Elastic Behaviour and Microstructural Characteristics of Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 Bulk Metallic Glass Investigated by Ultrasonic Measurement under Pressure

An ultrasonic pulse-echo method was used to measure the transit time of longitudinal and transverse (10 MHz) elastic waves in a Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 bulk metallic glass (BMG). The measurements were carried out under hydrostatic pressure up to 0.5 GPa at room temperature. On the basis of experimental data for the sound velocities and density, the elastic moduli and Debye temperature of the BMG were derived as a function of pressure. Murnaghan's equation of state is obtained. The normal behaviour of the positive pressure dependence of the ultrasonic velocities was observed for this glass. Moreover, the compression curve, the elastic constants, and the Debye temperature of the BMG are calculated on the basis of the similarity between their physical properties in the glassy state and those in corresponding crystalline state. These results confirm qualitatively the theoretical predictions concerning the features of the microstructure and interatomic bonding in the Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 BMG.

Measurement Of Fracture Toughness And Interfacial Shear Strength Of Hard And Brittle Cr Coating On Ductile Steel Substrate

The fracture toughness and interfacial adhesion properties of a coating on its substrate are considered to be crucial intrinsic parameters determining performance and reliability of coating-substrate system. In this work, the fracture toughness and interfacial shear strength of a hard and brittle Cr coating on a normal medium carbon steel substrate were investigated by means of a tensile test. The normal medium carbon steel substrate electroplated with a hard and brittle Cr coating was quasi-statically stretched to induce an array of parallel cracks in the coating. An optical microscope was used to observe the cracking of the coating and the interfacial decohesion between the coating and the substrate during the loading. It was found that the cracking of the coating initiated at critical strain, and then the number of the cracks of the coating per unit axial distance increased with the increase in the tensile strain. At another critical strain, the number of the cracks of the coating became saturated, i.e. the number of cracks per unit axial distance became a constant after this critical strain. Based on the experiment result, the fracture toughness of the brittle coating can be determined using a mechanical model. Interestingly, even when the whole specimen fractured completely under an extreme strain of the substrate, the interfacial decohesion or buckling of the coating on its substrate was completely absent. The test result is different from that appeared in the literature though the identical test method and the brittle coating/ductile metal substrate system are taken. It was found that this difference can be attributed to an important mechanism that the Cr coating on the steel substrate has a good adhesion, and the ultimate interfacial shear strength between the Cr coating and the steel substrate has exceeded the maximum shear flow strength level of the steel substrate. This result also indicates that the maximum shear flow strength level of the ductile steel substrate can be only taken as a lower bound estimate on the ultimate shear strength of the interface. This estimation of the ultimate interfacial shear strength is consistent with the theoretical analysis and prediction presented in the literature.

A Novel Inverse Method For Determining The Refractive Indices Of Medium And Dispersed Particles Simultaneously By Turbidity Measurement

The refractive indices of particles and dispersion medium are important parameters in many colloidal experiments using optical techniques, such as turbidity and light scattering measurements. These data are in general wavelength-dependent and may not be available at some wavelengths fitting to the experimental requirement. in this Study we present a novel approach to inversely determine the refractive indices of particles and dispersion medium by examining the consistency of measured extinction cross sections of particles with their theoretical values using a series of trial values of the refractive indices. The colloidal suspension of polystyrene particles dispersed in water was used as an example to demonstrate how this approach works and the data obtained via such a method are compared with those reported in literature, showing a good agreement between both. Furthermore, the factors that affect the accuracy of measurements are discussed. We also present some data of the refractive indices of polystyrene over a range of wavelengths smaller than 400 nm that have been not reported in the available literature. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Economic measurement in public welfare economics : practical experiences on the regional level in Germany

Resumen: ¿Cuál es el precio justo para la asistencia social? Este artículo muestra que la medición económica efectuada en mercados basados en el valor de los servicios prestados podría responder esta pregunta. La medición económica puede hacer lo mismo en distintos campos del trabajo social aplicando diferentes métodos, tales como ofertas públicas o negociaciones calificadas. Después de dar un breve panorama teórico, se presentan y analizan en detalle dos proyectos alemanes. El artículo muestra cómo la introducción de mecanismos de negociación en la asistencia social expresados en términos de resultados pueden traer efectos positivos para las finanzas públicas, así como también para el bien común.

Study on improving the turbidity measurement of the absolute coagulation rate constant

The existing theories dealing with the evaluation of the absolute coagulation rate constant by turbidity measurement were experimentally tested for different particle-sized (radius = a) suspensions at incident wavelengths (lambda) ranging from near-infrared to ultraviolet light. When the size parameter alpha = 2 pi a/lambda > 3, the rate constant data from previous theories for fixed-sized particles show significant inconsistencies at different light wavelengths. We attribute this problem to the imperfection of these theories in describing the light scattering from doublets through their evaluation of the extinction cross section. The evaluations of the rate constants by all previous theories become untenable as the size parameter increases and therefore hampers the applicable range of the turbidity measurement. By using the T-matrix method, we present a robust solution for evaluating the extinction cross section of doublets formed in the aggregation. Our experiments show that this new approach is effective in extending the applicability range of the turbidity methodology and increasing measurement accuracy.

