Sintering of the Mechanochemically Activated Powders of Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Pressureless sintering of hexagonal boron nitride (BN) was performed using a powder activated by mechano-chemical treatments. Physical properties of the sintered BN bodies depend on the type of starting powder and the conditions of the treatments. The BN body, which was obtained at 2000°C using an appropriate activated powder, was 99 wt% pure and was excellent in mechanical and physical properties, in spite of its low density (1.64 g/cm³).     

Measurement of zeolite,silicate, and phosphate in laundry detergent products by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

This paper reports the development of a method for simultaneously measuring zeolite, silicate, and phosphate in laundry detergent products by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. A sample is decomposed under alkaline oxidative conditions to decompose zeolite, silicate, phosphate, and organic substances. Then hydrochloric acid is added to the decomposed solution to dissolve aluminum hydroxide precipitate before analysis. This sample preparation procedure was investigated by using a total organic carbon analyzer and was confirmed to be applicable to simultaneous measurements of zeolite, silicate, and phosphate. Relative standard deviation for the analysis is less than 2.1%, recovery is more than 99.0%, and the calibration curve gives a correlation coefficient ofR=1.000. The detection limit of this method for aluminum and silicon is 0.1%, and for phosphorus, 0.2% by weight in the product. This method is applicable to various laundry detergent products that contain zeolite, silicate, or phosphate and is five times faster than the three wet chemical methods.     

Effect of pressure on phase transition and morphology of bulk poly(trans-1,4-butadiene)

The effect of pressure on the melting, solid-solid transition, and crystallization of poly(trans-1,4-butadiene) (PTBD) was investigated using the pressure range of 1–3000 kg/cm². D.t.a. measurements showed that, the melting and transition temperatures increase with increasing pressure, whose pressure coefficients are 38°C per 1000 kg/cm² and 22°C per 1000 kg/cm², respectively. These values were in fairly close agreement with those calculated from the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. Morphological studies using electron microscope and small-angle X-ray scattering method revealed that, the samples crystallized with relatively small supercoolings under normal or high pressure, are formed of distinct lamellae 400–800 Å thick. The lamellar thickness was inappreciably dependent on crystallization pressure. The significant effect of pressure on crystallization was recognized in a tendency of the crystallinity to increase, with increasing crystallization pressure. This pressure effect was explained by the mechanism that, the increased pressure might make the packing of molecular chains in liquid, more dense and that the secondary crystallization might be accelerated, to increase the lateral dimensions of lamellae.     

Characterization of polyethylene/EPDM/silicon dioxide multicomponent composites by solid-state dynamic mechanical spectroscopy

Various composites of polyethylene, ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM), and filler are milled and analysed by solid-state dynamic mechanical spectroscopy. The filler used is silicon powder with an oxidized surface. This filler is a model for materials with siliceous surfaces. The torsion pendulum measurements show that the multicomponent composites exhibited complex viscoelastic behaviour. For composites of polyethylene and silicon dioxide, there is evidence of particle-particle interactions. In composites which include polyethylene, rubber and filler, interactions of the polyethylene and especially of the rubber with the filler surface are significant. Treatment of the filler surface with gamma-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (-APS) or gamma-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (-MPS) has a significant influence on the resultant composite dynamic mechanical spectrum. Maleic anhydride grafting of the EPDM rubber also changes the character of the composites. These composites appear to exhibit complex morphologies, which may be controlled to a certain extent by filler surface treatment and grafting to the rubber. There is evidence for a chemical reaction between the maleic anhydride modification of the EPDM and -APS during processing on the roll mill. Prediction of the composite properties using the extended van der Poel model is qualitatively useful.     

Pb-Free solders: Part 1. Wettability testing of Sn−Ag−Cu alloys with Bi additions

Maximum bubble pressure, dilatometric, and meniscographic methods were used in the investigations of the surface tension, density, wetting time, wetting force, contact angle, and interfacial tension of liquid alloys of Sn−Ag−Cu eutectic composition with various additions of Bi. Density and surface tension measurements were conducted in the temperature range 250–900 °C. Surface tensions at 250 °C measured under a protective atmosphere of Ar−H₂ were combined with data from meniscographic studies done under air or with a protective flux. The meniscographic data with a nonwetted teflon substrate provided data on interfacial tension (solder-flux), surface tension in air, and meniscographic data with a Cu substrate allowed determinations of wetting time, wetting force, and calculation of contact angle. The calculated wetting angles from meniscographic studies for binary Sn−Ag eutectic and two ternary Sn−Ag−Cu alloys were verified by separate measurements by the sessile drop method under a protective atmosphere with a Cu substrate. Additions of Bi to both ternary alloys improve the wettability and move the parameters somewhat closer to those of traditional Sn−Pb solders.     

