Differential Equations and Continuum Mechanics
Abstract
The researchers were visited by Prof Christopher Durning from the Dept of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University. Prof Durning has an extensive background in experimenting with several kinds of anomalous polymers (including Case II materials). In almost daily seminars Prof Durning and Cohen, together with several of Cohen's grad students, formulated both a theoretical and experimental attack on problems arising in the strength and use of new materials and in problems from certain considerations in environmental chemistry. For example, new strong light weight materials for use in both commercial and military vehicles will have many non-planar shapes. Thus, these materials will sometimes be subject to compression (on the concave side of a bent sheet) and sometimes to tension (on the convex side.) Experiments yield greatly differing results in the two cases. The researchers need to incorporate the physics of these situations into their Case II diffusive model and accurately formulate the physics at the interfacial moving boundary. For the problems involving polymer films for use in protective clothing and uniforms and as separating membranes in environmental protective and clean-up devices, chemical effects often take place at the moving interface. The researchers have now formulated tractable models for many of these problems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 30, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA278341
Entities
People
- Donald S. Cohen
Organizations
- California Institute of Technology