Influence of heat treatment on fracture and magnetic properties of radially oriented Sm2Co17 permanent magnets

The quenching, fracture and aging treatment of radially oriented Sm2Co17 ring magnets were investigated. The results indicate that the ring magnets have obvious anisotropy of thermal expansion, which easily leads to the splits of the magnets during quenching. The fracture is brittle cleavage fracture. The difference （Aa） of the expansion coefficient reaches the maximum value at 800-850 ℃. So, various quenching processes at different steps are adopted in order to reduce the splits. When the magnets are aged, 1：5 phase precipitates from the 2：17 matrix phase and forms a cellular microstructure with 2：17 phase. BHmax and JHc reach the maximum value 226 kJ/m^3 and 2 170 kA/m after being aged at 850 ℃ for 4 h and 8 h, respectively. The aging treatment at 850 ℃ has little influence on remanence（Br）, which can always keep a high value （≥1.0 T）. Through appropriate heat treatment, the ring magnets have uniform cellular microstructure and excellent magnetic properties： Br ≥ 1.0T, JHc ≥2 100 kA/m, BHmax ≥ 220 kJ/m^3.     

Remote sensing and GIS for an oil spill contingency plan,Ras-Mohammed,Egypt

Ras-Mohammed area located at the southern tip of Sinai, is an important and unique environment which has valuable resources that should be carefully maintained. This area is threatened by numerous anthropogenic activities. The most important risk is that associated with possible oil spills from tankers crossing the Suez canal

The main objective of this study is to prepare an oil spill contingency plan for the study area. SPOT-XS data were used to derive valuable information about the different resources of the area, especially the shallow coral reef communities

SPOT images, ground surveys and GIS analysis have enabled an accurate evaluation of environmental sensitivity. This helped to put forward a proposal of an oil spill contingency plan, in order to protect environmentally sensitive areas such as Ras-Mohammed.     

The relationship between laboratory-based outcome measures and mortality in end-stage renal disease: A systematic review

Despite data that traditional laboratory-based outcome measures in dialysis are improving over time, population-based data indicate that mortality rates are not improving in parallel. With increased focus on performance measures based on laboratory-based outcomes (e.g., hematocrit, albumin, and parathyroid hormone), less emphasis has been placed on other markers, some of which may be stronger predictors of mortality. We performed a systematic review to interpret the predictive value of laboratory-based outcome measures in dialysis. We identified studies with data regarding the predictive value of laboratory-based outcomes for mortality in dialysis. We calculated the sample size-weighted pooled relative risk of death with dichotomized "high" vs. "low" levels of each measure. We rank-ordered predictors by scaling the pooled relative risk of each measure by its pooled standard deviation. There were 5171 titles, of which 128 (representing 44 laboratory-based outcomes) were selected. Nine were significantly associated with mortality, in order of decreasing scaled effect size: (1) tumor necrosis factor-α, (2) hematocrit, (3) interleukin-6, (4) troponin T, (5) Kt/V_urea, (6) prealbumin, (7) urea reduction ratio, (8) serum albumin, and (9) C-reactive protein. Other oft-cited measures such as calcium phosphate product and parathyroid hormone were not significantly associated with mortality in pooled analysis. Quality improvement efforts to improve traditional laboratory-based outcomes in end-stage renal disease are necessary, but likely insufficient, to improve overall mortality in dialysis. Renewed consideration of cardiovascular, inflammatory, and nutritional markers that are especially strong predictors of mortality may have important implications for risk stratification and targeted therapeutic interventions.     

An investigation of the dynamic and static stresses in universal bearing H-piles

As part of continuing research on steel bearing piles, an investigation was carried out by British Steel Corporation in an attempt to gather data which will illuminate the areas of contention for limiting stress levels to be raised, thereby allowing economies to be made and customers' confidence to be increased in selecting steel bearing piles for a particular application.
To assess the characteristics of dynamic and static loading, a strain gauge measurement technique was used. Blow by blow stress analyses were carried out. In total 700 blows were examined. The full record of 700 blows and static observations can be obtained from The We/ding Research Department, of BSC's Teeside Laboratories, Middlesbrough.
The results reveal that during the course of driving the pile through hard strata, the impact stresses were 0.6 to 0.7 times the minimum yield stress, at the last blow. These impulsive stresses had no discernable effect on the structure of the piles. Results obtained suggest that considerable increase in design stresses might safely be adopted for steel bearing piles. One of the aims of this long term research is to produce a dynamic testing system which gives more accurate results than can be obtained from traditional methods.     

