On the approximate solution of elastic contact problems for a circular annulus

Paper concerns the Boussinesq and Reissner-Sagoci contact problems for a rigid punch in contact with the plane face of an isotropic elastic half-space over a circular annulusbra. It is shown that a simple combination of the interior and exterior Dirichlet and Neumann solutions for a circle, when expressed in terms of oblate spheriodal coordinates, yields extremely accurate approximate solutions provided that 0b/a0.8.     

Transfer of energy from an evaporating drop in a vapor medium

The article considers the temperature distribution around an evaporating drop in a vapor medium. The transfer of energy is effected by molecular thermal conductivity, convection, and radiation. The mean length of the free flight path of the radiation considerably exceeds the characteristic distance at which the temperature changes. The times required for relaxation of the temperature to a steady-state value are determined, as well as the characteristic distances at which the temperature distribution changes.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 1, pp. 74–78, January–February, 1972.The authors thank V. G. Levich for his evaluation of the results obtained.     

FD-method for a nonlinear eigenvalue problem with discontinuous eigenfunctions

An algorithm for the solution of a nonlinear eigenvalue problem with discontinuous eigenfunctions is developed. The numerical technique is based on a perturbation of the coefficients of a differential equation combined with the Adomian decomposition method for the nonlinear term of the equation. The proposed approach provides an exponential convergence rate dependent on the index of the trial eigenvalue and on the transmission coefficient. Numerical examples support the theory. Published in Neliniini Kolyvannya, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 126–143, January–March, 2007.     

Bitumen/polyethylene blends: using m-LLDPEs to improve stability and viscoelastic properties

The stability and the rheological properties of blends of a 60/70 penetration-grade bitumen with conventional HDPEs and metallocene catalysed LLDPEs (m-LLDPE) are investigated. Considerably better stability results are obtained using m-LLDPEs instead of conventional polyethylenes, allowing one to avoid phase separation of the emulsion-like system during storage at high temperature. Thermodynamical interaction between bitumen and polyethylene is discarded as a cause of the observed difference, because the solubility parameter is practically the same for all the investigated polyethylenes. The result is explained on the basis of the lower melt elasticity of m-LLDPEs (attributed to their narrow molecular weight distribution), which facilitates the drop breakup during mixing process. The modification of bitumen with any of the m-LLDPEs considered in this work gives a new material with considerably improved viscoelastic properties.     

Analysis of biaxial-fatigue damage at elevated temperatures

Two-level cumulative-damage fatigue tests were conducted on tubular 304 stainless-steel specimen under biaxial-strain conditions at elevated temperatures. Effects of temperature, biaxiality and sequence of straining were investigated. The experimental results are forwarted with a new approach that utilizes the Miner cumulative-damage rule. This approach has shown that fatigue damage at elevated temperatures of 538°C (1000°F) and 649°C (1200°F) accelerates and decelerates as a result of time of exposure to a given loading sequence. The effect of biaxiality is shown through the behavior of the material under axial and shear-strain components. The axial (tensile) strain component has shown to be the severest detrimental damaging component when compared to a shear-strain component. A damage mechanism emerges from the interaction of temperature and loading sequence. Its significance can be observed only when a certain life ratio has been exhausted.     

Ignition of hydrogen in a turbulent boundary layer on a plate

The ignition of hydrogen blown into a turbulent supersonic boundary layer on a flat plate is investigated numerically. It is assumed that the mixture consists of six chemically active components H, O, OH, H₂O, O₂, H₂ and inert nitrogen N₂. The boundary layer is divided into outer and inner regions, for which different expressions for the coefficients of turbulent transport are used. The influence of pulsations on the rates of the chemical reactions, and also the back reaction of the chemical processes on the mechanism of turbulent transfer are not taken into account. The surface of the plate is assumed to be absolutely catalytic with respect to the recombination reactions of the H and O atoms. The influence of the blowing intensity, the Mach number in the outer flow, and the pressure on the ignition delay is analyzed. The possibility of effective porous cooling of the surface when there is combustion in the boundary layer is demonstrated.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 33–40, November–December, 1979.I thank V. G. Gromov and V. A. Levin for their interest in the work.     

Electrochemical properties of Ebonex®/Pt anodes

The electrochemical behavior of platinized Ebonex® was studied. The electrochemical and semiconductor properties of electrodes can be varied within wide limits by thermal treatment of Ebonex®/Pt, which selectively affects the electrocatalytic activity of anodes in the oxygen evolution reaction. The reduction peak of platinum oxides on the cyclic voltammetry (CV) curves can be used as a correlation parameter when evaluating the electrocatalytic activity of Ebonex®/Pt electrodes in the oxygen evolution reaction.     

FUNCTIONS OF LIPIDS ON HUMAN SKIN

In order to clarify the roles of lipids in the water-holding property of stratum corneum, the forearm skin of healthy male volunteers was treated with acetone/ether (1/1) or sodium dodecyl sulfate (5%) for 1-30 min. A prolonged treatment period of 5-30 min produced a chapped and scaly appearance of the stratum corneum without any inflammatory reactions. Under these conditions, there was a marked decrease in the water-holding capacity of the stratum corneum accompanied by a selective loss of stratum corneum lipids such as cholesterol, cholesterol esters, and sphingolipids. Two daily applications of the isolated stratum corneum lipids to experimentally induced dry skins caused a significant increase of conductance, accompanied by a marked improvement in the level of scaling. Meanwhile, the isolated sebaceous lipids exhibited no significant recovery in both the conductance value and the scaling. Out of chroma-tographically separated fractions of the stratum corneum lipids, topical applications of ceramide fraction induced the highest increase in the conductance value. Topical applications of synthesized pseudo-ceramides also showed a significant recovery of the water-retaining properties accompanied by an improvement in the scaling only when the polar group has an amide bond in the major linkage. Analysis of the alkyl chain structures has revealed that a structural requirement for the recovery of the water retaining capacity is the presence of saturated-straight alkyl chains, not unsaturated or branched alkyl chains. These structural characteristics required for water-retaining function also paralleled their capacity to form multiconcentric lamellae vesicles in vitro which is also capable of acquiring bound water as shown by DSC thermograms. The present study suggests that ceramides with relatively shorter alkyl chain length serve as a water modulator in the multi-lipid bilayers through the stratum corneum.     

Functional Polymers. X. Hydrolysis Studies of Polyesters and Polycarbonates of Bithionol and Their Copolymers

The hydrolysis behavior of a number of polymers of bithionol [2,2′-thiobis(4,6-dichlorphenol)] was investigated. The hydrolysis of polyesters of bithionol with aliphatic or aromatic dicarboxylic acids or phosphorus acids as well as polycarbonates and alternating copolycarbonates and polyurethanes or co(po1y-carbonates/polyurethanes) depends primarily on the water solubility of the polymer or at least on its degree of swelling. In the most favorable case of the alternating bithionol/PEG 4000 co-polycarbonate the hydrolysis rate of the polymer at 37°C was 1.62 L/mol/min at pH 10, 0.63 L/mol/min at pH 4 and 0.17 L/mol/min at pH 7.4. Copolycarbonates and copolyurethanes with PEG 4000 in the polymer chain have slightly lower rates of hydrolysis. When the solubility of the polymer is low and the crystallinity