Toward an understanding of the turbidity measurement of fleterocoagulation rate constants of dispersions containing particles of different sizes

Our previous studies have shown that the determination of coagulation rate constants by turbidity measurement becomes impossible for a certain operating wavelength (that is, its blind point) because at this wavelength the change in the turbidity of a dispersion completely loses its response to the coagulation process. Therefore, performing the turbidity measurement in the wavelength range near the blind point should be avoided. In this article, we demonstrate that the turbidity measurement of the rate constant for coagulation of a binary dispersion containing particles of two different sizes (heterocoagulation) presents special difficulties because the blind point shifts with not only particle size but also with the component fraction. Some important aspects of the turbidity measurement for the heterocoagulation rate constant are discussed and experimentally tested. It is emphasized that the T-matrix method can be used to correctly evaluate extinction cross sections of doublets formed during the heterocoagulation process, which is the key data determining the rate constant from the turbidity measurement, and choosing the appropriate operating wavelength and component fraction are important to achieving a more accurate rate constant. Finally, a simple scheme in experimentally determining the sensitivity of the turbidity changes with coagulation over a wavelength range is proposed.

Calidad bromatológica, organolépticas y ph en ensilaje de pasto cubano (Pennisetum purpureum x Pennisetumtyphoides) CV. CT-115 bajo el efecto de cuatro aditivos utilizados en la conservación de forraje en la finca Santa Rosa, Sabana Grande, Managua

Este estudio se realizó en la finca Santa Rosa propiedad de la Universidad Nacional Agraria en Managua, con el objetivo de evaluar lascaracterísticas organolépticas (olor, color, textura), temperatura, pH y calidadbromatológica (materia seca MS, proteína bruta PB y fibra neutro detergente FND), en ensilaje de pasto Pennisetum purpureum x PennisetumtyphoidesCV. CT- 115, bajo el efecto de cuatro aditivos para conservación: melaza, fermento de malanga, fermento de yuca y fermento de papa. El pasto fue cosechado a 60 días con tamaño de picado de2.5 cm, aplicando 800g de melaza comercial y 150cc de aditivo en cada bolsa de ensilaje, la apertura de las silobolsas se realizó a 20 días, seguidamente fueron evaluados porun jurado de expertos (4 personas). El Diseño utilizado fue un DCA con cuatro tratamientos: T1 ensilaje (CT- 115+melaza), T2 ensilaje (CT-115+melaza+fermento de malanga), el T3 ensilaje (CT- 115+melaza+fermento de yuca) y T4 ensilaje (CT-115+melaza+fermento de papa) y cuatro repeticiones, para 16 unidades experimentales. Los resultados para la variable olor en aproximación al valor ideal fueron del 87.55% para T1; T2: 88.55%, T3: 72.33% y T4: 77.74%; con respecto al color el T1 alcanzó el valor: 77.08%, T2: 100%, T3: 89.58% y T4: 85.41%; en cuanto a la textura los resultados fueron para T1, T2, y T3 del 100%, para T4: 93.77%.La variable temperatura reportó resultadosde 31.75°C para T1, T2 y T3: 32.00°C y T4: 31.50°C.Para la variable pH se encontró que el T2 presentó diferencias significativas (p<0.05) con respecto al T1 y T4, al mismo tiempo presentó diferencias altamente significativas (p<0.01) con el T3. El T1 y T4 no presentaron diferencias significativas, pero presentaron diferencias significativas (p<0.05) con respecto al T3, y obtuvieron medias (por Tukey) para T1 de 4.66, T2: 4.87, T3: 4.22 y T4: 4.45.Los resultados de calidad bromatológica para MS por tratamiento fueron29.94%, 27.84%, 28.20% y 32.59%, respetivamente. La PB alcanzó valores de 5.22%, 4.64%, 4.75% y 4.76%, por tratamiento respectivamente. La FND presentó valores por tratamiento de 55.41%, 64.10%, 63.06% y 57.01%, respectivamente. Con base en estos resultados se estima que el ensilaje del T2 presentó los mejores resultados en cuanto a características organolépticas, aunque bromatológicamente no supero al testigo (T1), el uso de aditivos de fermentos en el ensilaje mejora su calidad organoléptica.

Determinación de la concentración de pH en hojas de cultivares clonales Spondias purpurea L, en el arboretum Alain Meyrat de la Universidad Nacional Agraria, Managua, Nicaragua

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo determinar la concentración de pH en las hojas de 17 cultivares clónales de Spondias purpurea L, ubicado en el Arboretum Alain Meyrat de la Universidad Nacional Agraria, la metodología utilizada consistió en la recolección del material vegetativo de las cuales se seleccionaron 20 hojas de cada cultivar clonal en buen estado (sanas, verdes y completas). Se procedió medir con ayuda de una balanza el peso verde de las hojas separando los foliolos y el raquis la cuales se rotularon con el nombre de cada cultivar clonal. Para determinar la concentración pH de cada cultivar se recortó los foliolos y el raquis utilizando 3 g de cada muestra, se macera con un mortero hasta obtener materia molida. Una vez macerado los 3 g de cada muestra se determina la solubilidad de las hojas, haciendo uso de solventes como el agua (H₂0), benceno (C₆H₆), etanol (CH₃-CH₂-0H), y tetracloruro de carbono (CCL₄), para ello se utilizó 3 ml de cada solvente. Se empleó el uso de un pHmetro para determinar la concentración de pH de las muestras combinadas con los solventes y pH de la muestra sin solvente. Se obtuvo que el pH del cultivar San franciscano posee mayor contenido de acidez empleando los solventes químicos y el raquis seco para elaborar infusiones, por el contrario las infusiones con los foliolos secos del cultivar Cocer se obtuvo la mayor concentración de acidez