Anisotropic elasto-plastic solutions for cavity expansion problem in saturated soil mass

On the basis of the yield criterion of Matsuoka and Nakai (1974), novel elasto-plastic solutions are obtained for the cavity expansion problem in an anisotropic medium. The solutions are formulated by employing a small-strain analysis in an elastic zone and a large-strain analysis in a plastic zone around the cavity in a soil mass. In light of the initial condition, the plastic radius and the stress in the plastic zone are derived by incorporating the large-strain analysis, the influence of stress anisotropy (K0) and the non-associated flow rule, and two fundamental solutions for the cavity expansion problem under undrained and drained conditions are presented in an anisotropic soil mass. Finally, a comparison with the previous results is performed for verification.     

Hydrogen detection in metals: a review and introduction of a Kelvin probe approach

Abstract

Hydrogen in materials is an important topic for many research fields in materials science. Hence in the past quite a number of different techniques for determining the amount of hydrogen in materials and for measuring hydrogen permeation through them have been developed. Some of these methods have found widespread application. But for many problems the achievable sensitivity is usually not high enough and ready-to-use techniques providing also good spatial resolution, especially in the submicron range, are very limited, and mostly not suitable for widespread application. In this work this situation will be briefly reviewed and a novel scanning probe technique based method introduced.     

Role of humic acid on oral drug delivery of an antiepileptic drug

Context: Humic acid (HA) is omnipresent in natural organic matter that is a macromolecular, negatively charged polyelectrolyte that contains a hydrophobic core. It is also present in a significant amount in Shilajit (used frequently in traditional medicines), which is used in this study as a source of extraction. HA is evaluated for the oral drug delivery of carbamazepine (CBZ). Objective: HA is used in this study to increase the dissolution, intestinal permeation, and pharmacodynamic response of CBZ (bio pharmaceutics classification system (BCS) II) by the technique of complexation and other related mechanism reported with humic substances. Methods: Different complexation techniques were explored in this study for the entrapment of CBZ, which was authenticated by molecular modeling and conformational analysis. These were further characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Solubility analysis and dissolution release profile were carried out to access the in vitro parameters. For ex vivo studies, rat gut intestinal permeability was done. And finally pharmacodynamic evaluation (maximal electroshock method) was carried out for optimized complexes. Results: Molecular modeling approach and instrumental analysis (DSC, XRD, and FT-IR) confirmed the entrapment of CBZ inside the complexing agent. Increased solubility (～1742%), sustained release (～78%), better permeability (～3.5 times), and enhanced pharmacodynamic responses conferred the best to 1:2 freeze dried (FD) and then 1:2 kneading (KD) complexes compared with pure CBZ. Conclusion: Now it could be concluded that HA may be tried as a complexing agent for antiepileptic drug and other classes of low water-soluble drug.     

Effect of microstructure inhomogeneity on hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of X80 welding HAZ under pressurized gaseous hydrogen

Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of high-grade pipeline welded joint is a threat to hydrogen gas transport. In this research, slow strain rate tension (SSRT) tests in high-pressure hydrogen gas, combined with hydrogen permeation tests and microstructure analysis were conducted on X80 steel, intercritical heated-affected zone (ICHAZ), fine-grained heat-affected zone (FGHAZ) and coarse-grained heat-affected zone (CGHAZ). The change of HE susceptibility from high to low was CGHAZ, FGHAZ, ICHAZ, and base metal. Microstructure was the important factor influencing hydrogen permeation and susceptibility to HE. Susceptibility to HE was increased in the order of “fine-grained massive ferrite (MF) and acicular ferrite (AF)”, “fine-grained granular bainite (GB) and MF”, “coarse-grained GB and bainite ferrite (BF) embedded with martensite-austenite (M-A) constitute”. The fine-grained MF and AF in base metal with lower hydrogen diffusivity can impede the embrittlement behaviour, while the coarse-grained GB and BF with higher hydrogen diffusivity in CGHAZ increased its susceptibility to HE.     

