Effect of hydrogen charging on dislocation behavior in Ni-Cr and Ni<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cr alloys

The effects of hydrogen charging on the dislocation behaviour in Ni-Cr binary alloys have been investigated by means of transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations using single-crystalline specimens. The deformation mode of Ni-Cr alloys in the absence of hydrogen is characterized by planar dislocations. However, hydrogen charging changed the dislocation configurations to promote curved dislocations, such as dislocation loops and dipoles. The hydrogen-affected dislocation configurations are enhanced with increasing Ni content and reducing Cr content. Weak-beam images show that the Shockley partials of the hydrogen-affected dislocations frequently constrict to make kinks and cross-slip, as if the dislocations were generated by a thermally activated process. The effect of hydrogen charging on superdislocations of a Ni₂Cr superstructure has been also investigated using an aged 70Ni-30Cr alloy. While the deformation mode in the Ni₂Cr superlattice is classified as five variants of superdislocation triplets and one variant of ordinary dislocations, the hydrogen charging has preferred the ordinary dislocations to the superdislocation triplets. The results suggest that the charged hydrogen changes the local plasticity to affect the deformation dynamics in Ni-Cr alloys, where the influence of hydrogen on the plasticity is sensitive to the Ni/Cr concentration and the symmetry of atomic arrangement.     

Web-based systems design: a study of contemporary practices and an explanatory framework based on “method-in-action”

This paper reports the findings of a detailed study of Web-based systems design (WBSD) practices in Ireland based on data collected over a 3-year period (2002–2005), the objectives of which were to (1) contribute towards a richer understanding of the current “real-world” context of WBSD by characterising the profile of a typical project (team size, timeframe, nature of requirements, etc.) and identifying the key challenges, constraints, and imperatives (i.e. “mediating factors”) faced by Web-based system designers, and (2) understand how those contextual parameters and mediating factors influence the activity of WBSD as regards the selection and enactment of whatever design practices are therefore engaged (i.e. the use of methods, procedures, etc.). Data was gathered through a survey which yielded 165 usable responses, and later through a series of semi-structured qualitative interviews. Using grounded theory, an explanatory conceptual framework is derived, based on an extension of the “method-in-action” model, the application of which to WBSD has not been previously investigated in depth. It is proposed that this framework of WBSD issues is valuable in a number of ways to educators, researchers, practitioners, and method engineers.     

Equivalent Conditions for Convergence of Splittings of Non-Hermitian Indefinite Matrices

We present some sufficient and necessary conditions for convergent splitting of a non-Hermitian indefinite matrix. Some sufficient conditions to determinate a matrix with a (strongly) dominant symmetric part for a class of boundary value problem are also obtained. These results are applicable to identify the convergence of iterative methods for solving large sparse systems of linear equations.     

Location of Aluminum in Substituted Calcium Silicate Hydrate (C-S-H) Gels as Determined by 29Si and 27Al NMR and EELS

Solid-state ²⁷Al and ²⁹Si magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy has been combined with electron energy loss spectroscopy carried out in the transmission electron microscope to determine the location of Al substituting in a semicrystalline C-S-H gel present in a hydrated synthetic slag glass. The gel is found to contain mainly pentameric silicate chains in which the central silicon is substituted by aluminum.     

The prospects of non-volatile phase-change RAM

Phase-change read-and-write memory (PRAM) is a promising memory that can solve the problems of conventional memory—scalability, read/write speed, and reliability. We will review the opportunities and technical challenges of PRAM. The most important challenge of PRAM is the reduction of the writing current. Various approaches to reduce the writing current will be reviewed and the prospects of PRAM are discussed.