High-coercivity Nd–Fe–B thick films without heavy rare earth additions

The magnetic properties and microstructures of two Nd–Fe–B thick films with different Nd contents have been studied. The films were deposited in the amorphous state and were crystallized by post-deposition annealing. Both films show a strong 〈0 0 1〉 fibre texture out-of-plane. The film with the higher Nd content has a large room temperature coercivity of 2.7 T, while the one with the lower Nd content has a room temperature coercivity of only 0.7 T. The difference in coercivity may be explained by the fact that the film with the higher Nd content exhibits a continuous Nd-rich grain boundary phase, giving better isolation of the Nd₂Fe₁₄B grains with respect to magnetic exchange interactions. The extrusion of Nd-rich liquid to the top surface of the film with high Nd content during post-deposition annealing led to the formation of ripples in the Ta capping layer, indicating that the films are under compressive stress. This stress-induced flow of the Nd-rich material up through the film explains the excellent distribution of the Nd-rich grain boundary phase. Atom probe tomography has revealed the presence of Cu in the Nd-rich grain boundary phase, explaining the formation of the liquid phase at the relatively low temperature of 550 °C due to the eutectic reaction of Nd and Cu.     

Comparison of two fractionation strategies for characterization of wastewater effluent organic matter and diagnosis of membrane fouling

Two fractionation strategies were compared for characterizing organic components in effluent organic matter (EfOM) and natural organic matter (NOM). The first method is widely used and requires sample acidification and then re-neutralization during sequential organic removals onto resins. The second method uses a different suite of separation methods, does not require pH manipulation, and sequentially removes particles, colloids, organic acids, and hydrophobic neutrals without the need for adjusting pH. The NOM samples were dominantly organic acids while EfOM contained a broader distribution of organic functionalities so further evaluation was focused on EfOM. The new method completely removed colloidal matter from EfOM while the conventional fractionation method resulted in an increase in the percentage of EfOM >100 kDa with each fractionation step after filtration. Organic acids were removed in one fractionation step using the new method instead of three steps with the conventional method. The conventional method resulted in increased fouling after the final separation step apparently caused by production of inorganic colloids. The new fractionation method provided a clearer diagnosis that organic acids were the primary cause of fouling even though they were only 14% of EfOM organic carbon. We suggest that the new fractionation method should be considered for diagnosing the effects of NOM or EfOM on the performance of membrane filtration.     

RILEM TC QFS ‘quasibrittle fracture scaling and size effect’-final report

The report attempts a broad review of the problem of size effect or scaling of failure, which has recently come to the forefront of attention because of its importance for concrete and geotechnical engineering, geomechanics, arctic ice engineering, as well as in designing large load-bearing parts made of advanced ceramics and composites,e.g. for aircraft or ships. First the main results of Weibull statistical theory of random strength are briefly summarized and its applicability and limitations described. In this theory as well as plasticity, elasticity with a strength limit, and linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), the size effect is a simple power law because no characteristic size or length is present. Attention is then focused on the deterministic size effect in quasibrittle materials which, because of the existence of a non-negligible material length characterizing the size of the fracture process zone, represents the bridging between the simple power-law size effects of plasticity and of LEFM. The energetic theory of quasibrittle size effect in the bridging region is explained and then a host of recent refinements, extensions and ramifications are discussed. Comments on other types of size effect, including that which might be associated with the fractal geometry of fracture, are also made. The historical development of the size effect theories is outlined and the recent trends of research are emphasized.

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Résumé Ce rapport tente de passer en revue le problème de l'effet de taille ou d'échelle sur la rupture, qui est récemment devenu un point focal d'attention à cause de son importance pour les structures en béton, la géotechnique, la géoméchanique, l'étude des glaces arctiques ainsi que dans la conception de grandes pièces structurelles en céramiques ou composites modernes, pour l'industrie navale ou aéronautique par exemple. Tout d'abord, les résultats principaux de la théorie statistique de résistance aléatoire de Weibull, son domaine d'application et ses limitations sont décrits. Dans cette théorie, ainsi qu'en plasticité, élasticité avec une résistance limite et mécanique de la rupture linéaire élastique, l'effet de taille s'exprime seulement par une loi puissance puisqu'aucune longueur ou taille caractéristique n'est présente. L'attention se tourne ensuite sur l'effet de taille déterministe dans les matériaux quasi-fragiles qui, à cause de l'existence d'une longueur matérielle non-négligeable caractérisant la taille de la zone de rupture, représente le lien entre les simples lois puissance de la plasticité et de la mécanique de la rupture linéaire. On explique la théorie énergétique des effets de taille quasi-fragiles dans la région de transition. On discute ensuite une multitude de raffinement récents, extensions et ramifications. On fait également des commentaires sur d'autres types d'effets de taille, y compris ceux qui pourraient être associés avec la géométrie fractale des fissures. L'histoire du développement des théories de l'effet de taille est résumée et les tendances récentes de la recherche sont mises en relief.

