An acoustic method of measuring the universal gas constant and Boltzmann's constant

Precision measurement is considered for the universal gas constant and Boltzmann's constant. An acoustic method can be used with a spherical cavity to raise the accuracy in measuring these fundamental constants by measuring the volume of the almost spherical cavity by microwave methods.Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 1, pp. 5–7, January, 1994.     

Resonant vibration investigations for piezoceramic disks and annuli by using the equivalent constant method

This paper presents the equivalent constant method to investigate the transverse vibration of piezoceramic disks and annuli. By comparing the characteristic equations of resonant frequencies between isotropic and piezoceramic disks, the named equivalent Poisson's ratio v is derived, then the transverse vibration characteristic equation can be expressed as a single formulation for these two materials. To verify this method, characteristic equations of transverse vibration for piezoceramic disks and annuli with many different boundary conditions are discussed and calculated for resonant frequencies. Numerical calculations based on the finite-element method (FEM) also are performed, and the results agree rather well with the theoretical predictions. With the aid of the relations between frequency parameter and equivalent Poisson's ratio in explicit form, the other application of equivalent Poisson's ratio is the inverse evaluation of material constants. The laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) and impedance analyzer are used to experimentally obtain the resonant frequencies of transverse and radial extensional vibrations, respectively. By the experimental results for the traction-free piezoceramic disk, the planar Poisson's ratio v(p) and planar electromechanical coupling coefficient k(p) are determined.     

The sintering of non-stoichiometric UO2 under non-isothermal conditions

The sintering kinetics of non-stoichiometric uranium dioxide powders have been studied in the temperature range 700 to 950° C. The results of the relative linear shrinkage during the stepwise heating of samples, were analysed as a function of sintering temperature and time. It has been shown that it is impossible to explain the exceptionally large shrinkage of UO_2+x compacts in the temperature range 0.3 to 0.4 T _m by means of a single sintering mechanism.     

The influence of generation and transport processes in the constant photocurrent method

We investigate the differences observed in the absorption spectrum of a-Si : H measured by d.c. and a.c. constant-photocurrent methods (CPM). D.c. measurement gives a value for the absorption coefficient, α, at photon energies below the Urbach tail, of up to an order of magnitude greater than a.c. measurement. We examine the free-carrier generation processes occurring in a.c. CPM, and the influence of these processes on the photocurrent frequency response to modulated sub-gap illumination. A simple kinetic model is presented and used to explain quantitatively the differences in the photocurrent frequency response for sub- and super-gap excitation, and hence in the CPM α as determined by d.c. and a.c. techniques. The difference between d.c. and a.c. determined α is explained in terms of the relative contribution of phonon-assisted transitions in the generation process. A useful consequence of the analysis is that an a.c. measurement should provide a more accurate means for determining the density of occupied states in the material.     

Estimating the rate constant in second-order kinetics using hard-soft-net analyte signal (HS-NAS) method

Rank deficiency is the major problem associated with the chemometrics modeling of the second-order chemical reactions of the form of A + B → C. In this article, the application of the hard-soft-net analyte signal (HS-NAS), as a newly proposed method in our research group, is described for modeling of second-order reactions. This combined hard-soft method is based on the net analyte signal (NAS) concept, which is defined as a part of total signal that is directly related to the concentration of the component of interest. Therefore, concentration changes versus time can be obtained by calculating NAS for any chemical species involved in the reaction without requiring any pure component spectra or extra runs. The power of the method was verified by applying it to the resolution of simulated data sets containing noises added at different levels. The resolution of the second-order reaction between amoxicillin and 1, 2-naphthoqoinone was also tested as a real chemical system.     

Detoxification of a highly toxic lead-loaded industrial solid waste by stabilization using apatites

Apatites are known for their properties to immobilize lead contained in aqueous solutions or contaminated soils. In this study, apatites were examined as stabilization additives for lead-loaded industrial solid toxic wastes. The specific waste was the residue, obtained after thermal treatment of sludges (incineration), which was derived from tetraethyl lead fuel storage tanks. It was found to contain around 30 wt.% lead and 33 wt.% iron. Standard leaching tests (according to DIN 38414 S-4) were applied for the determination of leachability of metals from the ash and, thus, of chemical toxicity; the proposed leaching tests examined both initial and stabilized products in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the applied additives. The results obtained demonstrate the fact that lead concentrations in leachates, after the application of the proposed leaching tests using apatites as additives and with a ratio of 50% solid waste-50 wt.% apatite, could be reduced to the range of 1mg/l.     

