Strain tuning of the photocurrent spectrum in single-wall carbon nanotubes

The effect of uniaxial strain on the photocurrent spectrum of semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes is measured. The energy of the lowest-lying free electron transition is observed to shift with strain as predicted by a simple noninteracting model. The higher-order transitions also shift with strain, but being excitonic, their strain dependence differs from the predictions for the free carrier states. An anomalous photocurrent increase is also observed near the ground-state transition and is attributed to the formation of optically active defect states within the nanotube band gap.     

Development of electromagnetic shielding materials from the conductive blends of polyaniline and polyaniline-clay nanocomposite-EVA: Preparation and properties

Electromagnetic interference shielding composite materials were developed from the conductive blends of nanostructured polyaniline (PANI) and polyaniline-clay nanocomposite (PANICN) with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) as host matrix. Electrically conducting nanostructured PANI and PANICNs were prepared using amphiphilic dopants, 3-pentadecyl phenol 4-sulphonic acid (3-PDPSA) derived from cashew nut shell liquid, a low cost renewable resource based product and dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid (DBSA). Effects of type and quantity of conductive fillers on the electrical conductivity, mechanical properties, thermal stability, morphology and electromagnetic shielding efficiency were investigated. The presence of exfoliated nanoclay and interaction between the conductive filler–host matrix in conductive films containing PANICNs manifested from the measurement on rheological property. Films with conductive filler (～15% loading) showed a shielding effectiveness of ～40–80 dB at 8 GHz which makes these conducting composites potential candidate for the encapsulation as EMI shielding materials for electronic devices.     

Hybridization of stochastic reduced basis methods with polynomial chaos expansions

We propose a hybrid formulation combining stochastic reduced basis methods with polynomial chaos expansions for solving linear random algebraic equations arising from discretization of stochastic partial differential equations. Our objective is to generalize stochastic reduced basis projection schemes to non-Gaussian uncertainty models and simplify the implementation of higher-order approximations. We employ basis vectors spanning the preconditioned stochastic Krylov subspace to represent the solution process. In the present formulation, the polynomial chaos decomposition technique is used to represent the stochastic basis vectors in terms of multidimensional Hermite polynomials. The Galerkin projection scheme is then employed to compute the undetermined coefficients in the reduced basis approximation. We present numerical studies on a linear structural problem where the Youngs modulus is represented using Gaussian as well as lognormal models to illustrate the performance of the hybrid stochastic reduced basis projection scheme. Comparison studies with the spectral stochastic finite element method suggest that the proposed hybrid formulation gives results of comparable accuracy at a lower computational cost.     

Adding transverse normal stresses to layered shell finite elements for the analysis of composite structures

This work presents a formulation developed to add capabilities for representing the through thickness distribution of the transverse normal stresses, σ_z, in first and higher order shear deformable shell elements within a finite element (FE) scheme. The formulation is developed within a displacement based shear deformation shell theory. Using the differential equilibrium equations for two-dimensional elasticity and the interlayer stress and strain continuity requirements, special treatment is developed for the transverse normal stresses, which are thus represented by a continuous piecewise cubic function. The implementation of this formulation requires only C⁰ continuity of the displacement functions regardless of whether it is added to a first or a higher order shell element. This makes the transverse normal stress treatment applicable to the most popular bilinear isoparametric 4-noded quadrilateral shell elements.

To assess the performance of the present approach it is included in the formulation of a recently developed third order shear deformable shell finite element. The element is added to the element library of the general nonlinear explicit dynamic FE code DYNA3D. Some illustrative problems are solved and results are presented and compared to other theoretical and numerical results.     

Sandwich shell finite element for dynamic explicit analysis

The contribution of this paper consists of new development of transverse shear stresses through the thickness and finding an expression for the critical time step for explicit time integration of layered shells. This work presents the finite element (FE) formulation and implementation of a higher‐order shear deformable shell element for dynamic explicit analysis of composite and sandwich shells. The formulation is developed using a displacement‐based third‐order shear deformation shell theory. Using the differential equilibrium equations and the interlayer requirements, special treatment is developed for the transverse shear, resulting in a continuous, piecewise quartic distribution of the transverse shear stresses through the shell thickness. Expressions are developed for the critical time step of the explicit time integration for orthotropic homogeneous and layered shells based on the developed third‐order formulation. To assess the performance of the present shell element, it is implemented in the general non‐linear explicit dynamic FE code DYNA3D. Several problems are solved and results are presented and compared to other theoretical and numerical results. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electro-refraction in quantum dots: dependence on lateral size and shape

