Effect of sintering conditions on structural and morphological properties of Y- and Co-doped BaZrO3 proton conductors

BaZrO₃-based materials doped with a trivalent cation have excellent chemical stability and relatively high proton conductivity which makes them potential proton conducting oxide materials for various electrochemical device applications such as hydrogen processing, high-temperature electrolysis, and solid electrolyte in fuel cells. However, BaZrO₃ showed poor sinterability, requiring high sintering temperatures (1700–2100 °C) with longtime sintering (20–100 h) to achieve the desired microstructure and grain growth. This sintering problem can be solved by slightly doping BaZrO₃ with a sintering aid element. Therefore, in this study, two different zirconate proton conductors: BaZr_0·9Y_0·1O_3-α (BZY) and BaZr_0·955Y_0·03Co_0·015O_3-α (BZYC) were sintered in an air atmosphere and an oxygen atmosphere for 20 h in the temperature range of 1500–1640 °C. The sinterability was evaluated by analyzing the XRD diffraction patterns, lattice constant, lattice strain, crystallite size, relative density, open porosity, closed porosity, surface morphology, grain size, and grain boundary distribution, using the XRD, SEM, EDX, and Archimedes density measurement methods. It is concluded that in an oxygen atmosphere, sintering aid Co not only improves the relative density but also produces highly dense fine particles with clear grain boundaries which are promising for electrochemical hydrogen device applications.     

Strength and dilatancy behaviors of deep sands in Shanghai with a focus on grain size and shape effect

With rapid development of infrastructures like tunnels and open excavations in Shanghai, investigations on deeper soils have become critically important. Most of the existing laboratory works were focused on the clayey strata up to Layer 6 in Shanghai, i.e. at depth of up to 40 m. In this paper, Layers 7, 9, and 11, which were mostly formed of sandy soils at depth of up to 150 m, were experimentally investigated with respect to physico-mechanical behaviors. The stress–strain behaviors were analyzed by the consolidated drained/undrained (CD/CU) triaxial tests under monotonic loading. One-dimensional (1D) oedometer tests were performed to investigate the consolidation properties of the sandy soils. Specimens were prepared at three different relative densities for each layer. Also, the micro-images and particle size analyzers were used to analyze the shape and size of the sand grains. The influences of grain size, density, and angularity on the stress–strain behaviors and compressibility were also studied. Compared to the other layers, Layer 11 had the smallest mean grain size (D₅₀), highest compressibility, and lowest shear strength. In contrast, Layer 9 had the largest mean grain size, lowest compressibility, and highest shear strength. Layer 7 was of intermediate mean grain size, exhibiting more compressibility and less shear strength than that of Layer 9. Also, the critical state parameters and maximum dilatancy rate of different layers were discussed.     

兰州重离子加速器大型真空室

已建成的兰州重离子加速器的真空室是一个大型整体结构的超高真空容器,直径约10m,高4.5m,重65000kg,内表面积211m~2,容积100m~3,工作真空度为5×10~(-5)Pa。采用有限单元法在计算机上用SAP-5C程序对真空室受力分析进行了计算。真空室结构材料选用瑞典Uddeholm钢厂生产的316 L 超低碳不锈钢。承制此大型容器的是航天工业部风华机器厂。由于结构庞大,首先将真空室分成八大块和几小块在工厂制造,然后运至现场焊制成一整体容器并进行机械加工。所有密封焊缝均用着色渗透液,X-射线探伤和氦质谱探漏仪进行检查和探漏。     

A highly efficient novel azimuthal heliotrope

A new type of a single-axis azimuthal tracker is presented. The novel feature of this tracker is the ability to move the collector’s plane in two directions through a special support structure. This structure consists of a sliding mechanism on the central axis and a curved window on the cylindrical surface coaxial to the central axis. Consequently, the proposed novel heliotrope behaves similarly to a two-axis tracker. Two different windows designed on the cylindrical surface may be used to provide very high efficiencies throughout a year. Several performance measurements have been conducted on this novel tracker, a polar tracker and the reference two-axis tracker. Pyranometers, appropriately calibrated, were installed on all three systems to record the global incoming irradiance on the collector’s plane. It is shown that the new tracker system can be very efficient since its plane intercepts, at least, 98% of the insolation with respect to a two-axis tracker. The proposed system can be utilized in solar-related applications (photovoltaic or thermal).     

