Size-strength effects in sapphire and silicon nitride whiskers at 20° C

Tensile tests at 20° C have been carried out on seventy-three sapphire whiskers and on seventeen silicon nitride whiskers. The sapphire whiskers were of 0001, 1¯120, 10¯10, and 10¯11 orientations, while the silicon nitride whiskers were 0001, 11¯20, and 10¯13. Tensile strengths were in the range 45 to 1500 kg/mm², and deformation was found to be purely elastic. The tensile strength data have been analysed and fitted to empirical equations describing the effect of size on strength for different orientations. These empirical equations have been used to deduce possible fracture nucleation mechanisms. It is concluded that, in the case of 0001 sapphire whiskers, fracture nucleation may be due to dislocation pile-ups or interactions, while in the other cases a Griffith flaw mechanism is probably applicable.     

Effect of Intense Self-Irradiation on the Phase Composition of Metallic Plutonium

The crystal structure of film samples of "high-level" (based on ²³⁸Pu) and low-level (based on ²³⁹Pu) metallic plutonium during their prolonged (up to 343 days) storage (self-irradiation) at room temperature was studied by X-ray diffraction. In the samples of high-level plutonium, the -Pu and -Pu lattices coexist. In the period of 40-60 days, the other known crystal modifications of plutonium (-Pu, -Pu, -Pu, and -Pu) are also present. Low-level plutonium had only the -Pu lattice. A possible origin of this phenomenon is discussed.     

Stability of metastable phases and microstructures in the ageing process of Al–Mg–Si ternary alloys

Precipitation behaviour of Al–Mg–Si alloys, with balanced (Mg/Si=2), excess silicon (Mg/Si<2) and excess magnesium (Mg/Si>2) compositions, were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Vickers hardness tests. Four significant exothermic peaks were observed in DSC curves which were attributed to metastable clusters, , and stable phases. The peaks corresponding to and were formed closely in the DSC curves but showed different behaviour in isothermal annealing. The additional peak verifying the precipitation of phases, which has recently been proposed by some workers, was not detected. Transmission electron microscope observations and Vickers microhardness tests showed that precipitates played a major role in improving the hardness, but not precipitates. © 1998 Chapman & Hall     

Phase transformations in the thermotropic liquid crystal polymer: 60/40 PABA/PET

Microstructures observed in 60/40 PABA/PET co-polyester in transmitted polarized light are reported. The microstructure changes as a function of temperature. Between 190 and 340 C the optical textures are similar to those seen in small molecule liquid crystals in the smectic C modification; above 340 C the textures are typical of nematic structures. At 420 C the specimen is totally isotropic and begins to degrade. Rapid cooling to below 190 C can quench in the high temperature phases, including the isotropic one. DSC traces show endotherms identifiable with the onset of mobility at 190 C, the transition from smectic C to nematic-like textures at 340 C and the development of the isotropic phase in the range 350 to 420 C. The smectic C to nematic transition in texture is associated with the appearance of a transient microstructure, known as a myelin texture, and reported here for the first time in a liquid crystal polymer.     

Temperature effects on the properties of Ge thin films

The effects of substrate temperature (T_s) on the properties of vacuum evaporated p-type Ge thin films have been investigated for 25s<400°C. Increase in the substrate temperature improves the crystallinity and increases the grain size resulting a gradual change from amorphous to polycrystalline structure which was attained above a substrate temperature of 225°C. Low resistive (1×10^–2 ohm-cm) and high mobility (280 cm²/V·s) films were obtained at T_s=400°C. It has been observed that the conduction mechanism in polycrystalline films was dominated successively by hopping, tunneling and thermionic emission as the sample temperature was increased from 40 to 400 K. In amorphous samples, conduction was described in terms of different hopping mechanisms.     

