The effect of moisture content in fibre laser cutting of pine wood

This paper reports a statistical analysis of the multiple-pass laser cutting of wet and dry pine wood with a Ytterbium fibre laser. As multiple factors affect the laser wood cutting process, finding the optimal combination of process parameters is necessary to achieve good quality and high process efficiency. Design of experiments (DOE) and statistical modelling were used in this study to investigate the significant process parameters and their interactions. A high brightness, 1 kW IPG single mode, continuous wave Ytterbium doped fibre laser was employed to cut wet and dry pine wood samples. The parameters investigated are laser power, traverse speed, focal plane position (f.p.p.), gas pressure, number of passes, direction of cut (normal or parallel to wood's tracheids) and the moisture content. The experimental results were compared against process responses defining the efficiency (i.e. kerf depth and energy consumption) and quality of the cut section (i.e. kerf width, heat affected zone—HAZ, edge surface roughness and perpendicularity). It has been found that the laser cutting process was mainly affected by the moisture content and the cut direction with respect to the wood's tracheids, followed by traverse speed, laser power and the number of passes. The effect of moisture content on energy consumption in the laser cutting process of both wet and dry wood is analysed. The wood cutting results with fibre laser are compared with those from a CO₂ laser.     

The impact of the pitching motion on the structure of the vortical flow over a slender delta wing under sideslip angle

The primary purpose of this investigation is to observe the effect of the pitching motion on the vortical flow structure and bursting of leading-edge vortices over a delta wing under the sideslip angle, β using a dye visualization technique. In the current work, a delta wing with a sweep angle of Λ = 70° was oscillated in upstroke and downstroke direction to be able to discover the influence of pitching motion on the flow characteristics of the delta wing. The values of mean angles of attack were selected as α_m = 25° and α_m = 35°, and the sideslip angle was altered from β = 0 to 16°. The delta wing oscillated with the various periods of T_e = 5 s, 20 s, and 60 s, respectively. Amplitude of motion was adjusted as α_o =  ± 5°. It is found that the pitching motion of the delta wing under the sideslip angle β varies the location of the vortex bursting and vortical flow structure substantially.

     

Ligase-Independent Cloning of Amylase Gene from a Local Bacillus subtilis Isolate and Biochemical Characterization of the Purified Enzyme

Five hundred ninety-seven bacterial isolates from Turkish hot spring water sources were screened for their ability to produce extracellular α-amylase. Among them, a high enzyme-producing Bacillus subtilis isolate, A28, was selected, and its α-amylase gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli by a ligase-independent method. α-Amylase from the recombinant strain was purified to homogeneity by Q-Sepharose anion exchange and Sephacryl S-100 gel filtration chromatographies. The final yield of the enzyme was about 22.5 % of the initial activity, with a 16.4-fold increase in specific activity compared with the culture lysate. The optimum temperature and pH of the enzyme were 70 °C and 6.0, respectively. The enzyme was highly active at acidic-neutral pH range of 4.5–7.0. The amy28 α-amylase retained 100 % of its activity after incubation at 50 °C for 90 min. Co⁺², Cu²⁺, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, Ni⁺², and Zn⁺² caused significant inhibition in enzyme activity, which was not affected by Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Li⁺, and Ba²⁺. The activity was inhibited about 70 % upon treatment of the enzyme with 10 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. However, Ca²⁺ ions known as high temperature stabilizer for other amylases did not stimulate the activity of the enzyme. Due to pH stability and thermostability of the recombinant amylase, this enzyme may be suitable in starch processing, brewing, and food industries.     

Transmission of low-energy (< 10 eV) O ions through Au films on TiO2(110)

In an attempt to identify the fundamental processes that influence ion transport through metallic surface layers, we have studied the transmission of O⁺ ions through discontinuous Au films adsorbed on TiO₂(110). A low energy (< 10 eV) O⁺ ion beam is generated via electron stimulated desorption when an Au-dosed TiO₂(110) substrate is bombarded with a focused 250 eV electron beam. Low energy ion scattering data indicate that Au evaporated under ultrahigh vacuum conditions at 300 K forms three-dimensional clusters on TiO₂(110). As the Au coverage increases, the formation of Au clusters on TiO₂(110) blocks a fraction of the TiO₂ surface and the O⁺ yield is attenuated. However, for high coverages (≥30% Au covered substrate) the O⁺ signal decreases at a faster rate than the TiO₂ open area fraction. We attribute the attenuation of the O⁺ yield for high Au coverages mainly to blocking of O⁺ by Au clusters, to deflection of trajectories by the image force between ions and Au clusters, and to charge transfer between desorbing O⁺ and neighboring Au clusters.     

