Grain refinement and superplasticity in a magnesium alloy processed by equal-channel angular pressing

The extrusion/equal channel angular pressing (EX-ECAP) processing procedure, in which magnesium-based alloys are subjected to extrusion followed by ECAP, was applied to a Mg-7.5 pct Al-0.2 pct Zr alloy prepared by casting. Microstructural inspection showed the EX-ECAP process was effective in reducing the grain size from ∼21 μm after extrusion to an as-pressed grain size of ∼0.8 μm. It is shown through static annealing that these ultrafine grains are reasonably stable up to 473 K, but grain growth occurs at higher temperatures. Tensile specimens were cut from the billets prepared by EX-ECAP and testing showed these specimens exhibited superplasticity at relatively low temperatures with maximum elongations up to >700 pct. By processing through EX-ECAP to a higher imposed strain and thereby increasing the area fraction of high-angle boundaries, it is demonstrated that there is a potential for achieving high-strain-rate superplasticity. This article is based on a presentation made at the Symposium entitled “Phase Transformations and Deformation in Magnesium Alloys,” which occurred during the Spring TMS meeting, March 14–18, 2004, in Charlotte, NC, under the auspices of the ASM-MSCTS Phase Transformations Committee.     

Theory of Three-Dimensional Discontinuous Deformation Analysis and Its Application to a Slope Toppling at Amatoribashi, Japan

A three-dimensional (3D) rock slope toppling occurred in a discontinuous rock mass. To simulate the failure process and study the mechanism of this rock failure with contact and large displacement in 3D, a new discrete numerical method has been developed called the 3D discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA). This article first introduces the basic principles and then derives the formulas in detail. Finally, the slope failure simulation is applied as an example to investigate the applicability of this new method to rock slope failure research. The simulation results indicate the advantages of using this new method to study the mechanism of a rock slope failure with 3D behavior.     

Achieving enhanced ductility in a dilute magnesium alloy through severe plastic deformation

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the utility of a new processing procedure developed for Mg-based alloys in which samples are subjected to a two-step processing route of extrusion followed by equal-channel angular pressing (designated as EX-ECAP). The experiments were conducted using a Mg-0.6 wt pct Zr alloy and, for comparison purposes, samples of pure Mg. It is shown that the potential for successfully using ECAP increases in both materials when adopting the EX-ECAP procedure. For the Mg-Zr alloy, the use of EX-ECAP produces a grain size of ∼1.4 μm when the pressing is undertaken at 573 K. By contrast, using EX-ECAP with pure Mg at 573 K produces a grain size of ∼26 μm. Tensile testing of the Mg-Zr alloy at 523 and 573 K after processing by EX-ECAP revealed the occurrence of significantly enhanced ductilities with maximum elongations of ∼300 to 400 pct.     

Structural analysis of Ti-Fe thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Titanium iron oxide (Ti-Fe-O) thin films have been successfully deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Experiments were carried out by using some targets. One was a Ti-50 at.% Fe-sintered target, while the others were Ti and Fe plates with various surface area ratio [S_R=S_Fe/(S_Fe+S_Ti)] from 30 to 70%. The thin films were analyzed by X-ray diffractometry, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). From XRD analysis, the main phase in the thin films deposited at S_R=30 and 50% was β-Ti (Fe). By increasing S_R to 70%, the main phase of the thin film changed to TiFe. By phase diagram, composition of TiFe must be between Ti-47.5-50.3 at.% Fe at a temperature of 1085 °C. However, the composition of the thin film deposited at S_R=70% was found to be Ti_0.15Fe_0.62O_0.23. Thus, the composition of Fe in the thin film was much greater than the solubility limit. This fact suggests two possibilities. One is that the thin films, which we have deposited, were in a metastable state. The other is that metal oxides of amorphous state could be contained in the thin film.     

Acute myocardial infarction during pregnancy caused by coronary artery spasm

A 33-year-old pregnant woman suffered from acute anteroseptal myocardial infarction at the 19th gestational week. Despite periodic attacks of myocardial ischaemia after admission, the coronary arteriograms under the use of nitroglycerin were normal. Thereafter, she remained free from the ischaemic events with diltiazem hydrochloride and delivered a healthy baby. The coronary arteriography at puerperium also showed no organic narrowing. However, the provocative test with acetylcholine chloride caused severe spasm of the left anterior descending coronary artery. These findings strongly suggest that acute myocardial infarction in this pregnant woman was caused by coronary artery spasm.     

