Characterization of Silicon Carbide–Silicon Nitride Composite Ultrafine Particles Synthesized Using a CO2 Laser by Silicon-29 Magic Angle Spinning NMR and ESR

The structure of silicon carbide–silicon nitride (SiC–Si₃N₄) composite particles synthesized using a CO₂ laser was studied by magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS-NMR) and electron spin resonance (ESR). The structure around Si atoms changed by introducing N. C atoms around Si were substituted by N atoms, and N-rich configurations around Si atoms increased stepwise as the N content increased. The low N content composite particles consisted of mainly SiC phase containing dissolved N. N atoms were partly present in β-SiC microcrystal and partly in the grain boundary layer in the particle. N atoms were tetrahedrally surrounded by four Si atoms in β-SiC microcrystal and were trivalent state bonded to three Si atoms in the grain boundary layer. The high N content particles consisted of SiC, Si₃N₄, and amorphous phases, whose amount depended on N content.     

Dynamic Mechanical Properties and Adhesive Strengths of Emulsion Polymer by Power Feed Technique, I

Dynamic mechanical properties and adhesive strengths of power feed copolymer and random copolymer synthesized using styrene or methyl methacrylate and n-butyl acrylate were investigated. Although the two systems were synthesized from the same raw materials, power feed copolymer had a very broad transition compared with random copolymer. This fact was explained by the fact that the system synthesized through power feed method was an alloy of copolymers which are a continuous series from monomer A rich copolymers to monomer B rich copolymers. The dynamic mechanical behavior of film cast from solution was almost the same as that of emulsion film, which indicated more extensive application of power feed copolymer. In the P(nBA/St) system, power feed copolymer maintained its adhesive strengths over a wide temperature range compared with random copolymer. The absolute value, however, was not so high. This was due to the low cohesive strengths of the films.     

Synthesis of Compositionally Homogeneous Sr(CuxZn1−x)1/2W1/2O3

A complex perovskite of Sr(Cu _x Zn_{1- x} )_1/2 W_1/2O₃ (SCZW) is synthesized by a new combination of wet and dry processess. Mixed oxides containing Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ (CZ) are prepared by the wet process (coprecipitate method). SCZW is obtained by the dry process (mixed-oxide method) from a mixture of CZ, SrCO₃, and WO₃. SCZW has practically no compositional, unlike solid solutions prepared by the conventional dry method. The wet–dry process method is useful because the wet process is applied to only B-site cations having the same valence.     

Implicit Formulation for SPH‐based Viscous Fluids

We propose a stable and efficient particle‐based method for simulating highly viscous fluids that can generate coiling and buckling phenomena and handle variable viscosity. In contrast to previous methods that use explicit integration, our method uses an implicit formulation to improve the robustness of viscosity integration, therefore enabling use of larger time steps and higher viscosities. We use Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics to solve the full form of viscosity, constructing a sparse linear system with a symmetric positive definite matrix, while exploiting the variational principle that automatically enforces the boundary condition on free surfaces. We also propose a new method for extracting coefficients of the matrix contributed by second‐ring neighbor particles to efficiently solve the linear system using a conjugate gradient solver. Several examples demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of our implicit formulation over previous methods and illustrate the versatility of our method.     

Visual simulation of mixed-motion avalanches with interactions between snow layers

In the field of computer graphics, simulation of fluids, including avalanches, is an important research topic. In this paper, we propose a method to simulate a kind of avalanche, mixed-motion avalanche, which is usually large and travels down the slope fast, often resulting in impressive visual effects. The mixed-motion avalanche consists of snow smokes and liquefied snow which form an upper suspension layer and a lower dense-flow layer, respectively. The mixed-motion avalanche travels down the surface of the snow-covered mountain, which is called accumulated snow layer. We simulate a mixed-motion avalanche taking into account these three snow layers. We simulate the suspension layer using a grid-based approach, the dense-flow and accumulated snow layer using a particle-based approach. An important contribution of our method is an interaction model between these snow layers that enables us to obtain the characteristic motions of avalanches, such as the generation of the snow smoke from the head of the avalanche.     

