Graduation Semester and Year
2018
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
First Advisor
Robert M Taylor
Second Advisor
Ashfaq Adnan
Abstract
Many advanced applications, including aerospace, can benefit from materials with superior mechanical and dielectric properties. For these applications, most fiber alignment electrospinning research has focused on either mechanical property improvement or dielectric property improvement, but not both simultaneously. Through an improved apparatus design and system parameter optimization, this work develops an electrospinning apparatus that produces an increased electrostatic force and more tightly controlled discharged particle path to enable a more uniform distribution and higher degree of alignment in deposited electrospun material, which results in simultaneous improvement of both mechanical and dielectric properties. The current state-of-the-art in aligned electrospinning techniques are limited. Parallel collectors have aligned fibers but there is a possibility of extraction challenge for applications because of larger volume fraction of gaps. Rotating mandrel collectors have fibers better molecular orientation in the fiber direction because of elongation strain. But the fibers are oriented randomly and the parameter optimization can deliver only limited alignment capabilities. Electrospinning has been successfully used to develop aligned micro- and nano-fiber mats for lightweight reinforcement of composite materials and structures. A horizontal electrospinning apparatus has been designed and fabricated for improved micro- and nano-fiber alignment that provides the possibility of developing better reinforcement and dielectric materials in the form of aligned fiber mats. The design of experiments results show that the improved system has better combined mechanical and dielectric properties because of better degree of aligned fibers than that of the original system.
Keywords
Electrospinning, Alignment, Mechanical, Dielectric
Disciplines
Aerospace Engineering | Engineering | Mechanical Engineering
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Isaac, Blesson, "ELECTROSPINNING APPROACH FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF MECHANICAL AND DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF ANISOTROPIC NANOFIBER MAT BY USING A NOVEL FIBER ALIGNMENT TECHNIQUE" (2018). Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations. 61.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/mechaerospace_dissertations/61
Comments
Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington