Characterisation of non-linear viscoelastic foods by the indentation technique

A method to determine the non-linear viscoelastic constitutive constants from indentation force–displacement data corresponding to different indentation speeds has been developed. The method consists of two parts. In the first part, the force–displacement data is expressed as two functions which represent the strain and the time-dependent responses, respectively. From these functions, the time-dependent constants and the instantaneous force–displacement response are obtained. In the second part, the strain-dependent variables are determined from the instantaneous force–displacement response through an inverse analysis based on the Levenberg–Marquardt method. The method was verified by numerical experiments using the properties of cheese as examples.     

Characterizing texture in polycrystalline materials by ultrasonic waves

A method for characterizing texture from measurements of ultrasonic wave velocities is proposed. In polycrystalline aggregates, ultrasonic wave velocities are strongly affected by orientation distribution coefficients (ODCs), which are usually used to describe the degree of preferred grain orientation in textured materials. In this work, velocities of longitudinal and transverse waves propagating into aluminum alloy 6061 were measured under pure shear, simple shear and uniaxial tension. From the measured ultrasonic wave velocities, the ODCs W₄₀₀ and W₄₂₀ were calculated to infer the deformation-induced texture. The predicted pole figures, obtained using ultrasonic velocities, were in good qualitative agreement with the finite element polycrystal model analyzed pole figures.     

Spontaneous formation of liquid crystalline phases and phase transitions in highly concentrated plasmid DNA

The liquid crystalline (LC) properties of two supercoiled plasmid DNA samples, pBSK (2958 bp) and pGEM (3000 bp), have been studied using polarised light microscopy (PLM), circular dichroism (CD) and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The influence of methods of isolation on plasmid LC behaviour is described, and using PLM we have demonstrated the spontaneous formation of cholesteric fingerprint-like textures. Preliminary studies of LC phase transitions in pGEM show the irreversibility of LC phase formation, as a consequence of changes in the tertiary structure of supercoiled plasmids. Using UV–Vis spectroscopy a hyperchromic effect was observed with increasing temperature. The CD spectra clearly showed structural changes, and probably mismatching of DNA bases, during cooling. Finally, we have observed an irreversible phase transition in plasmid DNA which is very different from that previously reported in linear DNA.     

A field-reversal method for measuring the parameters of a ferroelectric liquid crystal

A method for measuring the spontaneous polarization P _s, the switching time, the rotational viscosity γ_φ, and the d.c. conductivity σ is presented. The possibilities of estimating the azimuthal angle φ₀, the dielectric anisotropy δε and the dielectric permittivity ε_⊥ in the same experiment are also discussed. It is explicitly shown that the switching delay, though primarily dependent on the material and the applied field, is also dependent on the geometry of the cell.     

True spin and pseudo spin entanglement around Dirac Points in graphene with Rashba spin–orbit interaction

We analytically obtained the Schmidt decomposition of the entangled state between the pseudo spin and the true spin in graphene with Rashba spin–orbit coupling. The entangled state has the standard form of the Bell state, where the SU(2) spin symmetry is broken. These states can be explicitly expressed as the superposition of two nonorthogonal, but mirror symmetrical spin states entangled with the pseudo spin states. Because of the closely locking between the pseudo spin and the true spin, it is found that the orbit curve in the spin-polarization parameter space for the fixed equi-energy contour around Dirac points has the same shape as the $\delta \overrightarrow{k}$-contour. Due to the spin–orbit coupling that cause the topological transition in the local geometry of the dispersion relation, the new equi-energy contours around the new emergent Dirac Points can be obtained by squeezing the one around the original Dirac point. The spin texture in the momentum space around the Dirac points is analyzed under the Rashba spin–orbit interaction and it is found that the orientation of the spin polarization at each crystal momentum $\overrightarrow{k}$ is independent of the Rashba coupling strength.     