Distribution, characteristics, and worldwide inventory of dioxins in kaolin ball clays

Distribution, characteristics, and global inventory of dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins [PCDDs] and dibenzofurans [PCDFs] and dioxin like polychlorinated biphenyls) in kaolin clays collected from 10 countries were investigated. Dioxins were found in all kaolin clay samples analyzed, at total concentrations ranging from 1.2 pg/g (Brazil) to 520,000 pg/g (USA). Dioxin concentrations in kaolin clays from a few countries (e.g., Brazil and UK) were lower than those reported for background soils in Japan. Dioxin profiles in kaolin clays were characterized by the domination of the congener octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD), and the concentrations of other congeners decreased in the order of reduction in the levels of chlorination. Furthermore, specific distribution of congeners, with predominant proportions of 1,4,6,9-substituted PCDDs within each homologue group, was found in most clay samples. The ratios of concentrations of PCDD to PCDF and 1,2,3,7,8,9-HxCDD to 1,2,3,6,7,8-HxCDD indicated differences in the profiles found for anthropogenic sources (including pentachlorophenol) and kaolin clays. Concentrations of PCDD/Fs in kaolin clays, except for American ball clays, did not exceed the environmental criteria set by the Law Concerning Special Measures against Dioxins in Japan. Based on the average concentrations measured in our study, inventories of PCDD/Fs from the production/usage of ball clays on a global scale were estimated to be 650 kg/yr; the corresponding value on a TEQ basis is 2400 g-TEQ/yr. More than 480 kg of OCDD is estimated to be released annually from the production of kaolin clays worldwide, suggesting that kaolin clays can be a major contributor for additional source of dioxins, especially OCDD, in the environment.     

Biochemical characterisation of an aminopeptidase with highest preference for lysine from Japanese flounder skeletal muscle

An aminopeptidase was purified from Japanese flounder skeletal muscle to homogeneity by ammonium sulphate fractionation and three chromatographies. The enzyme was approximately 100 kDa with isoelectric point of 5.7 as estimated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Its optimum temperature and pH were 45 °C and 7.5, respectively. According to peptide mass fingerprinting study, the enzyme revealed high identity to a puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase. It had a broad specificity toward aminopeptidase substrates and preferred to hydrolyse Lys-MCA with k_cat/K_m of 8.1 × 10⁶ M^?1 s^?1, and the activation energy (E_a) of 72.5 kJ M^?1. Metal-chelating agents effectively inhibited the enzyme activity, and Zn²⁺, Mn²⁺ and Co²⁺ significantly restored the apoenzymatic activity dialysed by EDTA, whilst inhibitors to other proteinases did not show much effect. Furthermore, bestatin strongly inhibited its activity. These results indicate that the purified enzyme is a metalloaminopeptidase which would possibly contribute to free amino acids increase in fish muscle.     

Simultaneous bipedal locomotion based on haptics for teleoperation

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes a novel, simultaneous bipedal locomotion method using haptics for remote operation of biped robots. In general, traditional biped walking methods require very high computational power and advanced controllers to perform the required task. However, in this proposed method, a master exoskeleton attached to the human’s lower body is used to obtain the trajectory and haptic information to generate the trajectory of the slave biped robot in real time. Lateral motion of the center of mass of the biped is constrained in this experiment. Also, it is considered that no communication delay is presented in between the two systems in this experiment, and they are not discussed in this paper. Since a direct motion transmission is used in the proposed method, this method is quite straight forward and a simultaneous walking can be realized at the same time with high performance. Also, it does not require an exact dynamic model of the biped or specific method to plan the trajectory. The gait pattern of the biped is directly determined by that of the human. Also, the operator can feel the remote environment through the exoskeleton robot. Results obtained from the experiments validate the proposed method.     

Fabrication of BSCF-based mixed oxide ionic-electronic conducting multi-layered membrane by sequential electrophoretic deposition process

The Ba_0.5Sr_0.5Co_0.8Fe_0.2O_3-δ (BSCF)-based multi-layered oxygen separation membrane was fabricated by the sequential electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process. A thin porous/dense bi-layer of BSCF was formed on a thick porous support of BSCF. The porous support prepared by a sacrificial template method using BSCF powder mixed with wheat starch (30 wt%) as a pore-forming agent, followed by uniaxial pressing and low-temperature sintering, was directly used as an EPD electrode. A thin BSCF layer was first formed on the porous support, and then a thin BSCF + PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) layer was sequentially formed on the thin BSCF layer using a bimodal suspension of BSCF and PMMA. A 30-μm thin porous/dense bi-layer of BSCF of which the total thickness was obtained by optimizing the processes of EPD and subsequent co-sintering. The oxygen separation performance of 3.7 ml (STP) min^?1 cm^?2 at 860 °C was achieved for the BSCF-based multi-layered oxygen separation membrane.