AbstractsEngineering

Research on theoretical models to study stress wave management has created new opportunities to design and fabricate beads and laminated composites in order to improve the material performance of engineering devices such as armors, casing for sensitive equipment, and heavy machinery. This thesis provides in detail the steps to formulate, test, and characterize the beads developed by two different approaches (sol- gel and vibration method) as well as laminated composites. Through the sol-gel method, the forming techniques and parameters for producing alumina beads using sodium alginate were developed. This simple, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly approach to producing alumina beads using bead-forming equipment occurs when a flat-tipped needle produces droplets that cross-link, forming green bodies upon contact with a CaCl2 solution. An exchange of ions takes place, where sodium alginates substitute their Na+ for Ca2+ ions to form semi-rigid bodies. Spherical ceramic beads using 50 wt% alumina suspension with 0.04 wt% polyacrylate dispersant are produced when: the viscosity of the slurry is below 0.3 Pa???s, the surface tension of the gelling solution is below 50 mN/m, and the distance of the nozzle tip to the reacting solution is approximately 3 cm. The sol-gel method approach for producing alumina beads using alginates will allow its use for any type of ceramic material, changing its chemical composition and controlling the microstructure and shape of the beads. Moreover, a second technique to make beads larger than 5 mm in diameter was established. Through the vibration approach, several types of alumina beads such as oblate, prolate, and tri-axial were produced with variable size and levels of porosity. In this approach, a formulation of 82.7 wt% alumina powder dispersed in 17.3 wt% water using 0.8 wt% ammonium salt dispersant with 0.2 wt% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) binder was used. After the drying of the alumina slurry, the mixture becomes a paste and it is fairly solid when left at rest, but will begin to flow under applied stress. With the correct moisture content (~9 wt% water content), the alumina paste can then be placed in a vibrating table within enclosures to form beads. Through an understanding of the formation of the alumina beads, it was found that the alumina paste is a viscoelastic solid with limited strain recovery. Based on the thermal treatment process, the optimum conditions were 700 oC/1hr for calcination and 1650 oC/4hrs for sintering, where the density was 97% of the theoretical value and the compressive load of the alumina beads were 3954 + 93 N. Furthermore, the refinement step provided more insight in to mechanical performance of the alumina beads. The three stages under longer milling times revealed that during the first 50 hours at 220 rpm, the bead diameter was reduced by 0.7 %; during the second stage, the diameter remained constant; and during the third stage, the alumina bead either fractured or became misshapen. Lastly, this thesis presents the Split Hokinson Pressure Bar…