Wire coating analysis using Phan-Thien-Tanner fluid subject to Lorentz force as a polymer coating material in a canonical covering die.

Wire coating is widely used for electrical insulation to protect the wire from electric shock, prevent electrical leakage, and ensure that the electrical current flows smoothly. In this investigation, a pressurized coating die is used to explore the PTT fluid as a polymer material for wire in a magnetic field. The flow field, flow rate, temperature profile, thickness of the wire coating, volume flow rate, and shear stress are all given exact solutions. Graphs were used to illustrate the effects of certain important technical parameters, including flow rate, wire coating thickness, shear stress, and pressure gradient. It has been noted that as the values of X, Deborah number, and ratio of radii are improved, the volume and thickness of the coated wire rise. The Deborah number has a higher volume flow than the X and radii ratios. A reference to existing literature is made in order to support the validity of the current study.

Squeeze Behaviors of Magnetorheological Fluids under Different Compressive Speeds.

The compression tests under the unidirection for magnetorheological (MR) fluids have been studied at different compressive speeds. The results indicated that curves of compressive stress under different compression speeds at the applied magnetic field of 0.15 T overlapped well and were shown to be an exponent of about 1 of the initial gap distance in the elastic deformation region and accorded well with the description of continuous media theory. The difference in compressive stress curves increases significantly with an increasing magnetic field. At this time, the continuous media theory description could not be accounted for the effect of compressive speed on the compression of MR fluid, which seems to deviate from the Deborah number prediction under the lower compressive speeds. An explanation based on the two-phase flow due to aggregations of particle chains resulting in much longer relaxation times at a lower compressive speed was proposed to explain this deviation. The results have guiding significance for the theoretical design and process parameter optimization for the squeeze-assisted MR devices such as MR dampers and MR clutches based on the compressive resistance.

Linear viscoelasticity of human sclera and posterior ocular tissues during tensile creep.

PURPOSE: Despite presumed relevance to ocular diseases, the viscoelastic properties of the posterior human eye have not been evaluated in detail. We performed creep testing to characterize the viscoelastic properties of ocular regions, including the sclera, optic nerve (ON) and ON sheath. METHODS: We tested 10 pairs of postmortem human eyes of average age 77 ± 17 years, consisting of 5 males and 5 females. Except for the ON that was tested in native shape, tissues were trimmed into rectangles. With physiologic temperature and constant wetting, tissues were rapidly loaded to tensile stress that was maintained by servo feedback as length was monitored for 1,500 sec. Relaxation modulus was computed using Prony series, and Deborah numbers estimated for times scales of physiological eye movements. RESULTS: Correlation between creep rate and applied stress level was negligible for all tissues, permitting description as linear viscoelastic materials characterized by lumped parameter compliance equations for limiting behaviors. The ON was the most compliant, and anterior sclera least compliant, with similar intermediate values for posterior sclera and ON sheath. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that linear behavior eventually become dominant after long time. For the range of typical pursuit tracking, all tissues exhibit Debora numbers less than 75, and should be regarded as viscoelastic. With a 6.7 Deborah number, this is especially so for the ON during pursuit and convergence. CONCLUSIONS: Posterior ocular tissues exhibit creep consistent with linear viscoelasticity necessary for describing biomechanical behavior of the ON, its sheath, and sclera during physiological eye movements and eccentric ocular fixations. Running Head: Tensile Creep of Human Ocular Tissues.

Alternating Current Electroosmotic Flow of Maxwell Fluid in a Parallel Plate Microchannel with Sinusoidal Roughness.

The EOF of a viscoelastic Maxwell fluid driven by an alternating pressure gradient and electric field in a parallel plate microchannel with sinusoidal roughness has been investigated within the Debye-Hückel approximation based on boundary perturbation expansion and separation of variables. Perturbation solutions were obtained for the potential distribution, the velocity and the mean velocity, and the relation between the mean velocity and the roughness. There are significant differences in the velocity amplitudes of the Newtonian and Maxwell fluids. It is shown here that the velocity distribution of the viscoelastic fluid is significantly affected by the roughness of the walls, which leads to the appearance of fluctuations in the fluid. Also, the velocity is strongly dependent on the phase difference θ of the roughness of the upper and lower plates. As the oscillation Reynolds number ReΩ increases, the velocity profile and the average velocity um(t) of AC EOF oscillate rapidly but the velocity amplitude decreases. The Deborah number De plays a similar role to ReΩ, which makes the AC EOF velocity profile more likely to oscillate. Meanwhile, phase lag χ (representing the phase difference between the electric field and the mean velocity) decreases when G and θ are increased. However, for larger λ (e.g., λ > 3), it almost has no phase lag χ.

Tailoring the Diameters of Electro-Mechanically Spun Fibers by Controlling Their Deborah Numbers.

Polymer solutions with different concentrations of SU-8 2002/poly(ethylene) glycol/tetrabutyl ammonium tetrafluoroborate (SU-8/PEO/TBATFB) were electrospun in a low-voltage near-field electrospinning platform (LVNFES) at different velocities. Their diameters were related to the concentration contents as well as to their Deborah (De) numbers, which describes the elasticity of the polymer solution under determined operating conditions. We found a direct correlation between the concentration of PEO/TBATFB, the De and the diameter of the fibers. Fibers with diameters as thin as 465 nm can be achieved for De ≈ 1.

Langmuir monolayers of non-ionic polymers: equilibrium or metastability? Case study of PEO and its PPO-PEO diblock copolymers.

Stability and reorganization in Langmuir films of PEO in PEO homopolymers and PPO-PEO block copolymers were investigated using film balance measurements. The apparent fractional losses of EO segments transferred into the subphase resulting from successive compression-expansion cycles have been estimated. The apparent loss is mainly Γ(max), M(n) and time-dependent. At surface concentrations Γ⩽0.32 mg/m(2), PEO films are in equilibrium. For 0.32⩽Γ⩽0.7 mg/m(2), the losses remain modest. Further compression leads to densification of the monolayer, requiring the interplay of thermodynamics and kinetic factors In the plateau regime, the loss is higher and constant for 1⩽Γ(max)⩽2 mg/m(2) upon maintaining the achieved surface area for 15 min. Similar losses were obtained for PEO homopolymers of high Mn and PPO353-PEO2295. It suggests that the PEO remains anchored in a metastable state at the air-water interface at surface concentration well above the onset of the plateau. Additional losses are incurred for PEO homopolymers for monolayers kept compressed in the plateau for 2 h. For the interpretation of these phenomena a combination of elements from self-consistent field theory and scaling is desirable with as a trend an increasing contribution of the latter with increasing surface concentration.

Branched polymers characterized by comprehensive two-dimensional separations with fully orthogonal mechanisms: molecular-topology fractionation×size-exclusion chromatography.

Polymer separations under non-conventional conditions have been explored to obtain a separation of long-chain branched polymers from linear polymers with identical hydrodynamic size. In separation media with flow-through channels of the same order as the size of the analyte molecules in solution, the separation and the elution order of polymers are strongly affected by the flow rate. At low flow rates, the largest polymers are eluted last. At high flow rates, they are eluted first. By tuning the channel size and flow rate, conditions can be found where separation becomes independent of molar mass or size of linear polymers. Long-chain branched polymers did experience lower migration rates under these conditions and can be separated from linear polymers. This type of separation is referred to as molecular-topology fractionation (MTF) at critical conditions. Separation by comprehensive two-dimensional molecular-topology fractionation and size-exclusion chromatography (MTF×SEC) was used to study the retention characteristics of MTF. Branching selectivity was demonstrated for three- and four-arm "star" polystyrenes of 3-5×10(6)g/mol molar mass. Baseline separation could be obtained between linear polymer, Y-shaped molecules, and X-shaped molecules in a single experiment at constant flow rate. For randomly branched polymers, the branching selectivity inevitably results in an envelope of peaks, because it is not possible to fully resolve the huge numbers of different branched and linear polymers of varying molar mass. It was concluded that MTF involves partial deformation of polymer coils in solution. The increased coil density and resistance to deformation can explain the different retention behavior of branched molecules.