Static and free vibration analysis of functionally graded plates based on a new quasi-3D and 2D shear deformation theories

In this study, two dimensional (2D) and quasi three-dimensional (quasi-3D) shear deformation theories are presented for static and free vibration analysis of single-layer functionally graded (FG) plates using a new hyperbolic shape function. The material of the plate is inhomogeneous and the material properties assumed to vary continuously in the thickness direction by three different distributions; power-law, exponential and Mori–Tanaka model, in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The fundamental governing equations which take into account the effects of both transverse shear and normal stresses are derived through the Hamilton's principle. The closed form solutions are obtained by using Navier technique and then fundamental frequencies are found by solving the results of eigenvalue problems. In-plane stress components have been obtained by the constitutive equations of composite plates. The transverse stress components have been obtained by integrating the three-dimensional stress equilibrium equations in the thickness direction of the plate. The accuracy of the present method is demonstrated by comparisons with the different 2D, 3D and quasi-3D solutions available in the literature.     

Crystal-field engineering of ultrabroadband mid-infrared emission in Co2+-doped nano-chalcogenide glass composites

Tunable and ultrabroadband mid-infrared (MIR) emissions in the range of 2.5–4.5 μm are firstly reported from Co²⁺-doped nano-chalcogenide (ChG) glass composites. The composites embedded with a variety of binary (ZnS, CdS, ZnSe) and ternary (ZnCdS, ZnSSe) ChG nanocrystals (NCs) can be readily obtained by a simple one-step thermal annealing method. They are highly transparent in the near- and mid-infrared wavelength region. Low-cost and commercially available Er³⁺-doped fiber lasers can be used as the excitation source. By crystal-field engineering of the embedded NCs through cation- or anion-substitution, the emission properties of Co²⁺ including its emission peak wavelength and bandwidth can be tailored in a broad spectral range. The phenomena can be accounted for by crystal-field theory. Such nano-ChG composites, perfectly filling the 3–4 μm spectral gap between the oscillations of Cr²⁺ and Fe²⁺ doped IIVI ChG crystals, may find important MIR photonic applications (e.g., gas sensing), or can be used directly as an efficient pump source for Fe²⁺: IIVI crystals which are suffering from lack of pump sources.     

Mechanical properties of graphene films enhanced by homo-telechelic functionalized polymer fillers via π–π stacking interactions

Most researches on graphene/polymer composites are focusing on improving the mechanical and electrical properties of polymers at low graphene content instead of paying attention to constructing graphene’s macroscopic structures. In current study the homo-telechelic functionalized polyethylene glycols (FPEGs) were tailored with π-orbital-rich groups (namely phenyl, pyrene and di-pyrene) via esterification reactions, which enhanced the interaction between polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecules and chemical reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets. The π–π stacking interactions between graphene sheets and π-orbital-rich groups endowed the composite films with enhanced tensile strength and tunable electrical conductivity. The formation of graphene network structure mediated by the FPEGs fillers via π–π stacking non-covalent interactions should account for the experimental results. The experimental investigations were also complemented with theoretical calculation using a density functional theory. Atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to monitor the step-wise preparation of graphene composite films.     

P(DBF-VA)型柴油低温流动性改进剂的研制

针对新疆地产柴油蜡含量较高的特点,以游离基聚合法合成了富马酸双链混合酯和醋酸乙烯酯共聚物型[P(DBF-VA)]柴油低温流动改进剂,利用正交实验研究了单体配比,引发剂用量,溶剂用量,聚合温度对聚合物降冷滤效果的影响。共聚物用IR进行表征,利用XRD初步探讨了该降凝剂的降凝机理。结果表明:该剂能使吐哈—10~#、0~#柴油冷滤点降低10℃和7℃;使独山子0~#柴油冷滤点下降12℃;使石化0~#柴油冷滤点下降8℃;使克拉玛依0~#柴油的冷滤点下降8℃。     

Precision measurement of energy and position resolutions of the BTeV electromagnetic calorimeter prototype

The energy dependence of the energy and position resolutions of the electromagnetic calorimeter prototype made of lead tungstate crystals produced in Bogoroditsk (Russia) and Shanghai (China) is presented. These measurements were carried out at the Protvino accelerator using a 1–45 GeV electron beam. The crystals were coupled to photomultiplier tubes. The dependence of energy and position resolutions on different factors as well as the measured electromagnetic shower lateral profile are presented.     

Moving Least-Squares Differential Quadrature Method for Free Vibration of Antisymmetric Laminates

In this paper, the moving least-squares differential quadrature (MLSDQ) method is employed for free vibration of thick antisymmetric laminates based on the first-order shear deformation theory. The generalized displacements of the laminates are independently approximated with the centered moving least-squares (MLS) technique within each domain of influence. The MLS nodal shape functions and their partial derivatives are computed quickly through back-substitutions after only one LU decomposition. Subsequently, the weighting coefficients in the MLSDQ discretization are determined with the nodal partial derivatives of the MLS shape functions. The MLSDQ method combines the merits of both the differential quadrature and meshless methods which can be conveniently applied to complex domains and irregular discretizations without loss of implementation efficiency and numerical accuracy. The natural frequencies of the laminates with various edge conditions, ply angles, and shapes are calculated and compared with the existing solutions to study the numerical accuracy and stability of the MLSDQ method. Effects of support size, order of completeness of basis functions, and node irregularity on the numerical accuracy are investigated in detail.     

