Improved homogenization of Ni in sintered steels through the use of Cr-containing prealloyed powders

The homogenization of Ni in powder metal (PM) steel compacts is usually difficult even after high-temperature sintering at 1250°C. An earlier study by the authors demonstrated that this problem can be alleviated through the addition of 0.5 wt pct Cr in the form of stainless steel powders. To further improve the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ni-containing PM steels and to understand the mechanisms, an attempt was made in this study using the Fe-3Cr-0.5Mo prealloyed powder as the base material. The results showed that the distribution of the Ni additives was significantly improved. As a result, the tensile strength of the Fe-3Cr-0.5Mo-4Ni-0.5C compact sintered at 1250°C reached 1323 MPa. The elongation was higher than 1 pct. These sinter-hardened properties, which were attained using a slow furnace cooling rate, were comparable to those of the sinter-hardened alloys reported in the literature using accelerated cooling and were equivalent to those of the best quenched-and-tempered alloys registered in the Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF) standards. These improvements were attributed to the positive effect of Cr addition on alloy homogenization due to the reduction of the repelling effect between Ni and C, as was demonstrated through the thermodynamic analysis using the Thermo-Calc program.     

Note on B-splines, wavelet scaling functions, and Gabor frames

Let g be a continuous, compactly supported function on such that the integer translates of g constitute a partition of unity. We show that the Gabor system (g,a,b), with window g and time-shift and frequency-shift parameters a,b>0 has no lower frame bound larger than 0 if b=2,3,... and a>0. In particular, (g,a,b) is not a Gabor frame if g is a continuous, compactly supported wavelet scaling function and if b=2,3,... and a>0. We give an example for our result for the case that g=B/sub 1/, the triangle function supported by [-1,1], by showing pictures of the canonical dual corresponding to (g,a,b) where ab=1/4 and b crosses the lines N=2,3,.     

Structure and electrical characteristics of Ce4+-doped Ba2In2O5

The In-site of Ba₂In₂O₅ with Brownmillerite structure was partially substituted for Ce⁴⁺ ions in order to examine the doping effect on the order-disorder transition. Ba₂In_{2 – x} Ce _x O_{5 + x/2} (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5) were prepared by solid state reaction. X-Ray diffraction analyses of these powder samples demonstrated that Ba₂In_{2 – x} Ce _x O_{5 + x/2} (x = 0.1 and 0.2) possesses Brownmillerite structure. With increasing content of Ce⁴⁺ ion the crystal system of Ba₂In_{2 – x} Ce _x O_{5 + x/2} (x = 0.3, 0.5, and 1.0) changed to cubic perovskite structure above the order-disorder transition temperature of Ba₂In₂O₅. Arrhenius plots of the electrical conductivities of Ba₂In_{2 – x} Ce _x O_{5 + x/2} (x = 0.2, 0.3, and 1.0) exhibited no discontinuity. These compounds had high transference numbers of oxide ion above 973 k.     

Verhalten von Magnesiumlegierungen für Anwendungen im Fahrzeugbau bei mechanisch‐elektrochemischer Komplexbeanspruchung: Einfluss passivierender Deckschichten und Mechanismen der lokalen Schädigung

Behavior of Magnesium‐Alloys for Automotive Applications under Mechanical and Environmental Loading: Influence of Passivating Films and Mechanisms of Local Breakdown To assure an efficient design of components under cyclic loading, all available data concerning fatigue have to be observed. Therefore the influences of manufacturing on the material condition, the mechanical loads and environmental effects have to be analysed. Magnesium‐alloys are of special interest for lightweight applications because of their excellent strength‐density ratio. The corrosion resistance of magnesium‐alloys depends on the same factors that are critical to other metals. The alloys have a good stability to atmospheric exposure and a good resistance to attack by alkali, chromic and hydrofluoric acids. However, because of the electrochemical activity of magnesium, the relative importance of some factors is greatly amplified. The nature and composition of passive films formed on magnesium‐alloys depend on the prevailing conditions, viz. alloy‐composition, passivation potential, pH, electrolyte composition and temperature. Passive films may be damaged by local breakdown. Because of this, magnesium‐alloys suffer a degradation of their properties when exposed to an aqueous environment. The main topic of the present investigations is the verification of mechanisms of the local breakdown of the protecting film. At least two mechanisms are possible for this localization: mechanical breakdown by slip steps and electrochemical breakdown (for e.g. by the effects of chloride ions). Corrosion and passivation of different high purity alloys have been studied in different solutions (neutral, alkaline with specific anions and cations) using electrochemical techniques. The diecasted alloys were tested as produced and machined. The results clarified that depending on alloy/material and surface condition/corrosion environment different mechanisms for electrochemical breakdown of the protecting films are possible. Hence fatigue life under environmental loading is influenced by surface and testing conditions.     

