Pressure anomaly in the paramagnetic region of bcc solid3He

The isochoric pressure of bcc Solid³He in the vicinity of the triple point has been measured by changing the temperature stepwisely and waiting for thermal equilibrium. We observed anomalous pressure kinks of the temperature dependence in the paramagnetic region near the triple point. This anomaly appeared at 0.37 to 0.40 tesla, and disappeared below 0.36 tesla. Moreover, critical phenomena at the transition point from the paramagnetic phase (PP) to the high field phase was observed and the phase line curves toward the PP side.     

High-performance polymer alloys of polybenzoxazine and bismaleimide

Two series of high-performance polymer alloys were prepared by mixing typical benzoxine monomers, 3-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-1,3-benzoxazine (P-a) or 6,6-(1-methylethyliden)-bis-(3,4-dihydro-3-phenyl-2H-1,3-benzoxazine) (B-a), with a typical bismaleimide, 4,4-bismaleimidodiphenyl methane by various ratios followed by thermal treatment up to 240 °C. DSC and IR of the alloys were examined to follow the curing reaction. These analyses showed that the obtained polymer alloys are AB co-cross-linked polymer networks through the formation of ether linkage between the hydroxyl group of polybenoxazine and the double bond of bismaleimide. Viscoelastic analysis and softening temperature measurement revealed that the polymer alloys have much higher glass transition temperatures than those of each homopolymer. The thermal stability also increased with the increase of bismaleimide content as evidenced by TGA.     

A PRACTICAL METHOD FOR RECTIFYING INTERFACIAL TENSION DATA TO PREDICT THE SHAPE OF INTERFACES IN AN IMMISCIBLE LIQUID/LIQUID/GAS SYSTEM

The shape of interfaces formed by the contact of two liquid phases, immiscible with each other, and a gaseous phase can be predicted on the condition that the tension to work at each interface is known with a sufficient accuracy. In general, interfacial tension data available are not so accurate, however, as to be useful as they are in predicting the shape of interfaces, particularly when the spreading coefficient of either liquid (liquid 1) on the other (liquid 2) has a negative value of a small magnitude. Presented in this note is a simple method to rectify the interfacial tension data, with the aid of a measurement of the radius of a lens of liquid 1 of a known volume placed on the horizontal surface of liquid 2, and thereby make them usable for predicting interfacial geometries. The method is tested by applying it to benzene/water and n-pentane/water systems.     

A new maritime lifesaving multiple-effect solar still design

This paper presents a new maritime lifesaving multiple-effect solar still design where several extended wicks feed seawater to their evaporating areas by capillary force, and the resulting water vapor diffuses and condenses on facing wicks with the condensate flowing through the wicks into storage bags. A theoretical analysis showed that a temperature drop through diffusion layers between evaporating and condensing wicks slowly increases in the main evaporating areas and rapidly near salt depositions whereas the evaporation rate decreases slowly in the main area and rapidly near salt depositions. These changes are caused by increases in salt concentrations and resulting boiling point elevation. With steady-state transfer analysis, the proposed still is predicted to produce about 15 kg m ⁻²d⁻¹ fresh water on a sunny day of 22 MJm⁻²d⁻¹ solar radiation, showing a potential to be a maritime lifesaving desalinator.     

Theoretical analysis of a multiple-effect diffusion still producing highly concentrated seawater

A multiple-effect diffusion still producing highly concentrated seawater was theoretically analyzed taking variations of the boiling point elevation (BPE) into account. The still consists of a series of seawater-soaked wicks stuck on closely-spaced parallel plates with the first plate steam-heated at 100°C and the last plate cooled in 30°C ambient air. Evaporation from the wicks increases the BPE more rapidly at downstream distances closer to exits of evaporating areas, and this increase reduces evaporation flux significantly at downstream regions on the wicks. An 80% heat recovery from products of hot condensate and concentrate reduces the steam consumption by 46%. The steam consumption decreases more rapidly with an increasing number of wicks than does the production rate; thus, a lower steam consumption ratio is observed for the still having more wicks. Narrowing the gaps between the plates greatly increases the production rate with a slight decrease in the steam consumption ratio. The still with 19 wicks with 1 m by 2 m evaporating areas, 5 mm gaps and 80% heat recovery produces 12 kg distillate and 3.3 kg concentrate of 0.16 kg/kg-water concentration per 1 kg steam consumption with a 26.4 kg/h distillate production rate.     

Developing a Higher-Cycled Product Design CAE Model： The Evolution of Automotive Product Design and CAE

To help corporations survive amidst worldwide quality competition, the authors have focused on the strategic development of a higher-cycled product design CAE model employing a highly reliable CAE analysis technology component model. Their efforts are part of principle-based research aimed at evolving product design and CAE development processes to ensure better quality assurance. To satisfy the requirements of developing and producing high quality products while also reducing costs and shortening development times, the effectiveness of this model was verified by successfully applying it to the technological problems of loosening bolts and other product design bottlenecks at auto manufacturers.     

Parameterizing cut sets in a graph by the number of their components

For a connected graph G=(V,E), a subset U⊆V is a disconnected cut if U disconnects G and the subgraph G[U] induced by U is disconnected as well. A cut U is a k-cut if G[U] contains exactly k(≥1) components. More specifically, a k-cut U is a (k,?)-cut if V?U induces a subgraph with exactly ?(≥2) components. The Disconnected Cut problem is to test whether a graph has a disconnected cut and is known to be NP-complete. The problems k-Cut and (k,?)-Cut are to test whether a graph has a k-cut or (k,?)-cut, respectively. By pinpointing a close relationship to graph contractibility problems we show that (k,?)-Cut is in P for k=1 and any fixed constant ?≥2, while it is NP-complete for any fixed pair k,?≥2. We then prove that k-Cut is in P for k=1 and NP-complete for any fixed k≥2. On the other hand, for every fixed integer g≥0, we present an FPT algorithm that solves (k,?)-Cut on graphs of Euler genus at most g when parameterized by k+?. By modifying this algorithm we can also show that k-Cut is in FPT for this graph class when parameterized by k. Finally, we show that Disconnected Cut is solvable in polynomial time for minor-closed classes of graphs excluding some apex graph.     

MOCVD Growth of Erbium Monoantimonide Thin Film and Nanocomposites for Thermoelectrics

We report the growth of erbium monoantimonide (ErSb) thin films on indium antimonide (100) substrates by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The growth rate of ErSb thin films shows strong dependency on the growth temperature and the Sb/Er precursor molar flow rate ratio. Scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and x-ray diffractometry (XRD) were employed to study the ErSb thin films grown under the growth conditions that gave the maximum growth rate in the range we investigated. We also report the growth of two types of nanocomposites in which ErSb nanocolumns or nanoslabs with lengths ~500 nm and diameters 20 nm to 30 nm are embedded in Zn-doped InGaSb (ErSb/InGaSb:Zn) and ErSb nanoparticles with diameters of ~30 nm are embedded in Zn-doped InSbAs (ErSb/InSbAs:Zn). These nanocomposites were intended to increase phonon scattering in a mid-to-long phonon wavelength range to reduce lattice thermal conductivity. We used time-domain thermoreflectance to measure total thermal conductivity for the two types of nanocomposites, obtaining 4.0 ± 0.6 W/mK and 6.7 ± 0.8 W/mK for the ErSb/InAsSb:Zn and ErSb/InGaSb:Zn nanocomposites, respectively, which suggests that the thermal conductivity was close to or slightly smaller than the alloy limit of the two ternary alloy hosts. The two nanocomposites were further studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to reveal their microscopic features and by XRD to assess their crystalline structures.