Thermal,mechanical, and corrosion resistance properties of vinyl ester/clay nanocomposites for the matrix of carbon fiber‐reinforced composites exposed to electron beam

Vinyl ester/clay nanocomposites with 1, 3, and 5% nanoclay contents were prepared. X‐ray diffractography patterns and Scanning Electron micrographs showed that nanocomposites with the exfoliated structure were formed. Thermogravimetric analysis, water absorption test, and Tafel polarization method, respectively, revealed the improvements in thermal resistance, water barrier properties, and corrosion resistance properties of the samples with an increase in the amount of the incorporated nanoclay. Tensile tests showed that nanoclay also enhanced the mechanical properties of the polymer, so that the tensile strength of the samples with 5% nanoclay was more than 3 times higher than tensile strength of pure vinyl ester samples. Overall, the best properties were observed for the samples containing 5% nanoclay. Pure vinyl ester and nanocomposite with 5% nanoclay content were exposed to the electron beam radiation and their mechanical properties improved up to 500 kGy irradiation dose. Finally, pure vinyl ester and vinyl ester/nanoclay (5%) matrixes were reinforced with carbon fiber and the effect of electron beam irradiation on their mechanical properties was examined. The tensile strength and the modulus of the samples initially increased after exposure to the radiation doses up to 500 kGy and then a decrease was observed as the irradiation dose rose to 1000 kGy. Moreover, nanoclay moderated the effect of the irradiation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42393.     

Radiosynthesis and biodistribution of [^18F]-tetracosactide using a semi-automated [^18F]SFB production module

In order to prepare a specific melanocortin type 2 receptor (MC2R) ligand, b1-24-corticotrophin was pre-pared in one-step reaction with [18F] SFB and b-1-24-corticotrophin pharmaceutical solution (1 mg/mL, pH=6.5). [18F]SFB was prepared in a semi-automated module in two steps with an overall radiochemical yield of 47% to EOB (not-decay corrected) in 90 min. The 18F-labeled intermediates and 18F-labeled peptide was checked by RTLC and HPLC. The results show that the radiochemical purity is >95% and the yield to EOB (not-decay corrected) is 29% for final 18F-labeled peptide at optimized conditions. Preliminary in vivo studies in normal mice were performed to deter-mine biodistribution of the 18F-labeled peptide for 150 min. The results show that the major tracer uptake is consistent with the natural distribution of MC2R receptors in mammals. Testes/blood and testes/muscle ratios for 18F-labeled peptide at 150 min were 184 and 1.56, respectively, and adipocyte/blood and adipocyte/muscle ratios at 120 min were 221 and 142, respectively. The data support the specific receptor binding of the radiolabeled peptide as reported for MC2R receptor accumulation in adipocytes and testes and demonstrates the retention of biological activity of the pep-tide. This tracer can be used in detection of MC2R distribution in malignancies and sex organ diseases.     

Enhanced oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs by spontaneous imbibition of low salinity water

An experimental study was performed to investigate the impact of low salinity water on wettability alteration in carbonate core samples from southern Iranian reservoirs by spontaneous imbibition. In this paper, the effect of temperature, salinity, permeability and connate water were investigated by comparing the produced hydrocarbon curves. Contact angle measurements were taken to confirm the alteration of surface wettability of porous media. Oil recovery was enhanced by increasing the dilution ratio of sea water, and there existed an optimum dilution ratio at which the highest oil recovery was achieved. In addition, temperature had a very significant impact on oil recovery from carbonate rocks. Furthermore, oil recovery from a spontaneous imbibition process was directly proportional to the permeability of the core samples. The presence of connate water saturation inside the porous media facilitated oil production significantly. Also, the oil recovery from porous media was highly dependent on ion repulsion/attraction activity of the rock surface which directly impacts on the wettability conditions. Finally, the highest ion attraction percentage was measured for sodium while there was no significant change in pH for all experiments.     

