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Interfacial polarization dominates the permittivity spectra of heterogeneous granular materials for the intermediate frequency range (i.e., from kHz to MHz). In this study, we examine the corresponding dielectric responses of compacted glass sphere packings saturated with pore-filling fluids under various compressive stresses. The effective permittivity spectra are observed to exhibit consistently a plateau-to-plateau drop, described by low-frequency permittivity, characteristic frequency, and high-frequency permittivity. The permittivity spectra under different compressive levels are found to be influenced by the packing structure, compressive stress, and electrical property contrasts between solid and fluid (specifically permittivity and conductivity). For considered measurement conditions, the variation of packing structure and its associated porosity is found to be more significant than the stress evolution in controlling the interfacial polarization, thus the permittivity spectra, as supported by analytical and numerical results for unit cells. Furthermore, to gain a general rule for dielectric responses for saturated granular materials, we train multi-layer artificial neural network (ANN) models based on a series of simulations for unit cells with various structures, stresses, and electrical and dielectric properties. The predictions with two-layer ANN agree well with experimental measurements, presenting errors smaller than 5% for both low-frequency and high-frequency permittivity. This study offers an effective predicting approach for the dielectric behaviour of heterogeneous and multiphase materials.

Four dimensional printing enables the advanced manufacturing of smart objects that can morph and adapt shape over time in response to stimuli such as heat. This study presents a single-material 4D printing workflow which explores the residual stress and anisotropy arising from the fused deposition modelling (FDM) printing process to create heat-triggered self-morphing objects. In particular, the study first investigates the effect of printing patterns on the residual stress of FDM-printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) products. Through finite element analysis, the raster angle of printing patterns was identified as the key parameter influencing the distribution of residual stresses. Experimental investigations further reveal that the non-uniform distribution of residual stress results in the anisotropic thermal deformation of printed materials. Thus, through the design of printing patterns, FDM-printed materials can be programmed with desired built-in residual stresses and anisotropic behaviours for initiating and controlling the transformation of 4D-printed objects. Using the proposed approach, any desktop FDM printers can be turned into 4D printers to create smart objects that can self-morph into target geometries. A series of 4D printing prototypes manufactured from conventional ABS 3D printing feedstock are tested to illustrate the use and reliability of this new workflow. Additionally, the custom-made wood–plastic composite (WPC) feedstocks are explored in this study to demonstrate the transposability of the 4D printing approach.

ABSTRACTAdditive manufacturing is increasingly utilised in the energy conversion and storage field. It offers great flexibility to fabricate structural materials with improved physical properties, and other advantages such as material waste reduction, fabrication time minimisation, and cost-effectiveness. In this review, current developments in additive manufacturing of energy storage devices are discussed. The digital design approaches of structural materials and mainstream additive manufacturing techniques, including vat photopolymerization, powder bed fusion, material jetting, binder jetting, material extrusion, and directed energy deposition, are summarised. Then, a comprehensive review of recent advances in the electrochemical and thermal energy storage field is provided. In the end, an integrated framework considering digital design and additive manufacturing is proposed for a wide range of energy applications.

Abstract In this work, the effects of surface properties on bouncing–wetting transition of water droplet impacting rough surfaces in the Weber number (We) range from 18 to 221 are experimentally investigated. The correlation between impact outcomes and We is examined with an empirical function, and an impact outcome transition from bouncing to no bouncing is identified with the increase of We. The results suggest that a higher surface area ratio promotes the bouncing to no bouncing transition on sample surfaces used in this study. To quantify the effects of surface wetting area on the transitions of droplet impact regimes, a modified Weber number, We*, is proposed by taking the actual surface area into account. Results show that the regime transitions of droplet impact on samples of different surface area ratios can be unified by the We*. This study reveals the significance of actual surface area and the resultant adhesion force on the droplet impact dynamics on random rough surfaces.

Particle morphology has great influence on mechanical behaviour and hydro/thermal/electrical conductivities of granular materials. Surface reconstruction and mesh generation are critical to consider realistic particle shapes in various computational simulations. This study adopts the combined finite- discrete element method (FDEM) to investigate single particle crushing behaviour. Particle shapes were reconstructed with spherical harmonic (SH) in both spherical and Cartesian coordinate systems. Furthermore, the reconstructed surface mesh qualities in two coordinate systems are investigated and compared. Although the efficiency of the two SH systems in reconstructing star-like shapes is nearly identical, SH in Cartesian coordinate system can reconstruct non-star-like shapes with the help of surface parameterisation. Meanwhile, a higher triangular mesh quality is generated with spherical coordinate. In single particle crushing tests, the low mesh quality produces more fluctuations on load–displacement curves. The particles with more surficial mesh elements tend to have a lower contact stiffness due to more contact stress concentrations induced by complexity of morphology features and more volumetric tetrahedral elements. The fracture patterns are also influenced by mesh quality and density, e.g. a particle with fewer mesh elements has a simpler fragmentation pattern. This study serves as an essential step towards modelling particle breakage using FDEM with surface mesh directly from SH reconstruction.

