Particle size effects in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis by Co catalyst supported on carbon nanotubes

The effect of Co particle size on the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) activity of carbon nanotube (CNT)-supported Co catalysts was investigated. Microemulsion (using water-to-surfactant molar ratios of 2 to12) and impregnation techniques were used to prepare catalysts with different Co particle sizes. Kinetic studies were performed to understand the effect of Co particle size on catalytic activity. Size-dependent kinetic parameters were developed using a thermodynamic method, to evaluate the structural sensitivity of the CNT-supported Co catalysts. The size-independent FTS reaction rate constant and size-independent adsorption parameter increased with increasing reac-tion temperature. The Polani parameter also depended on catalyst particle size, because of changes in the catalyst surface coverage.     

Dynamic compressive strength properties of aluminium foams. Part I—experimental data and observations

This study of the dynamic compressive strength properties of metal foams is in two parts. Part I presents data from an extensive experimental study of closed-cell Hydro/Cymat aluminium foam, which elucidates a number of key issues and phenomena. Part II focuses on modelling issues.The dynamic compressive response of the foam was investigated using a direct-impact technique for a range of velocities from 10 to . Elastic wave dispersion and attenuation in the pressure bar was corrected using a deconvolution technique.A new method of locating the point of densification in the nominal stress-strain curves of the foam is proposed, which provides a consistent framework for the definition of the plateau stress and the densification strain, both essential parameters of the ‘shock’ model in Part II. Data for the uniaxial, plastic collapse and plateau stresses are presented for two different average cell sizes of approximately 4 and 14 mm. They show that the plastic collapse strength of the foam changes significantly with compression rate. This phenomenon is discussed, and the distinctive roles of microinertia and ‘shock’ formation are described. The effects of compression rates on the initiation, development and distribution of cell crushing are also examined. Tests were carried out to examine the effects of density gradient and specimen gauge length at different rates of compression and the results are discussed. The origin of the conflicting conclusions in the literature on the correlation between nominal strain rate (ratio of the impact velocity V_i to the initial gauge length l_o of the specimen) and the dynamic strength of aluminium alloy foams is identified and explained.     

Surface versus bulk nucleation of dislocations during contact

The indentation of single crystals by a periodic array of flat rigid contacts is analyzed using discrete dislocation plasticity. Plane strain analyses are carried out with the dislocations all of edge character and modeled as line singularities in a linear elastic solid. The limiting cases of frictionless and perfectly sticking contacts are considered. The effects of contact size, dislocation source density, and dislocation obstacle density and strength on the evolution of the mean indentation pressure are explored, but the main focus is on contrasting the response of crystals having dislocation sources on the surface with that of crystals having dislocation sources in the bulk. When there are only bulk sources, the mean contact pressure for sufficiently large contacts is independent of the friction condition, whereas for sufficiently small contact sizes, there is a significant dependence on the friction condition. When there are only surface dislocation sources the mean contact pressure increases much more rapidly with indentation depth than when bulk sources are present and the mean contact pressure is very sensitive to the strength of the obstacles to dislocation glide. Also, on unloading a layer of tensile residual stress develops when surface dislocation sources dominate.     

Temperature Effect on Power for Particle Detachment from Pore Wall Described by an Arrhenius-Type Equation

An Arrhenius-type asymptotic-exponential function is derived to describe the temperature dependence of the power needed for detachment of fine particles from pore walls in porous media.     

Plasticity size effects in voided crystals

The shear and equi-biaxial straining responses of periodic voided single crystals are analysed using discrete dislocation plasticity and a continuum strain gradient crystal plasticity theory. In the discrete dislocation formulation, the dislocations are all of edge character and are modelled as line singularities in an elastic material. The lattice resistance to dislocation motion, dislocation nucleation, dislocation interaction with obstacles and annihilation are incorporated through a set of constitutive rules. Over the range of length scales investigated, both the discrete dislocation and strain gradient plasticity formulations predict a negligible size effect under shear loading. By contrast, under equi-biaxial loading both plasticity formulations predict a strong size dependence with the flow strength approximately scaling inversely with the void spacing. Excellent agreement is obtained between predictions of the two formulations for all crystal types and void volume fractions considered when the material length scale in the non-local plasticity model is chosen to be (about 10 times the slip plane spacing in the discrete dislocation models).     

