Kinetics of CO2 reforming of methane by catalytically activated metallic foam absorber for solar receiver-reactors

Ni–Cr–Al metallic foam absorber with high porosity was catalytically activated using a Ru/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst, and was subsequently tested with respect to CO₂ reforming of methane in a small-scale volumetric receiver-reactor by using a sun-simulator. A chemical storage efficiency of 37% was obtained for a mean light flux of 325 kW m⁻². Furthermore, the activity and the stability of the metallic foam absorber were compared with those of a SiC foam absorber activated with the same Ru/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst for 50 h of light irradiation, and it was found that the metallic foam absorber has superior catalytic stability in comparison to the SiC form absorber. In addition, unlike ceramic foams such as SiC, metallic foams feature superior plasticity, which prevents the emergence of cracks caused by mechanical or thermal shock.     

To develop a quantitative method for predicting shrinkage porosity in squeeze casting

In order to secure high strength and high elongation of suspension parts, it is critical to predict shrinkage porosity quantitatively. A new simulation method for quantitative predic'don of shrinkage porosity when replenishing molten metal has been proposed for squeeze casting process. To examine the accuracy of the calculation model, the proposed method was applied to a plate model.     

Coherent Phase Diagram for Spinodal Decomposition in the Tetragonal Titanium Dioxide—Tin Oxide System

A microscopic calculation was carried out for spinodal decomposition in the tetragonal TiO₂—SnO₂ system by taking into account the contribution of the elastic free energy. Necessary elastic constants for the solid solutions and the elastic free energy of modulated structure were calculated in terms of interatomic potentials. A coherent phase diagram was obtained unambiguously from the calculated elastic free energy by using the interaction parameter determined by the experimental binodal line. The results were compared with the calculation based on the regular-solution model.     

Anomalous Behavior of Ultrasonic Velocity in Rubidium Borate Glasses

By use of the ultrasonic pulse echo overlap method, ultrasonic velocity in rubidium borate glasses is measured as a function of composition at a temperature of 298 K, which is found to exhibit a maximum, a minimum, and another maximum in succession as the rubidium oxide content increases. This behavior is remarkable among the borate anomalies. The elastic property of these glasses is analyzed in terms of the three structural units defined as BØ₃, Rb⁺BØ₂O⁻, and Rb⁺BØ⁻₄, where Ø represents a bridging oxygen and O⁻ a nonbridging oxygen, from which the cause of this anomalous behavior is elucidated.     

Measurement and correlation of mutual diffusion coefficients for styrene-butadiene rubber(SBR)-n-nonane systems

The mutual diffusion coefficients for styrene-butadiene rubber(SBR)-n-nonane systems were measured using a sorption apparatus with a quartz spring at 100 and 130°C for mass fractions of n-nonane ranging from 0 to 0.16. The mutual diffusion coefficients were correlated with good agreement by the free-volume theory.     

Phase structure related to the mechanical properties of poly (styrene-co-acrylonitrile)/polycarbonate blends

Dynamic mechanical and tensile properties were investigated for blends of poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) and bisphenol-A polycarbonate prepared by the solution process. It is apparent from the dynamic mechanical properties that the as-blended sample has a phase separated structure and the structure changes further with heat treatment. The phase structures of as-blended and heat-treated samples were estimated using the theories of Kerner and Davies for the modulus of two-phase materials and the dynamic mechanical data. The tensile properties obtained at room temperature are not inconsistent with the phase structure estimated for the as-blended and heat-treated samples.     

Effects of polar groups of polymer matrix on reinforcement-matrix interaction in kevlar fiber-reinforced composites

In order to investigate the interaction between the polar groups of reinforcement and matrix in polymer composite, mechanical properties were studied for the Kevlar fiber-reinforced composites (Kevlar is a registered trademark of E. I. duPont de Nemours Co. Inc.), in which the kind and fraction of polar components in matrix were varied using blended polymers. For the composites comprised of polymethyl methacrylate and poly(hydroxypropyl ether of bisphenol A) as the matrix, a subtransition, which can be ascribed to the interphase formed on the reinforcement surface by a strong interaction between reinforcement and matrix, appears at a temperature above the primary transition on the E″ versus temperature curves. Such a subtransition is obscured or diminished accompanying the decrease in fraction of the polar components in the matrix. The fiber efficiency factors for strength are also decreased with a decrease in the fraction of the polar components. These results imply that the reinforcement-matrix interaction is affected depending on the fraction of the polar components in matrix. For the composite comprised of blending the two polar components as the matrix, each component can contribute to the interaction with the reinforcement. The results obtained from the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy on the matrix polymer-coated Kevlar cloth do not contradict those obtained by studying the mechanical properties.     

Skeletonized hybrid liposomes

Summary Giant hybrid liposomes of polymerizable lipid and cholesterol were prepared by the hydration method and were polymerized by UV irradiation. The obtained giant liposomes were freeze-dried and washed with chloroform to skeletonize the frame structure of the polymerized membrane. The skeletonized liposomes were directly confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The single-layered and fully spherical liposome frame were easily confirmed by the stereo-pair of the obtained micrographs.     

Design Of Anti‐Slip Controller For An Electric Vehicle With An Adhesion Status Analyzer Based On The Ev Simulator

The In this paper, a simulator of a one‐wheel Electric Vehicle system is designed for testing an anti‐slip controller using the Motor‐Generator system. The drive motor of the M‐G system is used to simulate the drive wheel of the Electric Vehicle, and the load motor is used to simulate the load force of the chassis. In the driving process, the torque of the load motor is changed according to the drive force of the chassis that is calculated by the program. So it can simulate the dynamic process of the tire‐road system. Based on this simulator system, an anti‐slip controller based on an Adhesion Status Analyzer is proposed. Information about the wheel speed is acquired by using a Back EMF Observer. A load torque disturbance observer is designed to stabilize the acceleration of the wheels. The Adhesion Status Analyzer is used to generate safe acceleration commands for the anti‐slip controller. When a slip occurs, the anti‐slip controller will decrease the torque quickly, and at the same time, by estimating the dynamic status of adhesion, the Adhesion Status Analyzer will restrain the acceleration command within a safe area. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified by using the EV slip simulator.     

Stability tests and stabilization for piecewise linear systems based on poles and zeros of subsystems

This paper provides several stability tests for piecewise linear systems and proposes a method of stabilization for bimodal systems. In particular, we derive an explicit and exact stability test for planar systems, which is given in terms of coefficients of transfer functions of subsystems. Restricting attention to the bimodal and planar case, we show simple stability tests. In addition, we drive a necessary stability condition and a sufficient stability condition for higher-order and bimodal systems. They are given in terms of the eigenvalue loci and the observability of subsystems. All the stability tests provided in this paper are computationally tractable, and our results are applied to the stabilizability problem. We confirm the exactness and effectiveness of our approach by illustrative examples.