Kikugawa Group, Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University

Molecular Composite Flow Laboratory

Thermofluid and Mechanical Properties of Polymeric Materials



分子動力学(MD)シミュレーションを用いた架橋構造(crosslink)を有する
アモルファスポリマーの熱伝導特性の解析

As for development of polymeric materials which have extensively been utilized in industry, designing thermofluid properties as well as mechanical and chemical properties by controlling the molecular-scale structure and phase separation structure inside the material is being required. For example, it is a critical issue to predict the variation in mechanical and thermal properties of polymeric resins having crosslink bonds according to the change of molecular structure when exposed to the extreme environment, e.g., ablation materials in space planes. Using integrated numerical analyses covering molecular-scale to macroscale phenomena and data-driven informatics techniques, we aim to explore and design polymeric materials which have valuable thermofluid properties and mechanical properties.

Related publications

  • Yutaka Oya, Gota Kikugawa, and Tomonaga Okabe, Clustering approach for multidisciplinary optimum design of cross-linked polymer, Macromolecular Theory and Simulations, Vol. 27 (2017), 1600072. doi:10.1002/mats.201600072
  • Tomonaga Okabe, Yutaka Oya, Koichi Tanabe, Gota Kikugawa, and Kenichi Yoshioka, Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Closslinked Epoxy Resins: Curing and Mechanical Properties, European Polymer Journal, Vol. 80, (2016), pp. 78-88. doi:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2016.04.019
  • Gota Kikugawa, Tapan G. Desai, Pawel Keblinski, and Taku Ohara, Effect of crosslink formation on heat conduction in amorphous polymers, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 114 (2013), 034302. doi:10.1063/1.4813505