Application of R-matrix method to electron-H<Subscript>2</Subscript>S collisions in the low energy range

Electron-H₂S collision process is studied using the R-matrix method. Nine low-lying states of H₂S molecule are considered in the R-matrix formalism to obtain elastic integral, differential, momentum transfer and excitation cross sections for this scattering system. We have represented our target states using configuration interaction (CI) wavefunctions. We obtained adequate representation of vertical spectrum of the target states included in the scattering calculations. The cross sections are compared with the experiment and other theoretical results. We have obtained good agreement for elastic and momentum transfer cross sections with experiment for entire energy range considered. The differential cross sections are in excellent agreement with experiment in the range 3–15 eV. A prominent feature of this calculation is the detection of a shape resonance in ²B₂ symmetry which decays via dissociative electron attachment (DEA). Born correction is applied for the elastic and dipole allowed transition to account for higher partial waves excluded in the R-matrix calculation. The electron energy range is 0.025–15 eV.     

Auger electron emission from metals induced by low energy ion bombardment: Effect of the band structure and Fermi edge singularity

Calculations of the kinetic energy distributions of electrons ejected from plane metal surfaces by Auger neutralization of slow monoatomic ions are reported. A many body theory is used that includes both the band structure of the target material and the Fermi singular response of metal electrons (to the sudden neutralization of the projectile). Application is made to experiments of electron emission from polycrystalline Al by Ar⁺-ions, at varying incident energies and angles. Adjustment of the broadening parameters of the distribution of shake-up electrons leads to excellent agreement between the theory and the measurements.     

Processing and properties of engineering plastics recycled from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

The characteristics of engineering plastics used in the preparation of electrical and electronic equipment were studied. More specifically, their thermal response was recorded by DSC experiments, the rheological properties were investigated via MFI tests and the mechanical properties were evaluated with tensile tests. The aim was to establish a procedure for recycling the same engineering plastics deriving from waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), which offers the additional advantage of using the as-received waste stream as a recyclable mixture, i.e. without sorting and classification of its components.The experimental results showed that blends of PC with ABS or ABS/HIPS can be prepared by direct mixing and this, would allow easy handling of the engineering plastics coming from WEEE, i.e. blending without the need of sorting. These mixtures can be easily processed and display acceptable mechanical properties with reasonable cost. Therefore, the processing characteristics and properties of the systems studied in this work could be the key for the design of an interesting approach for handling solid plastic waste from electrical and electronic devices.     

A microfluidic magnetic bead impact generator for physical stimulation of osteoblast cell

We developed a novel microfluidic cell culture device in which magnetic beads repetitively collide with osteoblast cells, MC3T3‐E1, owing to attractive forces generated by pulsed electromagnetic fields and consequently the cells were physically stimulated by bead impacts. Our device consists of an on‐chip microelectromagnet and a microfluidic channel which were fabricated by a microelectromechanical system technique. The impact forces and stresses acting on a cell were numerically analyzed and experimentally generated with different sizes of bead (4.5, 7.6 and 8.4 μm) and at various pulse frequencies (60 Hz, 1 kHz and 1 MHz). Cells were synchronized at each specific phase of the cell cycle before stimulation in order to determine the most susceptible phase against bead impacts. The cells were stimulated with different sizes of bead at various pulse frequencies for 1 min at G1, S and G2 phases, respectively, and then counted immediately after one doubling time. The growth rate of cells was highly accelerated when they were stimulated with 4.5 μm beads at G1 phase and a pulse frequency of 1 MHz. Almost all of the cells were viable after stimulation, indicating that our cell stimulator did not cause any cellular damage and is suitable for use in new physical stimulus modalities.     

Dispersion of elastic waves in the contact-impact problem of a long cylinder

Numerical dispersion of two-dimensional finite elements was studied. The outcome of the dispersion study was verified by the numerical and analytical solutions to the longitudinal impact of two long cylindrical bars. In accordance with the results of the dispersion analysis it was demonstrated that the quadratic elements showed better accuracy than the linear ones.     

