EBSP study of the annealing behavior of aluminum deformed by equal channel angular processing

Commercial purity aluminum (99.5%) was fabricated by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) up to total accumulated strains of approx. 10. The annealing behavior of material deformed to total strains of approx. 1 and 10 was investigated, using heat treatments of 2 h at various temperatures from 100 to 500 °C. The microstructure of the annealed materials was characterized using the electron back-scatter pattern technique. A number of parameters were determined including the distribution and average values of both the boundary spacings and misorientations. For samples deformed to a total strain of 1, annealing resulted in discontinuous recrystallization. For samples deformed to a total strain of 10, annealing resulted in microstructures exhibiting characteristics of both uniform coarsening and, in a number of places, of discontinuous recrystallization. An attempt was made, based on the boundary spacing distributions, to separate these two components. The grain size after annealing was still however small, being just 6.4 μm after 2 h at 300 °C.     

TEM Studies of High Temperature Corrosion Behaviour of TiAl Intermetallics with Surface Modifications

The oxidation/sulphidation behaviour of a Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si alloy with a TiAl₃ diffusion coating was studied in an environment of H₂/H₂S/H₂O at 850^oC. The kinetic results demonstrate that the TiAl₃ coating significantly increased the high temperature corrosion resistance of Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si. The SEM, EDX, XRD and TEM analysis reveals that the formation of an Al₂O₃ scale on the surface of the TiAl₃‐coated sample was responsible for the enhancement of the corroison resistance. The Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si alloy was also modified by Nb ion implantation. The Nb ion implanted and as received sampels were subjected to cyclic oxidation in an open air at 800^oC. The Nb ion implantation not only increased the oxidation resistance but also substantially improved the adhesion of scale to the substrate.     

Graph-theoretic construction of low-density parity-check codes

This article presents a graph-theoretic method for constructing low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes from connected graphs without the requirement of large girth. This method is based on finding a set of paths in a connected graph, which satisfies the constraint that any two paths in the set are either disjoint or cross each other at one and only one vertex. Two trellis-based algorithms for finding these paths are devised. Good LDPC codes of practical lengths are constructed and they perform well with iterative decoding.     

Comparison of total and faecal coliforms as faecal indicator in eutrophicated surface water.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of total coliforms (TC) and faecal coliforms (FC) using a membrane filtration method for precise monitoring of faecal pollution in Korean surface water. The samples were collected in Korea from both main rivers and their tributaries. Presumptive TC * FC were enumerated. The ratios of presumptive FC to TC were not constant, but varied widely, and TC were difficult to enumerate because of overgrowth by background colonies. For FC this was not the case. Seven hundred and three purified strains of presumptive TC * FC and their background colonies were biotyped using API 20E. Among 272 presumptive TC, non-faecal related species, Aeromonas hydrophila dominated (34.6%) and E. coli accounted for only 5.1%. In contrast, E. coli made up 89% of the 209 presumptive FC. Furthermore, of 164 background colonies on Endo Agar LES, 54.9% was A. hydrophila, while background colonies on m-FC Agar were few (58 strains), and despite their atypical colony appearance, most of them were biotyped as enteric bacteria. These results reveal that the detection of FC rather than TC using m-FC Agar is more appropriate for faecal pollution monitoring in eutrophicated surface water located in a temperate region.     

Microscale Patterning of Mesoscopic PZN-PT Single Crystal Films by Crystal ion Slicing and Laser-Induced Etching

Advances in the fabrication of solid-solution single crystal relaxor ferroelectrics have made it possible to produce highly efficient piezoelectric crystals, and have attracted renewed interest in the use of these crystals for a new generation of piezoelectric transducers, actuators and sensors. Of particular interest is their incorporation into micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). In this paper we report on the laser-induced wet chemical etching of lead zinc niobate-lead titanate (PZN-PT) in hydrochloric acid (HCl). Argon-ion laser radiation at power levels up to 4 W is focused to a spot diameter of about 15μm and results in the chemical etching of grooves at patterning speeds up to 5μm/sec. Crystal ion slicing, an ion-implant-based film separation technique, is used in combination with laser etching to form 5 to 10μm-thick patterned and freestanding films for incorporation into micro-electromechanical devices.     

