Zone drawn NEW-TPI thermoplastic polyimide and its blends with Xydar liquid crystalline polymer

In this work we report the effects of single stage zone drawing on the properties of NEW-TPI thermoplastic polyimide homopolymer, and its blends with Amoco's Xydar liquid crystalline polymer. Zone drawing was performed first on homopolymer NEW-TPI films to determine the effect of load weight, heater speed, and drawing temperature on the attainable draw ratio. Degree of crystallinity and chain orientation increase as the draw ratio increases for NEW-TPI. Blends of NEW-TPI/Xydar compositions 90/10 and 70/30 were studied next. In blends, the Xydar component is not molecularly dispersed, and is initially preferentially oriented along the machine direction during the film processing stage. Xydar acts as a nucleation site and lowers the temperature for crystallization of the NEW-TPI from the rubbery amorphous state. Zone drawing was performed either parallel or perpendicular to Xydar's initial preferred orientation direction. Blends with lower Xydar fraction could be zone-drawn to higher ratios. Zone drawing perpendicular to Xydar's initial orientation direction also resulted in increased draw ratio. Dynamic mechanical properties of the zone drawn materials were studied. In homopolymer NEW-TPI, dynamic modulus increased by a factor of two to 4.0 GPa in zone drawn films, largely as a result of the formation of oriented crystallites. In the blends, the modulus parallel to Xydar's initial orientation direction was greater than that in the transverse direction. Depending upon composition and test direction, zone drawing increased the dynamic moduli of the blends from 1.5 up to 2.7 times, in the temperature range from 150°C to 300°C.     

Effects of oxidizing gases on semiconductivity and thermal stability of phthalocyanine thin films

The effects of oxidizing gases (O₂ and NO₂) on the p-type semiconductivity of the phthalocyanines H₂Pc, PbPc, ZnPc, CuPc, AlPcCl, AlPc-O-AlPc and (AlPc) _n films treated in nitrogen at 350 ° C have been examined. The conductance increased in the presence of oxidizing gases. Reversible effects of oxidizing gases on the conductance were observed for PbPc, CuPc and ZnPc, all of which are thermally and/or chemically less stable than the other Pcs. For the latter, the conductance in nitrogen increased permanently after exposure to NO₂. The reversibility of the former may be related to the thermal and chemical stability of neutral and/or oxidized phthalocyanines. The conductivity is described byG =G ₀ exp (E/kT) The activation energy,E, decreased in the presence of oxidizing gases. The pre-exponential factor,G ₀, was lowered by the introduction of NO₂ especially for PbPc, CuPc and ZnPc. It seems that the adsorption of NO₂ is limited to the surface of fine crystals and the increase in the conductance caused by exposure to NO₂ is strongly influenced by the crystallinity of phthalocyanine.     

Synthesis of non-equilibrium phases in immiscible metals mechanically mixed by high pressure torsion

The structural changes in mechanically mixed metals of immiscible combinations of elements caused by bulk mechanical alloying (MA) through the use of high pressure torsion (HPT) were investigated in Ag–Ni and Nb–Zr systems. There was no alloying between Ag and Ni on atomic scale even after 100 rotations of HPT. On the other hand, the β-Zr phase started to appear after HPT 2 rotations in the Nb–Zr system, even though β-Zr is a high temperature phase. Further, Nb and Zr were completely mixed to form a bcc structured single phase after HPT 100 rotations. The sequence of alloying in the Nb–Zr system during HPT was discussed. These results clearly suggest that non-equilibrium phases can form in the Nb–Zr system by bulk MA by the use of HPT.     