Pb-Free solders: Part II. Application of ADAMIS database in modeling of Sn−Ag−Cu alloys with Bi additions

The ADAMIS database was used for calculation of the surface tension of the quaternary Sn−Ag−Cu−Bi liquid alloys by Butler's model. The resultant data were compared with those from the maximum bubble pressure measurements from Part I. The same thermodynamic database was next applied for the calculation of various phase equilibria. It was established that the Bi addition to the ternary Sn−Ag−Cu alloys (Sn-2.6Ag-0.46Cu and Sn-3.13Ag-0.74Cu in at.%; Sn-2.56Ag-0.26 Cu and Sn-2.86Ag-O.40Cu in mass%) causes lowering of the melting temperature and the surface tension to make the tested alloys closer to, traditional Sn−Pb solders. The simulation of the solidification by Scheil's model showed that the alloys with the higher Bi concentration are characterized by the lifting-off failure due to the segregation of Bi at the solder/substrate boundary. Thus, in modeling of new Pb-free solders, a compromise among various properties should be taken into consideration.     

Topology optimization for fluid–thermal interaction problems under constant input power

This paper deals with density-based topology optimization considering fluid and thermal interactions, in which the Navier–Stokes and heat transport equations are coupled. We particularly focus on designing heat exchangers. In the engineering context, heat exchangers are designed while considering a certain amount of input power. Therefore it is important to maximize the performance of a heat exchanger under a constant input power. In this paper we propose a way to control the input power by introducing an extra integral equation. To be more precise, in the fluid analysis, the inlet pressure is determined by solving the extra integral equation together with the Navier–Stokes equation. By doing this we can keep the inlet power constant even when the flow channels are changed in the optimization process. Consequently, the system of equations of the fluid field takes an integrodifferential form. On the other hand, in the heat transport analysis, a single governing equation is defined for simultaneously modeling both the solid and fluid parts. The design variable is a fluid fraction whose distribution represents the topology of the solid and fluid domains. When designing heat exchangers, two different heat conditions are considered in the formulation of the optimization problems, namely temperature-dependent and temperature-independent heat sources. Through the numerical examples for designing flow channels in a heat exchanger, it is shown that distinct topologies can be obtained according to the input power and the heat source conditions.     

Link Prediction based on Structural Properties of Online Social Networks

Question-Answering Bulletin Boards (QABB), such as Yahoo! Answers and Windows Live QnA, are gaining popularity recently. Questions are submitted on QABB and let somebody in the internet answer them. Communications on QABB connect users, and the overall connections can be regarded as a social network. If the evolution of social networks can be predicted, it is quite useful for encouraging communications among users. Link prediction on QABB can be used for recommendation to potential answerers. Previous approaches for link prediction based on structural properties do not take weights of links into account. This paper describes an improved method for predicting links based on weighted proximity measures of social networks. The method is based on an assumption that proximities between nodes can be estimated better by using both graph proximity measures and the weights of existing links in a social network. In order to show the effectiveness of our method, the data of Yahoo! Chiebukuro (Japanese Yahoo! Answers) are used for our experiments. The results show that our method outperforms previous approaches, especially when target social networks are sufficiently dense.

Interpretation of reflection and transmission spectra for thin films: transmission

The optical behavior of a thin film, that is, peak positions and intensities, is discussed for transmission under a thin-film approximation. The infrared transmission spectra of thin films, both standing films and those on dielectric substrates, are simulated for s and p polarization at various angles of incidence. For spectral simulation, the matrix method is used in conjunction with noise-free complex refractive indices based on the dispersion theory. The peak positions in the simulated spectra are compared with transverse optic and longitudinal optic frequencies based on the macroscopic theory. The simulated peak intensities for the standing films are compared with the prediction based on the thin-film approximation. Furthermore, it is found from the spectral simulation for thin films on dielectric substrates that the peak intensity for a thin film may depend on the thickness and refractive index of the substrate.