Modeling and optimization of the chamber of OWC system

Due to their non-polluting nature and environment friendliness, Renewable Energies have gained great deal of attention and deserve a substantial body of both theoretical and empirical research. Amongst other factors, the low operational cost and simple maintenance procedures attributed the Oscillating Water Column (OWC) are perhaps the main reasons why this system is the most used concept for the ocean wave energy capture.In this paper, through extensive experimental research various geometrical designs of an OWC system is investigated and the optimized set up for the maximum energy harness is obtained.The initial chamber dimensions were 10 × 50 × 53 cm with the chamber being placed in an open channel with wave-simulating equipment with dimensions of 16 × 0.7 × .05 m. For various chamber geometries, with the aid of a air rotameter and a Pitot tube equipped with a digital manometer, the outlet air flow and velocity from the chamber was measured and registered.The measurements were then interpreted to provide design data for the optimal geometry of the chamber that may yield the maximum conversion of wave energy to useful energy.     

All two-input logic gates by a single-stage single electron box

In this paper, the design of all two-input logic gates is presented by only a single-stage single electron box (SEB) for the first time. All gates are constructed based on a same circuit. We have used unique periodic characteristics of SEB to design these gates and present all two-input logic gates (monotonic/non-monotonic, symmetric/non-symmetric) by a single-stage design. In conventional monotonic devices, such as MOSFETs, implementing non-monotonic logic gates such as XOR and XNOR is impossible by only a single-stage design, and a multistage design is required which leads to more complexity, higher power consumption and less speed of the gates. We present qualitative design at first and then detailed designs are investigated and optimised by using our previous works. All designs are verified by a single electron simulator which shows correct operation of the gates.     

Thermodynamic performance analysis of three solid oxide fuel cell and gas microturbine hybrid systems for application in auxiliary power units

In this study, three different configurations of a solid oxide fuel cell and gas microturbine hybrid system are evaluated for application in auxiliary power units. The first configuration is a common hybrid system in auxiliary power units, utilizing a fuel cell stack in the structure of the gas turbine cycle. The other configurations use two series and parallel fuel cell stacks in the structure of the gas turbine cycle. The main purpose of this research is thermodynamic analysis, evaluation of the performance of the proposed hybrid systems in similar conditions, and selection of an appropriate system in terms of efficiency, power generation, and entropy generation rate. In this study, the utilized fuel cells were subjected to electrochemical, thermodynamic, and thermal analyses and their working temperatures were calculated under various working conditions. Results indicate that the hybrid system with two series stacks had maximum power generation and efficiency compared with the other two cases. Moreover, the simple hybrid system and the system with two parallel stacks had relatively equal pure power generation and efficiency. According to the investigations, hybrid system with two series fuel cell stacks, which had 3424 and 1712 cells, respectively, can achieve the electrical efficiency of over 48%. A hybrid system with two parallel fuel cell stacks, in which each stack had 2568 cells, had the electrical efficiency of 46.3%. Findings suggested that maximum electrical efficiency occurred between the pressure ratios of 5–6 in the proposed hybrid systems.     

A local view on the Hudetz correction of the Yager entropy of dynamical systems

In this paper, we define a local version of Hudetz correction for the Yager entropy of dynamical systems. It is proved that the introduced function is indeed a local entropy map for the Hudetz correction of the Yager entropy, in the sense that, the Hudetz correction of the Yager entropy of a continuous map on a compact metric space is attained by integrating the introduced local entropy.     

Fault isolation in manufacturing systems based on learning algorithm and fuzzy rule selection

Neural Computing and Applications - This paper addresses the fault detection and isolation problem in manufacturing systems. Some of these systems can be affected by several faults, a first way of...     

Audio watermarking based on synergy between Lucas regular sequence and Fast Fourier Transform

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The growth of digital technology over the recent years has led to increased sending and saving of electronic media. Taking advantage of digital works without...     

XPloreRank: exploring XML data via you may also like queries

World Wide Web - In many cases, users are not familiar with their exact information needs while searching complicated data sources. This lack of understanding may cause the users to feel...