Effect of anisotropy of tin on thermomechanical behavior of solder joints

Properties of body centered tetragonal tin are highly anisotropic. As a consequence large stresses can develop at the tin grain boundaries due to coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch during temperature excursions. A modeling approach to evaluate the 3D stress states that develop at grain boundaries during thermomechanical fatigue in tin-based solder is presented. Development of significant amounts of stresses in the plane of the grain boundary can cause grain-boundary sliding and surface-relief effects, while those normal to the grain boundary can cause grain-boundary decohesion and cracking.     

Metastable phase relation and phase equilibria in the Cr2O3-Fe2O3 system

In order to ascertain the metastable phase relation in the Cr₂O₃-Fe₂O₃ system, the existing phases were investigated by X-ray analysis using samples obtained by heating the coprecipitated powders for 1 h at 600–1000°C. There was a metastable two-phase region of Cr₂O₃-rich (CC) and Fe₂O₃-rich (FC) phases below about 940°C. Equilibrium state of 1:1 composition at 600–900°C was considered to be a single phase of the corundum solid solution. The metastable two-phase CC + FC region was suggested to appear probably due to the compositional inhomogeneity in the coprecipitated powders.     

Petroleum naphthenomono-and naphthenobiarenes

The hydrocarbon-group composition and distribution of naphthenoaromatic hydrocarbons of West Siberian oils were studied by the technique of mass spectrometry. Naphthenoaromatic hydrocarbons of the general formula C_nH_2n?z , where z is 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, or 18, containing from one to six saturated cycles are present in oils in significant concentrations. Naphthenomonoarenes with one saturated cycle dominate in all oils. An increase in the amount of compounds containing 3–6 saturated cycles in their molecule with the occurrence depth was noted. Naphthenobiarenes of the general formula C_nH_2n?z , where z is 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, or 24 containing from one to six saturated cycles are present in oils in concentrations from 20.0 to 54.0 wt % of the biaromatic fraction. Most oils are characterized by the prevalence of structures with one and two saturated cycles in their molecule. The dependence of the number of cycles in naphthenobiarenes on the nature of original organic matter (OM) was not traced. The lack of correlation between the number of cycles and the OM type is presumably due to the fact that, for the most part, fused polycyclic naphthenobiarenes reflect the degree of catagenetic alteration of organic matter.     

Modification of ASM3 for the determination of biomass adsorption/storage capacity in bulking sludge control.

The selector activated sludge (SAS) systems are known to prevent excessive growth of filamentous microorganisms responsible for bulking sludge, but these systems were hardly ever modelled. This study aimed to develop a model capable of predicting rapid substrate removal in the SAS systems. For this purpose, the Activated Sludge Model No. 3 (ASM3) was extended with three processes (adsorption, direct growth on the adsorbed substrate under aerobic or anoxic conditions). The modified ASM3 was tested against the results of batch experiments with the biomass originating from two full-scale SAS systems in Germany. The endogenous biomass was mixed with various readily biodegradable substrates (acetate, peptone, glucose and wastewater) and the utilisation of substrate (expresses as COD) and oxygen uptake rates (OURs) were measured during the experiments. In general, model predictions fitted to the experimental data, but a considerable number of kinetic (5) and stoichiometric (2) parameters needed to be adjusted during model calibration. The simulation results revealed that storage was generally a dominating process compared to direct growth in terms of the adsorbed substrate utilisation. The contribution of storage ranged from 65-71% (Plant A) and 69-92% (Plant B).     

Low-temperature post-treatment of anaerobically treated-sewage in anaerobic filter with cationic-polymer addition.

The post-treatment of domestic sewage pretreated in a 6 m3 UASB was investigated in two high-rate anaerobic filter (AF) reactors operated in parallel. The difference between the two AF reactors was only the addition of cationic polymer to the second reactor (AF + P). The reactors were operated at low temperatures, ranged between 13 and 20 degrees C. The media in each AF reactor consisted of vertical sheets of reticulated-polyurethane foam (RPF) with knobs. The results demonstrated that the AF + P reactor (HRT = 3 h) with cationic polymer addition (2 mg/L) was an efficient system for post-treatment. The removal efficiencies for total, suspended, colloidal and dissolved COD were, respectively, 41, 86 and 76 and 12% in the AF + P reactor and they were, respectively, 80, 97, 77 and 66% in the UASB + (AF + P) system. The removal of total, suspended and colloidal COD in the UASB + (AF + P) system were significantly higher than those achieved in the UASB + AF system. As hardly any nutrient was removed in the UASB + (AF + P) system, the effluent after pathogen removal is a valuable product for irrigation and fertilisation to close the water and nutrients cycle.     

An Acoustic Converter Used to Measure Ionizing Radiation Energy Loss

A monitor is proposed based on ultrasonic production when ionizing radiation passes through a medium. The recording element is a 0.2 mm aluminum plate mounted in a ceramic acoustic converter AC in the form of a wedge of thickness 2 mm. The low plate thickness minimizes the beam parameter distortion, while special technology used in the AC provides high sensitivity. The device has been calibrated in the proton beam from the ITEP accelerator at 200 MeV with 2·10⁹–6·10¹⁰ particles in a pulse and a pulse length of 70 nsec.     

Bandpass filters with reconfigurable transmission zeros using varactor-tuned tapped stubs

In this letter, bandpass filters with one or two tunable transmission zeros are proposed. The reconfigurable transmission zeros are implemented through varactors in combination with tapped quarter-wavelength stubs. Based on mixed mode simulations including EM simulation and circuit simulation, the proposed filters were designed and fabricated on low-cost FR4 board. The measurement results verified the design concepts.     

Finite element piezothermoelasticity analysis and the active control of FGM plates with integrated piezoelectric sensors and actuators

 An efficient finite element model is presented for the static and dynamic piezothermoelastic analysis and control of FGM plates under temperature gradient environments using integrated piezoelectric sensor/actuator layers. The properties of an FGM plate are functionally graded in the thickness direction according to a volume fraction power law distribution. A constant displacement-cum-velocity feedback control algorithm that couples the direct and inverse piezoelectric effects is applied to provide active feedback control of the integrated FGM plate in a closed loop system. Numerical results for the static and dynamic control are presented for the FGM plate, which consists of zirconia and aluminum. The effects of the constituent volume fractions and the influence of feedback control gain on the static and dynamic responses of the FGM plates are examined. Received: 13 March 2002 / Accepted: 5 March 2003 The work described in this paper was supported by a grant awarded by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. CityU 1024/01E).     

Mixed oxide supported hydrodesulfurization catalysts—a review

Support effects form important aspect of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) studies and mixed oxide supports received maximum attention in the last two decades. This review will focus attention on studies on mixed oxide supported Mo and W catalysts. For convenience of discussion, these are divided into Al₂O₃ containing mixed oxide supports, TiO₂ containing mixed oxide supports, ZrO₂ containing mixed oxide supports and other mixed oxide supports containing all the rest. TiO₂ containing mixed oxides received maximum attention, especially TiO₂–Al₂O₃ supported catalysts. A brief discussion about their prospects for application to ultradeep desulfurization is also included. An overview of the available literature with emphasis on research carried out in our laboratory form the contents of this publication.