aluminum based epoxy composites

Science.gov (United States)

Visakh, P. M.; Nazarenko, O. B.; Sarath Chandran, C.; Melnikova, T. V.; Nazarenko, S. Yu.; Kim, J.-C.

2017-07-01

The epoxy resins are widely used in nuclear and aerospace industries. The certain properties of epoxy resins as well as the resistance to radiation can be improved by the incorporation of different fillers. This study examines the effect of electron beam irradiation on the thermal and mechanical properties of the epoxy composites filled with aluminum nanoparticles at percentage of 0.35 wt%. The epoxy composites were exposed to the irradiation doses of 30, 100 and 300 kGy using electron beam generated by the linear electron accelerator ELU-4. The effects of the doses on thermal and mechanical properties of the aluminum based epoxy composites were investigated by the methods of thermal gravimetric analysis, tensile test, and dynamic mechanical analysis. The results revealed that the studied epoxy composites showed good radiation resistance. The thermal and mechanical properties of the aluminum based epoxy composites increased with increasing the irradiation dose up to 100 kGy and decreased with further increasing the dose.

Research on the underwater target imaging based on the streak tube laser lidar

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Zihao; Tian, Zhaoshuo; Zhang, Yanchao; Bi, Zongjie; Yang, Gang; Gu, Erdan

2018-03-01

A high frame rate streak tube imaging lidar (STIL) for real-time 3D imaging of underwater targets is presented in this paper. The system uses 532nm pulse laser as the light source, the maximum repetition rate is 120Hz, and the pulse width is 8ns. LabVIEW platform is used in the system, the system control, synchronous image acquisition, 3D data processing and display are realized through PC. 3D imaging experiment of underwater target is carried out in a flume with attenuation coefficient of 0.2, and the images of different depth and different material targets are obtained, the imaging frame rate is 100Hz, and the maximum detection depth is 31m. For an underwater target with a distance of 22m, the high resolution 3D image real-time acquisition is realized with range resolution of 1cm and space resolution of 0.3cm, the spatial relationship of the targets can be clearly identified by the image. The experimental results show that STIL has a good application prospect in underwater terrain detection, underwater search and rescue, and other fields.

Development of underwater camera using high-definition camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuji, Kenji; Watanabe, Masato; Takashima, Masanobu; Kawamura, Shingo; Tanaka, Hiroyuki

2012-01-01

In order to reduce the time for core verification or visual inspection of BWR fuels, the underwater camera using a High-Definition camera has been developed. As a result of this development, the underwater camera has 2 lights and 370 x 400 x 328mm dimensions and 20.5kg weight. Using the camera, 6 or so spent-fuel IDs are identified at 1 or 1.5m distance at a time, and 0.3mmφ pin-hole is recognized at 1.5m distance and 20 times zoom-up. Noises caused by radiation less than 15 Gy/h are not affected the images. (author)

Time-of-flight range imaging for underwater applications

Science.gov (United States)

Merbold, Hannes; Catregn, Gion-Pol; Leutenegger, Tobias

2018-02-01

Precise and low-cost range imaging in underwater settings with object distances on the meter level is demonstrated. This is addressed through silicon-based time-of-flight (TOF) cameras operated with light emitting diodes (LEDs) at visible, rather than near-IR wavelengths. We find that the attainable performance depends on a variety of parameters, such as the wavelength dependent absorption of water, the emitted optical power and response times of the LEDs, or the spectral sensitivity of the TOF chip. An in-depth analysis of the interplay between the different parameters is given and the performance of underwater TOF imaging using different visible illumination wavelengths is analyzed.

Reduced Attitude Control of a Robotic Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bláha Lukáš

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with stabilization and reduced attitude control of a robotic underwater vehicle. The vehicle is assumed to be able to perform a full stable rotations around all axes in underwater space, that is why the standard bottom-heavy structure is not used. The system preferably uses a vectored-thrust arrangement and is built as an overactuated system, which enables to gain a better robustness and guarantees a stable controlled motion even if some thruster suddenly stop working. Because the heading angle cannot be measured, the reduced attitude control strategy is designed and the stability of reduced state of the system is proved using perturbation method.

Study of underwater laser propulsion using different target materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiang, Hao; Chen, Jun; Han, Bing; Shen, Zhong-Hua; Lu, Jian; Ni, Xiao-Wu

2014-07-14

In order to investigate the influence of target materials, including aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti) and copper (Cu), on underwater laser propulsion, the analytical formula of the target momentum IT is deduced from the enhanced coupling theory of laser propulsion in atmosphere with transparent overlay metal target. The high-speed photography method and numerical simulation are employed to verify the IT model. It is shown that the enhanced coupling theory, which was developed originally for laser propulsion in atmosphere, is also applicable to underwater laser propulsion with metal targets.

Design and analysis of MEMS MWCNT / epoxy strain sensor using ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Gaurav Sapra

2017-06-20

Jun 20, 2017 ... In this paper, highly sensitive MEMS-based multi- walled (MWCNT)/epoxy strain sensor has been designed using ... This paper also discusses the process flow for fabricating MWCNT/epoxy thin film ... stone bridge, i.e., connected to the gold metal pad of the sensor. The change in resistance with respect to.

Morphological Study on Room-Temperature-Cured PMMA-Grafted Natural Rubber-Toughened Epoxy/Layered Silicate Nanocomposite

OpenAIRE

Yuhana, N. Y.; Ahmad, S.; Kamal, M. R.; Jana, S. C.; Bahri, A. R. Shamsul

2012-01-01

A morphological study was conducted on ternary systems containing epoxy, PMMA-grafted natural rubber, and organic chemically modified montmorillonite (Cloisite 30B). Optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) analysis were used. The following four materials were prepared at room temperature: cured unmodified epoxy, cured toughened epoxy, cured unmodified epoxy/Cloisite 3...

Environmental effects on underwater optical transmission

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Peter C.; Breshears, Brian F.; Cullen, Alexander J.; Hammerer, Ross F.; Martinez, Ramon P.; Phung, Thai Q.; Margolina, Tetyana; Fan, Chenwu

2017-05-01

Optical communication/detection systems have potential to get around some limitations of current acoustic communications and detection systems especially increased fleet and port security in noisy littoral waters. Identification of environmental effects on underwater optical transmission is the key to the success of using optics for underwater communication and detection. This paper is to answer the question "What are the transfer and correlation functions that relate measurements of hydrographic to optical parameters?" Hydrographic and optical data have been collected from the Naval Oceanographic Office survey ships with the High Intake Defined Excitation (HIDEX) photometer and sea gliders with optical back scattering sensor in various Navy interested areas such as the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, east Asian marginal seas, and Adriatic Sea. The data include temperature, salinity, bioluminescence, chlorophyll-a fluorescence, transmissivity at two different wavelengths (TRed at 670 nm, TBlue at 490 nm), and back scattering coefficient (bRed at 700 nm, bBlue at 470 nm). Transfer and correlation functions between the hydrographic and optical parameters are obtained. Bioluminescence and fluorescence maxima, transmissivity minimum with their corresponding depths, red and blue laser beam peak attenuation coefficients are identified from the optical profiles. Evident correlations are found between the ocean mixed layer depth and the blue and red laser beam peak attenuation coefficients, bioluminescence and fluorescence maxima in the Adriatic Sea, Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and Philippine Sea. Based on the observational data, an effective algorithm is recommended for solving the radiative transfer equation (RTE) for predicting underwater laser radiance.

A Data Link Layer in Support of Swarming of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Jabba Molinares, Daladier

2009-01-01

Communication underwater is challenging because of the inherent characteristics of the media. First, common radio frequency (RF) signals utilized in wireless communications cannot be used under water. RF signals are attenuated in such as way that RF communication underwater is restricted to very few meters. As a result, acoustic-based…

A field guide to valuable underwater aquatic plants of the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Schloesser, Donald W.

1986-01-01

Underwater plants are a valuable part of the Great Lakes ecosystem, providing food and shelter for aquatic animals. Aquatic plants also help stabilize sediments, thereby reducing shoreline erosion. Annual fall die-offs of underwater plants provide food and shelter for overwintering small aquatic animals such as insects, snails, and freshwater shrimp.

