Effect of plate-like glass fillers on the mechanical properties of dental nanocomposites

In this study, glass flakes were incorporated into the spherical nanosilica component of the dental composites and its effect on the mechanical properties of these composites was investigated. To achieve a good interfacial adhesion between matrix resin and fillers, the particles were surface treated with a silane coupling agent (γ-MPS). Composites with different plate-like and spherical nanoparticle contents were prepared and their mechanical properties, including flexural strength, flexural modulus and fracture toughness were measured. The morphology of the particles and fracture surface of the composites were studied by SEM. The distribution of the flakes in the composite was also monitored using EDXA. Statistical analysis of the data was performed with ANOVA and the Tukey’s post hoc test was at a significance level of 0.05. The results showed that the flexural modulus and fracture toughness of specimens were improved with increasing the glass flake content up to 15 vol % which then declined upon further increase due to the stacking of the flakes on each other. A good interfacial adhesion was observed between matrix resin and particles in the SEM micrographs. The results of this study suggest that incorporation of glass flakes into the dental composites containing spherical nanosilica particles may enhance their mechanical properties.     

Improvement of impact toughness of 5Mn-1Al-0.5Ti steel by intercritical annealing

The present study is aimed at improving the impact toughness of 5Mn-1Al-0.5Ti steel by incorporating ferrite-martensite dual phase microstructure by intercritical annealing. Although (8-12)Mn martensitic steels usually show very low impact toughness due to the occurrence of intergranular fracture, the martensitic structure of the present 5Mn-1Al-0.5Ti steel fails by transgranular cleavage fracture due to higher grain boundary strength than matrix strength incurred by reduced Mn content and segregation of Ti along grain boundaries. Nevertheless, it still shows very poor impact toughness at room temperature due to its coarse grain size. The application of intercritical annealing, i.e., formation of dual phase microstructure, is shown to significantly decrease ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT), with only a small degradation of tensile properties; however, microstructural examinations show that most of ferrite/martensite interfaces have a character of low angle boundaries and therefore such decrease in DBTT is not necessarily due to the formation of ferrite-martensite dual phase structure, but rather to the refinement of grain size by low temperature annealing.     

A modified method for image encryption based on chaotic map and genetic algorithm

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The security of digital data has been attending more than past, spatially image data security. In this study, a hybrid image encryption method has been proposed...     

Numerical simulation of the impact of polymer rheology on polymer injectivity using a multilevel local grid refinement method

Polymer injectivity is an important factor for evaluating the project economics of chemical flood, which is highly related to the polymer viscosity. Because the flow rate varies rapidly near injectors and significantly changes the polymer viscosity due to the non-Newtonian rheological behavior, the polymer viscosity near the wellbore is difficult to estimate accurately with the practical gridblock size in reservoir simulation. To reduce the impact of polymer rheology upon chemical EOR simulations, we used an efficient multilevel local grid refinement (LGR) method that provides a higher resolution of the flows in the near-wellbore region. An efficient numerical scheme was proposed to accurately solve the pressure equation and concentration equations on the multilevel grid for both homogeneous and heterogeneous reservoir cases. The block list and connections of the multilevel grid are generated via an efficient and extensible algorithm. Field case simulation results indicate that the proposed LGR is consistent with the analytical injectivity model and achieves the closest results to the full grid refinement, which considerably improves the accuracy of solutions compared with the original grid. In addition, the method was validated by comparing it with the LGR module of CMG_STARS. Besides polymer injectivity calculations, the LGR method is applicable for other problems in need of near-wellbore treatment, such as fractures near wells.     

