Research on the friction and wear mechanism of Poly(vinyl alcohol)/hydroxylapatite composite hydrogel

Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Hydroxylapatite (PVA/HA) composite hydrogel was prepared with poly(vinyl alcohol) and hydroxylapatite as raw materials, using the method of repeated freezing and thawing. The morphologies of PVA/HA composite hydrogel were observed by means of high-accuracy 3D profiler and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The compressive elastic modulus and the stress relaxation characteristics of PVA/HA composite hydrogel were measured using the flat-head cylinder indenter. The friction and wear tests between PVA/HA composite hydrogel and bovine knee articular cartilage were performed on the micro-tribometer. The worn morphologies of PVA/HA composite hydrogel were observed with environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). The results showed that PVA/HA composite hydrogel has the cross-link network microstructure which is similar to that of the natural bovine knee articular cartilages. With the increase of freezing-thawing cycles and the HA content, the degree of cross-link and the crystallization of PVA/HA composite hydrogel both increase, the elastic modulus increases evidently, the rate of stress relaxation is improved and the value of balance stress decreases. The friction coefficient decreases with the increase of the freezing-thawing cycles and the HA content. The more the freezing-thawing cycles are, the earlier the friction coefficient reaches the stable balance value. The friction deformation depth between PVA/HA composite hydrogel and bovine knee articular cartilage is inversely proportional to freezing-thawing cycles and the HA content. The main wear mechanisms of PVA/HA composite hydrogel are plastic flowing and adhesive flaking. The wear severity degree decreases with the increase of freezing-thawing cycles and the HA content. Supported by Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50535050), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (Grant No. NCET-06-0479) and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK2005403)     

Numerical simulation of electroosmotic flow in hydrophobic microchannels

Electroosmotic flow (EOF) is a promising way for driving and mixing fluids in microfluidics. For the parallel-plate microchannel with the hydrophobic surface, this paper solved the governing equations using the finite element method (FEM), and the effects of microchannel height, electric strength and ionic concentration on EOF were thus investigated. The simulation indicates that the transient characteristics of EOF are similar in hydrophobic and hydrophilic microchannels, the steady time of EOF is proportional to the square of microchannel height, and the scale is microsecond. EOF velocity is proportional to the electric strength and independent of the channel height, and decreases slowly with the ionic concentration, which is lower than that in hydrophilic microchannel due to the presence of slip length in hydrophobic microchannel. The results can provide valuable insights into the optimal design of microchannel surfaces to achieve accurate EOF control in hydrophobic microchannel. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50730007)     

Research on polyfluorene derivatives end-capped by N-hexyl-carbazole and benzene

Copolymers of 9,9-dioctylfluorene (DOF) and 2-thienyl-benzothiadiazole (DBT) were synthesized by Suzuki reaction and end-capped by N-hexyl-carbazole and benzene, which were abbreviated as PDOF-DBT-Cz and PDOF-DBT-B, respectively. The photophysical, electrochemical and thermal properties of the copolymers were studied. The results indicated that replacement of N-hexyl-carbazole as end-capping group of PDOF-DBT can vary light color and improve luminescence efficiency. Supported by the Major Project of Science Foundation Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 207015) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20671068)     

Penumbral imaging and numerical evaluation of large area source neutron imaging system

The fusion neutron penumbral imaging system Monte Carlo model was established. The transfer functions of the two discrete units in the neutron source were obtained in two situations: Imaging in geometrical near-optical and real situation. The spatial resolutions of the imaging system in two situations were evaluated and compared. The penumbral images of four units in the source were obtained by means of 2-dimensional (2D) convolution and Monte Carlo simulation. The penumbral images were reconstructed with the same method of filter. The same results were confirmed. The encoding essence of penumbral imaging was revealed. With MCNP(Monte Carlo N-particle) simulation, the neutron penumbral images of the large area source (200 μm×200 μm) on scintillation fiber array were obtained. The improved Wiener filter method was used to reconstruct the penumbral image and the source image was obtained. The results agree with the preset neutron source image. The feasibility of the neutron imaging system was verified. Supported by the NSAF Joint Fund set up by NSFC and CAEP (Grant No. 10576022)     

