The possibility of evolving a theory for predicting the service life of reinforced concrete structures

The development in recent years with increasing air pollution, increasing need of energy saving and last not least the growing number of damage in old structures leads to a raising demand to calculate the durability of structures, too. The paper has been prepared by request of the RILEM Technical Committee 45-LTO to show that, in principle, it is possible to evolve a theory for predicting the service life of r.c. structures and to sketch a way how that could be achieved. A lot of necessary basic data can be found scattered in the literature. To collect these data will be the first step to take.     

How to avoid logarithms in comparisons with uniform random variables

In many algorithms for sampling from non-uniform distributions the logarithm of a uniform deviate must be compared with some test quantity. It is shown that all these comparisons can be done efficiently without calling a logarithm subprogram: two procedures for this task are presented and compared.     

Implantable biomedical microsystems for neural prostheses.

In the following article, the technologies to fabricate polyimide-based thin and flexible substrates with monolithically integrated electrode arrays and printed circuit boards (PCB) for hybrid electronic assemblies as well as an assembling technique that connects bare electronic dice with flexible PCBs are presented. The concept of modular, flexible biomedical microsystems as neural prostheses is introduced in general and described in detail in three examples. A cuff electrode with integrated multiplexer circuitry and standard implantable cables represents the combination of microtechnology with precision mechanics; a sieve electrode used as an implant in peripheral nerve regeneration studies demonstrates the next level of integration density but still uses a cable connection; and last, joint effort to fabricate the demonstrator of a vision prosthesis that is completely implantable in the eye with a wireless link for energy supply and data transmission is presented. System design, hybrid assembling technology, and flexible multilayer encapsulation using parylene and silicone rubber are the key components for creating a new generation of neural prostheses for complex and challenging new applications.     

On plastic potentials for anisotropic metals and their derivation from the texture function

Summary Plastic yielding of anisotropic metals can be either described by a macroscopic constitutive relation or assessed by means of a model which correlates single and polycrystal behaviors. The mathematical identification of the plastic work rate derived from the two approaches, for all strain rate tensors, leads to a fit of the polycrystal yield surface by an analytical function. When a quadratic from is assumed, the macroscopic anisotropy parameters become explicit functions of the texture coefficients. This identification method is applied to calculate yield surfaces andR-values of rolled and annealed steel sheets: theR-values and in general the flow rule, are more significantly modified by the fitting than the yield surface. Thus, it is worth extending the method to more general constitutive relations which may be given by the form of their work function: alternative forms of the work function for plastic materials are explored, especially in the bearing of convexity and homogeneity where quadratic forms have a distinct advantage. Finally, it is shown that the identification of the work function allows to express the phenomenological coefficients as analytical functions of the texture parameters for many forms of the work function; in the other cases, these coefficients may be obtained by linear or non-linear regression.     

QUEUE

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Surface charge accumulation and decay on a spacer stressed with DC voltages at atmospheric conditions

Contents Surface charge accumulation and its decay at a GIS spacer are studied at atmospheric conditions employing a two step-calibration method. The results show that the accumulation saturates within 30 minutes; the dominant mechanism of surface charge accumulation is the drift of charged particles via air, while that of the decay is surface conduction. The characteristics are similar at both polarities.

---

Sättigungskonzentration und Abklingverhalten der Oberflächenladung an einem mit Gleichspannung beanspruchten Abstandshalter unter atmosphärischen Bedingungen

Übersicht Die Konzentration und das Abklingen von Oberflächenladungen an einem GIS Abstandshalter wurden unter atmosphärischen Bedingungen mit Hilfe eines zweistufigen Kalibrierungsverfahrens untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine Sättigung der Ladungskonzentration innerhalb von 30 Minuten. Als Hauptursache der Ladungskonzentration ist die Drift geladener Teilchen in Luft anzusehen, während das Abklingen auf die Oberflächenleitung zurückzuführen ist. Ähnliche Charakteristiken ergeben sich mit beiden Polaritäten.