High-performance materials like ballistic fibers have remarkable mechanical properties owing to specific patterns of organization ranging from the molecular scale, to the micro scale and macro scale. Understanding these strategies for material organization is critical to improving the mechanical properties of these high-performance materials. In this work, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to detect changes in material composition at an extremely high resolution with transverse-stiffness scanning. New methods for direct quantification of material morphology were developed, and applied as an example to these AFM scans, although these methods can be applied to any spatially-resolved scans. These techniques were used to delineate between subtle morphological differences in commercial ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers that have different processing conditions and mechanical properties as well as quantify morphology in commercial Kevlar®, a high-performance material with an entirely different organization strategy. Both frequency analysis and visual processing methods were used to systematically quantify the microstructure of the fiber samples in this study. These techniques are the first step in establishing structure-property relationships that can be used to inform synthesis and processing techniques to achieve desired morphologies, and thus superior mechanical performance.

中文翻译：

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使用具有视觉和频率分析的纳米机械工具量化高性能材料微观结构

由于从分子尺度到微观尺度和宏观尺度的特定组织模式，弹道纤维等高性能材料具有卓越的机械性能。了解这些材料组织策略对于提高这些高性能材料的机械性能至关重要。在这项工作中，原子力显微镜 (AFM) 用于通过横向刚度扫描以极高的分辨率检测材料成分的变化。开发了直接量化材料形态的新方法，并作为这些 AFM 扫描的示例应用，尽管这些方法可以应用于任何空间分辨扫描。这些技术被用来描绘具有不同加工条件和机械性能的商业超高分子量聚乙烯 (UHMWPE) 纤维的细微形态差异，以及量化商业 Kevlar® 的形态，这是一种高性能材料，具有完全不同的组织策略。在这项研究中，频率分析和视觉处理方法都被用来系统地量化纤维样品的微观结构。这些技术是建立结构-性能关系的第一步，可用于通知合成和处理技术以实现所需的形态，从而获得卓越的机械性能。一种具有完全不同组织策略的高性能材料。在这项研究中，频率分析和视觉处理方法都被用来系统地量化纤维样品的微观结构。这些技术是建立结构-性能关系的第一步，可用于通知合成和处理技术以实现所需的形态，从而获得卓越的机械性能。一种具有完全不同组织策略的高性能材料。在这项研究中，频率分析和视觉处理方法都被用来系统地量化纤维样品的微观结构。这些技术是建立结构-性能关系的第一步，可用于通知合成和处理技术以实现所需的形态，从而获得卓越的机械性能。