A real time method for surface cleanliness measurement

The measurement of surface cleanliness is a significant problem in many industrial and technological processes. Existing methods are based on laboratory procedures, that are not performed in real time, can not be automated, and usually are restricted to a small portion of the sample. In this study we describe a new method for real time measurement of the amount of surface dirt or contamination deposited on a surface. It relies on the ablation of the surface dirt film by means of a short laser pulse, and the subsequent measurement of the emitted sound. The intensity of the sound is proportional to the amount of surface dirt and provides a direct measurement of the cleanliness of the surface. We also developed a reference sample for calibration, based on a uniform distribution of dots printed on white paper. The density and the dot size can be easily modified providing a homogeneous, uniform and reproducible standard for the measurement. Based on this method, we designed, developed and patented the first industrial instrument for on-line determination of the degree of cleanliness of manufactured cold rolled steel plate bobbins. PACS 79.20.D; 81.70.C; 42.62.     

Advances in constant-velocity Mössbauer instrumentation

A prototype of a programmable constant-velocity scaler is presented. This instrument allows the acquisition of partial Mössbauer spectra in selected energy regions using standard drivers and transducers. It can be fully operated by a remote application, thus data acquisition can be automated. The instrument consists of a programmable counter and a constant-velocity reference. The reference waveform generator is amplitude modulated with 13-bit resolution, and is programmable in a wide range of frequencies and waveforms in order to optimize the performance of the transducer. The counter is compatible with most standard SCA, and is configured as a rate-meter that provides counts per selectable time slice at the programmed velocity. As a demonstration of the instrument applications, a partial Mössbauer spectrum of a natural iron foil was taken. Only positive energies were studied in 512 channels, accumulating 20 s per channel. A line width of 0.20 mm/s was achieved, performing with an efficiency of 80%.     

Area orthogonality in normed linear spaces

A new concept of orthogonality in real normed linear spaces is introduced. Typical properties of orthogonality (homogeneity, symmetry, additivity, ...) and relations between this orthogonality and other known orthogonalities (Birkhoff, Boussouis, Unitary-Boussouis and Diminnie) are studied. In particular, some characterizations of inner product spaces are obtained.     

TDPAC study in ZnTiF6·6H2O between room temperature and 1273 K

Using the time differential perturbed angular correlation technique, the hyperfine interactions as titanium sites in ZnTiF6·6H₂O and its decomposition products were determined between room temperature (300 K) and 1273 K. The different steps in the decomposition pattern were identified and a simple model is given for it.     

Young's inequality in trace-class operators

 If a and b are trace-class operators, and if u is a partial isometry, then , where ∥⋅∥₁ denotes the norm in the trace class. The present paper characterises the cases of equality in this Young inequality, and the characterisation is examined in the context of both the operator and the Hilbert–Schmidt forms of Young's inequality. Received: 20 December 2001 / Revised version: 11 July 2002 / Published online: 10 February 2003 Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 47A63, 15A60     

Relative morsification theory

In this paper we develop a Morsification Theory for holomorphic functions defining a singularity of finite codimension with respect to an ideal, which recovers most previously known morsification results for non-isolated singularities and generalise them to a much wider context. We also show that deforming functions of finite codimension with respect to an ideal within the same ideal respects the Milnor fibration. Furthermore we present some applications of the theory: we introduce new numerical invariants for non-isolated singularities, which explain various aspects of the deformation of functions within an ideal; we define generalisations of the bifurcation variety in the versal unfolding of isolated singularities; applications of the theory to the topological study of the Milnor fibration of non-isolated singularities are presented. Using intersection theory in a generalised jet-space we show how to interpret the newly defined invariants as certain intersection multiplicities; finally, we characterise which invariants can be interpreted as intersection multiplicities in the above mentioned generalised jet space.     

Influence of the loading path on the strength of fiber-reinforced composites subjected to transverse compression and shear

The influence of the loading path on the failure locus of a composite lamina subjected to transverse compression and out-of-plane shear is analyzed through computational micromechanics. This is carried out using the finite element simulation of a representative volume element of the microstructure, which takes into account explicitly fiber and matrix spatial distribution within the lamina. In addition, the actual failure mechanisms (plastic deformation of the matrix and interface decohesion) are included in the simulations through the corresponding constitutive models. Two different interface strength values were chosen to explore the limiting cases of composites with strong or weak interfaces. It was found that failure locus was independent of the loading path for the three cases analyzed (pseudo-radial, compression followed by shear and shear followed by compression) in the composites with strong and weak interfaces. This result was attributed to the fact that the dominant failure mechanism in each material was the same in transverse compression and in shear. Failure is also controlled by the same mechanisms under a combination of both stresses and the failure locus depended mainly on the magnitude of the stresses that trigger fracture rather than in the loading path to reach the critical condition.     

Simultaneous determination of cloramphenicol, salicylic acid and resorcinol by capillary zone electrophoresis and its application to pharmaceutical dosage forms

This study demonstrates the separation of active ingredients in acne formulations (salicylic acid, cloramphenicol and resorcinol in presence of azulene) by capillary zone electrophoresis. Factors affecting their separations were the buffer pH and concentration, applied voltage, sample preparation, and presence of additives. Optimun results were obtained with a 50 mM sodium tetraborate-50 mM sodium phosphate, pH 9.0. The carrier electrolyte gave baseline separation with good resolution, short migration times (<6 min), great reproducibility and accuracy. Calibration plots were linear over at least three orders of magnitude of analyte concentrations, the lower limits of detection being within the range 0.39-1.25 μg ml⁻¹. The procedure was fast and reliable and commercial pharmaceuticals could be analysed without prior sample clean-up procedure.     

Estimates of the rate of convergence of a dynamic reconstruction algorithm under incomplete information about the phase state

In this paper, we study a dynamic reconstruction algorithm which reconstructs the unknown unbounded input and all unobservable phase coordinates from the results of measurements of part of the coordinates. An upper and a lower bound for the accuracy of the reconstruction is obtained. We determine the class of inputs for which the upper bound is uniform. We give a condition for optimally matching the algorithm parameters, ensuring the highest order of the upper bound and equating the orders of the upper and lower bounds. Thus, we establish the sharpness of the upper bound.