Mechanical properties and microstructure of β-SiAION-β-SiC composites by pressureless sintering

-SiAION--SiC composites containing up to 12 wt% -SiC were prepared by pressureless sintering. The strength of composites at room temperature remained relatively unchanged, whereas strength at 1200 °C increased for composites. The fracture toughness (K _IC) for composites was higher than that for -SiAION ceramics. The maximum value was 5.4 MPa m^1/2 for 6 wt% -SiC, and this was an improvement of 15% in comparison with -SiAION ceramics. From SEM observations, an improvement inK _IC values was attributed to crack deflections and branching-off of cracks. Intra-granular fractures were frequently observed in -SiAION. From TEM observations, -SiAION crystals were nanocomposites, within which existed the fine crystals in -SiAION crystal. For composite, -SiAION and -SiC crystals were directly in contact. The mismatching zone was observed in -SiC.     

Integral results for nonlinear diffusion equations

We show how to construct integral results for the multi-dimensional nonlinear diffusion equation c/t=·(D(c)c) and for some generalisations of this. For appropriate boundary conditions these become integral invariants. An application of these results to determining the large-time behaviour of some radially symmetric problems is indicated.     

Dielectric properties of chemically vapour-deposited Si3N4

The dielectric properties of chemically vapour-deposited (CVD) amorphous and crystalline Si₃N₄ were measured in the temperature range from room temperature to 800° C. The a.c. conductivity ( _a.c.) of the amorphous CVD-Si₃N₄ was found to be less than that of the crystalline CVD-Si₃N₄ below 500° C, but became greater than that of the crystalline CVD-Si₃N₄ over 500° C due to the contribution of d.c. conductivity ( _d.c.). The measured loss factor () and dielectric constant () of the amorphous CVD-Si₃N₄ are smaller than those of the crystalline CVD-Si₃N₄ in all of the temperature and frequency ranges examined. The relationships of ^n-1, (- ) ^n-1 and/(- ) = cot (n/2) (were observed for the amorphous and crystalline specimens, where is angular frequency andn is a constant. The values ofn of amorphous and crystalline CVD-Si₃N₄ were 0.8 to 0.9 and 0.6 to 0.8, respectively. These results may indicate that the a.c. conduction observed for both of the above specimens is caused by hopping carriers. The values of loss tangent (tan) increased with increasing temperature. The relationship of log (tan) T was observed. The value of tan for the amorphous CVD-Si₃N₄ was smaller than that of the crystalline CVD-Si₃N₄.     

Accuracy of temperature measurements in determining the thermal conductivity of substances by stationary methods in the range of moderate temperatures

An empirical comparison is made of the accuracy of platinum-rhodium-platinum and Chromel-Alumel thermocouples in determining the thermal conductivity of substances.Notation T, t temperature - temperature difference - y thermocouple readings - A_i parameters of approximating equation - sensitivity of thermocouple - sensitivity found from the generalized function - _st standard values of sensitivity - S₀ standard deviation of sensitivity for a given series - maximum deviation of from in different series - I, II indices indicating that the values pertain to platinum-rhodium —platinum and Chromel —Alumel thermocouples, respectively Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 306–310, August, 1980.     

A method of joint determination of the effective coefficients of horizontal mixing of large particles and of external heat exchange in an organized fluidized bed

A method is proposed for the joint determination of the coefficients of horizontal particle diffusion and external heat exchange in a stagnant fluidized bed.Notation c_f, c_s, c_n specific heat capacities of gas, particles, and nozzle material, respectively, at constant pressure - D effective coefficient of particle diffusion horizontally (coefficient of horizontal thermal diffusivity of the bed) - d equivalent particle diameter - d_t tube diameter - H₀, H heights of bed at gas filtration velocities u₀ and u, respectively - H_a height of active section - l width of bed - L tube length - l _o width of heating chamber - N number of partition intervals - p=H/H₀ expansion of bed - s_n surface area of nozzle per unit volume of bed - S_h, S_v horizontal and vertical spacings between tubes - t_c, t₀, t_s, t_n, t_w initial temperature of heating chamber, entrance temperature of gas, particle temperature, nozzle temperature, and temperature of apparatus walls, respectively - u₀, u velocity of start of fluidization and gas filtration velocity - y horizontal coordinate - ^*, coefficient of external heat exchange between bed and walls of apparatus and nozzle - ₁, ₁, ₂, ... coefficients in (4) - thickness of tube wall - _b bubble concentration in bed - ₀ porosity of emulsion phase of bed - _n porosity of nozzle - =(t_s – t₀)/(t_c – t₀) dimensionless relative temperature of particles - _n coefficient of thermal conductivity of nozzle material - f, _s, _n densities of gas, particles, and nozzle material, respectively - _be=_s(1 – ₀) (1 – _b) average density of bed - time - _max time of onset of temperature maximum at a selected point of the bed - R =l _o/l Fourier number - Pe = ₁ l ²/D Péclet number - Bi = /_n Biot number Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 457–464, September, 1981.     

