Investigation on critical triaxiality along unified yield loci at crack tip under mixed mode (I + II) fracture

Metallic components used in industries and day to day appliances often contain micro-cracks. In general, cracks occur in various orientations to the loading axis. The present paper discusses the criticality of stress triaxiality, a well-known ductile fracture parameter, on the yield loci at the crack tip. In the process, an old model of stress triaxiality has been generalized using unified strength theory to incorporate various convex and nonconvex failure criteria, including single shear, twin shear, etc. The new triaxiality model also reveals about the effect of intermediate principal stress at the crack tip for materials with and without strength difference. The crack initiation angles at the crack tip, obtained through the proposed model have been found to be in unison with those obtained through other fracture criteria.     

CdS/ZnS core–shell nanoparticles in arachidic acid LB films

Core–shell CdS/ZnS nanoparticles in arachidic acid film were prepared through a novel Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) approach. Post-deposition treatment of the precursor LB multilayers of cadmium arachidate with H₂S gas followed by intercalation of Zn²⁺ ions and further sulfidation result in the formation of CdS/ZnS nanoparticles in the LB film. The formation of these nanoparticles and resulting changes in layered structures were studied by FTIR and X-ray reflection measurements. The optical properties were studied using UV–vis absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy. A red-shift in the absorption spectrum and enhancement of CdS excitonic emission together with reduction of surface states emission suggest that after the intercalation step, a thin layer of ZnS surrounds the CdS nanoparticles, thus forming a core–shell structure. Subsequent to the second sulfidation, a further red-shift in absorption suggests the formation of a thicker ZnS coating on CdS. Electron diffraction of CdS nanoparticles coated with thicker ZnS showed the diffraction patterns of only ZnS, as expected for core–shell structures.     

Electret studies of polyvinyl chloride

Both types of charges - hetero and homo - are present in the polyvinyl-chloride thermoelectrets. The results have been explained on the basis of a qualitative model. A new phenomenon of triple charge reversal - from hetero to homo, homo to hetero and finally from homo to hetero charge, in a few cases, is reported.     

Influence of binary surfactant mixtures on the rheology of associative polymer solutions

Hydrophobically modified alkali-soluble emulsion polymers (HASE) are a class of comblike associative polymers that can impart high viscosities to aqueous solutions. The rheology of HASE solutions can be tuned by the addition of surfactants, such as nonylphenol ethoxylates (NP e), where e is the length of the hydrophilic (ethoxylate) chain. While previous studies have considered individual surfactants, our focus here is on binary surfactant mixtures. We find that equimolar NP4-NP12 mixtures significantly enhance the zero-shear viscosities of HASE solutions as compared to equivalent amounts of NP8, especially at high overall surfactant concentrations. Dynamic rheological measurements suggest that the higher viscosities are due to increases in the lifetime of hydrophobic junctions in the polymer-surfactant network. In contrast to the above results, equimolar NP4-NP8 mixtures are rheologically identical to equivalent solutions of NP6. The differences between the two sets of mixtures are further correlated with cloud point measurements and thereby with the overall hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) of the surfactant system.     

Some new equivalences of Anderson's paving conjectures

Anderson's paving conjectures are known to be equivalent to the Kadison-Singer problem. We prove some new equivalences of Anderson's conjectures that require the paving of smaller sets of matrices. We prove that if the strictly upper triangular operators are paveable, then every 0 diagonal operator is paveable. This result follows from a new paving condition for positive operators. In addition, we prove that if the upper triangular Toeplitz operators are paveable, then all Toeplitz operators are paveable.

     

Nonlinear optical properties of novel tunable, one dimensional molecular superlattice polymers (heteroarylene methines) containing alternating aromatic and quinoid segments

We have investigated the spectral dispersion of second molecular hyperpolarizability ?? (?????; ??, ???, ??) of three derivatives of heteroarylene methine by antiresonant ring interferometric nonlinear spectroscopic technique using femtosecond modelocked Ti:sapphire laser in the spectral range of 725?C820?nm. The observed dispersion of ?? has been explained in the framework of three-essential states model involving the ground state, a one-photon excited state and a two-photon excited state. The spectral response of the hyperpolarizability has been correlated with the electronic and chemical structures of the three derivatives of heteroarylene methine. The estimated ?? values have been compared to the fundamental quantum mechanical limit. We have found for the first time that the heteroarylene methines approach this limit within a factor of 2 while even the best known molecule so far falls short of this limit by a factor of 30.     

Primary Amines by Transfer Hydrogenative Reductive Amination of Ketones by Using Cyclometalated IrIII Catalysts

Cyclometalated iridium complexes are found to be versatile catalysts for the direct reductive amination (DRA) of carbonyls to give primary amines under transfer‐hydrogenation conditions with ammonium formate as both the nitrogen and hydrogen source. These complexes are easy to synthesise and their ligands can be easily tuned. The activity and chemoselectivity of the catalyst towards primary amines is excellent, with a substrate to catalyst ratio (S/C) of 1000 being feasible. Both aromatic and aliphatic primary amines were obtained in high yields. Moreover, a first example of homogeneously catalysed transfer‐hydrogenative DRA has been realised for β‐keto ethers, leading to the corresponding β‐amino ethers. In addition, non‐natural α‐amino acids could also be obtained in excellent yields with this method.     

Synthesis of 5,7-Dihydroxy-6-methoxy-2-(2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one and Reassignment of Structure of Tamaridone1

The proposed structure of a new flavone, tamaridone, isolated from Tamarix dioica Roxb is untenable on the basis of comparison with its synthetic sample. Its structure has been now revised to 5,7-dihydroxy-8-methoxy-2-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one by careful spectral studies.     

A Validated and Stability-Indicating LC Assay Method for Valdecoxib

A gradient reversed-phase liquid chromatographic assay was developed for the quantitative determination of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug valdecoxib. The developed method was also applicable to the determination of related substances in the bulk drug. Forced degradation studies were performed on bulk valdecoxib using acid (2.0 N hydrochloric acid), base (2.0 N sodium hydroxide), oxidation (6.0% v/v hydrogen peroxide), water hydrolysis, heat (60 °C) and photolysis. Mild degradation was observed using alkaline conditions and considerable degradation observed during oxidative stress. Chromatographic separation of process-related impurities and degradation products was achieved using a 5 micron Zorbax SB-CN LC column. The mobile phase consisted of aqueous potassium dihydrogen phosphate (pH 3.0) and acetonitrile. Stressed samples were assayed using the developed LC method and determination of the mass balance accounted for 99.5%, thus indicating the suitability of this stability-indicating method. Linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness have also been evaluated.