Electrochemical behavior of magnolol on FeWO<Subscript>4</Subscript> nanoflower modified carbon paste electrode

In order to establish a simple, sensitive, and fast reliable detection method to determine the magnolol, FeWO₄ nanoflower was synthesised through a solvothermal technique and FeWO₄ nanoflower modified carbon paste electrode (CPE) was developed. The voltammetric behavior of magnolol on the modified electrodes was studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The experimental results showed that the modified electrode remarkably enhanced the electrochemical response of the magnolol and exhibited a wide linear range for determination of the magnolol from 1.0×10^-7 to 1.0×10^-4 mol/L with a low detection limit of 5.0×10^-8 mol/L.     

600 mesh silicon carbide corona protection varnish with epoxy/OMMT nano-composite adhesive

A new corona protection varnish was prepared by using epoxy/montmorillonite nano-composite and pure epoxy resin as adhesives respectively. The adhesive with different amounts of organic montmorillonite (OMMT) was mixed with 1200 mesh silicon carbide (SiC) by different weight ratios. The surface states of the varnishes with various adhesives were observed by powerful optical microscope. Some properties of the varnishes were analyzed during the enduring time under 5kV/cm DC, such as the relation of change in nonlinear coefficient, natural surface resistivity, and surface temperature variation. The results showed that the amounts of OMMT had little effect on the natural surface resistance of the varnish but had important influence on the nonlinear property of the varnish. When the range of the OMMT content was 2wt% to 6wt%, the nonlinear coefficient of all materials with epoxy/OMMT nano-composite adhesive was higher than that with pure epoxy resin adhesive. The surface temperature of the varnish with epoxy/OMMT nanocomposite adhesive was all lower than that with the pure epoxy resin adhesive under high electrical field strength.     

Effect of aluminum addition on microstructure and properties of SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-B<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>-Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>-CaO vitrified bond

Influence of aluminum addition on the structures and properties of SiO₂-B₂O₃-Al₂O₃-CaO vitrified bond at low sintering temperature and high strength was discussed. FTIR and XRD analyses were used to characterize the structures of the basic vitrified bond with different contents of aluminum. The bending strength and the thermal expansion coefficients were also tested. Meanwhile, the microstructures of composite specimens at sintering temperature of 660 °C were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The experimental results showed that the properties of vitrified bond with 1wt% aluminum were improved significantly, where the bending strength, Rockwell hardness, and thermal expansion coefficient of the vitrified bond reached 132 MPa, 63 HRB, and 6.73×10^-6 °C^-1, respectively.     

Automatic detection of depth of cut during end milling operation using acoustic emission sensor

Any shortfall in the required depth during milling machining can affect the dimensional accuracy of the part produced and can cause a catastrophic failure to the machine. Corrective remedies to fix the dimensions inaccuracy will increase the machining time and costs. In this work, a depth-of-cut monitoring system was proposed to detect depth of cut in real time using an acoustic emission sensor and prediction model. The characteristics of the sensor signal obtained in machining processes can be complex in terms of both nonlinearity and nonstationarity. To overcome this complexity, a regression model and an artificial neural network model were used to represent the relationship between the acoustic emission signal and the depth of cut. The model was tested under different machining cases and found to be efficient in predicting the depth of cut.     

Thermal deformation analysis of tabbed solar cells using solder alloy and conductive film

Finite element analysis (FEA) has been carried out with the aim of understanding the thermal deformation characteristics of two solar cell configurations. One of the solar cell models is tabbed by lead-free solder, the other model by Conductive film (CF). A high temperature soldering process could weaken the bond and reduce the reliability of the cells because of the residual stress caused by the different thermal expansion coefficients of the materials. Moreover, solar irradiation generates temperature distribution across the surface of the solar cell, and the development of solar cells made of thinner crystalline silicon wafers will lead to the reduction in manufacturing costs. In this study, Finite element analysis (FEA) of the manufacturing process has been carried out using both solder and CF bonding. Three temperature cycles were applied to analyze different environmental operating conditions and understand how thermal cycles affect the residual stress during actual service conditions. This investigation provides a comparison of thermal deformations between solder and CF bonded solar cells in order to understand which offers substantial reliability in the long term. Also this study explores the effects of various thicknesses of the silicon wafer on the residual stress and deformation of the solar cells.     

A new hardening rule for metallic foam plasticity

Metallic foams are a class of porous materials widely used in the industry because of their advantages. In recent years, extensive studies on the behavior of these materials have been conducted. Several constitutive equations have also been presented and applied. This study proposes a new constitutive equation that predicts metallic foam behavior using the stress–strain curve in uniaxial compression. The proposed model offers a new functionality for work hardening and is evaluated for both isotropic and combined hardening. The constitutive equations are implemented in MATLAB and integrated using return mapping algorithm. The material parameters are identified using genetic algorithm and through a comparison of the experimental and numerical results. The aluminum foams discussed in this paper are the commercially available types, Foaminal and Alporas. The comparison of numerical and experimental results indicate that this new constitutive equation predicts foam behavior in a reasonable manner. Moreover, a good agreement is observed between the experimental and computational curves.