The influence of FeNi nanoparticles on the microstructures and soft magnetic properties of FeSi soft magnetic composites

In this work, a new type of FeSi/FeNi soft magnetic powder core (SMPC) was successfully fabricated by coating FeNi nanoparticles on the surface of FeSi micrometer powder. The effects of different contents of FeNi nanoparticles on the micromorphology, internal structures, and soft magnetic properties of SMPCs were studied. The results show that FeNi nanoparticles adhere to the surface of FeSi powder, which can effectively fill the air gap between FeSi powder and is beneficial to the compaction of the powder cores during the pressing process. Thus, the density of the SMPCs is increased. Compared to FeSi SMPCs, the comprehensive soft magnetic properties of FeSi/FeNi SMPCs have been greatly improved. When adding 15 wt% FeNi nanoparticles, the SMPCs exhibit excellent magnetic properties with high effective permeability (increased by 43.8 %) and low core loss (decreased by 22.1 %). The high performance FeSi/FeNi SMPCs prepared in this work are expected to be widely used in power choke coils, uninterruptible power supplies, and boosts and inverter inductors.     

爆炸排淤填石法中淤泥的本构模型

以爆炸排淤填石法为背景 ,对不同应变率阶段淤泥的本构模型进行了分析 ,利用ANSYS/LS-DYNA动态有限元分析程序对所选择的模型进行验证和确认。计算和分析结果表明 :在形成爆炸空腔的高应变率阶段 ,淤泥表现为理想不可压缩流体的性质 ;在小药量小抵抗线条件下 ,甚至在淤泥自重作用下的较低应变率变形阶段 ,其黏性效应也可以忽略不计。     

Effects of the film thickness and poling electric field on photovoltaic performances of (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 ferroelectric thin film-based devices

The ferroelectric photovoltaic (FPV) effect obtained in inorganic perovskite ferroelectric materials has received much attention because of its large potential in preparing FPV devices with superior stability, high open-circuit voltage (V_oc) and large short-circuit current density (J_sc). In order to obtain suitable thickness for the ferroelectric thin film as light absorption layer, in which, the sunlight can be fully absorbed and the photo-generated electrons and holes are recombined as few as possible, we prepare Pb_0.93La_0.07(Zr_0.6Ti_0.4)_0.9825O₃ (PLZT) ferroelectric thin films with different layer numbers by the sol-gel method and based on these thin films, obtain FPV devices with FTO/PLZT/Au structure. By measuring photovoltaic properties, it is found that the device with 4 layer-PLZT thin film (~300 nm thickness) exhibits the largest V_oc and J_sc and the photovoltaic effect obviously depends on the value and direction of the poling electric field. When the device is applied a negative poling electric field, both the V_oc and J_sc are significantly higher than those of the device applied the positive poling electric field, due to the depolarization field resulting from the remnant polarization in the same direction with the built-in electric field induced by the Schottky barrier, and the higher the negative poling electric field, the larger the V_oc and J_sc. At a -333 kV/cm poling electric field, the FPV device exhibits the most superior photovoltaic properties with a V_oc of as high as 0.73 V and J_sc of as large as 2.11 μA/cm². This work opens a new way for developing ferroelectric photovoltaic devices with good properties.     

Low shear rheological behaviour of two-phase mesophase pitch

The low shear rate rheology of two phase mesophase pitches derived from coal tar pitch has been investigated. Particulate quinoline insolubles (QI) stabilised the mesophase spheres against coalescence. Viscosity measurements over the range 10–10⁶ Pa s were made at appropriate temperature ranges. Increasing shear thinning behaviour was evident with increasing mesophase content. At low mesophase contents the dominant effect on the near Newtonian viscosity was temperature but at higher contents it was the shear rate; temperature dependence declined to near zero. The data indicated that agglomeration could be occurring at intermediate mesophase volume fractions, 0.2–0.3. The Krieger–Dougherty function and its emulsion analogue indicated that in this region the mesophase pitch emulsions actually behaved like ‘hard’ sphere systems and the effective volume fraction was estimated as a function of shear rate illustrating the change in extent of agglomeration. At the higher volume fractions approaching the maximum packing fraction, which could only be measured at higher temperatures, the shear thinning behaviour changed in character and it is considered that this is possibly due to shear induced deformation and breakup of dispersed drops in the shear field.     

Damage identification in concrete using impact non-linear reverberation spectroscopy

High amplitude non-linear acoustic methods have shown potential for the identification of micro damage in brittle materials such as concrete. Commonly, these methods evaluate a non-linearity parameter from the relative change in frequency and attenuation with strain amplitude. Here, a novel attenuation model is introduced to describe the free reverberation from a standard impact resonance frequency test, together with an algorithm for estimating the unknown model coefficients. The non-linear variation can hereby by analyzed over a wider dynamic range as compared to conventional methods. The experimental measurement is simple and fully compatible with the standardized free-free linear impact frequency test.     