Improvement of the piezoelectric properties of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composites by poling treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, S M; Hwang, H Y

2013-01-01

Recently, a new non-destructive method has been proposed for damage monitoring of glass fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials using the piezoelectric characteristics of a polymeric matrix. Several studies of the piezoelectric properties of unidirectional glass fiber epoxy composites and damage monitoring of double-cantilever beams have supported the claim that the piezoelectric method is feasible and powerful enough to monitor the damage of glass fiber epoxy composites. Generally, conventional piezoelectric materials have higher piezoelectric characteristics through poling treatment. In this work, we investigated the change of the piezoelectric properties of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composites before and after poling treatment. The piezoelectric constants (d 33 ) of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composites increased by more than 400%. Also, x-ray diffraction tests revealed that poling treatment changed the degree of crystallinity of the epoxy matrix, and this led to the improvement of the piezoelectric characteristics of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composites. (paper)

Game Theory-Based Cooperation for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks: Taxonomy, Review, Research Challenges and Directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Muhammed, Dalhatu; Anisi, Mohammad Hossein; Zareei, Mahdi; Vargas-Rosales, Cesar; Khan, Anwar

2018-02-01

Exploring and monitoring the underwater world using underwater sensors is drawing a lot of attention these days. In this field cooperation between acoustic sensor nodes has been a critical problem due to the challenging features such as acoustic channel failure (sound signal), long propagation delay of acoustic signal, limited bandwidth and loss of connectivity. There are several proposed methods to improve cooperation between the nodes by incorporating information/game theory in the node's cooperation. However, there is a need to classify the existing works and demonstrate their performance in addressing the cooperation issue. In this paper, we have conducted a review to investigate various factors affecting cooperation in underwater acoustic sensor networks. We study various cooperation techniques used for underwater acoustic sensor networks from different perspectives, with a concentration on communication reliability, energy consumption, and security and present a taxonomy for underwater cooperation. Moreover, we further review how the game theory can be applied to make the nodes cooperate with each other. We further analyze different cooperative game methods, where their performance on different metrics is compared. Finally, open issues and future research direction in underwater acoustic sensor networks are highlighted.

Game Theory-Based Cooperation for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks: Taxonomy, Review, Research Challenges and Directions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dalhatu Muhammed

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Exploring and monitoring the underwater world using underwater sensors is drawing a lot of attention these days. In this field cooperation between acoustic sensor nodes has been a critical problem due to the challenging features such as acoustic channel failure (sound signal, long propagation delay of acoustic signal, limited bandwidth and loss of connectivity. There are several proposed methods to improve cooperation between the nodes by incorporating information/game theory in the node’s cooperation. However, there is a need to classify the existing works and demonstrate their performance in addressing the cooperation issue. In this paper, we have conducted a review to investigate various factors affecting cooperation in underwater acoustic sensor networks. We study various cooperation techniques used for underwater acoustic sensor networks from different perspectives, with a concentration on communication reliability, energy consumption, and security and present a taxonomy for underwater cooperation. Moreover, we further review how the game theory can be applied to make the nodes cooperate with each other. We further analyze different cooperative game methods, where their performance on different metrics is compared. Finally, open issues and future research direction in underwater acoustic sensor networks are highlighted.

Game Theory-Based Cooperation for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks: Taxonomy, Review, Research Challenges and Directions

Science.gov (United States)

Muhammed, Dalhatu; Anisi, Mohammad Hossein; Vargas-Rosales, Cesar; Khan, Anwar

2018-01-01

Exploring and monitoring the underwater world using underwater sensors is drawing a lot of attention these days. In this field cooperation between acoustic sensor nodes has been a critical problem due to the challenging features such as acoustic channel failure (sound signal), long propagation delay of acoustic signal, limited bandwidth and loss of connectivity. There are several proposed methods to improve cooperation between the nodes by incorporating information/game theory in the node’s cooperation. However, there is a need to classify the existing works and demonstrate their performance in addressing the cooperation issue. In this paper, we have conducted a review to investigate various factors affecting cooperation in underwater acoustic sensor networks. We study various cooperation techniques used for underwater acoustic sensor networks from different perspectives, with a concentration on communication reliability, energy consumption, and security and present a taxonomy for underwater cooperation. Moreover, we further review how the game theory can be applied to make the nodes cooperate with each other. We further analyze different cooperative game methods, where their performance on different metrics is compared. Finally, open issues and future research direction in underwater acoustic sensor networks are highlighted. PMID:29389874

UV curing silicon-containing epoxy resin and its glass cloth reinforced composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Guang; Tang Zhuo; Huang Pengcheng

2007-01-01

A UV-curable cationic silicon-containing epoxy resin formulation was developed. The gel conversion of the cured resin after 10-min UV irradiation reached 80% in the presence of 5% diaryliodonium salt photoinitiator and 5.5% polyol chain transfer agent by cationic ring-opening polymerization. The glass cloth-reinforced composites were fabricated with the silicon-containing epoxy resin using the wet lay-up technique and UV irradiation. The mechanical properties of the composites were evaluated. Compared with glass cloth reinforced bisphenol A epoxy resin matrix composites, the silicon-containing epoxy resin matrix composites possessed higher tensile strength and interlayer shear strength which was 158.5MPa and 9.9MPa respectively while other mechanical properties such as flexural property and tensile modulus were similar. (authors)

Velocity Measurement of ultrasonic for evaluation of aging epoxy coating in containment structure of nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eun, Gil Soo; Kim, Noh Yu; Nah, Hwan Seon; Song, Young Chol

2001-01-01

Relative variation of ultrasonic velocity in aging epoxy coating in nuclear plant is measured for evaluation of the degradation of the epoxy coating. Time delay for ultrasound to travel through the epoxy film due to change of ultrasonic velocity is measured indirectly using ultrasonic interferometry which compares two reflection waves from the same point of coating surface at two different distances. Magnitude of the difference of two waves increases or decreases depending on change of the time of flight of ultrasound in the epoxy film caused by heat damage in the epoxy coating. Based on the transfer functions of the wedge and the epoxy coating in frequency domain, the reflection wave is analyzed and related to the velocity of ultrasound in the epoxy coating. A specially designed conical wedge is adopted to minimize the waviness effect of the surface of the epoxy coating. Epoxy films are fabricated, degraded under the accelerated aging conditions and tested to evaluate the change of ultrasonic velocity in the films. The experimental results show that the method can be applied to evaluate quantitatively the sealing quality of the epoxy coating.

CFD Based Added Mass Prediction in Cruise Condition of Underwater Vehicle Dynamic

Science.gov (United States)

Agoes Moelyadi, Mochammad; Bambang Riswandi, Bagus

2018-04-01

One of the unsteady flow behavior on the hydrodynamic characteristics of underwater vehicle is the presence of added mass. In cruising conditions, the underwater vehicle may require the addition of speed or experience the disturbance in the form of unsteady flow so that cause the hydrodynamic interaction between the surface of the vehicle with the surrounding fluid. This leads to the rise of local velocity of flow and the great changes of hydrodynamic forces which are very influential on the stability of the underwater vehicle. One of the result is an additional force called added mass. It is very useful parameter to control underwater vehicle dynamic.This paper reports the research on the added mass coefficient of underwater vehicles obtained through the Computational Fluid Dynmaic (CFD) simulation method using CFX software. Added mass coefficient is calculated by performing an unsteady simulation or known as transient simulation. Computational simulations are based on the Reynold Average Navier- Stokes (RANS) equation solution. The simulated vehicle moves forward and backward according to the sinus function, with a frequency of 0.25 Hz, a 2 m amplitude, a cruising depth of 10 m below sea level, and Vcruise 1.54 m / s (Re = 9.000.000). Simulation result data includes velocity contour, variation of force and acceleration to frequency, and added mass coefficient.

Priority Determination of Underwater Tourism Site Development in Gorontalo Province using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Science.gov (United States)

Rohandi, M.; Tuloli, M. Y.; Jassin, R. T.

2018-02-01

This research aims to determine the development of priority of underwater tourism in Gorontalo province using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method which is one of DSS methods applying Multi-Attribute Decision Making (MADM). This method used 5 criteria and 28 alternatives to determine the best priority of underwater tourism site development in Gorontalo province. Based on the AHP calculation it appeared that the best priority development of underwater tourism site is Pulau Cinta whose total AHP score is 0.489 or 48.9%. This DSS produced a reliable result, faster solution, time-saving, and low cost for the decision makers to obtain the best underwater tourism site to be developed.

Evaluation and Control of Thiol-ene/Thiol-epoxy Hybrid Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Carioscia, Jacquelyn A; Stansbury, Jeffrey W; Bowman, Christopher N

2007-03-08

The development of thiol-ene/thiol-epoxy hybrid networks offers the advantage of tailorable polymerization kinetics while producing a highly crosslinked, high T(g) polymer that has significantly reduced shrinkage stress. Stoichiometric mixtures of pentaerythritol tetra(3-mercaptopropionate) (PETMP)/triallyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-trione (TATATO) (thiol-ene, mixture 1) and PETMP/bisphenol a diglycidyl ether (BADGE) (thiol-epoxy, mixture 2) were prepared and hybrid mixtures of 75/25, 50/50, 25/75, and 10/90 w/w of mixtures 1 and 2 were polymerized using a combination of both radical and anionic initiation. The light exposure timing and the relative initiation conditions of the two types were used to control the order and relative rates of the radical and anionic polymerizations. The 50/50 w/w thiol-ene/thiol-epoxy hybrid material exhibited a final stress of only 0.2 MPa, which is 90 % lower than the stress developed in a control dimethacrylate resin. Kinetic analysis indicates composition affects network development in thiol-ene/thiol-epoxy hybrid networks and produces materials with robust mechanical properties.

Syntheses and characterization of novel P/Si polysilsesquioxanes/epoxy nanocomposites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiu Yiechan; Liu Fangyi; Ma, C.-C.M.; Chou, I.-C.; Riang Linawati; Chiang, C.-L.; Yang, J.-C.

