Micromechanisms of failure in short-fiber-reinforced high-impact polystyrene under tensile loading

Injection-molded, short-glass-fiber-reinforced high-impact polystyrene was investigated under uniaxial tension with special attention to the effects of fiber and rubber concentration on fracture behavior. According to a fracture morphology study performed by polarized optical and scanning electron microscopy, crazes were consecutively initiated from rubber-styrene composite particles and from fiber ends. The rubber particles exhibited an intra-particle failure mode which resulted from the failure manner of the matrix becoming of a more brittle character with increasing fiber fraction. Fibers were surrounded by neigh boring growing crazes. Failure at the fiber-matrix interfaces proceeded with an increase in the number of crazes. With increasing concentration of the fibers, crazing at rubber particles appeared to be suppressed and crazing occurred more preferentially at the fiber ends, which accelerated a macroscopic fracture.Dedicated to Prof. H. H. Kausch on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

High pressure study on the superconducting transition temperature and Hall coefficient of Ba1−xKxBiO3 up to 8 GPa

The superconducting transition temperature (T_c) of Ba_0.62K_0.38Bio₃ (T_c=30 K) has been measured under high pressure up to 8 GPa. It is observed that T_c increases initially with pressure, as reported by Uwe et al., Shirber et al. and Huang et al., but decreases above 4 GPa. The Hall coefficient of Ba_0.62K_0.38BiO₃ has been measured up to 1.2 GPa. The absolute value of the Hall coefficient decreases with pressure by 10% GPa, the value of which is almost the same as that obtained in most CuO-based high-temperature superconductors.     

Photoconductive properties of titanium dioxide film modified by femtosecond laser irradiation

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) films were irradiated with a femtosecond laser to alter their photoconductive properties. The laser wavelength and pulse duration were 775 nm and 150 fs, respectively. The TiO₂ films irradiated with the femtosecond laser were darkened without changing the topography of the TiO₂ film surface. The electrical resistances of the films as a function of time were measured under visible-light illumination. The transient electrical resistances decreased as time was increased after turning on the light. There were two stages in the reduction process of the electrical resistance.     

MJ and collision energy dependent attenuation of Rg (3P2) by CF3Br

The total attenuation cross-section of Rg (³P₂) (Rg = Ar, Kr) by the collision with CF₃Br is measured as a function of the magnetic sub level M_J of Rg (³P₂) and the collision energy. For Ar (³P₂), the attenuation process indicates a M_J dependence, in particular, the cross-section of the M_J = 0 state is lower compared with that for other states. On the other hand, Kr (³P₂) shows no M_J dependent attenuation.     

Magnetic evaluation of intergranular interactions in thin-film media by rotational hysteresis loss analysis

Magnetic torque analysis has been carried out for CoNiPt, CoCrTa/Cr and CoCrPt/Cr thin-film media. The magnetic field H^grain_k, where the rotational hysteresis loss vanishes, remained almost constant in each material, independent of the coercive force H_c. Only in the CoCrTa media no clear correlation between the rotational hysteresis integral and H_c was observed.