Unsteady MHD flow and heat transfer near stagnation point over a stretching/shrinking sheet in porous medium filled with a nanofluid

In this article, the unsteady magnetohydrodynamic （MHD） stagnation point flow and heat transfer of a nanofluid over a stretching/shrinking sheet is investigated numerically. The similarity solution is used to reduce the governing system of partial differential equations to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations which are then solved numerically using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method with shooting technique. The ambient fluid velocity, stretching/shrinking velocity of sheet, and the wall temperature are assumed to vary linearly with the distance from the stagnation point. To investigate the influence of various pertinent parameters, graphical results for the local Nusselt number, the skin friction coefficient, velocity profile, and temperature profile are presented for different values of the governing parameters for three types of nanoparticles, namely copper, alumina, and titania in the water-based fluid. It is found that the dual solution exists for the decelerating flow. Numerical results show that the extent of the dual solution domain increases with the increases of velocity ratio, magnetic parameter, and permeability parameter whereas it remains constant as the value of solid volume fraction of nanoparticles changes. Also, it is found that permeability parameter has a greater effect on the flow and heat transfer of a nanofluid than the magnetic parameter.     

A Unique Reversible Gate in Quantum-dot Cellular Automata for Implementation of Four Flip-flops Without Garbage Outputs

In this paper, a unique gate is presented for the design of reversible flip-flops in quantum-dot cellular automata technology. The proposed gate is implemented with multiplexer, three-input Majority gate and XOR gate. The proposed gate has four input lines and four output lines. This gate is designed without garbage outputs. In other words, each output determines the function of each of flip-flops. The proposed structure is evaluated by the QCADesigner. The result of the simulation represents that the operations of the proposed structure is as expected and all functions are correct. Also, the evaluation results show that the proposed structure has significant improvement in area, cell numbers and delay compared to the previous structures. QCAPro tool is used to estimate energy consumption of the proposed structure.     

MHD Double-Diffusive Carreau Fluid Flow through a Porous Medium with Variable Thermal Conductivity and Suction/Injection

In this article, we consider the effects of double diffusion on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Carreau fluid flow through a porous medium along a stretching sheet. Variable thermal conductivity and suction/injection parameter effects are also taken into the consideration. Similarity transformations are utilized to transform the equations governing the Carreau fluid flow model to dimensionless non-linear ordinary differential equations. Maple software is utilized for the numerical solution. These solutions are then presented through graphs. The velocity, concentration, temperature profile, skin friction coefficient, and the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers under the impact of different parameters are studied. The fluid flow is analyzed for both suction and injection cases. From the analysis carried out, it is observed that the velocity profile reduces by increasing the porosity parameter while it enhances both the temperature and concentration profile. The temperature field enhances with increasing the variable thermal conductivity and the Nusselt number exhibits opposite behavior.     

Synergic extraction of Eu(III) and Tb(III) by 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone and tribenzylamine

Synergic extraction of Eu(III) and Tb(III) with 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone (HTTA) and tribenzylamine (TBA) as neutral donor ligand has been studied in chloroform from perchlorate media at lower pH range. The stoichiometric composition of the adduct was established as M(TTA)₃ · 3TBA for both the elements, having a coordination number 9. The formation constants K_3,0 and K_3,3 and stability constant _3,3 of the organic phase reaction have been calculated. The effect of temperature on the extraction has also been studied. The adducts are stabilized by the large exothermic enthalpy change. The calculated thermodynamic functions such as H, S and G were used to elucidate the mechanism of synergism in which the coordination numbers of the lanthanide ions increased.     

Minimizing total weighted late work in the resource-constrained project scheduling problem

This paper deals with resource-constrained project scheduling problem under the weighted late work criterion. Late work objective functions estimate the quality of a schedule based on durations of late parts of activities, not taking into account the amount of delay for fully late activities. It is assume that a project contains activities interrelated by finish-to-start type precedence relations with time lag of zero, which require one or more constrained renewable resources. The objective is to schedule each activity such that the total weighted late work is minimized. The problem has been formulated using a linear integer programming model and solved by the CPLEX. Also, a set of priority rules have been designed to quickly generate a set of initial solutions. In order to solve the problem optimally, a depth-first branch-and-bound algorithm is applied based on idea of minimal delaying alternatives. The branching order of nodes that belong to the same level of the search tree is determined on the basis of the developed priority rules. This results in generation six different versions of the branch-and-bound algorithm. Computational results on randomly generated problem sets are provided to analyze the efficiency of the priority rules and the branch-and-bound algorithm.     

Tractive rolling contact mechanics of graded coatings

In this study, the tractive rolling contact problem between a rigid cylinder and a graded coating is investigated. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the stiffness ratio, the coefficient of friction and the coating thickness on the surface contact tractions, the surface in-plane stress, the stick zone length and the creep ratio parameter that may have a bearing on the fatigue life of the component. Assuming that the shear modulus varies exponentially through the thickness of the coating, the governing integral equations associated with the rolling contact problem are constructed. Furthermore, it is supposed that the contact patch is controlled by a central stick zone accompanied by two slip zones. The conventional Goodman approximation is employed in order to decouple the governing singular integral equations. Finally, the numerical solution of the integral equations is obtained by applying the Gauss–Chebyshev integration method.     

Hydrothermal synthesis and physicochemical characterization of CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 nanopowder. Part I: Effect of crystallization time

A hydrothermal method was successfully used for synthesis of CuO/ZnO/Al₂O₃ (CZA) nanopowder with atomic ratio of 6:3:1. The effect of crystallization time (3, 6, 9, and 12 h) on physicochemical properties of nanopowder was investigated. Nanopowders were characterized using XRD, FESEM, EDX, FTIR, TG, and BET techniques. The XRD patterns confirmed metal oxides formation and their good crystallinity with average crystallite size of 20 nm as obtained by the Scherrer equation. Relative crystallinity was shown to increase with increasing crystallization time. In agreement with XRD results, FESEM images also illustrated nanosized particles. EDX mapping indicated homogenous dispersion of elements. BET specific surface area analysis showed acceptable surface area for CZA nanopowder. FTIR spectroscopy confirmed metal oxides formation during hydrothermal and calcination processing. TG results illustrated high thermal stability of the synthesized nanopowders. TG-DTG and FTIR analyses were used to propose a reaction mechanism for nanopowder formation during processing. Physicochemical characterization showed optimal crystallization time to be 6 h.     

Nepetanal and nepetanoate: a new diterpene aldehyde and a benzene derivative ester from Nepeta juncea

One new tricyclic clerodane type diterpene aldehyde nepetanal (1) and one new benzene derivative nepetanoate (2) have been isolated from a plant Nepeta juncea together with two known compounds oleanolic acid (3) and ursolic acid (4). The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated by means of modern spectroscopic techniques and comparison with literature data. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Convergence analysis of the product integration method for solving the fourth kind integral equations with weakly singular kernels

Numerical Algorithms - In this paper, we consider product integration method based on orthogonal polynomials to solve mixed system of Volterra integral equations of the first and second kind with...