The effect of composition on thermal,mechanical, and morphological properties of thermotropic liquid crystalline polyester with alkyl side-group and polycarbonate blends

A thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) with an alkyl side-group was synthesized. Blends of the LCP with polycarbonate (PC) were prepared by coprecipitatton from a common solvent. The rheological behavior of the LCP/PC blends was found to be very different from that of PC, and significant viscosity reductions were observed in the temperature range of 200–230°C. Blends of different LCP compositions were extruded with different draw ratio from a capillary rheometer. The ultimate tensile strength showed a maximum at a 10 wt% LCP composition in the blends. It decreased for compositions greater the 10 wt% LCP, whereas the initial modulus increased with increasing LCP content. The morphology of the blends was found to be affected by their compositions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies revealed finely dispersed spherical LCP domains in the PC matrix. The SEM micrographs also showed a poor adhesion between the two phases.     

Hydroelastic vibration of the bottom plate of the cylindrical tank coupled with sloshing

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - This study is concerned with the hydroelastic vibration of the flexible bottom plate of a cylindrical tank coupled with sloshing. The cylindrical tank...     

Analysis of direct immobilized recombinant protein G on a gold surface

For the immobilization of IgG, various techniques such as chemical linker, thiolated protein G methods, and fragmentation of antibodies have been reported [Y.M. Bae, B.K. Oh, W. Lee, W.H. Lee, J.W. Choi, Biosensors Bioelectron. 21 (2005) 103; W. Lee, B.K. Oh, W.H. Lee, J.W. Choi, Colloids Surf. B-Biointerfaces, 40 (2005) 143; A.A. Karyakin, G.V. Presnova, M.Y. Rubtsova, A.M. Egorov, Anal. Chem. 72 (2000) 3805]. Here, we modified the immunoglobulin Fc-binding B-domain of protein G to contain two cysteine residues at its C-terminus by a genetic engineering technique. The resulting recombinant protein, RPGcys, retained IgG-binding activity in the same manner as native protein G. RPGcys was immobilized on a gold surface by strong affinity between thiol of cysteine and gold. The orientations of both IgG layers immobilized on the base recombinant protein Gs were analyzed by fluorescence microscope, atomic force microscope (AFM), and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Our data revealed that IgG-binding activity of RPGcys on gold surface significantly increased in comparison to wild type of protein G (RPGwild), which was physically adsorbed due to absence of cysteine residue. Immobilization of highly oriented antibodies based on cysteine-modified protein G could be useful for the fabrication of immunosensor systems.     

Vibration control of multi-story building structure by hybrid control using tuned liquid damper and active mass damper

This study proposes a hybrid control methodology that combines tuned liquid damper (TLD) and active mass damper (AMD) to suppress vibrations of multi-story building structure effectively. To this end, a dynamic model that can predict the vibration of multi-story building structure coupled with TLD and AMD is derived using the energy approach. The TLD that is mainly designed to suppress the main natural mode is developed with a multi-degree-of-freedom model to investigate the effect of the TLD on natural modes of structure numerically. The AMD is an active vibration controller that can suppress remaining resonant peaks, including ones resulting from the application of the TLD as well as other higher modes of interest. In this way, the proposed control can utilize the advantages of TLD and AMD simultaneously. We set up an experimental apparatus to verify the performance of the hybrid control methodology. The numerical and experimental results show that the proposed hybrid control method can successfully suppress the vibrations of multi-story building structure. The dynamic model derived in this study can also accurately predict the actual behavior of the system.

     

Applicability of sub- and supercritical water hydrolysis of woody biomass to produce monomeric sugars for cellulosic bioethanol fermentation

In this study two woody biomasses, poplar and pitch pine wood, were treated with sub- and supercritical water (SCW) at temperature of 325–425 °C, at pressure of 220 ± 10 atm and residence time of 60 s, respectively, to develop a time saving and efficient conversion process for the production of fermentable sugars from woody biomasses using supercritical water system. Cellulose/hemicellulose was easily hydrolyzed during SCW treatment into monomeric sugars with the total yield of 7.3% and 8.2% based on the oven dried weight of poplar and pitch pine, respectively. Total yield of the monomeric sugars was increased about threefolds to 23.0% and 25.1% in the presence of 0.05% of hydrochloric acid. Model experiment confirmed that glucose and xylose were readily converted into low molecular weight compounds during SCW hydrolysis. According to GC/MS analysis main compounds converted from glucose and xylose by SCW were identified to 5-hydroxymethyl furfural and 4-oxo-5-methoxy-2-penten-5-olide, respectively.     