Photonic switches require low-loss polarization-independent phase-shifting elements. In a composite quantum well, a 0.46-mm phase shifter provides a /spl pi//4 phase shift by combining the quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) and the carrier depletion effect. We investigate whether the discrete energy levels and the high peak absorption in quantum dots (QDs) provide an opportunity for increasing the electro-refraction. The electro-refraction in strained cylindrical InAs-GaAs QDs is explored using a numerical model based on the 4 /spl times/ 4 Luttinger-Kohn Hamiltonian. The excitonic states are calculated by matrix diagonalization with plane-wave basis states. We observe that the QCSE sharply increases with the height of the QD and is also optimized for small-radius QDs. The QCSE in pyramidal QDs is considerably larger than in a box or cylinders. We find a peak electro-refraction of /spl Delta/n=0.35 in cone-shaped pyramidal QDs, which is a factor of 35 larger than in the quantum-well case. Finally, in the waveguide geometry, we find an electro-refraction of 1.3/spl times/10/sup -2/ at a residual QD absorption of 0.15 dB/cm.     

Analytical and Numerical Modeling of Consolidation by Vertical Drain beneath a Circular Embankment

In the analysis of axisymmetric problems, it is often imperative that aspects of geometry, material properties, and loading characteristics are either maintained as constants or represented by continuous functions in the circumferential direction. In the case of radial consolidation beneath a circular embankment by vertical drains (i.e., circular oil tanks or silos), the discrete system of vertical drains can be substituted by continuous concentric rings of equivalent drain walls. An equivalent value for the coefficient of permeability of the soil is obtained by matching the degree of consolidation of a unit cell model. A rigorous solution to the continuity equation of radial drainage towards cylindrical drain walls is presented and verified by comparing its results with the existing unit cell model. The proposed model is then adopted to analyze the consolidation process by vertical drains at the Sk?-Edeby circular test embankment (Area II). The calculated values of settlement, lateral displacement, and excess pore-water pressure indicate good agreement with the field measurements.     

Analysis of Metallurgical and Mechanical Properties of Continuous and Pulsed Current Gas Tungsten Arc Welded Alloy C-276 with Duplex Stainless Steel

The present work investigates the microstructure and mechanical properties of alloy C-276 fabricated by continuous and pulsed current gas tungsten arc welding process and by employing ER2553 filler wire. Optical and scanning electron microscopic analyses were carried out to study the microstructures of weldments produced. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was performed to investigate the formation of secondary phases in the weldments. The results disclosed that pulsed current gas tungsten arc welding showed refined microstructure compared to continuous current gas tungsten arc welding. SEM/EDS analysis revealed the segregation of Mo in the weld interface regions in both the welding techniques. The extent of microsegregation reduced the strength and toughness of the weld joint compared to the base metal. Bend test revealed cracks in the weld interface region in both the weldments.     

A multi-verse optimizer approach for feature selection and optimizing SVM parameters based on a robust system architecture

Neural Computing and Applications - Support vector machine (SVM) is a well-regarded machine learning algorithm widely applied to classification tasks and regression problems. SVM was founded based...     

Intumescence in poly(butylene terephthalate): the effect of 2‐methyl‐1,2‐oxaphospholan‐5‐one 2‐oxide and ammonium polyphosphate

The flame‐retardant effect of 2‐methyl‐1,2‐oxaphospholan‐5‐one 2‐oxide (OP) and ammonium polyphosphate (APP) in poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) was studied by the limiting oxygen index and the UL94 test. A self‐extinguishing formulation (V‐0 rating) was achieved by the addition of 15 wt% APP and 10 wt% OP. The fire‐retardant effect was attributed to the condensed‐phase mechanism of intumescence. Mechanistic studies were performed using thermogravimetry, IR characterization of solid residues and GC–MS characterization of the gaseous and high‐boiling products. OP–APP was shown to cause ammonolysis of PBT, formation of aromatic nitriles in the high‐boiling products and phosphorus ester groups and polyphosphoric acid–phosphorus pentaoxide in the solid residue. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry