Modular tool concept and process design for micro impact extrusion

Micro impact extrusion is an appropriate mass production technology for micro structuring of sheet metal. The technology was applied to form sample geometries consisting of ten precision cavities which are intended to be collets for the form- and force-locked integration of piezo rods for later usage of the sheets as “smart sheet metal”. For reasons of flexibility, a modular tool concept was studied and applied. It allows a flexible arrangement of geometry elements but introduces new aspects which need to be considered. This study investigated the influences of tribological- and process parameters onto the microforming process. Therefore forming experiments were performed with different die coatings (titanium nitride, titanium carbon nitride, amorphous carbon), different lubricants (common oil, forming lubricant and without lubrication), as well as two die materials. In contrast to forming processes with established monolithic die configurations, phenomena like tilted structures and the appearance of unwanted burr were investigated. For creating structures with minimal tolerances, these effects need to be considered. The investigation of the influence of process parameters showed, that the lowest surface roughness was achieved without lubrication. Furthermore low-friction coatings and harder die materials improved the forming results.     

Ultra dispersed particles of Fe(III) compounds in the strongly basic crosslinked ionic polymer-precursors for new sorbents and catalysts

The Mössbauer spectroscopy and SEM investigation shows that crosslinked ionic polymers containing strongly basic functional groups adsorb Fe(III)-containing cations from sulphate solution through the formation in the polymer phase of high dispersed particles of jarosite mineral type compounds. Using different procedures the particles sizes and morphology, their repartition on the surface and in the volume of the polymer granule, the composition of the “polymer-inorganic compound” structural units were modified that is important for sorbents and catalysts obtaining. On heating in water medium in a boiling water bath, a part of the jarosite type compounds in the polymer phase is converted into ultra fine β-FeOOH particles in superparamagnetic state and the rest, in relatively massive and magnetically ordered β-FeOOH particles. The higher is the content of the Fe(III) in the polymer phase, the shorter is the duration of heating in water for the appearance of relatively massive particles of β-FeOOH. The particles of the jarosite type compounds and of the β-FeOOH are formed both on the surface and in the volume of the polymer granule. Upon heating in water, a part of the Fe(III)-containing particles have migrated from the volume of the polymer granule to the surface. Thermogravimetric investigation (in an N₂ atmosphere) shows that on heating of the Fe(III)-containing polymer sample up to 900 °C, complicated processes take place.     

Chemical modification of chloromethylated polysulfones via click reactions

A new approach to the modification of azidomethyl polyethersulfones using click reactions with acetylenic derivatives in the presence of CuBr as catalyst is presented. An azidomethyl polyethersulfone was prepared by the reaction of chloromethylated polysulfone with sodium azide in dimethylformamide. By the Cu(I)‐catalysed Huisgen 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition reaction of the azidomethyl polyethersulfone to acetylenic derivatives, new polyethersulfones containing 1,2,3‐triazole rings were obtained. The structures of the polymers were confirmed using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared and NMR spectroscopy. The polymers were characterized using dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, stress‐strain and water contact angle measurements and solubility tests. The polymers bearing 1,2,3‐triazole rings having OH or COOH as substituents exhibited static contact angles smaller than that of the parent polyethersulfone. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Profiling the operational behavior of OS device drivers

As the complexity of modern Operating Systems (OS) increases, testing key OS components such as device drivers (DD) becomes increasingly complex given the multitude of possible DD interactions. Currently, DD testing entails a broad spectrum of techniques, where static (requiring source code) and dynamic (requiring the executable image) and static-dynamic testing combinations are employed. Despite the sustained and improving test efforts in the field of driver development, DDs still represent a significant cause of system outages as the coverage is invariably limited by test resources and release time considerations. The basic factor is the inability to exhaustively assess and then cover the operational states, leading to releases of inadequately tested DDs. Consequently, if representative operational activity profiles of DDs within an OS could be obtained, these could significantly improve the understanding of the actual operational DD state space and help focus the test efforts. Focusing on characterizing DD operational activities while assuming no access to source code, this paper proposes a quantitative technique for profiling the runtime behavior of DDs using a set of occurrence and temporal metrics obtained via I/O traffic characterization. Such profiles are used to improve test adequacy against real-world workloads by enabling similarity quantification across them. The profiles also reveal execution hotspots in terms of DD functionalities activated in the field, thus allowing for dedicated test campaigns. A case study on actual Windows XP and Vista drivers using various performance and stability benchmarks as workloads substantiates our proposed approach.     

Influence of Manganese and Nickel on the α´ Martensite Transformation Temperatures of High Alloyed Cr‐Mn‐Ni Steels

The martensite start temperature (M_s), the martensite austenite re‐transformation start temperature (A_s) and the re‐transformation finish temperature (A_f) of six high alloyed Cr‐Mn‐Ni steels with varying Ni and Mn contents in the wrought and as‐cast state were studied. The aim of this investigation is the development of the relationships between the M_s, A_s, A_f, T₀ temperatures and the chemical composition of a new type of Cr‐Mn‐Ni steels. The investigations show that the M_s, A_s and A_f temperatures decrease with increasing nickel and manganese contents. The A_f temperature depends on the amount of martensite. Regression equations for the transformation temperatures are given. The experimental results are based on dilatometer tests and microstructure investigations.     

Comparison of PVD, PECVD & PEALD Ru(-C) films as Cu diffusion barriers by means of bias temperature stress measurements

The diffusion barrier properties of PVD Ru and PECVD / PEALD Ru-C films, deposited by RuEtcp₂ precursor and N₂/H₂ plasma, were compared on the basis of bias temperature stress measurements. An MIS test structure was used to distinguish between thermal diffusion induced by annealing and a Cu field drift due to applied electric fields. BTS-CV, TZDB and TDDB measurements revealed that the barrier performance is significantly better for PEALD and PECVD Ru-C films. This improvement is associated with carbon impurities in the Ru films with a concentration in the order of several percent according to ToF-SIMS and ERDA. The TDDB mean time to failure at 250 °C, +5 MV/cm was 7 s for PVD Ru samples, ≈500 s for PECVD Ru-C, ≈800 s for PEALD Ru-C and >3600 s for PVD TaN. Triangular voltage sweep measurements at 300 °C, 0.1 V/s confirmed the presence of Cu ions inside the SiO₂ for degraded dots, in contrast to the Al reference sample and to PVD TaN, which performed best among all the Cu barriers under test. XRD data suggests that PEALD and PECVD Ru-C films are only weakly crystalline.     

Studies on physico-chemical and antibacterial properties of grafted pullulans solutions

The physico-chemical properties of three grafted pullulans (P) having linked poly(3-acrylamidopropyl)trimethylammonium chloride (pAPTAC) as side chains (P-g-pAPTAC1, P-g-pAPTAC2 and P-g-pAPTAC3 with 22.53, 29.05, and 34.51 (wt.%) of pAPTAC content in polymer, respectively) and possessing polyelectrolyte character were determined by light scattering analysis. All grafted pullulan aqueous solutions were tested in the presence of 0.5 M NaCl, KCl, NaNO₃ or KNO₃. The biggest associations were recorded in 0.5 M NaCl aqueous solutions for P-g-pAPTAC1, P-g-pAPTAC2 and P-g-pAPTAC3 according to the maximum values for R_g extracted from MALLS (multiangle laser light scattering) measurements. Also, the dominant conformation in salted solution of these polyelectrolytes was random coil as Debye plot analysis revealed. Antibacterial activity was tested by Kirby–Bauer diffusion method and all grafted pullulans dissolved in aqueous solutions of 0.5 M NaCl have developed inhibition zone against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923).     

Einfluß der Warmverformung auf das Umwandlungsverhalten und das Gefüge von verschiedenen niedriglegierten Stählen

Bei der Ermittlung von kontinuierlichen ZTU-Schaubildern unter dem Einfluß einer Warmverformung von rund 50% wurde festgestellt, daß die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen der verformungs- und legierungsbedingten Realstruktur des Austenits und den Umwandlungsvorgängen bei der anschließenden Abkühlung sich stark auf die Kinetik der γ/α-Umwandlung auswirkt. Änderungen im Löslichkeitsverhalten und in der Diffusionskinetik der Legierungselemente sowie in der Selbstdiffusion des Eisens als Folge der durch die bei der Umformung eingebrachten Gitterfehler im Austenit beeinflussen sowohl die Keimbildung als auch das Wachstum der verschiedenen Umwandlungsphasen. Die Ergebnisse von Versuchen an mehreren niedriglegierten Kohlenstoffstählen zeigen auf, daß die Austenitumwandlung zu Ferrit und Perlit durch eine erhöhte Konzentration an Gitterleerstellen infolge der Warmumformung beschleunigt wird. Die martensitische Umwandlung wird ebenso von der Defektstellenkonzentration im verformten Austenit in dem Sinne beeinflußt, daß die Martensit-Starttemperatur M_s im Vergleich zum unverformten Zustand zu etwa 30 bis 40°C niedrigeren Werten verschoben wird. Es liegen Beweise vor, daß die Erniedrigung der M_s-Temperatur zusätzlich mit der Entstehung einer starken {123} ?412?-Austenittextur verknüpft ist. Bei umwandlungsträgen Stahlsorten wurden beim kontinuierlichen Abkühlen umwandlungsfreie Bereiche zwischen der Ferrit/Perlit- und Bainitstufe als Folge der Warmumformung festgestellt. Teilweise wird die bainitische Umwandlung völlig unterdrückt. Die Ausbildung einer starken Textur im Austenit vor der Bainitumwandlung führt zu einer Senkung der Bainit-Starttemperatur von bis zu 100°C bei höheren Abkühlraten.     

Action of some organophosphonic compounds on a diglycidyl ether-bisphenol-A epoxy resin

The effect of three organophosphonic compounds on the thermooxidative degradation of the uncured diglycidyl ether-bisphenol-A epoxy resin was investigated, using infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, differential thermogravimetry, static pyrolysis, pyrolysis-gas chromatography and elemental analysis. The results obtained indicate that additives with phosphorus and chlorine or nitrogen in molecules exercise an influence upon the degradative process of uncured resin by catalysing its decomposition in the lower temperature region. At the same time, the tested additives promote the formation of highly thermostable and non-flammable structures in the solid residue.