Effects of Magnesium Hydroxide on the Flame Retardancy of Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate Copolymers/Nitrile Rubber Blends

The fire-resistant noncorrosive ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers with vinyl acetate (VA) content > 40 wt.% (EVM)/acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR)/magnesium hydroxide (MDH) composites were prepared, and the influence of MDH contents on flame retardancy, thermal stability, filler dispersion, and mechanical properties were studied. The flame-retardant effect of three different flame retardants [micro-sized MDH (mMDH), nano-sized MDH (nMDH), and micro-sized aluminum hydroxide (mATH)] was also investigated by cone calorimetry, thermal gravimetric analysis, and rubber process analysis in this paper. The decrease of the heat release rate and total heat release, the increase of residual mass, and the enhancement of thermal stability of the composites were all due to the flame-retardant effect of the MDH. The EVM/NBR vulcanizates had the best flame retardancy when the mMDH content was 180 phr. It was also found that the nMDH, mMDH, and mATH at the same loading had no obvious influence on the limiting oxygen index, while the combustion behaviors measured by the cone calorimeter had significant differences. The addition of ATH prolonged the time to ignition. The mMDH showed a better flame retardancy for EVM/NBR vulcanizates than the nMDH.     

Influence of Nano-Bioactive Glass (NBG) Content on Properties of Gelatin-Hyaluronic Acid/NBG Composite Scaffolds

The development of three-dimensional (3-D) scaffolds with highly open porous structure is one of the most important issues in tissue engineering. A novel nanocomposite scaffold of gelatin (Gel), hyaluronic acid (HA), and nano-bioactive glass (NBG) was prepared by blending NBG with a Gel and HA solution followed by lyophilization. The effects of NBG content on the properties of the Gel-HA/NBG composite scaffolds, including the morphologies, porosity, compressive strength, swelling behavior, cell viability and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, were investigated. Porous composite scaffolds with interconnected pores were obtained and the pores became cylindrical with increasing NBG content. The porosity percent and swelling ability decreased with increasing NBG content; however, the compressive strength, cell viability and ALP activity were enhanced. All the results showed the addition of NBG particles can improve the physicochemical and biological properties and the Gel-HA/NBG composite scaffolds exhibited good potential for tissue engineering applications.     

Detection and tracking strategy for license plate detection in video

In this paper, we present a novel method to detect license plates in video sequences automatically. The framework mainly integrates the cascade detectors method and the Tracking Learning Detection (TLD) algorithm. The cascade detectors are used to detect license plates, and the TLD algorithm is adopted to track the license plate regions. The license plates in the first frame image are detected by the cascade detectors to build the original tracking list, the tracking results and the detection results in following frames will be compared, and the newly appearing license plate information will be added to the tracking list. Meanwhile, the tracking results existing in the current tracking list would be replaced by the corresponding detection results with higher degree of confidence. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm for license plate detection task on a road intersection dataset, and the experimental evaluation shows the detection performance has been greatly improved by synthetically using the detection and tracking strategy.     

Microfabrication of stacks of acoustic matching layers for 15 MHz ultrasonic transducers

This paper presents a novel method used to manufacture stacks of multiple matching layers for 15 MHz piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers, using fabrication technology derived from the MEMS industry. The acoustic matching layers were made on a silicon wafer substrate using micromachining techniques, i.e., lithography and etch, to design silicon and polymer layers with the desired acoustic properties. Two matching layer configurations were tested: a double layer structure consisting of a silicon–polymer composite and polymer and a triple layer structure consisting of silicon, composite, and polymer. The composite is a biphase material of silicon and polymer in 2-2 connectivity. The matching layers were manufactured by anisotropic wet etch of a (1 1 0)-oriented Silicon-on-Insulator wafer. The wafer was etched by KOH 40 wt%, to form 83 μm deep and 4.5 mm long trenches that were subsequently filled with Spurr’s epoxy, which has acoustic impedance 2.4 MRayl. This resulted in a stack of three layers: The silicon substrate, a silicon–polymer composite intermediate layer, and a polymer layer on the top. The stacks were bonded to PZT disks to form acoustic transducers and the acoustic performance of the fabricated transducers was tested in a pulse-echo setup, where center frequency, −6 dB relative bandwidth and insertion loss were measured. The transducer with two matching layers was measured to have a relative bandwidth of 70%, two-way insertion loss 18.4 dB and pulse length 196 ns. The transducers with three matching layers had fractional bandwidths from 90% to 93%, two-way insertion loss ranging from 18.3 to 25.4 dB, and pulse lengths 326 and 446 ns. The long pulse lengths of the transducers with three matching layers were attributed to ripple in the passband.     