Toward Optimal Space Partitioning for Unbiased,Adaptive Free Path Sampling of Inhomogeneous Participating Media

Photo‐realistic rendering of inhomogeneous participating media with light scattering in consideration is important in computer graphics, and is typically computed using Monte Carlo based methods. The key technique in such methods is the free path sampling, which is used for determining the distance (free path) between successive scattering events. Recently, it has been shown that efficient and unbiased free path sampling methods can be constructed based on Woodcock tracking. The key concept for improving the efficiency is to utilize space partitioning (e.g., kd‐tree or uniform grid), and a better space partitioning scheme is important for better sampling efficiency. Thus, an estimation framework for investigating the gain in sampling efficiency is important for determining how to partition the space. However, currently, there is no estimation framework that works in 3D space. In this paper, we propose a new estimation framework to overcome this problem. Using our framework, we can analytically estimate the sampling efficiency for any typical partitioned space. Conversely, we can also use this estimation framework for determining the optimal space partitioning. As an application, we show that new space partitioning schemes can be constructed using our estimation framework. Moreover, we show that the differences in the performances using different schemes can be predicted fairly well using our estimation framework.     

Mass recovery adsorption refrigeration cycle—improving cooling capacity

The study investigates the performance of two-bed, silica gel-water adsorption refrigeration cycle with mass recovery process. The cycle with mass recovery can be driven by the relatively low temperature heat source. In an adsorption refrigeration cycle, the pressures in adsorber and desorber are different. The chiller with mass recovery process utilizes the pressure difference to enhance the refrigerant mass circulation. Cooling capacity and coefficient of performance (COP) were calculated by cycle simulation computer program to analyze the influences of operating conditions. The mass recovery cycle was compared with conventional cycle such as the single stage adsorption cycle in terms of cooling capacity and COP. The results show that the cooling capacity of mass recovery cycle is superior to that of conventional cycle and the mass recovery process is more effective for low regenerating temperature.     

Effect of conformational changes and differences of proteins on frictional properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel

In this study, albumin or γ-globulin, both of which are included in natural synovial fluid, was used as an additive into lubricants to investigate the ability to reduce the friction for poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel in mixed lubrication. It was found from a measurement in circular dichroism that albumin contains a large amount of α-helix structure and γ-globulin contains a large amount of β-sheet structure. The lubricant containing only albumin showed low friction compared to the lubricant containing only γ-globulin. The effect of protein boundary film was clarified by changing lubricant. Albumin kept the friction low after changing from γ-globulin used at initial rubbing, but γ-globulin increased the friction after changing from albumin at initial rubbing. From a sliding distance of 600 m, albumin showed lower friction but γ-globulin showed higher friction. Therefore, in the case of friction decreasing, γ-globulin forms a tight adsorbed layer and subsequently albumin forms a layer with low shearing strength. Hence, it is important to apply the adsorption layer of γ-globulin at the bottom and make a layered structure composed of albumin and γ-globulin to reduce both friction and wear.     

Towards the improvement of thermal efficiency in lignite‐fired power generation: Concerning the utilization of Polish lignite deposits in state‐of‐the‐art IGCC technology

Integrated coal Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) is the most advanced technology for coal‐fired power generation. The two‐stage entrained flow gasification process allows for the use of a wide range of coal, as long as the gasification temperature is above the ash melting point of a used fuel. In this gasification technology, lignite, which often has a low ash melting point, can be preferably utilized. However, ash fluidity is also another importance, because the behaviour of molten slag can diminish a stable ash discharge from a gasifier. As the eligibility of coal ash properties is a considerable factor, water physically and chemically kept in lignite (30 – 60% in mass) attributes to deteriorating gasification efficiency, because it causes significant heat loss and increasing oxygen consumption. Developing a thermal evaporative lignite drying method will be a necessary attempt to apply lignite to the coal gasification process. For those preceded objectives, coal and ash properties and drying characteristics of several grades of Polish lignite, extracted from Belchatow and Turow deposits, have been experimentally investigated in a preliminary study evaluating the applicability and consideration for its utilization in state‐of‐the‐art clean coal technology, IGCC. This paper particularly discusses the eligibility of Polish lignite from the perspective of the fusibility and fluidity of ash melts and the fundamental drying kinetics of lignite in superheated steam in the light of water removal. The viscosity of ash melts is measured at high temperature up to 1700 °C. In the drying tests, the significant influence of structural issues, because of the provenance and origin of lignite on the drying characteristics, was found by applying the method of sensitivity analysis of physical propensity. This paper concludes that the investigated Polish lignite has characteristics favourable for utilization in IGCC technology, once the precautions related to its high moisture have been carefully addressed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.