Particulate-filled thermosetting composites are widely used, yet little systematic work has been done on their long-term strength characteristics. In this study short-term tensile, flexural, and impact tests as well as tensile creep-rupture tests were made for unfilled and filled epoxy to clarify the effects of filler size, filler content, and temperature. Fillers used were silica, alumina particles, and glass beads. Test temperatures were varied from 25 to 110°C. As a result of short-term testing, it was found that the Petch relation held between strength and filler size if brittle fracture occurred, while a strengthening effect existed when ductile fracture occurred. On creeprupture testing, a strengthening is observed with filler size and content for siIica and glass beads. The Arrhenius plot of rupture time for various filler sizes and contents converges to a characteristic point corresponding to the glass transition temperature of the material. Using this relation, a modified Larson-Miller master rupture curve is proposed which can predict the long-term strength of particulate-filled thermosetting composites as functions of rupture time, temperature, filler size, and content.
Bistable liquid crystal (LC) molecular orientation properties in micropatterned LC cells were investigated experimentally and theoretically. When an LC cell was heated to the phase-transition temperature and then cooled, an LC orientation with ±π/2-twist domains (±π/2-twist mode) was obtained. Furthermore, a different LC orientation with ±π-twist domains (±π-twist mode) was observed when a 10-V potential was applied across a sample LC cell. Both orientation states were stably retained over a long period. Herein, cross-sectional LC orientation models in the ±π/2- and ±π-twist modes are proposed to explain the generation and behavior of two different disclination lines. The total energies within one period in the ±π/2- and ±π-twist modes (F±π/2 and F±π, respectively) were estimated theoretically. These energies were found to depend on the LC layer thickness and to cross over at a certain thickness; this indicates that F±π is equal to F±π/2 at this equilibrium thickness. The best temporal stability is likely attained at this equilibrium thickness. We demonstrated a bistable color-switching device by combining a full-wave plate and crossed polarizers. When these optical components were configured properly, stable bistable switching between two colors was achieved.
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