Experimental investigation of the dynamic response of graphite-epoxy composite laminates under compression

In this study, the dynamic stress–strain response of graphite-epoxy composite laminates is investigated. The laminates are interposed in a section of a split Hopkinson apparatus. A quasi-rectangular wave is generated at one end of the incident bar by striking it with another bar of known length. This bar is accelerated using a compressed air gun. Approximate average stresses and strains can be obtained by measuring the incident, reflected and transmitted waves in the split bar. The dynamic behavior is evaluated for a range of impact velocities. The dependence of the response on impact velocity is analyzed and discussed. Three different specimen thicknesses have been used. These are obtained by increasing the repetition factor of a base stacking sequence: (+45°, −45°, 0°, 90°). This process is called sublaminate scaling; it is preferred to ply scaling since it has been shown that the accumulation of layers of the same orientation decreases the failure load to such an extent that residual stresses may crack the specimen before any external load is applied. The laminates considered are: (+45°, −45°, 0°, 90°)_ns, n=2,3,4. The scale effects observed in the experimental response are analyzed and discussed.     

A physical model for the kink effect in InAlAs/InGaAs HEMTs

We present a new model for the the kink effect in InAlAs/InGaAs HEMTs. The model suggests that the kink is due to a threshold voltage shift which arises from a hole pile-up in the extrinsic source and an ensuing charging of the surface and/or the buffer-substrate interface. The model captures many of the observed behaviors of the kink, including the kink's dependence on bias, time, temperature, illumination, and device structure. Using the model, we have developed a simple equivalent circuit, which reproduced well the kink's dc characteristics, its time evolution in the nanosecond range, and its dependence on illumination     

Variational generation of prismatic boundary‐layer meshes for biomedical computing

Boundary‐layer meshes are important for numerical simulations in computational fluid dynamics, including computational biofluid dynamics of air flow in lungs and blood flow in hearts. Generating boundary‐layer meshes is challenging for complex biological geometries. In this paper, we propose a novel technique for generating prismatic boundary‐layer meshes for such complex geometries. Our method computes a feature size of the geometry, adapts the surface mesh based on the feature size, and then generates the prismatic layers by propagating the triangulated surface using the face‐offsetting method. We derive a new variational method to optimize the prismatic layers to improve the triangle shapes and edge orthogonality of the prismatic elements and also introduce simple and effective measures to guarantee the validity of the mesh. Coupled with a high‐quality tetrahedral mesh generator for the interior of the domain, our method generates high‐quality hybrid meshes for accurate and efficient numerical simulations. We present comparative study to demonstrate the robustness and quality of our method for complex biomedical geometries. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neural cell growth on TiO2 anatase nanostructured surfaces

Titanium oxides have anti-inflammatory activity and tunable electrochemical properties that make them attractive materials for biomedical applications. This work investigated the compatibility of nanometric coatings of low-temperature phases of TiO₂ with neurons in 4-day and 10-day cultures, using different cell densities to quantify cell survival and neurite extension. TiO₂ films were prepared by sol–gel and thermal treatment (250–450 °C) of hydrolyzed titanium tetra-isopropoxide on electrically conducting or insulating slides. The conducting substrates were not passivated by the nanometric oxide layer and could be used as electrodes. Characterization of the films showed nano-structured TiO₂ containing exclusively Ti⁺⁴ valence in anatase and amorphous phases. When coated with polylysine, all films permitted good neuron attachment and survival for at least ten days in culture. However, they generally reduced neurite growth compared to cell culture borosilicate glass, with dendrites more affected than axons. The analyses of surface topography, hydrophilicity, charge and chemical composition revealed that TiO₂ chemistry was the main factor responsible for neurite inhibition.     

Ankerkräfte bei kurzen Zylinderschalen

Anchor forces with short cylindrical shells. Thin walled short cantilever cylinders, such as supply‐air‐chimneys, silos or tanks, develop a shell‐type distribution of membrane forces when subjected to natural wind. A structural analysis by hand involves a Fourier decomposition of the circumferential wind pressure distribution and a separate calculation for each harmonic, using an appropriate shell theory. With this classical method simple boundary conditions at the bottom edge of the shell, such as ‘pinned’ or ‘clamped’, can be modelled only. The use of a finite element code – if available – gives possibility to account for more realistic conditions at the bottom of the structure, such as elastic flanges and anchors or unilateral contact. In designing silos, tanks or chimneys however, as often encountered by the authors, structural engineers use beam theory to determine stress resultants and anchor forces, may this be due to lack of time or due to ignorance. Those who determine ‘real’ anchor forces obtain dimensions, which they feel to be inadequate and which are so much in excess of beam‐theory‐anchors that there should be much more failures with ‘beam‐designed‐anchors’. In the present paper some evidence on this apparent contradiction is given and a practical design approach is suggested.     

Resistance to freezing and frozen storage of Streptococcus thermophilus is related to membrane fatty acid composition.

