Microtensile testing of a free-standing Pt-aluminide bond coat

A finite element method (FEM)-based study has been carried out for the design of flat microtensile samples to evaluate tensile properties of Pt-aluminide (PtAl) bond coats. The critical dimensions of the sample have been determined using a two-dimensional elastic stress analysis. In the present testing scheme, the ratio of the dimensions of the holding length to the fillet radius of the sample was found important to achieve failure within the gage length. The effect of gage length and grip head length also has been examined. The simulation predictions have been experimentally verified by conducting microtensile test of an actual PtAl bond coat at room temperature. The sample design and testing scheme suggested in this study have also been found suitable for evaluation of tensile properties at high temperature. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A crosslinked ``polymer-gel'' rechargeable lithium-ion battery electrolyte from free radical polymerization using nonionic plastic crystalline electrolyte medium

A cross-linked polymer-gel soft matter electrolyte with superior electrochemical, thermal and mechanical properties obtained from free radical polymerization of vinyl monomers in a semi-solid organic nonionic plastic crystalline electrolyte for application in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries is discussed here.

Free convection about cylinders of elliptic cross section embedded in a porous medium

Numerical solutions are presented for the free convection boundary layers over cylinders of elliptic cross section embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium. The transformed conservation equations of the nonsimilar boundary layers are solved numerically by an efficient finite-difference method. The theory was applied to a number of cylinders and the results compared very well with published analytical solutions. The results are of use in the design of underground electrical cables, power plant steam, and water distribution lines, among others.

Growth and extraction of flux free YBCO crystals

An improved flux draining technique for the extraction of grown YBCO crystals from its solvent is reported. This simple and efficient technique facilitates in-situ flux separation in the isothermal region of the furnace. Consequently, the crystals are spared from thermal shock and subsequent damage. Flux-free surfaces of these crystals were studied by optical microscopy. Transmission X-ray topographs of the crystals reveal the dislocations present in them as well as the stresses developed as a result of ferroelastic phase transition occurring during cooling.

Anomalies in free flux-flow hall effect

The low-T-c layered superconductor 2H-NbSe2 shows remarkable results for free flux-flow Hall effect. At low magnetic fields, the Nozieres-Vinen result of a field-independent Hall angle appears to hold. At larger fields, a marked departure occurs leading to an extremely sharp and pronounced minimum slightly below H-c2, unaccounted for in the standard theoretical models. The results suggest the existence of collective dynamics and phase transitions (such as melting) in a clean flux line lattice.

Ce0.98Pd0.02O2-delta: Recyclable, ligand free palladium(II) catalyst for Heck reaction

Palladium substituted in cerium dioxide in the form of a solid solution, Ce-0.98 Pd-0.02 O-1.98 is a new heterogeneous catalyst which exhibits high activity and 100% trans-selectivity for the Heck reactions of aryl bromides including heteroaryls with olefins. The catalytic reactions work without any ligand. Nano-crystalline Ce-0.98 Pd-0.02 O-1.98 is prepared by solution combustion method and Pd is in +2 state. The catalyst can be separated, recovered and reused without significant loss in activity.

Unsteady free convection flow under the influence of a magnetic field

The unsteady free convection boundary layer at the stagnation point of a two-dimensional body and an axisymmetric body with prescribed surface heat flux or temperature has been studied. The magnetic field is applied parallel to the surface and the effect of induced magnetic field has been considered. It is found that for certain powerlaw distribution of surface heat flux or temperature and magnetic field with time, the governing boundary layer equations admit a self-similar solution locally. The resulting nonlinear ordinary differential equations have been solved using a finite element method and a shooting method with Newton's corrections for missing initial conditions. The results show that the skin friction and heat transfer coefficients, and x-component of the induced magnetic field on the surface increase with the applied magnetic field. In general, the skin friction, heat transfer and x-component of the induced magnetic field for axisymmetric case are more than those of the two-dimensional case. Also they change more when the surface heat flux or temperature decreases with time than when it increases with time. The skin friction, heat transfer and x-component of the induced magnetic field are significantly affected by the magnetic Prandtl number and they increase as the magnetic Prandtl number decreases. The skin friction and x-component of the magnetic field increase with the dissipation parameter, but heat transfer decreases.

