A preliminary analysis of the biomass energy production potential in Africa in 2025 considering projected land needs for food production

This paper provides a preliminary examination of present and projected land use in Africa to estimate the potential availability of land in 2025 for use in producing biomass energy. Fifty countries are included in the analysis. Future cropland requirements are projected on the basis of average African cereal crop yield improvements since 1972, and minimum nutritional requirements are assumed to be met in 2025 without increasing imports above present absolute levels. Cropland, natural forests and other wilderness areas are excluded from consideration for biomass energy use. Woody biomass energy yields are estimated on the basis of nationally averaged precipitation, using a yield-precipitation correlation for commercial eucalyptus plantations in Brazil. The total African bioenergy production potential in 2025 is estimated to be about 18 EJ per year for a set of baseline assumptions that includes planting only 10% of the available non-crop, non-forest, non-wilderness area with biomass energy crops. A preliminary cost assessment suggests that much of this biomass could be produced for $1–2 GJ⁻¹. A number of uncertainties in the modelling assumptions are examined through a sensitivity analysis. Despite limitations in the model used here, one robust conclusion is that Africa as a whole has a significant biophysical potential for producing biomass energy. This result suggests that more detailed country and sub-country level assessments would be worthwhile to understand better the practical prospects for future biomass energy production in Africa.     

Cumulant calculations of thermodynamic quantities for the Hubbard and the emery model

The calculations of the first paper suggesting phase separation in the Hubbard model [2] are performed under modern computer facilties for the one and three-band Hubbard model. High-temperature approximations for specific heat and static correlation functions are obtained. The latter show, at these high temperatures, no tendency to phase separate in the same way as in the cited paper because our spin parallel nearest-neighbor charge correlation function is negative for all doping values. The spin antiparallel correlation function has positive and negative values for different doping regimes.Extension of this work to higher levels of iterations and to other correlation functions is in progress.     

Residual stresses and transformation toughening in MoSi2 composites reinforced with partially stabilized zirconia

The results of study of the effects of yttria stabilization (0–6 mol.%) on the room-temperature fracture behavior and toughening mechanisms in zirconia-reinforced MoSi₂ are presented in this paper. Transformation toughening is shown to occur only in composites reinforced with zirconia particles stabilized with 2 mol.% yttria. However, the fracture toughness levels are comparable in the other composites with yttria levels between 0 and 6 mol.%. Toughening in the other composites is attributed to the combined effects of residual stress, microcrack shielding/anti-shielding and/or crack deflection. A rigorous micromechanics-based model is presented for the estimation of residual stress levels in brittle materials reinforced with phases that can transform during cooling or under stress. The model is applied successfully to the rationalization of the observed fracture and toughening phenomena.     

Effect of type of processing on the microstructural features and mechanical properties of Al-Cu/SiC metal matrix composites

In this study, an aluminum based metallic matrix (Al-2wt.% Cu) was reinforced with SiC particulates using a conventional casting technique and a new disintegrated melt deposition technique. Microstructural characterization studies conducted on the samples taken from disintegrated melt deposition technique revealed a more uniform distribution of SiC particulates and good interfacial integrity between SiC particulates and metallic matrix when compared to the conventionally cast composite samples. Results of ambient temperature mechanical tests demonstrate an increase in 0.2% YS and ultimate tensile strength of samples taken from disintegrated melt deposition technique when compared with the unreinforced and conventionally cast composite samples. The results of microstructural characterization and mechanical testing were finally rationalized in terms of the nature of processing technique employed to reinforce Al-2wt.% Cu metallic matrix with SiC particulates.     

Effect of dual-scale microstructure on the toughness of laminar zirconia composites

Numerical study by the finite element method (FEM) is performed to investigate the effect of dual-scale microstructure on the toughness of laminar zirconia composite. The computation is based on the micromechanics constitutive model of polycrystal transformation plasticity developed by Sun et al. [10] where both transformation induced shear and softening effects during autocatalytic transformation are taken into account. The numerical simulation presented in this paper successfully reproduced the experimentally observed two effects of the dual-scale microstructure on the toughness of laminar zirconia composite, i.e., the truncation of the elongated transformation frontal zone that forms in single phase Ce-ZrO₂ and the propagation of the transformation zone along the layers normal to the crack plane. Quantitative analysis on the role of microstructure in transformation toughening of laminar zirconia composite is first carried out in the present work which will provide a starting point for the microstructural design of this novel advanced composite in the future.Presented at the Far East Fracture Group (FEFG) International Symposium on Fracture and Strength of Solids. 4–7 July 1994 in Xi'an, China.     

Importance of out-of-plane dispersion of the excitation spectrum of superconducting bilayers with Josephson coupling

We study the effect of Josephson coupling between adjacent superconducting layers on the BCS energy spectrum. We find that the interference between the gap functions of two layers can lead to vanishing condensation energy for perpendicular momenta corresponding to the formation of standing waves. We therefore predict a conventional energy spectrum for large interlayer spacings, if the gap of the single layers has no nodes, and in all cases a gapless spectrum for small spacings. Within the experimental error, our numerical results account for the low-temperature dependence of the penetration depth reported in Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO₄ and YBa₂Cu₃O_6.9.     

Superconductivity in nearly single-phase Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O samples with different nominal compositions

The preparation conditions, phase composition, and superconducting properties of Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu oxide materials from different nominal compositions have been investigated. Nearly single-phase samples from Bi₂Pb_0.4Sr₂Ca₃Cu₄O _y , as well as from the proposed compositions Bi_1.8Pb_0.4Sr₂Ca₃Cu₄O _y and Bi_1.8Pb_0.4Sr₂Ca_2.5Cu_3.5O _y were obtained by a solid-state reaction in air. Samples with the third nominal composition showed the best superconducting properties (T _on=111 K and zero resistance atT ₀=103 K). A possible mechanism for the 2223 phase formation in the three investigated compositions has been discussed.     

多灰度级显示器上的曲线绘制

光栅扫描显示器的屏幕是由位置固定的，离散的象素点所组成的，因而在其上生成的曲线只能是实际曲线的某种近似表示，并不是很美观的，例如有曲线的阶梯效应及曲线亮度不均度等问题，该文说明利用多灰度光栅显露器可以在一定程度上解决这些问题，并且用给出的主些算法绘制曲线时，可以较好地解决上述问题，这些算法在动画制作中也可有典型的应用。     

WC对Cu/WC_P复合材料性能及组织的影响

通过ＷＣ含量对ＷＣ／Ｃｕ复合材料性能的影响，确定了冷压－烧结法制备Ｃｕ／ＷＣ材料的适宜ＷＣ含量为１０ｖｏｌ％左右。并就ＷＣ对该材料组织和再结晶行为的影响进行了有益的探讨。