Reversible energy recovery logic circuit without non-adiabaticenergy loss

The authors propose a reversible energy recovery logic (RERL) circuit for ultra-low-energy consumption, which consumes only adiabatic energy loss and leakage current loss by completely eliminating non-adiabatic energy loss. It is a dual-rail adiabatic circuit using the concept of reversible logic with a new eight-phase clocking scheme. Simulation results show that at low-speed operation, the RERL consumes much less energy than the complementary static CMOS circuit and other adiabatic logic circuits     

Thermodynamic reassessment of the Cd−Zn system

The Cd−Zn system has been thermodynamically reassessed with the CALPHAD method by combining more recent experimental data, in particular the activities of zinc in the liquid phase. A good agreement is obtained between the calculated and experimental thermodynamic parameters as well asphase boundaries.     

A cross-sectional analysis of composite beams based on asymptotic framework

This paper presents the accurate prediction of static behavior of composite beams with arbitrary cross-sections. The asymptotic recursive formulation is reviewed first, where the initial three-dimensional problems are split into the macroscopic 1D problems and the microscopic 2D problems. The finite element formulation for the microscopic 2D problems is then presented in order to find the crosssectional warping solutions. The warping solutions obtained contribute the cross-sectional properties to the macroscopic 1D problems. The end effect of the 1D beam problem is also considered via the kinematic correction for a displacement prescribed boundary. The approach presented is applied to the beams with relatively complicated material distributions and cross-sectional geometry. As numerical test-beds, a three-layered sandwich beam and a composite beam with the multi-cell cross-section are taken to analyze the local deformation. A parametric study is also carried out to investigate the significance of shear deformation due to the cross-sectional orthotropic characteristics. The cross-sectional deformation is predicted based on the asymptotic framework. The accuracy of the present approach is assessed by comparing the results obtained with the 3D FEM solutions obtained by ANSYS.     

Preparation of thin film YSZ electrolyte by using electrostatic spray deposition

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thin film was successfully deposited onto Ni–YSZ anode disk by the electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) technique. To deposit a dense YSZ thin film onto porous Ni–YSZ substrate, the influence of process parameter variables were examined. The relationship between process parameters and morphologies of YSZ films coated by ESD was investigated by means of SEM photography and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The result showed that dense YSZ film of average 10–15 μm thickness was deposited on the porous Ni–YSZ substrate with temperature of 400 °C, the precursor solution concentration of 0.05 M, nozzle-to-substrate distance of 30 mm, applied electric field of 18 kV, and deposition time of 90 min.     

Direct observation of enhanced cathodoluminescence emissions from ZnO nanocones compared with ZnO nanowire arrays

We report, for the first time, direct observation of enhanced cathodoluminescence (CL) emissions from ZnO nanocones (NCs) compared with ZnO nanowires (NWs). For direct and unambiguous comparison of CL emissions from NWs and nanocones, periodic arrays of ZnO NW were converted to nanocone arrays by our unique HCl [aq] etching technique, enabling us to compare the CL emissions from original NWs and final nanocones at the same location. CL measurements on NW and nanocone arrays reveal that emission intensity of the nanocone at ～ 387 nm is over two times larger than that of NW arrays. The enhancement of CL emission from nanocones has been confirmed by finite-difference time-domain simulation of enhanced light extraction from ZnO nanocones compared to ZnO NWs. The enhanced CL from nanocones is attributed to its sharp morphology, resulting in more chances of photons to be extracted at the interface between ZnO and air.     

Characterization of Slag Flow in Fixed Packed Bed of Coke Particles

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - The static and dynamic holdups of liquid slag flow in a packed coke bed were investigated at a temperature of 1723 K by using the...     

