Molecular valve consisting of poly(acrylic acid) gel

A molecular valve, consisting of poly(acrylic acid) gel-coated Au mesh, was developed based on volume change of the gel in response to cation concentration. The valve closed when concentration of cations such as H⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Cu²⁺, or Al³⁺ was low, whereas opened upon increase in its concentration. The valve re-closed when water was flowed. The concentration where the valve opens was found to increase in the order of Al³⁺, Ca²⁺, and Na⁺ (2 × 10⁻⁴, 5 × 10⁻⁴, and 6 × 10⁻³ M, respectively). The response to Cu²⁺ ion showed similar behaviour, but the opening concentration was ca. 2 × 10⁻⁴ M, which is lower than that of Ca²⁺ ion. The valve appeared to close over the pH range from 3 to 12, whereas to open below and above it. The fastest response time to open the valve (less than 1 min) was obtained for a solution of pH 1–2. The valve showed repeatability at least 25 cycles upon successive loading of a solution of pH 2 and water. Effects of anions and pressure were also studied.     

Effect of ductile fracture criteria on chevron crack formation and evolution in drawing

The purpose of this study is to clarify the mechanics of ductile fracture in bulk metal forming processes by finite-element analysis and experiments. The author has developed a computer program, based on a conventional computer program involving the finite-element method, by which the behavior of crack propagation after ductile fracture can be analyzed. The phenomenon in which a ‘chevron crack’ appears periodically in the axial direction during drawing has been simulated using the developed computer program. Special attention is focused on the effect of various kinds of ductile fracture criteria on chevron crack formation and evolution during drawing. Results obtained are summarized as follows. First, the analytical results obtained using Gurson's fracture criterion and using Oyane's fracture criterion agree well with the experimental result. Second, the analytical results using Cockcroft and Latham's fracture criterion and using Brozzo et al.'s fracture criterion agree somewhat with the experimental result. Finally, the analytical result obtained using Freudenthal's fracture criterion does not agree with the experimental result.     

Analysis of cross and vertical buckling in sheet metal rolling

In sheet metal rolling, shape defects called “cross buckling” or “vertical buckling” sometimes appear, which are wrinkles like washboards. The direction of the crest line of the cross buckling inclines at a certain degree against the rolling direction, while that of the vertical buckling is parallel to the rolling direction. In this study, analysis of the cross and vertical buckling is performed using the elementary theory of buckling. First, we calculate the stress distribution in three-dimensional sheet metal rolling near the exit cross section inside the roll gap. Next, we calculate the residual stress distribution near the exit cross section outside the roll gap. Furthermore, sheet metal buckling is analysed using the residual stress distribution. Type of buckling, distance between neighboring wrinkles, inclination of the crest line of the wrinkles against the width direction and the region where the wrinkles appear are obtained. We compare analytical results with published experimental results, and find that the former agree well with the latter. Hence, we conclude that this method of analysis is valid, and that the cause of the cross and vertical buckling is the residual stress distribution near the exit cross section outside the roll gap.     

Simulation of chevron crack formation and evolution in drawing

The objective of the present work is to clarify ductile fracture phenomena in bulk metal forming, by means of finite-element analyses and experiments. We have developed a computer program, based on a conventional computer program of the finite-element method, by which the behavior of crack propagation after ductile fracture can be analyzed. The phenomenon that inner fracture defects occur periodically in the axial direction in drawing has been simulated using the computer program. The following results were obtained. First, to analyze multipass drawing we have proposed a method of calculating residual stress after drawing and a method of considering initial stress before drawing. Second, to perform accurate simulation, we have developed a method of fracturing one element in each step and a method of separating nodes at the fracture. Finally, we have proposed a method for evaluating ductile fracture in terms of void volume fraction and axial stress, and we have shown the validity of the method by comparing the analytical results with experimental ones.     

An upper bound method for analysis of three-dimensional deformation in the flat rolling of bars

A new upper bound method for the analysis of three-dimensional deformation in the flat rolling of bars is proposed. In the conventional upper bound method, stress distribution is not calculated. Hence, a new method of calculating stress distribution is proposed in which the hydrostatic stress in each element and the contact stress on the contact surface between material and roll in each element are calculated. In the conventional upper bound method, the structure of the computer program also depends highly on the kinematically admissible velocity fields assumed. Hence, a new method of analysis in which the structure of the computer program depends minimally on the kinematically admissible velocity fields assumed is proposed. In the analysis of strip rolling, the calculated roll force and roll torque agree with the roll force and roll torque calculated from Sims’ slab method. In the analysis of the flat rolling of bars, the calculated width spread agrees with the width spread obtained by experiments reported in the literature. The effects of a reduction in thickness, roll radius, material width-to-height ratio, front tension, back tension, and front and back tensions on the width spread, forward slip, roll force and roll torque are demonstrated. Hence, the validity of the new upper bound method is confirmed.     

