Mechanical and thermal behavior of non-crimp glass fiber reinforced layered clay/epoxy nanocomposites

Mechanical and thermal properties of non-crimp glass fiber reinforced clay/epoxy nanocomposites were investigated. Clay/epoxy nanocomposite systems were prepared to use as the matrix material for composite laminates. X-ray diffraction results obtained from natural and modified clays indicated that intergallery spacing of the layered clay increases with surface treatment. Tensile tests indicated that clay loading has minor effect on the tensile properties. Flexural properties of laminates were improved by clay addition due to the improved interface between glass fibers and epoxy. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results showed that the modified clay particles affected the glass transition temperatures (T_g) of the nanocomposites. Incorporation of surface treated clay particles increased the dynamic mechanical properties of nanocomposite laminates. It was found that the flame resistance of composites was improved significantly by clay addition into the epoxy matrix.     

Design of a 4.2–5.4 GHz differential LC VCO using 0.35 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology for IEEE 802.11a applications

In this paper, a 4.2–5.4 GHz, ?Gm LC voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) for IEEE 802.11a standard is presented. The circuit is designed with AMS 0.35 μm SiGe BiCMOS process that includes high‐speed SiGe Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBTs). According to post‐layout simulation results, phase noise is ?110.7 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset from 5.4 GHz carrier frequency and ?113.4 dBc/Hz from 4.2 GHz carrier frequency. A linear, 1200 MHz tuning range is obtained from the simulations, utilizing accumulation‐mode varactors. Phase noise was also found to be relatively low because of taking advantage of differential tuning concept. Output power of the fundamental frequency changes between 4.8 dBm and 5.5 dBm depending on the tuning voltage. Based on the simulation results, the circuit draws 2 mA without buffers and 14.5 mA from 2.5 V supply including buffer circuits leading to a total power dissipation of 36.25 mW. The circuit layout occupies an area of 0.6 mm² on Si substrate, including DC and RF pads. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2007.     

Blind equalization of multilevel turbo coded‐continuous phase frequency shift keying over MIMO channels

In this paper, multilevel turbo coded‐continuous phase frequency shift keying (MLTC‐CPFSK) is introduced and its bit error performance in multiple input multiple output (MIMO) fading channels are investigated considering a blind maximum likelihood channel estimation. Multilevel turbo coded signals with continuous phase modulation (CPM) provides low spectral occupancy and is suitable for power and bandwidth‐limited channels. Besides, antenna diversity is one of the best method to combat with multipath fading effects. The performance of 2LTC for 4‐ary CPFSK over AWGN, Rician (for Rician channel parameter K=10 dB) and Rayleigh channels are given for 1Tx–1Rx, 2Tx–1Rx and 2Tx–2Rx antenna configurations. Channel capacities of 2LTC‐4CPFSK signals are obtained as ?5.26, ?7.65 and ?7.14 dB for 1Tx–1Rx, 2Tx–1Rx and 2Tx–2Rx antenna configurations, respectively. Baum–Welch (BW) algorithm is used to estimate the channel parameters. Bit error probabilities of 2 level turbo coded 4 CPFSK (2LTC‐4CPFSK) are drawn in the cases of no channel state information (CSI), BW estimation, and perfect CSI. Approximately 0.1 and 0.75 dB gains in E_s/N₀ are obtained using BW channel estimator for Rician and Rayleigh channels, respectively. Therefore, MLTC‐CPFSK with BW channel estimator has excellent performance in MIMO fading channels. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heuristics for scheduling file-sharing tasks on heterogeneous systems with distributed repositories

We consider the problem of scheduling an application on a computing system consisting of heterogeneous processors and data repositories. The application consists of a large number of file-sharing otherwise independent tasks. The files initially reside on the repositories. The processors and the repositories are connected through a heterogeneous interconnection network. Our aim is to assign the tasks to the processors, to schedule the file transfers from the repositories, and to schedule the executions of tasks on each processor in such a way that the turnaround time is minimized. We propose a heuristic composed of three phases: initial task assignment, task assignment refinement, and execution ordering. We experimentally compare the proposed heuristics with three well-known heuristics on a large number of problem instances. The proposed heuristic runs considerably faster than the existing heuristics and obtains 10–14% better turnaround times than the best of the three existing heuristics.     

A study on microstructure of porous TiNbZr alloy produced as biomaterial

In the present study, titanium‐based biomaterial (Ti‐10Nb‐10Zr) with different porosity was fabricated by sintering at different temperatures. The porosity of fabricated samples is close to natural bone; also the compression strengths of the samples are higher than that of natural bone. The phases named α and β are seen in the microstructure of samples fabricated, but α phase partially converts into β phase with increasing sintering temperature. Porosity decreases with increasing sintering temperature, and compressive strength increases with decreasing porosity. Elastic modules of fabricated samples are close to natural bone, so these materials don't cause wear of bone.     

