Effect of precyclic loading on stress-corrosion-cracking initiation in an X-65 pipeline steel exposed to near-neutral pH soil environment

A study was carried out to understand the effect of precyclic loading on stress-corrosion-crack initiation in an X-65 pipeline steel exposed to a near-neutral-pH soil environment. The test specimens were precyclically loaded before corrosion exposure to represent a service history of up to about 20 years, depending on the severity of pressure fluctuation. Microcracks had initiated on the polished surface of the X-65 pipeline steel after long-time exposure at open-circuit potential (OCP) in a near-neutral-pH synthetic soil solution. These microcracks were mostly initiated from pits at metallurgical discontinuities such as grain boundaries, pearlitic colonies, and banded phases in the steel. Strong preferential dissolution was observed along planes of the banded structures in the steel. The selective corrosion attack at these metallurgical discontinuities is attributed to the galvanic nature of those areas to their neighbors. Cyclic loading prior to corrosion exposure had significant effects on microcrack initiation and propagation during subsequent corrosion exposure. Cyclic loading prior to corrosion exposure either reduced or increased the probability of crack initiation and the rate of crack propagation, depending upon the magnitude of the stress cycles. The largest reduction was seen at a peak cyclic stress of about 0.8 of the yield strength. This cyclic-loading-dependent cracking behavior might be related to the alteration of the substructures and the residual stress in the steel as a result of precyclic loading.     

Possibilities and extension of XRD material response analysis in failure research for the advanced evaluation of the damage level of Hertzian loaded components

Due to clearly distinguishable damage symptoms, it is differentiated between the surface and sub‐surface failure mode of rolling bearings. Material states red out by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) residual stress measurements point to a variety of loading conditions especially at raceway surfaces that are associated with several competing failure mechanisms. The corresponding lifetime reduction can range from the lower fatigue strength region to material ratcheting in extreme cases. Relevant position of the microstructural changes and nature of the failure mechanisms are characterized. The time alteration of the XRD material parameters measured at or near the surface and at the depth of the maximum equivalent stress correlates, in a different manner, with the statistical parameter of the 10 % bearing life. Both failure modes are illustrated by concrete examples. Contaminated lubricant and boundary lubrication, which represent practically important surface‐induced failures, are discussed in more detail. Gray staining, i.e. shallow pitting, often occurs without distinct indication of global material aging by means of XRD characteristics. Here, scanning electron microscopy observations and electron microprobe analyses point to corrosion fatigue as acting surface failure mechanism. The interaction between material and lubricant under complex loading regimes particularly of mixed friction and corrosion opens further failure research areas in the field of tribology.     

Novel amplified fiber-optic recirculating delay line processor

The application of optical amplifiers (OAs) to fiber-optic delay line signal processing is demonstrated. Both erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) and semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) are applicable. Analytical results are presented for both amplified and unamplified fiber-optic recirculating delay lines (AFORDLs and UFORDLs). In the AFORDL an OA is inserted in the fiber loop. It is shown that the active AFORDL structure is capable of realizing all-fiber filters not possible with the passive UFORDL. This result is significant because it shows that the OAs can function beyond just the trivial optical loss compensation to provide extra flexibility not available in passive designs. An AFORDL design is presented which has a pole near +1 and a zero at -1 in the Z-plane resulting in useful characteristics in the magnitude and phase responses. The results suggest that extension of the concept to higher-order filters has the potential to lead to the realization of more complex optical processors     

89-GHz fT room-temperature silicon MOSFETs

The authors report the implementation of deep-submicrometer Si MOSFETs that at room temperature have a unity-current-gain cutoff frequency (f_T) of 89 GHz, for a drain-to-source bias of 1.5 V, a gate-to-source bias of 1 V, a gate oxide thickness of 40 Å, and a channel length of 0.15 μm. The fabrication procedure is mostly conventional, except for the e-beam defined gates. The speed performance is achieved through an intrinsic transit time of only 1.8 ps across the active device region     

Single-Step Granulation Method with Microwaves: Preliminary Studies and Pilot Scale Results

Common pharmaceutical excipients and compounds were dried either by a simple convection method or by a combined convection and microwave method in a static bed or by a combined microwave and vacuum method in a mixed bed. A simple placebo granulation was dried by an exclusive vacuum method and by a combined microwave and vacuum method in a mixed bed. The results were compared.     

Screening and characterization of microorganisms with glutaryl-7ADCA acylase activity

A screening of microorganisms producing glutaryl-7ADCA acylase, an enzyme able to hydrolyse glutaric acid selectively from glutaryl-3-deacetoxy-7-aminocephalosporanic acid (glutaryl-7ADCA), has been carried out in soil samples. Five microorganisms expressing acylase activity were isolated and classified as Bacillus cereus, Achromobacter xylosooxidans, Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp. and Pseudomonas paucimobilis. The screening was carried out by preparing enrichment cultures containing glutaryl-7-ADCA or cephalosporin C as the selective carbon source. Four model compounds (adipoyl-, glutamyl- and glutaryl-p-nitroanilide and glutarylcoumarin), mimicking the glutaryl-7ADCA beta-lactam moiety, were synthesized as substrates suitable for the rapid screening of the microorganisms (2500) isolated from the enrichment cultures. A total of 300 strains were active on the model substrates and only 5 displayed acylase activity on glutaryl-7ADCA. The fermentation parameters, such as pH and inducer concentration, for the optimal acylase expression and acylase specificity towards the model substrates were different for each strain.     

Regulatorische Aspekte der dezentralen Erzeugung

Ohne Zusammenfassung Kurzfassung eines Vortrags der 41. Fachtagung der ?sterreichischen Gesellschaft für Energietechnik (OGE) im OVE, die am 5. und 6. November 2003 in Salzburg stattfindet.     

Charge-based capacitance measurements (CBCM) on MOS devices

A new simple method of measuring capacitance-voltage characteristics of MOS devices is presented. Proceeding from the charge-based capacitance measurement technique suggested recently, a compact test structure with high resolution has been developed, which only requires measurement of do quantities. The method was tested on a 0.6-μm CMOS process with small and large area capacitors and compared to well-known high-frequency capacitance-voltage results. Beside using a reference structure, a second means of extracting parasitic effects is demonstrated for small structures. The test structure allows measurements in a wide frequency range with high accuracy and low noise contribution at small capacitance levels