Fabrication of optics by use of plasma chemical vaporization machining with a pipe electrode

We figure optical surfaces by plasma chemical vaporization machining (CVM) with a pipe electrode, in which an rf plasma generated at the electrode tip under approximately atmospheric pressure moves over the surfaces. We propose a shaping method in which the movement of plasma on the surfaces can be determined. Flat and aspheric surfaces are successfully figured with the desired peak-to-valley shape accuracy of 0.1 microm. The root-mean-square roughness of the resultant surfaces is at the subnanometer level. These results confirm that the plasma CVM and the shaping method have the capability to fabricate optics with high accuracy.     

An anodic alumina supported Ni–Pt bimetallic plate-type catalysts for multi-reforming of methane,kerosene and ethanol

An anodic alumina supported Ni–Pt bimetallic plate-type catalyst was prepared by a two-step impregnation method. The trace amount 0.08 wt% of Pt doping efficiently suppressed the nickel particle sintering and improved the nickel oxides reducibility. The prepared Ni–Pt catalyst showed excellent performance during steam reforming of methane, kerosene and ethanol under both 3000 h stationary and 500-time daily start-up and shut-down operation modes. Self-activation ability of this catalyst was evidenced, which was considered to be resulted from the hydrogen spillover effect over Ni–Pt alloy. In addition, an integrated combustion-reforming reactor was proposed in this study. However, the sintering of the alumina support is still a critical issue for the industrialization of Ni–Pt catalyst.     

Synthesis and surface properties of novel fluoroalkyl end-capped amphiphilic fullerene cooligomers

New fluoroalkyl end-capped fullerene cooligomers were prepared by the reactions of fluoroalkanoyl peroxides with fullerene and comonomers such as acryloylmorpholine, N,N-dimethylacrylamide and acrylic acid. These fluorinated fullerene cooligomers were easily soluble in water and common organic solvents, and were able to reduce the surface tensions of both water and benzene, quite effectively. Additionally, these fullerene cooligomers were found to form a stable monomolecular film at the air-water interface, and the modified polystyrene surface treated with these cooligomers was shown to have a strong hydrophilicity with good oil repellency.     

Organic LED full-color passive-matrix display

Abstract— A full-color 5.2-inch 1/4-VGA passive-matrix organic LED display has been developed, adopting selective deposition for the different emitting materials. The display features 320 (×3) × 240 pixels with an equivalent pixel size of 0.33 × 0.33 mm, white peak luminance of over 150 cd/m², and power consumption of 6 W.     

An Automatic Guidance System of a Self-Controlled Vehicle

An automatically guided vehicle, traveling without fixed guide ways, has been developed. In this paper, the construction of the vehicle, the control algorithm, and its general performance are described.     

Chemical dehydrofluorination and electrical conductivity of poly(vinylidene fluoride) films

The dehydrofluorination of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) powder and films was studied using several kinds of base solution. Especially the reactivity of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]-7-undecene (DBU) in ethanol, KOH in 2-propanol and aqueous NaOH solution with tetrabutylammonium bromide was investigated by the change in infrared (IR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-VI) absorptions of PVDF films. The elimination reactions by DBU or KOH were considered to be accompanied by substitution reaction. The electrical conductivity of dehydrofluorinated PVDF films increased markedly by doping with iodine, and the activation energies of conduction were found to be between 0.4 and 0.5 eV. When a drawn PVDF film was dehydrofluorinated and doped with iodine, anisotropy in conductivity was observed.     

An undulator with a composite magnetic field

A new type of undulator greatly improved in tunability as compared with a usual undulator, is proposed. The undulator has a composite magnetic field which is a linear superposition of two sinusoidally varying fields with different spatial periods. The wavelength can be changed by varying the field strength of the longer-period component while keeping that of the shorter-period component at the highest possible value. Numerical calculations of the spectral brightness were carried out. The proper ratios between the two spatial periods were found to be 3:1, 5:1 and 7:1.     

Approximate method of estimating seismic performance of high‐rise buildings with oil‐dampers

When subjected to long‐period ground motions, many existing high‐rise buildings constructed on plains with soft, deep sediment layers experience severe lateral deflection, caused by the resonance between the long‐period natural frequency of the building and the long‐period ground motions, even if they are far from the epicenter. This was the case for a number of buildings in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka affected by the ground motions produced by the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake in Japan. Oil‐dampers are commonly used to improve the seismic performance of existing high‐rise buildings subjected to long‐period ground motion. This paper proposes a simple but accurate analytical method of predicting the seismic performance of high‐rise buildings retrofitted with oil‐dampers installed inside and/or outside of the frames. The method extends the authors' previous one‐dimensional theory to a more general method that is applicable to buildings with internal and external oil‐dampers installed in an arbitrary story. The accuracy of the proposed method is demonstrated through numerical calculations using a model of a high‐rise building with and without internal and external oil‐dampers. The proposed method is effective in the preliminary stages of improving the seismic performance of high‐rise buildings.