Valorisation of waste fractions from autohydrolysis of selected lignocellulosic materials

Non‐isothermal processing of lignocellulosic materials in aqueous media (autohydrolysis reaction) under mild conditions leads to solutions containing valuable chemicals (oligosaccharides, sugars and acetic acid) and other, undesired, compounds (belonging to the extractive and acid‐soluble lignin fractions) which have to be removed in further purification treatments. Liquors obtained by non‐isothermal autohydrolysis of Eucalyptus globulus wood and corncobs under a variety of operational conditions were extracted with ethyl acetate in order to remove non‐saccharide components, and the suitability of the fraction dissolved in the organic phase was assayed for possible utilisation as an antioxidant. The yield and antioxidant activity of ethyl acetate extracts (measured by the α,α‐diphenyl‐β‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity) showed a strong dependence on the autohydrolysis conditions. The antioxidant activity of extracts obtained under selected operational conditions compared well with synthetic antioxidants. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

New hybrid fuzzy controller for direct torque control induction motor drives

A new hybrid fuzzy controller for direct torque control (DTC) induction motor drives is presented in this paper. The newly developed hybrid fuzzy control law consists of proportional-integral (PI) control at steady state, PI-type fuzzy logic control at transient state, and a simple switching mechanism between steady and transient states, to achieve satisfied performance under steady and transient conditions. The features of the presented new hybrid fuzzy controller are highlighted by comparing the performance of various control approaches, including PI control, PI-type fuzzy logic control (FLC), proportional-derivative (PD) type FLC, and combination of PD-type FLC and I control, for DTC-based induction motor drives. The pros and cons of these controllers are demonstrated by intensive experimental results. It is shown that the presented induction motor drive is with fast tracking capability, less steady state error, and robust to load disturbance while not resorting to complicated control method or adaptive tuning mechanism. Experimental results derived from a test system are presented confirming the above-mentioned claims.     

Evaluation and optimization of package processing and design through solder joint profile prediction

Solder joints are generated using a variety of methods to provide both mechanical and electrical connection for applications such as flip-chip, wafer level packaging, fine pitch, ball-grid array, and chip scale packages. Solder joint shape prediction has been incorporated as a key tool to aid in process development, wafer level and package level design and development, assembly, and reliability enhancement. This work demonstrates the application of an analytical model and the Surface Evolver software in analyzing a variety of solder processing methods and package types. Bump and joint shape prediction was conducted for the design of wafer level bumping, flip-chip assembly, and wafer level packaging. The results from the prediction methodologies are validated with experimentally measured geometries at each level of design.     

A new Pd-oxide-Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As MOS hydrogen sensor

A new and interesting Pd-oxide-Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As MOS hydrogen sensor has been fabricated and studied. The steady-state and transient responses with different hydrogen concentrations has been measured at various temperatures. Based on the large Schottky barrier height and presence of oxide layer, the studied device exhibits a high hydrogen detection sensitivity and wide temperature operating regime. The studied device exhibits the low-leakage current and obvious current changes when exposed to hydrogen-contained gas. Even at room temperature, a very high hydrogen detection sensitivity of 155.9 is obtained when a 9090 ppm H/sub 2//air gas is introduced. Furthermore, when exposed to hydrogen-contained gas at 95/spl deg/C, both the forward and reverse currents are substantially increased with increased hydrogen concentration. In other words, the studied device can be used as a hydrogen sensor under the applied bidirectional bias. Under the applied voltage of 0.35 V and 9090 ppm H/sub 2//air hydrogen ambient, a fast adsorption response time about 10 s is found. The transient and steady-state characteristics of hydrogen adsorption are also investigated.