Structural changes in isothermal crystallization process of polyoxymethylene investigated by time-resolved FTIR, SAXS and WAXS measurements

Structural evolution in the isothermal crystallization process of polyoxymethylene from the molten state has been investigated by carrying out the time-resolved measurements of infrared spectra and synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide angle X-ray scattering. In case of isothermal crystallization at 130 °C, for example, the infrared bands intrinsic of folded chain crystal (FCC) morphology appeared at first, and then the bands of extended chain crystal (ECC) morphology were detected with time delay of ca. 150 s. In the SAXS experiment at 130 °C, the lamellar stacking structure of the long period of ca. 15 nm was observed at first, which changed rapidly to ca. 12 nm in a short time. The SAXS peak with the long period of ca. 6 nm started to appear with a time delay of ca. 150 s after the initial lamellae appeared and coexisted with the initially-observed 12 nm peak. Judging from the timing to detect these characteristic infrared and SAXS signals, a good correspondence was found to exist between the stacked lamellar structure of 12 nm long period and FCC morphology and between the structure of 6 nm long period and ECC morphology. The quantitative analysis was made for the SAXS data on the basis of the lamellar insertion model combined with the paracrystalline theory of the second-kind of disorder. The following structural evolution was deduced from all these results. Immediately after the temperature jump from the melt to 130 °C, the stacked lamellar structure of FCC morphology was generated at first. New lamellae were formed from the amorphous region in between the originally-existing lamellae about 150 s later, where the random chain segments bridging the adjacent lamellae were extended to form the taut tie chains, giving infrared bands of ECC morphology. This inserted lamellar structure of 6 nm long period coexisted at a population of ca. 6% with the initially-formed lamellar stacking structure of 12 nm long period. When the experiment was made at 150 °C, only the formation of stacked lamellar structure of FCC morphology was observed and the insertion of new lamella did not occur.     

AFM observation of polyethylene single crystals: selective handedness of screw dislocations in a chair type

The three-dimensional morphology of polyethylene single crystals grown from dilute solution has been examined by atomic force microscopy. Single crystals were deposited on a soft ground of aqueous solution of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) to avoid the collapse of thin lamellar crystals with thickness of 10 nm. The observation of single crystals on dried PVA clarifies the morphology of a chair type crystal as well as well-known hollow pyramidal type. It has been confirmed that the screw dislocations in the chair type follow a selection rule of the handedness in a manner to relieve the distortion in the chair type.     

Finite element piezothermoelasticity analysis and the active control of FGM plates with integrated piezoelectric sensors and actuators

 An efficient finite element model is presented for the static and dynamic piezothermoelastic analysis and control of FGM plates under temperature gradient environments using integrated piezoelectric sensor/actuator layers. The properties of an FGM plate are functionally graded in the thickness direction according to a volume fraction power law distribution. A constant displacement-cum-velocity feedback control algorithm that couples the direct and inverse piezoelectric effects is applied to provide active feedback control of the integrated FGM plate in a closed loop system. Numerical results for the static and dynamic control are presented for the FGM plate, which consists of zirconia and aluminum. The effects of the constituent volume fractions and the influence of feedback control gain on the static and dynamic responses of the FGM plates are examined. Received: 13 March 2002 / Accepted: 5 March 2003 The work described in this paper was supported by a grant awarded by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. CityU 1024/01E).     

Chemische Zusammensetzung und Mikrostruktur polymerabgeleiteter Gläser und Keramiken im System Si–C–O. Teil 2: Charakterisierung der Gefügeausbildung mittels hochauflösender Durchstrahlungselektronenmikroskopie und Feinbereichsbeugung

Chemical Composition and Microstructure of Polymer‐Derived Glasses and Ceramics in the Si–C–O System. Part 2: Characterization of microstructure formation by means of high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy and selected area diffraction Liquid or solid silicone resins represent the economically most interesting class of organic precursors for the pyrolytic production of glass and ceramics materials on silicon basis. As dense, dimensionally stable components can be cost‐effectively achieved by admixing reactive filler powders, chemical composition and microstructure development of the polymer‐derived residues must be exactly known during thermal decomposition. Thus, in the present work, glasses and ceramics produced by pyrolysis of the model precursor polymethylsiloxane at temperatures from 525 to 1550 °C are investigated. In part 1, by means of analytical electron microscopy, the bonding state of silicon was determined on a nanometre scale and the phase separation of the metastable Si–C–O matrix into SiO₂, C and SiC was proved. The in‐situ crystallization could be considerably accelerated by adding fine‐grained powder of inert fillers, such as Al₂O₃ or SiC, which permits effective process control. In part 2, the microstructure is characterized by high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy and selected area diffraction. Turbostratic carbon and cubic β‐SiC precipitate as crystallization products. Theses phases are embedded in an amorphous matrix. Inert fillers reduce the crystallization temperature by several hundred °C. In this case, the polymer‐derived Si–C–O material acts as a binding agent between the powder particles. Reaction layer formation does not occur. On the investigated pyrolysis conditions, no crystallization of SiO₂ was observed.