Study of residual stresses in tailor rolled blanked Al5J32-T4 sheets

Several automotive parts such as door panels have been manufactured by using load-adapted blanks for crash optimization and weight minimization.Recently, Tailor Rolled Blanks (TRB) has been introduced to remove the disadvantages of a welding process which was used in joining panel components.TRB offers better structural design capabilities due to the seamless transitions on the panels with different thicknesses.In spite of the advantages of the process, TRB leaves internal stresses in the panel.This residual stresses lower the formability of Tailor Rolled Blanked (TRBed) parts and cause cracks near severe curvature during subsequent forming processes.In this research, the residual stresses of TRBed Al5J32-T4 sheets were studied by X-ray stress analysis, and also microstructure was observed along the rolling direction.In addition, heat treatment was done after TRB process in order to compare the residual stresses to that of the TRBed sheets before the heat treatment.     

Hierarchical community classification and assessment of aquatic ecosystems using artificial neural networks

Benthic macroinvertebrate communities in stream ecosystems were assessed hierarchically through two-level classification methods of unsupervised learning. Two artificial neural networks were implemented in combination. Firstly, the self-organizing map (SOM) was used to reduce the dimension of community data, and secondly, the adaptive resonance theory (ART) was subsequently applied to the SOM to further classify the groups in different scales. Hierarchical grouping in community data efficiently reflected the impact of the environmental factors such as topographic conditions, levels of pollution, and sampling location and time across different scales. New community data not included in the training process were used to test the trained network model. The input data were appropriately grouped at different hierarchical levels by the trained networks, and correspondingly revealed the impact of environmental disturbances and temporal dynamics of communities. The hierarchical clusters based on a two-level classification method could be useful for assessing ecosystem quality and community variations caused by environmental disturbances.     

Patterning and predicting aquatic macroinvertebrate diversities using artificial neural network

A counterpropagation neural network (CPN) was applied to predict species richness (SR) and Shannon diversity index (SH) of benthic macroinvertebrate communities using 34 environmental variables. The data were collected at 664 sites at 23 different water types such as springs, streams, rivers, canals, ditches, lakes, and pools in The Netherlands. By training the CPN, the sampling sites were classified into five groups and the classification was mainly related to pollution status and habitat type of the sampling sites. By visualizing environmental variables and diversity indices on the map of the trained model, the relationships between variables were evaluated. The trained CPN serves as a 'look-up table' for finding the corresponding values between environmental variables and community indices. The output of the model fitted SH and SR well showing a high accuracy of the prediction (r>0.90 and 0.67 for learning and testing process, respectively) for both SH and SR. Finally, the results of this study, which uses the capability of the CPN for patterning and predicting ecological data, suggest that the CPN can be effectively used as a tool for assessing ecological status and predicting water quality of target ecosystems.     

xMax的类正弦波调制技术

通过对xMax技术指标的分析，阐述了实现xMax的方法。在此基础上提出了一种能实现xMax的类正弦波调制技术。该调制技术通过对类正弦波信号的单周期调制实现信号对信息的携带；并且能达到xMax主带宽窄、边带功率谱密度低、发射功率低、传输速率高等性能指标。通过理论分析和仿真验证，该调制技术功率谱主峰值带宽为300 kHz，边带功率谱密度比峰值功率谱低40 dB，使得边带能很好地隐藏在背景噪声中，传输速率达到7.5 Mbit/s。     

Crystal Structure,Chemical Bonding and Magnetism Studies for Three Quinary Polar Intermetallic Compounds in the (Eu1?xCax)9In8(Ge1?ySny)8 (x = 0.66, y = 0.03) and the (Eu1?xCax)3In(Ge3?ySn1+y) (x = 0.66, 0.68; y = 0.13, 0.27) Phases

