Effects of B2O3 addition on structural and dielectric properties of PVDF

α‐Crystalline form of PVDF doped with Boron oxide (B₂O₃₎ composite films were produced between 0.2 and 1% weight ratio via the casting procedure. This low‐level doping rate did not change the crystalline structure of PVDF; however, they increased the lower and upper glass transition temperatures, which are associated with the amorphous ratio of polymer. This increment was found to be the highest for the sample 0.8% B₂O₃‐doped PVDF as 25 and 9.7%, respectively. Because of the low specific volume occurred in the 0.8% doped sample, B₂O₃ molecules are closer to the side groups of PVDF and, therefore, the coordination bonds also occurred according to the interaction between them and as a result of this interaction a geometric deformation occurred on the morphology of B₂O₃. In consequence of this deformation, morphology of B₂O₃ gained net dipole moment and provided a contribution to the dipole moment density of the structure. Hence, higher dielectric constant values obtained than that of pure PVDF. At 1 kHz and 300 K, the real dielectric constant increased by 236% compared to that of pure PVDF. It was shown experimentally by the 0.8% doping level of B₂O₃ that decreasing porous and gap structure resulted a high dielectric constant. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:2536–2543, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Investigations of ductile damage during the process chains of toothed functional components manufactured by sheet-bulk metal forming

Sheet-bulk metal forming processes combine conventional sheet forming processes with bulk forming of sheet semi-finished parts. In these processes the sheets undergo complex forming histories. Due to in- and out-of-plane material flow and large accumulated plastic strains, the conventional failure prediction methods for sheet metal forming such as forming limit curve fall short. As a remedy, damage models can be applied to model damage evolution during those processes. In this study, damage evolution during the production of two different toothed components from DC04 steel is investigated. In both setups, a deep drawn cup is upset to form a circumferential gearing. However, the two final products have different dimensions and forming histories. Due to combined deep drawing and upsetting processes, the material flow on the cup walls is three-dimensional and non-proportional. In this study, the numerical and experimental investigations for those parts are presented and compared. Damage evolution in the process chains is simulated with a Lemaitre damage criterion. Microstructural analysis by scanning electron microscopy is performed in the regions with high mechanical loading. It is observed that the evolution of voids in terms of void volume fraction is strongly dependent on the deformation path. The comparison of simulation results with microstructural data shows that the void volume fraction decreases in the upsetting stage after an initial increase in the drawing stage. Moreover, the concurrent numerical and microstructural analysis provides evidence that the void volume fraction decreases during compression in sheet-bulk metal forming.     

Evaluation and measures to increase performance coefficient of hydrokinetic turbines

In this study was presented the valid equations for energy conversion system from water currents analogous to wind power system. Hydrokinetic technology may be divided into two categories such as horizontal and vertical system. Application of the systems is possible to marine, and river currents. Each system has different performance coefficient. Hydrokinetic energy conversion systems shows lower power coefficient. The existing measures with the purpose of increasing of performance coefficient have been presented. Additional suggestions have been put forward. Future perspectives for application improvement and working fields of different kind have been given.     

Sources and mitigation of methane emissions by sectors: A critical review

The environmental community rightly recognizes global warming as one of the gravest threats to the planet. Methane (CH₄), one of the greenhouse gases causing global warming, is emitted from a variety of sources and its concentration in atmosphere has increased dramatically over the last few centuries. Therefore, the increasing concentrations of methane are of special concern because of its effects on climate and atmospheric chemistry. Anthropogenic sources of methane can be collected under the titles of agriculture, energy, waste and industry on the basis of sectors. This paper aims at examining the past trends in emissions, the sources and mitigation strategies of the methane. As a result of the study, it is determined that the agricultural sector is the biggest source of methane emissions among the sectors. The energy, waste and industry follow the agricultural sources respectively.     

Magnetic Properties of Zn1?x Ni x O (0.25≤x≤ 0.50) Prepared by Solid-State Reactions

In this study the origin of ferromagnetism in ZnO-based bulk systems has been investigated using Ni-doped ZnO samples, Zn_1−x Ni _x O with 0.25≤x≤0.50, prepared by solid-state reactions. The structural characterizations indicated that the Ni²⁺ ions almost uniformly distributed in all the samples, and the samples have hexagonal wurtzite structure; however, when x is increased toward 0.50, a new NiO phase is formed. A ferromagnetism (FM) has been observed for all the samples at and below the room temperature. In other words, the room temperature results of (M–H) curves show that the FM observed is intrinsic for all the Ni-doped ZnO samples. However, the saturated magnetizations decrease gradually with increasing Ni concentration. This indicates that, in addition to FM, the excessive doping of Ni in ZnO also causes an antiferromagnetic (AFM) contribution which increases with increasing Ni amount. This result is also supported by the magnetization against temperature measurements. Furthermore, the trend of the ac-susceptibility (χ) versus temperature curves, measured under an ac-magnetic field of 100 Oe, also support our conclusion about the antiferromagnetic contribution to ferromagnetism in our samples.     

The variation of the dielectric constant and loss index with temperature and draw ratio in α‐PVDF

In this study, the effect of measurement temperature and uniaxial drawing on the real (dielectric constant, ε′) and imaginary (loss index, ε″) parts of the complex dielectric constant of α‐crystalline phase poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) was investigated. The samples having different draw ratios (λ) were obtained by drawing the PVDF film at constant speed and temperature. The dielectric measurements were performed in the frequency range of 100 Hz–1 MHz and in the temperature range of 80–400 K. Although ε′ and ε″ were not affected by the orientation process during the β‐relaxation transition, it was observed that there were systematical variations for the α‐relaxation transition. ε′ and ε″ showed different behaviors depending on the draw ratio at different temperatures. Especially, ε″ was more affected by the orientation process at 380 K. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

ADAPTIVE NEURO-FUZZY INFERENCE SYSTEM FOR COMPUTING THE PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS OF ELECTRICALLY THIN AND THICK RECTANGULAR MICROSTRIP ANTENNAS

A new method for calculating the patch length and width of rectangular microstrip antennas (MSAs) with thin and thick substrates, based on adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), is presented. The ANFIS is a class of adaptive networks which are functionally equivalent to fuzzy inference systems (FISs). It combines the powerful features of FISs with those of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to achieve a desired performance. The results of ANFIS are in excellent agreement with the experimental results available in the literature.