Modal analysis of piezoelectric bodies with voids. II. Finite element simulation

The paper is concerned with the eigenvalue problems for piezoelectric bodies with voids in contact with massive rigid plane punches and coved by the system of open-circuited and short-circuited electrodes. The linear theory of piezoelectric materials with voids for porosity change properties according to Cowin–Nunziato model is used. The generalized statements for eigenvalue problem are obtained in the extended and reduced forms. A variational principle is constructed which has the properties of minimality, similar to the well-known variational principle for problems with pure elastic media. The discreteness of the spectrum and completeness of the eigenfunctions are proved. The orthogonality relations for eigenvectors are obtained in different forms. As a consequence of variational principles, the properties of an increase or a decrease in the natural frequencies, when the mechanical, electric and “porous” boundary conditions and the moduli of piezoelectric solid with voids change, are established.     

Natural radioactivity and radon exhalation rates in building materials used in Egypt

Natural and fabricated building materials commonly used in Egypt were surveyed for both natural radionuclides content and radon exhalation rate. These include raw as well as construction products. Concentration of natural radionuclides in all samples were determined by γ-ray spectroscopy with HPGe detector. For Radon exhalation rate measurements of fabricated samples, the seal can-technique has been applied using CR-39 plastic track detectors. The radiation hazard indices of the total natural radioactivity in the studied samples were estimated. The results were compared with the corresponding results of different countries and were found to be lying within the average world values. Radon exhalation rate in the studied samples varied between 197 (cement brick) and 907 mBq m⁻² h⁻¹ (blast furnace slag cement). The results of this survey suggest that, using blast furnace slag cement for pre-coating the internal walls of buildings in the Urban region of Egypt is discouraged and the replacement of clay brick by cement brick will be more healthy for the public.     

Effect of microencapsulation using soy protein isolate and gum arabic as wall material on red raspberry anthocyanin stability,characterization, and simulated gastrointestinal conditions

This study involves microencapsulation of anthocyanin extract (AC) from red raspberry using a freeze drying technique involving ultrasonication of soy protein isolate (SPI), gum arabic (AG), and their combination. Analyses included microcapsule properties, encapsulation efficiency, antioxidant capacity using the DPPH assay, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), color, thermal stability, stability during storage, morphology, and simulated gastrointestinal conditions. Encapsulation efficiency (EE) ranged from 93.05% to 98.87% for all microcapsules. The morphology of microcapsules by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated a broken glass shape, with mean size of microcapsules ranging from 21.07 ± 2.71 μm to 48.19 ± 2.33 μm using Mastersizer analyzer. A good relationship obtained between zeta potential (ZP) and FTIR spectrum indicated that there is a chemical cross linking interaction between wall material and core material. All microcapsules enhanced the thermal stability of AC in the temperature range 80–114 °C. Furthermore, AC retention (up to 48%) during storage at 37 °C for 60 days revealed that treatment H combination of SPI and AG was best. In addition, SPI and AG combination presented good release behavior under simulated gastrointestinal conditions compared with unencapsulated anthocyanin.     

A novel two-dimensional SiO sheet with high-stability,strain tunable electronic structure,and excellent mechanical properties

Using the structure search of particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm combined with density functional theory(DFT), we conduct a systematic two-dimensional(2D) material research on the SiO and discover a P2 monolayer structure.The phonon spectrum shows that the 2D P2 is dynamic-stable under ambient pressure. Molecular dynamics simulations show that 2D P2 can still exist stably at a high temperature of 1000 K, indicating that 2D P2 has application potential in high-temperature environments. The intrinsic 2D P2 structure has a quasi-direct band gap of 3.2 e V. The 2D P2 structure can be transformed into a direct band gap semiconductor by appropriate strain, and the band gap can be adjusted to the ideal band gap of 1.2 e V–1.6 e V for photovoltaic materials. These unique properties of the 2D P2 structure make it expected to have potential applications in nanomechanics and nanoelectronics.     

