I. Composites and Nanocomposites
Physics 575 (section 769)
Instructor: Dr. Vik Malhotra
Office: Neckers 423C Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Phone: 453-5166 E-Mail: vmalhotra@physics.siu.edu
Class Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 9:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Classroom: Neckers 410
Syllabus
This course is designed to introduce students to the field of composites and to the new, but important, emerging applied field of nanocomposites. Besides learning about composites and nanocomposites, we will discuss polymers and how polymers are processed to design these materials. How experimental techniques, e.g., DSC, TGA, DTA, TMA, DMA, and FTIR, are applied to polymers and polymer-derived composites to evaluate their properties will also be discussed. Tentatively, the following topics will be discussed:
Books
Textbook
K. K. Chawla, Composite Materials Science and Engineering, 2nd ed., New York: Springer, 1998 (ISBN: 0-387-98409-7).
Reference Books
Polymers
D. I. Bower, An Introduction to Polymer Physics, Cambridge: University Press, 2002.
M. Doi, Introduction to Polymer Physics, New York: Wiley, 1996.
U. Eisele, Introduction to Polymer Physics, Berlin: Springer, 1990.
A. W. Birley, B. Haworth, and J. Batchelor, Physics of Plastics: Processing, Properties, and Materials Engineering, New York: Hanser 1991.
I. M. Ward and D. W. Hadley, An Introduction to the Mechanical Properties of Solid Polymers, New York: John Wiley, 1998.
G. W. Ehrenstein, Polymeric Materials: Structure-properties-Applications, Hanser, 2001.
J. M. Charrier, Polymeric Materials and Processing Plastics, Elastomers and Composites, Hanser, 1991.
G. Odian, Principles of Polymerization, 3rd Ed., John Wiley, 1991.
Composites
B. T. Astrom, Manufacturing of Polymer Composites, London: Chapman & Hall, 1997.
P. K. Mallick, Fiber-Reinforced Composites: Materials, Manufacturing, and Design, 2nd ed.. New York: Maceral Dekker, Inc., 1993.
T. G. Gutowski, ed., Advanced Composite Manufacturing, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997.
A. Kelly and N. H. MacMillan, Strong Solids, 3rd ed., Oxford Science Publication.
D. Hull, Introduction to Composites, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.ajb*klo
T. H. Courtney, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990.
N. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1993.
M. F. Ashby, and L. J. Gibson, Cellular Solids: Structure and Properties,. 2nd ed., New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
M. E. Tuttle, Structural Analysis of Polymer Composite Materials, New York: Marcel-Dekker, 2004.
I. M. Ward, Mechanical Properties of Solid Polymers, 2nd ed., New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1983.
Web Links of Interest
http://www.pslc.ws/macrog/index.htm (basics of polymers)
http://www.rpi.edu/dept/materials/COURSES/NANO/course.htm (some interesting pictures of nanomaterials)
http://www.uwsp.edu/chemistry/polyed/teachers.htm
http://matse1.mse.uiuc.edu/~tw/polymers/polymers.html
http://composite.about.com/?once=true&
http://www.ccm.udel.edu/Techsite/
Grades
Today's professional research environment requires one to frequently convey one's ideas (e.g., competitive research proposals) and research outcomes (refereed research articles) to the scientific and engineering community at national and international levels. Therefore, it is important to sharpen these skills which will help us to put our best foot forward. Consequently, the homework and projects in this course are designed to help us acquire some of these skills.
Your grade in the course will be determined from the following:
Typically, the homework will involve reading assigned topic(s) and/or assigned research article(s) and writing a two page report in the format shown later. I may also assign numerical and/or other problems from the topics covered in the lectures. On my whim, I may ask the students to summarize their report orally to the class. However, if I ask for an oral presentation, I will give the student an advance (a day before their presentation) notice so that the student may wish to prepare a power point presentation or notes.
The quizzes and exams will be from the topics which have been covered in the class and/or assigned as reading assignments. The quizzes and/or exams may be lecture period long. The exam/quizzes will be closed book.
Besides the final exam, every student will be assigned a final project on a different topic. The topic of the final project will be determined by the instructor in consultation with the student. This will be done before Spring Break. The final project will be at least six typed pages long using the format shown below. The student will provide the instructor with a hardcopy and a word document. In preparing the homework reports and/or final project reports, students must conform with the university's student conduct code.
Remember the homework project should not be longer than 2 pages and the final project not more than 6 pages.
INTRODUCTION (use bullet format): why this research is important, what past work has been done in this field (provide references), what was the aim of the research
EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES (use bullet format): what experimental techniques were used in the paper(s) (simply saying DMA or DSC was used is not acceptable) (see link)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (use bullet format): what was experimentally found, what explanations were provided for the experimental results
CONCLUSIONS (use bullet format): provide what were the important conclusions of the paper