Earing in cup drawing face-centered cubic single crystals and polycrystals

A simple model of flange behavior during cup drawing was used to predict the earing profile of deep-drawn cups. The relationship between yield surface shape and earing tendency was established, with plane stress yielding corresponding to no hold-down pressure on the flange and plane strain corresponding to no thickening. Using the Schmid law, the earing model was applied to the case of a single crystal in cube position and compared to Tucker’s well-known results.^[6] For the plane strain case, good agreement was obtained with the experiment; but for plane stress, the predicted profile did not agree with the experimental one. Using the Taylor/ Bishop and Hill (TBH) theory^[8,9] and measured crystallite orientation distribution functions (CODF), the model was applied to the case of high-purity aluminum sheet with various cold-rolling reductions (35, 60, 80, and 90 pct). The major experimental trends were again correctly predicted by the plane strain case.     

A diagonalized multilevel fast multipole method with spherical harmonics expansion of the k-space Integrals

Diagonalization of the fast multipole method (FMM) for the Helmholtz equation is usually achieved by expanding the multipole representation in propagating plane waves. The resulting k-space integral over the Ewald sphere is numerically evaluated. Storing the k-space quadrature samples of the method of moments (MoM) basis functions constitutes a large portion of the overall memory requirements of the resulting algorithm for solving the integral equations of scattering and radiation problems. In this paper, it is proposed to expand the k-space representation of the basis functions by spherical harmonics in order to reduce the sampling redundancy introduced by numerical quadrature rules. Aggregations, plane wave translations, and disaggregations in the realized multilevel fast multipole method (MLFMM) are carried out using the k-space samples of a numerical quadrature rule. However, the incoming plane waves on the finest MLFMM level are expanded in spherical harmonics again. Thus, due to the orthonormality of spherical harmonics, the testing integrals for the individual testing functions are simplified into series over products of spherical harmonics expansion coefficients. Overall, the resulting MLFMM can save a considerable amount of memory without compromising accuracy and numerical speed.     

Synthesis of minerals using alternative energy sources

A technology for the synthesis of synthetic minerals (using the example of spinels) using a low-temperature plasma flame is developed. The diagnostic properties of spinels are identified.     

Managing information technology in the nineties

Business, not technology leaders should manage the change of Information Technology (IT) from a self-contained business support unit of the sixties to a distributed strategic business function of the nineties. Top management should recognize that a good business plan can only be developed and executed through the partnership between the business unit managers and the managers of the financial, the personnel, and the IT resource units. The technical problems associated with the management of IT may again be the easier part of the total management challenge.     

Analysis of Wave Motions in One Crystallographic Plane of a Cubically Anisotropic Medium

Based on the system of the equations of motion of an elastic medium with tetragonal anisotropy, a comparative analysis of the curves of inverse velocities and the elastic-wave fronts in one crystallographic plane of a cubically anisotropic body has been made with the use of sections of the surfaces of inverse velocities and wave surfaces.     

Transfer of Heat and Moisture in Freezing of Grounds

Approximate (consistent with experiments) methods of solution of problems of freezing of moist grounds of semiinfinite and finite length with different boundary conditions have been proposed. Methods of obtaining the parameters of transfer of heat and moisture from experiments have been given. The analytical and experimental results obtained have been discussed.     

Tunneling recombination in spatially inhomogeneous structures

Methods for finding the parameters (energies and capture coefficients for electrons and holes) of the levels involved in the formation of the recombination flux are suggested. The temperature variation of these parameters for AlGaN/InGaN/GaN and InGaN/SiC structures is discussed. The parameters of the levels responsible for tunneling recombination are determined.     

Magnetic Fluids and Their Use in Transducers

Magnetic fluids are now widely used to implement transducer architectures. These fluids have valuable properties compared to traditional materials. In this column, a brief overview of magnetic fluids and their traditional uses in the field of transducers are given and some applications developed at the DIEES laboratory at the University of Catania, Italy are presented