FIBER ELECTROFLOCKING

THIS PROJECT IS DEVELOPING ELECTRONIC DIAGNOSTICS AND NOVEL HIGH-VELOCITY ELECTROFLOCKING FOR ADVANCED MATERIALS FABRICATION. LOW-VELOCITY ELECTROFLOCKING IS A COMMON TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILE FABRICS SUCH AS NYLON VELOUR. ELECTROSTATICS ARE USED TO POSITION LARGE NUMBERS OF SHORT FIBERS ("FLOCK") ON AND PARTIALLY INTO SURFACES. TO BE USEFUL IN THE PRODUCTION OF ENGINEERED FIBER COMPOSITE MATERIALS, ELECTROFLOCKING MUST BE EXTENDED TO ENABLE: (1) HIGH PACKING FRACTIONS; (2) HIGHLY ORIENTED FLOCK THAT IS STRICTLY VERTICAL; AND (3) BULK PROCESSING OF FIBER AND WHISKER MATERIALS MADE OF CARBON, CERAMIC, OR METAL. CONVENTIONAL FLOCK ELECTRIFICATION AND TRANSPORT CONDITIONS ARE BEING ALTERED TO THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS. DIAGNOSTICS FOR TIME-RESOLVED CURRENT PULSE DETECTION IS USED TO DIRECTLY MONITOR THE CURRENT ASSOCIATED WITH ELEMENTARY FLOCK PROCESSES: CHARGE-DISCHARGE, FLOCK CURRENT, AND SPACE CHARGE CURRENT. A MODEL OF THE ELECTROFLOCKING PROCESS IS BEING DEVELOPED AND ITS PREDICTIONS COMPARED WITH EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS GAINED IN A BASIC FLOCK TEST CONFIGURATION. POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS TO ADVANCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS HAVING NOVEL STRUCTURAL, ELECTRICAL, THERMAL, AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES WILL BE ASSESSED.