Erratum to: Evaluation of the Particle Bonding for Aluminum Sample Produced by Spark Plasma Sintering

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance -     

The energetics of magnetoelastic actuators is analogous to phase transformations in materials

A ferrogel is a composite system comprised of a polymeric matrix and magnetic filler particles. The elastic properties of the polymer can be coupled with the magnetic properties of the particles to create novel soft actuators. Understanding the mechanical behavior of ferrogels in an external magnetic field is essential to optimize actuator performance. The energetics of the mechanical behavior of cylindrical ferrogel specimens was found to be analogous to the energetics of chemical phase transformations in materials. Depending on the sample geometry, the elongation mechanism of ferrogel cylinders in an external magnetic field was identified as either a continuous or discontinuous deformation, analogous to a second- or first-order phase transformation, respectively. In analyzing mechanical strain as a function of magnetic field, the first and second derivatives of energy can be used to predict metastability and transitions in ferrogel deformation behavior.     

Experimental study on elastic deformation machining process for aspheric surface glass

Elastic deformation machining is a fabrication method that exploits the elastic deformation properties of materials under stress. Coupled with plane lapping machining process, this new fabrication method is suitable for machining complex aspheric surfaces. Upon completion of the machining process, the workpiece under process will be shaped into a desired surface form. The elastic deformation machining has several advantages over traditional fabrication methods, i.e., high machining compatibility and high fidelity of material property during machining process. The subject of this study is to determine the surface shape of the finished glass workpiece after the lapping process of the elastic deformation machining. The experimental results were compared with theoretical calculations. In the case when the vacuum pressure is 50 kPa, the maximum deviation value between the deformation curves from the theoretical calculation and the experiment results is within 62 μm. In order to improve the precision of form surface, the vacuum pressure is modified from 50 to 42 kPa. This reduction corresponds to a change of workpiece thickness when it is lapped. The results of the change of vacuum pressure show that the form accuracy produced is improved significantly and agrees very well with theoretical calculations. The maximum deviation in this case is 1.6 μm. The study indicates that the experimental plane lapping setup that exploits the material elasticity property can be utilized to fabricate aspheric lenses with axisymmetric surface and low complexity.     

A learning and optimizing system for order acceptance and scheduling

Order acceptance and scheduling is an interesting scheduling problem when scheduling and acceptance decisions need to be handled simultaneously. The complexity of the problem causes difficulty for many solution methods. In this paper, we proposed a learning and optimizing system to deal with the order acceptance and scheduling problem with a single-machine and dependent setup times. The aim of this system is to combine the advantages of the hyper-heuristic for learning useful scheduling rules and the meta-heuristic for further refining the solutions from the obtained rules. The experiments show that the proposed system is very effective as compared to other heuristics proposed in the literature. The analyses also show the benefits of scheduling rules obtained by the hyper-heuristic, especially for large-scale problem instances.     

Relationship Between Interfacial Water Layer Adhesion Loss of Silicon/Glass Fiber-Epoxy Systems: A Quantitative Study

Water at the polymer/substrate interface is often the major cause of adhesion loss in coatings, adhesives, and fiber-reinforced polymer composites. This study critically assesses the relationship between the interfacial water layer and the adhesion loss in epoxy/siliceous substrate systems. Both untreated and silane-treated Si substrates and untreated and silane-treated E-glass fibers were used. Thickness of the interfacial water layer was measured on epoxy/Si systems by Fourier transform infrared-multiple total internal reflection (FTIR-MTIR) spectroscopy. Adhesion loss of epoxy/Si systems and epoxy/E-glass fiber composites was measured by peel adhesion and short-beam shear tests, respectively. Little water accumulation at the epoxy/Si substrate interface was observed for silane-treated Si substrates, but about 10 monolayers of water accumulated at the interface between the epoxy and the untreated Si substrate following 100 h of exposure at 24 °C. More than 70% of the initial epoxy/untreated Si system peel strength was lost within 75 h of exposure, compared with 20% loss after 600 h for the silane-treated Si samples. Shear strength loss in composites made with untreated E-glass fiber was nearly twice that of composites fabricated with silane-treated fiber after 6 months of immersion in 60 °C water. Further, the silane-treated composites remained transparent, but the untreated fiber composites became opaque after water exposure. Evidence from FTIR-MTIR spectroscopy, adhesion loss, and visual observation strongly indicated that a water layer at the polymer/substrate interface is mostly responsible for the adhesion loss of epoxy/untreated siliceous substrate systems and epoxy/untreated glass fiber composites and that FTIR-MTIR is a viable technique to reliably and conveniently assess the adhesion loss attributable to water sorption at the interface.     

