Vibration analysis of a circular arch with variable cross-section using differential transformation and generalized differential quadrature

Vibration analysis of circular arches is an important subject in mechanics due to its various applications. In particular, circular arches with variable cross-section have been widely used to satisfy modern architectural and structural requirements. Recently, the generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) and differential transformation method (DTM) were proposed by Shu and Zhou, respectively. In this study, GDQM and DTM are applied to vibration analysis of circular arches with variable cross-section. The governing equation of motion is derived and the non-dimensional natural frequencies are obtained for various boundary conditions. The concepts of differential transformation and generalized differential quadrature are briefly introduced. The results obtained by these methods are compared with previously published works. GDQM and DTM showed fast convergence, accuracy and validity in solving the vibration problem for circular arches with variable cross-sections.     

Long distance laser ultrasonic propagation imaging system for damage visualization

Wind turbine blade failure is the most prominent and common type of damage occurring in operating wind turbine systems. Conventional nondestructive testing systems are not available for in situ wind turbine blades. We propose a portable long distance ultrasonic propagation imaging (LUPI) system that uses a laser beam targeting and scanning system to excite, from a long distance, acoustic emission sensors installed in the blade. An examination of the beam collimation effect using geometric parameters of a commercial 2 MW wind turbine provided Lamb wave amplitude increases of 41.5 and 23.1 dB at a distance of 40 m for symmetrical and asymmetrical modes, respectively, in a 2 mm-thick stainless steel plate. With this improvement in signal-to-noise ratio, a feasibility study of damage detection was conducted with a 5 mm-thick composite leading edge specimen. To develop a reliable damage evaluation system, the excitation/sensing technology and the associated damage visualization algorithm are equally important. Hence, our results provide a new platform based on anomalous wave propagation imaging (AWPI) methods with adjacent wave subtraction, reference wave subtraction, reference image subtraction, and the variable time window amplitude mapping method. The advantages and disadvantages of AWPI algorithms are reported in terms of reference data requirements, signal-to-noise ratios, and damage evaluation accuracy. The compactness and portability of the proposed UPI system are also important for in-field applications at wind farms.     

Evaluation of the dosimetric characteristics of a radiophotoluminescent glass dosimeter for high-energy photon and electron beams in the field of radiotherapy

We aimed to evaluate the suitability of a glass dosimeter (GD) for high-energy photon and electron beams in experimental and clinical use, especially for radiation therapy. We examined the expanded dosimetric characteristics of GDs including dose linearity up to 500 Gy, uniformity among GD lots and for individual GDs, the angular dependence, and energy dependence of 4 therapeutic x-ray qualities. In addition, we measured the dosimetric features (dose linearity, uniformity, angular dependence, and energy dependence) of the GD for electron beams of 10 different electron energy qualities. All measurements with the exception of dose linearity for photon beam were performed in a water phantom. For high-energy photon beams, dose linearity has a linear relationship for a dose ranging from 1 to 500 Gy with the coefficient of determination; R² of 0.998. The uniformity of each GD of dose measurements was within ±0.5% for four GD lots and within ±1.2% for 80 GDs. In terms of the effects of photon beam angle, lower absorbed doses of within 1.0% were observed between 60° and 105° than at 90°. The GD energy dependence of 4 photon beam energy qualities was within ±2.0%. On the other hand, the result of the dose linearity for high-energy electron beams showed well fitted regression line with the coefficient of determination; R² of 0.999 between 6 and 20 MeV. The uniformity of GDs exposed to the nominal electron energies 6, 9, 12, 16, and 20 MeV was ±1.2%. In terms of the angular dependence to electron beams, absorbed doses were within 2.0% between 60° and 105° than at 90°. In evaluation of the energy dependence of the GD at nominal electron energies between 5 and 20 MeV, we obtained responses between 1.1% and 3.5% lower than that for a cobalt-60 beam. Our results show that GDs can be used as a detector for determining doses when a high-energy photon beam is used, and that it also has considerable potential for dose measurement of high-energy electron beam.     

Nanoscale retention‐loss dynamics of polycrystalline PbTiO3 nanotubes

We observed the nanoscale retention dynamics of polycrystalline PbTiO₃ nanotubes using piezoresponse force microscopy. We found that the retention loss of the nanodot domains on the nanotubes showed the stretched exponential relaxation behaviors with stretched exponential factor n being less than 1 (0.523 and 0.692), which are similar to the thin films. In addition, the nanodot domains showed a diverse relaxation time constant τ due to different remnant polarization of each dot domains. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Multiparameter kinetic analysis of alkaline hydrolysis of a series of aryl diphenylphosphinothioates: models for P=S neurotoxins

