Origin of giant dielectric constant and conductivity behavior in Zn1-xMgxO (0 <= x <= 0.1) ceramics

Zn1-xMgxO ( <= x <= 0.1) ceramics were fabricated by conventional solid-state reaction of co-precipitated zinc oxide and magnesium hydroxide nanoparticles. Structural and morphological properties of the fabricated ceramics were studied using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopic analysis. The dielectric measurements of the ceramics were carried out as a function of frequency and temperature respectively. Interestingly, Mg doped ZnO (MZO) samples exhibited colossal dielectric response (similar to 1 x 10(4) at 1 kHz) with Debye like relaxation. The detailed dielectric studies and thermal analyses showed that the unusual dielectric response of the samples were originated from the defected grain and grain boundary (GB) conductivity relaxations due to the absorbed atmospheric water vapor (moisture). Impedance spectroscopy was employed to determine the defected grain and GB resistances, capacitances and which supported Maxwell-Wagner type relaxation phenomena. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Behavior of Brick-Mortar Interfaces in FRP-Strengthened Masonry Assemblages under Normal Loading and Shear Loading

Determination of shear strength of brick-mortar bed joint is critical to overcome the sliding-shear or joint-shear failure in masonry. In the recent past, researchers have attempted to enhance the shear strength and deformation capacity of brick-mortar bed joints by gluing fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite across the bed joint. FRP composites offer several advantages like high strength-to-weight ratio, and ease of application in terms of labor, time, and reduced curing period. Furthermore, FRP composites are desirable for strengthening old masonry buildings having heritage value because of its minimal interference with the existing architecture. A majority of earlier studies on shear strengthening of masonry available in the literature adopted masonry having the ratio of modulus of elasticity of masonry unit (Emu) to modulus of elasticity of mortar (Em) greater than one. Information related to shear behavior of FRP glued masonry composed of masonry units having Young's modulus lower than mortar is limited. Hence the present study is focused on characterizing the interfacial behavior of brick-mortar bed joint of masonry assemblages composed of solid burnt clay bricks and cement-sand mortar (E-mu/E-m ratio less than one), strengthened with FRP composites. Masonry triplets and prisms with bed joint inclined to loading axis (0 degrees, 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees and 90 degrees) are employed in this study. Glass and carbon FRP composites composed of bidirectional FRP fabric with equal density in both directions are used for strengthening masonry. Masonry triplets are glued with glass and carbon FRP composites in two configurations: (1) both faces of the triplet specimens are fully glued with GFRP composites; and (2) both faces of the triplet specimens are glued with GFRP and CFRP composites in strip form. The performance of masonry assemblages strengthened with FRP composites is assessed in terms of gain in shear strength, shear displacement, and postpeak behavior for various configurations and types of FRP composites considered. A semianalytical model is proposed for the prediction of shear strength of masonry bed joints glued with FRP composites. A composite failure envelope consisting of a Coulomb friction model and a compression cap is obtained for unreinforced masonry and GFRP-strengthened masonry based on the test results of masonry triplets and masonry prisms with bed joints having various inclinations to the loading (C) 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.

High temperature deformation behavior of Nb-1 wt.%Zr alloy

The hot deformation behavior of Nb-1 wt.%Zr alloy was studied using uniaxial compression tests carried out in vacuum to a true strain of 0.6 in the temperature range of 900 to 1700 degrees C and the strain rate range of 3 x 10(-3) to 10 s(-1). The optimum regime of hot workability of Nb-1Zr alloy was determined from the strain rate sensitivity (m) contour plots. A high m of about 02 was obtained in the temperature and strain rate range of 1200-1500 degrees C and 10(-3) to 10(-1) s(-1) and 1600-1700 degrees C and 10(-1) to 1 s(-1). Microstructure of the deformed samples showed features of dynamic recrystallization within the high strain rate sensitivity domain. Compared to the study on Nb-1Zr-0.1C alloy, Nb-1Zr showed a lower flow stress and an optimum hot working domain at lower temperatures. In the 1500 to 1700 degrees C range the apparent activation energy of deformation for Nb-1Zr was 259 kJ mol(-1), the stress exponent 5, and the activation volume about 200 to 700 b(3). (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On variant distribution and coarsening behavior of the a phase in a metastable beta titanium alloy

The stereology, variant distribution and coarsening behavior of semicoherent alpha(hcp) precipitates in a beta(bcc) matrix of a Ti5553 alloy has been analyzed, and a dominant 3-variant cluster has been observed in which the variants are related to each other by an axis-angle pair <<11(2)over bar> 0 >/60 degrees. Shape and spatial distribution independent elastic self and interaction energies for all pairwise and triplet combinations of a have been calculated and it is found that the 3-cluster combination that is experimentally observed most frequently has the lowest energy for the semicoherent state. The coarsening behavior of the delta distribution follows LSW kinetics after an initial transient, and has been modeled by phase field methods. (C) 2016 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Asymptotic behavior and interpretation of virtual states: The effects of confinement and of basis sets

A real-space high order finite difference method is used to analyze the effect of spherical domain size on the Hartree-Fock (and density functional theory) virtual eigenstates. We show the domain size dependence of both positive and negative virtual eigenvalues of the Hartree-Fock equations for small molecules. We demonstrate that positive states behave like a particle in spherical well and show how they approach zero. For the negative eigenstates, we show that large domains are needed to get the correct eigenvalues. We compare our results to those of Gaussian basis sets and draw some conclusions for real-space, basis-sets, and plane-waves calculations. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.

Green Nanosilver as Reinforcing Eco-Friendly Additive to Epoxy Coating for Augmented Anticorrosive and Antimicrobial Behavior

Epoxy resin GY250 representing diglycidyl ethers of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) was reinforced with 1, 3 and 5 wt % of surface functionalized silver nanoparticles (F-AgNPs) which were synthesized using Couroupita guianensis leaves extract with a view of augmenting the corrosion control property of the epoxy resin and also imparting antimicrobial activity to epoxy coatings on mild steel. Corrosion resistance of the coatings was evaluated by EIS, potentiodynamic polarization studies and cross scratch tests. AFM, SEM, HRTEM and EDX were utilized to investigate the surface topography, morphology and elemental composition of the coatings on MS specimens. Results showed that the corrosion resistance, hardness and T-g of the DGEBA/F-AgNPs coatings increased at 1 wt % of F-AgNPs. The DGEBA/F-AgNPs coatings also offered manifold antimicrobial protection to the MS surfaces by inhibiting the growth of biofilm forming bacteria like P. aeruginosa, B. subtilis, the most common human pathogen E. coli and the most virulent human pathogenic yeast C. albicans.