Nickel and chromium cycles: Stocks and flows project part IV

Nickel and chromium are essential ingredients in alloys increasingly important for energy-efficient, environmentally friendly modern technology. Quantitative assessment of the flows of these metals through the world economy from resource extraction to final disposal informs resource policy, energy planning, environmental science, and waste management. This article summarizes the worldwide technological cycles of nickel and chromium in 2000. Stainless steel is the major use of these metals, but they serve numerous other special needs, as in superalloys for high-temperature service, as plating materials, and in coinage. Because they are used primarily in alloys, novel recycling issues arise as their use becomes more widespread. “... the great New York and St. Louis double track, nickel plated railroad...” — Norwalk, Ohio, Chronicle 10 March 1881 announces arrival of surveyors for the future Nickel Plate Railway “Later [1911] I formed an alloy of Iron and Chromium, which showed remarkable resistance to rust and tarnish ... [It was] rediscovered by an Englishman named Brearley, in 1914.” —Elwood Haynes to Stephen F. Roberts, 17 January 1925     

Influence of the silicon surface treatment by plasma etching and scratching on the nucleation of diamond grown in HFCVD - a comparative study

A comparative study for the nucleation of diamond was carried out using surface treatment like (i) surface scratching with 1 μm diamond paste and (ii) surface etching using chlorine plasma at different RF powers (50, 100 and 150 W). Atomic force microscopic study shows variation in roughness from 31 nm to 110 nm. Scratching results in random scratches, whereas plasma etches a surface uniformly. Scanning electron microscopic observations show well faceted crystallites with a predominance of angular shaped grains corresponding to 〈100〉 and 〈110〉 crystallite surfaces for the scratched as well as plasma etched substrate. Surface etching at 150 W plasma power results in a better growth in comparison with 50 and 100 W plasma powers. Chlorine-radical is found responsible for the changes in the growth morphology. Raman spectroscopy shows a sharp peak at 1,332 cm⁻¹ and a peak at ∼1,580 cm⁻¹ for both samples.     

Effect of Stress State on Growth of Interfacial Intermetallic Compounds Between Sn-Ag-Cu Solder and Cu Substrates Coated with Electroless Ni Immersion Au

Excessive intermetallic compound (IMC) growth in solder joints will significantly decrease the reliability of the joints. IMC growth is known to be influenced by numerous factors during the component fabrication process and in service. It is reported that, other than temperature and holding time, stress can also influence the IMC growth behavior. However, no existing method can be used to study the effect of stress state on IMC growth in a controlled manner. This paper presents a novel method to study the effect of stress on interfacial IMC growth between Sn-Ag-Cu solder and a Cu substrate coated with electroless Ni immersion Au (ENIG). A C-ring was used and in-plane bending induced tensile and compressive stresses were applied by tightening the C-ring. Results revealed that in-plane compressive stress led to faster IMC growth as compared with in-plane tensile stress.     

非水解溶胶-凝胶法低温合成硅酸锆

以工业纯ZrCl4、 Si(OC2H5)4为前驱体,通过非水解溶胶-凝胶法合成了硅酸锆.采用DTA-TG和XRD等测试手段研究了凝胶热处理过程中的物相变化.结果表明:当前驱体溶胶中未引入矿化剂时,硅酸锆的合成温度高达1450℃;相比之下,溶胶中引入矿化剂LiF后在600℃下便开始出现了ZrSiO4衍射峰,在700℃合成的硅酸锆不仅合成率高,而且晶体发育好,实现了低温合成硅酸锆的目标.     

Material removal and surface damage in EDM of Ti3SiC2 ceramic

Material removal and surface damage of Ti₃SiC₂ ceramic during electrical discharge machining (EDM) were investigated. Melting and decomposition were found to be the main material removal mechanisms during the machining process. Material removal rate was enhanced acceleratively with increasing discharge current, i_e, working voltage, u_i, but increased deceleratively with pulse duration, t_e. Microcracks in the surface and loose grains in the subsurface resulted from thermal shock were confirmed, and the surface damage in Ti₃SiC₂ ceramic led to a degradation of both strength and reliability.     

Effect of fluoropolymer antidripping agent on the microstructure and properties of polyesters

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is of excellent mechanical properties and melt processability and is widely used as raw material for textile fibers. However, the flame retardant properties of PET were rather poor, and both reactive and additive phosphorus- and halogen-containing compounds have been employed to enhance the reaction-to-fire properties while the meltdripping behaviour during burning hasn’t been handled properly with the flame retardants. In this work, fluoropolymer was blended with both pure PET (pPET) and reactive phosphorus-containing flame retarded copolyester (fPET), and the flame retardance and char formation and mechanical properties of the resulted pPET and fPET blends were investigated. The tensile strengths of modified pPET samples were worsen whereas those of modified fPET samples were improved at low concentrations. The initial thermal degradation in nitrogen was accelerated remarkably for the two polyesters with fluoropolymer. The oxygen indices of the all modified samples were reduced while char formation and meltdripping suppression were encouraged. The apparent melt viscosity and elasticity for the two polyesters were gained much with antidripping agent. Therefore, fluoropolymer improved char formation of the two polyesters based on the gaseous phase mechanism while the partial suppression of meltdripping behavior and the decrease of mechanical properties mainly originated from the increase of melt viscosity via fibrillation for pPET.     

Geotechnical properties of the soft soil in Guangzhou College City

The paper describes some geotechnical properties of the soft soils in Guangzhou College City, China, which are difficult to both sample and test. Laboratory and in situ tests were carried out to assess the physical and mechanical indices of the soils. The data were statistically analyzed and linear regression undertaken such that equations could be developed by which the geotechnical properties of the soft soils can be predicted. The statistical validity of the degree of correlation confirmed that using these equations, the mechanical indices can be estimated from physical indices determined by routine testing.      

Equilibrium and crystallographic measurements of the binary tetrahydrofuran and helium clathrate hydrates

Clathrate compounds are crystalline materials formed by a physical interaction between host and relatively light guest molecules. Various types of nano-sized cages surrounded by host frameworks exist in the highly unique crystalline structures and free guest molecules are entrapped in an open host-guest network. Recently, we reported two peculiar phenomena, swapping and tuning, naturally occurring in the hydrate cages. Helium, one of the smallest light guest molecules, must be the challengeable material in the sense of physics and moreover possesses versatile applications in the field of superconductivity technology and thermonuclear industry. In this regard, we attempted for the first time to synthesize helium hydrates at moderate temperature and pressure conditions. According to inclusion phenomena, helium itself normally cannot form clathrate hydrates due to being too small molecularly without the help of hydrate former molecules (sI, sII, and sH formers). In this study, the hydrate equilibria of the binary clathrate hydrate containing tetrahydrofuran, helium, and water were determined at 2, 3, 5.56 THF mol%. Direct volumetric measurements were also carried out to confirm the exact amount of helium captured in the hydrate cages. Finally, the crystalline structure of the formed mixed hydrates was identified by powder X-ray diffraction, resulting in structure II.     

Algorithms for multiprocessor scheduling with two job lengths and allocation restrictions

A variant of the High Multiplicity Multiprocessor Scheduling Problem with C job lengths is considered, in which jobs can be processed only by machines not greater than a given index. When C=2, polynomial algorithms are proposed, for the feasibility version of the problem and for maximizing the number of scheduled jobs.