Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are known to have remarkable mechanical and electrical properties. One of those properties is piezoresistance which makes them suitable to be used in the field of strain sensing. Multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs) were incorporated in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) matrix to form composite film sensors with different concentrations of 1, 2, 3.5, 5, 6.5, and 8 weight%. The fabrication of such composite was carried out using solid-state mixing, followed by melt blending process. Both extrusion and compression molding processes were used where compression showed more promising results in terms of electrical conductivity. Two types of molds were examined in compression molding, namely flash type mold and a positive type mold. The positive type mold showed better control over process parameters. Furthermore two types of multi-walled carbon nanotubes of different aspect ratios were investigated using the positive type mold to examine their effect on the composite conductivity. The ones with the higher aspect ratio showed much higher conductivity. Strain sensitivity measurements were carried out on composite film samples at percolation threshold and beyond and gauge factors were obtained which showed significantly higher sensitivity than that of conventional strain gauges.

Department

Mechanical Engineering Department

Degree Name

MS in Mechanical Engineering

Graduation Date

2-1-2012

Submission Date

January 2012

First Advisor

Esawi, Amal

Second Advisor

Arafa, Mustafa

Extent

NA

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Library of Congress Subject Heading 1

Carbon.

Library of Congress Subject Heading 2

nostructured materials.

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Not necessary for this item

Comments

It is a pleasure to thank those who made this thesis possible. I especially want to thank my advisers Dr. Amal Esawi and Dr. Mustafa Arafa for their help and guidance during the research. Special thanks to Eng. Rami Wasfi, Eng. Ehab Salama, Eng. Hady Hussein, Eng. Ahmed Abdel Gawad, and Mr. Essam Aziz for their help with different samples testing and alyses at the different stages of this research. Also, thanks are due to Dr. Hosny Omar, Professor at the Physics department, for his helpful advice and fruitful discussions. I would like as well to thank the Science and Technology Research Center (STRC) for the fincial help and support.

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