The resistance to freezing and frozen storage of Streptococcus thermophilus was related to the fatty acid composition of the cell membrane. The effects of four experimental factors were investigated on the fatty acid concentrations and on the recovery of acidification activity of S. thermophilus stored at -20 degrees C by using a complete experimental design: incorporating oleic acid in the culture medium, fermentation pH, addition of glycerol as cryoprotective agent and duration of storage. The acidification activity decreased during the freezing and the frozen storage of S. thermophilus. The storage time slightly enhanced the unsaturated fatty acid concentrations. The addition of glycerol did not modify the fatty acid composition but increased the resistance to frozen storage. The addition of oleic acid and the decrease of the fermentation pH enhanced the ratio unsaturated:saturated fatty acids and improved the recovery of the acidification activity. These results indicate that the resistance to frozen storage was closely related to the membrane fatty acid composition. We interpreted this as an adaptation of S. thermophilus to the addition of oleic acid and the unfavorable growth conditions that corresponded to a low fermentation pH.     

Presence of furosine in honeys

Nineteen commercial samples (with a shelf‐life of 2 years) and two artisanal samples (freshly collected and stored for 1 year respectively) of Spanish honeys were analysed for pH, protein content and furosine content. Most of the samples had pH values and protein contents within the limits reported in the literature. The presence of furosine was confirmed by comparison of its retention time with that of a furosine standard and by HPLC–MS. The level of furosine in the samples studied ranged from 4.32 to 13.62 g kg^?1 protein. The lowest furosine value was observed in the freshly collected artisanal sample. Heat treatment under severe conditions (90 °C for up to 135 min) increased the furosine content from 4.43 to 14.38 g kg^?1 protein. The results show that furosine seems to be a promising indicator to detect overheating during honey manufacture. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry     

Essential oils as biopreservatives: different methods for the technological application in lettuce leaves

Investigations were carried out to assess the efficiency of 3 essential oils, clove, tea tree, and rosemary, as natural preservatives during the postharvest of lettuce leaves. The effect of different concentration (1 and 0.5 MIC) of plant essential oils applied in 3 forms (spray, immersion, and capsules) was studied on lettuce leaves. The evolution of different microbial populations was evaluated during refrigerated storage. The application forms of the biopreservatives were shown to be an important factor in determining the effectiveness of the essential oils. Clove and tea tree essential oils at 1 MIC and applied embedded in lactose capsules presented a significant inhibition on mesophilic, psicrotrophic, and coliforms populations, while rosemary in none of the 3 technological applications forms exerted inhibitory effect on all microbial populations evaluated. Essential oils (at 0.5 MIC) applied by spray, immersion, and embedded in lactose capsules exerted lower inhibitory effects, with respect to 1 MIC, on the different microbial populations present on lettuce leaves. At the end of the storage (7 d), lettuce samples treated with tea tree, clove, and rosemary (at 1 and 0.5 MIC) by spray were the only organoleptically acceptable. It is concluded that clove and tea tree essential oils can control different microbial population present in lettuce. Practical Application: The exploration of naturally occurring antimicrobials in food preservation receives increasing attention due to consumer awareness of natural food products. Biopreservatives are useful in extending the shelf life of foods, reducing or eliminating pathogenic bacteria and increasing overall quality of food products. The effectiveness of essential oil application in foods is the result of factor associations such as applications forms, concentration applied, the way of action, storage temperatures. The application methods (spray, immersion, and embedded in lactose capsules) and the concentration of essential oils have been shown to be important factors in determining the effectiveness of these biopreservatives. The oil concentrations required to produce a certain level of inhibition in actual foods could be questionable due to the organoleptic impact. However, these novel natural preservatives in combination with other factors in obstacle technologies are an alternative to control the pathogen growth minimizing undesirable changes in organoleptic characteristics.     

Influence of composition on the unipolar electric fatigue of Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3‐(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 lead‐free piezoceramics

The lead‐free (1?x)Ba(Zr_0.2Ti_0.8)O₃‐x(Ba_0.7Ca_0.3)TiO₃ system is considered as promising candidate for the replacement of lead‐based piezoceramics in actuation applications, during which electric fatigue is a major concern. This issue was addressed in this work, where the unipolar fatigue resistance of three (1?x)Ba(Zr_0.2Ti_0.8)O₃‐x(Ba_0.7Ca_0.3)TiO₃ compositions with different crystallographic structures (rhombohedral, orthorhombic, and tetragonal) was evaluated. Strain asymmetry and development of an internal bias field were observed in all compositions. The decrease in the remanent polarization and the large signal piezoelectric coefficient after 10⁷ unipolar cycles was found to lie between 6%‐12% and 2%‐13%, respectively. The most pronounced fatigue was observed for the orthorhombic composition, which has the largest extrinsic contribution to strain. On the other hand, the best fatigue resistance was observed for the tetragonal composition, which has a predominantly intrinsic strain response. The correlation of fatigue resistance with strain mechanism was corroborated with determination of the Rayleigh parameters and changes in the domain morphology after cycling as confirmed by piezoresponse force microscopy.