Effects of mechanical properties of paint film on the forming of pre-painted steel sheets

Formability is one of the most important factors for pre-painted steel sheets (PCMs). Both high formability of the steel substrate and high integrity of the paint films on it after processing are required. In this study, elongation, tensile strength and elastic strain energy of various paint films were examined by tensile test, and the relationship between the mechanical properties of paint films and the integrity of paint films of PCM after bending and drawing were studied. We found that the required properties of paint films of PCM depended on the forming mode. In the bending mode, in which steel sheets were mainly subjected to tensile strain, the damage of paint films was dominated by the maximum strain and the tensile strength of the paint films. The paint films having higher maximum strain and higher tensile strength had better formability in bending. On the other hand, the damage of paint films was dominated by the maximum strain of paint films and elastic strain energy stored in paint films after deformation in the drawing mode in which steel sheets were subjected to tensile and compressive strain. The paint films having higher maximum strain and lower elastic strain energy had better formability in drawing. The relationship between the lubrication attributes of paint films and the limit of drawing ratio (LDR) of PCM was also studied. It was observed that the PCM with paint films having low friction coefficient had a higher LDR and it was the same ratio as the unpainted substrates.     

Counter-Rotating Type Tidal Stream Power Unit Mounted on a Mono-pile

The authors have invented a unique counter-rotating type tidal stream power unit, which is composed of tandem propellers and a double rotational armature type generator without a stator. The front and the rear propellers drive, as for an upstream type, the inner and the outer rotational armatures in the counter-rotating directions respectively, which keep the rotational torques counter-balanced between both propellers and armatures. This paper investigates experimentally the output and forces acting on a pile in a water channel, to get design materials of the mono-pile type tidal stream power unit. The output is maximal at the moderate rotational speed, as the same as a wind turbine. The force acting on the pile is affected by the drag, the Karman vortex and the dynamic balances of the tandem propellers, and has dominant frequencies due to not only the individual but also the interacting rotation of the front and the rear propellers.     

Influence of physical properties of activated carbons on characteristics of electric double-layer capacitors

Electrochemical characterization has been carried out for several activated carbons used as polarizable electrodes of electric double-layer capacitors in an aqueous electrolytic solution. The rest potential of the activated carbon was proportional to the logarithm of the oxygen content or to the concentration of the acidic surface functional groups of the activated carbon. The result of triangular voltage-sweep cyclic voltammetry was the same as that of the residual current measurement. The oxygen content and concentration of the acidic surface groups of activated carbon influenced the electrochemical characteristics of the activated carbon. Under anodic polarization, gas evolution was observed at the electrode surface of activated carbon with high oxygen content at 0.8 V versus saturated calomel electrode ( SCE). Gas evolution was not observed at the electrode surface of activated carbon with low oxygen content even to 1.0 V versus SCE. Under cathodic polarization of activated carbon with high oxygen content, the peak was observed at approximately −0.2 V versus SCE, but there was no gas evolution at the electrode surface of the activated carbon. Bubbles were not observed at the electrode surface of activated carbon with low oxygen content at −0.5 V versus SCE. Electric double-layer capacitors were made from activated carbons used for electrochemical measurements; load-life tests have been carried out. Thickness and internal resistance of the capacitor composed of activated carbon with high oxygen content increased. The changes in thickness and internal resistance of the capacitor composed of activated carbon with low oxygen content were small.     

Configuring a Network Management System for Efficient Operation

Configuring a network management system involves the delicate art of balancing the requirements of the management system with the available network resources.     

Chymase as a Novel Therapeutic Target in Acute Pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis is still a life-threatening disease without an evidenced therapeutic agent. In this study, the effect of chymase in acute pancreatitis and the possible effect of a chymase inhibitor in acute pancreatitis were investigated. Hamsters were subcutaneously administered 3.0 g/kg of L-arginine to induce acute pancreatitis. Biological markers were measured 1, 2, and 8 h after L-arginine administration. To investigate the effect of a chymase inhibitor, a placebo (saline) or a chymase inhibitor TY-51469 (30 mg/kg) was given 1 h after L-arginine administration. The survival rates were evaluated for 24 h after L-arginine administration. Significant increases in serum lipase levels and pancreatic neutrophil numbers were observed at 1 and 2 h after L-arginine administration, respectively. Significant increases in pancreatic neutrophil numbers were observed in the placebo-treated group, but they were significantly reduced in the TY-51469-treated group. A significant increase in the pancreatic tumor necrosis factor-α mRNA level was observed in the placebo-treated group, but it disappeared in the TY-51469-treated group. Chymase activity significantly increased in the placebo-treated group, but it was significantly reduced by treatment with TY-51469. The survival rate significantly improved in the TY-51469-treated group. A chymase inhibitor may become a novel therapeutic agent for acute pancreatitis.     

Batch-adaptive ship's autopilots*

Sea conditionsand ship's motions might be considered as a locally stationary process. This paper proposes an on-line fitting procedure using the AIC to such a process and applies it to design two kinds of batch-adaptive autopilot systems. In the first one, the ship's manoeuvring motion including yawing, rolling and rudder motions are modelled by using a MARX model and at the end of every batch period, an on-line judgement for the following period is carried out by applying the minimum AIC procedure and the best MARX model to represent the present states of the manoeuvring motion. The second autopilot is an extension of the adaptation rule to a noise-adaptive autopilot system. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Field of safe travel in swarm

Animals in a group have been considered to have a field or zone to avoid a collision among individuals. The repulsive zone was formalized as a symmetry zone, i.e., a circle in the theories of collective behavior. The present study challenged the theories, since animals would avoid the collision in anticipation that cannot be derived from the symmetry interaction. This study investigated a discrete model consisting of velocity-based “oval” repulsive and long-range attractive zones. This model exhibited highly coherent behavior without explicit alignment force due to asymmetric interaction upon the oval potential. The results would be contributed to future researches in collective behavior and robotics.     

An innovative approach for bond strength modeling in FRP strip-to-concrete joints using adaptive neuro–fuzzy inference system

Engineering with Computers - In this study, a new computational approach for determination of the bond strength of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) strip-to-concrete joints is presented based on...     

The influence of Goishi tea on adipocytokines in obese mice

This study investigated the influence of Goishi-tea on visceral fat weight in induced obese mice. Mice were divided into two main groups, normal and obesity. In obesity group, mice were fed with high-fat diet. Goishi-tea including its fractions (ethyl-acetate layer and water layer) was administrated in normal and obesity three sub-groups. Results showed no influence of Goishi-tea in normal group. However, visceral fat weight, size of adipose cell and cholesterol level were significantly decreased in obesity group fed Goishi-tea compared to control group. Moreover, adiponectin levels tended to increase and adipocytokines has significant values lower in obesity group fed Goishi-tea compared to control group. Interestingly, Goishi tea involved in the high-fat diet induced-obese mice can inhibit fat accumulation and maintain adiponectins without increasing tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6. It would be beneficial for the prevention of metabolic syndrome and obesity-related disorder.     

Adsorption and Catalytic Activation of the Molecular Oxygen on the Metal Supported h-BN

Adsorption and catalytic activation of the molecular oxygen on the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayer supported on Ni(111) and Cu(111) surfaces have been studied theoretically using density functional theory. It is demonstrated that an inert h-BN monolayer can be functionalized and become catalytically active on the transition metal support as a result of mixing of the metal d and h-BN π bands.