Browsing by Author "Liyanage, Asel Ananda Habarakada"

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    Engineering uniformity in mass production of MWCNTs/epoxy nanofibers using a lateral belt-driven multi-nozzle electrospinning technique to enhance the mechanical properties of CFRPs
    (Elsevier, 2023-01) Liyanage, Asel Ananda Habarakada; Biswas, Pias Kumar; Dalir, Hamid; Agarwal, Mangilal; Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Purdue School of Engineering and Technology
    Electrospinning is one of the most diverse, cost-effective, and ecologically renowned methods for generating continuous nanofibers, but electrospinning of thermosetting polymers like epoxy and their mass volume productions have been a major challenge in recent years. This study proposes a fabrication method by addressing electrospun MWCNTS/epoxy (CNT/epoxy) nanofiber's volume processing, reproducibility, and accuracy issues in an effective manner. Lateral belt-driven (LBD) multi-nozzle electrospinning is here newly adopted to enhance the mechanical properties of the carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates. With the LBD approach, the electric field can be uninterruptedly distributed to deposit a uniform layer of CNT/epoxy scaffolds over the entire width of CFRP prepreg. This study optimizes the distance between two nozzles, the motion of the lateral belt, and the electrospinning period. The laminates made of coated CFRP show enhanced mechanical properties when compared to pristine CFRPs. Under high-stress conditions, these CFRP laminates' interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and fatigue performance demonstrated 29% and 27% improvements, respectively. This study, which demonstrated the success of using an LBD multi-nozzle system, has enormous opportunities to produce thinner and continuous fibers with more concentrated collections at a faster rate, which is critical for commercial applications.
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    Higher strength carbon fiber lithium-ion polymer battery embedded multifunctional composites for structural applications
    (Wiley Online Library, 2022-03-17) Biswas, Pias Kumar; Liyanage, Asel Ananda Habarakada; Jadhav, Mayur; Agarwal, Mangilal; Dalir, Hamid
    This study proposes and evaluates the structural integrity of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite containing encapsulated lithium-ion polymer (Li-Po) batteries. A comparison of various composite structures made of CFRP having the core of lithium-ion batteries is conducted. Electrospinning is globally recognized as a flexible and cost-effective method for generating continuous nanofilaments. In this study, epoxy-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT/epoxy) were electrospun onto CFRP layers, which improved interfacial bonding and strong adhesion between the layers which ultimately worked as an effective packaging for Li-ion batteries. This composite structure showed enhanced mechanical strength compared to the standard CFRP laminate structure due to incorporating electrospun CNT/epoxy nanofibers in between the layers. An alternate method was proposed for comparison where CNT/epoxy was air sprayed onto the CFRP layers. CFRP structure containing airsprayed CNT/epoxy was found to be stronger than standard CFRP laminate structure, although not as strong as electrospun CNT/epoxy enhanced CFRP laminates. Finally, the design validation, manufacturing method, and electromechanical characterization of multifunctional energy storage composites (MESCs) were examined and compared. Electrochemical characterization showed that MESCs with electrospun CNT/epoxy nanofibers enhanced CFRP laminate under loading conditions had similar performance to the standard lithium-ion pouch cells without any loading. The mechanical robustness of the proposed CFRP composite structures enables their manufacturing as multifunctional energy-storage devices for electric vehicles and other structural applications.