The Effect of Drying Temperature on Physical Properties of Thin Gelatin Films

The molecular morphology of thin gelatin films, controlled through the casting temperature, was monitored by wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Gelatin films dried at lower temperatures had a markedly higher crystalline or helical structure with a slightly higher T_g and lower ΔC_p compared with hot dried films, which had a more coiled structure. The relationship between molecular morphology and gelatin-water interaction in terms of hydration behavior and water diffusivity was assessed using dynamic vapor sorption (DVS). The sorption capacity increased and the level of hysteresis decreased with increasing the degree of crystallinity. The difference in the aging behavior of the films was explained in terms of the difference between the glass transition and aging temperatures, (Tg – Ta).     

Locality‐Conscious Nested‐Loops Parallelization

To speed up data‐intensive programs, two complementary techniques, namely nested loops parallelization and data locality optimization, should be considered. Effective parallelization techniques distribute the computation and necessary data across different processors, whereas data locality places data on the same processor. Therefore, locality and parallelization may demand different loop transformations. As such, an integrated approach that combines these two can generate much better results than each individual approach. This paper proposes a unified approach that integrates these two techniques to obtain an appropriate loop transformation. Applying this transformation results in coarse grain parallelism through exploiting the largest possible groups of outer permutable loops in addition to data locality through dependence satisfaction at inner loops. These groups can be further tiled to improve data locality through exploiting data reuse in multiple dimensions.     

Non-congruence of high-temperature mechanical and structural behaviors of LaCoO3 based perovskites

This paper presents the mechanical behavior of LaCoO₃ and La_0.8Ca_0.2CoO₃ ceramics under four-point bending in which the two cobaltites are subjected to a low stress of ∼8 MPa at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 1000 °C. Unexpected stiffening is observed in pure LaCoO₃ in the 700–900 °C temperature range, leading to a significant increase in the measured Young’s modulus, whereas La_0.8Ca_0.2CoO₃ exhibits softening from 100 °C to 1000 °C, as expected for most materials upon heating. Neutron diffraction, X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman spectroscopy are used to study the crystal structure of the two materials in the RT–1000 °C temperature range. Despite a detailed study, there is no conclusive evidence to explain the stiffening behavior observed in pure LaCoO₃ as opposed to the softening behavior in La_0.8Ca_0.2CoO₃ at high temperatures (above 500 °C).     

Simultaneous compensation of hysteresis and creep in a single piezoelectric actuator by open-loop control for quasi-static space active optics applications

Owing to their excellent properties piezoelectric actuators are studied as embedded elements for the quasi-statically active shape control of spatial optical mirrors. However, unwanted nonlinear effects in piezoelectric actuators, i.e., hysteresis and creep, severely limit their performance. This paper aims at developing a control methodology to compensate hysteresis and creep in a piezoelectric actuator simultaneously for quasi-static space active applications. In the methodology developed, hysteresis and creep behaviors are successively compensated by open-loop control. First, a derivative Preisach model is proposed to accurately portray the hysteresis while requiring relatively few measurements and describing the detachment between major and minor loops. The inverse derivative Preisach model is derived and inserted in open-loop to achieve hysteresis compensation. Then, the creep in the hysteresis compensated piezoelectric actuator is described by the use of a nonlinear viscoelastic model and a low pass filter is suggested to eliminate the effect of the inverse derivative Preisach model on the step reference input. To invert the creep model, the concept of “input relaxation” is implemented and an inverse multiplicative structure allows identifying the parameters of the inverse model while circumventing the difficulty of a mathematical computation. Finally, by cascading the low pass filter, the inverse model of creep and the inverse derivative Preisach model one after the other with the single piezoelectric actuator, the simultaneous compensation of hysteresis and creep is achieved. Experimental results show that in the case of step-like reference signals the hysteresis and the creep in a piezoelectric actuator can be significantly reduced at the same time. It implies that the developed methodology is effective and feasible in space active optics applications for which quasi-static distortions need to be compensated.     

Significantly reduced hysteresis in (Fe1/2Nb1/2)4+-modified 0.75Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3-0.25SrTiO3 lead-free piezoceramics with large strain

Aiming to get the NBT-based lead-free ceramic with high strain and low strain hysteresis for practical actuator applications, a solid solution of complex-ion (Fe_1/2Nb_1/2)⁴⁺doped 0.75Na_1/2Bi_1/2TiO₃-0.25SrTiO₃ ((Na_1/2Bi_1/2)_0.75Sr_0.25Ti_1-x(Fe_1/2Nb_1/2)_xO₃, abbreviated as NBST-100xFN) was designed and prepared, and its phase structure, micromorphology, ferroelectric, strain, dielectric and piezoelectric performances were systematically investigated. It was found that the incorporation of (Fe_1/2Nb_1/2)⁴⁺ causes a structure transition from the ferroelectric/relaxor (FE/RE) mixed phases to relaxor (RE) phase, increasing to a promising strain performance at x = 0.04 featured by not only a moderate strain value of 0.26%, corresponding normalized strain d₃₃* of 371 pm/V, but also a very small strain hysteresis of 22%. In addition, the NBST-4FN ceramic sample also exhibits an unexceptionable frequency-dependence of unipolar strain. This study provides a new understanding and design idea for the practical actuator application of high strain NBT-based lead-free ceramics with ultra-low hysteresis.     

