The effect of thickness on the steady-state creep properties of freestanding aluminum nano-films

To clarify the effects of film thickness on the creep properties of nano-films we conducted tensile creep experiments on freestanding aluminum films with thickness values in the range ～100–800 nm at room temperature. The nano-films showed typical creep behavior comprising transient, steady-state, and accelerated creep stages. The steady-state creep exponents of the 100–800 nm thick specimens were 0.84–2.7 in the stress range 30–120 MPa, which are close to the value for diffusion creep (1). Creep deformation clearly shows a thickness effect: the steady-state creep rate increases as the thickness decreases from 800 to 400 nm, shows a peak in the range 400–200 nm, and then decreases in the 200–100 nm thickness range. The creep experiments under a small stress of 1 MPa show a negative strain rate, indicating the presence of a driving force to reduce the surface area due to surface tension. The explanation for the thickness effect is as follows. Since the ratio of surface and grain boundary area to volume increases with decreasing thickness, diffusion creep along these paths is enhanced, resulting in an increase in the creep rate. As the thickness decreases to 200–100 nm, however, the surface tension effect to reduce the surface area becomes dominant, decreasing the creep rate. In addition, the creep rate of the nano-films is about two or three orders of magnitude smaller than that of the bulk material dominated by the dislocation creep mechanism.     

Facile purification of tocopherols from soybean oil deodorizer distillate in high yield using lipase

Tocopherols have been purified from deodorizer distillate produced in the final deodorization step of vegetable oil refining by a process including molecular distillation. Deodorizer distillate contains mainly tocopherols, sterols, and free fatty acids (FFA); the presence of sterols hinders tocopherol purification in good yield. We found that Candida rugosa lipase recognized sterols as substrates but not tocopherols, and that esterification of sterols with FFA could be effected with negligible influence of water content. Enzymatic esterification of sterols with FFA was thus used as a step in tocopherol purification. High boiling point substances including steryl esters were removed from soybean oil deodorizer distillate by distillation, and the resulting distillate (soybean oil deodorizer distillate tocopherol concentrate; SODDTC) was used as a starting material for tocopherol purification. Several factors affecting esterification of sterols were investigated, and the reaction conditions were determined as follows: A mixture of SODDTC and water (4∶1, w/w) was stirred at 35°C for 24 h with 200 U of Candida lipase per 1 g of the reaction mixture. Under these conditions, approximately 80% of sterols was esterified, but tocopherols were not esterified. After the reaction, tocopherols and FFA were recovered as a distillate by molecular distillation of the oil layer. To enhance further removal of the remaining sterols, the lipase-catalyzed reaction was repeated on the distillate under the same reaction conditions. As a result, more than 95% of the sterols was esterified in total. The resulting reaction mixture was fractionated to four distillates and one residue. The main distillate fraction contained 65 wt% tocopherols with low contents of FFA and sterols. In addition, the residue fraction contained high-purity steryl esters. Because the process presented in this study includes only organic solvent-free enzymatic reaction and molecular distillation, it is feasible as a new industrial purification method of tocopherols. This work was presented at the Biocatalysis symposium in April 2000, held at the 91st Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists Society, San Diego, CA.     

Multi-fluid simulation of turbulent bubbly pipe flows

Radial distributions of void fraction α_G, bubble aspect ratio E, phasic velocities V_G and V_L and turbulent kinetic energy k in bubbly pipe flows are measured using an image processing method and a laser Doppler velocimetry. Multi-fluid simulations are conducted to examine applicability of state-of-the-art closure relations to the turbulent bubbly pipe flows. The experimental results indicate that aspect ratio of bubbles in the near wall region takes a higher value than that of free rising bubbles due to the presence of wall, and that the change in the aspect ratio induces decrease in relative velocity between bubbles and liquid in the near wall region. Drag coefficient C_D of a bubble in a bubbly pipe flow tends to increase with magnitude of shear flow, and the effect of shear flow on C_D is estimated by the correlation proposed by Legendre and Magnaudet (1998). Comparison between the simulated and the measured results indicate that the effects of bubble shape and shear flow on drag force acting on bubbles should be taken into account for accurate predictions of bubbly pipe flows. The turbulence models proposed by Lopez de Bertodano et al. (1994) and by Hosokawa and Tomiyama (2004a) give good predictions for turbulence modification caused by bubbles.     

Conversion of vegetable oil to biodiesel using immobilized Candida antarctica lipase

Biodiesel derived from vegetable oils has drawn considerable attention with increasing environmental consciousness. We attempted continuous methanolysis of vegetable oil by an enzymatic process. Immobilized Candida antarctica lipase was found to be the most effective for the methanolysis among lipases tested. The enzyme was inactivated by shaking in a mixture containing more than 1.5 molar equivalents of methanol against the oil. To fully convert the oil to its corresponding methyl esters, at least 3 molar equivalents of methanol are needed. Thus, the reaction was conducted by adding methanol stepwise to avoid lipase inactivation. The first step of the reaction was conducted at 30°C for 10 h in a mixture of oil/methanol (1:1, mol/mol) and 4% immobilized lipase with shaking at 130 oscillations/min. After more than 95% methanol was consumed in ester formation, a second molar equivalent of methanol was added and the reaction continued for 14 h. The third molar equivalent of methanol was finally added and the reaction continued for 24 h (total reaction time, 48 h). This three-step process converted 98.4% of the oil to its corresponding methyl esters. To investigate the stability of the lipase, the three-step methanolysis process was repeated by transferring the immobilized lipase to a fresh substrate mixture. As a result, more than 95% of the ester conversion was maintained even after 50 cycles of the reaction (100 d).     

