Structural and Mechanical Properties of Nanopowders

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Thorsten Pöschel; Professor Dr. Dietrich Wolf
• Subject Area: Mechanical Process Engineering
• Term: from 2011 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 184017420

Nanopowders are granular systems of nanometer-sized particles whose short range interaction is dominated by strong adhesive van-der-Waals forces. These attractive forces are the reason why nano-particles agglomerate into ramified structures forming micrometer-sized flakes. On a macroscopic scale, nanopowders appear to be homogeneous while on a microscopic scale they reveal a fractal structure.The aims of this research project arei) to develop numerical methods for the simulation of the asymptotic structure of nanopowders, as it evolves in repeated break and deposition processes ii) to characterize the structural properties of nanopowders based on large-scale numerical simulations in 3d (for certain aspects also in 2d), including fractal properties, anisotropy etc. In particular the influence of volume and surface properties of nano particles such as polarity, charges, wetting, adsorbates as well as the properties of the solvent shall be addressed.iii) to investigate the macroscopic properties of nanopowders, such as constitutive relations, yield behavior, impact-damping properties, and sound transmission iv) to explain the statistical properties of nano-powders such as contactforce statistics and fractal properties of the bulk and surface.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants