[Seminar] Designing Complex Fluids: Leveraging Rheology for Advanced Manufacturing by Dr.Chaimongkol Saengow

Abstruct:

This seminar investigates extrusion-based manufacturing processes (e.g., direct-ink writing) through the lens of rheology and materials design, highlighting the significance of non-Newtonian fluid mechanics, particularly viscoelastic fluids.  I will demonstrate how we can leverage the rheological complexity of yield-stress fluids to create self-supporting structures with gap-spanning features – an ongoing challenge in manufacturing in our field.  To tackle this challenge, I will show how to engineer materials to achieve high yield stress and extensibility, two properties typically viewed as mutually exclusive.  Integrating my findings with previous studies establishes a comprehensive framework for designing high-performance inks. 

For the second part of this seminar, I will share recent results from my ongoing work on reactive resin systems.  Here, I introduce a thermal catalyst deactivation strategy for ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) resins, which enables precise control over pre-polymerization rheology.  By carefully tuning the extent of oligomerization and employing targeted thermal treatment, we can "freeze" the resin in a desired rheological state—from liquid-like to gel-like.  This approach overcomes longstanding challenges with low initial viscosity in reactive systems and opens new avenues for shelf-stable, processable inks with tailored properties.

Bio:

Dr. Chaimongkol Saengow obtained his PhD from Queen’s University under the supervision of Prof. Jeffrey Giacomin. He was then awarded a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship to design highly printable inks for direct-ink writing under the supervision of Prof. Randy Ewoldt and Prof. Amy Wagoner Johnson at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is now a lecturer at the Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University.