Compartmentalized Jet Polymerization as a High‐Resolution Process to Continuously Produce Anisometric Microgel Rods with Adjustable Size and Stiffness

In the past decade, anisometric rod‐shaped microgels have attracted growing interest in the materials‐design and tissue‐engineering communities. Rod‐shaped microgels exhibit outstanding potential as versatile building blocks for 3D hydrogels, where they introduce macroscopic anisometry, porosity, or functionality for structural guidance in biomaterials. Various fabrication methods have been established to produce such shape‐controlled elements. However, continuous high‐throughput production of rod‐shaped microgels with simultaneous control over stiffness, size, and aspect ratio still presents a major challenge. A novel microfluidic setup is presented for the continuous production of rod‐shaped microgels from microfluidic plug flow and jets. This system overcomes the current limitations of established production methods for rod‐shaped microgels. Here, an on‐chip gelation setup enables fabrication of soft microgel rods with high aspect ratios, tunable stiffness, and diameters significantly smaller than the channel diameter. This is realized by exposing jets of a microgel precursor to a high intensity light source, operated at specific pulse sequences and frequencies to induce ultra‐fast photopolymerization, while a change in flow rates or pulse duration enables variation of the aspect ratio. The microgels can assemble into 3D structures and function as support for cell culture and tissue engineering.     

The current–voltage characteristics of V2O5/n-Si Schottky diodes formed with different metals

In this work, we reported the effect of different metal contacts on performance of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS)-structured Schottky diodes formed with the vanadium pentoxide thin film (V₂O₅) interfacial layer. V₂O₅ thin films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering on n-type silicon (n-Si) and Corning glass (CG) substrates at room temperature. Then, the obtained films were annealed at 300 °C and 500 °C. The effects of annealing temperature on physical properties of the films were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, UV–Vis spectroscopy, and photoluminescence. The MOS-structured Al/V₂O₅/n-Si, Ti/V₂O₅/n-Si and Au/V₂O₅/n-Si Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) performance was analyzed with I–V measurements at room temperature. The Schottky diodes were compared with each other according to three methods (Classic, Norde and Cheung). The experimental results indicated that the Schottky diode produced with Al contact had better performance than the others.

     

Single steel strut mechanical testing: challenges and future research directions

Open-cell stainless steel foams, composed of hollow struts, are excellent candidates for energy absorption and thermo-mechanical applications. The basic mechanical element responsible for the function of these foams is the single strut. However, testing and characterisation of single foam struts to predict the foam strength have stirred up a new debate about approaches to micro-tensile testing of such elements. In this paper, we present a protocol for in-situ micro-tensile testing of hollow steel struts using a custom-made grip system. The adapted grips make it possible to perform analysis of the deformation of multiple sintered struts. Here we present and discuss challenges encountered during such micro-tensile testing of hollow steel struts.     

Novel Making of Bacterial Cellulose Blended Polymeric Fiber Bandages

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a very promising biological material. However, at present its utilization is limited by difficulties in shape forming it. In this Communication, it is shown how this can be overcome by blending it with poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) polymer. BC:PMMA fibers are produced by pressurized gyration of blended BC:PMMA solutions. Subsequently, BC:PMMA bandage‐like scaffolds are generated with different blends. The products are investigated to determine their morphological and chemical features. Cell culture and proliferation tests are performed to obtain information on biocompatibility of the scaffolds.     

Effects of Al:Si and (Al + Na):Si ratios on the properties of the international simple glass,part I: Physical properties

Understanding composition-structure-property relationships of high-alumina nuclear waste glasses are important for vitrification of nuclear waste at the Hanford Site. Two series of glasses were designed, one with varying Al:Si ratios and the other with (Al + Na):Si ratios based on the international simple glass (ISG, a simplified nuclear waste model glass), with Al₂O₃ ranging from 0 to 23 mol% (0 to 32 wt%). The glasses were synthesized and characterized using electron probe microanalysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, small angle X-ray scattering, high-temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry, and infrared spectroscopy. Glasses were crystal free, and the lowest Na₂O and Al₂O₃ glass formed an immiscible glass phase. Evolution of various properties—glass-transition temperature, percentage of 4-coordinated B, enthalpy of glass formation—and infrared spectroscopy results indicate that structural effects differ based on the glass series.