Heat transfer to an immiscible liquid mixture and between liquids in direct contact

Heat transfer to a mixture of two immiscible liquids has been studied in connection with the development of a process for the desalination of sea water. The liquid system consisted of water and refined mineral oil, produced by BP under the trade name of Energol WM-2.Heat transfer to water drops descending through the mineral oil was also investigated. The drag coefficients of the drops in motion were expressed as a function of the Reynolds number. A good correlation was obtained for the heat transfer coefficient expressing the Nusselt number in terms of the Peclet number.Heat transfer to a mixture of two immiscible liquids in co-current turbulent flow without phase change was extensively studied. Friction factor and heat transfer for the oil-in-water type mixtures were theoretically expressed in terms of the volume fraction of oil. The experimental data checked the theoretical derivation quite satisfactorily. No correlations could be obtained for the water-in-oil systems.Similar studies were made for heat transfer in the laminar and turbulent flow with phase change, using a pilot-plant evaporator. Curves were obtained relating the convective heat transfer coefficient to fluid velocity for the liquid mixtures. It was established that, the heat transfer coefficient in evaporation decreased by velocity in the laminar region, but increased in the turbulent region.     

A strategy for biomimetic hybridization of electrospun fiber mat cross-sections

Concentrated synthetic body fluid (c-SBF) recipes have been used in biomimetic deposition of calcium phosphate (CaP) phases on electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) fiber mats. However, cross-sections of mats could not be coated entirely when simple soaking methods had been used. In this study, calcium and phosphate sources that are used in typical c-SBF recipes were placed in two compartments which were separated by PCL fiber mats. By varying the concentrations of calcium and phosphate sources in either compartment according to a thermodynamic model, the difference between pH levels of compartments was adjusted. A gradual and homogeneous increase in supersaturation levels was achieved on both sides of the membrane with the onset of diffusion of species through the membrane. The strategy of separation of c-SBF constituents permitted coatings that extended through the cross-section of mats. In addition, types of CaP phases that can be precipitated on opposite sides of the membrane under different conditions were predicted by the same thermodynamic model. It was possible to coat the cross-sections of mats with the targeted phase mixtures by using the developed modeling approach.     

Effect of intercell interference on cell boundary users in three‐cell and seven‐cell HetCN

Indoor and cell‐edge coverage has been a major issue of concern for predeployed traditional macrocell (MC)–based homogeneous cellular network. Moreover, with the extensive increase of mobile users and developments of smart and highly specified devices, user demands and activities have led to huge cellular traffic. The key solutions to these that include network upgradation, overlaying of small cells (SCs), and scaling of resources have turned out to be the major causes for intercell interference (ICI) and energy‐efficiency degradation in heterogeneous cellular networks (HetCNs). In this paper, authors have tried to analyze the downlink performance metrics of cell boundary users with MCs overlaying SCs for three‐cell circular and seven‐cell sectorized networks through frequency reuse (FR) schemes. This paper also discusses the impact of ICI being encountered by users and the effect of SCs on the energy efficiency of the network. The locations for SCs are perceived where user density is large and demands high data rate such as at hot‐spot (HS) areas, railway stations, shopping malls, working farms, and organization. The performance metrics sum rate, average user throughput, and energy efficiency are compared by employing FR‐1 (full spectrum) and FR‐3 (three subbands) among MCs and deployed SCs. For both scenarios, simulation results and analyses depict that without SCs, utilization of FR‐1 results in performance degradation due to ICI effects. However, the downlink performance of cell boundary user and energy efficiency of the network could be enhanced by overlaying SCs near cell boundaries of preexisting MCs along with the allocation of FR‐1.     

Wavelet weighted distortion measure for retinal images

The diagnostic features of retinal images undergo changes in the course of processing such as for storage, retrieval and transmission. The conventional mean square error and peak signal to noise ratio have limitations in quantifying these local distortions. In this work, a novel wavelet weighted distortion measure (WWDM) is proposed for accurate quantification of diagnostic information loss. The wavelet analysis of retinal image shows that the significant information of a retinal feature is captured by a few subbands. The new approach is based on assigning a weight to each of the subbands depending on its diagnostic significance. The proposed distortion measure is defined as the sum of wavelet weighted root of the normalized mean square error of subbands expressed in percentage. The experimental results show that WWDM performs better in capturing the distortion in retinal features, whereas for distortion in clinically nonsignificant regions, it gives a low value. The qualitative evaluation using Pearson linear correlation coefficient and Spearman rank order correlation coefficient is performed for different artifacts. The investigation shows better correlation values between WWDM and the subjective scores.     

