Kinetics of o-Xylene oxidation over sintered vanadium pentoxide in a spinning catalyst basket reactor

Kinetics of vapor phase oxidation of o-xylene has been studied over sintered and compacted vanadium pentoxide in a continuous stirred tank catalytic reactor in the temperature range of 450–517°C at atmospheric pressure. The major product obtained is phthalic anhydride. The other products are maleic anhydride and carbon dioxide. The reaction rate data are well represented (with average absolute deviation less than 6%) by the following expression derived by applying the steady-state oxidation-reduction model of Mars and van Krevelen to a parallel reaction scheme and assuming first order with respect to both o-xylene and oxygen: Significantly, the activation energies for all three postulated reactions with rate constants k₁, k₂, and k₃ turn out to be identical having a value of 14.8 kcal/mole, which may be taken to imply that there is only one rate-influencing reaction step for all the products and not three as assumed in deriving this equation.     

New circuit model for RF probe pads and interconnections for theextraction of HBT equivalent circuits

A new circuit model for RF probe pads and interconnections is proposed, and this model and previous models are compared with measured S parameters of probe pad and interconnection test structures. A modified parameter and interconnnection model was used to determine an HBT equivalent circuit. Excellent agreement is obtained between the extracted equivalent circuit and measured HBT S parameters, while providing physically acceptable parameter values     

Microstrip loss calculations

Loss calculations have been performed for microstrip lines by relating the longitudinal component of current to the charge distributions obtained without the substrate. Comparison with experiment shows good agreement.     

Nano-metal oxide fillers in thermo-responsive polycaprolactone-based polymer nanocomposites smart materials: Impact on thermo-mechanical,and shape memory properties

The present study introduces the properties of three thermo-responsive shape memory polymer nanocomposites (SMPCs), viz. SMPC–NiO (SMP with nickel oxide), SMPC-Fe₂O₃ (SMP with iron oxide), and SMPC-Fe₂NiO₄ (SMP with iron nickel oxide) along with the neat SMP blend. Styrene-Butadiene rubber and poly ε-caprolactone (PCL) polymer are the vital part, which forms the backbone of polymer-elastomer blend matrix. This study helps to understand the effect and influence of these metal oxide nanofillers' integrated blend on their different inbuilt properties. The tensile test and dynamic mechanical analysis studies confirmed that SMPC-Fe₂NiO₄ holds a large elastic modulus value and very rigid compared to other SMPCs. Thermal decomposition studies using differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, and TG-gas chromatography and mass spectrometry results show that the nanocomposites undergoes a two-stage decomposition process. The shape memory test reveals that the time taken for temporary shape recovery is high for SMPC-Fe₂NiO₄ because of its rigid nature and low for SMPC-Fe₂O₃. The results revealed that, from this exploratory study, the integration of metal oxide nanopowder fillers, especially Fe₂O₃ with neat SMP, showed better properties.     

Low cycle fatigue behaviour of a low interstitial Ni-base superalloy

The low cycle fatigue behaviour of precipitation strengthened nickel-base superalloy 720Li containing a low concentration of interstitial carbon and boron was studied at 25, 400 and 650 °C. Cyclic stress response at all temperatures was stable under fully reversed constant total strain amplitude (Δε/2) when Δε/2 ? 0.6%. At Δε/2 > 0.6%, cyclic hardening was followed by softening, until fracture at 25 and 650 °C. At 400 °C, however, cyclic stress plateaued after initial hardening. Dislocation–dislocation interactions and precipitate shearing were the micromechanisms responsible for the cyclic hardening and softening, respectively. The number of reversals to failure vs. plastic strain amplitude plot exhibits a bilinear Coffin–Manson relation. Transmission electron microscopy substructures revealed that planar slip was the major deformation mode under the conditions examined. However, differences in its distribution were observed to be the cause for the bilinearity in fatigue lives. The presence of fine deformation twins at low Δε/2 at 650 °C suggests the role of twinning in homogenization of cyclic deformation.     

Fracture Mechanics Based Model for Fatigue Remaining Life Prediction of RC beams Considering Corrosion Effects

This paper presents methodologies for crack growth study and fatigue remaining life prediction of reinforced concrete structural components accounting for the corrosion effects. Stress intensity factor (SIF) has been computed by using the principle of superposition. At each incremental crack length, net SIF has been computed as the difference of SIF of plain concrete and reinforcement. The behaviour of reinforcement has been considered as elasto-plastic. Uniform corrosion rate has been assumed in the modeling. Corrosion effect has been accounted in the form of reduction in the diameter and modulus of elasticity of steel. Numerical studies have been carried out to validate the methodologies. It is observed that the predicted remaining life for RC beam without corrosion effects is significantly larger compared to plain beams. The predicted remaining life decreases with increase in percentage of corrosion.     

In Situ synthesis of inorganic filler‐filled polyethylene using polyethersulfone‐supported TiCl4 catalyst system

In situ ethylene polymerizations with inorganic fillers were performed using catalyst based on titanium tetrachloride supported on polyethersulfone. The inorganic fillers used were MgO, TiO₂, and CaCO₃, which were pretreated with cocatalyst (methylaluminoxine) for better dispersion onto the polymer matrix. The formation of polyethylene (PE) within the whole matrix was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared studies. The wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction profile of the synthesized PEs indicated the presence of crystalline region. It was found that the nature of inorganic filler did not have any remarkable effect on the melting characteristics of the polymer, but the degree of crystallinity of PE was found to be higher for TiO₂‐filled PE. The amount of filler incorporated into the matrix was also evaluated through thermogravimetric analysis, where TiO₂‐filled PE showed ～ 49% of filler material, which was also reflected in the higher productivity obtained by this system. The morphology of the filler‐filled PEs was different, whereas the elemental dispersion was found to be uniform on the surface as elucidated through energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Spectral measurements of gamma radiation streaming through ducts

The paper presents the spectral measurements of gamma radiation streaming through multi-legged rectangular concrete ducts for cesium-137 and cobalt-60 sources. Effect of lead lining the inner surface of the duct on the streaming radiation spectrum and optimization of liner thickness for minimum streaming radiation dose have been studied.For three-legged ducts, a comparative analysis of lead lining the entire duct as against lining any one or both the corners of the duct is reported. It is seen that lead lining any one of the corners would reduce the streaming radiation dose by a factor of 5 to 12. Lining both the corners which is nearly as effective as lining the entire duct reduces the dose by a factor of 16 to 60 depending on the source energy and duct dimensions.     

Characterization of reduced graphene oxide obtained from vacuum-assisted low-temperature exfoliated graphite

Microsystem Technologies - Graphene consists of sheets of two-dimensional allotrope carbons and is a basic element of graphite. Herein, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) were exfoliated from graphite...