Study of the peak effect phenomenon in single crystals of 2H-NbSe2

The weakly pinned single crystals of the hexagonal 2H-NbSe₂ compound have emerged as prototypes for determining and characterizing the phase boundaries of the possible order-disorder transformations in the vortex matter. We present here a status report based on the ac and dc magnetization measurements of the peak effect phenomenon in three crystals of 2H-NbSe₂, in which the critical current densities vary over two orders of magnitude. We sketch the generic vortex phase diagram of a weakly pinned superconductor, which also utilizes theoretical proposals. We also establish the connection between the metastability effects and pinning.     

The influence of a transverse magnetic field on a subnormal glow discharge in air

In subnormal glow discharge under d.c. excitation at different pressure in a varying transverse magnetic field (0 to 30 G) some measurements have been carried out for various initial average tube currents. The voltage across the discharge increases and average tube current and residual current decreases in the magnetic field. With the help of Beckman’s expression [4] for the axial field and the electron density distribution in a transverse magnetic field the observed variation of current and voltage can be satisfactorily explained. The variation of axial electric field with transverse magnetic field can be represented to a fair degree of accuracy by the derived equation. The behaviour of residual current with magnetic field has been observed in these oscillations.     

Integral equation formulation for buoyancy-driven convection problems

An integral equation formulation for buoyancy-driven convection problems is developed and illustrated. Buoyancy-driven convection in a bounded cylindrical geometry with a free surface is studied for a range of aspect ratios and Nusselt numbers. The critical Rayleigh number, the nature of the cellular motion, and the heat transfer enhancement are computed using linear theory. Green's functions are used to convert the linear problem into linear Fredholm integral equations. Theorems are proved which establish the properties of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the linear integral operator which appears in these equations.     

Determination of isoniazid and hydrazine by capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection at a Pt-particle modified carbon fiber microelectrode

Capillary electrpphoresis (CE)/electrochemical detection (EC) for the simultane-ous determination of hydrazine and isoniazid has been developed.The electrochemical method uses a novel modified electrode dispersed with ultrafine platinum particles on the surface of a 30μm carbon fiber microelectrode.The unique characteristic of the Pt-particles modified carbon fiber microelectrode is its excellent stability.The current measurement for hydrazine is more sensitive than that of isoniazid.Selective determination of trace amount of free hydrazine in isoniazid and its formulation can be achieved at applied potential of 0.5V.     

Fracture analyses of different pre-holed concrete specimens under compression

Crack propagation processes in specially prepared concrete discs and rectangular specimens containing a single cylindrical hole or multiple holes of varying diameters have been studied both experimentally and numerically.In this research, the cracks coalescence paths in Brazilian disc and rectangular specimens made from rock-like material containing multi-holes are investigated. These concrete specimens are specially prepared from an appropriate mixture of Portland Pozzolana Cement(PPC), fine sands, and water.The pre-holed Brazilian discs and rectangular specimens are experimentally tested under compression. The breakage load in the ring type disc specimens containing an axial hole with varying diameters is measured and the distribution of the induced lateral stress is obtained. The mechanism of cracks propagation in the wall of the ring type specimens is also studied. In the case of multi-hole Brazilian disc and rectangular specimens, the cracks propagation and cracks coalescence are also investigated. These experiments are numerically modeled by a modified higher order displacement discontinuity method. It has been shown that the corresponding experimental and numerical results are in good agreement with each other. The results presented in this research validate the accuracy and applicability of these crack analyses procedures.     

Investigating the vortex melting phenomenon in BSCCO crystals using magneto-optical imaging technique

Using a novel differential magneto-optical imaging technique we investigate the phenomenon of vortex lattice melting in crystals of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈ (BSCCO). The images of melting reveal complex patterns in the formation and evolution of the vortex solid-liquid interface with varying field (H)/temperature (T). We believe that the complex melting patterns are due to a random distribution of material disorder/inhomogeneities across the sample, which create fluctuations in the local melting temperature or field value. To study the fluctuations in the local melting temperature/field, we have constructed maps of the melting landscape T _m(H, r), viz., the melting temperature (T _m) at a given location (r) in the sample at a given field (H). A study of these melting landscapes reveals an unexpected feature: the melting landscape is not fixed, but changes rather dramatically with varying field and temperature along the melting line. It is concluded that the changes in both the scale and shape of the landscape result from the competing contributions of different types of quenched disorder which have opposite effects on the local melting transition.     