基于透光性能分析的微藻光生物反应器构筑板材选型

利用配备人工光源的光生物反应器(AL-PBR)培养微藻是实现微藻快速增殖,进而满足相关产业需求的重要手段。为指导AL-PBR的构筑材质选型,完善了现有方法,比选了7种市售透明板材。考虑到微藻在不同入射光波段的光生态学,应综合分析板材在光合有效辐射波段(400~700nm)、红光波段(630~700nm)、蓝光波段(430~480nm)和中波紫外线波段(UV-B,280~320nm)的透光性能。前三波段的平均透射率越高越好,UV-B波段反之。测定结果表明:如果AL-PBR以太阳光作为外部光源,现阶段宜采用进口聚碳酸酯板和普通玻璃板作为构筑材质,且前者更佳;如果以单色LEDs灯或荧光灯作为外部光源,宜选用聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯板。     

Effect of the Nanotube Radius and the Volume Fraction on the Mechanical Properties of Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Aluminum Metal Matrix Composites

By using the advantages of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), such as their excellent mechanical properties and low density, CNT-reinforced metal matrix composites (MMCs) are expected to overcome the limitations of conventional metal materials, i.e., their high density and low ductility. To understand the behavior of composite materials, it is necessary to observe the behavior at the molecular level and to understand the effect of various factors, such as the radius and content of CNTs. Therefore, in this study, the effect of the CNT radius and content on the mechanical properties of CNT-Al composites was observed using a series of molecular dynamics simulations, particularly focusing on MMCs with a high CNT content and large CNT diameter. The mechanical properties, such as the strength and stiffness, were increased with an increasing CNT radius. As the CNT content increased, the strength and stiffness increased; however, the fracture strain was not affected. The behavior of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) was compared through the decomposition of the stress–strain curve and observations of the atomic stress field. The fracture strain increased significantly for SWNT-Al as the tensile force was applied in the axial direction of the armchair CNTs. In the case of DWNTs, an early failure was initiated at the inner CNTs. In addition, the change in the elastic modulus according to the CNT content was predicted using the modified rule of mixture. This study is expected to be useful for the design and development of high-performance MMCs reinforced by CNTs.     

Measurements of the size distribution of unattached radon progeny by using the imaging plate

The size distribution of unattached radon progeny is an important parameter for an accurate estimation of the internal dose of radon exposure. In this study, a new measuring system was developed to evaluate the size distribution of unattached radon progeny in air. In the system, airborne radon progeny were collected with a newly designed graded screen array (GSA), the activity concentrations were measured by using the imaging plate technique, and the size distribution of unattached fraction was retrieved by using an iterative nonlinear algorithm. The simulation results indicated that the collection characteristics of the new GSA system were well agreed with other systems. Test experiments showed that the activity-weighted median diameters (AMD) for unattached ²¹⁸Po, ²¹⁴Pb and ²¹⁴Bi were 0.89 ± 0.11 nm, 0.96 ± 0.13 nm and 1.01 ± 0.25 nm in a particle-free radon chamber, and the distribution changed with different concentrations of particles. As multiple measurements can be simultaneously carried out with a single IP, the new technique is considered as an optional and useful way to measure the size distribution measurement of unattached radon progeny.     

Thermomechanical bending and free vibration of single-layered graphene sheets embedded in an elastic medium

In the present paper, the sinusoidal shear deformation plate theory (SDPT) is reformulated using the nonlocal differential constitutive relations of Eringen to analyze the bending and vibration of the nanoplates, such as single-layered graphene sheets, resting on two-parameter elastic foundations. The present SDPT is compared with other plate theories. The nanoplates are assumed to be subjected to mechanical and thermal loads. The equations of motion of the nonlocal model are derived including the plate foundation interaction and thermal effects. The governing equations are solved analytically for various boundary conditions. Nonlocal theory is employed to bring out the effect of the nonlocal parameter on the bending and natural frequencies of the nanoplates. The influences of nonlocal parameter, side-to-thickness ratio and elastic foundation moduli on the displacements and vibration frequencies are investigated.     

复合结构偏心对同轴波导电磁特性的影响

采用三维电磁仿真软件CST Microwave Studio,数值模拟了内外导体轴线复合结构偏心对同轴波导电磁特性的影响。结果表明:当内外导体的轴线同时存在平行偏心和倾斜偏心时,改变了波导的边界条件,从而导致同轴波导的S21参数和电场幅值实质性下降。随着复合结构偏心程度的加剧,同轴波导的S21参数和电场幅值减小越大。同时,复合结构偏心比平行偏心或倾斜偏心单独存在时对同轴波导电磁性能的影响更大。因此,在同轴波导的实际制作过程中,应尽力避免发生复合结构偏心。     

基于反向旋转位相板的共形光学系统设计

在共形光学系统中,椭球形整流罩打破了球形整流罩的旋转对称性,引入了随目标视场变化而变化的动态像差。共形光学设计的主要任务就是消除或者减小椭球形整流罩引入的动态像差,使共形光学系统的成像质量满足使用要求。设计了基于反向旋转位相板的共形光学系统,利用一对反向旋转位相板的反向旋转对目标视场进行动态扫描,利用固定校正器、衍射元件和泽尼克位相板校正了椭球形整流罩引入的动态像差。成像系统采用二次成像的透射式结构,实现了冷光阑效率100%。结果表明:该方法不仅有别于传统扫描方式,而且有效地消除了大长径比的共形光学系统的动态像差。