Preparation and Characterization of Isotactic Polypropylene Reinforced with Hydroxyapatite Nanorods

Isotactic polypropylene (PP) composites filled with hydroxyapatite nanorods (nHAs) were fabricated using a melt compounding process. The effects of nHA additions on the structure, thermal, and mechanical properties as well as bioactivity of PP were investigated. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry results showed that PP crystallized exclusively in the α-form when adding nHAs. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed that nHAs enhanced the storage modulus of PP. Mechanical measurements showed that nHAs stiffened and reinforced PP but reduced its tensile ductility and impact strength considerably. Furthermore, the PP/nHA nanocomposites were found to exhibit excellent bioactivity upon immersion in a simulated body fluid solution. This was attributed to the formation of apatite mineral crystals on the nanocomposite surfaces as revealed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis.     

Crystallization,Flame Retardancy and Mechanical Properties of Poly(Butylene Terephthalate)/Brominated Epoxy/Nano-Sb2O3 Composites Dispersed By High Energy Ball Milling

Nano-Sb2O3 particles and brominated epoxy resin (BEO) powders were dispersed in poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT) by high energy ball milling (HEBM). Then the nanocomposites were prepared by a twin screw extruder. The influence of the nano-Sb2O3 particles on the crystallization, thermal stability, flame retardancy and mechanical properties of the PBT/BEO/nano-Sb2O3 composites were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL-94 tests and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the nano-Sb2O3 particles improved the crystallizability, thermal stability and flame retardancy properties of the PBT/BEO/nano-Sb2O3 composites. When the content of nano-Sb2O3 particles was 2.0?wt%, the LOI of nano-Sb2O3/BEO/PBT composites increased from 22.0 to 27.8 and the tensile strength reached its maximum value (62.44?MPa), which indicated that the optimum value of flame retardancy and mechanical properties of PBT/BEO/nano-Sb2O3 composites were obtained.     

Fluctuations in the Bose Gas with Attractive Boundary Conditions

In this paper limiting distribution functions of field and density fluctuations are explicitly and rigorously computed for the different phases of the Bose gas. Several Gaussian and non-Gaussian distribution functions are obtained and the dependence on boundary conditions is explicitly derived. The model under consideration is the free Bose gas subjected to attractive boundary conditions, such boundary conditions yield a gap in the spectrum. The presence of a spectral gap and the method of the coupled thermodynamic limits are the new aspects of this work, leading to new scaling exponents and new fluctuation distribution functions.     

Mode Distribution and Bandwidth Characteristic of Arbitrarily Trapezoidal-Groove Guide for Millimeter Waves

The modes TE and TM of arbitrarily trapezoidal-groove guide are analyzed by using the mode-matching method. The mode TE₁₁ is the dominant mode of the trapezoidal-groove guide under different conditions. The bandwidth characteristic and the operation condition for the single dominant mode are discussed. The obtained conclusions are of very important significance in theoretical study and practical application of trapeziodal-groove guides for millimeter waves.     

Piezoelectric resonators with mechanical damping and resistance in current conduction

A novel design method for high Q piezoelectric resonators was presented and proposed using the 3-D equations of linear piezoelectricity with quasi-electrostatic approximation which include losses attributed to mechanical damping in solid and resistance in current conduction. There is currently no finite element sofware for estimating the Q of a resonator without apriori assumptions of the resonator impedance or damping. There is a necessity for better and more realistic modeling of resonators and filters due to miniaturization and the rapid advances in frequency ranges in telecommunication. We presented new three-dimensional finite element models of quartz and barium titanate resonators with mechanical damping and resistance in current conduction. Lee, Liu and Ballato’s 3-D equations of linear piezoelectricity with quasi-electrostatic approximation which include losses attributed to mechanical damping in solid and resistance in current conduction were formulated in a weak form and implemented in COMSOL. The resulting finite element model could predict the Q and other electrical parameters for any piezoelectric resonator without apriori assumptions of damping or resistance. Forced and free vibration analyses were performed and the results for the Q and other electrical parameters were obtained. Comparisons of the Q and other electrical parameters obtained from the free vibration analysis with their corresponding values from the forced vibration analysis were found to be in excellent agreement. Hence, the frequency spectra obtained from the free vibration analysis could be used for designing high Q resonators. Results for quartz thickness shear AT-cut and SC-cut resonators and thickness stretch poled barium titanate resonators were presented. An unexpected benefit of the model was the prediction of resonator Q with energy losses via the mounting supports.     