Java multimedia telecollaboration

Using Java-based tools in multimedia collaborative environments accessed over the Internet can increase an application's client base. Most operating systems support Java, and its "compile once-run everywhere" architecture is easy to maintain and update. The Java-based tools presented here let users share Internet resources, including resources originally designed for single use.     

Effects of surface charge, micro-bubble size and particle size on removal efficiency of electro-flotation.

Flotation is a water treatment alternative to sedimentation, and uses small bubbles to remove low-density particles from potable water and wastewater. The effect of zeta potential, bubble size and particle size on removal efficiency of the electro-flotation process was investigated because previous model-simulations indicated that these attributes are critical for high collision efficiency between micro-bubbles and particles. Solutions containing Al3+ as the metal ion were subjected to various conditions. The zeta potentials of bubbles and particles were similar under identical conditions, and their charges were influenced by metal ion concentration and pH. Maximum removal efficiency was 98 and 12% in the presence and absence of flocculation, respectively. Removal efficiency was higher when particle size was similar to bubble size. These results agree with modelling simulations and indicate that collision efficiency is greater when the zeta potential of one is negative and that of the other is positive and when their sizes are similar.     

Cover Picture: Arresting,Fixing, and Separating Dimers Composed of Uniform Silica Colloidal Spheres (Adv. Funct. Mater. 12/2006)

In colloidal suspensions of silica, particles undergo constant collisions. By controlling various parameters, the repulsive barrier can be reduced, thereby substantially increasing the number of collision‐induced dimerization events. Xia and co‐workers report on p. 1627 that the dimers could be arrested and then permanently fixed by introducing a small amount of fresh tetraethylorthosilicate into the colloidal suspension, with monodisperse dimer yields of up to 50 %. This yield could be increased to 80 % by centrifugation in a density gradient medium. When fresh tetraethylorthosilicate is introduced into a colloidal suspension of silica spheres, it hydrolyzes and condenses in situ to arrest and fix the dimers resulting from constant collisions between the spheres. By optimizing the experimental parameters (including the length of aging time) and the diameter of the silica spheres, as well as the concentrations of counterions, water, and ammonia, it is possible to routinely produce monodisperse dimers with a yield as high as 50 %. When combined with centrifugation using a density gradient medium, the yield of such dimers could be further increased to 80 %. It is believed that this method will provide a simple and versatile approach to the high‐volume production of dimers from spherical colloids composed of different materials. These dimers may find widespread use in a range of applications such as fabrication of photonic crystals and fundamental studies related to colloidal science.     

Untersuchung der Verteilung und Intensität filamentierter Barrierenplasmen für die Behandlung von Oberflächen

The application of barrier discharges at atmospheric pressure in air expands on the market of plasma technology, because it is an ecological and cost‐effective alternative to other processes of surface treatment. These plasmas usually consist of a multitude of spatially and temporally localized filaments, whose distribution should be as even as possible for homogeneous treatment. This holds especially for the plasma treatment of sensitive goods such as wool or other textiles. In equipment for continuous pass of material the barrier arrangements often consist of a system cylinder – cylinder or cylinder – plane, whereby the gap width changes locally. Space distribution and intensity of filaments has been investigated by means of short‐time photography and spatially resolved measurement of current distribution and energy distribution derived from it. The local dependency found can be explained by means of a capacitive equivalent circuit.     

Robust vector control of induction motors using full-order observer in consideration of core loss

This paper proposes a method for designing a robust full-order observer for vector-controlled induction motors taking core loss into account. Although conventional research focuses on parameter identification, global stability of the identification remains questionable. Therefore, robustness against some parameters is required. This paper describes the design of a robust full-order observer which takes core loss into account, using both the gain-scheduled H/sub /spl infin// control and the linear matrix inequality technique. This design always results in a stable controller. The robustness of the proposed method against variations of resistances is evaluated by experiments.     

Assessing stem cell research productivity

Honour Index (HoI), a method to evaluate research performance within different research fields, was derived from the impact factor (IF). It can be used to rate and compare different categories of journals. HoI was used in this study to determine the scientific productivity of stem cell research in the Asian Four Dragons (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) from 1981 to 2001. The methodology applied in this study represents a synthesis of universal indicator studies and bibliometric analyses of subfields at the micro-level. We discuss several comparisons, and conclude the developmental trend in stem cell research for two decades. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.