Browsing by Subject "Flow"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Exploring flow in the context of education in apparel design
    (2013-06) Min, Seoha
    This study seeks to explore the phenomenon of how students recognize a state of flow, how differently students experience flow depending on activities in an apparel design process, and what factors encourage or discourage them from reaching a state of flow. Participants of the study include students who are taking a senior level apparel studio class to design their own line of four to six ensembles. This study employs qualitative research methodology to illustrate the phenomenon under examination. It will provide educational insight to instructors and educators in the apparel design field about how students reach a state of satisfaction in the design process. The participant sample was 12 purposefully selected individuals. Each participant was interviewed twice, once during the design process and once following the completed project. Based on the reviewed literature, survey and interview questions were designed to examine the research questions. Collected raw data were investigated through an analytical coding method to create meaningful interpretation. Finally, data were reviewed based upon the literature and merging themes. Based on the findings from the survey and the first interview, the first research question was answered. Students reported they were able to experience flow in the apparel design process and the flow state greatly enhanced their satisfaction which created positive response. Further, participants who frequently reached and sustained flow in the apparel design process exhibited characteristics that mostly satisfy Csíkszentmihályi's preconditions of flow. First, participants who had a clear goal and design direction in the design process experienced flow. Second, participants more frequently and easily experienced flow when working with activities in the design process that they are confident about. Third, all participants had intrinsic motives to work hard on their projects. The result shows that satisfying the preconditions that Csíkszentmihályi exerted is important in students reaching and sustaining a state of flow. Based on the findings from the second interview, the second and the third research questions were answered. Students' flow experience depends on kinds of activity in the apparel design process: (1) flow with analytical skills, (2) flow with intuitive and repetitive skills, and (3) flow with creative skills. Factors that encourage and discourage students' flow experience are different depending on the type of activities in the design process. Including those factors, in the analysis of the second interviews the researcher found a number of general factors, such as having a working habit, knowing the level of challenge of the work in advance, establishing one's own design aesthetics, having intrinsic purposes, having a certain length of dedicated time for a project, having confidence with technology, working closely with classmates, working in a comfortable, familiar, and creative working environment, and having a positive relationship with families and clients. Three factors that were not discussed in Csikszentmihalyi's research stand out - group work, classroom environment, and technology use, so they are explored and discussed in more depth. Since flow experience helps students be more creative and effective in the apparel design process, the study provides insight to educators in the apparel design field.
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    Interfacial coupling between immiscible polymers: flow accelerates reaction and improves adhesion.
    (2011-10) Song, Jie
    As the workhorses of the plastics industry, polyolefins are consumed in the largest volume of all types of polymers. Despite their wide use, polyolefins suffer from poor adhesion and compatibility with other polar polymers due to their intrinsic low polarity and lack of functional groups. The first goal of this study is to enhance interfacial adhesion between polyolefins with other polymers through coupling reaction of functional polymers. We have used functional polyethylenes with maleic anhydride, hydroxyl, primary and secondary amino groups grafted through reactive extrusion. Functional polyolefins dramatically improved the performance of polyolefins, including adhesion, compatibility, hardness and scratch resistance, and greatly expand their applications. The second goal is to understand the factors affecting adhesion. We systematically investigated two categories of parameters. One is molecular: the type and incorporation level of functional groups. The other is processing condition: die design in extruders, reaction time and temperature. The interfacial adhesion was measured with the asymmetric dual cantilever beam test and T-peel test. The extent of reaction was quantified through measuring anchored copolymers via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A quantitative correlation between adhesion and coupling reaction was developed. A coextruded bilayer system with coupling reaction at interfaces was created to clarify processing effects on the kinetics of coupling reactions. For the reaction between maleic anhydride modified polyethylene and nylon 6, the reaction rate during coextrusion through a fishtail die with compressive/extensional flow was strikingly almost two orders of magnitude larger than that through a constant thickness die without compressive flow. The latter reaction rate was close to that of quiescent lamination. We attribute the reaction acceleration through the fishtail die to the large deformation rate under the compressive/extensional flow condition. The deformation generated stretched chains leading to complimentary functional groups exposed to each other and forcing reactive species to overcome the interfacial diffusion barrier. We also found reaction acceleration through a fishtail die for the coupling of functional PE with thermoplastic polyurethane. This work illustrates that enhancing the compressive/extensional flow during polymer processing may create opportunities for increasing adhesion and designing new reactions and products.
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    Trade flow of U.S. recalled consumer products: a gravity model analysis
    (2014-09) Lindgren, Brian James Swanson
    This paper examines the hypothesis that the trade flow of recalled products and harm caused by recalled products will conform to economic theory in a similar way as the flow of goods in general. A Bergstrand-based gravity model is used in the analysis. My application uses a novel data set that includes measures of U.S. consumer product recalls from 2006 and 2007. The results of the analysis show that the flow of recalled goods corresponds to theory. The type of consumer products imported into the U.S., as well as those later recalled, are found to tend to be labor intensive. Better exporting country institutions corresponded to a relatively greater amount of goods later recalled.