Comparison of optical properties between ladder and lambda-type EIT medium with Er3+ ion concentration in Er3+:YAG crystal

The effect of Er³⁺ doped ion concentration on optical properties of two type three-level schemes in 35 nm Er³⁺:YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) crystal is studied. It is found that intensity threshold of optical bistability and multistability can be changed by Er³⁺ doped ion concentration. Moreover, switching from optical multistability to optical bistability can be done differently by Er³⁺ concentration in two types of three-level schemes. The steady-state and transient behaviors of absorption, dispersion and group index of weak probe field in two schemes are also discussed. In this study, we will report an initial study on optical properties in Er³⁺:YAG crystal and propose a basis for selecting the suitable concentration to carry out experimental investigations in the future.     

Influence of case hardening on wear resistance of a sintered low alloy steel

PM technique has been applied for some products in the autoindustries due to unique functions and cost saving. The wear resistance of PM steel parts is one of the most significant surface properties. Nitriding and carburizing processes consist of exposing metallic materials to nitrogen and carbon to improve their surface hardness and wear resistance. In this research, the partially diffusion prealloyed powders, Ultrapac LE, containing Fe-4Ni-1.5Cu-0.5Mo with 0.2% graphite and two different densities were sintered at 1120 °C for 30 min. Depending on the applied pressures during cold pressing, two different porosities of 14.11 and 10.26 vol.% were obtained. Some specimens were carburized and some others were nitrided in cyanate liquid salt bath. The pin-on-disc wear test and hardness test were used to evaluate the surface behavior of specimens. The results showed that the wear resistance increased by nitriding and carburizing processes and the effect of nitriding is more than carburizing on wear resistance. In the case of materials studied, except for 4 h nitrided specimens, other specimens with higher porosity level showed better wear resistance. In these specimens, large pores entrapped the wear debris and created a densified layer. It prevented the formation of large abrasive agglomerates. For the carburized specimens, wear mechanisms were affected by the brittle fracture caused by abrasive wear. So, wear resistance did not increase significantly. In this investigation, abrasive, plastic deformation and oxidation wear were observed as wear mechanisms.     

An investigation on the sensitivity analysis of the parameters of proposed wax precipitation model

Reservoir hydrocarbon fluids contain heavy paraffins that may form solid phase of wax at low temperatures. Formation of solid phases is highly unwanted in oil production assemblies, pipelines and in process equipments. A predictive technique is crucial to the solution of wax formation to alleviate this problem.The effect of different parameters to predict the conditions under which wax precipitation takes place using the proposed model of Sahand University of Technology and other models has been investigated. The proposed model uses regular solution theory to describe solid phase (wax) non-ideality and the liquid and gas phases are being described by an equation of state.In order to evaluate the reliability of the proposed model, wax appearance temperatures (WAT's) were calculated for several mixtures at different compositions and compared with different models. The proposed model predictions had very good agreement with experimental data over a wide range of compositional distributions in comparison with other models. Solid wax content was also calculated at different temperatures below WAT in several synthetic systems made up of a solvent (decane) and a paraffinic heavy fraction. The results of calculating the amount of wax precipitation showed very good agreement with experimental data. Effect of different parameters including fusion temperature (T^f), Enthalpy of fusion (Δh^f), solubility parameter (δ^S), and binary interaction parameters (BIP) in predicting the WAT and the amount of wax precipitated for different oil mixtures have been evaluated using the proposed model and compared with other models. The results showed that the T^f is the most sensitive parameter while δ^S shows the least sensitivity in matching the WAT. Even though using Δh^f could provide the same results as tuning T^f, but the required changes are much higher and sometimes not practical. Also using BIP as the tuning parameter, requires a fairly large coefficient that makes it unsuitable to be considered as the tuning parameter.     

Flexible Blade‐Coated Multicolor Polymer Light‐Emitting Diodes for Optoelectronic Sensors

A method to print two materials of different functionality during the same printing step is presented. In printed electronics, devices are built layer by layer and conventionally only one type of material is deposited in one pass. Here, the challenges involving printing of two emissive materials to form polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs) that emit light of different wavelengths without any significant changes in the device characteristics are described. The surface‐energy‐patterning technique is utilized to print materials in regions of interest. This technique proves beneficial in reducing the amount of ink used during blade coating and improving the reproducibility of printed films. A variety of colors (green, red, and near‐infrared) are demonstrated and characterized. This is the first known attempt to print multiple materials by blade coating. These devices are further used in conjunction with a commercially available photodiode to perform blood oxygenation measurements on the wrist, where common accessories are worn. Prior to actual application, the threshold conditions for each color are discussed, in order to acquire a stable and reproducible photoplethysmogram (PPG) signal. Finally, based on the conditions, PPG and oxygenation measurements are successfully performed on the wrist with green and red PLEDs.     

