Interaction of Co, Mn, Mg and AI with d(GCGTACGC): a spectroscopic study

Spectroscopic study on the interactions of trace elements Co, Mn, Mg and Al with d(GCGTACGC) indicated the following: Al and Mg did not alter T-m values. Mn enhanced T-m at lower concentration and decreased it at higher concentrations. Interestingly Co at higher concentration elevated the T-m. These studies also showed lower concentrations of Mn displaced EtBr, whereas Al could displace it at higher ionic strength. Mg and Co displaced EtBr fluorescence at moderate concentrations. The binding constant values and CD spectra clearly indicated strong binding of these elements to DNA.

Preparation, structure, and magnetic properties of isostructural La3MAlS7 and La3MFeS7 (M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, or Zn)

A series of quaternary metal sulfides of the general formula La3MM′S7 (M = Mn, Fe, Co; M′ = Al and M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni; M′ = Fe) consisting of linear chains of face shared MS6 octahedra and isolated M′S4 tetrahedra has been prepared and studied. The aluminium compounds La3MAlS7 (M = Mn, Fe, Co) exhibit linear chain antiferromagnetism. Magnetic behavior of other La3MFeS7 sulfides has been examined in detail. The magnetic susceptibility of La3MgFeS7 shows that tetrahedral site Fe3+ undergoes a transition from Image to S = 2 spin state around 150 K.

D-MG Tradeoff and Optimal Codes for a Class of AF and DF Cooperative Communication Protocols

Cooperative relay communication in a fading channel environment under the orthogonal amplify-and-forward (OAF), nonorthogonal and orthogonal selection decode-and-forward (NSDF and OSDF) protocols is considered here. The diversity-multiplexing gain tradeoff (DMT) of the three protocols is determined and DMT-optimal distributed space-time (ST) code constructions are provided. The codes constructed are sphere decodable and in some instances incur minimum possible delay. Included in our results is the perhaps surprising finding that the orthogonal and the nonorthogonal amplify-and-forward (NAF) protocols have identical DMT when the time durations of the broadcast and cooperative phases are optimally chosen to suit the respective protocol. Moreover our code construction for the OAF protocol incurs less delay. Two variants of the NSDF protocol are considered: fixed-NSDF and variable-NSDF protocol. In the variable-NSDF protocol, the fraction of time occupied by the broadcast phase is allowed to vary with multiplexing gain. The variable-NSDF protocol is shown to improve on the DMT of the best previously known static protocol when the number of relays is greater than two. Also included is a DMT optimal code construction for the NAF protocol.

Vapour composition and activities in Mg-Zn liquid alloy at 923 K

Vapour species effusing from a magnesia Knudsen cell containing Mg-Zn alloy at 923 K were condensed on a water cooled copper plate. The equilibrium composition of the vapour phase over the alloy was determined from chemical analysis of the condensate. The activity coefficients of both components in the alloy have been derived from the data using a modified Gibbs-Duhem relation. The ratio of saturation vapour pressures of pure Zn and Mg obtained from the analysis of alloy data agree well with values from the literature, providing an internal check on the accuracy of data obtained in this study. Both components of the alloy exhibit negative deviations from Raoult's law. The concentration-concentration structure factor of Bhatia and Thomton at zero wave vector, evaluated from the measurements, indicate the presence of MgZn2 type complex in the liquid state. The associated regular solution model has been used for the thermodynamic description of liquid Mg-Zn alloys.

Ternary bismuth oxides Bi26â-xMxO40ay (M = Mg, Al, Co and Ni) related to α - Bi2O3

Reaction of Bi2O3 with MgO, NiO, Co3O4 and Al2O3 gives rise to the corresponding ternary bismuth oxides, Bi18Mg8O36, Bi18Ni8O36, Bi20Co6O39 and Bi24Al2O39. These oxides have the general formula Bi26�xMxO40�y and exhibit BCC structures related to α - Bi2O3. In the first three solids, the metal ions, M, replace bismuth randomly at the octahedral 24r sites (space group 123); in the last case, aluminium ions occupy the tetrahedral 2a sites, the phase being isostructural with Bi24Ge2O40. Starting from Bi2O3 and NiO, orthorhombic Bi2Ni2O5 has also been obtained.

Effect of recrystallization and grain growth on the mechanical properties of an extruded AZ21 Mg alloy

An experimental investigation into the effect of microstructural changes, which occur during post-extrusion annealing of a Mg based AZ21 alloy, on tensile and fatigue properties is conducted. Mechanical properties in the as-cast, as-extruded, and microstructural states that correspond to recovery, recrystallization and grain growth stages of annealing are compared. Results show that these microstructural changes do not alter the yield strength of the alloy markedly whereas significant differences were noted in the ultimate tensile strength as well as ductility. The initiation of abnormal grain growth (or secondary recrystallization) renders the tensile stress-strain response elastic perfectly plastic and results in a large drop in ductility, as high as similar to 60% during intermediate stages of abnormal grain growth, vis-A-vis the ductility of the as-extruded alloy. While the fatigue performance of all the wrought alloys is far superior to as expected, abnormal grain growth leads to a marked decrease in the endurance that of the as-cast alloy, limit. Possible microscopic origins of these are discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Grain boundary sliding during diffusion and dislocation creep in a Mg-0.7 pct Al alloy

Early studies on grain boundary sliding (GBS) in Mg alloys have suggested frequently that the contribution of GBS to creep is high even under conditions corresponding to dislocation creep. The role of creep strain and grain size in influencing the experimental measurements has not been clearly identified. Grain boundary sliding measurements were conducted in detail over experimental conditions corresponding to diffusion creep as well as dislocation creep in a single-phase Mg-0.7 wt pet Al alloy. The results indicated clearly that the GBS contribution to creep was Very high during,, diffusion creep at low stresses (similar to 75 pct) and substantially reduced during dislocation creep at high stresses (similar to 15 pct). These measurements were consistent with the observation of significant intragranular slip band activity observed in most grains at high stresses and very little slip band activity at low stresses. The experimental measurements and analysis indicated also that the GBS contribution to creep was high during the initial stages of creep and decreased to a steady-state value at large strains.

