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Applied Sciences
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Tribological and Mechanical Properties Studies of Smart Materials at Micro–Nano Scale
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Tribological and Mechanical Properties Studies of Smart Materials at Micro–Nano Scale

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 9789

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jurgita Zekonyte

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical and Design Engineering, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
Interests: surfaces and interfaces; mechanical and tribological characterization at micro- and nanoscale; bio-inspired structures for surface science and engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Hom Nath Dhakal

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical and Design Engineering, University of Portsmouth, Anglesea Building, Anglesea Road, Portsmouth PO1 3DJ, Hampshire, UK
Interests: design; development; testing and characterization of sustainable lightweight composites; nanocomposites; natural fiber composites and biocomposites; including their mechanical (tensile, flexural, low-velocity impact, and fracture toughness); thermal and environmental properties (dimensional stability under various environmental conditions)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The emerging field of new, smart, advanced, multifunctional materials plays a significant role in modern sciences and technologies. It is expected that they will replace conventional materials in various engineering applications: aerospace, automotive, electronic, energy, medical, and many more. Yet, there are still many challenges for their utilization at their full potential.

We are pleased to invite you to submit recent studies on cutting-edge research in smart materials, their manufacturing, characterization, and understanding. This Special Issue will cover a wide range of topics in the mechanical and tribological properties characterization of new, smart advanced materials from nano to micro scale. These may include, but not are limited to, nano/micro-composites, bio-composites, new alloys, functional surfaces, adaptive coatings, as well as procedures and technologies for improving their properties and functions. Importantly, original research studies on numerical analysis and simulations are welcomed. Modern characterization techniques such as AFM, TEM, SEM, micro-CT, XPS, XRD, nanoindentation, tribometers, various mechanical tests, and many more that are appropriate to the field of study should be utilized in the research.

Original research papers, communications, and reviews that address the scope of this Special Issue are welcomed.

Dr. Jurgita Zekonyte
Prof. Hom Dhakal
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • tribological properties
  • mechanical properties
  • nano/micro composites
  • functional materials
  • adaptive coatings
  • nanoindentation
  • durability and ageing
  • failure mechanisms
  • micro/nano-structures

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 5755 KiB  
Article
Wear of 17-4 PH Stainless Steel Patterned Surfaces Fabricated Using Selective Laser Melting
by Michela Sanguedolce, Jurgita Zekonyte and Marco Alfano
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(19), 9317; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11199317 - 8 Oct 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2271
Abstract
The recent developments in additive manufacturing (AM) are providing unprecedented opportunities in various fields, including the fabrication of advanced materials for tribological applications. The present work describes the results of an exploratory study focused on the analysis of 17-4 PH steel surfaces obtained [...] Read more.
The recent developments in additive manufacturing (AM) are providing unprecedented opportunities in various fields, including the fabrication of advanced materials for tribological applications. The present work describes the results of an exploratory study focused on the analysis of 17-4 PH steel surfaces obtained using selective laser melting (SLM). In particular, the study includes the analysis of baseline (as-produced) and textured steel surfaces. Surface texturing comprises hexagonal prism structures (with or without dimples) arranged in a honeycomb pattern with 50 µm or 100 µm gap spacing. Starting from the minimum printing size enabled by the 3D printing platform, various textures are prepared by scaling up the characteristic dimensions of the prisms up to 500%. The obtained surface patterns are characterized (qualitatively and quantitatively) using a non-contact computerized numerical control (CNC) measuring system. The coefficient of friction (COF) was investigated using a Ball-on-Disk configuration using bearing steel balls as counterparts. For a fixed sliding speed, different contact loads and sliding radii were considered, while the tests were carried out in either dry or lubricant-impregnated conditions. The results of wear tests in both dry and lubricated conditions indicated that the baseline samples are provided with lower COF compared to the textured ones. For the latter, neither the gap spacing nor the presence of dimples led to significant variations in the COF. However, in lubricated conditions, the values of the COF for baseline and textured surfaces were closer and much smaller. In particular, the results provide clear indications regarding reducing the gap between prisms, which had a beneficial effect on the COF in lubricated conditions. Similarly, sensitivity to dimples was quite remarkable, with a reduction in the COF of about 30% when the larger gap spacing between the prisms was used. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tribological and Mechanical Properties Studies of Smart Materials at Micro–Nano Scale)
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18 pages, 8446 KiB  
Article
Finding Minimal Optimal Indent Separation for Polystyrene via Instrumental Nanoindentation and FEA Method
by Chulin Jiang, Michael Davis and Jurgita Zekonyte
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(12), 4262; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10124262 - 22 Jun 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2875
Abstract
Nanoindentation became a standard non-destructive technique to measure mechanical properties at the submicron scale of various materials. A set of empirical rules were established to guarantee the validity of the results. One of those rules is the separation between individual indents that should [...] Read more.
Nanoindentation became a standard non-destructive technique to measure mechanical properties at the submicron scale of various materials. A set of empirical rules were established to guarantee the validity of the results. One of those rules is the separation between individual indents that should be 20–30 times maximum indentation depth. This paper investigates the influence of the distance between indents on the accuracy of mechanical properties for polystyrene with a view to determine minimum optimal separation that is needed to measure various material properties. A series of different depths with three different orientations was considered through both the experimental and finite element method to explore the relationship between the distance and indentation depth. Both methods demonstrated that hardness and modulus values for polystyrene keep stable with the distance approximately 15 times the maximum indentation depth for the matrix type set up, and nominal separation of 10 is enough when indents are executed in a single row or column. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tribological and Mechanical Properties Studies of Smart Materials at Micro–Nano Scale)
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16 pages, 3439 KiB  
Article
Characterization of Nano-Mechanical, Surface and Thermal Properties of Hemp Fiber-Reinforced Polycaprolactone (HF/PCL) Biocomposites
by Hom Nath Dhakal, Sikiru Oluwarotimi Ismail, Johnny Beaugrand, Zhongyi Zhang and Jurgita Zekonyte
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(7), 2636; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10072636 - 10 Apr 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3855
Abstract
The quest for sustainable, low-cost and environmental friendly engineering materials has increased the application of natural fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite. This paper experimentally investigates the effects of variable mean hemp fiber (HF) aspect ratios (ARs) of 00 (neat), aspect ratios AR_19, AR_26, AR_30 [...] Read more.
The quest for sustainable, low-cost and environmental friendly engineering materials has increased the application of natural fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite. This paper experimentally investigates the effects of variable mean hemp fiber (HF) aspect ratios (ARs) of 00 (neat), aspect ratios AR_19, AR_26, AR_30 and AR_38 on nano-mechanical (hardness, modulus, elasticity and plasticity), surface and thermal properties of hemp fiber/polycaprolactone (HF/PCL) biocomposites. These biocomposites were characterized by nanoindentation, contact angle, surface energy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), thermal conductivity and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. After nanoindentation and thermal conductivity tests, the results obtained evidently show that the HF/PCL sample with aspect ratio (AR_26) recorded optimal values. These values include maximum hardness of approximately 0.107 GPa, elastic modulus of 1.094 GPa, and plastic and elastic works of 1.580 and 1.210 nJ, respectively as well as maximum thermal conductivity of 0.2957 W/mK, when compared with other samples. Similarly, the optimal sample exhibits highest main degradable temperature and degree of crystallinity of 432 ℃ and 60.6%, respectively. Further results obtained for the total surface energies and contact angles of these samples with glycerol and distilled water are significant for their materials selection, design, manufacturing and various applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tribological and Mechanical Properties Studies of Smart Materials at Micro–Nano Scale)
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