A theoretical model is applied to the analysis of thermomechanical properties of FGMs in this study. Functionally graded composites ( FGMs) consisted with 10 layers gradually changing volume fractions of Al and were fabricated using the pressureless infiltration technique. FGMs plates of total thickness of 3mm, 5mm and 7mm with fairly uniform distribution and compositional gradient of reinforcement in the Al matrix throughout the thickness was successfully fabricated. The curvature of FGM plates was measured to check the internal stress distribution predicted via a theoretical model for the analysis of thermo-mechanical deformation. The evolution of curvature and also internal stresses in response to temperature variations could be predicted for the different combinations of geometric thickness of FGM plates. Theoretical prediction of thermally induced stress distribution makes it possible to design FGM structures without any critical failure during the usage of them.

Asbestos is being replaced throughout the world among friction materials because of its carcinogenic nature. This has raised an important issue of heat dissipation in the non-asbestos brake pad materials being developed for automobiles etc. It has been found that two of the components i.e. carbon fibres as reinforcement and graphite powder as friction modifier, in the brake pad material, can playa vital role in this direction. The study reports the influence of these modifications on the thermal properties like coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and thermal conductivity along with the mechanical properties of nonasbestos brake pad composite samples developed in the laboratory.

The composites fabricated by powder in sheath rolling method were cold-rolled by 50% reduction and annealed for 1.8 ks at various temperatures ranging from 200 to 50, for improvement of the mechanical properties. The mechanical properties and texture of the composites after rolling and annealing were investigated. The tensile strength of the composites increased significantly due to work hardening after cold rolling, however it decreased due to restoration after annealing. The strength of the composites was improved by thermo mechanical treatment. On the other hand, the texture evolution with annealing temperatures wa,i different between the unreinforced material and the composites. The unreinforced material showed a deformation (rolling) texture of which main component is ｛112｝<111> at annealing temperatures up to 30. However, the composites have already exhibited a recrystallization texture of which main component is ｛001｝<100> after annealing at 20. This proves that the critical temperature for recrystailization is lower in the composites than in the unreinforced ones.

The present status of the thennomechanica1 evaluation of functionally gradient materials(FGMs) for space plane application was reviewed, in which research activities and the cooperation of the national project team organized to study FGM science were demonstrated. The project team was divided into three working groups; de singing, processing and evaluation, each of which had their own tasks in the project cooperation. The testings details of the various thennomechanical tests for the FGM samples fabricated by the processing groups were described, along with their corresponding heating conditions of the real environments in the space plane application. For small-sized samples, laser beam heating test and burner heating test were well applied to study the heat shielding and heat resisting properties. Arc-heated wind tunnel test and high temperature!high velocity gas flow test were used for large-sized panel assemblies having cooling structures. The criteria for the evaluation of the heat shielding and heat resisting properties of the FGMs, as well as a crack activation mechanism in their differential temperature heating, were proposed on the basis of the observation in the burner heating test.

In this study, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV)/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite films containing various content of GO were prepared using solution casting method. The effect of GO content on Young’s modulus and dispersion of GO in PHBV matrix was investigated. Also, the thermomechanical properties, oxygen transmission rates and hydrolytic degradation of PHBV/GO nanocomposite films were studied. The addition of GO into PHBV improves the Young’s modulus and decreases thermal expansion coefficient. The improvement can be mainly attributed to good dispersion of GO and interfacial interactions between PHBV and GO. Furthermore, PHBV/GO nanocomposite films show good oxygen barrier properties. PHBV/GO nanocomposites show lower hydrolytic degradation rates with increasing content of GO.