The Synthesis and Characterization of Hard-Soft Mn52Al45.7C2.3-α-Fe Nanocomposite Magnets

We report on the magnetic exchange coupling behavior in hard-soft Mn₅₂Al_45.7C_2.3-α-Fe nanocomposite magnets synthesized by high-energy ball milling at room temperature followed by post-annealing treatment at temperatures 300 to 600 °C. The analysis of hysteresis loops showed effective exchange coupling Mn₅₂Al_45.7C_2.3-α-Fe nanocomposite particles with smooth demagnetizing curves when annealed at 400 °C. But higher annealing temperatures pose kink in the hysteresis loop highlighting a weak exchange coupling with more magnetostatic interaction between hard and soft components. This trend was confirmed by the results on (BH)_max, which had the highest value for nanocomposite particles annealed at 400 °C. More detailed information on magnetic exchange coupling in nanocomposite particles was obtained by derivative magnetic curves and Henkel plots. Hard-soft Mn₅₂Al_45.7C_2.3-α-Fe magnets showed the sharpest high-field maximum in derivate magnetic curves when annealed at 400 °C as a signature of effective exchange coupling between Mn₅₂Al_45.7C_2.3 and α-Fe grains. In addition, Henkel plots display the dominance of positive peak for nanocomposite particles annealed at 300 and 400 °C, indicative of magnetic exchange-coupling. But the negative-peak dominated curves of those annealed at higher temperatures as well as single-phase Mn₅₂Al_45.7C_2.3 imply a significant magnetostatic interaction in the components owing to non-magnetic phases formed at elevated temperatures. Also, quantitative information obtained from recoil curve measurements assigned a higher degree of exchange coupling to nanocomposite magnets when annealed at 400 °C.

     

Prediction of ultrasonic wave velocity in particleboard and fiberboard

Ultrasonic wave velocities were determined at parallel and perpendicular to manufacturing direction and at the interval angles of 15° in clockwise and counterclockwise directions of particleboard and fiberboard. The experimental results were compared with the predicted values using some empirical formulae such as Hankinson and Jacoby equations. The results showed that the ultrasonic wave velocity were the highest in parallel direction in particleboard and fiberboard and decreases with increase of angle and the lowest values occurred in perpendicular direction. The predicted ultrasonic velocity using Hankinson and Jacoby equations are in close agreement with the measured values. Relationship between ultrasonic wave velocities and particles and fibers angle could be successfully presented by cubic and quadratic regression equations as well.     

Effiziente Wasserabtrennung aus Dieselkraftstoff mittels Membrantechnik und Online‐Monitoring

The separation of water from diesel fuel is very important for safety, ecological, and economic reasons, as otherwise it can lead to lower combustion efficiency and engine problems. In addition, the free water from ultra‐low‐sulfur diesel (ULSD) can only be insufficiently separated with the classic separation systems. To solve this problem, a membrane process with different organic/inorganic membranes for the selective separation of water droplets from ULSD and an innovative water‐in‐oil online sensor were developed.     

A zero-current switching switched-capacitor DC-DC converter with reduction in cost,complexity, and size

This paper presents a new step-up switched-capacitor (SC) DC-DC converter which has many advantages such as reduction in investment cost, control complexity, number of components, voltage stress on components, and size over traditional topologies. In the proposed structure, power switches are reduced in number which in turn leads to the merits mentioned earlier and makes the converter more suitable for industrial applications. Furthermore, a previously introduced zero-current switching (ZCS) method is used here which provides soft switching for the devices. There is also a reduction in the number of required inductors to achieve ZCS due to the decreased number of switches in the proposed converter. The proposed converter is validated by comprehensive simulation results in MATLAB Simulink environment and also precise experimental results which show the acceptable performance of the proposed topology.     

Lumped Parameter Thermal Model for Axial Flux Switched Reluctance Motors

The accurate prediction of temperature rise in various parts of a machine plays a significant role in ensuring that the machine delivers the required performance avoiding failures that arise due to high temperatures. In this paper, a lumped parameter thermal model is presented for exterior-rotor axial flux switched reluctance motors. Depending on its geometry, each part of the motor is modeled as a thermal equivalent circuit based on general cylindrical or cuboidal components. A total thermal network is obtained by proper connection of these sub-circuits. The model was calibrated by a stationary test; then, running conditions were applied to the model. The sensitivity of the model to the heat transfer coefficients was investigated by considering the effect of the coefficient variation on the estimated steady-state temperatures. Results show that the winding temperature, as the hottest part of the motor, is the most sensitive to the frame-to-ambient heat transfer coefficients.     

Implicit dynamic three-dimensional finite element analysis of an inelastic biphasic mixture at finite strain: Part 1: Application to a simple geomaterial

Based on the mixture theory formulation for a fluid-saturated, inelastic, pressure-sensitive porous solid subjected to dynamic large strain deformation, a 3D finite element implementation with implicit time integration is presented. A recently published 2D implementation [Li et al. 2004, CMAME, v193, p3837–70] is extended to 3D, porosity-dependent permeability, and pressure-sensitive inelastic solid skeleton response at finite strain. The Clausius-Duhem inequality provides the form of the constitutive equations for the solid and fluid phases, as well as the dissipation function. A non-associative Drucker-Prager cap-plasticity model at finite strain is formulated based on a multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient, and numerically integrated semi-implicitly in the intermediate configuration to avoid questions of incremental objectivity. The elastic implementation is verified with available 1D analytical and 2D benchmark problems. New numerical solutions for 3D large strain dynamic behavior of saturated inelastic porous media are presented. The computational efficiency of the implemented formulation in achieving quadratic convergence is illustrated.     

