Analysis of t-butylphenol acetylene condensed resin with methyl-methine linkages in vulcanized rubber by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Methyl-methine linkages of Novolac, a commercially available t-butylphenol acetylene condensed (TBPA) resin, have been identified by recognition of pyrolysis pathways using pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/mS) in vulcanized rubber. The diagnostic mass spectrum of t-butylphenol with methyl-methine linkages between phenolic rings was observed at m/z 192, corresponding to 4-t-butyl-2-ethyl-6-methylphenol. Other molecular ions were observed at m/z 178, 164, and 150 in the characteristic pyrolyzates. The ion at m/z 192 in the TBPA resin was observed to be characteristic for methyl-methine linkages between the phenolic groups, and the analytical pyrolysis-GC/mS method was thus able to identify the resin at low levels in vulcanized rubber. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Truncated fractal basin boundaries in the pendulum with nonperiodic forcing

Summary It is well known that oscillators such as the pendulum can have fractal basin boundaries when they are periodically forced with the consequence that the long term behavior of the system may be unpredictable. In engineering and physical applications, the forcing is often nonperiodic and eventually decays to zero, and simulation of the pendulum with decaying forcing (M. Varghese, J. S. Thorp, Physical Review Letters, vol. 60, no. 8, pp. 665–668, Feb. 1988) exhibits truncated fractal basin boundaries which also limit the system predictability. We develop a coordinate change for the pendulum with decaying forcing that allows us to apply standard qualitative methods to study the basin boundaries. We prove that the basin boundaries cannot be fractal and show by example how the extreme stretching and folding leading to a truncated fractal basin boundary may arise.