Unique hue loci and implications

Unique hue loci of red, yellow, green, and blue were obtained for lights of 0.5 and 2 cd. m^-2 from five normal color vision subjects. Most loci curved on the chromaticity diagram. This result excludes linear equations of colormatching functions as candidates for spectral sensitivity functions of opponent color systems, (r/g)λ and (y/b)λ. The chromatic valence curves of two opponent color systems obtained by the so-called cancellation experiment were analyzed in relation to the unique hue loci and it was shown that the appearance of the valence curves can be manipulated at will by choosing the cancellation light at various points on the chromaticity diagram. A similar manipulation was also demonstrated for the additivity property of chromatic valence and it was made clear that no unique solution is obtainable.     

Changes in year-round air temperature and annual energy consumption in office building areas by urban heat-island countermeasures and energy-saving measures

This paper describes the effects of the installation of various countermeasures against urban heat-island (UHI) and energy-saving measures on UHI and global warming. A UHI and energy-consumption simulation model was developed by combining the one-dimensional meteorological canopy and building energy use models; further, the proposed model was expanded to evaluate the year-round air temperature and annual energy consumption. The simulation results showed that the humidification and albedo increase at building-wall surfaces reduced the total number of hours for which the air temperature was more than 30 °C during the daytime by more than 60 (h) per year. The UHI countermeasures reduced the annual energy-consumption despite causing a small increase during the winter period. However, they may result in certain unfavorable conditions for pedestrians. Energy-saving measures, on the other hand, reduce the total number of hours for which the air temperature is more than 30 °C by only a few hours per year. Thus, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the UHI countermeasures and measures against global warming by extending the calculation period from summer to an entire year.     

Rigid-plastic finite-element method for analysis of three-dimensional rolling that requires small memory capacity

At present, caliber rolling is analyzed using the three-dimensional rigid-plastic finite-element method. In this paper, a new method of analysis which requires less memory capacity than the conventional method is proposed. In the conventional method, the shape of the whole region is updated after the functional of the region is minimized, whereas in the proposed method, the shape of part of the region (large region) is updated after the functional of the large region is minimized. The load, torque, material shape, hydrostatic stress and equivalent strain rate obtained using the proposed method agree with those obtained using the conventional method within the allowable range of convergent error. Also, although the computation time for the proposed method is rather long compared with that for the conventional method, the memory capacity required for the proposed method is small compared with that for the conventional method. Finally, analysis of various types of caliber rolling in which the number of finite elements in the large region coincides with that in the whole region in analysis using the conventional method is carried out and reasonable stress and strain distributions are obtained.     

Morphological studies of the association of mitochondria with chlamydial inclusions and the fusion of chlamydial inclusions.

The association of mitochondria with the inclusions of five strains of Chlamydia psittaci, two strains of C. trachomatis and one strain of C. pneumoniae was examined by electron microscopy. The results demonstrated that mitochondrial association occurred only with the C. psittaci inclusions, but not with the C. trachomatis and C. pneumoniae inclusions. Multiple inclusions formed by infection with a single strain could fuse with each other during their expansion, but fusion never occurred between the C. trachomatis and C. psittaci inclusions as a result of dual infection with these different species.     

通过测量电力输入预测磨料/工件界面的条件变化

A monitoring system is proposed in order to detect the condition changes at abrasive/workpiece interface in abrasive cutoff operation.The system can detect the condition changes from the electric power change consumed by the driving motor of lapping tool.The electric power is strongly related with the abrasive effectiveness.When the abrasive effectiveness has been kept a normal state,the electric power also has been kept a constant value.The bodily removal of abrasive leads to reduce the electric power monotonously.The piling up of cutting chips leads to a peculiar electric power change;the electric power increased gradually at the beginning and then began to fluctuate periodically.The severe adhesion of cutting chips to the cutting edges leads to the loss of nominal function in the cutting edges and the electric power input was thus descended suddenly at an early stage of lapping.