Alkaline hydrolysis of a series of X‐substituted‐phenyl diphenylphosphinothioates ( 2a‐i ) in 80 mol%/20 mol% DMSO at 25.0 ± 0.1°C has been studied kinetically and assessed through a multiparameter approach. Substrates 2a to 2i are approximately 12 to 22 times less reactive than their P=O analogues 1a to 1i (ie, the thio effect). The Brønsted‐type plot for the reactions of 2a to 2i is linear with β_lg = ?0.43, consistent with a concerted mechanism. Hammett plots correlated with σ^o and σ^? constants also support a concerted mechanism; the Yukawa‐Tsuno plot results in an excellent linear correlation with ρ_X = 1.26 and r = 0.30, indicating that expulsion of the leaving group occurs in the rate‐determining step (RDS). The ΔH^? value increases from 10.5 to 11.7 and 13.9 kcal/mol as substituent X in the leaving group changes from 3,4‐(NO₂)₂ to 4‐NO₂ and H, in turn, while TΔS^? remains constant at ?6.0 kcal/mol. The strong dependence of ΔH^? on the electronic nature of substituent X also indicates that the leaving group departs in the RDS. The reaction mechanism and origin of the thio effect are discussed by comparison of the current kinetic results with those reported for the reactions of 1a to 1i . The results suggest that for useful OP neurotoxins the mechanism of abiotic hydrolysis is concerted (with varying degrees of asynchronicity) when the substrate bears good leaving groups.     

Highly Bright and Photostable Li(Gd,Y)F4:Yb,Er/LiGdF4 Core/Shell Upconversion Nanophosphors for Bioimaging Applications

Intense green‐emitting Li(Gd,Y)F₄:Yb,Er/LiGdF₄ core/shell (C/S) upconversion nanophosphors (UCNPs) with a tetragonal bipyramidal morphology are synthesized. The morphology and UC luminescence of the Li(Gd,Y)F₄:Yb,Er UCNPs are significantly affected by the Li precursors, and bright UC green‐emitting Li(Gd,Y)F₄:Yb,Er UCNPs with a tetragonal bipyramidal shape, i.e., UC tetragonal bipyramids (UCTBs), are synthesized using LiOH·H₂O as a Li precursor. A LiGdF₄ shell is grown on the Li(Gd,Y)F₄:Yb,Er UCTBs, and the C/S UCNPs exhibit 4.7 times higher luminescence intensity than core UCTBs. The C/S UCNPs show a high absolute UC quantum yield of 4.6% under excitation with 980 nm near infrared (NIR) light, and the UC luminescence from the C/S UCNPs is stable under continuous irradiation with the 980 nm NIR laser for 1 h. The hydrophobic surfaces of the as‐synthesized C/S UCNPs are modified to hydrophilic surfaces by using poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) for bioimaging applications. They are applied to human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cell imaging and SK‐MEL‐2 melanoma cell imaging and in vivo imaging, including subcutaneous and intramuscular imaging, and UC luminescence images with high signal‐to‐noise ratio are obtained. Furthermore, sentinel‐lymph‐node imaging is successfully conducted with the PAA‐capped Li(Gd,Y)F₄:Yb,Er/LiGdF₄ C/S UCNPs under illumination with NIR light.     

Modified gap states in Fe/MgO/SrTiO3 interfaces studied with scanning tunneling microscopy

The geometric and electronic structures of Fe islands on MgO film layers were studied with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The MgO layers were grown on a Nb-doped single crystal SrTiO₃ (100) surface. Deposited Fe atoms aggregate into islands, the height and diameter of which are about 2.5 and 9.4 nm respectively. Fe islands modify the electronic structure of MgO surface; a ring type depression in the scanning tunneling microscope topography appears by lowered local electron density of states around Fe islands. We find that adsorbed Fe atoms reduce the gap states of MgO layers around Fe islands, which is attributed to the reason for the depletion of the electronic density of states.     

Infrared and Raman investigation of the charge–density-wave state in rare-earth tri-telluride compounds

We summarize our recent efforts in investigating the charge–density-wave (CDW) state of the rare-earth tri-tellurides RTe₃ by means of infrared and Raman techniques. We identify the CDW gap, as order parameter of the broken-symmetry ground state, as well as the collective mode of the CDW condensate.     

Self‐formed Schottky barrier induced selector‐less RRAM for cross‐point memory applications

We propose a selector‐less Pr_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃ (PCMO) based resistive‐switching RAM (RRAM) for high‐density cross‐point memory array applications. First, we investigate the inhomogeneous barrier with an effective barrier height (Φ_eff), i.e., self‐formed Schottky barrier. In addition, a scalable 4F² selector‐less cross‐point 1 kb RRAM array has been successfully fabricated, demonstrating set, reset, and read operation for high cell efficiency and high‐density memory applications. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)