Laminated aluminum thin-films as low-cost opaque moisture ultra-barriers for flexible organic electronic devices

Flexible aluminum moisture barrier films are shown to meet ultra-barrier requirements with water vapor transmission rates as low as 1*10⁻⁴ g/m²/day at 38 °C and 90% R.H. These low transmission rates are achieved by lamination of two films that are independently processed on individual substrates. The integration in organic electronic devices like organic solar cells or OLEDs is particularly easy in a single lamination step, since an existing aluminum electrode can be utilized as one half of the moisture barrier. The resulting laminate maintains flexibility of the device and improves the barrier quality by an order of magnitude compared to conventional stacking of two barriers. Organic solar cells with this type of encapsulation are manufactured and aged in controlled climate. They do not exhibit significant extrinsic degradation.     

Temperature dependent coercivity of randomly assembled acicular Fe3O4 particles

Abstract

The Stoner‐Wohlfarth model and the chain‐of‐spheres fanning model are used to calculate temperature dependence of the coercivity of acicular single‐domain particles by taking thermal effect into consideration. Coercivity of the particles is evaluated by summing up the contributions of shape anisotropy, magnetocrystalline anisotropy and magnetostrictive anisotropy. The coercivities of randomly assembled Fe₃O₄ particles above the transition point (119°K) and below room temperature are calculated and compared with the published experimental data.     

Designing polyethylene terephthalate‐based barrier resins

We have studied the efficiencies of commercially available barrier resins used for food packaging and beverage bottle applications and compared them with resins made using copolymer and blending approaches. The effects of various copolymer related parameters that influence oxygen barrier performance and the underlying mechanisms for these effects in PET‐based copolymers and blends were investigated. Using these approaches, it is possible to make highly effective PET‐based copolymers for gas barrier applications. Blending of PET with phenolic and other organic materials shows equivalent barrier performance in PET copolymers having comonomer levels of <8‐mole %. Reduction in oxygen permeation rates results from the reduction or elimination of short range molecular motion of polyethylene terephthalate molecules. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Plastic Deformation and Fracture Behavior of Zircaloy-2 Fuel Cladding Tubes under Biaxial Stress

Various combinations of biaxial stress were applied on five batches of recrystallized zircaloy-2 fuel cladding tubes with different textures; elongation in both axial and circumferential directions of the specimen was measured continuously up to 5% plastic deformation.

The anisotropic theory of plasticity proposed by Hill was applied to the resulting data, and anisotropy constants were obtained through the two media of plastic strain loci and plastic strain ratios. Comparison of the results obtained with the two methods proved that the plastic strain loci provide data that are more effective in predicting quantitatively the plastic deformation behavior of the zircaloy-2 tubes. The anisotropy constants change their value with progress of plastic deformation, and judicious application of the effective stress and effective strain obtained on anisotropic materials will permit the relationship between stress and strain under various biaxialities of stresses to be approximated by the work hardening law.

The test specimens used in the plastic deformation experiments were then stressed to fracture under the same combination of biaxial stress as in the proceeding experiments, and the deformation in the fractured part was measured. The result proved that the tilt angle of the c-axis which serves as the index of texture is related to fracture ductility under biaxial stress. Based on this relationship, it was concluded that material with a tilt angle ranging from 10° to 15° is the most suitable for fuel cladding tubes, from the viewpoint of fracture ductility, at least in the case of unirradiated material.     

Gas-diffusion layer's structural anisotropy induced localized instability of nafion membrane in polymer electrolyte fuel cell

The design of robust polymer electrolyte fuel cell requires a thorough understanding of the materials' response of the cell components to the operational conditions such as temperature and hydration. As the electrolyte membrane's mechanical properties are temperature, hydration and rate dependent, its response under cyclic loading is of significant importance to predict the damage onset and thus the membrane lifetime. This article reports on the variation in stress levels in the membrane induced due to the gas-diffusion layer's (GDL) anisotropic mechanical properties while accurately capturing the membrane's mechanical response under time dependent hygrothermomechanical conditions. An observation is made on the evolution of negative strain in the membrane under the bipolar plate channel area, which is an indication of membrane thinning, and the magnitude of this strain found to depend upon the GDL's in-plane mechanical properties. In order to come up with a strategy that reduces the magnitude of tensile stresses evolved in the membrane during the hygrothermal unloading and to increase the membrane's lifetime, we numerically show that by employing a fast hygrothermal loading rate and unloading rate strategy, significant reduction (in this study, nearly 100%) in the magnitude of tensile stresses is achievable. The present study assists in understanding the relation between materials compatibility and durability of fuel cell components.