Complementary effects of solid lubricants in the automotive brake lining

An experimental investigation was carried out to examine the tribological behavior of NAO (non-asbestos organic) type brake linings containing different volume ratios of graphite and antimony trisulfide (Sb₂S₃). A scale dynamometer was used for friction tests and particular emphases were given to the effect of applied pressure, sliding speed, and temperature on the coefficient of friction according to the relative amounts of the two solid lubricants. Results showed that the brake linings with both solid lubricants exhibited better friction stability and less speed sensitivity than the friction materials containing a single solid lubricant. In particular, the brake lining containing higher concentrations of graphite showed better fade resistance than others during high-temperature friction test.     

Synthesis of Mg-α-sialon from the mixture of silicon, aluminum and magnesia powders in a flowing nitrogen atmosphere

Synthesis of Mg-α-Sialon has been investigated by the mixture of silicon, aluminum and magnesia powders in a flowing nitrogen atmosphere in the range of 1300–1600 °C, when Mg-α-Sialon is designed with a chemical formulation of Mg _x Si_12−3x Al_3x O _x N_16−x in present work. The results showed that Mg-α-sialon initially occurred at 1400 °C and basically increased with elevated temperatures. For the samples of x = 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 the products mainly consisted of Mg-α-Sialon with small amounts of Si, AlN and 21R AlN-polytypoid phases at 1600° C. However, in final products of x = 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6 only a little of Mg-α-Sialon formed and a great amount of Si remained in these samples at all the fired temperatures. Fortunately, the content of Mg-α-Sialon in these samples were obviously increased by adding a small amount of α-Si₃N₄ as seeds before nitridation.     

A Study on NMR and GC/MS Spectra of the Isomers of Linear Hexyl Naphthalene

The GC/MS and NMR analysis of the reaction products of naphthalene with 1-bromohexane were reported. The products obtained were suggested to have six isomers of linear hexylnaphthalene and the structure of each isomer was determined by GC/MS and NMR spectra. For the first time, the unique chemical shift data were obtained. The content of each isomer calculated by ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectra was consistent with that by GC/MS spectra, which confirmed the accuracy of NMR data.     

One-to-Many and Many-to-One Optical Chaos Communications Using Semiconductor Lasers

A theoretical construction of one-to-many (OTM) and many-to-one (MTO) chaos synchronization communications using semiconductor lasers is presented. One center laser provides strong injections (strong link) to other side lasers, and the side lasers also provide weak injections (weak link) to the center one. Simulation results show that the side lasers synchronize with the center laser through injection-locking. In addition, messages transmitted via the strong links or the weak links experience strong chaos pass filtering, enabling us to realize OTM and MTO communications.     

Automating application software generation

Many approaches have been proposed to enhance software productivity and reliability. These approaches typically fall into three categories: the engineering approach, the formal approach and the knowledge-based approach. But the optimal gain in software productivity cannot be obtained if one relies on only one of these approaches. This paper describes the work in knowledge-based software engineering conducted by the authors for the past 10 years. The final goal of the research is to develop a paradigm for software engineering which integrates the three approaches mentioned above. A knowledge-based tool which can support the whole process of software development is provided in this paper.     

Estimation for the number of components in a mixture model using stepwise split-and-merge EM algorithm

The main difficulty with EM algorithm for mixture model concerns the number of components, say g. This is the question of model selection, and the EM algorithm itself could not estimate g. On the contrary, the algorithm requires g to be specified before the remaining parameters can be estimated. To solve this problem, a new algorithm, which is called stepwise split-and-merge EM (SSMEM) algorithm, is proposed. The SSMEM algorithm alternately splits and merges components, estimating g and other parameters of components simultaneously. Also, two novel criteria are introduced to efficiently select the components for split or merge. Experimental results on simulated and real data demonstrate the effectivity of the proposed algorithm.     

一种前馈型全摆幅恒跨导准恒增益CMOS运放设计

设计了一种适合在低电源电压下工作的前馈型输入级放大结构，在全摆幅的动态工作范围内，输入级跨导保持不变，采用负载电流补偿以保证增益近似恒定，输出采用前馈型AB类输结构，实现全摆幅输出。     

Application of piece‐wise linear weight functions for 2D 8‐node quadrilateral element in contact problems

The present study is a continuation of our previous work with the aim to reduce problems caused by standard higher order elements in contact problems. The difficulties can be attributed to the inherent property of the Galerkin method which gives uneven distributions of nodal forces resulting in oscillating contact pressures. The proposed remedy is use of piece‐wise linear weight functions. The methods to establish stiffness and/or mass matrix for 8‐node quadrilateral element in 2D are presented, i.e. the condensing and direct procedures. The energy and nodal displacement error norms are also checked to establish the convergence ratio. Interpretation of calculated contact pressures is discussed. Two new 2D 8‐node quadrilateral elements, QUAD8C and QUAD8D, are derived and tested in many examples, which show their good performance in contact problems. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A two-dimensional time-domain finite element formulation for periodic structures

A formulation is presented for a two-dimensional time-domain finite-element method (FEM-TD) that incorporates periodic boundaries. The specifics of the method are shown for scattering problems, but it should be straightforward to extend it to radiation problems. The method solves for a transformed field variable (instead of solving directly for the electric field) in order to easily enable periodic boundary conditions in the time domain. The accuracy and stability of the method is demonstrated by a series of examples where the new formulation is compared with reference solutions. Very accurate results are obtained when the excitation (frequency range) and the geometry are such that no higher order Floquet modes are present. The accuracy is degraded in the presence of higher order modes due to the rather simple absorbing boundary condition that is used with the present formulation. The method is found to be stable even for angles of incidence close to grazing.