Nonlinear spectral-like schemes for hybrid schemes

In spectral-like resolution-WENO hybrid schemes,if the switch function takes more grid points as discontinuity points,the WENO scheme is often turned on,and the numerical solutions may be too dissipative.Conversely,if the switch function takes less grid points as discontinuity points,the hybrid schemes usually are found to produce oscillatory solutions or just to be unstable.Even if the switch function takes less grid points as discontinuity points,the final hybrid scheme is inclined to be more stable,provided the spectral-like resolution scheme in the hybrid scheme has moderate shock-capturing capability.Following this idea,we propose nonlinear spectral-like schemes named weighted group velocity control(WGVC)schemes.These schemes show not only high-resolution for short waves but also moderate shock capturing capability.Then a new class of hybrid schemes is designed in which the WGVC scheme is used in smooth regions and the WENO scheme is used to capture discontinuities.These hybrid schemes show good resolution for small-scales structures and fine shock-capturing capabilities while the switch function takes less grid points as discontinuity points.The seven-order WGVC-WENO scheme has also been applied successfully to the direct numerical simulation of oblique shock wave-turbulent boundary layer interaction.     

Improvements on open and traction boundary conditions for Navier–Stokes time-splitting methods

We present in this paper a numerical scheme for incompressible Navier–Stokes equations with open and traction boundary conditions, in the framework of pressure-correction methods. A new way to enforce this type of boundary condition is proposed and provides higher pressure and velocity convergence rates in space and time than found in the present state of the art. We illustrate this result by computing some numerical and physical tests. In particular, we establish reference solutions of a laminar flow in a geometry where a bifurcation takes place and of the unsteady flow around a square cylinder.     

Inflow conditions for spatial direct numerical simulation of turbulent boundary layers

The inflow conditions for spatial direct numerical simulation (SDNS) of turbulent boundary layers should reflect the characteristics of upstream turbulence, which is a puzzle. In this paper a new method is suggested, in which the flow field obtained by using temporal direct numerical simulation (TDNS) for fully developed turbulent flow (only flow field for a single moment is sufficient) can be used as the inflow of SDNS with a proper transformation. The calculation results confirm that this method is feasible and effective. It is also found that, under a proper time-space transformation, all statistics of the fully developed turbulence obtained by both temporal mode and spatial mode DNS are in excellent agreement with each other, not only qualitatively, but also quantitatively. The normal-wise distributions of mean flow profile, turbulent Mach number and the root mean square (RMS) of the fluctuations of various variables, as well as the Reynolds stresses of the fully developed turbulence obtained by using SDNS, bear similarity in nature. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90205021), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 20060400707), and the Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of China (Grant No. 200328), and partially supported by Liu-Hui Center of Applied Mathematics, Nankai University and Tianjin University     

Comparative Study by MS and XRD of Fe50Al50 Alloys Produced by Mechanical Alloying, Using Different Ball Mills

In this work we report a comparative study of the magnetic and structural properties of Fe₅₀Al₅₀ alloys produced by mechanical alloying using two different planetary ball mills with the same ball mass to powder mass relation. The Fe₅₀Al₅₀ sample milled during 48 h using the Fritsch planetary ball mill pulverisette 5 and balls of 20 mm, presents only a bcc alloy phase with a majority of paramagnetic sites, whereas that sample milled during the same time using the Fritsch planetary ball mill pulverisette 7 with balls of 15 mm, presents a bcc alloy phase with paramagnetic site (doublet) and a majority of ferromagnetic sites which include pure Fe. However for 72 h of milling this sample presents a bcc paramagnetic phase, very similar to that prepared with the first system during 48 h. These results show that the conditions used in the first ball mill equipment make more efficient the milling process.     

Observations of the atmospheric boundary layer across the land-sea transition zone using a scanning Mie lidar

Optical properties of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) above the land-sea transition interface were measured using a scanning Mie lidar located 30 km away from the Adriatic coast. Based on the two-dimensional range-height-indicator scans, detailed information on the ABL was obtained, including parameters such as atmospheric optical depth, aerosol extinction coefficient and the height of the ABL. The presented case study indicates that the height of the ABL in the land-sea transition zone and the adjacent mountainous region was changing rapidly due to highly variable atmospheric conditions.