Excess Solute Carbon and Retained Tetragonality in Tempered Fe-0.6C-1Mn Martensite and the Effect of Silicon Addition

The tetragonality and carbon distribution in tempered Fe-0.6C-1Mn martensite were investigated by X-ray diffraction and atom probe tomography to elucidate strain relaxation in the tetragonal lattice during tempering and its relationship with the solubility of excess carbon in martensite. Even though tetragonality (c/a) decreased with an increase in the tempering temperature, it persisted at low levels up to 400 °C. Si addition suppressed the decrease in tetragonality at 400 °C by inhibiting recovery in the dislocated matrix. Such persistence implies that dislocation migration is crucial for the complete release of tetragonal lattice strain at such a temperature, in addition to the decrease in the amount of solute carbon in martensite. A low level of tetragonality was observed for martensite containing carbon in the solid solution below the critical value of ~ 0.2 mass pct, at which a bcc structure was predicted. The amount of solute carbon after tempering was linearly correlated with tetragonality in the solute carbon content range of 0.07 to 0.6 mass pct, and the correlation coefficient was similar to those for as-quenched auto-tempered martensite and bainitic ferrite; these results indicate that the amount of excess carbon is simply determined by the amount of tetragonal lattice distortions remaining after carbide precipitation and recovery.

     

The Association of Cholesterol Uptake and Synthesis with Histology and Genotype in Cortisol-Producing Adenoma (CPA)

Cortisol-producing adenoma (CPA) is composed of clear and compact cells. Clear cells are lipid abundant, and compact ones lipid poor but associated with higher production of steroid hormones. PRKACA mutation (PRKACA mt) in CPA patients was reported to be associated with more pronounced clinical manifestation of Cushing’s syndrome. In this study, we examined the association of histological features and genotypes with cholesterol uptake receptors and synthetic enzymes in 40 CPA cases, and with the quantitative results obtained by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis in 33 cases to explore their biological and clinical significance. Both cholesterol uptake receptors and synthetic enzymes were more abundant in compact cells. GC-MS analysis demonstrated that the percentage of compact cells was inversely correlated with the concentrations of cholesterol and cholesterol esters, and positively with the activity of cholesterol biosynthesis from cholesterol esters. In addition, hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), which catalyzes cholesterol biosynthesis from cholesterol esters, tended to be more abundant in compact cells of PRKACA mt CPAs. These results demonstrated that both cholesterol uptake and biosynthesis were more pronounced in compact cells in CPA. In addition, more pronounced HSL expression in compact cells of PRKACA mt CPA could contribute to their more pronounced clinical manifestation.     

Effects of solid lubricants in backward extrusion

In the present paper, some solid lubricants were tested in backward extrusion friction tests with flat-headed punches using aluminium at room temperature. The results showed that anti-seizure ability was improved when wax was added to the solid lubricant samples. In addition, a water-based graphite lubricant and an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) lubricant were tested using aluminium workpieces heated to 500°C. The lubricity of the UHMW-PE lubricant was found to be superior to that of the graphite lubricant.     

Numerical analysis of coupled transport and reaction phenomena in an anode-supported flat-tube solid oxide fuel cell

Heat and mass transfer with electrochemical reaction in an anode-supported flat-tube solid oxide fuel cell (FT-SOFC) is studied by means of three-dimensional numerical simulation. The distributions of the reaction fields in the anode-supported FT-SOFC are found to be similar to those in the planar SOFC with co-flow arrangement. However, in comparison with the latter, the concentration and activation overpotentials of the former can be reduced by additional reactant diffusion through the porous rib of the fuel channel. Parametric survey reveals that, for a fixed activation overpotential model, the output voltage can be improved by increasing the pore size of anode, while the cross-sectional geometry has smaller effect on the cell performance. Based on the results of three-dimensional simulation, we also develop a simplified numerical model of anode-supported FT-SOFC, which takes into account the concentration gradients in the thick anode of complex cross-sectional geometry. The simplified model can sufficiently predict the output voltage as well as the distributions of temperature and current density with very low computational cost. Thus, it can be used as a powerful tool for surveying wide range of anode-supported FT-SOFC design parameters.     

用体硅微加工工艺实现的微纳电械系统

1　Ｉｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎ　　ＭＥＭＳ (ＭｉｃｒｏＥｌｅｃｔｒｏＭｅｃｈａｎｉｃａｌＳｙｓｔｅｍ )ｂａｓｅｄｏｎｓｅｍｉｃｏｎｄｕｃｔｏｒｍｉｃｒｏｆａｂｒｉｃａｔｉｏｎｐｌａｙｓｉｍ ｐｏｒｔａｎｔｒｏｌｅｓｆｏｒｅｘａｍｐｌｅｉｎｔｈｅ ｐｅｒｉｐｈｅｒｙｏｆＩＴｓｙｓｔｅｍｓ.ＮＥＭＳ (ＮａｎｏＥｌｅｃｔｒｏＭｅｃｈａｎｉｃａｌＳｙｓ ｔｅｍ)ｃｏｎｔａｉｎｓｎａｎｏ＿ｓｃａｌｅｓｔｒｕｃｔｕｒｅｓ.Ｓｏｐｈｉｓｔｉｃａｔｅｄａｎｄｈｉｇｈｐｅｒｆｏｒｍａｎｃｅｓｙｓｔｅｍｓｂａｓｅｄｏｎｔｈ…     

Crystallization behavior of poly(l-lactic acid)

The crystallization behavior of poly(l-lactic acid) was studied in the range of 80-160 °C. The peak crystallization time (τ_p) was defined and obtained from the crystallization isotherm measured with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Isothermal crystallization temperature (T_c) dependence of log(τ_p) discretely changed at 113 °C (= T_b). The linear growth rate of spherulite, G, was measured with a polarizing microscope. The T_c dependence of G and the size of the spherulite also discretely changed at T_b. Crystal structures for samples isothermally crystallized at temperatures which were higher and lower than T_b were orthorhombic (α-form) and trigonal (β-form), respectively. The discrete change of the crystallization behavior was explained by the formation of different crystal.