Feasibility of Observing Small Differences in Friction Mean Effective Pressure between Different Lubricating Oil Formulations Using a Small,Single-Cylinder Motored Engine Rig

The feasibility of using a motored single-cylinder 517 cc diesel engine to observe small frictional differences between oil formulations is investigated. Friction mean effective pressure (FMEP) is measured and compared for an SAE 10W-30 and an SAE 5W-20 oil in three stages of production: base oil, commercial oil without a friction and wear reducing additive, and fully formulated commercial oil. In addition, a commercial SAE 5W-30 engine oil is investigated. Friction mean effective pressure is plotted versus oil dynamic viscosity to compare the lubricant FMEP at a given viscosity. Linear regressions and average friction mean effective pressure are used as a secondary means of comparing FMEP for the various oil formulations. Differences between the oils are observed with the base oil having higher friction at a given viscosity but a lower average FMEP due to the temperature distribution of the test and lower viscosities reached by the base oil. The commercial oil is shown to have both a higher FMEP at a given viscosity and a higher average FMEP than the commercial oil without a friction and wear reducing additive. The increase in friction for the oil without a friction and wear reduction additive indicates that the operational regime of the engine may be out of the bounds of the optimal regime for the additive or that the additive is more optimized for wear reduction. Results show that it is feasible to observe small differences in FMEP between lubricating oil formulations using a small, single-cylinder motored engine.     

Design of pedestrian friendly vehicle bumper

Car-pedestrian accidents take thousands of lives worldwide annually. Therefore, pedestrian protection is an important issue in traffic safety. How to consider a pedestrian friendliness vehicle and then propose pedestrian protection methods are urgent works for minimizing pedestrian injury. For designing a pedestrian friendly vehicle bumper, this study adopts the European Enhanced Vehicle-safety Committee/ Working Group 17 (EEVC/WG17) regulations of legform impactor to bumper tests. Analyzing the pedestrian friendliness of a vehicle bumper by using LS-DYNA is described in detail. Simulation results were analyzed to identify the reasons for the unfriendliness. Furthermore, the analysis of the influence of bumper structure on pedestrian leg was performed and then some guideline was suggested. The analyzed models and results obtained could help evaluate pedestrian friendliness of a vehicle and guide the future development of pedestrian friendly vehicle technologies.     

An assessment of the applicability of cold air and oil mist in surface grinding

This paper discusses the application of an eco-grinding system using a mixture of compressed cold air and vegetable oil. The feasibility of the system was assessed using the surface grinding of plain carbon steel 1045 with a BWA60MVA1 wheel. The investigation showed that cold air can be used to suppress surface burning under certain material removal rates and has an advantage of reduced grinding forces. With the addition of very small amount of vegetable oil, a larger depth of cut can be performed without burning while keeping a good grinding quality. Grinding chips were of lamellar and leafy shapes, indicating a shearing mechanism of chip formation. There was no significant difference in subsurface hardness of the components ground with coolant or with cold air and oil mist (CAOM), although the latter showed a stronger dependence of surface residual stresses on the depth of cut due to the limited cooling capacity of CAOM.     

Impact of cholesterol reduction on peripheral arterial disease in the Program on the Surgical Control of the Hyperlipidemias (POSCH)

BACKGROUND: Few lipid/atherosclerosis intervention trials have assessed the impact of cholesterol reduction on peripheral arterial disease. The 838 patients evaluated in the Program on the Surgical Control of the Hyperlipidemias (POSCH) trial represent more than the total number of patients in the seven previously reported studies. METHODS: Peripheral arterial disease in POSCH was assessed by progression of clinical disease, serial changes in the systolic blood pressure ankle/brachial index (ABI), and changes on sequential peripheral arteriograms. RESULTS: At the time of formal closure of the POSCH trial on July 19, 1990, claudication or limb-threatening ischemia was exhibited in 72 of 417 control group (CG) patients and in 54 of 421 intervention group (IG) patients (IG relative risk [RR] 0.702, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.169 to 1.000, p = 0.049). With additional follow-up evaluation to September 30, 1994, clinical peripheral arterial disease was evident in 91 CG patients and 64 IG patients (RR 0.656, 95% CI 0.200 to 0.903, p = 0.009). At the 5-year follow-up evaluation, an ABI of less than 0.95 was present in 41 of 120 CG patients and in 24 of 126 IG patients, all of whom had an ABI of 0.95 or greater at baseline (RR in the IG of 0.557, 95% CI 0.360 to 0.863, p < 0.01). No appreciable differences were noted in the progression or regression of arteriographic peripheral arterial disease between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Effective cholesterol reduction in POSCH led to statistically significant differences between the control and the intervention groups in the development of clinically evident peripheral arterial disease and in the ABI values, but not in the peripheral arteriograms. Additional studies need to assess the correlation between peripheral arterial changes and coronary arterial changes and clinical atherosclerosis events. Intervention trials that study peripheral arterial disease have intrinsic value in the evaluation of the impact of risk factor modification on progression of atherosclerotic peripheral arterial disease.     

Ligand-induced formation of triple helices with antiparallel third strands containing G and T

We have examined the effects of benzopyridoindole derivatives on triple helices with antiparallel third strands. Absorption spectroscopy, footprinting, and gel retardation experiments demonstrate that a benzopyridoindole derivative (BePI) is able to induce formation of a triple helix with an antiparallel (G, T)-containing third strand, which does not form in the absence of this ligand. This triple-helical complex is very stable with a half-dissociation temperature as high as 51 degrees C, and its formation is pH independent. Antiparallel oligonucleotides containing thymine and guanine bind strongly to double-helical DNA under physiological conditions in the presence of only 0.5 microM BePI. Formation of a BePI-stabilized triple helix strongly inhibits cleavage of the target duplex by DNase I.