The effect of IR compensation on stationary and oscillatory patterns in dual-electrode metal dissolution systems

We report an experimental and model based study on the effect of negative coupling, induced by adding IR compensation, on bistability, and synchronization behavior of a dual-electrode metal dissolution electrochemical system. We show that, unlike the case of a single electrode, IR compensation cannot be used to remove bistability; with a large IR compensation the electrodes do not exhibit uniform steady states and patterned surface develops. In the case of oscillatory system, addition of IR compensation produces aperiodic time series that are characterized by switching between oscillations with 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1 entrainment ratios. For higher negative coupling strengths (i.e., larger magnitude of IR compensation) amplitude death occurs and either coexistence of oscillations with steady state or multiple anti-symmetric steady states are observed.     

Viscosity modeling of a medium reactive unsaturated polyester resin used for liquid composite molding process

The development of new composite product for an application through liquid composite molding (LCM) process simulation requires submodels describing the raw material characteristics. The viscosity during resin cure is the major submodel required for the effective simulation of mold-filling phase of LCM process. The viscosity of the resin system during mold filling changes as the cure reaction progresses. Applied process temperature also affects the viscosity of the resin system. Hence, a submodel describing the resin viscosity as a function of extent of cure and process temperature is required for the LCM process simulation. In this study, a correlation for viscosity during curing of medium reactive unsaturated polyester resin, which is mostly used for the LCM process, has been proposed as a function of temperature and degree of cure. The viscosity and the degree of cure of reacting resin system at different temperatures were measured by performing isothermal rheological and isothermal differential scanning calorimetry experiments, respectively. A nonlinear-regression analysis of viscosity and degree of cure data were performed to quantify the dependence of viscosity on temperature and extent of cure reaction. Comparisons of model solutions with our experimental data showed that the proposed empirical model is capable of capturing resin viscosity as a function of extent of cure and temperature qualitatively as well as quantitatively. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Minimum fluidization velocity at elevated temperature in tapered fluidized bed

Very little data of minimum fluidization velocity at elevated temperatures of tapered bed are available in the literature. This study was undertaken to provide some data under elevated temperature conditions in tapered bed. Data on minimum fluidization velocity have been obtained experimentally for temperature up to 800 °C in case of 0.5 mm diameter of sand particles and up to 500 °C in case of 1 mm diameter of glass beads in tapered bed. An equation valid for the bed has been developed in terms of Archimedes number and Reynolds number. The experimental values for minimum fluidization velocity at elevated temperatures have been compared with the calculated values obtained from present equation and from earlier equations developed by other authors for ambient conditions in conventional (cylindrical) bed and tapered bed. Fairly good agreement was found to exist between the calculated (from present equation) and the experimental values.     

Artificial neural network approach to predict the lightfastness of gravure prints on the plastic film

The lightfastness of prints is an important property for assessing their print stability. The objective of this study is to determine the lightfastness rate of printed films due to long-time exposure by applying artificial neural network (ANN). Package printing is gradually becoming extremely important because its color and quality increase the marketability of the product. Sometimes it has been observed that the initial print quality is bright and attractive. However, with time, it degrades the exposure of light, water, or other external parameters. Thus, it reduces the marketability if its color degrades before its expiration. Therefore, the lightfastness of prints may be considered for the authenticity or validity of the product. The plastic film substrate is chosen because it has extensive usage in food and other packaging industries. The samples printed in the gravure process are exposed in artificial lightfastness tester BGD 865/A Bench Xenon Test Chamber (B-SUN) for assessing the lightfastness of prints. The ocean optics spectroradiometer (DH2000BAL) is used to measure the spectrophotometric properties of prints before and after exposure. The obtained reflectance spectra are modeled by applying an ANN technique that is proposed to predict the fading rate of the printed film. The optimal model gives excellent prediction with the minimum mean square error for each color and a correlation coefficient of 0.80 to 0.99. ANN model and a Regression model (assuming first-order kinetic equation) are compared for predicting the lightfastness properties of prints. The results show that the ANN has better prediction capability than the regression model.     

Correlation of Back Optic Zone Radius measurement of rigid contact lenses with radiuscope and keratometer

PurposeTo investigate the accuracy of Back Optic Zone Radius (BOZR, base curve) measurements with manual keratometer for spherical polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) lenses.Methods100 spherical PMMA contact lenses were selected randomly from the trial sets. One investigator measured the BOZR with radiuscope. The second investigator measured the BOZR with keratometer. The two investigators were masked to each other's readings. As the keratometer is designed to measure a convex corneal surface, the BOZR readings are less than actual radii. A correction factor of 0.025 was used to have corrected keratometers readings.ResultsThere was a high correlation between the BOZR measurement with radiuscope and the uncorrected (Pearson's correlation coefficient, r = 0.99) and corrected (r = 0.99) measurements with keratometer. The mean difference between BOZR measurement with radiuscope and the uncorrected and corrected measurements with keratometer were 0.003 mm (p = 0.62) and ?0.024 mm (p < 0.001) respectively. The 95% limits of agreement for the BOZR measurements with radiuscope and the uncorrected and corrected measurements with keratometer were ?0.11 to 0.11 mm and ?0.14 to 0.09 mm respectively.ConclusionWe found that the uncorrected BOZR measurements with keratometer were similar to the BOZR measurements with radiuscope. With unavailability of radiuscope in majority of contact lens practice, keratometer can be used to measure the BOZR of contact lenses.     

A novel route of synthesis,characterization of terephthalic dihydrazide from polyethylene terephthalate waste and it's application in PVC compounding as plasticizer

The degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste by making use of hydrazine monohydrate was investigated at ambient temperature and pressure. The aminolysed end products obtained were characterized with chemical tests and spectroscopic techniques namely IR, UV‐visible spectroscopy and NMR, and the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The end product was characterized as terephthalic dihydrazide (TPD) and further used in PVC compounding as secondary plasticizer. The hardness, tensile strength, elongation at break, thermal stability, and compatibility of the PVC sheet were studied and concluded that the aminolysed product may find potential application as secondary plasticizer in PVC formulations. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Casson fluid flow and heat transfer past a symmetric wedge

Boundary‐layer forced convection flow of a Casson fluid past a symmetric wedge is investigated. Similarity transformations are used to convert the governing partial differential equations to ordinary ones and the reduced equations are then solved numerically with the help of the shooting method. Comparisons with various previously published works on special cases are performed and the results are found to be in excellent agreement. A representative set of graphical results is obtained and illustrated graphically. The velocity is found to increase with an increasing Falkner–Skan exponent whereas the temperature decreases. With the rise of the Casson fluid parameter, the fluid velocity increases but the temperature is found to decrease in this case. The skin friction decreases with increasing values of the Casson fluid parameter. It is found that the temperature decreases as the Prandtl number increases and thermal boundary layer thickness decreases with increasing values of the Prandtl number. A significant finding of this investigation is that flow separation can be controlled by increasing the value of the Casson fluid parameter. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 42(8): 665–675, 2013; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.21065