Study on hydrogen atom adsorption and diffusion properties on Mg (0001) surface

Hydrogen atom adsorption and diffusion properties on clean and vacancy defective Mg (0001) surface have been investigated systematically by using a first-principles calculations method based on the density functional theory. The calculation results of adsorption energy and diffusion energy barrier show that hydrogen atom is apt to be adsorbed at fcc and hcp sites on clean Mg (0001) surface, and fcc adsorption site is found to be more preferred. The highest diffusion energy barrier is estimated as 0.6784 eV for the diffusion of hydrogen from clean Mg (0001) surface into its bulk. Surface effects, which affect hydrogen diffusion obviously, results in a slow diffusion velocity of hydrogen from surface to subsurface, while a fast one from subsurface to bulk, indicating the range of surface effects is only restricted within two topmost layers of Mg (0001) surface. Comparatively, Mg atom vacancy on Mg (0001) surface not only enhances the chemisorption interaction between H and Mg surface, but also benefits H atom diffusion in Mg bulk with relatively more diffusion paths compared with that of clean surface. Besides, hydrogen atom is found to occupy mostly the tetrahedral interstice when it diffuses into the Mg bulk. Further analysis of the density of states (DOS) shows that the system for hydrogen atom to be adsorbed at fcc site has a lower DOS value (N (E _F)) at Fermi level and more bonding electrons at the energy range blow the Fermi level of H/Mg (0001) system as compared with that at hcp site. On the other hand, the enhanced chemisorption interaction between hydrogen and defective surface should be attributed to the fact that the electronic structures of Mg (0001) surface are modified by an Mg vacancy, and the bonding electrons of the topmost layer Mg atoms are transferred from low energy range to Fermi level, which is in favor of improving the surface activity of Mg (0001) surface. Supported by the PhD Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 200805321032), the Science and Technology Program Project of Hunan Province (Grant No. 2008GK3083) and the Program for Changjiang Scholars and the Innovative Research Team in university (Grant No. 531105050037)     

Requirement of ultra-high voltage GIS arrester to voltage gradient of metal-oxide varistor

The surge arrester with excellent protection characteristics would decrease the overvoltage level ap- plied on the power apparatus to reduce their insulation levels and manufacturing bottleneck. The arrester for the 1000-kV ultra-high voltage ac power transmission system is designed as tank-type structure. The field-circuit combination numerical method combining the three-dimensional finite element method with circuit is proposed to analyze the potential distribution of GIS arrester. By comparing several design schemes, the most effective method to improve the potential distribution along the varistor column is to increase the voltage gradient of the ZnO varistor. Synthesizing several influential factors, the suitable voltage gradient of ZnO varistor should be controlled to 435 V/mm, and the resulted nonuniform degree of the potential distribution along the varistor column inside the GIS arrester would be controlled smaller than 10%. The result in this paper provides the fundamental technical index for the study of the high voltage gradient ZnO varistors.     

Separation of nanocolloids driven by dielectrophoresis: A molecular dynamics simulation

The nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) method was used to model the nanocolloids and the solvent particles. By introducing a non-uniform electric field, colloids were polarized to have opposite polarities. Separation of colloids driven by dielectrophoresis (DEP) could be seen clearly under a strong electric field at low temperatures. Analyzing the ratio of DEP velocities of colloids to thermal velocities of neutral solvent particles showed that when the ratio was correspondingly big, collision between colloids and solvent particles would be intense, making the DEP velocity of colloids fluctuate frequently. By changing the electric field strength, it was found that the enhancement of electric field strength would quicken the separation of colloids. But when the electric field strength increased to a certain degree, the separation motion would be slow because of the strong friction resistance of the solvent particles to the colloids. Moreover, studying the separation reason of colloids based on the potential energy showed that after colloids were polarized, the attractive potential energy among the colloids would be weaker than before, while the increase of temperature would reduce the attractive potential energy and increase the repulsive potential energy, which accorded with the DLVO theory. Supported by the National Hi-Tech Research and Derelopment Program of China (“863” Project) (Grant No. 2006AA04Z351) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 50675033, 30770553)     

Effect of coagulation temperature on structures and properties of poly(<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-phenylene benzobisoxazole) (DHPBO) fibers during dry-jet wet-spinning process

The effect of coagulation temperature on the morphology, microstructures and mechanical properties of dihydroxy poly(p-phenylene benzobisoxazole) (DHPBO) fibers was investigated during dry-jet wet-spinning process, in which the coagulation bath concentration and drawn ratio were kept as 10 wt% of PPA in water and 1.7, respectively. The structures and mechanical properties of the as-spun DHPBO fibers were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and single fiber tensile testing. The results indicated that in PPA/H₂O coagulation system, when the coagulation temperature was 25°C, highly crystallized DHPBO as-spun fibers possessing fine crystallites, circular and smooth morphology, and excellent mechanical properties could be achieved. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50673017), Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project (Grant No. B603) and the Program of Introducing Taleuts of Discipline to University of People’s Republic of China (“111” Program) (Grant No. 111-2-04)     

Development of a unified viscoplasticity constitutive model based on classical plasticity theory

The traditional unified viscoplasticity constitutive model can be only applied to metal materials. The study of the unified constitutive theory for metal materials has discovered the correlation between the classical plasticity theory and the unified viscoplasticity constitutive model, thus leading to the concepts of the classic plastic potential and yield surface in the unified constitutive model. Moreover, this research has given the continuous expression of the classical plastic multiplier and presented the corresponding constructive method, which extends its physical significance and lays down a good foundation for the application of the unified constitutive theory to the material analysis in more fields. This paper also introduces the unified constitutive model for metal materials and geo-materials. The numerical simulation indicates that the construction should be both reasonable and practical. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90410012)     

Rapid prediction method for nonlinear expansion process of medical vascular stent

A neural network model with high nonlinear recognition capability was constructed to describe the relationship between the deformation impact factors and the deformation results of vascular stent.Then,using the weighted correction method with the attached momentum term,the network training algorithm was optimized by introducing learning factor η and momentum factor ψ,so the speed of the network training and the system robustness were enhanced.The network was trained by some practi-cal cases,and the statisti...