Developing a Scaling Equation as a Function of Pressure and Temperature to Determine the Amount of Asphaltene Precipitation

A simple and applicable scaling equation as a function of pressure, temperature, molecular weight, dilution ratio (solvent), and weight percent of precipitated asphaltene has been developed. This equation can be used to determine the weight percent of precipitated asphaltene in the presence of difference precipitants (solvents) and the amount of solvent at onset point. Since increasing the pressure of crude oil decreases the amount of asphaltene precipitation, the effect of reservoir pressure has been taken into account in developing this equation. The results obtained by using this equation are substantially different and more accurate from other developed scaling equations for asphaltene precipitation. By considering the effect of reservoir pressure in developing the scaling equation and application of a genetic algorithm, the unknown parameters of the scaling equation are simultaneously and without any reservation obtained. The most important application of this unique equation is in the determination of critical point of asphaltene precipitation, known as onset point, and asphaltene precipitation in gas injection operations for enhanced oil recovery. The results predicted using the scaling equations are compared with the authors' experimental and literature precipitation data and it is shown that they are in good agreement with our experimental data. The scaling equation can be used in the design of gas-injected reservoir to prevent precipitation of the asphaltene aggregates in the reservoir.     

Effects of isomerism on near infrared properties of perylene bisimide derivatives

In this study, five different perylene bisimide derivatives are synthesized, four of which are structural isomers. The pigments are used to prepare corresponding paints and their ultraviolet–visible–near infrared (NIR) reflectance is investigated on two optically different substrates, namely high absorptive and high reflective substrates. These pigments are classified according to their NIR properties. They show substantial differences in NIR reflectance, transmittance, and absorbance despite their structural similarities. This indicates that the NIR properties of perylene bisimide derivatives are dependent on the nature of N-substituent and electronic environment of the molecule. This study shows that the existence of bonds with high-frequency fundamental vibrations and their counts which were introduced as affecting parameters on the NIR properties of the perylene pigments is not the main affecting factor and we should seek it elsewhere such as the crystal structure and intermolecular interactions of the pigments.     

Diametric swelling and hydrophilic characteristics of fibrous acrylic ion exchanger

In our previous works, modified acrylic fiber samples with highly ion‐exchange ability were described. These fibers contain suitable functional groups such as amidoxime, amid, and amine groups in their molecular chains. In this work, swelling in fiber diameter and hydrophilic properties of the modified acrylic fiber samples, as important parameters affecting on ion‐exchange efficiency, were investigated. The results showed that all modification treatments gave rise to diameter swelling ratio, but this does not mean that sample with highest swelling ratio in all cases can result in highest ability to ion‐exchange. In other words, the relation between them was complicated, and several factors such as the kind and the size of ion adsorbent and crosslinking ability of chemical reagent were used for modification interfere in ion‐exchange phenomena.The results of moisture adsorption indicate that incorporating functional groups by modification treatments enhance moisture adsorption in which samples with higher ion‐exchange ability possess higher hydrophilic property. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

The hot formability of an Al-Cu-Mg-Fe-Ni forging disk

The high temperature formability of AA2618-T61 forged disk was studied by means of tensile test over temperatures and strain rates ranging from 100 to 400°C and 3 × 10⁻⁵ −3 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹, respectively. The constitutive equations of the material were calculated based on an Arrhenius-type equation and the ductility of the material was evaluated considering elongation and percent reduction of area. The results showed that both kinds of softening mechanisms, dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization, occurred during high temperature deformation of the alloy. Strain rate sensitivity of the material was evaluated in all the deformation conditions and the obtained values were used to calculate the apparent activation energy.     

Europium (III) PVC membrane sensor based on N-pyridine-2-carboxamido-8-aminoquinoline as a sensing material

Conductometric study in acetonitrile solution shows the selectivity of PCQ toward europium ion. Therefore, a new europium PVC membrane electrode was prepared based on N-pyridine-2-carboxamido-8-aminoquinoline (PCQ) as an ion carrier. The electrode has a wide concentration range from 1.0 × 10^− 2 and 1.0 × 10^− 6 mol L^− 1, Nernstian slope of 19.8 ± 0.3 mV per decade and a detection limit of 6.4 × 10^− 7 mol L^− 1. The potentiometric response is pH independent in the range of 2.4-7.4. The proposed sensor has a relatively fast response time less than 10 s and it can be used for at least 2 months without any considerable divergence in its potentials. The proposed electrode revealed good selectivity toward europium ion in comparison with variety of other metal ions. The practical utility of the electrodes has been demonstrated by their use as indicator electrodes in the potentiometric titration of Eu^3 + ions with EDTA and for determination of Eu^3 + ion concentration in mixtures of two and three different ions.