in recent years the technique of freeze casting has undergone tremendous development. New techniques and novel nanoscale building blocks have given rise to porous materials with extraordinary properties. As an example, by spinning freeze cast fibre with aligned pores fabrics with unprecedented levels of thermal insulation could be produced. This
The relationships between surface roughness, contact pressure and contact resistance are studied in this work published three years ago.
It is imporant to distinguish between the different conduction mechanisms acting at contacts at different scales, in order to better understand how surface structure and surface chemistry can alter the behaviour of electrical contacts
Freeze casting presents exciting new avenues towards high performance materials with aligned pore structures.
Bone scaffolds, highly elastic composites and nacre mimetic materials can all be produced by means of freeze casting methods.
This comprehensive review presents recent development in terms of materials and processing
Understanding electrical contact resistance
Electrical contact resistance at interfaces between pairs of rough surfaces is of great importance in the performance of diverse systems, particularly in miniaturised electromechanical systems containing switches.
In this study, the role of pressure and surface structure is explored with a view towards gaining a beter understanding of electrical contact resistance.
In the work shown here:
Multiscale modeling of effective elastic properties of fluid-filled porous materials
The elastic deformation and its dependence on fluid displacement is studied at two distinct scales, to address the multi-scale nature of porous structures in nature.
Electrical Contact Resistance of Fractal Rough Surfaces
The presence of roughness at electrical contacts tends to involve contacting asperities across multiple scales. Depending on the nature of the contact between asperities on opposing surfaces, different conduction mechanisms take place. This is shown in the figure here.
