Fridays, 2.10 to 3pm, 1322 Hoover Hall.
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Advance reading assignments of one journal
paper or book section(s), to read each week in advance of class.
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During
class time we will discuss the reading material and I will provide
supplementary information that explains the background, reinforces the concepts
and describes the usefulness of the content in the context of your research.
The only
other assignment I am planning is that you will each give a 10-minute
presentation near the end of the semester highlighting how what you have
learned in the previous weeks will be, is being or has been helpful to your
research. The idea of this is to help you review and consolidate what we
have learned during the semester.
In the first few weeks we will cover the famous models applicable to dielectric relaxation (Debye, Cole-Cole, Davidson-Cole, Havriliak-Negami, Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts). After that we will cover molecular dynamics as revealed by dielectric spectroscopy, and the connection with mechanical behavior. Next we will move on to examine various mixture models and their usefulness for describing dielectric properties of polymer-based composites. Finally we may take a brief look at the way in which the properties of the interface between the matrix and filler phases can ruin the applicability of a good old-fashioned mixture model.
The objective of this class is to thoroughly reinforce fundamentals that
we all should know. I intend that it will build your knowledge base and
be fun along the way. It will only work if you do the advance reading!