N ‐acetylcysteine–PLGA nano‐conjugate: effects on cellular toxicity and uptake of gadopentate dimeglumine

Gadolinium as a contrast agent in MRI technique combined with DTPA causes contrast induced nephropathy (CIN) and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) which can reduce by usage of antioxidants such as N‐acetyl cysteine by increasing the membrane''s permeability leads to lower cytotoxicity. In this study, N ‐acetyl cysteine‐PLGA Nano‐conjugate was synthesized according to stoichiometric rules of molar ratios andafter assessment by FTIR, NMR spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) imaging was combined with Magnevist® (gadopentetate dimeglumine) and its effects on the renal cells were evaluated. MTT [3‐(4,5‐Dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide] and cellular uptake assays have indicated relatively significant toxicity of magnevist (P  < 0.05) on three cell lines including HEK293, MCF7 and L929 compared to other synthesized ligands that shown no toxicity. Moreover, systemic evaluation has shown no notable changes of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine in kidney of mice. In consequence, antioxidant effect was increased as well as the renal toxicity of the contrast agent reduced at the cell level. As a result, PLGA‐NAC nano‐conjugate can be a promising choice for decreasing the magnevist toxicity for treatment and prevention of CIN and will be able to open a new horizon to research on reduction of toxicity of contrast agents by using nanoparticles.Inspec keywords: blood, toxicology, nanofabrication, cellular biophysics, biomedical materials, nanoparticles, chromatography, cancer, biodegradable materials, biomedical MRI, kidney, pH, nanomedicine, patient treatment, diseases, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectraOther keywords: cellular toxicity, gadopentate dimeglumine, contrast agent, magnetic resonance imaging technique, diethylenetriamine pentaacetate, contrast‐induced nephropathy, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, stoichiometric rules, molar ratios, dimethyl sulphoxide solution, chromatography techniques, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy imaging, Magnevist®, gadopentetate dimeglumine, renal cells, MTT cytotoxicity, human embryonic kidney‐293, L929 cell lines, in vitro conditions, cellular uptake assays, Magnevist uptake, antioxidant effect, renal toxicity, cell level, PLGA nanocarrier, acetylcysteine nanoconjugate, Magnevist toxicity, N‐acetylcysteine–PLGA nano‐conjugate, N‐acetyl cysteine‐poly‐lactic‐co‐glycolic acid nanoconjugate     

Classes of Discrete Decreasing and Increasing Mean-Residual-Life Distributions

Discrete failure-time distributions can be appropriate to model lifetimes. This paper represents two well-known non-parametric families of discrete distributions: decreasing and increasing mean-residual-life. It provides two parametric families of discrete distributions which are suitable for fitting decreasing and increasing mean-residual-life models to discrete life-test data.     

Study of photochemical and sonochemical processes efficiency for degradation of dyes in aqueous solution

The degradation of two commercially available dyestuffs (C.I. Reactive Black 5 and C.I. Disperse Orange 25) by ultraviolet radiation (UV), ultrasonic irradiation (US), UV/H₂O₂ and US/H₂O₂ processes was investigated in a laboratory-scale batch photoreactor equipped with a 55 W immersed-type low-pressure mercury vapor lamp and a sonoreactor with low frequency (42 kHz) plate type transducer at 170 W of acoustic power. The toxicity was also evaluated in acute toxicity studies using Daphnia magna. Results showed that color removal efficiencies by US and US/H₂O₂ processes were negligible for both dyes. Almost complete disappearance of Reactive Black 5 (97.9%) in UV/H₂O₂ process was possible after 5 min of irradiation. The maximum color removal efficiency of Disperse Orange 25 after 10 min of irradiation, however, was only 9.2% and reached a maximum value of 41% after 120 min of irradiation. Pseudo-first order kinetics with respect to dyestuffs concentrations was found to fit all the experimental data. The results clearly showed that both dyes examined were toxic to D. magna and resulted in quite low LC₅₀ values.     

Magneto-electro-elastic analysis of piezoelectric–flexoelectric nanobeams rested on silica aerogel foundation

This article explores that the study on bending of magneto-electric-elastic nanobeams relies on nonlocal elasticity theory. The Vlasov’s model foundation utilizes the silica aerogel foundation. The guiding expressions of nonlocal nanobeams in the considered framework are used extensively and where parabolic third-order beam theory is achieved after using Hamilton’s principle. Parametric work is introduced to scrutinize the influence of the magneto-electro-mechanical loadings, nonlocal parameter, and aspect ratio on the deflection characteristics of nanobeams. It is noticed that the boundary conditions, nonlocal parameter, and beam geometrical parameters have significant effects on dimensionless deflection of nanoscale beams.