The Ablation and Oxidation Behaviors of SiC Coatings on Graphite Prepared by Slurry Sintering and Pack Cementation

SiC coatings were generated on graphite using slurry sintering (SS) and pack cementation (PC). The samples’ ablation features were assessed by an oxyacetylene torch. The rates of mass ablation of the PC–SiC and SS–SiC coatings were approximated 2.17?×?10^?3 and 9.52?×?10^?3 g s^?1, respectively, decreased by 84.1 and 29.6% compared to the uncoated samples. It was mainly attributed to the formation of a SiO₂ layer on the surface. The continuous SiO₂ molten film formed via the PC–SiC oxidation generates a sealing mechanism which can be an obstacle against the oxygen diffusion and hinder more ablation. This is while discontinuous SiO₂ film formed from the thin SS–SiC cannot protect the graphite effectively. The non-isothermal oxidation test shows that without the SiC coating, the sample weight is lost largely from 25 to 1500 °C, and its weight loss was 2.2% after the TGA. However, after coating, the samples possessed excellent oxidation protection and weight losses of SS–SiC and PC–SiC coatings are down to 1.3 and 0.6%, respectively. The more oxidation of the graphite substrate occurred due to the formation of macrocracks in the coating during the TGA and also the formation of holes on SiO₂ glass layer owing to release of CO or CO₂.     

Geometrically Non-Linear Rapid Heating of Temperature-Dependent Circular FGM Plates

Based on the uncoupled thermoelasticity assumptions, axisymmetric thermally induced vibrations of a circular plate made of functionally graded materials (FGMs) are analyzed. Each thermomechanical property of the circular plate is assumed to be functions of temperature and thickness coordinate. Solution of the transient one-dimensional heat conduction equation with the arbitrary type of time-dependent boundary conditions is carried out employing the central finite difference method combined with the Crank–Nicolson time marching scheme. Afterwards, with the establishment of the associated Hamilton's principle and the accountancy of the von Kármán type of geometrical non-linearity, the motion equations are obtained with the aid of the conventional multi-term Ritz method. The solution of highly coupled non-linear motion equations is obtained utilizing a hybrid iterative Newton–Raphson–Newmark scheme. After validating the developed computer code, some parametric studies are accomplished to show the influences of various involved parameters. It is shown that temperature dependency, geometrical non-linearity, plate thickness, power law index, and the type of thermal in-plane and out-of-plane mechanical boundary conditions, all affect the temporal evolution of plate characteristics.     

Growing Innovative Calcium Carbonate Morphologies by Utilizing the Colloidal Gas Aphron System as a Surfactant-Based Template Method

Many studies have been conducted to study the various polymorphs and morphologies of calcium carbonate crystals in nature and living organisms. In this experimental work, a novel method has been employed to crystallize calcium carbonate by using colloidal gas aphron dispersion. The polymorph and morphology of prepared particles were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry techniques. SEM and XRD analyses demonstrated that the morphology of synthesized CaCO₃ can be changed from spherical (vaterite phase) to novel rod and plate-like shapes (mixture of vaterite and calcite phases) with changes in the surfactant concentration. The quantitative examination results of different calcium carbonate polymorph orientations showed that the precursor concentrations had no significant effect on the orientation of calcite phase, but rather they affected the orientation development of vaterite phase at a higher surfactant concentration.     

Iron oxide (n-Fe2O3) nanowire films and carbon modified (CM)-n-Fe2O3 thin films for hydrogen production by photosplitting of water

Iron oxide n-Fe₂O₃ nanowire photoelectrodes were synthesized by thermal oxidation of Fe metal sheet (Alfa Co. 0.25 mm thick) in an electric oven then tested for their photoactivity. The photoresponse of the n-Fe₂O₃ nanowires was evaluated by measuring the rate of water splitting reaction to hydrogen and oxygen, which is proportional to photocurrent density, J_p. The optimized electric oven-made n-Fe₂O₃ nanowire photoelectrodes showed photocurrent densities of 1.46 mA cm⁻² at measured potential of 0.1 V/SCE at illumination intensity of 100 mW cm⁻² from a Solar simulator with a global AM 1.5 filter. For the optimized carbon modified (CM)-n-TiO₂ synthesized by thermal flame oxidation the photocurrent density for water splitting was found to increase by two fold to 3.0 mA cm⁻² measured at the same measured potential and the illumination intensity. The carbon modified (CM)-n-Fe₂O₃ electrode showed a shift of the open circuit potential by −100 mV/SCE compared to undoped n-Fe₂O₃ nanowires. A maximum photoconversion efficiency of 2.3% at applied potential of 0.5 V/E_aoc was found for CM-n-Fe₂O₃ compared to 1.69% for n-Fe₂O₃ nanowires at higher applied potential of 0.7 V/E_aoc. These CM-n- Fe₂O₃ and n- Fe₂O₃ nanowires thin films were characterized using photocurrent density measurements under monochromatic light illumination, UV-Vis spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).     

Study of features based on nonlinear dynamical modeling in ECG arrhythmia detection and classification

We present a study of the nonlinear dynamics of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals for arrhythmia characterization. The correlation dimension and largest Lyapunov exponent are used to model the chaotic nature of five different classes of ECG signals. The model parameters are evaluated for a large number of real ECG signals within each class and the results are reported. The presented algorithms allow automatic calculation of the features. The statistical analysis of the calculated features indicates that they differ significantly between normal heart rhythm and the different arrhythmia types and, hence, can be rather useful in ECG arrhythmia detection. On the other hand, the results indicate that the discrimination between different arrhythmia types is difficult using such features. The results of this work are supported by statistical analysis that provides a clear outline for the potential uses and limitations of these features.