Structure and Magnetism of the Composite Crystal Ca0.824CuO2

We have studied the magnetic state from a viewpoint of crystallographic features of the 1-D chain compound Ca_0.824CuO₂. A possible spin-hole arrangement in the magnetically coexisting state was determined by analyzing the local structural distortion in the CuO₂ chain by means of a modulated-crystal-structure analysis. The essential periodic sequence expected is (: up- and down-spin, : hole), which can be regarded as a kind of spin-1/2 ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic alternating Heisenberg chain.     

Influence of the α/β-SiC phase transformation on microstructural development and mechanical properties of liquid phase sintered silicon carbide

The transformation kinetics and microstructural development of liquid phase sintered silicon carbide ceramics (LPS-SiC) are investigated. Complete densification is achieved by pressureless and gas pressure sintering in argon and nitrogen atmospheres with Y2O3 and AlN as sintering additives. Studies of the phase transformation from to -SiC reveals a dependency on the initial -content and the sintering atmosphere. The transformation rate decreases with an increasing -content in the starting powder and in presence of nitrogen. The transformation is completely supressed for pure -SiC starting powders when the additive system consists of 10.34 wt% Y2O3 and 2.95 wt% AlN. Materials without phase transformation showed a homogeneous microstructure with equiaxed grains, whereas microstructures with elongated grains were developed from SiC powders with a high initial /-ratio (>1:9) when phase transformation occurs. Since liquid phase sintered silicon carbide reveals predominantly an intergranular fracture mode, the grain size and shape has a significant influence on the mechanical properties. The toughness of materials with platelet-like grains is about twice as high as for materials with equiaxed grains. Materials exhibiting elongated microstructures show also a higher bending strength after post-HIPing.     

The path integral model ofD-pairing for HTSC,heavy fermion superconductors,and superfluids

A model ofd-pairing for superconducting and superfluid Fermi-systems has been formulated within the path integration technique. By path integration over fast and slow Fermi-fields, the action functional (which determines all properties of model system) has been obtained. This functional could be used for the determination of different superconducting (superfluid) states, for calculation of the transition temperatures for these states, and for the calculation of the collective mode spectrum for HTSC, as well as for heavy fermion superconductors.     

First principles study of effect of lattice misfit on the bonding strength of Ni/Ni3Al interface

By using a discrete variational X (DV-X) method, the electronic structures and bonding strengths of Ni/Ni₃Al (or /) interface with different lattice misfits () were calculated in the framework of the nonrelativistic first-principles theory. In order to describe the effect of on the interfacial binding strength and the structural stability of coherent / interface, we calculated the interfacial binding covalent bond density (CBD) and the local environmental total bond overlap population (LTBOP). Very obvious effects of lattice misfits on the electronic structures of coherent / interface were found. On one hand, less than –0.6% negative lattice misfit can increase the binding strength of the /' interface. On the other hand, the local environmental total bonding strength of the /' interface decreases with increasing magnitude of . Therefore, the magnitude and sign of lattice misfit must be carefully controlled to balance the high-temperature creep strength of Ni-base single crystal superalloy and the structural stability of the /' interface when one designs new alloys.     

Heat Exchange in the Classical Czochralski Method

Numerically, by the method of finite differences, we investigated the regimes of laminar convection of a thermogravitational, thermocapillary, and gravitationalcapillary nature in the classical variant of the Czochralski method. Evolution of the spatial form of flow in each type of convection and the trends of local and integral heat exchange in the range of Grashof, 0 Gr 8·10⁴, and Marangoni, 0 Ma 6.5·10⁴ numbers have studied for the Prandtl number Pr = 16. Local heat exchange in the regimes of free and mixed convection is investigated experimentally.     

