Covalent Adaptable Microstructures via Combining Two-Photon Laser Printing and Alkoxyamine Chemistry: Toward Living 3D Microstructures

Manufacturing programmable materials, whose mechanical properties can be adapted on demand, is highly desired for their application in areas ranging from robotics, to biomedicine, or microfluidics. Herein, the inclusion of dynamic and living bonds, such as alkoxyamines, in a printable formulation suitable for two-photon 3D laser printing is exploited. On one hand, taking advantage of the dynamic covalent character of alkoxyamines, the nitroxide exchange reaction is investigated. As a consequence, a reduction of the Young´s Modulus by 50%, is measured by nanoindentation. On the other hand, due to its “living” characteristic, the chain extension becomes possible via nitroxide mediated polymerization. In particular, living nitroxide mediated polymerization of styrene results not only in a dramatic increase of the volume (≈8 times) of the 3D printed microstructure but also an increase of the Young's Modulus by two orders of magnitude (from 14 MPa to 2.7 GPa), while maintaining the shape including fine structural details. Thus, the approach introduces a new dimension by enabling to create microstructures with dynamically tunable size and mechanical properties.     

Numerical aspects of a Godunov-type stabilization scheme for the Boltzmann transport equation

Journal of Computational Electronics - We discuss the numerical aspects of the Boltzmann transport equation (BE) for electrons in semiconductor devices, which is stabilized by Godunov’s...     

Characterization of weld seam properties of extruded magnesium hollow profiles

Extrusions of hollow profiles with weld seams were conducted using the magnesium alloy ME21 applying various extrusion ratios. Subsequent analysis of the profiles’ microstructure was performed comparing weld free with weld seam containing material using (polarized) light optical microscopy (LOM). Additionally, the local texture and microstructure in the weld-free material as well as in the weld seam region has been examined with a scanning electron microscope coupled with electron backscatter diffraction technique (SEM-EBSD). The weld-free material and the weld seam are characterized by recrystallized microstructures, whereas few residual cast grains were identified. The local texture distinctively changes from the weld-free material to the weld seam. The texture of the weld-free material is comparable with the typical ME21 sheet texture. In the weld seam area, a pole density is found, which is distributed towards the transverse direction (TD) combined with a split and broadening of the pole density in the extrusion direction (ED). This texture influences the mechanical anisotropy due to the dependence of the activation of basal 〈a〉-slip and \( \{ 10\bar{1}2\} \;\langle 10\bar{1}1\rangle \)-extension twinning on the loading direction in favorably oriented grains.     

Characterization of Cementitious Materials Exposed to Freezing and Thawing in Combination with Deicing Salts Using 3D Scans

Surface deterioration of concrete subjected to freezing and thawing in combination with deicing salts is one of the most important factors determining the durability of concrete infrastructure in cold climates. The freeze–thaw deicing salt (FTDS) resistance of cementitious materials can be determined by the capillary suction of de-icing chemicals and freeze–thaw (CDF) test. Specimens are subjected to repeated freeze–thaw cycles with simultaneous addition of deicing salt and the amount of material scaled off near the surface is determined. For concretes with adequate FTDS resistance, this test method works very well. However, specimens with unknown performance often experience increased edge scaling. This leads to a falsification of results and consequently to an underestimation of the actual freeze–thaw resistance. In materials research, however, concretes with high levels of surface deterioration are studied in order to investigate various factors of influence on the freeze–thaw resistance of concretes in a targeted manner. This article presents a novel methodology that delivers new information regarding surface deterioration of CDF samples using high-resolution 3D scan data. Change of volume is used to support deterioration results of the standard CDF methodology. Increase of surface area is used to estimate change in roughness of samples.     

Ultralow Expansion Glass as Material for Advanced Micromechanical Systems

Ultralow expansion (ULE) glasses are of special interest for temperature stabilized systems for example in precision metrology. Nowadays, ULE materials are mainly used in macroscopic and less in micromechanical systems. Reasons for this are a lack of technologies for parallel fabricating high-quality released microstructures with a high accuracy. As a result, there is a high demand in transferring these materials into miniaturized application examples, realistic system modeling, and the investigation of microscopic material properties. Herein, a technological base for fabricating released micromechanical structures and systems with a structure height above 100 μm in ULE 7972 glass is established. Herein, the main fabrication parameters that are important for the system design and contribute thus to the introduction of titanium silicate as material for glass-based micromechanical systems are discussed. To study the mechanical properties in combination with respective simulation models, microcantilevers are used as basic mechanical elements to evaluate technological parameters and other impact factors. The implemented models allow to predict the micromechanical system properties with a deviation of only ±5% and can thus effectively support the micromechanical system design in an early stage of development.     

A Study of a Convex Variational Diffusion Approach for Image Segmentation and Feature Extraction

We analyze a variational approach to image segmentation that is based on a strictly convex non-quadratic cost functional. The smoothness term combines a standard first-order measure for image regions with a total-variation based measure for signal transitions. Accordingly, the costs associated with discontinuities are given by the length of level lines and local image contrast. For real images, this provides a reasonable approximation of the variational model of Mumford and Shah that has been suggested as a generic approach to image segmentation.The global properties of the convex variational model are favorable to applications: Uniqueness of the solution, continuous dependence of the solution on both data and parameters, consistent and efficient numerical approximation of the solution with the FEM-method.Various global and local properties of the convex variational model are analyzed and illustrated with numerical examples. Apart from the favorable global properties, the approach is shown to provide a sound mathematical model of a useful locally adaptive smoothing process. A comparison is carried out with results of a region-growing technique related to the Mumford-Shah model.     

Frequency of migrants and migratory activity are genetically correlated in a bird population: evolutionary implications

Most migratory bird populations are composed of individuals that migrate and individuals that remain resident. While the role of ecological factors in maintaining this behavioral dimorphism has received much attention, the importance of genetic constraints on the evolution of avian migration has not yet been considered. Drawing on the recorded migratory activities of 775 blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) from a partially migratory population in southern France, we tested two alternative genetic models about the relationship between incidence and amount of migratory activity. The amount of migratory activity could be the continuous variable "underlying" the phenotypic expression of migratory urge, or, alternatively, the expression of both traits could be controlled by two separate genetic systems. The distributions of migratory activities in five different cohorts and the inheritance pattern derived from selective breeding experiments both indicate that incidence and amount of migratory activity are two aspects of one trait. Thus, all birds without measurable activity have activity levels at the low end of a continuous distribution, below the limit of expression or detection. The phenotypic dichotomy "migrant-nonmigrant" is caused by a threshold which may not be fixed but influenced both genetically and environmentally. This finding has profound implications for the evolution of migration: the transition from migratoriness to residency should not only be driven by selection favoring resident birds but also by selection for lower migratory activity. This potential for selection on two aspects, residency and migration distance, of the same trait may enable extremely rapid evolutionary changes to occur in migratory behavior.