Untersuchungen zur Resistenz von Edelmetall-Dentallegierungen

A study of the dealloying resistance of noble metal dental alloys. In connection with the development of low gold dental alloys the corrosion resistance of homogeneous gold-palladium-silver-experimental alloys was investigated in a chloride solution. Analogous measurements were made with several noble metal containing intermetallic phases which may be present in dental alloys of more complex composition. The results indicate a high corrosion resistance of the homogeneous gold-palladium-silver-alloys, since their free corrosion potentials are always situated within a region of their anodic polarization curves, where the current density of metal dissolution is extremely low. Within the composition limits of these alloys the substitution of gold by palladium did not reduce the extension of this “region of immunity” in a significant way. Intermetallic phases, however, as present in the systems silver-tin, silver-palladium-tin and silver-palladium-indium show a clearly restricted “region of immunity” and, at the free corrosion potential, are dissolved at a relatively high rate.     

Zum Elektrodenverhalten des Zinks und des Eisens in Calciumhydroxidlösung und in Mörtel

The electrode behaviour of zinc and iron in calcium hydroxide solutions and in mortar The behaviour of zinc (fine zinc and metallurgical zinc) and of unalloyed steel in a saturated calcium hydroxide solution and in mortar has been the subject of electrode-kinetic investigations. The observations showed that the behaviour of fine zinc, metallurgical zinc and galvanized steel is more or less identical, and that even the mortar coating has little effect on the electrode behaviour. It is found that

• (a) zinc is passivated by a zinc oxide layer;
• (b) the potential of a short-circuit cell consisting passive zinc and iron becomes so negative that hydrogen is developed at the iron at an appreciable rate;
• (c) the passivity Of the zinc in a solution containing chloride is removed at a much higher chloride concentration than that of steel.

In the case of a galvanized electrode with an electrolytically dissolved layer of pure zinc, the current/potential characteristic was similar to that of the passive iron.     

Accuracy of continuous ice-core trace-element analysis by inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry

Trace elements trapped in glaciers are important indicators for the characterization of past biogeochemical cycles, the identification of numerous sources and their varying strength, and thus indirectly provide insight into past climate variations. However, this necessitates highly resolved and continuous records of trace elements in ice. To obtain records corresponding to these requirements, a continuous ice-core melting (CIM) device was coupled to an inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometer (ICP-SFMS). Accuracy of this newly developed method was tested by replicate analysis of longitudinally cut ice-core sections (reproducibility) and by comparing results of the continuous method with the conventional decontamination and analysis procedure. The new, fast method is suited to accurately determine concentrations of a number of elements, such as Li, Na, Mg, Ca, Mn, Co, Br, Sr, Mo, and Tl. However, for 18 elements (including Al and lanthanides) observed concentrations were underestimated when analyzed using the continuous method. Possible explanations of these low concentrations are (i) incomplete dissolution of mineral dust particles contained in the ice resulting from a delayed acidification step and/or (ii) adsorption of dissolved trace elements or mineral dust particles on the surface of the ice melting device.     

Detection of the gasoline components methyl tert-butyl ether,benzene, toluene,and m-xylene using ion mobility spectrometers with a radioactive and UV ionization source

For the first time, ion mobility spectrometers (IMS) with radioactive and UV ionization sources in combination with multicapillary columns (MCCs) have been used to determine methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive, in water and nitrogen as well as the monoaromatic compounds benzene, toluene, and m-xylene (BTX). A membrane extraction unit was set up to extract the substances from water, which is simple, effective, and easy to automate for further applications. Thus, the detection of MTBE and BTX of gasoline vapors was accomplished after a preliminary silicone membrane extraction. Two-dimensional data analyses of IMS-chromatograms allow us to separate these substances clearly according to their different retention and drift times. Method detection limits for MTBE were 2 microg/L (UV) and 30 pg/L (63Ni) in nitrogen and 20 mg/L (UV) and 1 microg/L (63Ni) in water. Rather a good reproducibility was achieved with relative standard deviations of between 2.9 and 9%. The method presented in this article has been proven to be suitable for nearly real-time monitoring as the total analysis time is less than 90 s. As an example of application, the detection of MTBE and BTX in a mixture of volatile organic compounds of pure gasoline using the 2-D IMS-chromatogram is presented.     

Business owners' action planning and its relationship to business success in three African countries.

A model of business success was developed with motivational resources (locus of control, self-efficacy, achievement motivation, and self-reported personal initiative) and cognitive resources (cognitive ability and human capital) as independent variables, business owners' elaborate and proactive planning as a mediator, and business size and growth as dependent variables. Three studies with a total of 408 African micro and small-scale business owners were conducted in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Structural equation analyses partially supported the hypotheses on the importance of psychological planning by the business owners. Elaborate and proactive planning was substantially related to business size and to an external evaluation of business success and was a (partial) mediator for the relationship between cognitive resources and business success. The model carries important implications for selection, training, and coaching of business owners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Volume Preservation of Multiresolution Meshes

Geometric constraints have proved to be efficient for enhancing the realism of shape animation. The present paper addresses the computation and the preservation of the volume enclosed by multiresolution meshes. A wavelet based representation allows the mesh to be handled at any level of resolution. The key contribution is the calculation of the volume as a trilinear form with respect to the multiresolution coefficients. Efficiency is reached thanks to the pre-processing of a sparse 3D data structure involving the transposition of the filters while represented as a lifting scheme. A versatile and interactive method for preserving the volume during a deformation process is then proposed. It is based on a quadratic minimization subject to a linearization of the volume constraint. A closed form of the solution is derived.     

A large deformation solid‐shell concept based on reduced integration with hourglass stabilization

In this paper a new eight‐node (brick) solid‐shell finite element formulation based on the concept of reduced integration with hourglass stabilization is presented. The work focuses on static problems. The starting point of the derivation is the three‐field variational functional upon which meanwhile established 3D enhanced strain concepts are based. Important additional assumptions are made to transfer the approach into a powerful solid‐shell. First of all, a Taylor expansion of the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor with respect to the normal through the centre of the element is carried out. In this way the stress becomes a linear function of the shell surface co‐ordinates whereas the dependence on the thickness co‐ordinate remains non‐linear. Secondly, the Jacobian matrix is replaced by its value in the centre of the element. These two assumptions lead to a computationally efficient shell element which requires only two Gauss points in the thickness direction (and one Gauss point in the plane of the shell element). Additionally three internal element degrees‐of‐freedom have to be determined to avoid thickness locking. One important advantage of the element is the fact that a fully three‐dimensional stress state can be modelled without any modification of the constitutive law. The formulation has only displacement degrees‐of‐freedom and the geometry in the thickness direction is correctly displayed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding life cycle social impacts in manufacturing: A processed-based approach

Developing sustainable products and processes is growing in importance due to increasing regulation, consumer interest, access to information, and competitive forces. In order to adequately evaluate the sustainability of products and processes, there is a need to consider the impacts from all three pillars of sustainability – society, environment, and economics. There are substantial challenges to identifying and understanding the social impacts associated with manufacturing activities. This paper provides a framework for characterizing the social impacts of manufacturing throughout the life cycle of a product or process. Social impacts occur on various scales in manufacturing, from the level of a unit process to the level of the enterprise. Additionally, manufacturing activities impact consumers, communities, and larger political/spatial realms. This paper identifies key characteristics of social impacts associated with manufacturing that should be considered to more effectively address the social dimension of sustainability for products and processes. Examples involving a typical manufacturing process – welding – are presented to illustrate the utility of the framework.