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TC Membership—Chairman: Z.P. Bažant, USA;Secretary: R. Gettu, Spain;Report editor: M. Jirásek, Switzerland;Members: B.I.G. Barr, UK; I. Carol, Spain; A. Carpinteri, Italy; M. Elices, Spain; C. Huet, Switzerland; H. Mihashi, Japan; K.M. Nemati, USA; J. Planas, Spain; F.-J. Ulm, USA; J.G.M. van Mier, Switzerland; M.R.A. van Vliet, The Netherlands.

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Significant portions of this article are reprinted from [1] with the kind permission of the Editor of the Archives of Applied Mechanics and of Springer Verlag.     

Fluorometric assay of nitrite and nitrate in brain tissue after traumatic brain injury and cerebral ischemia

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is distributed within the brain, and nitric oxide (NO) is felt to be involved in the pathophysiology of deterioration after head injury and cerebral ischemia. This study determined the levels of the stable end products of NOS (NOx=nitrite+nitrate) after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and transient cerebral ischemia. A fluorometric assay using nitrate reductase and the NADPH regenerating system was used to quantitate NOx in ultrafiltered (10-kDa cutoff) cortical and hippocampal extracts after reduction of nitrate. In TBI rats, both the plasma and tissue showed a sharp increase in NOx levels 5 min after injury. Plasma NOx returned to control levels by 2 h after injury. Ipsilateral-cortex NOx levels returned to control levels approximately 6 h after injury and remained constant from 6-24 h. Contralateral-cortex returned near to control levels after 1 h. Hippocampus also followed a similar trend. In gerbils, there was a significant elevation in tissue NOx levels immediately after 10 min transient cerebral ischemia, which gradually returned to control levels over 24 h reperfusion. This striking burst of NO synthesis immediately after injury is clearly evident whether the injury is head trauma or ischemia, or whether the measurements were performed on tissue or plasma. It is unknown whether endothelial NOS, neuronal NOS, or both caused the elevation of the NO end products seen after the CNS insults.     

A Lattice Model for Viscoelastic Fracture

A plane, periodic, square-cell lattice is considered,consisting of point particles connected by mass-less viscoelastic bonds.Homogeneous and inhomogeneous problems for steady-state semi-infinitecrack propagation in an unbounded lattice and lattice strip are studied.Expressions for the local-to-global energy-release-rate ratios, stressesand strains of the breaking bonds as well as the crack openingdisplacement are derived. Comparative results are obtained forhomogeneous viscoelastic materials, elastic lattices and homogeneouselastic materials. The influences of viscosity, the discrete structure,cell size, strip width and crack speed on the wave/viscous resistancesto crack propagation are revealed. Some asymptotic results related to animportant asymptotic case of large viscosity (on a scale relative to thelattice cell) are shown. Along with dynamic crack propagation, a theoryfor a slow crack in a viscoelastic lattice is derived.     

Fracture analysis of semi-circular and semi-circular-bend geometries

A fracture mechanics analysis of the semi-circular (SC) and semi-circular-bend (SCB) fracture geometries is presented. The weight function method is implemented to obtain wide ranging stress intensity factor (SIF) and crack opening displacement (COD) expressions. This study has as its basis a finite element analysis of the semi-circular disk (SC) subjected to a reference loading case. The latter is required to determine both the associated reference stress intensity factor and the weight function for the base-edge-cracked semi-circular geometry. With this information, SIF and COD expressions for the full range of crack lengths are obtained. The special cases of the SC subject to a concentrated crack mouth loading and the SCB are analyzed in detail. The weight function for the SCB is fully developed, with an accurate expression for the SIF and and a numerical result for the crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD). The latter wide ranging expressions can, in turn, be applied as a reference solution. From this weight function approach, SIF's and COD's for the SC and SCB subject to any other loading can be obtained.     

A Hough transform system based on neural networks

Neural-like analog circuitry is suggested for image-to-parameter-space mapping, and a modified Hopfield optimization network is proposed for the parameter space peak detection. Solution time under 50 μs is obtainable with general-purpose operational amplifiers. Example system applications include autonomous navigation, tracking multiple targets, curve following, mensuration, and image recognition     

Rescue of a maize mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase mutant by tissue culture

The maize NCS6 mitochondrial mutation is a partial deletion of the cytochrome oxidase subunit 2 gene (cox2) that survives heteroplasmically in the plant. Mutant mitochondria segregate from normal mitochondria during somatic development giving rise to defective sectors on the plants, including areas of kernel abortion on the ears. Embryos from NCS6 kernels can be rescued by tissue culture. Slowly growing Type II callus derived from one of these embryos has been shown by PCR analysis to be homoplasmic for the mutation, carrying only the defective mitochondrial cox2 gene. Most of the rescued embryos were heteroplasmic for normal and mutant genes and heteroplasmy was maintained in the callus cultures. However, when suspension cultures were initiated from heteroplasmic calli, normal cells were shown to have a selective advantage. When the homoplasmic cox2 mutant callus cultures were placed on regeneration medium, plantlets did not regenerate. Heteroplasmic calli were capable of regeneration under the same conditions. These studies suggest that the functioning of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase is not essential for growth as callus, but is required for the differentiation and development of plants.