Friction and transfer layer formation in polymer-steel tribo-system: Role of surface texture and roughness parameters

In the present investigation, various kinds of surface textures were attained on the steel plates. Roughness of the textures was varied using various grinding or polishing methods. The surface textures were characterized in terms of roughness parameters using an optical profilometer. Then experiments were conducted using an inclined pin-on-plate sliding apparatus to identify the role of surface texture and its roughness parameters on coefficient of friction and transfer layer formation. In the experiments, a soft polymer (polypropylene) was used for the pin and hardened steel was used for the plate. Experiments were conducted at a sliding velocity of 2 minis in ambient conditions under both dry and lubricated conditions. The normal load was varied from 1 to 120 N during the tests. The morphologies of the worn surfaces of the pins and the formation of a transfer layer on the steel plate surfaces were observed using a scanning electron microscope. Based on the experimental results, it was observed that the transfer layer formation and the coefficient of friction along with its two components, namely adhesion and plowing, were controlled by the surface texture of the harder mating surfaces and were less dependent of surface roughness (R(a)) of the harder mating surfaces. The effect of surface texture on the friction was attributed to the variation of the plowing component of friction for different surfaces. Among the various surface roughness parameters studied, the mean slope of the profile, Delta(a), was found to most accurately characterize variations in the friction and wear behavior. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Increased glycosidic bond stabilities in 4-C-hydroxymethyl linked disaccharides

Three new hydroxymethyl-linked non-natural disaccharide analogues, containing an additional methylene group in between the glycosidic linkage, were synthesized by utilizing 4-C-hydroxymethyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside as the glycosyl donor. A kinetic study was undertaken to assess the hydrolytic stabilities of these new disaccharide analogues toward acid-catalyzed hydrolysis, at 60 degrees C and 70 degrees C. The studies showed that the disaccharide analogues were stable, by an order of magnitude, than naturally-occurring disaccharides, such as, cellobiose, lactose, and maltose. The first order rate constants were lower than that of methyl glycosides and the trend of hydrolysis rate constants followed that of naturally-occurring disaccharides. alpha-Anomer showed faster hydrolysis than the beta-anomer and the presence of axial hydroxyl group also led to faster hydrolysis among the disaccharide analogues. Energy minimized structures, derived through molecular modeling, showed that dihedral angles around the glycosidic bond in disaccharide analogues were nearly similar to that of naturally-occurring disaccharides. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Symmetry of one-dimensional dynamical systems in terms of transfer matrix parameters

The concept of symmetry for passive, one-dimensional dynamical systems is well understood in terms of the impedance matrix, or alternatively, the mobility matrix. In the past two decades, however, it has been established that the transfer matrix method is ideally suited for the analysis and synthesis of such systems. In this paper an investigatiob is described of what symmetry means in terms of the transfer matrix parameters of an passive element or a set of elements. One-dimensional flexural systems with 4 × 4 transfer matrices as well as acoustical and mechanical systems characterized by 2 × 2 transfer matrices are considered. It is shown that the transfer matrix of a symmetrical system, defined with respect to symmetrically oriented state variables, is involutory, and that a physically symmetrical system may not necessarily be functionally or dynamically symmetrical.

Extending the Supramolecular Synthon Based Fragment Approach (SBFA) for Transferability of Multipole Charge Density Parameters to Monofluorobenzoic Acids and their Cocrystals with Isonicotinamide: Importance of C-H center dot center dot center dot O, C-H center dot center dot center dot F, and F center dot center dot center dot F Intermolecular Regions

An extension of the supramolecular synthon-based fragment approach (SBFA) method for transferability of multipole charge density parameters to include weak supramolecular synthons is proposed. In particular, the SBFA method is applied to C-H center dot center dot center dot O, C-H center dot center dot center dot F, and F center dot center dot center dot F containing synthons. A high resolution charge density study has been performed on 4-fluorobenzoic acid to build a synthon library for C-H center dot center dot center dot F infinite chain interactions. Libraries for C-H center dot center dot center dot O and F center dot center dot center dot F synthons were taken from earlier work. The SBFA methodology was applied successfully to 2- and 3-fluorobenzoic acids, data sets for which were collected in a routine manner at 100 K, and the modularity of the synthons was demonstrated. Cocrystals of isonicotinamide with all three fluorobenzoic acids were also studied with the SBFA method. The topological analysis of inter- and intramolecular interaction regions was performed using Bader's AIM approach. This study shows that the SBFA method is generally applicable to generate charge density maps using information from multiple intermolecular regions.

Design parameters for earth-wire power tapping

The paper deals with the calculation of the induced voltage on, and the equivalent capacitance of, an earth wire isolated for purposes of tapping small amounts of power from high-voltage lines. The influence of heights, diameters and spacings of conductors on these quantities have been studied and presented in the form of graphs.

Studies on hydrogen-bonds .4. proposed working criteria for assessing qualitative strength of hydrogen-bonds

The data obtained in the earlier parts of this series for the donor and acceptor end parameters of N-H. O and O-H. O hydrogen bonds have been utilised to obtain a qualitative working criterion to classify the hydrogen bonds into three categories: “very good” (VG), “moderately good” (MG) and weak (W). The general distribution curves for all the four parameters are found to be nearly of the Gaussian type. Assuming that the VG hydrogen bonds lie between 0 and ± la, MG hydrogen bonds between ± 1s̀ and ± 2s̀, W hydrogen bonds beyond ± 2s̀ (where s̀ is the standard deviation), suitable cut-off limits for classifying the hydrogen bonds in the three categories have been derived. These limits are used to get VG and MG ranges for the four parameters 1 and θ (at the donor end) and ± and ± (at the acceptor end). The qualitative strength of a hydrogen bond is decided by the cumulative application of the criteria to all the four parameters. The criterion has been further applied to some practical examples in conformational studies such as α-helix and can be used for obtaining suitable location of hydrogen atoms to form good hydrogen bonds. An empirical approach to the energy of hydrogen bonds in the three categories has also been presented.