Ordered Mesoporous Metastable α‐MoC1−x with Enhanced Water Dissociation Capability for Boosting Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Activity

The sluggish reaction kinetics of the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) remains an important challenge for water–alkali electrolyzers, which originates predominantly from the additional water dissociation step required for the alkaline HER. In this work, it is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally that metastable, face‐centered‐cubic α‐MoC_1?x phase shows superior water dissociation capability and alkaline HER activity than stable, hexagonal‐close‐packed Mo₂C phase. Next, high surface area ordered mesoporous α‐MoC_1?x (MMC) is designed via a nanocasting method. In MMC structure, the α‐MoC_1?x phase facilitates the water dissociation reaction, while the mesoporous structure with high surface area enables a high dispersion of metal NPs and efficient mass transport. As a result, Pt nanoparticles (NPs) supported on MMC (Pt/MMC) show substantially enhanced alkaline HER activity in terms of overpotentials, Tafel slopes, mass and specific activities, and exchange current densities, compared to commercial Pt/C and Pt NPs supported on particulate α‐MoC_1?x or β‐Mo₂C. Notably, Pt/MMC shows very low Tafel slope of 30 mV dec^–1, which is the lowest value among the reported Pt‐based alkaline HER catalysts, suggesting the critical role of MMC in enhancing the HER kinetics. The promotional effect of MMC support in the alkaline HER is further demonstrated with an Ir/MMC catalyst.     

Frictional Hertzian contact between a laterally graded elastic medium and a rigid circular stamp

This study investigates the problem of sliding frictional contact between a laterally graded elastic medium and a rigid circular stamp. Analytical and computational methods are developed to evaluate the contact stresses. In the analytical formulation, spatial variation in the shear modulus of the graded medium is represented by an exponential function, and Poisson’s ratio is taken as a constant. Coulomb’s dry friction law is assumed to hold within the contact area. The two-dimensional plane elasticity problem is formulated utilizing Fourier transforms, and the resulting Cauchy-type singular integral equation of the second type is solved by applying an expansion–collocation technique. The finite element method is used in the computational analysis of the contact problem. In the finite element model, continuous variation of the shear modulus is taken into account by specifying this property at the centroid of each finite element. The finite element-based solution procedure is verified by making comparisons to the results obtained through the analytical method. Numerical results generated for the laterally graded medium with an exponential variation in the shear modulus illustrate the influences of lateral gradation and coefficient of friction upon the contact stress distributions. The capability of the proposed finite element method is further demonstrated by providing numerical results for a laterally graded medium whose shear modulus is represented by a power function.     

Excitation of local field enhancement on silicon nanowires

The interaction between light and reduced-dimensionality silicon attracts significant interest due to the possibilities of designing nanoscaled optical devices, highly cost-efficient solar cells, and ultracompact optoelectronic systems that are integrated with standard microelectronic technology. We demonstrate that Si nanowires (SiNWs) possessing metal-nanocluster coatings support a multiplicatively enhanced near-field light-matter interaction. Raman scattering from chemisorbed probing molecules provides a quantitative measure of the strength of this enhanced coupling. An enhancement factor of 2 orders of magnitude larger than that for the surface plasmon resonance alone (without the SiNWs) along with the attractive properties of SiNWs, including synthetic controllability of shape, indicates that these nanostructures may be an attractive and versatile material platform for the design of nanoscaled optical and optoelectronic circuits.     

Instrumented indentation and scratch testing evaluation of tribological properties of tin-based bearing materials

This paper describes a study of some fundamental tribological behavior of two different tin-based bearing materials using scratch and Martens hardness techniques. The scratch test results obtained from the two different tin-based bearing materials were correlated with a function of scratch hardness and coefficient of friction. It is easily observed that the friction coefficients of WM5 are lower than those of WM2 under all scratch test conditions. Beside this, it is clearly distinguished that both materials give higher friction coefficients at higher normal loads and scratch velocities. Also it is found that scratch hardness values of the WM5 materials are higher than WM2 generally. Moreover, optical microscopy was used to determine the scratch hardness of two different tin-based bearing materials by examining the scratch widths. Scanning electron microscopic observations of two different tin-based bearing materials were performed in order to identify the scratch-deformation mechanisms and trace morphology. Beside scratch tests, Martens hardness tests were carried out to evaluate the indentation of materials by considering both the force and displacement during plastic and elastic deformation. By monitoring the complete cycle of increasing and removal of the test force, hardness values were determined.