Synthesis of NiCo2S4 nanospheres/reduced graphene oxide composite as electrode material for supercapacitor

The NiCo₂S₄ nanospheres arrayed on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was fabricated via one-step hydrothermal method. The effect of initial feeding mass of Ni(NO₃)₂·6H₂O and Co(NO₃)₂·6H₂O to rGO on the microstructure and electrochemical performance of the as-prepared composites was studied. The results indicated that the specific capacitances of the composites were first increased and then reduced due to the aggregation of NiCo₂S₄ nanospheres. NiCo₂S₄ nanospheres/rGO composites exhibited a remarkable specific capacitance of 1406 F/g and excellent cyclic stability of 82.36% at the current density of 1 A/g, which were better than those of individual NiCo₂S₄ (792 F/g and 64.77%) counterpart. These results showed that the as-prepared NiCo₂S₄ nanospheres/rGO composites were outstanding candidate for electrode material of supercapacitors.     

Dynamic magnetic properties of the kinetic cylindrical Ising nanotube

The nature (time variation) of response magnetizations m(wt) of the kinetic cylindrical Ising nanotube in the presence of a periodically varying external magnetic field h(wt) is studied by employing the effective-field theory (EFT) with correlations as well as the Glauber-type stochastic dynamics. We have determined the time variations of m(wt) and h(wt) for various temperatures, and investigated the dynamic magnetic hysteresis behavior. Temperature dependence of the dynamic magnetizations, hysteresis loop areas and correlations are investigated in order to characterize the nature (first- or second-order) of the dynamic transitions as well as to obtain the dynamic phase transition temperatures. We also present the dynamic phase diagrams in the three different planes and compare the results of the equilibrium and nonequilibrium states. The phase diagrams exhibit dynamic tricritical, isolated critical, multicritical and triple points. The results are in good agreement with some experimental and theoretical results.     

Effect of Co2+ on the growth,optical properties and laser damage threshold of potential nonlinear optical l-alanine single crystal

Good transparent bulk single crystals of pure l-alanine (LA) and cobalt doped LA crystals have been synthesized and successfully grown by slow-cooling method from their aqueous solutions. The concentration of metal dopants in the mother solution with 0.5 mol% for cobalt was carried out individually and crystals were obtained with well defined morphology. The as grown metal doped and pure single crystals were characterized by single crystal XRD studies which confirm that the incorporation of metallic dopants has not changed the basic structure of the parent crystal. The absorption of these crystals was analyzed and the result confirms that they possess low absorption in the range 230–1100 nm. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was carried out to investigate the molecular vibrations of these crystals and to confirm the incorporation of the dopants. The thermal properties have been studied by TGA/DTA curves. The EDAX measurement and surface morphology were studied for pure and metal doped LA crystals. The second harmonic generation (SHG) signals were observed using Nd: YAG laser with fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm in pure and metal doped crystals. The laser damage threshold was measured for pure and metal doped LA crystals and also tested by using a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser showed enhanced LDT value for metal (Co²⁺) doped LA crystal compared to pure LA crystal due to the metallic substitutions thus proving their useful candidature for nonlinear optical applications.     

Development and validation of a new LBM-MRT hybrid model with enthalpy formulation for melting with natural convection

This article presents a new model to simulate melting with natural convection of a phase change material. For the phase change problem, the enthalpy formulation is used. Energy equation is solved by a finite difference method, whereas the fluid flow is solved by the multiple relaxation time (MRT) lattice Boltzmann method. The model is first verified and validated using the data from the literature. Then, the model is applied to a tall brick filled with a fatty acid eutectic mixture and the results are presented. The main results are (1) the spatial convergence rate is of second order, (2) the new model is validated against data from the literature and (3) the natural convection plays an important role in the melting process of the fatty acid mixture considered in our work.     

On the wellposedness of constitutive laws involving dissipation potentials

We consider a material with memory whose constitutive law is formulated in terms of internal state variables using convex potentials for the free energy and the dissipation. Given the stress at a material point depending on time, existence of a strain and a set of inner variables satisfying the constitutive law is proved. We require strong coercivity assumptions on the potentials, but none of the potentials need be quadratic.

As a technical tool we generalize the notion of an Orlicz space to a cone ``normed' by a convex functional which is not necessarily balanced. Duality and reflexivity in such cones are investigated.