Glasses-type wearable computer displays: usability considerations examined with a 3D glasses case study

This study presents usability considerations and solutions for the design of glasses-type wearable computer displays and examines their effectiveness in a case study. Design countermeasures were investigated by a four-step design process: (1) preliminary design analysis; (2) design idea generation; (3) final design selection; and (4) virtual fitting trial. Three design interventions were devised from the design process: (1) weight balance to reduce pressure concentrated on the nose, (2) compliant temples to accommodate diverse head sizes and (3) a hanger mechanism to help spectacle users hang their wearable display on their eye glasses. To investigate their effectiveness, in the case study, the novel 3D glasses adopting the three interventions were compared with two existing 3D glasses in terms of neck muscle fatigue and subjective discomfort rating. While neck muscle fatigue was not significantly different among the three glasses (p = 0.467), the novel glasses had significantly smaller discomfort ratings (p = 0.009).

Relevance to Industry: A four-step design process identified usability considerations and solutions for the design of glasses-type wearable computer displays. A novel 3D glasses was proposed through the process and its effectiveness was validated. The results identify design considerations and opportunities relevant to the emerging wearable display industry.     

Effect of pressure drop on performance of hollow-fiber membrane module for gas permeation

The pressure drop mainly due to viscous friction inside hollow fibers is taken into consideration by nondimensionalization and numerical simulation of governing equations. For pure gas, the permeation pressure and velocity of actual situations with a viscous fluid deviate significantly from those of the corresponding inviscid or no-pressure-drop cases. The apparent permeability estimated from the relation of permeate flow rate and pressure difference is considerably underestimated in actual situations, and more severely for the region of small pressure difference and large module length. Numerical simulation shows that the estimated permeability behaves as if it were an increasing function of pressure difference for a constant permeability and roughly a constant for a dual-sorption-type permeability, respectively. For binary-mixture permeation the cut ratio and purity of permeate stream are mainly governed by two dimensionless parameters standing for pressure drop and permeability, respectively. The cut ratio and corresponding product composition are predictable without the rigorous simulation of the governing equations.     

A 16-bit carry-lookahead adder using reversible energy recoverylogic for ultra-low-energy systems

In this paper, we describe an energy-efficient carry-lookahead adder using reversible energy recovery logic (RERL), which is a new dual-rail reversible adiabatic logic. We also describe an eight-phase, clocked power generator that requires an off-chip inductor. For the energy-efficient design of reversible logic, we explain how to control the overhead of reversibility with a self-energy-recovery circuit. A test chip was implemented with a 0.8 μm CMOS technology, which included two 16-bit carry-lookahead adders to allow fair comparison: an RERL one and a static CMOS one. Experimental results showed that the RERL adder had substantial advantages in energy consumption over the static CMOS one at low operating frequencies. We also confirmed that we could minimize the energy consumption in the RERL circuit by reducing the operating frequency until adiabatic and leakage losses were equal     

Improvement of the wettability of SiMn IF-HSS by liquid zinc by controlling the dew point of the annealing gas atmosphere

The wettability of low-carbon, 0.3 wt%Si–0.4 wt%Mn interstitial-free steel by liquid zinc at 450 °C was investigated using the dispensed sessile drop method. Before the wetting tests, the steel samples were annealed in a 15%H₂–Ar gas atmosphere at three different dew points, namely −60, −40, and 0 °C. It was found that as the dew point was increased from −60 to −40 °C, the wettability became poorer. However, as the dew point was increased further to 0 °C, the wettability was dramatically improved and was better than that of −60 °C. In order to understand the dramatic change in wettability, the surfaces of the steel samples after annealing were analyzed with SEM and TEM. It was found that the surface oxide changed from randomly distributed hemisphere particles of 20–30-nm high on a very thin oxide film to a film-like layer ~15-nm thick as the dew point was increased from −60 to −40 °C, and at the dew point of 0 °C, internal oxidation was so pronounced that a very thin surface oxide layer 1–2-nm thick was formed. It was believed that the improvement of the wettability at the dew point of 0 °C was caused by the short diffusion distance in the surface oxide layer.