Deformation behavior of HCP Ti-Al alloy single crystals

Single crystals of Ti-Al alloys containing 1.4, 2.9, 5, and 6.6 pct Al (by weight) were oriented for 〈a〉 slip on either basal or prism planes or loaded parallel along the c-axis to enforce a nonbasal deformation mode. Most of the tests were conducted in compression and at temperatures between 77 and 1000 K. Trace analysis of prepolished surfaces enabled identification of the twin or slip systems primarily responsible for deformation. Increasing the deformation temperature, Al content, or both, acted to inhibit secondary twin and slip systems, thereby increasing the tendency toward strain accommodation by a single slip system having the highest resolved stress. In the crystals oriented for basal slip, transitions from twinning to multiple slip and, finally, to basal slip occurred with increasing temperature in the lower-Al-content alloys, whereas for Ti-6.6 pct Al, only basal slip was observed at all temperatures tested. A comparison of the critically resolved shear stress (CRSS) values for basal and prism slip as a function of Al content shows that prism slip is favored at room temperature in pure Ti, but the stress to activate these two systems becomes essentially equal in the Ti-6.6 pct Al crystals over a wide range of temperatures. Compression tests on crystals oriented so that the load was applied parallel to the c-axis showed extensive twinning in lower Al concentrations and 〈c+a〉 slip at higher Al concentrations, with a mixture of 〈c+a〉 slip and twinning at intermediate compositions. A few tests also were conducted in tension, with the load applied parallel to the c-axis. In these cases, twinning was observed, and the resolved shear for plastic deformation by twinning was much lower that that for 〈c+a〉 slip observed in compression loading. This article is based on a presentation made in the symposium entitled “Defect Properties and Mechanical Behavior of HCP Metals and Alloys” at the TMS Annual Meeting, February 11–15, 2001, in New Orleans, Louisiana, under the auspices of the following ASM committees: Materials Science and Critical Technology Sector, Structural Materials Division, Electronic, Magnetic & Photonic Materials Division, Chemistry & Physics of Materials Committee, Joint Nuclear Materials Committee, and Titanium Committee.     

Sequential tripping strategy for a transmission network back-upprotection expert system

This paper describes a sequential tripping strategy used in a wide area back-up protection expert system (BPES) to combat situations in which protection relays have maloperated or information is missing. The BPES is an innovative back-up protection scheme designed to prevent the occurrence of widespread blackouts. The BPES evaluates the certainty that transmission lines are likely to be affected by the fault and uses a sequential tripping strategy to isolate the fault if a firm decision is not available due to maloperated relays and/or missing information. The mode of analysis and the sequential tripping strategy ensures that the BPES will clear a fault at minimum risk to the network. An example is included to demonstrate how the certainty factor based sequential tripping strategy is employed by the BPES to clear a fault which occurred on the South Western part of the UK National Grid System     

Flotation machine design: impeller—stator interaction

The separate contributions of impellers and stators to suction are studied by means of interaction models. From these, suction can be predicted when interchangeable components are used in any combination, and in either direction of impeller rotation. Methods are devised by which numerical values of the impeller and stator terms can be simply assigned. The resulting model provides good agreement with experiment. The influence of variability in component geometry is reflected in the model parameters. Possible applications of the model are suggested.     

Combining multiple knowledge bases

Combining knowledge present in multiple knowledge base systems into a single knowledge base is discussed. A knowledge based system can be considered an extension of a deductive database in that it permits function symbols as part of the theory. Alternative knowledge bases that deal with the same subject matter are considered. The authors define the concept of combining knowledge present in a set of knowledge bases and present algorithms to maximally combine them so that the combination is consistent with respect to the integrity constraints associated with the knowledge bases. For this, the authors define the concept of maximality and prove that the algorithms presented combine the knowledge bases to generate a maximal theory. The authors also discuss the relationships between combining multiple knowledge bases and the view update problem     

Effects of seat slope and hip flexion on spinal angles in sitting

Lumbar and thoracic spinal angles of 25 male and 25 female subjects were measured in four sitting postures, with standing angles used as reference. Subjects sat with either 90 deg or 65 deg of hip flexion on either flat or forward-sloping seats. Lumbar kyphosis was greatest when the flat seat/90-deg posture was adopted and least when the sloping seat/65-deg posture was adopted. The opposite was observed for the thoracic angles, and intermediate results were observed for the other two sitting postures. No statistically significant interactions were observed among seat slope, hip flexion, and subject sex. The findings are discussed with reference to the anatomy of sitting and factors influencing pelvic tilt and the implications for the ergonomic design of chairs.     

Measurement of the delayed-neutron yields in the fission of233U,236U,237Np,240Pu,and241Pu by neutrons from the spectrum of a fast reactor

Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 66, No. 2, pp. 100–103, February, 1989.     

PCR-based procedures in detection and DNA-fingerprinting of Salmonella from samples of animal origin

The usefulness of selected PCR-protocols for the detection of Salmonella in 117 samples of animal origin (17 raw minced meat, 27 raw chicken meat, 8 raw sausages, and 25 egg samples, as well as 18 poultry faecal, and caecal swabs samples) and DNA-fingerprinting typing is shown. To establish an accurate PCR-procedure for Salmonella detection the following parameters were evaluated: two pre-PCR concentration procedures, centrifugation and immunomagnetic separation (IMS) using Dynabeads anti- Salmonella; the specificity and sensitivity of 10 sets of primers; and different conditions of the amplification reaction. In light of the results obtained from the use of PCR-based procedures alone or in combination with conventional methods, the following findings can be underlined: First, IMS is more efficient than centrifugation in the recovery of Salmonella. Second, the selected IMS/PCR-detection protocol is less time-consuming (45 h) than the IMS/culture procedure (90 h), and a good concordance between them was found when the Kappa coefficient was calculated (0·87). Third, PCR-ribotyping technique showed a very low discrimination power, being able to differentiate only three profiles. Fourth, RAPD technique using specific primers supports previous works in which it was proposed as a simple and useful tool for discriminating isolates between and within serotypes. Fifth, The efficiency, rapidity, and flexibility of the PCR-protocols applied were high, and they can be performed using two PCR-programs and the same basic equipment.