Exact free-surface flows for shallow-water equations .1. - the incompressible case

A comprehensive exact treatment of free surface flows governed by shallow water equations (in sigma variables) is given. Several new families of exact solutions of the governing PDEs are found and are shown to embed the well-known self-similar or traveling wave solutions which themselves are governed by reduced ODEs. The classes of solutions found here are explicit in contrast to those found earlier in an implicit form. The height of the free surface for each family of solutions is found explicitly. For the traveling or simple wave, the free surface is governed by a nonlinear wave equation, but is arbitrary otherwise. For other types of solutions, the height of the free surface is constant either on lines of constant acceleration or on lines of constant speed; in another case, the free surface is a horizontal plane while the flow underneath is a sine wave. The existence of simple waves on shear flows is analytically proved. The interaction of large amplitude progressive waves with shear flow is also studied.

Free vibration analysis Of stochastic strings

The free vibration of strings with randomly varying mass and stiffness is considered. The joint probability density functions of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are characterized in terms of the solution of a pair of stochastic non-linear initial value problems. Analytical solutions of these equations based on the method of stochastic averaging are obtained. The effects of the mean and autocorrelation of the mass process are included in the analysis. Numerical results for the marginal probability density functions of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are obtained and are found to compare well with Monte Carlo simulation results. The random eigenvalues, when normalized with respect to their corresponding deterministic values, are observed to tend to become first order stochastically stationary with respect to the mode count.

Intracellular free calcium level and its response to cAMP stimulation in developing Dictyostelium cells transformed with jellyfish apoaequorin CDNA

A new method is described for measuring intracellular free calcium concentrations, [(Ca2+)(i)], in the cells of Dictyostelium discoideum transformed with apoaequorin cDNA of the jellyfish, Aequorea victoria. Aequorin, a calcium-specific indicator, was regenerated in vivo from apoaequorin produced in the cells by incubation with coelenterazine. The results showed that [(Ca2+)(i)] in developing cells markedly increases at the aggregation stage and again at the culmination stage after a temporary drop at the migration stage. Except for the vegetative stage, the cells al all stages of development exhibit a sharp transient increase in [(Ca2+)(i)] upon stimulation with a cAMP (50 nM) pulse, high responses being observed at the migration and culmination stages. Separated prestalk cells of migrating slugs contain more than twice as much [(Ca2+)(i)] and show three times as large a response to cAMP stimulation as prespore cells.

A critical assessment of the standard molar gibbs free energy of formation of NiWO4

Three independent studies have been reported on the free energy of formation of NiWO4. Results of these measurements are analyzed by the �third-law� method, using thermal functions for NiWO4 derived from both low and high temperature heat capacity measurements. Values for the standard molar enthalpy of formation of NiWO4 at 298·15 K obtained from �third-law� analysis are compared with direct calorimetric determinations. Only one set of free energy measurements is found to be compatible with calorimetric enthalpies of formation. The selected value for ?f H m 0 (NiWO4, cr, 298·15 K) is the average of the three calorimetric measurements, using both high temperature solution and combustion techniques, and the compatible free energy determination. A new set of evaluated data for NiWO4 is presented.

Metal-Free Deprotection of Terminal Acetonides by Using tert-Butyl Hydroperoxide in Aqueous Medium

Employing aqueous tert-butyl hydroperoxide (70%) as an inexpensive reagent a useful methodology for the regioselective and chemoselective deprotection of terminal acetonide groups in aqueous medium is developed. A variety of acetonide derivatives on reaction with aqueous tert-butyl hydroperoxide in water:tert-butanol (1:1) furnish the corresponding acetonide deprotected diols in good yields. A large number of acid labile protecting functional groups and other functional moieties were found to be unaffected under the conditions employed for the present deprotection. This method has been successfully applied to sugar derivatives.

Generalization of Abrams' law

Considering cement based composites as chemically bonded ceramics (CBC) the consequent strength development with age is essentially a constant volume solidification process, such that the hydrated gel particles fill the space resulting in the compatible gel space ratios. Analysis has been done of the extensively used graphical method of mix design (British method of mix design) i.e., the relation between the compressive strength and the free water - cement ratio. By considering the strength (S) at w/c 0.5 (S-0.5) as the reference state to reflect the synergetic effects between constituents of concrete a generalized relationship obtained is of the form {S/S-0.5} = a + b {1/(w/c)}.