Investigation of heavy metal distributions along 15 m soil profiles using EDXRF,XRD, SEM‐EDX,and ICP‐MS techniques

The research of soil contamination by heavy metal is an important field due to its environmental and health implications. The goal was to study the elemental mobility as a function of depth. For this reason, the distribution of heavy metals (V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sn, and Pb) was investigated along soil profiles up to a depth of 15 m at 9 sampling sites in the Nilufer industrial district (Bursa, Turkey). Elemental analyses were done with the Epsilon 5 energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry equipment. Particle analysis was performed with a JEOL scanning electron microscope equipped with a Si(Li) X‐ray detector. The crystallographic compositions of oxide compounds in soil samples were identified by a Rigaku X‐ray diffraction instrument. Different parameters such as the soil's chemical (mineralogical structure, pH, and electrical conductivity) and physical properties (the number of blows, the stiffness index, the liquidity index, the plasticity index, and the water content) were analyzed. To assess the mobility of the heavy metals, diffusion (D) and convection coefficients (?) were calculated with the finite difference method. Convection was determined to dominate the studied region. In addition, the mobility coefficient was determined for each metal. High mobilities were determined for Zn and V, moderate mobilities for Cr, Ni, Cu, and As, and low mobilities were determined for Co and Pb. The results revealed that elements had reached depths of up to 15 m, causing irreversible soil contamination that may lead to environmental health issues.     

Synthesis of poly(Nε-phenoxycarbonyl-l-lysine) by polycondensation of activated urethane derivative and its application for selective modification of side chain with amines

We report a methodology for the synthesis of Nε-phenoxycarbonyl-protected poly(l -lysine) on the side chain by chain growth polycondensation of Nα,Nε-bis(phenoxycarbonyl)-l -lysine proceeded through the selective elimination of phenol and CO₂ from the Nα phenoxycarbonyl moiety at 50 °C in N,N-dimethylacetamide in the presence of a primary amine used as an initiator. After optimization of reaction condition, the addition of acetic acid during polycondensation proved effective for the realization of the predicted molecular weight and narrow dispersity of the corresponding polypeptide by adjusting the feed ratio of monomer to the amine initiator because of the suppression of interchain coupling that occurs between the amino terminus of poly(l -lysine) and the Nε-phenoxycarbonyl group on the polymer side chains. Furthermore, taking advantage of the potentially reactive Nε-phenoxycarbonyl moiety on the side chain, post-polymerization modification was effectively achieved by the nucleophilic reaction of amine compounds including primary, secondary, and aromatic amines through the formation of urea linkage, providing a useful platform for synthesis of selective side chain functionalization of poly(l -lysine) samples. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 2522–2530     

The stability boundary of systems with one degree of freedom (Part II)

Summary This paper is designed as a supplement to Part I with a view to adding to the practical value of the theory presented there. Singular critical points which may arise under certain circumstances, and the effect of their presence on the shape of the stability boundary are investigated. It is shown that such points, if they exist, will generally lie on planes in the loading space, and that a simple linear eigenvalue approach will readily yield their location. An example is solved for illustration, and the results of an experiment are reported.

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Sommario Questa nota rappresenta un'integrazione ad una precedente (Parte I) e si propone di accrescere il valore applicativo della teoria ivi sviluppata. Si studiano punti critici singolari che possono presentarsi in certe circostanze, e le conseguenze della loro presenza sulla forma del dominio di stabilità. Si dimostra che se tali punti esistono, appartengono in generale a piani nello spazio dei carichi e che la loro ubicazione può essere facilmente determinata con un semplice procedimento fondato sulla considerazione degli autovalori. La risoluzione di un esempio e risultati sperimentali illustrano le conclusioni raggiunte in sede teorica.

     

Flow around a cylinder surrounded by a permeable cylinder in shallow water

The change in flow characteristics downstream of a circular cylinder (inner cylinder) surrounded by an outer permeable cylinder was investigated in shallow water using particle image velocimetry technique. The diameter of the inner cylinder and the water height were kept constant during the experiments as d?=?50?mm and h _w ?=?25?mm, respectively. The depth-averaged free-stream velocity was also kept constant as U?=?170?mm/s which corresponded to a Reynolds number of Re_d?=?8,500 based on the inner cylinder diameter. In order to examine the effect of diameter and porosity of the outer cylinder on flow characteristics of the inner cylinder, five different outer cylinder diameters (D?=?60, 70, 80, 90 and 100?mm) and four different porosities (???=?0.4, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7) were used. It was shown that both porosity and outer cylinder diameter had a substantial effect on the flow characteristics downstream of the circular cylinder. Turbulent statistics clearly demonstrated that in comparison with the bare cylinder (natural case), turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds stresses decreased remarkably when an outer cylinder was placed around the inner cylinder. Thereby, the interaction of shear layers of the inner cylinder has been successfully prevented by the presence of outer cylinder. It was suggested by referring to the results that the outer cylinder having 1.6????D/d????2.0 and 0.4????D/d????0.6 should be preferred to have a better flow control in the near wake since the peak magnitude of turbulent kinetic energy was considerably low in comparison with the natural case and it was nearly constant for these mentioned porosities ??, and outer cylinder to inner cylinder diameter ratios D/d.     

Conservation theorems in curved space-time

Basic theorems on conservation laws in general space-time are given. The proofs are based on Gauss' theorem which works with ordinary divergence and not with covariant divergence. Consequences for the gravitational theory are exhibited.