2008-01-01

Phosphorus-containing polysilsesquioxane (PSSQ) was introduced into diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A epoxy (DGEBA) to generate a novel P/Si PSSQ nanocomposite. A series of nanocomposites was fabricated by changing the content of the 2-(diphenylphosphino)ethyltriethoxysilane (DPPETES) monomer or P/Si PSSQ cured with DGEBA epoxy and modified epoxy. The structure, thermal properties and flame-retardancy of the P/Si PSSQ nanocomposites were characterized by FT-IR, solid-state 29 Si NMR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and limited oxygen index (LOI) instruments. The nano-sizes of the particles in P/Si PSSQ were approximately 30-50 nm, and the polarity of nanocomposites might generate the nanophase-separated structure from transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The urethane-like side group of the modified epoxy and the fabrication of oligomers in the curing reaction affected the T d5 values of nanocomposites. TGA and LOI results indicated that the char yield (29 wt%) increased and the nanocomposites were not very flammable (LOI = 30). The hybrid materials also exhibited high thermal stability, good flame-retardance and a lack of phase separation

SEATURTLE: Sustained Engagement Autonomous Tracking of Underwater RepTiLEs

OpenAIRE

Budd, Johnathan

2015-01-01

While oceans cover the majority of our planet, these vast expanses remain relatively unexplored. Among the most interesting parts of the ocean are the shallow reef systems, which contain a huge amount of the planet’s biodiversity. The Sustained Engagement Autonomous Tracking of Underwater RepTiLEs or SEATURTLE is a low cost Autonomous Underwater Vehicle designed to carry out missions in these shallow environments. Its small displacement and precise movement make it ideal for navigating tight ...

Mechanical, Thermal, and Electrical Properties of Graphene-Epoxy Nanocomposites—A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rasheed Atif

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Monolithic epoxy, because of its brittleness, cannot prevent crack propagation and is vulnerable to fracture. However, it is well established that when reinforced—especially by nano-fillers, such as metallic oxides, clays, carbon nanotubes, and other carbonaceous materials—its ability to withstand crack propagation is propitiously improved. Among various nano-fillers, graphene has recently been employed as reinforcement in epoxy to enhance the fracture related properties of the produced epoxy–graphene nanocomposites. In this review, mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of graphene reinforced epoxy nanocomposites will be correlated with the topographical features, morphology, weight fraction, dispersion state, and surface functionalization of graphene. The factors in which contrasting results were reported in the literature are highlighted, such as the influence of graphene on the mechanical properties of epoxy nanocomposites. Furthermore, the challenges to achieving the desired performance of polymer nanocomposites are also suggested throughout the article.

Seawater infiltration effect on thermal degradation of fiber reinforced epoxy composites

Science.gov (United States)

Ibrahim, Mohd Haziq Izzuddin bin; Hassan, Mohamad Zaki bin; Ibrahim, Ikhwan; Rashidi, Ahmad Hadi Mohamed; Nor, Siti Fadzilah M.; Daud, Mohd Yusof Md

2018-05-01

Seawater salinity has been associated with the reduction of polymer structure durability. The aim of this study is to investigate the change in thermal degradation of fiber reinforced epoxy composite due to the presence of seawater. Carbon fiber, carbon/kevlar, fiberglass, and jute that reinforced with epoxy resin was laminated through hand-layup technique. Initially, these specimen was sectioned to 5×5 mm dimension, then immersed in seawater and distilled water at room temperature until it has thoroughly saturated. Following, the thermal degradation analysis using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), the thermic changes due to seawater infiltration was defined. The finding shows that moisture absorption reduces the glass transition temperature (Tg) of fiber reinforced epoxy composite. However, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of seawater infiltrated laminate composite is compareable with distilled water infiltrated laminate composite. The carbon fiber reinfored epoxy has the highest glass transition temperature out of all specimen.

Interfacial Strength and Physical Properties of Functionalized Graphene - Epoxy Nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Sandi G.; Heimann, Paula; Scheiman, Daniel; Adamson, Douglas H.; Aksay, Iihan A.; Prud'homme, Robert K.

2006-01-01

The toughness and coefficient of thermal expansion of a series of functionalized graphene sheet - epoxy nanocomposites are investigated. Functionalized graphene sheets are produced by splitting graphite oxide into single graphene sheets through a rapid thermal expansion process. These graphene sheets contain approx. 10% oxygen due to the presence of hydroxide, epoxide, and carboxyl functional groups which assist in chemical bond formation with the epoxy matrix. Intrinsic surface functionality is used to graft alkyl amine chains on the graphene sheets, and the addition of excess hardener insures covalent bonding between the epoxide matrix and graphene sheets. Considerable improvement in the epoxy dimensional stability is obtained. An increase in nanocomposite toughness is observed in some cases.

A Wide Area Risk Assessment Framework for Underwater Military Munitions Response

Science.gov (United States)

Holland, K. T.; Calantoni, J.

2017-12-01

Our objective was to develop a prototype statistical framework supporting Wide Area Assessment and Remedial Investigation decisions relating to the risk of unexploded ordnance and other military munitions concentrated in underwater environments. Decision making involving underwater munitions is inherently complex due to the high degree of uncertainty in the environmental conditions that force munitions responses (burial, decay, migration, etc.) and associated risks to the public. The prototype framework provides a consistent approach to accurately delineating contaminated areas at underwater munitions sites through the estimation of most probable concentrations. We adapted existing deterministic models and environmental data services for use within statistical modules that allowed the estimation of munition concentration given historic site information and environmental attributes. Ultimately this risk surface can be used to evaluate costs associated with various remediation approaches (e.g. removal, monitoring, etc.). Unfortunately, evaluation of the assessment framework was limited due to the lack of enduser data services from munition site managers. Of the 450 U.S. sites identified as having potential contamination with underwater munitions, assessment of available munitions information (including historic firing or disposal records, and recent ground-truth munitions samples) indicated very limited information in the databases. Example data types include the most probable munition types, approximate firing / disposal dates and locations, and any supportive munition survey or sampling results. However the overall technical goal to integrate trained statistical belief networks with detailed geophysical knowledge of sites, of sensors and of the underwater environment was demonstrated and should allow probabilistic estimates of the most likely outcomes and tradeoffs while managing uncertainty associated with military munitions response.

Validation of Underwater Sensor Package Using Feature Based SLAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Cain

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Robotic vehicles working in new, unexplored environments must be able to locate themselves in the environment while constructing a picture of the objects in the environment that could act as obstacles that would prevent the vehicles from completing their desired tasks. In enclosed environments, underwater range sensors based off of acoustics suffer performance issues due to reflections. Additionally, their relatively high cost make them less than ideal for usage on low cost vehicles designed to be used underwater. In this paper we propose a sensor package composed of a downward facing camera, which is used to perform feature tracking based visual odometry, and a custom vision-based two dimensional rangefinder that can be used on low cost underwater unmanned vehicles. In order to examine the performance of this sensor package in a SLAM framework, experimental tests are performed using an unmanned ground vehicle and two feature based SLAM algorithms, the extended Kalman filter based approach and the Rao-Blackwellized, particle filter based approach, to validate the sensor package.

Validation of Underwater Sensor Package Using Feature Based SLAM

Science.gov (United States)

Cain, Christopher; Leonessa, Alexander

2016-01-01

Robotic vehicles working in new, unexplored environments must be able to locate themselves in the environment while constructing a picture of the objects in the environment that could act as obstacles that would prevent the vehicles from completing their desired tasks. In enclosed environments, underwater range sensors based off of acoustics suffer performance issues due to reflections. Additionally, their relatively high cost make them less than ideal for usage on low cost vehicles designed to be used underwater. In this paper we propose a sensor package composed of a downward facing camera, which is used to perform feature tracking based visual odometry, and a custom vision-based two dimensional rangefinder that can be used on low cost underwater unmanned vehicles. In order to examine the performance of this sensor package in a SLAM framework, experimental tests are performed using an unmanned ground vehicle and two feature based SLAM algorithms, the extended Kalman filter based approach and the Rao-Blackwellized, particle filter based approach, to validate the sensor package. PMID:26999142

L2-LBMT: A Layered Load Balance Routing Protocol for underwater multimedia data transmission

Science.gov (United States)

Lv, Ze; Tang, Ruichun; Tao, Ye; Sun, Xin; Xu, Xiaowei

2017-12-01

Providing highly efficient underwater transmission of mass multimedia data is challenging due to the particularities of the underwater environment. Although there are many schemes proposed to optimize the underwater acoustic network communication protocols, from physical layer, data link layer, network layer to transport layer, the existing routing protocols for underwater wireless sensor network (UWSN) still cannot well deal with the problems in transmitting multimedia data because of the difficulties involved in high energy consumption, low transmission reliability or high transmission delay. It prevents us from applying underwater multimedia data to real-time monitoring of marine environment in practical application, especially in emergency search, rescue operation and military field. Therefore, the inefficient transmission of marine multimedia data has become a serious problem that needs to be solved urgently. In this paper, A Layered Load Balance Routing Protocol (L2-LBMT) is proposed for underwater multimedia data transmission. In L2-LBMT, we use layered and load-balance Ad Hoc Network to transmit data, and adopt segmented data reliable transfer (SDRT) protocol to improve the data transport reliability. And a 3-node variant of tornado (3-VT) code is also combined with the Ad Hoc Network to transmit little emergency data more quickly. The simulation results show that the proposed protocol can balance energy consumption of each node, effectively prolong the network lifetime and reduce transmission delay of marine multimedia data.