Enhancement of the hydrophobicity and oleophobicity of a polyurethane coating using a fluorine-free polyfarnesene-based polyol

The development of hydrophobic and oleophobic surfaces on materials has attracted significant attention in various research fields. Fluoropolymers, which possess low surface energy and are both highly hydrophobic and oleophobic in nature, are widely used to enhance the liquid repellency of materials. However, during fluoropolymer manufacture, fluorine-containing compounds are released into the environment; thus, alternatives to fluoropolymers are required for maintaining environmental safety and realizing a sustainable society. Notably, the development of such alternative materials has been limited. Thus, we herein report the application of a novel polyurethane (PU) coating synthesized from bio-based raw materials. The prepared hydrogenated polyfarnesene PU (HHPF PU), which possesses an amorphous bottlebrush-like polyalkyl structure, was found to exhibit higher hydrophobicity and oleophobicity than polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which is a typical low-surface-energy material. The water and n-hexadecane contact angles of the HHPF PU were determined to be 119° and 68°, respectively, whereas those of PTFE were 108° and 46°, respectively. In addition, the density depth profile of the PU thin film was confirmed through x-ray reflectometry. This study provides a novel approach for enhancing the hydrophobicity and oleophobicity of materials using bottlebrush-like polyalkyl structure instead of fluorine.     

Pipe Jacking Method for Long Curve Construction

The D301 pipe jacking method is the first to accomplish long spans, curves and high speed construction in the field of small diameter (300 mm) tunneling. The design of the system components are described: tunneling machine with directional control ability, jacking machine, power unit, and control unit which contains a microprocessor. As a result of field tests in about 100 m in length with a 200 curvature radius, the following capabilities are confirmed: the span length is up to 100 m, the curvature radius is down to 200 m, it is useable in either cohesive or sandy soils having N‐curves up to 10, and the construction speed is up to 3 m∕h.     

Newly proposed hybrid resonant commutation bridge‐leg link snubber‐assisted three‐phase ZVZCS‐PWM soft‐switching inverter

This paper presents the newly proposed hybrid resonant commutation bridge‐leg link (HRCB) snubber circuit which can achieve zero voltage and zero current soft‐switching commutation for single‐phase and three‐phase voltage source‐type inverter, along with its unique features and operation principle. The circuit parameter design approach for the HRCB snubber circuit and the determination estimating scheme of the gate pulse timing processing which is more suitable and acceptable for single‐phase and space voltage vector modulated three‐phase voltage source inverter using the HRCB snubber circuit are described in this paper. In particular, the three‐phase voltage source soft‐switching inverter associated with the proposed HRCB circuits are evaluated and discussed from simulation and experimental viewpoints. The practical effectiveness of the HRCB snubber‐assisted three‐phase voltage source soft‐switching inverter using IGBT power modules which is based on the instantaneous space voltage vector modulation is clarified on the output voltage waveform, actual efficiency of electromagnetic noise in comparison with three‐phase voltage source‐type conventional hard‐switching inverter. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 157(4): 75–84, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20111     

Formation Processes of β-C2S by the Decomposition of Hydrothermally Prepared C-S-H with Ca(OH)2

A mixture of CaO and silicic acid prepared with a Ca/Si ratio of 2.0 was hydrothermally synthesized at 80° to 200°C, and the thermal decomposition behavior of the products (C-S-H with Ca(OH)₂) was analyzed using XRD, ²⁹Si MAS NMR, and the trimethylsililation method (TMS). It was found that the main silicate anion structure of C-S-H was a mixture of a dimer and a single-chain polymer (larger than Si₅O₁₆) and that polymerization advanced with an increase of the synthesizing temperature. On heating, the products decomposed to form β-C₂S. It was found that the decomposition was gradual and that the-higher the temperature of hydrothermal synthesis, the lower was the temperature of the decomposition into β-C₂S. Although the decomposition proceeded to form a monomer (β-C₂S) from the polymer and dimer, this dimer was resistant to heat and did not decompose unless heated to above 400°C.     

Essence of generalized partial computation

Generalized partial computation (GPC) is a program optimization principle based on partial computation and theorem proving. Conventional partial computation methods (or partial evaluators) explicitly make use of only given parameter values to partially evaluate programs. However, GPC explicitly utilizes not only given values but also the following information: (1) logical structure of a program to be partially evaluated; (2) abstract data type of a programming language. The main purpose of this paper is to present comprehensible examples of GPC. Graphical notations, called GPC trees, are introduced to visibly describe GPC processes.