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to ethylene with high Faradaic efficiency at a Cu electrode in CsOH/methanol

The electrochemical reduction of CO₂ with a Cu electrode in CsOH/methanol-based electrolyte was investigated. The main products from CO₂ were methane, ethylene, ethane, carbon monoxide and formic acid. A maximum Faradaic efficiency of ethylene was 32.3% at −3.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl saturated KCl. The best methane formation efficiency was 8.3% at −4.0 V. The ethylene/methane current efficiency ratio was in the range 2.9–7.9. In the CsOH/methanol, the efficiency of hydrogen formation, being a competitive reaction against CO₂ reduction, was depressed to below 23%.     

The adhesion between electrolessly deposited copper and a photoimageable polymer

We investigated the relationship between the peel adhesion of copper, deposited by electroless plating, to a photoimageable polymer and the time of chemical etching before plating. Mechanical interlocking is generally considered as being the adhesion mechanism between deposited metals and substrates. However, we found that the peel strength decreased with an increase in the etching time though the polymer roughness did not change. The glass transition temperature of the photoimageable polymer became lower as the etching time increased. The pretreatment not only roughened the surface of the photoimageable polymer, but also affected the bulk polymer and the adhesion.     

激光退火对Inconel 718微观组织和硬度的影响

研究激光退火对Inconel718时效合金的显微组织和硬度的影响.一台2.5kW的CO2激光机被用来照射试样的表面.在激光能作用下,试样表面层被加热后空冷.通过控制激光工艺参数,在表面不发生熔化的前提下,能够使一定厚度表面层内的硬度降低到标准退火合金的水平,而不影响试样内部母材的硬度.显微组织观察显示表面层的基体强化相(γ″和γ‘)在激光照射过程中被固溶,而其它二次相没有变化.γ″和γ‘的固溶被确定是表面层硬度下降的原因.在其它试验条件不变时,确立了退火层生成时由激光散焦距离和扫描速度描述的工艺参数范围.     

退火对Inconel718合金氢脆特性的影响

通过实施不同的退火热处理工艺，调整合金中强化相的析出状态，制备具有不同退火状态的几组拉伸试样。对每组试样在未充氢和充氢后按相同的条件进行拉伸试验对该组试样的脆化作用。通过比较不同组试样的脆化表现通过比较未充氢试样和充氢后试样的强度和塑性，评价氢考察退火状态对Inconel 718氢脆倾向的影响。试验结果表明，随着退火程度的加强，强化相体积分数减少，氢引起的塑性损失下降，即抗氢脆性能改善。该结果说明，强化相γ″和γ′对Inconel 718合金的氢脆有促进作用。因此，根据不同工业应用要求，在符合强度要求的前提下，可以通过热处理改善零件的抗氢脆性能。     

Evaluation of elastoplastic properties and fracture strength of thick diamond like carbon film by indentation

The elastoplastic properties and fracture strength of thick diamond like carbon films (with thickness over 10 µm) are studied. An indentation-based framework is outlined where the dual sharp shallow micro indentation method is employed to measure the elastoplastic properties of the film and the substrate; next, integrated acoustic emission and corrosion potential fluctuation techniques are employed to characterize the ring cracks formed due to deep spherical indentation. The fracture strength of the DLC film is obtained from parallel numerical simulations with the identified elastoplastic properties. It is found that the thick DLC film prepared by using the plasma-based ion implantation method has better fracture property than thin DLC films in previous studies.     

Anisotropic in vitro vessel model using poly(vinyl alcohol) hydro gel and mesh material

In the present study, the authors fabricated straight multilayer hybrid tubular in vitro vessel models (inner diameter D_in = 10 mm; thickness T = 4 mm) composed of poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel (PVA‐H) and anisotropic mesh materials. The authors performed tensile, stress‐relaxation and cyclic‐tensile tests using axial and circumferential test pieces as well as pressure‐diameter (P‐D) tests using tubular test piece. In the tensile and stress‐relaxation tests, the anisotropic and nonlinear mechanical properties and hysteresis characteristic of the in vitro models were confirmed. The in vitro models also showed behavior qualitatively similar to that of native arteries in cycle‐tensile and P‐D tests. These results demonstrate that the mechanical properties of native vessels can be duplicated in an in vitro model by controlling the components of the mesh material, the orientation of elastic fibers in the mesh material, and the concentration and thickness of PVA‐H layers. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010