Mechanical properties of ramie fiber reinforced epoxy lamina composite for socket prosthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tresna Soemardi

2010-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an investigation into the application of natural fiber composite especially ramie fiber reinforced epoxy lamina composite for socket prosthesis. The research focuses on the tensile and shear strength from ramie fiber reinforced epoxy lamina composite which will be applied as alternative material for socket prosthesis. The research based on American Society for Testing Material (ASTM standard D 3039/D 3039M for tensile strength and ASTM D 4255/D 4255M-83 for shear strength. The ramie fiber applied is a fiber continue 100 % Ne14'S with Epoxy Resin Bakelite EPR 174 as matrix and Epoxy Hardener V-140 as hardener. The sample composite test made by hand lay up method. Multiaxial characteristic from ramie fiber reinforced epoxy composite will be compared with ISO standard for plastic/polymer for health application and refers strength of material application at Prosthetics and Orthotics. The analysis was completed with the mode of the failure and the failure criterion observation by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM. Based on results of the research could be concluded that ramie fiber reinforced epoxy composite could be developed further as the alternative material for socket prosthesis on Vf 40-50%. Results of the research will be discussed in more detail in this paper.

Occupational contact dermatitis caused by aniline epoxy resins in the aircraft industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Pesonen, Maria; Suuronen, Katri; Jolanki, Riitta; Aalto-Korte, Kristiina; Kuuliala, Outi; Henriks-Eckerman, Maj-Len; Valtanen, Ilona; Alanko, Kristiina

2015-08-01

Tetraglycidyl-4,4'-methylenedianiline (TGMDA) is an aniline epoxy resin used in, for example, resin systems of pre-impregnated composite materials (prepregs) of the aircraft industry. Allergic contact dermatitis caused by TGMDA in prepregs has been described previously. To report on 9 patients with occupational allergic contact dermatitis caused by TGMDA in epoxy glues used in helicopter assembly. The patients were examined with patch testing at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in 2004-2009. The first patient was diagnosed by testing both components of two epoxy glues from the workplace, and was also tested with glue ingredients, including TGMDA. The following patients were tested with the glues and TGMDA. The resin parts of the glues were analysed for their epoxy compounds, including TGMDA. All of the patients had a patch test reaction to one or both of the resin parts of the TGMDA-containing glues. Eight of them had a strong allergic reaction to TGMDA, and one had a doubtful reaction to TGMDA. Two of the patients also had an allergic reaction to triglycidyl-p-aminophenol (TGPAP), another aniline epoxy resin, which was not present in the TGMDA-containing glues. In aircraft industry workers with suspected occupational dermatitis, aniline epoxy resins should be considered and patch tested as possible contact allergens. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Novel Formulations of Phase Change Materials—Epoxy Composites for Thermal Energy Storage

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarez Feijoo, Miguel Angel

2018-01-01

This research aimed to evaluate the thermal properties of new formulations of phase change materials (PCMs)-epoxy composites, containing a thickening agent and a thermally conductive phase. The composite specimens produced consisted of composites fabricated using (a) inorganic PCMs (hydrated salts), epoxy resins and aluminum particulates or (b) organic PCM (paraffin), epoxy resins, and copper particles. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was used to analyze the thermal behavior of the samples, while hardness measurements were used to determine changes in mechanical properties at diverse PCM and conductive phase loading values. The results indicate that the epoxy matrix can act as a container for the PCM phase without hindering the heat-absorbing behavior of the PCMs employed. Organic PCMs presented reversible phase transformations over multiple cycles, an advantage that was lacking in their inorganic counterparts. The enthalpy of the organic PCM-epoxy specimens increased linearly with the PCM content in the matrix. The use of thickening agents prevented phase segregation issues and allowed the fabrication of specimens containing up to 40% PCM, a loading significantly higher than others reported. The conductive phase seemed to improve the heat transfer and the mechanical properties of the composites when present in low percentages (phase combination (PCM + epoxy resin + hardener + thickening agent) presents great potential as a heat-absorbing material at the temperatures employed. PMID:29373538

Synthesis and characterisation of epoxy resins reinforced with carbon nanotubes and nanofibers.

Science.gov (United States)

Prolongo, S G; Gude, M R; Ureña, A

2009-10-01

Epoxy nanocomposites were fabricated using two kinds of nanofiller, amino-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and non-treated long carbon nanofibers (CNFs). The non-cured mixtures were analysed through viscosity measurements. The effect of the nanoreinforcement on the curing process was determined by differential scanning calorimetry. Finally, the characterisation of cured nanocomposites was carried out studying their thermo-mechanical and electrical behaviour. At room temperature, the addition of CNTs causes a viscosity increase of epoxy monomer much more marked than the introduction of CNFs due to their higher specific area. It was probed that in that case exists chemical reaction between amino-functionalized CNTs and the oxirane rings of epoxy monomer. The presence of nanoreinforcement induces a decrease of curing reaction rate and modifies the epoxy conversion reached. The glass transition temperature of the nanocomposites decreases with the contents of CNTs and CNFs added, which could be related to plasticization phenomena of the nanoreinforcements. The storage modulus of epoxy resin significantly increases with the addition of CNTs and CNFs. This augment is higher with amino-functionalized CNTs due, between other reasons, to the stronger interaction with the epoxy matrix. The electrical conductivity is greatly increased with the addition of CNTs and CNFs. In fact, the percolation threshold is lower than 0.25 wt% due to the high aspect ratio of the used nanoreinforcements.

Adhesion of epoxy primer to hydrotalcite conversion coated AA2024

Science.gov (United States)

Leggat, Robert Benton, III

Hydrotalcite-based (HT) conversion coatings are being developed as an environmentally benign alternative to chromate conversion coatings (CCC). Accelerated exposure tests were conducted on epoxy primed, HT-modified AA2024 to gauge service performance. HT-based conversion coatings did not perform as well as the CCC when used with an epoxy primer. The current HT chemistries are optimized for stand-alone corrosion protection, however additional research into the primer/HT interactions is necessary before they can be implemented within a coating scheme. The relative contribution of mechanical and physico-chemical interactions in controlling adhesion has been investigated in this study. Practical adhesion tests were used to assess the dry and wet bond strength of epoxy primer on HT coatings using the pull-off tensile strength (POTS) as the figure of merit. The practical adhesion of HT coated samples generally fell between that observed for the CCC and bare AA2024. Laboratory testing was done to assess the physical and chemical properties of HT coatings. Contact angle measurements were performed using powders representative of different HT chemistries to evaluate the dispersive and acid-base character of the surface. The wet POTS correlated with the electrodynamic (dipole + dispersive) parameter of the surface tension. The HT surfaces were found to be predominantly basic. Given the basicity of epoxy, these results indicate that increasing the acidic character of HT coatings may increase the adhesion performance. This was supported by electrokinetic measurements in which the dry POTS was found to increase with decreasing conversion coating iso-electric point. The correlations with the dry and wet state adhesion are interpreted as indicating that dry state adhesion is optimized by minimizing unfavorable polar interactions between the basic epoxy and HT interfaces. Wet state adhesion, where polar interactions are disrupted, is dictated by non-polar bonding. FTIR

Fabrication of tough epoxy with shape memory effects by UV-assisted direct-ink write printing.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Kaijuan; Kuang, Xiao; Li, Vincent; Kang, Guozheng; Qi, H Jerry

2018-03-07

3D printing of epoxy-based shape memory polymers with high mechanical strength, excellent thermal stability and chemical resistance is highly desirable for practical applications. However, thermally cured epoxy in general is difficult to print directly. There have been limited numbers of successes in printing epoxy but they suffer from relatively poor mechanical properties. Here, we present an ultraviolet (UV)-assisted 3D printing of thermally cured epoxy composites with high tensile toughness via a two-stage curing approach. The ink containing UV curable resin and epoxy oligomer is used for UV-assisted direct-ink write (DIW)-based 3D printing followed by thermal curing of the part containing the epoxy oligomer. The UV curable resin forms a network by photo polymerization after the 1st stage of UV curing, which can maintain the printed architecture at an elevated temperature. The 2nd stage thermal curing of the epoxy oligomer yields an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) composite with highly enhanced mechanical properties. It is found that the printed IPN epoxy composites enabled by the two-stage curing show isotropic mechanical properties and high tensile toughness. We demonstrated that the 3D-printed high-toughness epoxy composites show good shape memory properties. This UV-assisted DIW 3D printing via a two-stage curing method can broaden the application of 3D printing to fabricate thermoset materials with enhanced tensile toughness and tunable properties for high-performance and functional applications.

