Effect of green compact structure on the sintering of alumina

The effect of particle agglomeration on sintering has been studied by slipcasting suspensions with pH values ranging from 2 to 11. The rate of densification has been found to depend on the degree of agglomeration. Complete dispersion of alumina primary particles has not been attained through adjustment of pH of suspensions, and agglomerates also remained in the best-dispersed suspension. Elimination of the agglomerates by sedimentation lowered the densification temperature of slip-cast compacts. The grain size-density curve is a function of temperature. High-density and small-grained sintered bodies were obtained by low-temperature long-time firing.     

Mechanical behaviour of a combined joint composed of mechanical fastening and adhesive bonding

A study has been made of ‘combined’ joints consisting of mechanical fastening and adhesive bonding between rigid adherends. The mechanical characteristics of such ‘hybrid’ butt and lap shear joints have been derived by theoretical analysis. Results from experimental tests in combined joints giver reasonable agreement with the theoretical equations relating joint load to deformation.     

Effect of MgO Addition on the Bondability and Interfacial Reaction between Dielectric and Glass-Ceramics for the Fabrication of Multi-Component Ceramic Substrates

Bondability and interfacial reaction between dielectric and insulator layers have been examined to obtain a basic understanding of bonding mechanisms. Lead-containing complex perovskite was used as a dielectric material. Two kinds of glass-ceramics were used as insulator material; lead borosilicate glass containing Al_2O3 (insulator A) and the same containing Al₂O₃ and M_gO (insulator B). Dielectric and insulator layers did not bond when insulator A was used. When insulator B was used, however, strong bonding was achieved between the two layers by firing the powder compacts at temperatures between 800° and 1000°C. Addition of M_gO to lead borosilicate glass increased the thermal expansion coefficient to that of the dielectric and enhanced the formation of reaction layers, resulting in good bonding. Two reaction layers were identified. The main reaction products were enstatite and bredigite for one layer contacting the dielectric, and enstatite and a compound with the same diffraction pattern as that of faujasite for the other layers contacting insulator B.     

Balanced corpus of contemporary written Japanese

The balanced corpus of contemporary written Japanese (BCCWJ) is Japan’s first 100 million words balanced corpus. It consists of three subcorpora (publication subcorpus, library subcorpus, and special-purpose subcorpus) and covers a wide range of text registers including books in general, magazines, newspapers, governmental white papers, best-selling books, an internet bulletin-board, a blog, school textbooks, minutes of the national diet, publicity newsletters of local governments, laws, and poetry verses. A random sampling technique is utilized whenever possible in order to maximize the representativeness of the corpus. The corpus is annotated in terms of dual POS analysis, document structure, and bibliographical information. The BCCWJ is currently accessible in three different ways including Chunagon a web-based interface to the dual POS analysis data. Lastly, results of some pilot evaluation of the corpus with respect to the textual diversity are reported. The analyses include POS distribution, word-class distribution, entropy of orthography, sentence length, and variation of the adjective predicate. High textual diversity is observed in all these analyses.     

Enhanced strain hardening in elongational viscosity for HDPE/crosslinked HDPE blend. I. Characteristics of crosslinked HDPE

Blending a crosslinked high‐density polyethylene (xHDPE) enhances melt strength and strain hardening behavior in elongational viscosity of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) to a great degree. Gel fraction of xHDPE has a stronger effect on the strain hardening than sol fraction, although sol fraction also enhances the strain hardening to some degree. Further, the xHDPE crosslinked by peroxide in a compression mold exhibits more pronounced effect than xHDPE by radiation, which is attributed to the difference in the amount of the gel fraction. The xHDPE, which enhances the strain hardening, has sparse crosslink points in the network. Moreover, it was found from linear viscoelastic measurements, such as oscillatory modulus and relaxation modulus, that the xHDPE is characterized as a critical gel, which was also supported by the result of tensile testing. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 73–78, 2002     

Effect of crystallization and interface formation mechanism on mechanical properties of film‐insert injection‐molded poly(propylene) (PP) film/PP substrate

A previous study has shown that the adhesion between the film and substrate of film‐insert injection‐molded poly(propylene) (PP) film/PP substrate was evident with the increases in barrel temperature and injection holding pressure. In this second part of the research work, the crystallinity at the interfacial region (i.e., region between the film and the injected substrate) was extensively studied using FTIR imaging, polarized light microscopy, and DSC in an attempt to determine the level of influence that crystallinity has on the interface and bulk mechanical properties. Consequently, a more thorough and clearer picture of the influence of the inserted film on the interfacial crystallinity and subsequently the substrate mechanical properties, such as peel strength and impact strength, has been revealed. The initial proposition that crystallinity could enhance film–substrate interfacial bonding has been confirmed, judging from the higher peel strength with increasing crystallinity at the interfacial region. Nevertheless, the change in crystallinity was not only confined to the interfacial region. With the film acting as heat‐transfer inhibitor between the injected resin and the mold wall, the total crystal structure of the substrate was substantially altered, which subsequently affected the bulk mechanical properties. The lower impact strength of film‐insert injection‐molded samples compared to that of samples without film inserts provided evidence of how the film could impart inferior properties to the substrate. The difference in cooling rate between the substrate and film might also cause other defects such as warpage and/or residual stress build‐up within the product. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 294–301, 2005     

Effect of degree of polymerization on gelation and flow processability of poly(vinyl chloride)

The effect of degree of polymerization (DP) on the gelation and flow processability of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was studied. Sheets with adjusted degree of gelation were prepared by rolling rigid pipe formulation suspension PVC compounds with DPs of 800, 1050 and 1300 by changing the milling temperature. Their degrees of gelation were measured with DSC and their capillary flow properties were measured with a capillary rheometer at 150, 170 and 190°C and the effect of DP on the relation between gelation and flow processabilities was studied. Because of the higher shearing heat during milling, the sample with the higher DP had a higher history temperature and thus tended to show a higher degree of gelation. The viscosity increased as the gelation increased. The dependency of viscosity on DP was higher at higher milling and extrusion temperatures and thus at a higher degree of gelation and a lower shear rate. This was assumed to be attributed to the more prominent uniform molecular flow as against the particle flow. The die swell increased with increasing the milling and extrusion temperatures and hence with increasing the gelation. A sample with a lower DP tended to show a larger die swell and this tendency was even more pronounced at the higher extrusion temperature. The melt fracture easily occurred when a sample with advanced gelation was extruded at low temperature. Whereas at low milling temperatures a sample with the lower DP showed a lower critical shear rate at onset of melt fracture, and thus easily generating melt fracture, at high milling temperatures it showed a higher critical shear rate and hence scarcely generated melt fracture. These experimental results were explained by the fact and concept that a sample with a lower DP shows a higher increase in the gelation during extrusion and/or the slighter feature of particle flow as against the uniform molecular flow at the same gelation level. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 1915–1938, 2004     

Formation, Characterization, and Hot Isostatic Pressing of Cr2O3-Doped ZrO2 (0,3 mol% Y2O3) Prepared by Hydrazine Method

In the ZrO₂-Cr₂O₃ system, metastable t -ZrO₂ solid solutions containing up to 11 mol% Cr₂O₃ crystallize at low temperatures from amorphous materials prepared by the hydrazine method. The lattice parameter c decreases linearly from 0.5149 to 0.5077 nm with increased Cr₂O₃ content, whereas the lattice parameter a is a constant value ( a = 0.5077 nm) regardless of the starting composition. At higher temperatures, transformation (decomposition) of the solid solutions proceeds in the following way: t (ss)→ t (ss) + m + Cr₂O₃→ m + Cr₂O₃. Above 11 mol% Cr₂O₃ addition, c-ZrO₂ phases are formed in the presence of Cr₂O₃. The t -ZrO₂ solid solution powders have been characterized for particle size, shape, and surface area. They consist of very fine particles (15–30 nm) showing thin platelike morphology. Dense ZrO₂(3Y)-Cr₂O₃ composite ceramics (∼99.7% of theoretical) with an average grain size of 0.3 μm have been fabricated by hot isostatic pressing for 2 h at 1400°C and 196 MPa. Their fracture toughness increases with increased Cr₂O₃ content. The highest K _Ic value of 9.5 MPa·;m^1/2 is achieved in the composite ceramics containing 10 mol% Cr₂O₃.     

Radiation-induced polymerization of ethylene in pilot plant. III. Heavy-phase recycling process

Radiation-induced polymerization of ethylene using aqueous tert-butyl alcohol as medium was carried out in a large-scale pilot plant with a 50-liter central source-type reactor at a pressure of 105 to 395 kg/cm², temperature of 30° to 80°C, mean dose rate of 4.5 × 10⁴ to 1.9 × 10⁵ rads/hr, ethylene feed rate of 5.5 to 23.5 kg/hr, and medium feed rate of 21 to 102 l./hr. The space–time yield and molecular weight of the polymer were in the range of 4.7 to 16.8 g/l.-hr and 1.3 × 10⁴ to 8.9 × 10⁴, respectively. The space–time yield and molecular weight increased with mean residence time at 30°C, whereas at 80°C they became almost independent of the time. The space–time yield increased with pressure and dose rate, slightly decreased with temperature, and was maximum at ethylene molar fraction of 0.5. The polymer molecular weight increased with pressure and ethylene molar fraction, and decreased with dose rate and temperature. The total amount of deposited polymer on the reactor wall, source case wall, and scraping blades was usually less than 1 kg, which was negligibly small for the analysis of polymerization. Continuous discharge of the polymer slurry and production of fine-powder polyethylene were successfully carried out. In the central source-type reactor, a dose rate of 1.9 × 10⁵ rads/hr was obtained with a ⁶⁰Co source of ca. 12 kCi.     

Complex formation in a ternary system composed of lauroamphoglycinate, oleic acid, and water

The formation of a complex, composed of lauroamphoglycinate (LG), oleic acid (OA) and water, was investigated, and this system was applied to emulsification. The complex was formed in the water-rich area (more than 90% in this system) at a molar ratio of OA to LG from 1 to 3, where two-phase systems of water and the complex existed. The interaction between LG and OA, both in the aqueous solution and at the interface of liquid paraffin dissolving the OA and LG solution, was studied by pH measurements and interfacial tension measurements, respectively. The results implied that LG and OA were linked stoichiometrically, both in aqueous solution and at the interface, and formed complexes. X-ray diffraction patterns and the strong hydrophobicity showed that the equimolar complex composed of LG, OA, and water was a liquid crystal with a reversed hexagonal structure. The reversed hexagonal liquid crystal was capable of solubilizing a certain amount of liquid paraffin in its alkyl group parts while maintaining its hexagonal structure. These results suggest the possibility to prepare a W/O-type emulsion by using the liquid crystal formed by LG, OA, partial liquid paraffin, and water as the continuous phase. The authors could obtain a stable W/O emulsion without coalescence of the water droplets that contained a substantial amount of water (approximately 90%). Furthermore, various types of emulsions, O/W, W/O, W/O/W, could be prepared by changing the ratio of LG and OA.