Effect of magnesium content on the ageing behaviour of water-chilled Al-Si-Cu-Mg-Fe-Mn (380) alloy castings

A study of the effect of magnesium concentration on the ageing behaviour as measured by the hardness of 380 alloy was conducted for three levels of magnesium, namely 0.06 (base alloy), 0.33 and 0.5 wt%, for water-chilled castings (dendrite arm spacing ∼ 10–15 μm). Differential scanning calorimetry analysis of as-cast samples was carried out to determine the changes in the reactions of the phases obtained during alloy solidification, employing heating rates of 0.1 and 1.0°Cs⁻¹, up to approximately 700°C. Two heat treatments were applied to the as-cast alloys: T5 comprising ageing at 25 (room temperature), 155, 180, 200 and 220°C, for times up to 200 h, and T6 comprising solution heat treatment at 480 °C or 515°C for 8 h, followed by quenching in warm water at 60°C, followed by immediate artificial ageing at 155 or 180°C for varying times up to 100h. The results show that the higher hardness values obtained with T6 treatment can be explained by the excess precipitation of magnesium-containing phases in the as-solidified alloys. This precipitation could be eliminated under the high cooling-rate conditions prevalent in die-casting operations so that T5 treatment may be used to replace T6 treatment to produce the same hardness values. In addition, solution heat treatment in the low-temperature range (480–515°C) is adequate to produce the required changes in silicon morphology and dissolution of magnesium in the matrix. No significant difference in hardness behaviour was observed when the magnesium content was increased beyond 0.3 wt%.     

New materials for diode laser pumping of solid-state lasers

The authors review recent progress in the development of new materials for III-V semiconductor diode lasers useful for pumping solid-state lasers. All of the diode lasers discussed are grown on GaAs substrates. Particular emphasis is placed on the performance and reliability of high-CW-power strained-layer InGaAs-AlGaAs diode lasers emitting in the wavelength range between 0.87 and 1.1 μm, improved resistance to degradation of 0.78 to 0.87 μm diode lasers afforded by the strained-layer AlInGaAs-AlGaAs and lattice-matched GaInAsP-GaInP materials systems, and improved performance of visible diode lasers utilizing the materials system GaInP-AlGaInP     

Adaptive median filters: new algorithms and results

Based on two types of image models corrupted by impulse noise, we propose two new algorithms for adaptive median filters. They have variable window size for removal of impulses while preserving sharpness. The first one, called the ranked-order based adaptive median filter (RAMF), is based on a test for the presence of impulses in the center pixel itself followed by a test for the presence of residual impulses in the median filter output. The second one, called the impulse size based adaptive median filter (SAMF), is based on the detection of the size of the impulse noise. It is shown that the RAMF is superior to the nonlinear mean L(p) filter in removing positive and negative impulses while simultaneously preserving sharpness; the SAMF is superior to Lin's (1988) adaptive scheme because it is simpler with better performance in removing the high density impulsive noise as well as nonimpulsive noise and in preserving the fine details. Simulations on standard images confirm that these algorithms are superior to standard median filters.     

Mechanisms in damping of mechanical vibration by piezoelectric ceramic-polymer composite materials

The piezoelectric ceramic (piezoceramic) component of a polymer-piezoelectric ceramic composite converts mechanical energy into electrical energy and this electrical energy is dissipated as heat in a load resistance, R _x, simulated by a shunted resistance, but provided in practice by a conductive polymer composite matrix. The composite therefore dissipates the input mechanical energy via the damping mechanism provided by piezoelectric ceramic-conductive matrix material, as well as the conventional viscoelastic damping provided by the polymer. Mathematical models have been developed to characterize the damping behaviour of the composites, and the maximum damping ratio of composites can be as high as 23%. A two degrees-of-freedom (2DOF) experimental setup was developed to test the validity of the models. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.     

Switching to photonics

The use of hardware that exploits the interplay of photons and electrons to switch voice, data, and video is discussed. The two directions being taken by current research-guided-wave and free-space photonics-are examined. Photonic time-slot interchanges are described. Multidivisional fabrics, based on a combination of space-division and time-division multiplexing, are considered, as is the wavelength-division-based photonic packet switch, another kind of multidimensional fabric. The use of self-electrooptic effect devices, (SEEDs) is discussed     

The static and dynamic characteristics of single and multiplephase-shifted DFB laser structures

The influence of longitudinal mode spatial hole burning (LMSHB) on the performance of distributed feedback (DFB) laser structures is examined in detail. A comprehensive model has been used to interpret the experimental results and to construct a theoretical framework that was utilized to develop more advanced device designs. An increasing side mode intensity with output power, movement of the lasing mode relative to the stopband, and curvature of the light-current characteristic at low power can all be manifestations of the influence of LMSHB on the static device performance. The dynamic behavior can also be affected, with extended wavelength chirp and amplitude patterning effects on the timescale of the effective carrier recombination time being particularly important     

Spectral characteristics of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with external optical feedback

The measurement of the effects of external optical feedback on the spectra of VCSELs (vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers) is reported. It is surprising that VCSELs have a sensitivity to optical feedback comparable to that of conventional edge-emitting lasers such as DFBs despite their significantly different structures. This is because the extremely short cavity length of VCSELs negates the effects of their highly reflective output mirrors. As in edge-emitting lasers, VCSELs exhibit well-defined regimes of feedback effects in their spectra. Since optical isolators cannot be easily applied to VCSELs due to their array structure, these lasers may be most useful in applications which are not sensitive to the spectral qualities of the light source.<>