The metallurgy,mechanics, modelling and assessment of dissimilar material brazed joints

At the heart of any procedure for modelling and assessing the design or failure of dissimilar material brazed joints there must be a basic understanding of the metallurgy and mechanics of the joint. This paper is about developing this understanding and addressing the issues faced with modelling and predicting failure in real dissimilar material brazed joints and the challenges still to be overcome in many cases. An understanding of the key metallurgical features of such joints in relation to finite element modelling is presented in addition to a study of the mechanics and stress state at an abrupt interface between two materials. A discussion is also presented on why elastic singularities do not exist based on a consideration of the assumption of an abrupt change in material properties and plasticity in the vicinity of the joint. In terms of modelling real dissimilar material brazed joints; there are several barriers to accurately capturing the stress state in the region of the joint and across the brazed layer and these are discussed in relation to a metallurgical study of a real dissimilar material brazed joint. However, this does not preclude using a simplified modelling approach with a representative braze layer in design and failure assessment away from the interface. In addition modelling strategies and techniques for assessing the various failure mechanisms of dissimilar material brazed joints are discussed. The findings from this paper are applicable to dissimilar material brazed joints found in a range of applications; however the references listed are primarily focussed on work in fusion research and development.     

Specifying OLAP Cubes on XML Data

On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) enables analysts to gain insight about data through fast and interactive access to a variety of possible views on information, organized in a dimensional model. The demand for data integration is rapidly becoming larger as more and more information sources appear in modern enterprises. In the data warehousing approach, selected information is extracted in advance and stored in a repository, yielding good query performance. However, in many situations a logical (rather than physical) integration of data is preferable. Previous web-based data integration efforts have focused almost exclusively on the logical level of data models, creating a need for techniques focused on the conceptual level. Also, previous integration techniques for web-based data have not addressed the special needs of OLAP tools such as handling dimensions with hierarchies. Extensible Markup Language (XML) is fast becoming the new standard for data representation and exchange on the World Wide Web. The rapid emergence of XML data on the web, e.g., business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, is making it necessary for OLAP and other data analysis tools to handle XML data as well as traditional data formats.Based on a real-world case study, this paper presents an approach to specification of OLAP DBs based on web data. Unlike previous work, this approach takes special OLAP issues such as dimension hierarchies and correct aggregation of data into account. Also, the approach works on the conceptual level, using Unified Modeling Language (UML) as a basis for so-called UML snowflake diagrams that precisely capture the multidimensional structure of the data. An integration architecture that allows the logical integration of XML and relational data sources for use by OLAP tools is also presented.     

Effects of thiol additives on urethane acrylate UV primers for SMC applications

Sheet molded compound (SMC) is a highly filled, glass fiber reinforced, thermoset material used in trim and body panel automotive parts. When SMC-substrates are coated with conventional thermally cured paints, inherent porosity and entrapped volatiles of the substrate result in popping (“paint pops”) defects. UV-curable primers (UVP) provide an order of magnitude reduction of paint defects in SMC coatings, but typically have poor adhesion. Mercaptan polymers have a long history, dating back to 1928, of use in adhesives and sealant applications. The present study investigates a series of UVPs, showing the effect of resin functionality and thiol functional additive content on the adhesion of the coatings to SMC substrates. The SMC formulation is also considered when evaluating UVP adhesion, regarding variables such as surface chemistry, morphology, and surface area. The present study brings to light how adhesion of acrylate UVP can be enhanced with mercaptan moieties in additive amounts. The effect is most apparent on SMC substrates that have been treated to expose inorganic fillers as opposed to untreated surfaces of polyester. Additionally annealing the films boosts adhesion, but only in thiol containing formulations. This is a result of the decrease in T_gs and modulus of the films with the addition of mercaptans, thus providing better contact with the substrate in comparison to non-thiol containing formulations.     