光缆CATV用DFB激光器发射组件

介绍了国内首次研制的光缆ＣＡＴＶ用１．３μｍＤＦＢ激光器组件。组件工作频带达到１ＧＨｚ，带内起伏〈１ｄＢ，组件的ＲＩＮ〈－１５３ｄＢ／Ｈｚ；出纤光功率〉２ｍＷ，载噪比ＣＮＲ〉５０ｄＢ。首次实现用低反射尖锥端光纤的ＤＦＢ激光器耦合。     

强度调制／直接检测（IM／DD）光纤通信系统色散限制的研究

通过引入归一化脉宽Ｐ和相对脉冲展宽因子ｑ，提出了一个适用于ＩＭ／ＤＤ系统中各种眼图恶化量ｘ和归一化脉宽Ｐ的色散限制改进公式。通过与其它理论的比较、计算机仿真和对实验数据的分析，验证了该公式的正确性，并给出了其它结果的限制条件。研究表明：当眼图恶化量ｘ为１ｄＢ左右时，对２．５Ｇｂ／；外调制信号（α＝０）而言，非色散位移光纤ＩＭ／ＤＤ系统的色散因子γ约等于０．７９，所对应的系统再生中继距离约为９００余公里。     

Drainage and imbibition relative permeabilities at near miscible conditions

The changes in gas and oil relative permeabilities as miscibility is approached are of particular importance in multi-contact miscible displacements. These changes are a function of the detailed phase behaviour of the fluids and their physical properties as well as the properties of the porous medium itself.In this work, we investigate the behaviour of two-phase drainage and imbibition relative permeability curves of four, different, equilibrated fluid pairs from a three component, two-phase system (cyclohexene, isopropyl alcohol and water) that exhibits a critical point at ambient conditions. The tie-lines of these fluid pairs are at varying distances from the system's critical point. Equilibrium phase compositions and interfacial tensions (IFT) were determined for each of the four fluid pairs. Dynamic displacements were then performed in a linear two dimensional, bead-pack. Unsteady state, drainage and imbibition relative permeabilities were determined for the various pre-equilibrated mixtures. The experimental results show a clear change in relative permeability as the fluid pairs approach the critical point. As the interfacial tension decreases the non-wetting phase relative permeability increases more rapidly than the wetting phase relative permeability and hysteresis becomes less important.Two correlations [Coats, K.H., 1980. An equation of state compositional model: SPE J, 20 (5): 363-376.; Whitson, C.H., and Fevang, Ø., 1997. Generalized pseudo pressure well treatment in reservoir simulation. In Proc., IBC Conference on Optimization of Gas Condensate Fields.], commonly used to model the changes in relative permeability with interfacial tension, and the development of miscibility, were compared with the experimental data. The Coats correlation, which uses a single adjustable parameter to model the changes in both relative permeabilities and residual oil saturation as a direct function of the IFT, yielded an unacceptable match to the experimentally determined fractional flow. However the Whitson–Fevang correlation, which relates the changes in relative permeability to the capillary number using two adjustable weighting functions, presents a satisfactory match.     

Corrosion fatigue of extruded magnesium alloys

Corrosion fatigue tests were carried out on extruded AZ31 (3% Al, 1% Zn, 0.3% Mn, Mg—the rest), AM50 (5% Al, 0.4% Mn, Mg—the rest) and ZK60 (5% Zn, 0.5% Zr, Mg—the rest) Mg alloys in air, NaCl-based and borate solutions. N_sol/N_air ratios (the relative fatigue life) were used for the analysis of the corrosion fatigue behavior of Mg alloys in various environments, where N_sol and N_air are the numbers of cycles to failure in the solution and in air, respectively. Extruded ZK60 alloy reveals very high fatigue and corrosion fatigue properties in comparison with other alloys. However, it has the lowest relative fatigue life (N_sol/N_air 10⁻³–10⁻²) or the highest sensitivity to the action of NaCl-based solutions in comparison with that of AM50 and AZ31 alloys (N_sol/N_air 10⁻²–10⁻¹). Under the same stress, the corrosion fatigue life of extruded alloys is significantly longer than that of die-cast alloys (N_sol for extruded AM50 in NaCl is two to three times longer than that of die-cast AM50).     

Estimation of Load Capacity of Pipe Piles in Sand Based on Cone Penetration Test Results

Pipe piles can be classified as either closed- or open-ended piles. In the present paper, the load capacity of both closed- and open-ended piles is related to cone penetration resistance qc through an experimental program using calibration chamber model pile load tests and field pile load tests. A total of 36 calibration chamber pile load tests and two full-scale field pile load tests were analyzed. All the test piles were instrumented for separate measurement of each component of pile load capacity. Based on the test results, the normalized base resistance qb/qc was obtained as a function of the relative density DR for closed-ended piles, and of both the relative density DR and the incremental filling ratio (IFR) for open-ended piles. A relationship between the IFR and the relative density DR is proposed as a function of the pile diameter and driving depth. The relationship between IFR and DR allows the estimation of IFR and thus of the pile load capacity of open-ended piles at the design stage, before pile driving operations.