This is an award to the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa for the acquisition of a Rheometrics ARES Rheometer. This instrument will be used by an interdisciplinary group of four investigators and their students in the Materials for Information Technology Center at the University of Alabama for a variety of research projects in the general area of advanced materials development and processing as related to information storage technology. The projects include (1) investigation of the microstructure and microstructure evolution of magnetic dispersions, so as to enable the revolutionary advances necessary for step increases in information storage capacity (2) exploration and characterization of the constitutive behavior of magnetic dispersions, so as to provide the enabling science for development of next generation coating processes, and (3) development of solventless, electron- beam-cured formulations that will eliminate the large release of volatile organic compounds typically associated with magnetic media manufacture. Knowledge of the rheological properties of the materials involved is critical to each of these projects. In addition, the rheometer will be used in an undergraduate chemical engineering course in conjunction with a laboratory demonstration module and a numerical analysis project to educate undergraduate engineers on the importance of non-Newtonian behavior in fluid processing operations.
This is an award to the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa for the acquisition of a Rheometrics ARES rheometer. This instrument will be used by an interdisciplinary group of four investigators and their students in the Materials for Information Technology Center at the University of Alabama for a variety of research projects in the general area of advanced materials development and processing as related to information storage technology. In addition, the rheometer will be used in an undergraduate chemical engineering course in conjunction with a laboratory demonstration module and a numerical analysis project to educate undergraduate engineers on the importance of non-Newtonian behavior in fluid processing operations.