Free vibration analysis of shallow and deep ellipsoidal shells having variable thickness with and without a top opening

A three-dimensional (3-D) method of analysis is presented for determining the natural frequencies and the mode shapes of hemi-ellipsoidal domes having non-uniform thickness with and without a top opening by the Ritz method. Instead of mathematically two-dimensional (2-D) conventional thin shell theories or higher-order shell theories, the present method is based upon the 3-D dynamic equations of elasticity by the Ritz method. Mathematically minimal or orthonormal Legendre polynomials are used as admissible functions in place of ordinary simple algebraic polynomials which are usually applied in the Ritz method. The analysis is based upon the circular cylindrical coordinates instead of the shell coordinates which are normal and tangential to the shell mid-surface. Potential (strain) and kinetic energies of the hemi-ellipsoidal dome having variable thickness with and without a top opening are formulated, and the Ritz method is used to solve the eigenvalue problem, thus yielding upper bound values of the frequencies by minimizing the frequencies. As the degree of the Legendre polynomials is increased, the frequencies converge to the exact values. Convergence to four-digit exactitude is demonstrated for the first five frequencies. Numerical results are presented for a variety of shallow and deep hemi-ellipsoidal domes having variable thickness of five values of aspect ratios with and without a top opening, which are completely free and fixed at the bottom. The frequencies from the present 3-D analysis are compared with those from other 3-D analysis and a 2-D thin shell theory.     

Molecular structure of bent-shaped liquid crystal dimers

Liquid crystalline behavior of dimesogenic compounds opens a new area of research in liquid crystals science. The term ‘dimesogenic compounds’ describes thermotropic compounds consisting of two mesogenic units linked through a central spacer such as polymethylene and oligosiloxyl groups. The two mesogenic units may or may not be identical. When they are identical, they are occasionally called twin or siamese compounds.     

Condensation heat transfer coefficients of R22, R407C, and R410A on a horizontal plain, low fin, and turbo-C tubes

In this study, condensation heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) were measured on a horizontal plain tube, low fin tube, and Turbo-C tube at the saturated vapor temperature of 39 °C for R22, R407C, and R410A with the wall subcooling of 3–8 °C. R407C, a non-azeotropic refrigerant mixture, exhibited a quite different condensation phenomenon from those of R22 and R410A and its condensation HTCs were up to 50% lower than those of R22. For R407C, as the wall subcooling increased, condensation HTCs decreased on a plain tube while they increased on both low fin and turbo-C tubes. This was due to the lessening effect of the vapor diffusion film with a rapid increase in condensation rate on enhanced tubes. On the other hand, condensation HTCs of R410A, almost an azeotrope, were similar to those of R22. For all refrigerants tested, condensation HTCs of turbo-C tube were the highest among the tubes tested showing a 3–8 times increase as compared to those of a plain tube.     

Characterization of flexible copper laminates fabricated by Cu electro-plating process

Flexible copper clad laminates(FCCLs) were fabricated using the electro-plating process and the combined effect of the current density and plating time on their surface morphology, texture, hardness, electrical resistivity and folding behavior was evaluated. To achieve Cu layers with similar thicknesses, the current density was varied in the range of 0.2–3 A/dm² and the plating time was controlled in the range of 0.5–7.5 h to compensate for the variation of the current density. The surface morphology, hardness, and folding behavior were characterized by atomic force microscopy, nanoindentation technique and Massachusett Institute of Technology folding endurance test, respectively. The X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the Cu phase was formed without any secondary phases; however, the preferred orientation changed from (220) to (111) as the current density increased over 1 A/dm². In addition, it was observed that the root-mean-square and hardness values decreased when the current density increased and the plating time decreased simultaneously. The electrical resistivity was as low as approximately 21 nΩ·m and the number of cycles without failure in the folding test was over 15 000, which were comparable to those of commercial FCCLs.