Determination of mechanical properties of thin films: a theoretical feasibility study

The aim of this work was to determine the principal mechanical parameters of a thin film on a substrate, i.e. Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, intrinsic stress, and coefficient of linear thermal expansion. First, standard experiments possibly suitable for this purpose were investigated theoretically. The margin of error of the mechanical parameters determined was estimated as dependent on the geometrical conditions, substrate properties, and error in the respective measurements. In addition, the homogeneity and stability of the parameters were taken into account, for instance inhomogeneity of the film thickness and possible modification of substrate parameters during film growth. To obtain meaningful results, the accuracy of the measurements as well as the homogeneity and stability of several geometrical and physical parameters in general must be extremely high. However, the experimental conditions were found to fulfill these requirements.     

Gathered This Unruly Folk: The Textural Colligation of Historical Knowledge on Architecture

A cultural artifact can serve as a compelling pedagogical tool in the design studio. Through analogous qualities, a cultural artifact can provide a means of developing the formal language and constructive processes that, in turn, generate architectural expression. This article presents the contribution of a specific artifact, the quilt, in such an investigation. It describes the quilt's formal, compositional, and material qualities, the processes associated with its fabrication, its narrative role, and the ways in which these characteristics inform the methodology for designing a museum of quilts and quilt making.     

Does age make a difference? Predicting physical activity of South Koreans.

Social cognition models of health behavior are commonly understood as being universal, which implies that they are applicable to groups varying in age or cultural background, for example. Cultural uniqueness and characteristics of life-span development, however, necessitate the study of differential effects. Accordingly, the health action process approach (HAPA) was examined in younger and middle-aged/older adults from South Korea (N = 697) who participated in a longitudinal health screening study with a 6-month time lag. The HAPA model had a good fit within the middle-aged/older adult sample. Physical activity was predicted by planning, coping self-efficacy, and intention, which were, in turn, predicted by action self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and risk perceptions. Conversely, the results indicated a poor model fit in the younger adult sample. The results suggest a different motivation for the involvement in physical activity as a function of age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adaptive dynamic collision checking for single and multiple articulated robots in complex environments

Static collision checking amounts to testing a given configuration of objects for overlaps. In contrast, the goal of dynamic checking is to determine whether all configurations along a continuous path are collision-free. While there exist effective methods for static collision detection, dynamic checking still lacks methods that are both reliable and efficient. A common approach is to sample paths at some fixed, prespecified resolution and statically test each sampled configuration. But this approach is not guaranteed to detect collision whenever one occurs, and trying to increase its reliability by refining the sampling resolution along the entire path results in slow checking. This paper introduces a new method for testing path segments in c-space or collections of such segments, that is both reliable and efficient. This method locally adjusts the sampling resolution by comparing lower bounds on distances between objects in relative motion with upper bounds on lengths of curves traced by points of these moving objects. Several additional techniques and heuristics increase the checker's efficiency in scenarios with many moving objects (e.g., articulated arms and/or multiple robots) and high geometric complexity. The new method is general, but particularly well suited for use in probabilistic roadmap (PRM) planners, where it is critical to determine as quickly as possible whether given path segments collide, or not. Extensive tests, in particular on randomly generated path segments and on multisegment paths produced by PRM planners, show that the new method compares favorably with a fixed-resolution approach at "suitable" resolution, with the enormous advantage that it never fails to detect collision.     

Die Elasto-Statik-Element-Methode zur Ermittlung der elastischen Verhaltensweise von Vierwalzengerüsten und ihre Anwendung bei der Bandwalzung

Zusammenhang zwischen dem Bandprofil und der Planheit. Betrachtung der Walzen als belastete Balken auf und in elastischen Bettungen. Lösung von zwei inhomogenen linearen Differentialgleichungen. Ableitung der Bettungsziffern aus den partiellen elastischen Formänderungen der Walzenballen und der Bandumformung. Ermittlung der Konstanten aus einer Matrix für die Rand- und Stetigkeitsbedingungen. Darstellung der Arbeitswalzenschliffe, der Durchbiegungen der Stütz- und Arbeitswalzen und der Pressungsverteilungen. Modellanpassung für Stütz- und Arbeitswalzenzusatzbiegesysteme.