Variation in light scattering and water-holding capacity along the porcine Longissimus dorsi muscle

The meat quality of M. longissimus muscle was evaluated in 851 pigs by using the Fibre Optic Probe (FOP) at three sites in the muscle and in both halves of the carcass. A systematic difference between sites was found, with the lowest light scattering (indicating the best meat quality) in the mid-part of the muscle and higher light scattering in the anterior and posterior parts. A non-systematic variation was also observed, with the opposite pattern in some animals, even though it was not frequent. A negative influence of the shackling was found, yielding higher FOP values in the shackled half.

Drip loss measurements in the Longissimus muscle, taken from another 100 pig carcasses, were evaluated using three methods. Drip loss, too, showed a considerable variation along the Longissimus muscle, with minimum losses around the last rib. Repeatability estimates, calculated from two non-consecutive pieces of the Longissimus dorsi muscle from each carcass, varied from 0·4 when keeping samples vacuum packed for 2 days, to 0·5 when the samples were either kept in plain plastic bags for 2 days or in a meat container with a squared inset for 1 or 2 days.     

Crystallization of Fe-Si-B metallic glasses studied by X-ray synchrotron radiation

We have studied the crystallization kinetics of Fe_90-x Si _x B₁₀ amorphous alloys withx ranging from 7 to 21, by synchrotron X-ray radiation. Using energy- dispersive X-ray diffraction, the kinetics of the different crystalline phases evolving during isothermal annealing were followed. These crystalline phases were identified as precipitation of-Fe(Si) and/or Fe₃Si in the amorphous matrix. At a later time or at a higher temperature, Fe₂B starts to crystallize (x < 21 ). Only at low iron concentration (x = 21) was the second phase different, namely Fe₅SiB₂ The hypo- and hyper-eutectic Fe-Si-B glasses were found to crystallize differently. The crystallization processes are discussed in some detail.     

Effect of Carbon Content on Variant Pairing in Bainitic Low Alloy Steel

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - Variant pairing in bainite was evaluated in four different commercial low alloy steels with medium to high carbon content. The steels investigated were...     

Development of Cr and Al Pack Cementation Coatings on Co-Based γ/γ′ Superalloys

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - Co-based superalloys have been developed as candidate materials to replace Ni-based superalloys in hot sections of turbine engines, however, their...     

Diffusion soldering for stable high-temperature thin-film bonds

Diffusion soldering is a special bonding technique to produce joints at a moderate temperature that are subsequently stable at higher temperatures. The search for material systems extending the upper-temperature limit of stability requires information from the pertinent phase diagrams and the reaction kinetics. Combining experimental studies on phase equilibration in powder samples with bulk and thin-film diffusion couples is a useful approach for a systematic search. Promising candidates for dsoldering are Pt-In or Pd-In, and molybdenum is also an effective diffusion barrier against the attack of liquid tin.     

The action of various lime soap dispersants

The course of the lime soap-dispersing action of various surfactants has been examined by use of a titrimetric method. Two types of dispersants can be distinguished. With the addition of a surfactant of the first type, the concentration of the dispersed fatty acid increases gradually. If a surfactant of the second type is used, a definite increase of the fatty acid concentration first occurs after the addition of considerable amounts of the dispersant. Ethylene oxide adducts and sodium triethylene glycol monolauryl ether sulfate behave like dispersants of the first type whereas sodium dodecylbenzenesulphonate and sodium lauryl sulfate belong to those of the second type. The dispersing action of both types of surfactants is discussed.     

Bücherschau

Ohne Zusammenfassung VDI     

Regional mass flux balancing for controlling gentle soil remediation operations

Extraction of heavy metals by accumulating plants is a method which is currently in development for the "gentle" remediation of contaminated agricultural soils (phytoremediation, see [2]). Areal contaminant mass flux balances are basic criteria for the design of such remediations and their control. A framework for the integration of contaminant balances relating the field scale of remediation with the regional scale of soil monitoring networks is provided by the recently developed method PROTERRA [3]. The objective of the study presented in this paper was to test the suitability of PROTERRA for planning and monitoring gentle soil remediations. For this purpose we applied the PROTERRA method to the contaminated agricultural land in and around Dornach, Switzerland, to assess copper flux balances.The calculations showed that atmospheric deposition and the application of pesticides and manure are important pathways for the inputs of copper. The copper export with a special maize cultivar accumulating heavy metals would be about three times higher than the average metal export with crops. A moderate increase of sewage sludge application would lead to a substantial increase of the copper input. Decisions to remediate the soil should take the uncertainty of mass flux balances both on field scale as well as on regional scale into account. Therefore, an important need of further development of the PROTERRA method is the integration of uncertainty analysis on both scales.     

Numerical characterization and experimental verification of an in-plane MEMS-actuator with thin-film aluminum heater

In this paper, a novel concept of a thermo-mechanical MEMS actuator using aluminum thin-film heaters on a thermal oxide for electrical insulation is presented. The actuator is part of an universal tensile testing platform for thermo-mechanical material characterization of one dimensional materials on a micro- and nano-scopic scale under different environmental conditions, as varying temperatures, pressure, moisture or even vacuum and is realised in BDRIE technology. It is shown, that the actuator concept fulfills the requirements for the use in a tensile loading stage along with heterogeneously integrated nanofunctional elements, following a specimen centered approach in line with bottom-up self-assembly processes. Simulation and experiment agree very well in the thermal and mechanical domain and allow subsequent optimisation of the actuator performance.