Crack growth on the basal plane in single crystal zinc: experiments and computations

Crack propagation on the basal planes in zinc was examined by means of in situ fracture testing of pre-cracked single crystals, with specific attention paid to the fracture mechanism. During quasistatic loading, crack propagation occurred in short bursts of dynamic crack extension followed by periods of arrests, the latter accompanied by plastic deformation and blunting of the crack-tip. In situ observations confirmed nucleation and propagation of microcracks on parallel basal planes and plastic deformation and failure of the linking ligaments. Pre-existing twins in the crack path serve as potent crack arrestors. The crystallographic orientation of the crack growth direction on the basal plane was found to influence both the fracture load as well as the deformation at the crack-tip, producing fracture surfaces of noticeably different appearances. Finite element analysis incorporating crystal plasticity was used to identify dominant slip systems and the stress distribution around the crack-tip in plane stress and plane strain. The computational results are helpful in rationalizing the experimental observations including the mechanism of crack propagation, the orientation dependence of crack-tip plasticity and the fracture surface morphology.     

Dielectric and structural relaxation phenomena in Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 single crystal

Abstract

Dielectric permittivity studies of Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃ single crystals in a broad range of frequency up to 10 MHz and temperature 300—823 K are reported. In this temperature range dielectric dispersion below 1 MHz has been found. The obtained data were fitted to the Cole-Cole relation. The mean relaxation time τ is strongly temperature dependent (0.04 ? 2.6 × 10^?5 s). A remarkable hysteresis effect in the values of τ on cooling and heating took place. The Δε(T) dependence (the maximal value of Δε ～ 400) is similar to the global ε′(T) response at low frequency. An isothermal structural transformation in Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃ was observed by X-ray measurements. The order of the time in which the transformation takes place (～300 minutes) corresponds to the time in which the strongest time evolution of electric permittivity and time changes of dielectric dispersion were detected.     

Theory and computer simulation of tweed texture

Abstract

An analytical theory of the ordering interaction J(R _ij ) in structural phase transitions mediated by elastic relaxation in the material is outlined. The ordering process in cell i sets up a local stress field due to the sizes, shapes or displacements of atoms or atomic groups, which is propagated elastically to a distant cell j. The atomistic theory for ferro- and antiferro-elastic transitions takes into account two types of singularity, one due to elastic anisotropy and the other to the Zener interaction J _z of infinite range in ferroelastic transitions. The form of J _k in Fourier space is highly anisotropic with a few “soft” directions coinciding with the orientation of twin boundaries. The asymptoptic J(R) at large R is shown to be very anisotropic as well and decays as R ^?3 in ferroelastic and R ^?5 in antiferroelastic systems.

Computer simulations for a three-dimensional model of about 29,000 particles show a strong tendency to form tweed texture, as observed experimentally. Well above the structural phase transition temperature, the strain fluctuations show well-developed embryos of the tweed texture. On quenching to below the transition temperature, a pronounced micro-twinning appears which follows almost exactly the shape of the embryos and then develops towards a stripe texture. After a certain time needle-shaped domains are formed and a peculiar step-wise process of generating new stripes is observed.     

Relative Intensity Noise in Optical Single Side Band Systems with Multiple In-Line Amplifiers: Analysis and Validation

Abstract

This article analyzes and validates through simulation the influence of fiber nonlinearity, dispersion, and loss on the Relative Noise Intensity (RIN) spectrum at fiber output in externally modulated optical single side band (OSSB) systems. The analysis includes the RIN generated by the laser source, the effect of the OSSB modulator, and noise generated by the in-line optical amplifiers. The analysis takes into account conversion between phase noise and intensity noise introduced by fiber transmission. It is shown that, depending on the operating conditions, the system performance may be predominantly affected either by the laser RIN or by the noise generated by the in-line optical amplifiers. The impact of the OSSB modulator can be relevant when the RIN of the system is dominated by the laser noise and should therefore be considered.     

Assignments of Nonexchangeable Proton Resonances and the Solution Structures of d–TGGGT

In this paper, we report the studies of the solution structures of synthetic pentadeoxyribonucleotide d-TGGGT(NH₄ ⁺ salt) using 2D–NMR. The 1H–NMR experiments with different temperatures and concentrations reveal an equilibrium between single strand and aggregation. In the experimental condition(22°C, 13mmol/ L), the cross peaks in the COSY spectrum are mainly from single strand, and the spin systems of sugar resonances of this component can be assigned. In contrast, the cross peaks in the NOESY spectrum mainly come from aggregation and the sequential assignments of bases, sugar 1′, 2′ and 2″ protons can be carried out. From NOE connectivities, it is obvious that the aggregation adopts a right–handed helix conformation. It is suggested that the aggregation in our experiment corresponds to the tetramolecular complex.     

Phase transitions in LiKSO4: Low-temperature neutron diffraction results

Results of a detailed crystallographic study of the structural phase transitions in LiKSO₄, carried out using single crystal neutron diffraction at ambient and below-ambient temperatures (300–100 K), are presented. The study indicates two clear phase transitions at 205 K (from space group P6₃ to space group P31c), at 189 K (to space group Cc) and a third transition at about 130 K in the cooling cycle. The corresponding temperatures are 250 K, 200 K and 138 K in the heating cycle. The existence of twins, mixed phases, and extremely sluggish kinetics for the various phase transitions, as well as the structural details of the various phases in this mixed salt, can explain the apparent inconsistencies in the results of several experimental investigations reported in the literature.     

Canonical forms of 2 × 2 × 2 and 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 arrays over 𝔽2 and 𝔽3

We consider arrays of size 2?×?2?×?2 and 2?×?2?×?2?×?2 over the fields with two and three elements. We use computer algebra to determine the canonical forms of these arrays with respect to the action of the semidirect product of general linear groups with the symmetric group. For each canonical form, we determine the size of its orbit and the rank of the arrays in its orbit.     

An M[X]/G/1 retrial g-queue with single vacation subject to the server breakdown and repair

An M[X]/G/1 retrial G-queue with single vacation and unreliable server is investigated in this paper. Arrivals of positive customers form a compound Poisson process, and positive customers receive service immediately if the server is free upon their arrivals; Otherwise, they may enter a retrial orbit and try their luck after a random time interval. The arrivals of negative customers form a Poisson process. Negative customers not only remove the customer being in service, but also make the server under repair. The server leaves for a single vacation as soon as the system empties. In this paper, we analyze the ergodical condition of this model. By applying the supplementary variables method, we obtain the steady-state solutions for both queueing measures and reliability quantities.     

气体湍流对泡生法生长蓝宝石单晶温场的影响

本文采用专业晶体生长模拟软件CrysVUn对泡生法生长大尺寸蓝宝石单晶进行了计算机模拟.分析了气体压力对泡生法生长蓝宝石单晶的温场、气体速度场的影响.结果发现在气压P≥105Pa时,特别是在引晶初期,容易出现籽晶根部熔化,这在实验中得到了很好的验证,并提出了三种解决方案.     

Studying the emergence of invasiveness in tumours using game theory

Tumour cells have to acquire a number of capabilities if a neoplasm is to become a cancer. One of these key capabilities is increased motility which is needed for invasion of other tissues and metastasis. This paper presents a qualitative mathematical model based on game theory and computer simulations using cellular automata. With this model we study the circumstances under which mutations that confer increased motility to cells can spread through a tumour made of rapidly proliferating cells. The analysis suggests therapies that could help prevent the progression towards malignancy and invasiveness of benign tumours.