Prediction of sediment,particulate nutrient and dissolved nutrient concentrations in a dry tropical river to provide input to a mechanistic coastal water quality model

A Generalised Additive Modelling (GAM) approach is applied to prediction of both particulate and dissolved nutrient concentrations in a wet-tropical river (the Fitzroy River, Queensland, Australia). In addition to covariant terms considered in previous work (i.e. flow, discounted flow and a rising-falling limb term), we considered several new potential covariates: meteorological and hydrological variables that are routinely monitored, available in near-real time, and were considered to have potential predictive power. Of the additional terms considered, only flows from three tributaries of the Fitzroy River (namely, the Nogoa, Comet and Isaac Rivers) were found to significantly improve the model. Inclusion of one or more of these additional flow terms greatly improved results for dissolved nitrogen and dissolved phosphorus concentrations, which were not otherwise amenable to prediction. In particular, the Nogoa sub-catchment, dominated by pasture for cattle, was found to be important in determining dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations reaching the river mouth. This insight may direct further research, including future refinement of processed-based catchment models. The GAMs described here are used to provide near real-time river boundary conditions for a complex coupled hydrodynamic and biogeochemical model of the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon, and can be coupled with a forecasting hydrological model to allow integrated forecasting simulations of the catchment to coast system.     

Stress-deformable state of isotropic double curved shell with internal cracks and a circular hole

This work is devoted to the stress–strain state of isotropic double curved shell with defect system. The construction is weakened by two non-through thickness (internal) cracks of different length and by a circular hole located between cracks. In this study we use the line-spring model. Within the framework of this model cracks are modeled as mathematical cuts of shell’s middle surface. This leads to a two-dimensional problem. The problem is reduced to a system of eight boundary integral equations. To ensure the uniqueness of solution an additional equation is added. In the numerical solution of the problem special quadrature formulas for singular integrals of Cauchy type and the finite difference method are applied. The influence of defects on each other for double curved shell has been investigated. The given theoretical results can be used for the calculation of structural elements with holes, cracks on the strength and fracture toughness in various branches of engineering.     

Synthesis and in vitro bioactivity assessment of injectable bioglass−organic pastes for bone tissue repair

The aim of this work was to study the bioactivity of systems based on a clinically tested bioactive glass (BG) particulates (mol%: 4.33 Na₂O−30.30 CaO−12.99 MgO−45.45 SiO₂−2.60 P₂O₅−4.33 CaF₂) and organic carriers. The cohesiveness of injectable bone graft products is of high relevance when filling complex volumetric bone defects. With this motivation behind, BG particulates with mean sizes within 11−14 μm were mixed in different proportions with glycerol (G) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as organic carriers and the mixtures were fully injectable exhibiting Newtonian flow behaviors. The apatite forming ability was investigated using X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy under secondary electron mode after immersion of samples in simulated body fluid (SBF) for time durations varying between 12 h and 7 days. The results obtained revealed that in spite of the good adhesion of glycerol and PEG carriers to glass particles during preparation stage, they did not hinder the exposure of bioactive glass particulates to the direct contact with SBF solution. The results confirmed the excellent bioactivity in vitro for all compositions expressed by high biomineralization rates with the formation of crystalline hydroxyapatite being identified by XRD after 12 h of immersion in SBF solution.     

Densification mechanism during reactive hot pressing of B4C-ZrO2 mixtures

The densification behaviors of pure B₄C and B₄C-ZrO₂ mixtures were compared during hot pressing. The results showed that in-situ formed ZrB₂ effectively enhanced the densification process of B₄C-ZrO₂ mixtures, more significantly during the intermediate stage. Within the relative density ranging from 0.75 to 0.90, the B₄C-15?wt%ZrO₂ mixture (B15Z) achieved the maximum densification rate as twice much as that of pure B₄C. The stress exponent n>3 indicated plastic deformation was the dominant densification mechanism of B15Z. The viscosities of plastic flow were evaluated using Murray-Rodger-William equation and the viscosity of B15Z was only a quarter of that in pure B₄C. The sintering activation energy was calculated to be 305.9?kJ/mol for pure B₄C and 197?kJ/mol for B15Z, respectively. It was proposed that the lower viscosity of plastic flow and activation energy accelerated the sliding and propagating motions of plastic flow, by which underlain the enhanced densification behaviors of B₄C-ZrO₂ mixtures.     

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.