An analytical model to predict diffusion induced intermetallic compounds growth in Cu-Sn-Cu sandwich structures

A mass diffusion model is developed to describe the growth kinetics of Cu_6Sn_5 intermetallic compounds(IMC) in the Cu-Sn-Cu sandwich structure. The proposed model is based on the local interfacial mass conversation law where interfacial Cu/Sn reactions and atomic diffusion are considered. Theoretical analysis shows that the IMC thickness growth is proportional to the square root of the product of the diffusion coefficient and time. The proposed model can explain the polarity effect of electromigration on kinetics of IMC growth where all the parameters have clear physical meaning. The theoretical predictions are compared with experimental results and show reasonable accuracy.     

Asymptotic expansion homogenization of discrete fine-scale models with rotational degrees of freedom for the simulation of quasi-brittle materials

Discrete fine-scale models, in the form of either particle or lattice models, have been formulated successfully to simulate the behavior of quasi-brittle materials whose mechanical behavior is inherently connected to fracture processes occurring in the internal heterogeneous structure. These models tend to be intensive from the computational point of view as they adopt an “a priori” discretization anchored to the major material heterogeneities (e.g. grains in particulate materials and aggregate pieces in cementitious composites) and this hampers their use in the numerical simulations of large systems. In this work, this problem is addressed by formulating a general multiple scale computational framework based on classical asymptotic analysis and that (1) is applicable to any discrete model with rotational degrees of freedom; and (2) gives rise to an equivalent Cosserat continuum. The developed theory is applied to the upscaling of the Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM), a recently formulated discrete model for concrete and other quasi-brittle materials, and the properties of the homogenized model are analyzed thoroughly in both the elastic and the inelastic regime. The analysis shows that the homogenized micropolar elastic properties are size-dependent, and they are functions of the RVE size and the size of the material heterogeneity. Furthermore, the analysis of the homogenized inelastic behavior highlights issues associated with the homogenization of fine-scale models featuring strain-softening and the related damage localization. Finally, nonlinear simulations of the RVE behavior subject to curvature components causing bending and torsional effects demonstrate, contrarily to typical Cosserat formulations, a significant coupling between the homogenized stress–strain and couple-curvature constitutive equations.     

Size-dependent electron chemical potential: Effect on particle charging

Electrostatic charging of particles of identical composition, but different sizes, is a poorly understood phenomenon that may be of importance in dust storms, generation of lightning, numerous technological applications involving solid particulates, and in the agglomeration of lunar dust and inter-stellar dust clouds. We show that under optical excitation, the relative magnitude of surface to volume de-excitation gives size-dependent electron and hole concentrations. The consequent differences in chemical potentials can lead to charge transfer between particles of different size. The direction of charge transfer, from large to small or vice versa, depends critically on the properties of the materials.     

Effect of atmospheric parameters on fine particulate concentration in suburban Shanghai

A study was conducted on the effect of atmospheric parameters,including temperature,wind speed,and relative humidity,on fine particulate mass concentrations measured in Jiading District of Shanghai,China, during the period from January 2009 to January 2010.A sensitivity analysis was applied to investigate the interaction between atmospheric parameters and particulate mass concentration.The experiment revealed that the concentration of particulates increased with particle size from 0.1 to 1.0μm,and decreased with the increase of particle size from 1.0 to 2.5μm.The effects of atmospheric parameters on fine mass concentrations were significantly particle size-dependent.The PM_1.0-2.5 may come from the size increase of smaller particulates after moisture absorption.And the variation of concentrations of PM_0.1-1.0 was mainly attributed to the accumulation of PM_0.1.The ventilation index and dilution index were calculated on the basis of data collected in December 2009.A correlation analysis indicated that there was a significant relation between these two indexes and the particulate concentration by examining the three particle size ranges,0.0-0.1,0.1-1.0,and 1.0-2.5μm.The Spearman correlation coefficients that related the ventilation index to the concentration for the three particle size ranges were -0.45,-0.56 and -0.47, respectively,while the coefficients that related the dilution index to the concentration were -0.36,-0.42 and -0.45,respectively.