Effect of cooling rate on microstructure of friction-stir welded AA1100 aluminum alloy

In this work, the microstructural changes occurring during cooling of friction-stir welded aluminum alloy AA1100 were evaluated. To this end, friction-stir welding (FSW) was performed in a wide range of cooling rates of 20–62 K/s and the evolved microstructures were studied by using electron backscatter diffraction. Below 0.6 T_m (T_m being the melting point), the stir zone material was found to experience no significant changes during cooling. At higher FSW temperatures, however, notable changes occurred in the welded material, including grain growth, sharpening of texture, reduction of the fraction of high-angle boundaries and material softening.     

Investigation of the vibrational modes of ZnO grown by MOCVD on different orientation planes

Wurtzite ZnO thin films were prepared on sapphire substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Raman scattering studies on different crystallographic textures were performed in the backscattering geometry, and polarization effect is investigated in different configurations and . ZnO Raman modes are investigated in each texture. In the case of ZnO thin film deposed on r‐() sapphire plane and using backscattering geometry, new Raman line was observed at 390 cm⁻¹ because this mode has not been noticed in this geometry. It is shown that the frequencies of the quasi‐phonon modes of the examined thin film are in good agreement with the theoretical values calculated within the framework of Loudon model. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于Gabor小波变换的ICA火灾图像纹理识别算法

针对火灾图像纹理识别问题,提出了基于Gabor小波变换的ICA火灾图像纹理识别算法,并根据火灾图像纹理识别特点进行了优化。首先用不同尺度和方向的Gabor滤波器对待识别图像滤波,得到其特征图像,然后将特征图像转化成特征向量作为ICA的输入,得到基矢量子空间,再将测试图像经过Gabor滤波器的特征向量投影到ICA子空间中得到系数向量作为目标识别特征,最后用支持向量机进行识别。通过与Gabor滤波器法和ICA方法的对比实验,表明该算法可以在火灾纹理图像的识别率上比传统方法提高5%以上,为火灾图像识别提供了一种新思路。     

Hot deformation in nanocrystalline Ndben Feben B backward extruded rings

Radially oriented Nd-Fe-B rings are prepared by backward extrusion of fine grained melt-spun powder. Melt-spun powder with the nominal composition of Nd_30.5Fe_bal.Co_6.0Ga_0.6Al_0.2B_0.9 (wt%) is used as starting material. The effects of process variables, such as deformation temperature (T_d), strain rate (ε) and height reduction (Δh%), on the magnetic properties of the rings are investigated. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy spectrum device is used to study the metallograph and microfracture of the extruded rings. The B_r and (BH)_max reach the optimum values at T_d=800℃, ε =0.01 mm/s, and Δh% =70%. It is found by SEM observations that the particle boundaries, which seemingly correspond to the interfaces of the starting melt-spun powders, emerge after the corrosion of metallography specimens. This is helpful for studying the effects of powder-powder interface on the local deformation and deformation homogeneity in the rings. For different spatial positions of the extruded rings, there are characteristic metallographies and microfractures. The upper end of the rings has the least deformation and worst texture, and therefore the worst magnetic properties. The magnetic properties in the radial direction increase slightly along the axis from the bottom to the middle, then steeply decrease at the upper end of the ring. The deformation and the formation-of-texturing processes are discussed. The deformation and the texturing formation of melt-spun Nd-Fe-B alloys probably involve grain boundary sliding and grain rotation, the solution-precipitation process and preferential growth of Nd₂Fe₁₄B nanograins along the easy growth a-axis.     

新型对称联苯双酯类液晶材料的合成和晶体结构

设计并合成了4个对称联苯双酯类液晶化合物,化合物结构通过红外和核磁表征,它们的介晶性通过差示扫描量热仪(DSC),X射线衍射仪(XRD)和热台偏光显微镜(POM)进行了研究.并测定了4,4'-3,3',5,5'-四甲基联苯-二(4-甲基苯甲酸酯)(Ⅲa)的单晶结构,结果显示:晶体属于单斜晶系,P21/c空间群,晶胞参数为a=18.525(3)(A),b=12.196(2)(A),c=12.195(2)(A),β=97.142(2)°,V=2733.7(9)(A)3,Z=4,Dc=1.163 Mg/m3,R=0.0521,Rw=0.1161.化合物均为热致型互变液晶,并讨论了氧原子、不饱和端基和端基链长对介晶性的影响.