Improving Fracture Toughness of Epoxy Nanocomposites by Silica Nanoparticles

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Seyed Reza Akherati Sany

2017-04-01

Full Text Available An epoxy resin was modified by silica nanoparticles and cured with an anhydride. The particles with different batches of 12, 20, and 40 nm sizes were each distributed into the epoxy resin ultrasonically. Electron microscopy images showed that the silica particles were well dispersed throughout the resin. Tensile test results showed that Young’s modulus and tensile strength increased with the volume fraction and surface area of the silica particles. The simultaneous use of two average sizes of 20 and 40 nm diameter silica particles still increased these mechanical properties but other combinations of silica particles were unsuccessful. A three-point bending test on each pre-cracked specimen was performed to measure the mode I fracture toughness energy. The fracture energy increased from 283 J/m2 for the unmodified epoxy to about 740 J/m2 for the epoxy with 4.5 wt% of 12 nm diameter silica nanoparticles. The fracture energy of smaller particles was greater because of their higher surface to volume ratio. The fracture energy results showed also that the combined nanoparticles has a synergic effect on the fracture toughness of nanocomposites. Simultaneous use of 10 and 20 nm particles increased the fracture energy to about 770 J/m2. Finally, crack-opening displacement was calculated and found to be in the range of several micrometers which was much larger than the sizes of particles studied. Thus, the toughening mechanisms of crack pinning and crack deflection have a negligible effect on improvement of toughness, nevertheless, the plastic deformation and plastic void growth are dominant mechanisms in epoxy toughening by nanoparticles.

Preparation and optical properties of indium tin oxide/epoxy nanocomposites with polyglycidyl methacrylate grafted nanoparticles.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Peng; Viswanath, Anand; Schadler, Linda S; Benicewicz, Brian C; Siegel, Richard W

2011-09-01

Visibly highly transparent indium tin oxide (ITO)/epoxy nanocomposites were prepared by dispersing polyglycidyl methacrylate (PGMA) grafted ITO nanoparticles into a commercial epoxy resin. The oleic acid stabilized, highly crystalline, and near monodisperse ITO nanoparticles were synthesized via a nonaqueous synthetic route with multigram batch quantities. An azido-phosphate ligand was synthesized and used to exchange with oleic acid on the ITO surface. The azide terminal group allows for the grafting of epoxy resin compatible PGMA polymer chains via Cu(I) catalyzed alkyne-azide "click" chemistry. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation shows that PGMA grafted ITO particles were homogeneously dispersed within the epoxy matrix. Optical properties of ITO/epoxy nanocomposites with different ITO concentrations were studied with an ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared (UV-vis-NIR) spectrometer. All the ITO/epoxy nanocomposites show more than 90% optical transparency in the visible light range and absorption of UV light from 300 to 400 nm. In the near-infrared region, ITO/epoxy nanocomposites demonstrate low transmittance and the infrared (IR) transmission cutoff wavelength of the composites shifts toward the lower wavelength with increased ITO concentration. The ITO/epoxy nanocomposites were applied onto both glass and plastic substrates as visibly transparent and UV/IR opaque optical coatings.

Immobilization of spent resin with epoxy resin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gultom, O.; Suryanto; Sayogo; Ramdan

1997-01-01

immobilization of spent resin using epoxy resin has been conducted. The spent resin was mixtured with epoxy resin in variation of concentration, i.e., 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 weight percent of spent resin. The mixture were pour into the plastic tube, with a diameter of 40 mm and height of 40 mm. The density, compressive strength and leaching rate were respectively measured by quanta chrome, paul weber apparatus and gamma spectrometer. The results showed that the increasing of waste concentration would be decreased the compressive strength, and increased density by immobilized waste. The leaching rate of 137 Cs from waste product was not detected in experiment (author)

High T{sub g} and fast curing epoxy-based anisotropic conductive paste for electronic packaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Keeratitham, Waralee, E-mail: waralee.ke@student.chula.ac.th; Somwangthanaroj, Anongnat, E-mail: anongnat.s@chula.ac.th [Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330 (Thailand)

2016-03-09

Herein, our main objective is to prepare the fast curing epoxy system with high glass transition temperature (T{sub g}) by incorporating the multifunctional epoxy resin into the mixture of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) as a major epoxy component and aromatic diamine as a hardener. Furthermore, the curing behavior as well as thermal and thermomechanical properties were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and thermomechanical analysis (TMA). It was found that T{sub g} obtained from tan δ of DGEBA/aromatic diamine system increased from 100 °C to 205 °C with the presence of 30 percentage by weight of multifunctional epoxy resin. Additionally, the isothermal DSC results showed that the multifunctional epoxy resin can accelerate the curing reaction of DGEBA/aromatic diamine system. Namely, a high degree of curing (∼90%) was achieved after a few minutes of curing at low temperature of 130 °C, owing to a large number of epoxy ring of multifunctional epoxy resin towards the active hydrogen atoms of aromatic diamine.

Nanocellulose composites with enhanced interfacial compatibility and mechanical properties using a hybrid-toughened epoxy matrix.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Pei-Yu; Barros, Luizmar de Assis; Yan, Ning; Sain, Mohini; Qing, Yan; Wu, Yiqiang

2017-12-01

Although there is a growing interest in utilizing nanocellulose fibres (NCFs) based composites for achieving a higher sustainability, mechanical performance of these composites is limited due to the poor compatibility between fibre reinforcement and polymer matrices. Here we developed a bio-nanocomposite with an enhanced fibre/resin interface using a hybrid-toughened epoxy. A strong reinforcing effect of NCFs was achieved, demonstrating an increase up to 88% in tensile strength and 298% in tensile modulus as compared to neat petro-based P-epoxy. The toughness of neat P-epoxy was improved by 84% with the addition of 10wt% bio-based E-epoxy monomers, which also mitigated the amount of usage of bisphenol A (BPA). The morphological analyses showed that the hybrid epoxy improved the resin penetration and fibre distribution significantly in the resulting composites. Thus, our findings demonstrated the promise of developing sustainable and high performance epoxy composites combing NCFs with a hybrid petro-based and bio-based epoxy resin system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Carbon Composite Overwrap Pressure Vessels Fabricated Using Ionic Liquid Epoxies

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — In terms of "Innovation" this is a unique epoxy with unique properties, and NASA co-holds the patent. This epoxy is being exclusively formulated for cryogenic use....

Effect of Montmorillonite Nanogel Composite Fillers on the Protection Performance of Epoxy Coatings on Steel Pipelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Atta, Ayman M; El-Saeed, Ashraf M; Al-Lohedan, Hamad A; Wahby, Mohamed

2017-06-02

Montmorillonite (MMT) clay mineral is widely used as filler for several organic coatings. Its activity is increased by exfoliation via chemical modification to produce nanomaterials. In the present work, the modification of MMT to form nanogel composites is proposed to increase the dispersion of MMT into epoxy matrices used to fill cracks and holes produced by the curing exotherms of epoxy resins. The dispersion of MMT in epoxy improved both the mechanical and anti-corrosion performance of epoxy coatings in aggressive marine environments. In this respect, the MMT surfaces were chemically modified with different types of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid (AMPS) nanogels using a surfactant-free dispersion polymerization technique. The effect of the chemical structure, nanogel content and the interaction with MMT surfaces on the surface morphology, surface charges and dispersion in the epoxy matrix were investigated for use as nano-filler for epoxy coatings. The modified MMT nanogel epoxy composites showed excellent resistance to mechanical damage and salt spray resistance up to 1000 h. The interaction of MMT nanogel composites with the epoxy matrix and good response of AMPS nanogel to sea water improve their ability to act as self-healing materials for epoxy coatings for steel.

Degradation of modified carbon black/epoxy nanocomposite coatings under ultraviolet exposure

Science.gov (United States)

Ghasemi-Kahrizsangi, Ahmad; Shariatpanahi, Homeira; Neshati, Jaber; Akbarinezhad, Esmaeil

2015-10-01

Degradation of epoxy coatings with and without Carbon Black (CB) nanoparticles under ultraviolet (UV) radiation were investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used to obtain a good dispersion of CB nanoparticles in a polymer matrix. TEM analysis proved a uniform dispersion of modified CB nanoparticles in epoxy coating. The coatings were subjected to UV radiation to study the degradation behavior and then immersed in 3.5 wt% NaCl. The results showed that the electrochemical behavior of neat epoxy coating was related to the formation and development of microcracks on the surface. The occurrence of microcracks on the surface of the coatings and consequently the penetration of ionic species reduced by adding CB nanoparticles into the formulation of the coatings. CB nanoparticles decreased degradation of CB coatings by absorbing UV irradiation. The ATR-FTIR results showed that decrease in the intensity of methyl group as main peak in presence of 2.5 wt% CB was lower than neat epoxy. In addition, the reduction in impedance of neat epoxy coating under corrosive environment was larger than CB coatings. The CB coating with 2.5 wt% nanoparticles had the highest impedance to corrosive media after 2000 h UV irradiation and 24 h immersion in 3.5 wt% NaCl.