Optimization of CVD growth of CNT-based hybrids using the Taguchi method

Taguchi method, extensively applied for the optimization of multifactor processes in the most diverse fields, is for the first time applied to the synthesis of hybrids based on C nanotubes by iron-catalyzed chemical vapor deposition in 1:1 i-C₄H₁₀ + H₂ atmosphere. For this purpose, assumed synthesis-temperature (500 °C, 600 °C or 700 °C), support-material (alumina, magnesia or Na⁺-exchanged K10 montmorillonite), calcination (450 °C, 600 °C or 750 °C) and reduction (500 °C, 600 °C or 700 °C) temperature of the iron catalysts as the four factors of importance in the process, nine suitably designed experiments are conducted and the influence is evaluated of the four three-level factors on the issue of the process in terms of selectivity toward nanotubes, catalytic yield and content of carbonaceous and metallic impurities in the C nanotubes. By this procedure, the configurations giving optimal results are predicted, and tested by carrying out new experiments.     

A novel method for measurement of the gravitational constant

The conditions are described for carrying out an experiment that should permit the accuracy of determination of the gravitational constant to be increased by an order of magnitude.Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 9, pp. 7–8, September, 1993.     

Determination of the compressibility factorZ(p,T) of three methane-ethane mixtures using the dielectric constant method

The compressibility behavior of three mixtures of the CH₄ C₂ H₆, system has been investigated experimentally by means of the dielectric constant method. Precise ( ± 1 ppm) measurements of the dielectric constant () as a function of the pressure (P) along one isotherm (T) are combined with the first three dielectric virial coefficients (A,B, andC) in order to obtain accurate values of the molar density (p). The compressibility factorZ=P/( _p RT) was obtained from the measured values ofp,P, andT. The coefficientA, is determined from the measurements of as a function ofP, while the higher-order coefficients (B, andC,) are obtained by an expansion technique. We report the measured values ofZ at 295.15 K up to 12 MPa for three mixtures of CH₄-C₂-H₆ containing, respectively. 9.54, 35.3, and 75.4% (molar) of ethane. Their exact composition was determined by weighing during the mixing process. The first three dielectric virial coefficients and the mixed second dielectric virial coefficient for the CH₄,-C₂, H₆ system agree with the calculated or the literature values within the limits of uncertainties. For the mixture containing 90.46% CH₄+C₂H₆, deviations in compressibility are of the order of 0.4% from GERG.Paper presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

Anodic oxidation of tantalum in water and biological solutions using current limiting constant voltage method

A reliable method is developed for preparing tantalum pentoxide film targets in natural water and biological fluids (urine, blood plasma and serum) by the anodization of tantalum metal using a current limiting constant voltage method. Tantalum pentoxide film targets are successfully prepared at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² at an anodic voltage ranging from 20 V to 100 V without any oxide breakdown. The results show that for the same applied voltage, more ionic concentration in biological solutions leads to a higher rate of oxide growth than in water and a darker interference color. The analysis shows that anodic oxidation is more likely to breakdown in a biological environment than in pure water for the same oxidation time and applied voltage. The oxide film capacitance is found to be only slightly dependent on pH and anodic voltage with higher capacitive films in biological solutions than for water.     

A consistent co-rotational formulation for shells using the constant stress/constant moment triangle

The simplest facet-shell formulation involves the combination of the constant-strain membrane triangle with a constant-curvature bending triangle. The paper describes a technique whereby this facet-formulation is extended to handle geometric non-linearity by means of a co-rotational procedure. Emphasis is placed on the derivation of a technique that is increment-independent with both the internal force vector and tangent stiffness matrix being derived from the 'total strain measures' in a 'consistent manner'. Numerical examples are presented which demonstrate an excellent numerical performance.     

Measurement of the oxygen isotopic composition of nitrate in seawater and freshwater using the denitrifier method

We report a novel method for measurement of the oxygen isotopic composition (18O/16O) of nitrate (NO3-) from both seawater and freshwater. The denitrifier method, based on the isotope ratio analysis of nitrous oxide generated from sample nitrate by cultured denitrifying bacteria, has been described elsewhere for its use in nitrogen isotope ratio (15N/14N) analysis of nitrate. (1) Here, we address the additional issues associated with 18O/16O analysis of nitrate by this approach, which include (1) the oxygen isotopic difference between the nitrate sample and the N20 analyte due to isotopic fractionation associated with the loss of oxygen atoms from nitrate and (2) the exchange of oxygen atoms with water during the conversion of nitrate to N2O. Experiments with 18O-labeled water indicate that water exchange contributes less than 10%, and frequently less than 3%, of the oxygen atoms in the N20 product for Pseudomonas aureofaciens. In addition, both oxygen isotope fractionation and oxygen atom exchange are consistent within a given batch of analyses. The analysis of appropriate isotopic reference materials can thus be used to correct the measured 18O/16O ratios of samples for both effects. This is the first method tested for 18O/16O analysis of nitrate in seawater. Benefits of this method, relative to published freshwater methods, include higher sensitivity (tested down to 10 nmol and 1 microM NO3-), lack of interference by other solutes, and ease of sample preparation.     

