Title of article :
Quantifying High-Performance Material Microstructure Using Nanomechanical Tools with Visual and Frequency Analysis
Author/Authors :
Strawhecker, Kenneth E. Composites and Hybrid Materials Branch - US Army Research Laboratory - Aberdeen - MD, USA , Sandoz-Rosado, Emil Composites and Hybrid Materials Branch - US Army Research Laboratory - Aberdeen - MD, USA , Roenbeck, Michael R. Composites and Hybrid Materials Branch - US Army Research Laboratory - Aberdeen - MD, USA
Abstract :
High-performancematerialslikeballisticfibershaveremarkablemechanicalpropertiesowingtospecificpatternsoforganizationrangingfromthemolecularscale,tothemicroscaleandmacroscale.Understandingthesestrategiesformaterialorganizationiscriticaltoimprovingthemechanicalpropertiesofthesehigh-performancematerials.Inthiswork,atomicforcemicroscopy(AFM)wasusedtodetectchangesinmaterialcompositionatanextremelyhighresolutionwithtransverse-stiffnessscanning.Newmethodsfordirectquantificationofmaterialmorphologyweredeveloped,andappliedasanexampletotheseAFMscans,althoughthesemethodscanbeappliedtoanyspatially-resolvedscans.Thesetechniqueswereusedtodelineatebetweensubtlemorphologicaldifferencesincommercialultra-high-molecular-weightpolyethylene(UHMWPE)fibersthathavedifferentprocessingconditionsandmechanicalpropertiesaswellasquantifymorphologyincommercialKevlar®,ahigh-performancematerialwithanentirelydifferentorganizationstrategy.Bothfrequencyanalysisandvisualprocessingmethodswereusedtosystematicallyquantifythemicrostructureofthefibersamplesinthisstudy.Thesetechniquesarethefirststepinestablishingstructure-propertyrelationshipsthatcanbeusedtoinformsynthesisandprocessingtechniquestoachievedesiredmorphologies,andthussuperiormechanicalperformance.
Keywords :
Quantifying , High-Performance Material Microstructure , Nanomechanical Tools , Visual and Frequency Analysis , AFM , UHMWPE