Three quinary polar intermetallic compounds in the (Eu_1−xCa_x)₉In₈(Ge_1−ySn_y)₈ (x = 0.66, y = 0.03) and the (Eu_1−xCa_x)₃In(Ge_3-ySn_1+y) (x = 0.66, 0.68; y = 0.13, 0.27) phases have been synthesized using the molten In-metal flux method, and the crystal structures are characterized by powder and single-crystal X-ray diffractions. Two orthorhombic structural types can be viewed as an assembly of polyanionic frameworks consisting of the In(Ge/Sn)₄ tetrahedral chains, the bridging Ge₂ dimers, either the annulene-like “12-membered rings” for the (Eu_1−xCa_x)₉In₈(Ge_1−ySn_y)₈ series or the cis-trans Ge/Sn-chains for the (Eu_1−xCa_x)₃In(Ge_3−ySn_1+y) series, and several Eu/Ca-mixed cations. The most noticeable difference between two structural types is the amount and the location of the Sn-substitution for Ge: only a partial substitution (11%) occurs at the In(Ge/Sn)₄ tetrahedron in the (Eu_1−xCa_x)₉In₈(Ge_1−ySn_y)₈ series, whereas both a complete and a partial substitution (up to 27%) are observed, respectively, at the cis-trans Ge/Sn-chain and at the In(Ge/Sn)₄ tetrahedron in the (Eu_1−xCa_x)₃In(Ge_3−ySn_1+y) series. A series of tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital calculations is conducted to understand overall electronic structures and chemical bonding among components. Magnetic susceptibility measurement indicates a ferromagnetic ordering of Eu atoms below 5 K for Eu_1.02(1)Ca_1.98InGe_2.87(1)Sn_1.13.     

An experimental study of syn-gas production via microwave plasma reforming of methane,iso-octane and gasoline

A newly developed microwave plasma system for fuel reforming was tested for three different hydrocarbon fuels. The microwave plasma system was powered by a low cost commercial magnetron and power supply. The microwave power was delivered to the nozzle from the magnetron via a coaxial cable, which offers tremendous flexibility for system design and applications. A non-premixed configuration was achieved by delivering a separate stream of fuel to the plasma plume, which is composed of diluted oxygen only. The feasibility of syn-gas production capability of the microwave plasma system was demonstrated and the reforming characteristics of methane, iso-octane and gasoline were compared. The effects of input power, injected fuel amount, total flow rate and O/C ratio were evaluated. The production rates of both hydrogen and carbon monoxide were proportional to the input power and the inverse of the total flow rate. As a result, the maximum efficiency of 3.12% was obtained with iso-octane for power consumption of 28.8 W, O/C ratio of 1, and 0.1 g/min of fuel supply. Liquid fuels produced more syn-gas and showed better efficiency than methane for the same input powers and O/C ratios.     

Entrapment of nutrients during cholesterol removal from cream by crosslinked β-cyclodextrin

This study was designed to elucidate the quantities of nutrients entrapped during cholesterol removal from cream by crosslinked β-cyclodextrin (β-CD, 4–12%, w/v) and to evaluate the amounts of the residual β-CD in cholesterol-removed cream treated by crosslinked β-CD. The content of lactose in the control cream (without the treatment by crosslinked β-CD) was 2.74%, and the amounts of lactose entrapped by crosslinked β-CD ranged from 0.00 to 0.03%. The total amounts of the entrapped short-chain free fatty acid (FFA) and free amino acid (FAA) ranged from 0.04 to 0.12 ppm and from 0.37 to 0.48 μmol/mL, respectively. The amounts of the entrapped water-soluble vitamins (L-ascorbic acid, niacin, thiamine and riboflavin) ranged from 0.01 to 0.05 ppm, from 0.01 to 0.05 ppm, from 0.00 to 0.04 ppm and from 0.02 to 0.05 ppm, respectively. The entrapped amounts of nutrients mentioned above were not remarkably affected by the concentrations of crosslinked β-CD (4–12%, w/v). The very small amounts of residual β-CD in the cholesterol-removed cream were measured (1.86–6.11 ppm). Based on the data obtained from the present study, it is concluded that the amounts of entrapped nutrients were negligible during cholesterol removal from cream by crosslinked β-CD, and the amounts of residual β-CD in cholesterol-removed cream were trace.     

GaAs on Si substrate with dislocation filter layers for wafer-scale integration

GaAs on Si grown via metalorganic chemical vapor deposition is demonstrated using various Si substrate thicknesses and three types of dislocation filter layers (DFLs). The bowing was used to measure wafer-scale characteristics. The surface morphology and electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI) were used to analyze the material quality of GaAs films. Only 3-μm bowing was observed using the 725-μm-thick Si substrate. The bowing shows similar levels among the samples with DFLs, indicating that the Si substrate thickness mostly determines the bowing. According to the surface morphology and ECCI results, the compressive strained indium gallium arsenide/GaAs DFLs show an atomically flat surface with a root mean square value of 1.288 nm and minimum threading dislocation density (TDD) value of 2.4 × 10⁷ cm⁻². For lattice-matched DFLs, the indium gallium phosphide/GaAs DFLs are more effective in reducing the TDD than aluminum gallium arsenide/GaAs DFLs. Finally, we found that the strained DFLs can block propagate TDD effectively. The strained DFLs on the 725-μm-thick Si substrate can be used for the large-scale integration of GaAs on Si with less bowing and low TDD.