微裂纹扩展的非共线超声混频定位研究

金属结构在早期服役过程中易出现微小裂纹,对早期微小裂纹扩展方向的检测与跟踪对避免结构失效而导致的突发性灾难具有重要的现实意义。基于非共线超声混频方法,开展金属材料微裂纹扩展的定位与表征研究。研究中选择两列横波相互作用产生混频纵波的非共线混频模式,通过实验测量验证了其混频效应和信号的传播性。选用铝合金7075-T6中预制的垂直和倾斜微裂纹为研究对象,提取每个测量点的超声混频非线性参数并进行归一化处理绘制成扫查成像图,从而表征微裂纹的长度与扩展方向。最后,将扫查成像图与光学显微镜的金相观察结果进行对比分析。研究表明,超声混频方法能够有效定位和跟踪铝合金材料中不同扩展方向的微裂纹,可为金属结构中微裂纹扩展提供检测方法。     

Continuum damage growth analysis using element free Galerkin method

This paper presents an elasto-plastic element free Galerkin formulation based on Newton-Raphson algorithm for damage growth analysis. Isotropic ductile damage evolution law is used. A study has been carried out in this paper using the proposed element free Galerkin method to understand the effect of initial damage and its growth on structural response of single and bi-material problems. Asimple method is adopted for enforcing EBCs by scaling the function approximation using a scaling matrix, when non-singular weight functions are used over the entire domain of the problem definition. Numerical examples comprising of oneand two-dimensional problems are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in analysis of uniform and non-uniform damage evolution problems. Effect of material discontinuity on damage growth analysis is also presented.     

Mechanical theory of strain rate sensitivity index m and new method of measurement using constant load

Abstract

In this paper, a set of formulae to determine the value of m (strain rate sensitivity index) using the experimental parameters gauge length l, crosshead velocity V, and load P has been derived from the fundamental definition of m so that a reasonable basis for classification of various methods of measuring m is obtained. A new formula for determining the value of m under constant load has been put forward and based on this new formula a method of measuring and testing equipment for the determination of the value of m under constant load has been studied. Furthermore, the functional relationships between m_l, m_v, and m_p have been determined through mathematical analysis. Finally, a unified method of measuring m_l, m_v, and m_p from one group of tensile testing curves under constant load has been obtained. The experiments have shown the theory and the experimental results to be in such good agreement that the unified theory of phenomenological mechanics and the unified methods of experimental measurement of values of m have thus been reasonably established.

MST/823     

Profiles of the optical absorption constant and interface composition in epitaxial silicon films

The optical quality of epitaxial silicon films grown on sapphire by chemical vapour deposition was investigated as a function of film thickness by spectral reflectance measurements. Under optimum deposition conditions for epitaxy the film quality approaches the bulk value for thicknesses in excess of 0.3 μm. In-depth profiling by means of SIMS supported the idea of aluminium silicate interface layer formation between the sapphire substrate and the silicon film. Diffusion of aluminium into the silicon was also detected.     

A photoluminescence study of defects in non-stoichiometric gallium arsenide using concurrent electrical and structural characterization

Photoluminescence has been used to identify centres associated with point defects and impurities in single crystal gallium arsenide, and this has been correlated with electrical and structural characterization of the same samples. Five different types of defect centre have been identified by this technique in material grown under different conditions of stoichiometry. These studies show systematic differences between the photoluminescence data obtained from stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric gallium arsenide. Precision lattice parameter and density measurements on the same gallium arsenide specimens indicate a deviation from stoichiometry on the arsenic-rich side of the gallium arsenide phase and it is suggested that defects primarily responsible for this stoichiometric deviation are arsenic interstitials in concentrations up to 3×10¹⁸ cm^?3. Photoluminescence measurements associate these defects in arsenic-rich gallium arsenide with an energy level of 0.036 eV.     

A simple method for measuring the dielectric constant of solids

This paper presents a simple method for determining the dielectric constant of a solid material. The method consists of measuring the return loss due to a slab of such material inserted into a rectangular waveguide. The dielectric slab presents a discontinuity inside the waveguide, and the electric field at each interface of the slab is described as a summation of weighted sinusoidal basis functions. The scattered magnetic field on either side of the slab is determined using the modal expansion approach. These weights are solved by using the method of moments on the boundary conditions of continuity of the tangential magnetic field at the interfaces. The component of the electric field (scattered) for the dominant TE₁₀ mode can then be determined in terms of these weights, and from this result the reflection coefficient can be theoretically evaluated. A comparison between the experimentally obtained reflection/transmission coefficient and the theoretical values provide a figure for the dielectric constant of the material