On the concept of solution for fractional differential equations with uncertainty

We consider a differential equation of fractional order with uncertainty and present the concept of solution. It extends, for example, the cases of first order ordinary differential equations and of differential equations with uncertainty. Some examples are presented.     

Existence results and the monotone iterative technique for systems of nonlinear fractional differential equations

By establishing a comparison result and using the monotone iterative technique combined with the method of upper and lower solutions, we investigate the existence of solutions for systems of nonlinear fractional differential equations.     

Oscillation of second-order damped dynamic equations on time scales

The study of dynamic equations on time scales has been created in order to unify the study of differential and difference equations. The general idea is to prove a result for a dynamic equation where the domain of the unknown function is a so-called time scale, which may be an arbitrary closed subset of the reals. This way results not only related to the set of real numbers or set of integers but those pertaining to more general time scales are obtained. In this paper, by employing the Riccati transformation technique we will establish some oscillation criteria for second-order linear and nonlinear dynamic equations with damping terms on a time scale . Our results in the special case when and extend and improve some well-known oscillation results for second-order linear and nonlinear differential and difference equations and are essentially new on the time scales , h>0, for q>1, , etc. Some examples are considered to illustrate our main results.     

Levin''s comparison theorems for nonlinear second order differential equations

The nonlinear Levin's comparison theorems for nonlinear second order differential equations have been established by using a modified Levin's technique.     

Positive solutions for Dirichlet problems of singular nonlinear fractional differential equations

In this paper, we investigate the existence of positive solutions for the singular fractional boundary value problem: Dαu(t)+f(t,u(t),Dμu(t))=0, u(0)=u(1)=0, where 1<α<2, 0<μ?α−1, Dα is the standard Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative, f is a positive Carathéodory function and f(t,x,y) is singular at x=0. By means of a fixed point theorem on a cone, the existence of positive solutions is obtained. The proofs are based on regularization and sequential techniques.     

Positive solutions for mixed problems of singular fractional differential equations

We investigate the existence of positive solutions to the singular fractional boundary value problem: $^c\hspace{-1.0pt}D^{\alpha }u +f(t,u,u^{\prime },^c\hspace{-2.0pt}D^{\mu }u)=0$, u′(0) = 0, u(1) = 0, where 1 < α < 2, 0 < μ < 1, f is a L^q‐Carathéodory function, $q > \frac{1}{\alpha -1}$, and f(t, x, y, z) may be singular at the value 0 of its space variables x, y, z. Here $^c \hspace{-1.0pt}D$ stands for the Caputo fractional derivative. The results are based on combining regularization and sequential techniques with a fixed point theorem on cones.     

Effect of nanoclay and barium sulfate nanoparticles on the thermal and morphological properties of polyvinylidene fluoride nanocomposites

The thermal, morphological and optical studies of BaSO₄ and MMT (nanoclay) embedded in PVDF were investigated. Nanocomposites samples of PVDF–BaSO₄–MMT were prepared by varying the loadings (1–4 mass%) in case of BaSO₄ and MMT nanomaterials, respectively. Polyvinylidene fluoride–barium sulfate-montmorillonite (PVDF–BaSO₄–MMT) nanocomposites were prepared by solvent-mixing technique. Nanoparticles were synthesized by in situ deposition technique with the help of nonionic polymeric surfactant, and the particle size of nanoparticles was recognized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis which confirms that the particle has diameter of 80–90 nm. As prepared, nanocomposites films (thickness, 25 μm) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared microscopy (FTIR), SEM and electron diffraction spectroscopy (EDS). FTIR shows that all the chemical constituents were present in the nanocomposites, whereas SEM analysis suggested that the nanofillers dispersed well in polymer matrix and EDS showed the elemental composition of nanocomposite samples. Thermal properties of nanocomposites were studied by using TG/DTA/DTG. TG/DTA studies showed decomposition temperature of pure PVDF is 473.5 °C. The decomposition temperature (T _d) of nanocomposites was increased by 93 °C in case of nanocomposites with addition of both BaSO₄ and MMT nanomaterials. The difference in the thermal degradation temperature was found to be 1.2% higher in case of addition of BaSO₄ nanoparticle as compared to nanoclay. The obtained transparent nanocomposite films were characterized by using UV–Vis spectrophotometer which shows that transparencies of nanocomposites are maintained in visible region, the intensity of absorption band in UV region is increased with the addition of BaSO₄ nanoparticles, while in case of addition of nanoclay the UV region does not show drastic changes. Addition of both nanoparticle and nanoclay shows higher absorption in comparison with the individual samples. But further, doubling the amount of nanoparticle and nanoclay shows decrease in UV absorption. Overall, the results of thermal studies show that the incorporation of BaSO₄ and MMT could significantly improve the thermal properties of nanocomposites.     

Experimental study on novel phase change composites for thermal energy storage

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In this study, beeswax is studied as a phase change material (PCM) to store heat due to its high latent heat. The disadvantages of using beeswax were...