A new volume of fluid method in three dimensions—Part I: Multidimensional advection method with face‐matched flux polyhedra

A multidimensional advection scheme in 3D based on the use of face‐matched flux polyhedra to integrate the volume fraction evolution equation is proposed. The algorithm tends to reduce the formation of ‘over/undershoots’ by alleviating the over/underlapping of flux polyhedra, thus diminishing the need to use local redistribution algorithms. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed advection algorithm, which are analyzed using different tests with prescribed velocity field, compare well with other multidimensional advection methods proposed recently. The algorithm is also applied, in combination with a Navier–Stokes solver, to reproduce the impact of a water droplet falling through air on a pool of deep water. The interfacial curvature is calculated using a height‐function technique with adaptive stencil adjustment, which provides improved accuracy in regions of low grid resolution. The comparison of the numerical results with experimental results shows a good degree of agreement. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fracture of diamond coatings by high velocity sand erosion

This paper describes a study of the behaviour of diamond coatings when subjected to solid particle erosion from sand particles. The coatings were deposited by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) onto tungsten substrates and tested using a high velocity air–sand erosion test facility. The erosion tests were conducted using particle impact velocities of between 33 and 268 m/s. Examination of the eroded test specimens showed that the principal damage features were circumferential cracks and pin-holes. Comparison with Hertz impact theory revealed that the measured circumferential crack diameters were more than double the predicted Hertzian contact diameter. Moreover, a trend of increasing circumferential crack diameter with coating thickness, which is not predicted by Hertz, was found. Instead, the crack diameters showed good agreement with those predicted by the theory of stress wave reinforcement, which is more commonly associated with liquid impact damage of brittle materials. During impact, the bulk compression and shear waves are reflected at the rear surface of debonded regions of the coating to return to the front surface and reinforce the Rayleigh surface wave, which generates a tensile stress. Where this stress exceeds the local tensile strength of the coating, a ring of cracks surrounding the area of impact is created. The results from the present study therefore suggest that stress wave reflection is responsible for the formation of the cracks at locally debonded regions of the coating. This hypothesis was supported by images acquired using scanning acoustic microscopy, which showed that circumferential cracks and pin-holes were only found on areas of the coating that had become delaminated by multiple particle impacts during the erosion tests.     

Stability of two player game structures

We have extended a two player game-theoretical model proposed by V. Gurvich [To theory of multi-step games, USSR Comput. Math and Math. Phys. 13 (1973)] and H. Moulin [The Strategy of Social Choice, North Holland, Amsterdam, 1983]: All the considered game situations are framed by the same game structure. The structure determines the families of potential decisions of the two players, as well as the subsets of possible outcomes allowed by pairs of such choices. To be a solution of a game, a pair of decisions has to determine a (pure) functional equilibrium of the situational pair of payoff mappings which transforms the realized outcome into real-valued rewards of the players. Accordingly we understand that a structure is stable, if it admits functional equilibria for all possible game situations; and that it is complete, if every situation that only partitions the potential outcomes, is dominated by one of the players. We have generalized and strengthened a theorem by V. Gurvich [Equilibrium in pure strategies, Soviet Math. Dokl. 38 (1989)], proving that a proper structure is stable iff it is complete. Additional results provide game-theoretical insight that focuses the inquiry on the complexity of the stability decision problem; in particular, for coherent structures.These results also have combinatorial importance because every structure is characterized by a pair of hypergraphs [C. Berge, Graphes et Hypergraphes, Dunod, 1970] over a common ground set. The structure is dual (complete/coherent) iff the clutter of one hypergraph equals (includes/is included in) the blocker of the other one. So, for non-void coherent structures, the stability decision problem is equivalent to the much studied subexponential [M.L. Fredman, L. Khachiyan, On the complexity of dualization of monotone disjunctive normal forms, J. Algorithms 21 (1996)] hypergraph duality decision problem.     

Helly-Type Theorems for Line Transversals to Disjoint Unit Balls

We prove Helly-type theorems for line transversals to disjoint unit balls in ℝ ^d . In particular, we show that a family of n≥2d disjoint unit balls in ℝ ^d has a line transversal if, for some ordering ≺ of the balls, any subfamily of 2d balls admits a line transversal consistent with ≺. We also prove that a family of n≥4d−1 disjoint unit balls in ℝ ^d admits a line transversal if any subfamily of size 4d−1 admits a transversal. Andreas Holmsen was supported by the Research Council of Norway, prosjektnummer 166618/V30. Otfried Cheong and Xavier Goaoc acknowledge support from the French-Korean Science and Technology Amicable Relationships program (STAR).