Dynamic tensile strength of composite laminate joints fastened mechanically

The tensile strength of composite joints is determined under dynamic loading conditions. The composites are laminates made from hybrid fiber reinforced plastic (HFRP) and carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). Three different mechanically fastened joint configurations are considered: they are the pin-connected, single-lap and double-lap type. The joint strength under dynamic load is found to be lower than that under quasi-static load. The pin-connected joint was the weakest. Investigated also are the influence of geometric parameters for pin-connected HFRP laminate joints. The results shed light on how to improve the bearing strength of mechanical joints when encountering dynamic loads.     

Strongly convex functions of higher order

The notion of strongly n-convex functions with modulus c>0 is introduced and investigated. Relationships between such functions and n-convex functions in the sense of Popoviciu as well as generalized convex functions in the sense of Beckenbach are given. Characterizations by derivatives are presented. Some results on strongly Jensen n-convex functions are also given.     

A review of visible-range Fabry–Perot microspectrometers in silicon for the industry

This review presents microspectrometers in silicon for the industry for measuring light in the visible range, using the Fabry–Perot interferometric technique. The microspectrometers are devices able to do the analysis of the individual spectral components in a given signal and are extensively used on spectroscopy. The analysis of the interaction between the matter and the radiated energy can found huge applications in the industrial sector. The microspectrometers can be divided on three types, determined by the dispersion element or the used approach and can be found microspectrometers based on prisms, gratings interferometers. Both types of microspectrometers can be used to analyze the spectral content ranging from the ultraviolet (UV, below 390 nm), passing into the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum (VIS, 390–760 nm) up to the infrared (IR, above 760 nm). The microspectrometers in silicon are versatile microinstruments because silicon-compatible techniques can be used to assembly both the optical components with the readout and control electronics, thus resulting high-volume with high-reproducibility and low-cost batch fabrications. A compensation technique for minimizing the scattered light effects on interferometers was implemented and is also a contribution of this paper. Fabry–Perot microspectrometers for the visible range are discussed in depth for use in industrial applications.     

Microwave-assisted activation for electroless nickel plating on PMMA microspheres

A novel microwave-assisted activation method for electroless plating on PMMA microspheres is presented in this study. When the microwave irradiation was applied during the activation step, the amount of the Pd species adsorbed on PMMA surfaces was much higher than that of sample pretreated with a conventional activation process without microwave irradiation. With this activation method, it was also shown that the adsorbed Pd species with a size of 4-6 nm were uniformly distributed on the surfaces of the PMMA microspheres, thus a smooth and uniform nickel-phosphorus coating on the PMMA microspheres was obtained by subsequent electroless plating. The samples after each step were characterized by XPS, TEM, ICP and SEM.     

Adsorption of poly(amido amine) (PAMAM) dendrimers on silica: importance of electrostatic three-body attraction

Adsorption of poly(amido amine) (PAMAM) dendrimers to silicon oxide surfaces was studied as a function of pH, ionic strength, and dendrimer generation. By combining optical reflectometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM), the adsorbed layers can be fully characterized and an unequivocal determination of the adsorbed mass becomes possible. For early stages, the adsorption process is transport limited and of first order with respect to the dendrimer solution concentration. For later stages, the surface saturates and the adsorbed dendrimers form loose but correlated liquidlike surface structures. This correlation is evidenced by a peak in the pair correlation function determined by AFM. The maximum adsorbed amount increases with increasing ionic strength and pH. The increase with the ionic strength is explained by the random sequential adsorption (RSA) model and electrostatic repulsion between the dendrimers. The adsorbing dendrimers interact by the repulsive screened Coulomb potential, whose range decreases with increasing ionic strength and thus leads to increasing adsorbed densities. The pH increase is interpreted as an effect of the substrate and is quantitatively explained by the extended three-body RSA model. This model stipulates the importance of a three-body interaction acting between two adsorbing dendrimers and the charged substrate. The presence of the charged substrate weakens the repulsion between the adsorbing dendrimers and thus leads to higher surface densities. This effect can be interpreted as an additional attractive three-body interaction, which acts in addition to the usual two-body repulsion and originates from the additional screening of the Coulomb repulsion by the counterions accumulating in the diffuse layer.     

Uniform metal nanoparticles produced at high yield in dense microemulsions

This article demonstrates that bicontinuous microemulsions are optimal templates for high yield production of metal nanoparticles. We have verified this for a variety of microemulsion systems having AOT (sodium bis (2-ethyhexyl) sulphosuccinate) or a fluorocarbon (perfluoro (4-methyl-3,6-dioxaoctane)sulphonate) as surfactant mixed with water and oils like n-heptane or n-dodecane. Several types of metal nanoparticles, including platinum, gold and iron, were produced in these microemulsions having a size range spanning 1.8-17 nm with a very narrow size distribution of ±1 nm. Remarkably high mass concentrations up to 3% were reached. Size and concentration of the nanoparticles could be varied with the stoichiometries of the reagents that constituted them. The optimization towards high yield while maintaining low size polydispersity is due to the decoupling of the time scales for the precipitation reaction and for coarsening. In actual fact, coalescence is essentially prevented by the immobilization of nanoparticles within the bicontinuous microemulsion structure.     

Pionic fusion study of the halo nucleus 6He, the reaction d+4He→6He+π + at CELSIUS

The halo nucleus ⁶He has been studied in a pionic fusion experiment at the CELSIUS storage ring facility in Uppsala. The ⁶He nuclei were produced in reactions with a deuteron beam incident on a ⁴He jet target 0.9–5.4 MeV above threshold in the center-of-mass frame. The ⁶He ions were detected in a ΔE-E solid-state detector telescope inserted into the CELSIUS ring. The aim of the experiment was to investigate, in particular, the high-momentum part of the halo wave function by measuring the total and differential cross sections of the reaction d+⁴He→⁶He+π ⁺.     

Tetrameric copper(II) halide compounds containing (R,S)- and (S)-1-amino-2-propanolate ions

Summary Compounds with the composition CuXL, in which X=Cl^– or Br^– and L=R,S-1-amino-2-propanol andS-1-amino-2-propanol, both with deprotonated hydroxy groups, are described. Magnetic measurements strongly suggest these compounds to have a tetrameric cubane-type structure with a Cu₄O₄ core. The racemic and optically-active compounds show a different magnetic behaviour, most likely originating from different cluster types for the isomers. The results of the i.r., f.i.r. and e.s.r. spectra are in good agreement with the proposed cluster types.