ANALYSIS OF UNSTABLE BEHAVIOR OF PNEUMATIC CONVEYING SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT

The unstable conveying zone has been recognized by many authors in their attempts to define the minimum conveying velocitv on the dilute phase side of this zone. It was found that the gas flow rate influences the magnitude and frequency of the pressure fluctuations experienced during this type of flow. Generally a reduction of gas flow rate will reduce both the intensity and frequency of the fluctuations.

During the measurement of data for the previous experiments, it was recognized that the pressure fluctuations of dilute and strand flow can serve as simple indicators of the flow stability. An analysis of these fluctuations is presented, which suggests that simple statistical factors can be used to estimate the system condition of operation with respect to the pressure minimum or unstable zone. These elementary trends in the data can be useful for one attempting to optimize a system. This analysis lead to a more intensive approach using Hurst's rescaled range analysis, to examine the changes in pressure fluctuations, which occur when a system undergoes a simulated optimization procedure. The analysis suggested that Hurst's exponent may be used as an indicator of the onset of instability.     

Diagnostics of First Wall Materials in Device by Polarization-Resolved a Magnetically Confined Fusion Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy （LIBS） is a powerful analytical tool for real- time diagnostics and detection of multiple elements deposited at the first wall of magnetically confined plasma ft~sion devices. Recently, we have tested LIBS in our laboratory for application to in situ real-time diagnostics in the fusion device EAST. In this study, we applied polarization- resolved LIBS （PR-LIBS） to reduce the background continuum and enhance the resolution and sensitivity of LIBS. We used aluminium （A1） （as a substitute for Be） and the first wall materials tungsten （W） and molybdenum （Mo） to investigate polarized continuum emission and signal-to- background ratio （SBR）. A Nd：YAG laser with first, second and third harmonics was used to produce plasma. The effects of the laser polarization plane, environmental pressure and polarizer detection angle were investigated. The spectra obtained without using a polarizer （i.e. LIBS） were compared with those obtained with a polarizer （PR-LIBS）. Distribution of emission spectral intensity was observed to follow Malus＇ law with respect to variation in the angle of detection of the polarizer. The spectra obtained by PR-LIBS had a higher SBR and greater stability than those obtained by LIBS, thereby enhancing the reliability of LIBS for quantitative analyses. A comparison of A1, Mo and W showed that W exhibited a higher continuum with stronger polarization than the low-Z elements.     

A generalized exchange heuristic for the capacitated vehicle routing problem

We consider the problem of dispatching the minimum number of vehicles from a central depot to make deliveries to a set of clients with known demands. The objective is to minimize the total distance travelled, subject to vehicle capacity requirements. We present a new heuristic algorithm for solving this problem. The algorithm is based on generalized edge-exchange search procedures, and relaxation of the capacity requirements. Computational results, based upon standard test problems with up to 249 customers, indicate that our heuristic compares favourably with known heuristics in terms of solution quality.     

On the Modeling of Flow in Packed Bed Systems

Modeling of flow and its impact on transport phenomena in packed bed systems is discussed. A detailed flow model based on an improved Brinkman equation has been derived and its solution is presented. This model incorporates a representative voidage function that enabled the generation of velocity profiles that closely followed the voidage profile and highlighted the importance of the wall zone. Two approximate flow models from the literature have been used to obtain velocity profiles for the purpose of comparison with the model derived herein. Significant differences were observed in the location and magnitude of velocity maxima predicted by the various models employed in this work. The impact of such findings on transport phenomena is discussed. A method to obtain a wall zone velocity is suggested to facilitate estimation of transport parameters near the wall.