Analysis of Hot Isotatic Pressing of Presintered Zirconia

Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) of presintered Y-TZP was studied at 1100° to 1400°C, 5 to 200 MPa, for 0.5 to 4 h. The effects of process variables of HIP and the characteristics of the presintered specimens on the densification behavior of HIP were examined. The microstructural development after HIP was also examined. Grain growth occurred during the densification in HIP. Empirically, a linear relation having a rather constant slope was found between the logarithms of porosities and grain sizes, for each starting condition. Provided this relationship was taken into account, the Ashby's model for HIP could express the densification process for this system satisfactorily.     

Superconductors of the BPSCCO system obtained from rapid cooling process

Bi-based (BPSCCO) superconductors have been extensively studied due to their interesting superconducting properties, especially those that present high transition temperature (T_c). In this work, superconductors of the BPSCCO system were prepared from rapid cooling process and studied under its structural and magnetic properties. Sample as-prepared shows an amorphous behavior, which is converted progressively into 2223 phase. This process permits the control of Pb or Bi loss and the crystallization of the desired phase using several heat annealing processes. The 2201 and 2212 phases were also observed as intermediate phases, before the crystallization of the 2223 phase. The superconductor obtained in this work presented a T_c around 77-K.     

An event-driven simulation method for motor driver in virtual machine tool system

In this paper, an event-driven simulation method is proposed for the motor driver in a virtual machine tool system (VMT), of which simulation speed is always a puzzle. This method utilizes a set of pre-defined events to trigger the execution of simulator in a non-deterministic manner and at the most efficient moment. Comparing to the conventional time domain simulation method, it dramatically reduces the CPU time consumption without losing simulation accuracy, therefore it improves the simulation efficiency. The effectiveness of this method is verified through a PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor) motor driver model in studying Servo/Mechanical interaction within a VMT.     

Effect of oxidized carbon black on the mechanical properties and molecular motions of natural rubber studied by pulse NMR

The mechanical properties such as elastic modulus and stress-relaxation and spin-spin relaxation time T₂ from pulse NMR were measured for surface-oxidized carbon-black-filled natural rubber. The extent of reinforcement increased with CB volume percent in the range of 0–30%. At a given CB percent, this quantity increased by surface oxidation of fillers and decreasing filler size. From pulse NMR experiment, it was found that there were three components in rubber molecules which have different values for T₂. Stress-relaxation time and elastic moduli fitted one master curve against effective volume, fraction which is the sum of filler and bound rubber fraction. It was found that the distance between particle surfaces is the most important factor influencing reinforcing properties of filled polymers.     

Development of an electrochemical‐surface plasmon dual biosensor based on carboxylated conducting polymer thin films

A biosensing platform based on the covalent attachment of biomolecules on electropolymerized carboxylated conducting polymers, poly(3‐aminobenzoic acid) and poly(3‐pyrrole carboxylic acid), were developed for the selective simultaneous detection of two biomolecules using electrochemical‐surface plasmon resonance (EC–SPR) spectroscopy. The surface morphology of the developed biosensors was studied by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The EC–SPR dual biosensor was developed for the label‐free, simultaneous, and selective detection of glucose and human immunoglobulin G (IgG). A change in current density was clearly observed after the injection of glucose, whereas a change in SPR reflectivity was clearly observed after the injection of human IgG. The present work demonstrates the potential of this biosensing platform for real sample analysis in the future. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 45641.     

Nanostructured carbon nanotubes/copper phthalocyanine hybrid multilayers prepared using layer-by-layer self-assembly approach

In this report, we demonstrate a convenient method of fabricating single-walled carbon nanotubes/organic semiconductor hybrid ultrathin multilayers using a layer-by-layer self-assembly approach. Single-walled carbon nanotubes were solubilized by water-soluble cationic alcian blue pyridine variant and anionic copper phthalocyanine-3,4′,4″,4′″-tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt, which were then utilized for electrostatic layer-by-layer multilayer fabrication. The solubilization ability of single-walled carbon nanotubes was studied in water by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. The composites were highly dispersed owing to the π-π interactions. In situ surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy during the layer-by-layer multilayer fabrication indicated a stepwise increase in reflectivity, indicating the successive formation of nanostructured hybrid ultrathin films. Cyclic voltammetry revealed that the electroactivity of the hybrid film was enhanced by the incorporation of single-walled nanotubes.     

Review of Topographic and Soil Conditions for Liquefaction-Related Damage Induced by the 2007 Off Mid-Niigata Earthquake

The 2007 Niigata-ken Chuetsu-oki (Off Mid-Niigata) earthquake caused the liquefaction of the sandy soil distributed near the coast of the Japan Sea in the middle of Niigata Prefecture. The liquefaction-induced damage occurring in many residential areas was investigated in detail by means of victim interviews, visual inspections, Swedish Weight Sounding tests, Standard Penetration Tests, old topographical map examinations, etc. Based on in situ soil investigations, the liquefied soil layers were estimated for each area. As a result, it was confirmed that the liquefied areas were mainly sand dune hinterlands, flood plains, reclaimed old river channels and sandy fills with high groundwater table. Among them, damage was especially serious on land having an inclined ground surface due to the flow of foundations, on the cut-fill borders of artificially developed land due to landslides and at the toes of sand dune slopes due to the thrust of the sliding soil and/or the collision of the sliding soil with objects. These investigation results also revealed that soil improvement by cement mixed columns is an effective countermeasure against liquefaction-induced damage unless lateral spreading of the subsoil arises.     

Electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations on magnetic reconnection with adaptive mesh refinement

The electromagnetic particle-in-cell (EM-PIC) model using the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) is reconsidered so that it is properly and efficiently applied to the current sheet evolution associated with magnetic reconnection. It is very important to adequately select the refinement criteria for cell splitting. It is demonstrated that fine cells have to be distributed not only in the region where the electron Debye length is small, but also in the region where the electron-scale structure is expected to be significant. While the AMR reduces the number of cells drastically, the total simulation cost is also controlled by the number of particles. In order to reduce the total number of particles in the entire system, the present code controls the local number of particles per cell by splitting or coalescing particles. It is shown that the particle splitting and coalescence are quite effective as well as the AMR to enhance the efficiency of the EM-PIC simulations. A new 3D code extended from the 2D code is also introduced. The code is checked against the tearing instability and the lower hybrid drift instability, and it is confirmed that the code has been successfully developed. It is also found that the 3D simulations can gain more efficiency by using the AMR than the 2D simulations.     

Controlling Surface Plasmon Optical Transmission with an Electrochemical Switch Using Conducting Polymer Thin Films

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR)‐enhanced optical transmission is actively controlled by an electrochromism of conducting polymer thin films. Polyaniline and poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) thin films are deposited on a thin gold grating surface. SPR‐enhanced optical transmission is demonstrated by irradiating white light on the conducting polymer thin film–gold grating surface and detecting the transmitted light from the back side. The transmission SPR system is combined with an electrochemical setup to manipulate the resonance. The wavelength of the sharp peak in the transmission light spectra is tuned by electrochemical doping/dedoping of the conducting polymer thin films. The present study of controllable SPR‐enhanced optical transmission should provide novel active plasmonic devices such as active bandpass filters or biosensors.