Electronic and two-magnon light scattering in oxide superconducting crystals

From investigations of two-magnon Raman scattering (RS) under high pressures up to 430 kbar in Eu₂CuO₄ and YBa₂Cu₃O_6.2 crystals, it was shown that the dependence of the superexchange integralJ on the distance between Cu and O atoms in CuO₂ planesa is anomalously weak (Ja^–n, n=3±0.5). The large value ofJ indicates strong initial overlapping of Cu and O wave functions in high-T _c , materials. It was found that an increase in free carrier concentration results in a rapid increase of magnon damping and the disappearance of the two-magnon peak from RS spectra. A detailed study of electron Raman scattering has been carried out in superconducting and insulating YBa₂Cu₃O_6–x , single crystals. The spectral redistribution at frequencies<600 cm^–1 in different polarizations indicate that the superconducting gap is strongly anisotropic. In the normal (metallic) phase the behavior of the imaginary part of the response functionR() in the polarization (xx) corresponds to the model of a marginal Fermi liquid, and in the polarization (xx), this behavior is independent of the temperature. In insulating crystals,R() is independent of temperature toT200 K in both polarizations.     

Ohm resistivity of electroless copper layers as a function of their thicknesses

The electric Ohm resistivity of electroless Cu depositions on dielectric substrates as a function of their thicknesses is studied. Substantial deviations (up to 10–20 times) from the standard resistivity ( = 1.7 cm^–1) below 0.5 (m thicknesses are observed. The experimental data show for the entire region of thicknesses (d 0.07–5 m) a power function between the relative resistivity changes (/) and the inverse thickness of depositions (d )–(/ (1/d )^0.8. This empirical relation is discussed as an effect of the porous structure of the metallic layers deposited on the substrate. A scanning electron micrography was applied in order to visualize the morphology of the depositions. The micrographs clearly show the evolution of the deposition profile: starting from separate islands at the very beginning of the process, and gradually covering the entire area with continuous but porous metal layers.     

Experimental status of the ac Josephson effect in liquid helium

The presence of an ac sound field causes several distinct effects in a system of two baths of superfluid liquid helium which are coupled by a small orifice. The primary effects of the sound field can be classified as a Z-T structure, steps, and anomalies. Each of these three effects has been subjected to various criteria which are necessary for an interpretation in terms of the ac Josephson effect. These three effects failed the criteria which were applied, and therefore they are not due to the Josephson effect. However, it is shown that the properties of these three effects correlate quite well with the expected properties of first-sound resonances within one of the two liquid baths.Financial support was provided in part by the National Science Foundation.     

Numerical Modeling of Turbulent Flow inside a Wind‐Driven Plant with Allowance for the Forces on the Impeller

The operating efficiency of a winddriven plant based on a confuserdiffuser accelerator is evaluated within the framework of the multiblock approach to solution of steadystate Reynolds equations closed with the use of a twoparameter dissipative turbulence model.     

Fatigue crack growth behaviour of tungsten carbide-cobalt hardmetals

Fatigue crack propagation studies have been carried out on a range of WC-Co hardmetals of varying cobalt content and grain size using a constant-stress intensity factor double torsion test specimen geometry. Results have confirmed the marked influence of mean stress (throughK _max), which is interpreted in terms of static modes of fracture occurring in conjunction with a true fatigue process, the existence of which can be rationalized through the absence of any frequency effect. Dramatic increases in fatigue crack growth rate are found asK _max approaches that value of stress intensity factor ( 0.9K_IC) for which static crack growth under monotonic load (or static fatigue) occurs in these materials. Lower crack growth rates, however, produce fractographic features indistinguishable from those resulting from fast fracture. These observations, and the important effect of increasing mean free path of the cobalt binder in reducing fatigue crack growth rate, can reasonably be explained through a consideration of the mechanism of fatigue crack advance through ligament rupture of the cobalt binder at the tip of a propagating crack.