Physical and chemical durability of cement impregnated epoxy resin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suryantoro

1997-01-01

Immobilization of simulation radioactive waste contains Cs and Sr with cement impregnated epoxy resin has been done. Low level liquid waste in 30% weight mixed cement homogeneously and then set in its curing time about 28 days. Waste from was impregnated with epoxy resin (Bisphenol-A-diglycidylether) and use Triethylenteramin as catalyst. the sample of cement impregnated epoxy resin 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm in diameter and length was tested by Paul Weber. The compressive strength was obtained of 4.08 kN.cm - 2. The sochxlet apparatus was run on flow rate of 300 ml/hour at 100 o C and during 24 hours. The leaching rate of Cs was round on 5.5 x 10 - 4 g.cm - 2.d - 1 and Sr was 6.1 x 10 - 4 g.cm - 2.d - 1 (author)

Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of Long-Chain 3,4-Epoxy-2-alkanones

OpenAIRE

Wood, William F.

2010-01-01

3,4-Epoxy-2-dodecanone, a major component in the preorbital gland of the African grey duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), showed antimicrobial activity in preliminary tests. The C11 to C17 homologues of this compound were prepared and their activity against several pathogenic dermal bacteria and fungi was tested. 3,4-Epoxy-2-dodecanone and 3,4-epoxy-2-tridecanone inhibited the growth of Trichophyton mentagrophytes at 25 μg/mL. Moderate inhibition of the growth of the bacteria Propionibacterium acnes...

Elaboration, structural and optical investigations of ZnO/epoxy nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Moussa, S.; Namouchi, F.; Guermazi, H.

2015-07-01

Hybrid nanocomposites were elaborated by incorporating ZnO nanoparticles into a transparent epoxy polymer matrix, using the direct dispersion method. The effect of the nanoparticles on the structural and optical properties of the polymer matrix was investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman and UV-Visible spectroscopies. Nanocomposites FTIR spectra showed a variation of band intensities attributed to nanoparticles agglomeration within the polymer. The UV-Visible measurements showed a redshift on the band gap energy of the nanocomposites differently from neat epoxy resin, caused by interactions between ZnO NPs and polymer chains. Raman spectra confirm these interactions and the formation of hydrogen bonds in the nanocomposites. The UV-Visible transmittance spectra revealed that addition of a very low concentration (0.2wt%) of ZnO nanoparticles to a transparent epoxy matrix would maintain high visible-light transparency. The decrease of transmittance with increasing ZnO percentage is due to light scattering which originates from the agglomeration of nanoparticles in the matrix, the mismatch between the refractive index of ZnO and that of the epoxy matrix, and the increase of the surface roughness of the nanocomposite with increasing ZnO addition. Moreover, the UV-vis absorption spectra revealed that adding more than 1wt% ZnO leads to the improvement of the UV shielding properties of the nanocomposites. These results prove that the elaborated ZnO/epoxy nanocomposites can be used as UV shielding materials.

Radiochemical ageing of epoxy coating for nuclear plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Queiroz, D.P.R.; Fraisse, F.; Fayolle, B.; Kuntz, M.; Verdu, J.

2010-01-01

The degradation of an epoxy-amine network exposed to gamma irradiation in oxygen atmosphere has been studied by using a variety of analytical methods, including infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and sol-gel analysis. Results show that the oxidation of epoxy systems grows with the irradiation dose. Hydroperoxides, which are species resulting from oxidation, were identified and quantified by DSC. As indicated by the sol-gel analysis, the mechanism of degradation of chain scission seems to be predominant over crosslinking. The modifications induced by irradiation reflect in a greater capacity of water absorption.

System and Method for Automated Rendezvous, Docking and Capture of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, William C. (Inventor); Clark, Evan (Inventor); Richmond, Kristof (Inventor); Paulus, Jeremy (Inventor); Kapit, Jason (Inventor); Scully, Mark (Inventor); Kimball, Peter (Inventor)

2018-01-01

A system for automated rendezvous, docking, and capture of autonomous underwater vehicles at the conclusion of a mission comprising of comprised of a docking rod having lighted, pulsating (in both frequency and light intensity) series of LED light strips thereon, with the LEDs at a known spacing, and the autonomous underwater vehicle specially designed to detect and capture the docking rod and then be lifted structurally by a spherical end strop about which the vehicle can be pivoted and hoisted up (e.g., onto a ship). The method of recovery allows for very routine and reliable automated recovery of an unmanned underwater asset.

Ireland and the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage

Science.gov (United States)

Kirwan, Seán

2010-12-01

Ratification by Ireland of the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage will not be able to take place until after enactment of additional domestic legislation. The reasons for this are examined in the context of Ireland's legal system. Since 1987 Ireland has had extensive legal protection for underwater cultural heritage, but the jurisdictional aspects of the Convention are key to understanding why additional legislation is necessary. Issues relating to salvage law are also considered. The 2001 Convention is placed in the context of development of Irish policy on underwater cultural heritage.

H∞ control of a remotely operated underwater vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conte, G.; Serrani, A.

1994-01-01

The paper discusses the application of H∞ control techniques to the design of a control system for a remotely operated underwater vehicle. As the main problem in defining a control strategy for such vehicles is the nonlinear and uncertain nature of the modeled dynamics, the robustness properties of H∞ controllers can in principle be used to provide stability and nominal performances for the closed loop system. Therefore, a control strategy based on a scheduling of such controllers has been proposed, and the overall performance of the closed loop system have been evaluated by means of nonlinear simulation in a broad range of working conditions, with particular attention to the effects of the underwater current that acts on the vehicle

Utilization of ilmenite/epoxy composite for neutrons and gamma rays attenuation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

El-Sayed Abdo, A. E-mail: attiaabdo11@hotmail.com; El-Sarraf, M.A.; Gaber, F.A

2003-01-01

This work deals with the study of ilmenite/epoxy composite as an injecting mortar for cracks developed in biological concrete shields, as well as, neutrons and gamma rays attenuation. Effects of the particle size on the mechanical strengths have been studied for epoxy resin filled with crushed ilmenite with different maximum particle sizes ranging from 32 to 500 {mu}m. Thermal neutrons and gamma rays attenuation in ilmenite/epoxy composites with 75 and 80 wt.% of ilmenite concentration have been investigated. The total mass attenuation coefficients {mu}/{rho} (cm{sup 2} g{sup -1}) of gamma ray for five ilmenite/epoxy composites have been calculated using the XCOM program (version 3.1) at energies from 10 keV to 100 MeV. Also, the total mass attenuation coefficients ({mu}/{rho}) have estimated based on the measured total linear attenuation coefficients ({mu}) and compared with the calculated results where, a reasonable agreement was found.

Sensibilización a bisfenol A y bisfenol F en trabajadores expuestos a resinas epoxi

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L. Jiménez Bajo

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Las aplicaciones de las diferentes resinas epoxi basadas en bisfenol A y F son extensas. Las resinas epoxi basadas en bisfenol F son más nuevas y resistentes que las de bisfenol A, y ambas son causa conocida de dermatitis de contacto alérgica. Se estudian 39 casos de sensibilización a resinas epoxi en los últimos 5 años. Los resultados obtenidos son: prevalencia de sensibilización a resinas epoxi entre los pacientes estudiados del 2%, 27 varones y 8 mujeres, con una edad media de 42.77, un período de medio sensibilización de 23,8 meses. La sensibilización a bisfenol F desde que se incluye para las pruebas del parche en la batería de resinas epoxi es del 100% para los casos sensibilizados a la resina. La localización mayoritaria se dio en las manos, con una relevancia actual del 84%. Se recomendó un cambio de puesto en el trabajo al 46% de estos pacientes. El aumento de la sensibilización encontrada a bisfenol F puede explicarse por una sensibilización concomitante con bisfenol A, una declaración incorrecta de la composición de la resina o una reactividad cruzada de ambos.The applications of epoxy resins based on bisphenol A and F are extensive. Epoxy resins based on bisphenol F are new and more resistant than epoxy resins based on bisphenol A. Both of them cause allergic contact dermatitis. In the last 5 years, we have studied 39 cases of sensitization to epoxy resin. The results of our study were these: the global prevalence of epoxy resin sensitization was 2%, 27 men and 8 women. The mean age was 42.77 years and the sensitization period was 23.8 months. The most frequent localization of the lesions were hands (84% of the patients. Since bisphenol F was included in epoxy resin battery for patch testing, a 100% of positives responses in patients sensitized to epoxy resin have been found. Sensitization to epoxy resins was a cause of change in workplace in 46% of cases in our series. There has been an increase in sensitization of

Hearing loss in workers exposed to epoxy adhesives and noise: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hsiao-Yu; Shie, Ruei-Hao; Chen, Pau-Chung

2016-02-18

Epoxy adhesives contain organic solvents and are widely used in industry. The hazardous effects of epoxy adhesives remain unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the risk of hearing loss among workers exposed to epoxy adhesives and noise. Cross-sectional study. For this cross-sectional study, we recruited 182 stone workers who were exposed to both epoxy adhesives and noise, 89 stone workers who were exposed to noise only, and 43 workers from the administrative staff who had not been exposed to adhesives or noise. We obtained demographic data, occupational history and medical history through face-to-face interviews and arranged physical examinations and pure-tone audiometric tests. We also conducted walk-through surveys in the stone industry. A total of 40 representative noise assessments were conducted in 15 workplaces. Air sampling was conducted at 40 workplaces, and volatile organic compounds were analysed using the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) TO-15 method. The mean sound pressure level was 87.7 dBA (SD 9.9). The prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss was considerably increased in the stone workers exposed to epoxy adhesives (42%) compared with the stone workers who were not exposed to epoxy adhesives (21%) and the administrative staff group (9.3%). A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that exposure to epoxy adhesives significantly increased the risk of hearing loss between 2 and 6 kHz after adjusting for age. Significant interactions between epoxy adhesives and noise and hearing impairment were observed at 3, 4 and 6 kHz. Epoxy adhesives exacerbate hearing impairment in noisy environments, with the main impacts occurring in the middle and high frequencies. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Modification of the Interfacial Interaction between Carbon Fiber and Epoxy with Carbon Hybrid Materials

