Ductile-phase toughening and Fatigue-Crack Growth in Nb-Reinforced Molybdenum Disilicide Intermetallic Composites

A study has been made of the role of ductile-phase toughening on the ambient temperature fracture toughness and fatigue-crack propagation behavior of a molybdenum disilicide intermetallicmatrix composite reinforced with 20 vol pct niobium spheres. Using disk-shaped compact DC(T) samples, only moderate improvements (∼24 pct) in fracture toughnessK _lcvalues were found for the composite compared to the unreinforced MoSi₂ matrix material. Moreover, (cyclic) fatigue- crack propagation was seen at stress intensities as low as 75 to 90 pct ofK _Ic, with growth rates displaying a high dependency (∼14) on the applied stress-intensity range. The lack of significant toughening due to the incorporation of ductile Nb particles is associated with an absence of crack/particle interactions. This is attributed to the formation of a weak reaction-layer interface and elastic mismatch stresses at the crack tip between the Nb and MoSi₂, both factors which favor interfacial debonding; moreover, the spherical morphology of Nb phase stabilizes cracking around the particle. Results suggest that increasing the aspect ratio of the distributed Nb rein- forcement phase with attendant interfacial debonding and eliminating possible Nb-phase em- brittlement due to interstitial impurity contamination are critical factors for the successful development of tougher Nb/MoSi₂ structural composites. Formerly with McDonnell Formerly with McDonnell     

Properties of ligno‐cellulose fiber Hildegardia

Studies on some properties such as the density, the degradation temperatures, the morphology and the spectral features of the ligno‐cellulose fiber Hildegardia were carried out in both untreated and alkali treated form. The fibers are found to have good morphology and moderate initial and final degradation temperatures. On alkali treatment, the lignin was found to be eliminated. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 2216–2221, 2002     

Trade-off analysis on cost and manufacturing technology of an electronic product: Case study

A trade-off analysis on the cost and system packaging metrics of an electronic product aimed at the commercial/retail industry has been carried out. By comparing the system cost and packaging metrics with those of comparable consumer products, we have determined that there is opportunity for significant cost, size, and weight reduction of the overall electronics packaging system. These include the use of fine pitch IC packages, smaller discrete components, denser PCB wiring technology, double sided IC package surface mount, surface mount connectors, and improved plastics for the product housing. The analysis concluded that PCB area reduction of 40%, using a single PCB instead of three boards, reduction in board cost of over 50% and product weight reduction of over 28% are possible using available technologies.     

Serum enzyme abnormalities in protein energy malnutrition

A semi-quantitative right coronary artery score (RCA score) was derived from the ratio of the number of the major left ventricular branches of the right coronary artery to the total of the right coronary and left circumflex arteries, to stratify the extent of perfusion in patients with right coronary artery dominance. Thirty-seven patients with one-vessel coronary disease involving a dominant right coronary artery proximal to the left ventricular branches were selected for study. Thallium scintigraphy was performed after right intracoronary injection in 11 patients, and 26 patients underwent conventional stress thallium scintigraphy (24 exercise thallium and two dipyridamole thallium scintigraphy). Thallium scores of perfusion region size after right intracoronary thallium injection and perfusion defect size in stress thallium studies were quantitated from planar thallium images. Both the RCA score and the regional thallium scores spanned over a wide range. The RCA score (range 0.23-0.85) correlated best with the posterior (70 degrees left anterior oblique view) plus lateral segment (40 degrees left anterior oblique view) thallium score (r = 0.88 and 0.53 for intracoronary and stress thallium studies respectively). It also correlated with the summed thallium scores in the posterior, lateral, apical and inferior segments (r = 0.73 and 0.54 respectively) but not with thallium scores in the apex or inferior segment alone. The proposed RCA score quantitates the variable posterolateral perfusion territory of the right coronary artery, and could stratify the area of myocardium at risk from coronary stenosis in the majority of patients with right coronary dominance.     

ZrO_2（Y－TZP）－Si_3N_4复合材料中抑制ZrN生成研究

研究了气氛加压烧成ＺｒＯ２（Ｙ－ＴＺＰ）－Ｓｉ３Ｎ４复合材料中抑制ＺｒＮ生成工艺问题，相组成分析表明：无论添加２０ｗｔ％工业ＺｒＯ２或者Ｙ－ＴＺＰ（３ｍｏｌ％Ｙ。Ｏ。）的氯化硅复合材料，在低于１８５０℃，３ＭＰａｋ气压力下烧成，表面无ＺｒＮ生成．通过加入有效的烧结助剂（Ｙ。Ｏａ＋ＡＩ。Ｏｓ）、增加埋粉中ＳＩＯ分压以及增加保护气氛氮气压力，适当的烧成条件等工艺措施可有效地抑制ＺｒＮ的生成．实验还证实了ＺｒＮ很容易氧化，含有ＺｒＮ的ＺｒＯ。（Ｙ－ＴＺＰ）－ＳｉｓＮ。复合材料试样经９００℃，０．ｓｈ热处理已粉碎性裂开．     

Growth and characterization of barium copper oxalate single crystals in gels

Barium copper oxalate was grown in silica hydrogel at ambient temperature. The effect of various parameters like gel pH, gel density, gel aging and concentrations of reactants on the growth of these crystals was studied. The crystals grown were characterized by chemical analysis, X-ray powder diffractometry, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis. The results of these observations are described and discussed.     

Application of the method of moments to acoustic scattering from fluid-filled cylinders using three different formulations

In this work, we present three different formulations, namely the pressure field integral equation formulation (PFIE), the velocity field integral equation formulation (VFIE), and the combined field integral equation formulation (CFIE) for solving acoustic scattering problems associated with two-dimensional fluid-filled bodies of arbitrary cross-section. In particular using the boundary conditions on the surface of the body, two equivalent problems, each valid for the outside and inside regions of the scatterer, are derived. By properly selecting the associated equations for these equivalent problems, the three different formulations are derived. The PFIE, VFIE, and CFIE are then solved by approximating the cylindrical cross-section by linear segments and employing the method of moments. Further, it is shown that the moment matrices generated by the PFIE and VFIE are ill-conditioned at resonant frequencies of the cylinder, whereas the CFIE generates a well-conditioned matrix at all frequencies. The solution techniques presented in this work are simple, efficient and applicable to truly arbitrary geometries. Numerical results are presented for certain canonical shapes and compared with other available data.     

Characterization of poly(vinyl alcohol)/sodium bromide polymer electrolytes for electrochemical cell applications

Sodium‐ion conducting polymer electrolytes based on poly(vinyl alcohol) complexed with sodium bromide were prepared with a solution‐casting technique. The structure of these films was determined with X‐ray diffraction, and the complexation of the salt with the polymer was confirmed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies. Electrical conductivity was measured with an alternating‐current impedance analyzer in the frequency range of 100 Hz to 1 MHz and in the temperature range of 303–373 K. It was observed that the magnitude of conductivity increased with the increase in the salt concentration as well as the temperature. The nature of the charge transport in these polymer electrolyte films was determined with both Wagner's polarization technique and the Watanabe technique. The dominant conducting species were found to be ions, particularly anions. Optical absorption studies were performed in the wavelength range of 200–600 nm, and the absorption edge, direct band gap, and indirect band gap values were evaluated. Electrochemical cells were fabricated, and their discharge characteristics were studied. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008