Effect of laser surface treatment on microstructure and properties of MRI 230D Mg alloy

A creep resistant Mg alloy MRI 230D was subjected to laser surface treatment using Nd:YAG laser equipped with a fiber optics beam delivery system in argon atmosphere. The laser surface treatment produced a fine dendritic microstructure and this treatment was beneficial for the corrosion and wear resistance of the alloy. Long-term linear polarisation resistance and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy measurements confirmed that the polarisation resistance values of laser treated material were twice as high as that for the untreated material. This improved behaviour was due to the finer and more homogenous microstructure of the laser treated surface. The laser treatment also increased surface hardness two times and reduced the wear rate by 25% due to grain refinement and solid solution strengthening.

Kinetics of Pressureless Infiltration of Al-Mg Melts into Porous Alumina Preforms

Effective “hydrodynamic” radii governing infiltration kinetics of reactive Al-Mg melts into alumina preforms were found to be three orders of magnitude smaller than the average pore size of the packed bed and also smaller compared with the kinetics for a nonreactive system. A sinusoidal capillary model was developed to predict flow kinetics within the packed bed. For the reactive system, two factors were ascribed for additional melt retardation: (1) different intrinsic wettabilities of the two liquids on alumina, thereby leading to significantly different “effective” local contact angles; and (2) local solute depletion from the meniscus, which was incorporated as a time-dependent contact angle.

Interrupted creep behaviour of Mg alloys developed for powertrain applications

A conventional magnesium alloy, AZ91D, and two creep resistant magnesium alloys, developed for powertrain applications, MRI 153M and MRI 230D, are prepared by high pressure die casting. These alloys are tested for their creep behaviour in the continuous manner, as is the Current practice, and in the interrupted manner, which represents the real life Situation more closely. It is observed that the interrupted creep tests give rise to a primary creep appearing at the beginning of each cycle resulting in a higher average strain rate than that encountered in the continuous creep tests. Further, the shorter the cycle time, higher is the average strain rate in the interrupted creep tests. A higher average strain rate will give rise to a higher strain over the same period. This is attributed to the recovery taking place during the cooling and heating between two cycles. The effect of additional precipitation during interrupted creep tests depends on the nature of the precipitates. The additional precipitation of beta phase during the cooling and heating between two cycles increases the steady state strain rate in the AZ91D and MRI 153M alloys. whereas the additional precipitation of C36 phase during the cooling and heating between two cycles decreases the steady state strain rate in the MRI 230D alloy. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of directionality of unidirectional grinding marks on friction and transfer layer formation of Mg on steel using inclined scratch test

Surface topography has been known to play an important role in the friction and transfer layer formation during sliding. In the present investigation, EN8 steel flats were ground to attain different surface roughness with unidirectional grinding marks. Pure Mg pins were scratched on these surfaces using an Inclined Scratch Tester to study the influence of directionality of surface grinding marks on coefficient of friction and transfer layer formation. Grinding angle (i.e., the angle between direction of scratch and grinding marks) was varied between 0 degrees and 90 degrees during the tests. Experiments were conducted under both dry and lubricated conditions. Scanning electron micrographs of the contact surfaces of pins and flats were used to reveal the surface features that included the morphology of the transfer layer. It was observed that the average coefficient of friction and transfer layer formation depend primarily on the directionality of the grinding marks but were independent of surface roughness on the harder mating surface. In addition, a stick-slip phenomenon was observed, the amplitude of which depended both on the directionality of grinding marks and the surface roughness of the harder mating surface. The grinding angle effect on the coefficient of friction, which consists of adhesion and plowing components, was attributed to the variation of plowing component of friction. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of matrix strength on the mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg/SiCp composites

The mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg alloy reinforced with SiCP composites prepared by solidification route were studied by altering the matrix strength with different heat treatments. With respect to the control alloy, the composites have shown similar ageing behaviour in terms of microhardness data at 135 degrees C. It was shown that although composites exhibited enhanced modulus values, the strengthening was found to be dependent on the damage that is occurring during straining. Thus the initial matrix strength plays an important role in determining the strengthening. Consequently, compression data had shown a different trend compared to tension. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Voltage delay during constant-current or constant-resistance discharge of Mg-MnO2 dry cells: A comparative study

A theoretical approach has been developed to relate the voltage delay transients of the Mg-MnO2 dry cell observed during discharge by two commonly employed modes, viz., (1) at constant current, and (2) across a constant resistance. The approach has been verified by comparison of experimentally obtained transients with those generated from theory. The method may be used to predict the delay parameters of the Mg-MnO2 dry cell under the two modes of discharge and can, in principle, be extended to lithium batteries.