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Kejing Yu

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The mechanical properties of the hybrid materials and epoxy and carbon fiber (CF composites were improved significantly as compared to the CF composites made from unmodified epoxy. The reasons could be attributed to the strong interfacial interaction between the CF and the epoxy composites for the existence of carbon nanomaterials. The microstructure and dispersion of carbon nanomaterials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM and optical microscopy (OM. The results showed that the dispersion of the hybrid materials in the polymer was superior to other carbon nanomaterials. The high viscosity and shear stress characterized by a rheometer and the high interfacial friction and damping behavior characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA indicated that the strong interfacial interaction was greatly improved between fibers and epoxy composites. Remarkably, the tensile tests presented that the CF composites with hybrid materials and epoxy composites have a better reinforcing and toughening effect on CF, which further verified the strong interfacial interaction between epoxy and CF for special structural hybrid materials.

Epoxy – the hub for the most versatile polymer with exceptional combination of superlative features

OpenAIRE

Inam, Fawad

2014-01-01

Epoxy resins and epoxy based materials have experienced significant advancement since their beginning in 1936, when Dr. Castan of Switzerland and Dr. Greenlee of USA succeeded in synthesizing the very first bisphenol-A-based epoxy resins. Whether it is the new carbon fiber composite of Boeing’s Dreamliner or the thin set terrazzo flooring, epoxy has always been the ideal choice because of its superlative properties and unique chemical composition. Belonging to thermoset family, it is certainl...

Effect of Thermally Reduced Graphene Oxide on Mechanical Properties of Woven Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composite

OpenAIRE

Nitai Chandra Adak; Suman Chhetri; Naresh Chandra Murmu; Pranab Samanta; Tapas Kuila

2018-01-01

Thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) was incorporated as a reinforcing filler in the epoxy resin to investigate the effect on the mechanical properties of carbon fiber (CF)/epoxy composites. At first, the epoxy matrix was modified by adding different wt % of TRGO from 0.05 to 0.4 wt % followed by the preparation of TRGO/CF/epoxy composites througha vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process. The prepared TRGO was characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman Spe...

Simulation of the behavior of pressurized underwater concrete

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Ashraf Mohamed Heniegal

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Under-Water Concrete (UWC contains Anti-Washout Admixtures (AWA (0.0%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5% by weight of cement with cement contents (400, 450, 500 and 550 kg/m3. All concrete mix contains silica fume and high-range water reducing (15% and 4% respectively by weight of cement. The fine to steel slag coarse aggregate was 1:1. The concrete mix was tested for slump, slump flow, compressive strength and washout resistance using two test methods based on different principles. The first method is the plunge test CRDC61 which is widely used in North America, and the second method is the pressurized air tube which has been manufactured for this research and developed to simulate the effect of water pressure on washout resistance of underwater mix. The results of compressive strength test were compared to concrete cast underwater with that cast in air. Test results indicated that the use of an AWA facilitates the production of UWC mix with the added benefit of lower washout resistance. New technique of simulating pressurized UWC is reliable for detecting UWC properties. Adding AWA (0.3–0.5% by weight of cement makes all mix acceptable according to Japanese Society of Civil Engineers.

Cognitive Routing in Software-Defined Underwater Acoustic Networks

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Huma Ghafoor

2017-12-01

Full Text Available There are two different types of primary users (natural acoustic and artificial acoustic, and there is a long propagation delay for acoustic links in underwater cognitive acoustic networks (UCANs. Thus, the selection of a stable route is one of the key design factors for improving overall network stability, thereby reducing end-to-end delay. Software-defined networking (SDN is a novel approach that improves network intelligence. To this end, we propose a novel SDN-based routing protocol for UCANs in order to find a stable route between source and destination. A main controller is placed in a surface buoy that is responsible for the global view of the network, whereas local controllers are placed in different autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs that are responsible for a localized view of the network. The AUVs have fixed trajectories, and sensor nodes within transmission range of the AUVs serve as gateways to relay the gathered information to the controllers. This is an SDN-based underwater communications scheme whereby two nodes can only communicate when they have a consensus about a common idle channel. To evaluate our proposed scheme, we perform extensive simulations and improve network performance in terms of end-to-end delay, delivery ratio, and overhead.

Multibeam 3D Underwater SLAM with Probabilistic Registration

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Albert Palomer

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a pose-based underwater 3D Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM using a multibeam echosounder to produce high consistency underwater maps. The proposed algorithm compounds swath profiles of the seafloor with dead reckoning localization to build surface patches (i.e., point clouds. An Iterative Closest Point (ICP with a probabilistic implementation is then used to register the point clouds, taking into account their uncertainties. The registration process is divided in two steps: (1 point-to-point association for coarse registration and (2 point-to-plane association for fine registration. The point clouds of the surfaces to be registered are sub-sampled in order to decrease both the computation time and also the potential of falling into local minima during the registration. In addition, a heuristic is used to decrease the complexity of the association step of the ICP from O ( n 2 to O ( n . The performance of the SLAM framework is tested using two real world datasets: First, a 2.5D bathymetric dataset obtained with the usual down-looking multibeam sonar configuration, and second, a full 3D underwater dataset acquired with a multibeam sonar mounted on a pan and tilt unit.

Underwater Electromagnetic Sensor Networks—Part I: Link Characterization

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Gara Quintana-Díaz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs using electromagnetic (EM technology in marine shallow waters are examined, not just for environmental monitoring but for further interesting applications. Particularly, the use of EM waves is reconsidered in shallow waters due to the benefits offered in this context, where acoustic and optical technologies have serious disadvantages. Sea water scenario is a harsh environment for radiocommunications, and there is no standard model for the underwater EM channel. The high conductivity of sea water, the effect of seabed and the surface make the behaviour of the channel hard to predict. This justifies the need of link characterization as the first step to approach the development of EM underwater sensor networks. To obtain a reliable link model, measurements and simulations are required. The measuring setup for this purpose is explained and described, as well as the procedures used. Several antennas have been designed and tested in low frequency bands. Agreement between attenuation measurements and simulations at different distances was analysed and made possible the validation of simulation setups and the design of different communications layers of the system. This leads to the second step of this work, where data and routing protocols for the sensor network are examined.

The Research of Optical Turbulence Model in Underwater Imaging System

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Liying Sun

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In order to research the effect of turbulence on underwater imaging system and image restoration, the underwater turbulence model is simulated by computer fluid dynamics. This model is obtained in different underwater turbulence intensity, which contains the pressure data that influences refractive index distribution. When the pressure value is conversed to refractive index, the refractive index distribution can be received with the refraction formula. In the condition of same turbulent intensity, the distribution of refractive index presents gradient in the whole region, with disorder and mutations in the local region. With the turbulence intensity increase, the holistic variation of the refractive index in the image is larger, and the refractive index change more tempestuously in the local region. All the above are illustrated by the simulation results with he ray tracing method and turbulent refractive index model. According to different turbulence intensity analysis, it is proved that turbulence causes image distortion and increases noise.

H∞ control for path tracking of autonomous underwater vehicle motion

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Lin-Lin Wang

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In order to simplify the design of path tracking controller and solve the problem relating to nonlinear dynamic model of autonomous underwater vehicle motion planning, feedback linearization method is first adopted to transform the nonlinear dynamic model into an equivalent pseudo-linear dynamic model in horizontal coordinates. Then considering wave disturbance effect, mixed-sensitivity method of H∞ robust control is applied to design state-feedback controller for this equivalent dynamic model. Finally, control law of pseudo-linear dynamic model is transformed into state (surge velocity and yaw angular rate tracking control law of nonlinear dynamic model through inverse coordinate transformation. Simulation indicates that autonomous underwater vehicle path tracking is successfully implemented with this proposed method, and the influence of parameter variation in autonomous underwater vehicle dynamic model on its tracking performance is reduced by H∞ controller. All the results show that the method proposed in this article is effective and feasible.

Enhancing Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Epoxy Nanocomposites via Alignment of Magnetized SiC Whiskers.

Science.gov (United States)

Townsend, James; Burtovyy, Ruslan; Aprelev, Pavel; Kornev, Konstantin G; Luzinov, Igor

2017-07-12

This research is focused on the fabrication and properties of epoxy nanocomposites containing magnetized SiC whiskers (MSiCWs). To this end, we report an original strategy for fabrication of magnetically active SiCWs by decorating the whiskers with magnetic (iron oxide) nanoparticles via polymer-polymer (poly(acrylic acid)/poly(2-vinyl pyridine)) complexation. The obtained whiskers demonstrated a substantial magnetic response in the polymerizing epoxy resin, with application of only a 20 mT (200 G) magnetic field. We also found that the whiskers chemically reacted with the epoxy resin, causing formation of an extended interphase near the boundary of the whiskers. The SiC whiskers oriented with the magnetic field demonstrated positive effects on the behavior of epoxy-based nanocomposites. Namely, the aligned MSiCWs enhanced the thermomechanical properties of the materials significantly above that of the neat epoxy and epoxy nanocomposite, with randomly oriented whiskers.

