Fracture behavior and mechanical,thermal, and rheological properties of biodegradable films extruded by flat die and calender

The development of biodegradable materials for tailored applications, particularly in the field of polymeric films and sheets, is a challenging technological goal as well as a contribution to help protect the environment. Poly(lactic) acid (PLA) is a promising substitute for several oil-based polymers; however, to overcome its thermal and mechanical drawbacks, researchers have developed solutions such as blending PLA with polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), which is capable of increasing the ductility of the final material. In this study, PLA/PBAT binary blends, with minimum possible content of nonrenewable materials, were examined from processing, thermal, morphological, and rheological perspective. An optimized PLA/PBAT ratio was chosen as the polymeric basis to obtain a biodegradable formulation by adding a biobased plasticizer and appropriate fillers to produce a micrometer film with tailored flexibility and tear resistance. The processing technology involved flat-die extrusion, followed by calendering. The tearing resistance of the produced film was investigated, and the results were compared with literature data. A study on the essential work of fracture was implemented to explore the mode III out-of-plane fracture resistance starting from a trouser tear test.     

Carbon precipitation and diffusion in SiGeC alloys under silicon self-interstitial injection

In this work we investigate the diffusion and precipitation of supersaturated substitutional carbon in 200-nm-thick SiGeC layers buried under a silicon cap layer of 40 nm. The samples were annealed in either inert (N₂) or oxidizing (O₂) ambient at 850 °C for times ranging from 2 to 10 h. The silicon self-interstitial (I) flux coming from the surface under oxidation enhances the C diffusion with respect to the N₂-annealed samples. In the early stages of the oxidation process, the loss of C from the SiGeC layer by diffusion across the layer/cap interface dominates. This phenomenon saturates after an initial period (2–4 h), which depends on the C concentration. This saturation is due to the formation and growth of C-containing precipitates that are promoted by the I injection and act as a sink for mobile C atoms. The influence of carbon concentration on the competition between precipitation and diffusion is discussed. Received: 19 October 2001 / Accepted: 19 December 2001 / Published online: 20 March 2002 / Published online: 20 March 2002     

Infinite dimensional duality and applications

The usual duality theory cannot be applied to infinite dimensional problems because the underlying constraint set mostly has an empty interior and the constraints are possibly nonlinear. In this paper we present an infinite dimensional nonlinear duality theory obtained by using new separation theorems based on the notion of quasi-relative interior, which, in all the concrete problems considered, is nonempty. We apply this theory to solve the until now unsolved problem of finding, in the infinite dimensional case, the Lagrange multipliers associated to optimization problems or to variational inequalities. As an example, we find the Lagrange multiplier associated to a general elastic–plastic torsion problem.     

A non-isothermal Ginzburg–Landau model in superconductivity: Existence,uniqueness and asymptotic behaviour

In this paper we study a Ginzburg–Landau model which describes the behaviour of a superconducting material including thermal effects. We extend the traditional formulation of the problem, by introducing the temperature as an additional state variable. Accordingly, together with the Gor’kov–Eliashberg system, we introduce an evolution equation for the absolute temperature. We examine in detail the case which allows only variations of the concentration of superconducting electrons and of the temperature, neglecting the electromagnetic field. For this problem existence and uniqueness of the solution are shown. Finally we analyze the asymptotic behaviour of the solutions, proving that the system possesses a global attractor.     

Results from the UA 2 experiment at the CERN p¯p Collider

This paper presents results on the production and decay properties of the Intermediate Vector Bosons (IVB)W and Z⁰ and on the search of the top quark in the upgraded UA 2 detector at the CERNp¯p Collider. The analysed data have been taken in the 1988 and 1989 Collider running periods at the centre of mass energy of 630 GeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 7·4 pb^–1.     

Periodic unfolding and Robin problems in perforated domains

The periodic unfolding method was introduced in 2002 by D. Cioranescu et al. for the study of classical periodic homogenization. In this Note, we extend this method to perforated domains introducing also a boundary unfolding operator. As an application, we study the homogenization of some elliptic problems with Robin condition on the boundary of the holes. To cite this article: D. Cioranescu et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 342 (2006).     

Use of capillary gas chromatography/sensory analysis as an additional tool for sampling technique comparison in peach aroma analysis

Capillary GC/sensory analysis was used to judge if dynamic headspace on sliced pulp and on intact fruit, and solvent extraction could collect the “character impact” and the “contributory” aroma compounds in peaches. Capillary GC/sensory data showed that the headspace techniques selectively recovered the “contributory” volatile compounds, which are strictly related to the characteristic odor of the various peach cultivars, whereas solvent extraction better quantified the “character impact” compounds (lactones).     

Influence of channeling effects on ion distribution and damage profiles during high energy ion implantation in Si

Nitrogen implantation has been performed in silicon [001] crystals in carefully controlled alignment conditions. The channeling effects are clearly evident when implanting in [001] and [011] directions at energies ranging from 0.6 to 1.4 MeV. Both ion distribution and damage profiles are strongly influenced by channeling effects during ion implantation. The angular region around the [001] direction has been also investigated by implanting at small angles with respect to the axis. The same kind of study has been performed by implanting at different angles with respect to the planar (011) direction. The ion distributions (investigated by SIMS) show a strong dependence upon the alignment conditions. Moreover in high energy ion implantation, the lattice damage is located deep inside the crystal, leaving the surface layer almost unperturbed. The channeling effects on the damage production have been investigated by double crystal diffraction (DCD) in the low-dose regime and by RBS-channeling experiments (after implantation at doses greater than 1 × 10¹⁵ cm^–2) and for different ion alignment conditions.A big increase in the ion ranges and a strong reduction in the lattice damage is evident when implanting along major crystal axes. No saturatíon of the lattice damage and of the channelled component of the beam has been detected if the implantation is performed parallel to the [011] axis.