Voltammetric and potentiometric study of cysteine at cobalt(II) phthalocyanine modified carbon-paste electrode

Cyclic voltammetry and potentiometry were used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of cysteine at a chemically modified electrode prepared by incorporating cobalt(II) phthalocyanine [Co(II)Pc] into carbon paste matrix. The modified electrode showed high electrocatalytic activity toward cysteine; the overpotential for the oxidation of cysteine was decreased by more than 100 mV, and the corresponding peak current increased significantly. The electrocatalytic process was highly dependent on the pH of the supporting electrolyte. The peak currents decreased when the pH was raised to 6 and totally disappeared at pH≥ 7, resulting from the autocatalytic oxidation of cysteine by Co(II)Pc at the electrode surface. Therefore, at pH values of 6 to 8, the modified electrode was used as a potentiometric sensor for quantitative measurement of cysteine in the presence of oxygen in air saturated solutions. In fact, the Co(II)Pc/Co(I)Pc couple acts as a suitable mediator for indirect oxidation of cysteine by dissolved oxygen at approximately neutral pH values. Under the optimized conditions, the potentiometric response of the modified electrode was linear against the concentration of cysteine in the range of 0.6 μM to 2 mM. The limit of detection was found to be 0.5 μM. The potentiometric response time was ≤15 s. The electrode showed long term stability; the standard deviation of the slope obtained after repeated calibration during a period of two months was 2.8% (n = 7). Application of the electrode in a recovery experiment for the determination of cysteine added to a synthetic serum sample is described.     

Application of adsorptive cathodic differential pulse stripping method for simultaneous determination of copper and molybdenum using pyrogallol red

A reliable and sensitive procedure for the simultaneous determination of trace levels of copper and molybdenum is proposed. The complexing of copper(II) and molybdenum(VI) with pyrogallol red (PGR) is analyzed by cathodic stripping differential pulse voltammetry based on the adsorption collection of the complexes onto a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE). The effect of chemical and instrumental parameters on the sensitivity and selectivity were studied. Copper and molybdenum peaks potential were observed at about +0.13 and −0.22 V versus Ag/AgCl electrode, respectively. A standard addition method was utilized for the analysis of voltammogram data, under the optimum conditions and with accumulation time of 90 s. The measured peak current at about +0.14 and −0.22 V is proportional to the concentration of Cu(II) and Mo(VI) over the range of 2-70 and 0.8-80 ng ml⁻¹, respectively. The limit of detection are 0.3 and 0.1 ng ml⁻¹ for Cu(II) and Mo(VI), respectively. The capability of the method for the analysis of real samples was evaluated by determination of copper and molybdenum in river water, tap water and alloy. Atomic absorption spectrometry was applied as a reference method for determination of copper and molybdenum in water samples.     

Determination of bismuth and copper using adsorptive stripping voltammetry couple with continuous wavelet transform

A new method is proposed for the determination of bismuth and copper in the presence of each other based on adsorptive stripping voltammetry of complexes of Bi(III)-chromazorul-S and Cu(II)-chromazorul-S at a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE). Copper is an interfering element for the determination of Bi(III) because, the voltammograms of Bi(III) and Cu(II) overlapped with each other. Continuous wavelet transform (CWT) was applied to separate the voltammograms. In this regards, wavelet filter, resolution of the peaks and the fitness were optimized to obtain minimum detection limit for the elements. Through continuous wavelet transform Symlet4 (Sym4) wavelet filter at dilation 6, quantitative and qualitative analysis the mixture solutions of bismuth and copper was performed. It was also realized that copper imposes a matrix effect on the determination of Bi(III) and the standard addition method was able to cope with this effect. Bismuth does not have matrix effect on copper determination, therefore, the calibration curve using wavelet coefficients of CWT was used for determination of Cu(II) in the presence of Bi(III). The detection limits were 0.10 and 0.05 ng ml⁻¹ for bismuth and copper, respectively. The linear dynamic range of 0.1-30.0 and 0.1-32.0 ng ml⁻¹ were obtained for determination of bismuth in the presence of 24.0 ng ml⁻¹ of copper and copper in the presence of 24.0 ng ml⁻¹ of bismuth, respectively. The method was used for determination of these two cations in water and human hair samples. The results indicate the ability of method for the determination of these two elements in real samples.     

Vibration control of beams on elastic foundation under a moving vehicle and random lateral excitations

The formulation of three-dimensional dynamic behavior of a Beam On Elastic Foundation (BOEF) under moving loads and a moving mass is considered. The weight of the vehicle is modeled as a moving point load, however the effect of the lateral excitation is considered by modeling: (case 1) a lateral moving load with random intensity for wind excitation and (case 2) a moving mass just in lateral direction of the beam for earthquake excitation. A Dirac-delta function is used to describe the position of the moving load and the moving mass along the beam. The beam foundations are considered as elastic Winkler-type in two perpendicular transverse directions. This model is proposed to investigate the bending response of the rails under the effect of traveling vehicle weight while a random excitation such as earthquake or wind takes place. The results showed the importance of considering the effect of earthquake/wind actions as in bending stress of the beam on elastic foundations. The effect of different regions (different support stiffness) and different velocities of the vehicle on the response of the beam are investigated in mentioned directions. At the end, a linear optimal control algorithm with displacement–velocity feedback is proposed as a solution to suppress the response of BOEFs. By the method of modal analyses and taking into account enough number of vibration modes, state-space equation is obtained, then sufficient number of actuators was chosen for each direction. Stochastic analyses were performed in lateral direction in order to illustrate a comprehensive view for the response of the beam under the random moving load in both controlled and uncontrolled systems. Furthermore, the efficiency of control algorithm on critical velocities is verified by parametric analyses in the vertical direction with the constant moving load for different regions.