Origins of Non‐metallic Inclusions and their Chemical Development during Ladle Treatment

In the present work, steel, slag and refractory samples were taken from the ladle at OVAKO Steel in Hofors, Sweden. The steel samples were analysed in LOM, SEM and OES PDA. The chemical compositions of the inclusions were determined by EDS. According to the morphologies and compositions, the inclusions were classified into 5 different types, namely, (1) type‐1, alumina inclusions, (2) type‐2, calcium aluminate, (3) type‐3, spinel+calcium aluminate, (4) type‐4, calcium aluminate surrounded by a CaS shell, and (5) spinel+calcium aluminate surrounded by a CaS shell. Ladle glaze was found to be a major supplier of the inclusions, while the inclusions brought over from EAF could be another important source. The results of OES PDA showed that removal of inclusions took place mostly during the vacuum degassing period.     

Energetic analysis of binding of progesterone and 5{beta}-androstane-3,17-dione to anti-progesterone antibody DB3 using molecular dynamics and free energy calculations

Molecular dynamics simulations and molecular mechanics–Poisson–Boltzmannsurface area (MM-PBSA) free energy calculations were used tostudy the energetics of the binding of progesterone (PRG) and5ß-androstane-3,17-dione (5AD) to anti-PRG antibodyDB3. Although the two steroids bind to DB3 in different orientations,their binding affinities are of the same magnitude, 1 nM forPRG and 8 nM for 5AD. The calculated relative binding free energyof the steroids, 8.8 kJ/mol, is in fair agreement with the experimentalenergy, 5.4 kJ/mol. In addition, computational alanine scanningwas applied to study the role of selected amino acid residuesof the ligand-binding site on the steroid cross-reactivity.The electrostatic and van der Waals components of the totalbinding free energies were found to favour more the bindingof PRG, whereas solvation energies were more favourable forthe binding of 5AD. The differences in the free energy componentsare due to the binding of the A rings of the steroids to differentbinding pockets: PRG is bound to a pocket in which electrostaticantibody–steroid interactions are dominating, whereas5AD is bound to a pocket in which van der Waals and hydrophobicinteractions dominate.     

A decline rate study of Norwegian oil production

Norway has been a very important oil exporter for the world and an important supplier for Europe. Oil was first discovered in the North Sea in late 1960s and the rapid expansion of Norwegian oil production lead to the low oil prices in the beginning of the 1990s. In 2001, Norway reached its peak production and began to decline.     

Stress and plastic deformation of MEA in running fuel cell

Numerical modelling of mechanical stresses in running fuel cell is provided. The evolution of stresses and plastic deformations in the membrane has been obtained during the turn-on phase. The operating conditions have been taken into account by imposing the heating sources and the humidity field. The results have been presented on two scales: the global scale reflects the stress evolution in the entire fuel cell and the local one corresponds to the tooth/channel structure. It has been shown that the stresses are strongly heterogeneous on the both scales and time dependent. From the mechanical point of view, the most sensible zone is under the GDL/seal joint interface. In the running fuel cell the heterogeneity decreases while it rises in the fuel cell just after the assembly. The stresses reach the maximum values during the humidification step, the magnitude of these stresses is sufficient for initiation of the plastic deformations in the Nafion membrane.     

Effect of gate length in InAs/AlSb HEMTs biased for low power or high gain

The effect of gate-length variation on DC and RF performance of InAs/AlSb HEMTs, biased for low DC power consumption or high gain, is reported. Simultaneously fabricated devices, with gate lengths between 225 nm and 335 nm, have been compared. DC measurements revealed higher output conductance g_ds and slightly increased impact ionization with reduced gate length. When reducing the gate length from 335 nm to 225 nm, the DC power consumption was reduced by approximately 80% at an f_T of 120 GHz. Furthermore, a 225 nm gate-length HEMT biased for high gain exhibited an extrinsic f_T of 165 GHz and an extrinsic f_max of 115 GHz, at a DC power consumption of 100 mW/mm. When biased for low DC power consumption of 20 mW/mm the same HEMT exhibited an extrinsic f_T and f_max of 120 GHz and 110 GHz, respectively.