Enhancing the Heat Transfer Efficiency in Graphene-Epoxy Nanocomposites Using a Magnesium Oxide-Graphene Hybrid Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Fei-Peng; Yang, Wen; Zhang, Fang; Tang, Chak-Yin; Liu, Sheng-Peng; Yin, Le; Law, Wing-Cheung

2015-07-08

Composite materials, such as organic matrices doped with inorganic fillers, can generate new properties that exhibit multiple functionalities. In this paper, an epoxy-based nanocomposite that has a high thermal conductivity and a low electrical conductivity, which are required for the use of a material as electronic packaging and insulation, was prepared. The performance of the epoxy was improved by incorporating a magnesium oxide-coated graphene (MgO@GR) nanomaterial into the epoxy matrix. We found that the addition of a MgO coating not only improved the dispersion of the graphene in the matrix and the interfacial bonding between the graphene and epoxy but also enhanced the thermal conductivity of the epoxy while preserving the electrical insulation. By adding 7 wt % MgO@GR, the thermal conductivity of the epoxy nanocomposites was enhanced by 76% compared with that of the neat epoxy, and the electrical resistivity was maintained at 8.66 × 10(14) Ω m.

Synthesis and Characterization of Modified Epoxy Resins by Silicic Acid Tetraethyl Ester and Nano-SiO2

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

李海燕; 张之圣

2004-01-01

A kind of modified epoxy resins was obtained by condensation of epoxy resin with silicic acid tetraethyl ester(TEOS) and nano-SiO2. The reactions were performed with hydrochloric acid as a catalyst at 63 °C.The structure, thermal stability and morphological characteristics of the modified epoxy resins were studied through infrared spectra(FT-IR) analysis, thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and scanning electron microscopy respectively. It has been found from the IR and TG study that modified epoxy resins have greater thermal stability than epoxy resins, and its thermal stability has been improved by the formation of inter-crosslinked network structure. The modified epoxy resins exhibit heterogeneous morphology and heterogeneity increases with more TEOS feeding, which in turn confirms the formation of inter-crosslinked network structure in modified epoxy resins.

Radiation curing of {gamma}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} filled epoxy resin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Phil Hyun; Kim, Dong Jin; Nho, Young Chang [KAERI, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

2003-10-01

Epoxy resins are widely utilized as high performance thermosetting resins for many industrial applications but characterized by a relatively low toughness. Recently, the incorporation with rigid inorganic was suggested to improve the mechanical properties of epoxy resins. In the present work, an attempt has been taken to disperse nano-sized {gamma}- Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} particles into diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) epoxy resins for improvement of the mechanical properties. These hybrid epoxy-alumina composites were prepared using by the {gamma}-ray curing technique that was conducted with 100kGy under nitrogen at room temperature. The composites were characterized by determining gel content, UTM (Instron model 4443), SEM, FT-IR studies.

Tensile Mechanical Property of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Science.gov (United States)

Ghazilan, A. L. Ahmad; Mokhtar, H.; Shaik Dawood, M. S. I.; Aminanda, Y.; Ali, J. S. Mohamed

2017-03-01

Natural, short, untreated and randomly oriented oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber reinforced epoxy composites were manufactured using vacuum bagging technique with 20% fiber volume composition. The performance of the composite was evaluated as an alternative to synthetic or conventional reinforced composites. Tensile properties such as tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio were compared to the tensile properties of pure epoxy obtained via tensile tests as per ASTM D 638 specifications using Universal Testing Machine INSTRON 5582. The tensile properties of oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber reinforced epoxy composites were lower compared to plain epoxy structure with the decrement in performances of 38% for modulus of elasticity and 61% for tensile strength.

Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Epoxy Composites Containing Zirconia-Impregnated Halloysite Nanotubes with Different Loadings.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Suhyun; Kim, Moon Il; Shon, Minyoung; Seo, Bongkuk; Lim, Choongsun

2018-09-01

Epoxy resins are widely used in various industrial fields due to their low cost, good workability, heat resistance, and good mechanical strength. However, they suffer from brittleness, an issue that must be addressed for further applications. To solve this problem, additional fillers are needed to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of the resins; zirconia is one such filler. However, it has been reported that aggregation may occur in the epoxy composites as the amount of zirconia increases, preventing enhancement of the mechanical strength of the epoxy composites. Herein, to reduce the aggregation, zirconia was well dispersed on halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), which have high thermal and mechanical strength, by a conventional wet impregnation method. The HNTs were impregnated with zirconia at different loadings using zirconyl chloride octahydrate as a precursor. The mechanical and thermal strengths of the epoxy composites with these fillers were investigated. The zirconia-impregnated HNTs (Zr/HNT) were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and tunneling electron microscopy (TEM). The hardening conditions of the epoxy composites were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The thermal strength of the epoxy composites was studied by thermomechanical analysis (TMA) and micro-calorimetry and the mechanical strength of the epoxy composites (flexural strength and tensile strength) was studied by using a universal testing machine (UTM). The mechanical and thermal strengths of the epoxy composites with Zr/HNT were improved compared to those of the epoxy composite with HNT, and also increased as the zirconia loading on HNT increased.

Underwater Image Enhancement by Adaptive Gray World and Differential Gray-Levels Histogram Equalization

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WONG, S.-L.

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Most underwater images tend to be dominated by a single color cast. This paper presents a solution to remove the color cast and improve the contrast in underwater images. However, after the removal of the color cast using Gray World (GW method, the resultant image is not visually pleasing. Hence, we propose an integrated approach using Adaptive GW (AGW and Differential Gray-Levels Histogram Equalization (DHE that operate in parallel. The AGW is applied to remove the color cast while DHE is used to improve the contrast of the underwater image. The outputs of both chromaticity components of AGW and intensity components of DHE are combined to form the enhanced image. The results of the proposed method are compared with three existing methods using qualitative and quantitative measures. The proposed method increased the visibility of underwater images and in most cases produces better quantitative scores when compared to the three existing methods.

Motion analysis and trials of the deep sea hybrid underwater glider Petrel-II

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Fang; Wang, Yan-hui; Wu, Zhi-liang; Wang, Shu-xin

2017-03-01

A hybrid underwater glider Petrel-II has been developed and field tested. It is equipped with an active buoyancy unit and a compact propeller unit. Its working modes have been expanded to buoyancy driven gliding and propeller driven level-flight, which can make the glider work in strong currents, as well as many other complicated ocean environments. Its maximal gliding speed reaches 1 knot and the propelling speed is up to 3 knots. In this paper, a 3D dynamic model of Petrel-II is derived using linear momentum and angular momentum equations. According to the dynamic model, the spiral motion in the underwater space is simulated for the gliding mode. Similarly the cycle motion on water surface and the depth-keeping motion underwater are simulated for the level-flight mode. These simulations are important to the performance analysis and parameter optimization for the Petrel-II underwater glider. The simulation results show a good agreement with field trials.

Noncovalently Functionalized Tungsten Disulfide Nanosheets for Enhanced Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Epoxy Nanocomposites.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahu, Megha; Narashimhan, Lakshmi; Prakash, Om; Raichur, Ashok M

2017-04-26

In the present study, noncovalently functionalized tungsten disulfide (WS 2 ) nanosheets were used as a toughening agent for epoxy nanocomposites. WS 2 was modified with branched polyethyleneimine (PEI) to increase the degree of interaction of nanosheets with the epoxy matrix and prevent restacking and agglomeration of the sheets in the epoxy matrix. The functionalization of WS 2 sheets was confirmed through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The exfoliation of the bulk WS 2 was confirmed through X-ray diffraction and various microscopic techniques. Epoxy nanocomposites containing up to 1 wt % of WS 2 -PEI nanosheets were fabricated. They showed a remarkable improvement in fracture toughness (K IC ). K IC increased from 0.94 to 1.72 MPa m -1/2 for WS 2 -PEI nanosheet loadings as low as 0.25 wt %. Compressive and flexural properties also showed a significant improvement as incorporation of 0.25 wt % of WS 2 -PEI nanosheets resulted in 43 and 65% increase in the compressive and flexural strengths of epoxy nanocomposites, respectively, compared with neat epoxy. Thermal stability and thermomechanical properties of the WS 2 -PEI-modified epoxy also showed a significant improvement. The simultaneous improvement in the mechanical and thermal properties could be attributed to the good dispersion of WS 2 -PEI nanosheets in the matrix, intrinsic high strength and thermal properties of the nanosheets, and improved interaction of the WS 2 nanosheets with the epoxy matrix owing to the presence of PEI molecules on the surface of the WS 2 nanosheets.

Modified silyl-terminated polyether polymer blends with bisphenol A diglycidyl ether epoxy for adhesive applications