Synthesis and Sintering of Bi2Ti4O11

The conditions of Bi₂Ti₄O₁₁ formation are studied. It is shown that the process is diffusion-controlled and depends significantly on the heating rate. The optimal conditions for producing Bi₂Ti₄O₁₁ ceramics are determined. Cold pressing of Bi₂Ti₄O₁₁ ceramic powder at high pressures is shown to influence the unit-cell parameters and volume, positional parameters of Bi and Ti, and bond distances in the ferroelectric ceramics produced by subsequent sintering. The ferroelectric transition temperature decreases steadily with increasing densification pressure.     

Synthesis and Study of Ion Adsorption and Fluorescent Properties of Silica-Grafted Bis(crownazo)methine

A ketocyanine ligand containing two N-aza-15-crown-5 residues has been synthesized and covalently anchored to a silica substrate through an azomethine link. The ligand formation and molecular structure have been determined by combining spectral data and molecular simulations. Preferential adsorption of rare-earth metals from aqueous solutions to the modified surface has been noticed. In the case of lanthanum, the adsorption is accompanied by significant fluorescence enhancement, which allows this system to be used as a sensor for La³⁺ ion.     

A direct stiffness analysis of a composite beam with partial interaction

The use of the conventional semi-analytical stiffness method in finite element analysis, in which interpolation polynomials are used to develop the stiffness relationships, leads to problems of curvature locking when beam-type elements are developed for composite members with partial interaction between the materials of which it is comprised. The curvature locking phenomenon that occurs for composite steel–concrete members is quite well reported, and the general approach to minimizing the undesirable ramifications of curvature locking has been to use higher-order polynomials with increasing numbers of internal nodes. This paper presents an alternate formulation based on a direct stiffness approach rather than starting from pre-defined interpolation polynomials, and which does not possess the undesirable locking characteristics. The formulation is based on a more general approach for a bi-material composite flexural member, whose constituent materials are joined by elastic shear connection so as to provide partial interaction. The stiffness relationships are derived, and these are applied to a simply supported and a continuous steel–concrete composite beam to demonstrate the efficacy of the method, and in particular its ability to model accurately both very flexible and very stiff shear connection that causes difficulties when implemented in competitive semi-analytical algorithms. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical analysis of Augmented Lagrangian algorithms in complementary elastoplasticity

The main subject of the paper is the investigation of Augmented Lagrangian algorithms and update formulas in the solution of elastoplastic problems. A stress rate formulation for elastoplastic models with internal variables and its finite increment form is employed to state the mechanical problem. In this formulation the Augmented Lagrangian is used to enforce the constraint of plastic admissibility directly on the stresses and thermodynamic forces. This is not a limitation of the Augmented Lagrangian approach, and the same framework can be built on more classical displacement formulations as well. The meaning and the derivation of various first and second order Lagrangian multipliers update formulas and iterative schemes is shown. A new diagonal iteration algorithm and the introduction of a scale factor for the Augmented Lagrangian term are proposed. Numerical examples compare the efficiency of several forms of Augmented Lagrangian algorithms and illustrate the influence of the scale factor and of the penalty parameter. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thomas Fincke und die <Emphasis Type="Italic">Geometria rotundi</Emphasis>

Thomas Fincke (January 6^th, 1561–April 24^th, 1656), born in Flensburg (Germany), was one of the very most important and significant scientists in Denmark during the seventeenth century, a mathematician and astrologer and physician in the beginning of modern science, a representative of humanism and an influentual academic organizer. He studied in Strasbourg (since 1577) and Padua (since 1583) and received his M.D. in Basel (1587), he practised as a physician throughout his life (since 1587 or 1590) and became a professor at Copenhagen (1591). But he was best known because of his Geometriae rotundi libri XIIII (1583), a famous book on plane and spherical trigonometry, based not on Euclid but on Petrus Ramus. In this influentual work, in which Fincke introduced the terms tangent and secant and probable first noticed the Law of Tangents and the so-called Newton-Oppel-Mauduit-Simpson-Mollweide-Gauss-formula, he showed himself to be „abreast of the mathematics of his time“.      

A Theoretical Framework for Core Material Properties Identification in Cellular Solids using Novelty Detection

Abstract:  This paper presents a novelty detection-based technique to identify core material properties of honeycombs and cellular structures. A numerical model (finite element) representing full scale and/or reduced size of the cellular solid is used to generate transmissibilities between topological homologous points at cells in different locations. In order to make the procedure robust against noise, these transmissibilities are artificially corrupted. This step is representative of a series of experimentally obtained measurements which automatically return information relating to the size and shape of data noise along with the mean measurement. The next stage, both in this paper and in the proposal for the experimental approach, is to generate several further sets of transmissibilities from the finite element model; the only difference being that the core material properties are altered from the original values. A novelty detection framework is then adopted to find a similarity measure between each of these 'test' transmissibilities and the original set thereby identifying the material properties. Although this work is concerned with identifying only one material property, the methodology extends to identifying several properties.     

Stability of Circular Cylindrical Shells with a Single Local Dent

The theoretical-and-experimental investigation has been performed on the stability of smooth cylindrical shells of steel with a single local dent. All the shells manufactured using the same process were tested with the fulfillment of identical conditions for observations and measurements. Theoretical calculations were carried out by the mesh method with the use of the nonlinear theory of shells. A comparison of the experimental and theoretical values of the critical loads has been made. The theoretical-and-experimental approach proposed enables one to evaluate the quality of shells by studying local dents and other specific imperfections.     

Life Calculations for Header – PGV-1000 Steam Generator Connector Weld Joints under NPP Service Conditions

The procedure for calculating the life of header – steam generator connector weld joints is proposed. It allows for running out the material plasticity reserve upon static cyclic elastoplastic loading as well as operating conditions, local stress concentrations, and residual stresses after welding.     

Fracture Resistance of Ceramics upon Edge Chipping

Modern methods of determining fracture resistance are analyzed. The necessity of developing a crucially new method based on edge chipping of a brittle material is shown. The results of experimental studies are presented. The applicability of the method to the comparative fracture resistance evaluation of ceramics is substantiated.     

Thin hard coatings fracture propagation during the impact test

One of the most significant applications of the impact test is to investigate thin hard coatings fatigue properties. Herein the test conditions and duration up to the film damage initiation, are considered in order to determine the critical stresses associated with the coating fatigue strength. Moreover, the subsequent film damage propagation is a significant mechanism as well, since it refers to the ability of the coating to withstand loads after its fatigue damage initiation. In order to describe the film fracture propagation the failed area ratio was introduced and an algorithm to determine this magnitude developed, based on the analysis of imprint scanning electron microscopy graphs. The application of the coating failed area ratio will be demonstrated in various impact test film cases, also with superficial thin layers. The top layers do not affect, in general, the failure initiation of the basic coating. However, according to the obtained results, the superficial films influence the basic coating failure propagation rate during the impact test.