Improvement of (BH)max in Ba-hexaferrite doped with La and Co

In this work we produce Ba-hexaferrite nanoparticles by the ionic coordination reaction method and study the influence of La and Co ions on the magnetic properties of Ba_0.7La_0.3Fe_12-xCo_xO₁₉ for x = (0.0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.0) nanoparticles. The crystalline and morphological properties were studied by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The magnetic properties of samples were studied in a vibrating sample magnetometer under an applied field of ±6 T. The Fe occupancy in the three octahedral (12k, 2a, and 4f₂), one tetrahedral (4f₁) and one trigonal bipyramidal (2b) sites was studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy. The samples are single domain nanoparticles with crystallite sizes in the range 71.5-50.1 nm, decreasing with the Co doping. The results suggest that the sample with x = 0.25 had the largest (BH)_max of 6.98 kJ/m³, this effect is mostly due to the occupancy of 4f₂ sites by Co²⁺. For x > 0.25, the Co²⁺ occupy mainly both the 4f₂ and 12k sites, the presence of oxygen vacancies is discussed.     

Electrical and optical analyses of trapping phenomenon with temperature dependence of organic device

Carrier mechanism in actual organic devices is not simple, owing to the dielectric nature of active organic semiconductor layers, the complexity of the organic device interface, carrier trapping effects by stress biasing, and others. By coupling the conventional electrical measurement, e.g., current–voltage, capacitance–voltage and capacitance-frequency measurements, with optical charge modulation spectroscopy (CMS) measurement, we studied the hysteresis behavior and the temperature dependence of indium tin oxide/polyimide/6,13-Bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene(TIPS-pentacene)/Au diodes to understand the effect of carrier trapping caused by injected carriers. The coupled electrical and optical measurements were very helpful to clarify carrier injection that was followed by carrier trapping in the diode, in terms of hysteresis behavior. CMS measurement was used to observe energetic states of carriers in TIPS-pentacene double-layer diode. Finally, the carrier mechanism in organic diodes was discussed by analyzing the diodes as a Maxwell-Wagner effect element.     

Chemisorption,physisorption and hysteresis during hydrogen storage in carbon nanotubes

The question of chemisorption versus physisorption during hydrogen storage in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is addressed experimentally. We utilize a powerful measurement technique based on a magnetic suspension balance coupled with a residual gas analyzer, and report new data for hydrogen sorption at pressures of up to 100 bar at 25 °C. The measured sorption capacity is less than 0.2 wt.%, and there is hysteresis in the sorption isotherms when multi-walled CNTs are exposed to hydrogen after pretreatment at elevated temperatures. The cause of the hysteresis is then studied, and is shown to be due to a combination of weak sorption – physisorption – and strong sorption – chemisorption – in the CNTs. Analysis of the experimental data enables us to calculate separately the individual hydrogen physisorption and chemisorption isotherms in CNTs that, to our knowledge, are reported for the first time here. The maximum measured hydrogen physisorption and chemisorption are 0.13 wt.% and 0.058 wt.%, respectively.     

Laboratory measurement of hydraulic conductivity functions of two unsaturated sandy soils during drying and wetting processes

The importance of applying unsaturated soil mechanics to geotechnical engineering design has been well understood. However, the consumption of time and the necessity for a specific laboratory testing apparatus when measuring unsaturated soil properties have limited the application of unsaturated soil mechanics theories in practice. Although methods for predicting unsaturated soil properties have been developed, the verification of these methods for a wide range of soil types is required in order to increase the confidence of practicing engineers in using these methods. In this study, a new permeameter was developed to measure the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils using the steady-state method and directly measured suction (negative pore-water pressure) values. The apparatus is instrumented with two tensiometers for the direct measurement of suction during the tests. The apparatus can be used to obtain the hydraulic conductivity function of sandy soil over a low suction range (0–10 kPa). Firstly, the repeatability of the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity measurement, using the new permeameter, was verified by conducting tests on two identical sandy soil specimens and obtaining similar results. The hydraulic conductivity functions of the two sandy soils were then measured during the drying and wetting processes of the soils. A significant hysteresis was observed when the hydraulic conductivity was plotted against the suction. However, the hysteresis effects were not apparent when the conductivity was plotted against the volumetric water content. Furthermore, the measured unsaturated hydraulic conductivity functions were compared with predictions using three different predictive methods that are widely incorporated into numerical software. The results suggest that these predictive methods are capable of capturing the measured behavior with reasonable agreement.     

Hysteresis loops of carbon fiber-reinforced ceramic-matrix composites with different fiber preforms

The hysteresis loops of C/SiC ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs) with different fiber preforms, i.e., unidirectional, cross-ply, 2D and 2.5D woven, 3D braided, and 3D needled at room temperature have been investigated. Based on fiber slipping mechanisms, the hysteresis loops models considering different interface slip cases have been developed. The effects of fiber volume fraction, matrix cracking density, interface shear stress, interface debonded energy, and fibers failure on hysteresis loops, hysteresis dissipated energy, hysteresis width, and hysteresis modulus have been analyzed. An effective coefficient of fiber volume fraction along the loading direction (ECFL) was introduced to describe fiber preforms. The hysteresis loops, hysteresis dissipated energy and hysteresis modulus of unidirectional, cross-ply, 2D and 2.5D woven, 3D braided and 3D needled C/SiC composites have been predicted.