Surface bio-functionalization through covalent attachment of bioactive molecules is a promising approach to facilitate rapid bone-implant integration. Radical-rich plasma polymer interlayers are highly attractive as platforms that enable covalent biofunctionalization in a single-step, reagent-free manner. However, fabrication of mechanically robust plasma polymer films, particularly for biomedical devices that operate in corrosive body fluids, is not trivial. Here we show a facile approach to tune the robustness of ion-assisted plasma polymer (IPP) films via simply varying the nitrogen atomic concentration incorporated into their structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data indicated that the total sp3/sp2 ratio of carbon atoms decreases in the films with increasing nitrogen atomic concentration. Electron recoil detection analysis data provided evidence that the hydrogen content decreases as the nitrogen atomic concentration increases. Nano-indentation and nano-scratch tests, together with long-term stability studies in simulated body fluid, showed a strong correlation between the nitrogen atomic concentration and the robustness and stability of the films. We confirmed the potential of the optimized, nitrogen-rich IPP film to regulate osseointegration by covalent attachment of fibronectin followed by quantifying primary osteoblast attachment and proliferation. The IPP films developed here hold great potential as robust interfaces for biomimetic surface engineering of implantable biomedical devices, in particular bone implants.

The mechanical response of a granular system is not only influenced by the bulk material properties but also on various factors due to it’s discrete nature. The factors like topology, packing fraction, friction between particles, particle size distribution etc. influence the behavior of granular systems. For a reliable design of such systems like fusion breeder units comprising of pebble beds, it is essential to understand the various factors influencing the response of the system. Mechanical response of a binary assembly consisting of crushable spherical pebbles is studied using Discrete Element Method (DEM) which is based on particle–particle interactions. The influence of above mentioned factors on the macroscopic stress–strain response is investigated using an in-house DEM code. Furthermore, the effect of these factors on the damage in the assembly is investigated. This present investigation helps in understanding the macroscopic response and damage in terms of microscopic factors paving way to develop a unified prediction tool for a binary crushable granular assembly.

Self-limiting oxidation of nanowires has been previously described as a reaction- or diffusion-controlled process. In this letter, the concept of finite reactive region is introduced into a diffusion-controlled model, based upon which a two-dimensional cylindrical kinetics model is developed for the oxidation of silicon nanowires and is extended for tungsten. In the model, diffusivity is affected by the expansive oxidation reaction induced stress. The dependency of the oxidation upon curvature and temperature is modeled. Good agreement between the model predictions and available experimental data is obtained. The developed model serves to quantify the oxidation in two-dimensional nanostructures and is expected to facilitate their fabrication via thermal oxidation techniques.

In this paper we apply lattice models of finite binary percolation networks to examine the effects of network configuration on macroscopic network responses. We consider both square and rectangular lattice structures in which bonds between nodes are randomly assigned to be either resistors or capacitors. Results show that for given network geometries, the overall normalised frequency-dependent electrical conductivities for different capacitor proportions are found to converge at a characteristic frequency. Networks with sufficiently large size tend to share the same convergence point uninfluenced by the boundary and electrode conditions, can be then regarded as homogeneous media. For these networks, the span of the emergent scaling region is found to be primarily determined by the smaller network dimension (width or length). This study identifies the applicability of power-law scaling in random two phase systems of different topological configurations. This understanding has implications in the design and testing of disordered systems in diverse applications.

Gas and liquid adsorption-induced deformation of ordered porous materials is an important physical phenomenon with a wide range of applications. In general, the deformation can be characterized by the pore-load modulus and, when the pore size reduces to nanoscale, it is affected by surface effects and shows prominent size-dependent features. In this Letter, the influence of surface effects on the elastic properties of ordered nanoporous materials with internal pressure is accounted for in a single pore model. A porosity and surface elastic constants dependent closed form solution for the size dependent pore-load modulus is obtained and verified by finite element simulations and available experimental results. In addition, it is found to depend on the geometrical arrangement of pores. This study provides an efficient tool to analyze the surface effects on the elastic response of ordered nanoporous materials.