Thermodynamic model of creep at constant stress and constant strain rate

A thermodynamic model has been developed that describes the entire creep process, including primary, secondary, and tertiary creep, and failure for both constant stress (CS) tests ($\text{σ =}\text{const.}$) and constant strain rate (CSR) tests ($\text{? =}\text{const.}$), in the form of a unified constitutive equation and unified failure criteria. Deformation and failure are considered as a single thermoactivated process in which the dominant role belongs to the change of entropy. Failure occurs when the entropy change is zero. At that moment, the strain rates in CS tests reach the minima and stress in CSR tests reaches the maximum (peak) values. Families of creep (? vs t) and stress-strain (σ vs ?) curves, obtained from uniaxial compression CS and CSR tests of frozen soil, respectively (both presented in dimensionless coordinates), are plotted as straight lines and are superposed, confirming the unity of the deformation and failure process and the validity of the model. A method is developed for determining the parameters of the model, so that creep deformation and the stress-strain relationship of ductile materials such as soils can be predicted based upon information obtained from either type of test.     

Features of pulse substrate bias voltage generation with electron tubes

Features of pulse substrate bias voltage generation with electron tubes in different operation modes are considered. The overstressed mode with low anode voltage and return of electrons to the grid has practical significance at bias voltages in the kilovolt range under the conditions of large substrate current fluctuations. This mode ensures small bias voltage fluctuations and effective use of the primary DC voltage. When the substrate current spontaneously rises above the critical value, the tubes automatically decrease the bias voltage and suppress current spikes and arcing. Such approach may be used in PVD processes, for ion surface treatment and ion plasma immersion implantation.     

One Criterion of Existence of a Himiltonian Cycle

In the paper, the necessary and sufficient conditions of existence of a Hamiltonian cycle in a graph are investigated. It is proven that a graph is Hamiltonian if andonly if the number of elemetns in any independent set of its vertices does not exceed the number of vertices in the minimum separating set for the paths connecting these independent vertices.     

An effective numerical method for solving viscous-inviscid interaction problems

This paper presents a new numerical method to solve the equations of the asymptotic theory of separated flows. A number of measures was taken to ensure fast convergence of the iteration procedure, which is employed to treat the nonlinear terms in the governing equations. Firstly, we selected carefully the set of variables for which the nonlinear finite difference equations were formulated. Secondly, a Newton-Raphson strategy was applied to these equations. Thirdly, the calculations were facilitated by utilizing linear approximation of the boundary-layer equations when calculating the corresponding Jacobi matrix.The performance of the method is illustrated, using as an example, the problem of laminar two-dimensional boundary-layer separation in the flow of an incompressible fluid near a corner point of a rigid body contour. The solution of this problem is non-unique in a certain parameter range where two solution branches are possible.     

Removal of phosphate from aqueous solutions by electro-coagulation

The aim of this paper was to investigate the feasibility of the removal of phosphate from aqueous solution by electro-coagulation (EC). The current density (CD) between 2.5 and 10 mA cm(-2) and duration in the limits of 5-20 min were tried for different concentrations. In order to determine optimal operating conditions, the EC process used for the phosphate removal was examined in dependence with the CD, initial concentrations and time. The results of the experimental batch processing showed high effectiveness of the EC method in removing phosphate from aqueous solutions.     

Differences in X-ray absorption due to cadmium treatment in Saponaria officinalis leaves

A method for detecting cadmium uptake in leaves of Saponaria officinalis doped with a solution of cadmium acetate is described. The technique based on the exposure of dried leaves to X-rays of a wavelength close to that of the metal K-edge could be useful for phytoremediation studies as it could reveal the bioaccumulation in plants due to the treatment either in vivo or in vitro with heavy metals. X-ray microradiography measurements are in agreement with those from peroxidase enzyme assay utilized to follow the oxidative damage induced by heavy metals. At present, as we will see in this report, microradiography has still poorer sensitivity in comparison with enzyme assay, but it has the advantage of being faster, not destructive, and usable even at very high doping levels, where the enzyme assay technique results are fully saturated. Further analysis of the optical density values could lead to a quantitative measurement of the heavy metal in the sample. Thus, the technology developed in this article could be useful for tracing the intake in phytoremediation studies.     

Automation of choice of instrumental equipment and study of thermo-stressed conditions of metal-cutting instrument

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The determination of the elastic properties of an anisotropic polycrystalline graphite using neutron diffraction and ultrasonic measurements

The elastic properties of an extruded graphite (GR-280) used in nuclear industry have been examined. The lattice preferred orientation was determined by time-of-flight neutron diffraction that revealed weak texture with a texture index of less than 1.2. The bulk elastic properties of polycrystalline graphite with such a texture have been calculated using various averaging methods and compared with the properties obtained from the measurements of the longitudinal sound velocities, performed using special equipment at different hydrostatic pressures up to 150 MPa. The static elastic modulus of the GR-280 graphite as well as the diffraction elastic modulus was measured in situ by high resolution neutron diffraction by observing the shift of the (0 0 2) Bragg reflection under uniaxial loads up to 20 MPa. The static elastic moduli of two pyrolytic graphites have also been measured for comparison. It was shown that the anisotropy of the elastic properties of reactor graphite GR-280 is due to the crystallographic texture formed during the extrusion process, but the internal pores and microcracks are not closed even at a pressure of 150 MPa and they greatly influence the exact values of the bulk elastic moduli of graphite.     

New hard ternary Hf–Ir–B borides formed by reaction hafnium diboride with iridium

A variety of the ternary Hf–Ir–B phases formed via the reaction between iridium and hafnium diboride at elevated temperatures was found. The data on the phase and elemental composition, as well as crystal structure, obtained by powder and single-crystal X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer, and time-of-flight neutron diffraction analysis unambiguously confirm that HfIr₃B_x solid solution, two known ternary borides (HfIr₃B₄, Hf₂Ir₅B₂), as well as two novel ternary HfIr_2.1B_1.3 and HfIr_5.7B_2.7 phases, are formed at elevated temperatures. This result is fundamentally different from that previously obtained by us for the Hf–Ir–C system in which only one binary intermetallic compound, HfIr₃, was produced. The measured Vickers microhardness for all the aforementioned ternary borides (13–19 GPa) allows us to consider them hard. The coefficients of thermal expansion of ternary borides were measured by in situ high-temperature X-ray analysis.