Use of FIB to Study ZDDP Tribofilms

Focussed ion beam milling (FIB) followed by TEM has been used to study ZDDP tribofilms on rubbed steel surfaces. It has been found that the impact of high energy platinum and gallium ions during FIB causes significant morphological and structural changes to the uppermost 30–50 nm of a ZDDP tribofilm. This can be prevented by the low energy deposition of a quite thick gold layer prior to installation of the sample in the FIB facility. This problem, and its solution, have been quite widely reported in the non-tribology literature but have not previously been highlighted in the application of FIB to study tribological surfaces. It has also been found, using this gold pre-deposition method, that the bulk of the ZDDP tribofilm studied has a polycrystalline structure.     

Vapor-liquid equilibrium of ethanol/ethyl acetate mixture in ultrasonic intensified environment

A vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) study was conducted on ethanol/ethylacetate mixture as a preliminary step towards developing an ultrasonic-assisted distillation process for separating azeotropic mixtures. The influence of ultrasonic intensity and frequency on the vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) of the mixture was examined using a combination of four ultrasonic intensities in range of 100–400W/cm² and three frequencies ranging from 25–68 kHz. The sonication was found to have significant impacts on the VLE of the system as it alters both the relative volatility and azeotrope point, with preference to lower frequency operation. A maximum relative volatility of 2.32 was obtained at an intensity of 300 W/cm2 and a frequency of 25 kHz coupled with complete elimination of ethanol-ethyl acetate azeotrope. Results from this work were also congruent with some experimental and theoretical works presented in the literature. These findings set a good beginning towards the development of an ultrasonic assisted distillation that is currently in progress.     

Synthesis and characterization of coumarin thiazole derivative 2-(2-amino-1,3-thiazol-4-yl)-3H-benzo[f]chromen-3-one with anti-microbial activity and its potential application in antimicrobial polyurethane coating

Coumarin, thiazole and their respective derivative products are some of the oldest and most commonly known class of nitrogen and sulphur containing compounds. In recent years there has been considerable interest in this coumarin–thiazole derivatives, which have been reported to exhibit significant biological activity and are widely used as pharmaceuticals. They are capable of imparting anti-microbial activity properties when incorporated into polymers and polymer composites. In this research, coumarin–thiazole derivative 2-(2-amino-1,3-thiazol-4-yl)-3H benzo[f]chromen-3-one (compound III), was prepared and its structure was confirmed by means of its spectra data. It was also screened for its anti-microbial activity against eight different micro-organisms when physically incorporated into a polyurethane varnish formula. Experimental coatings were manufactured on a laboratory scale and applied by means of a brush on both glass and steel panels. The results of the biological activity indicated that the polyurethane varnishes containing the 2-(2-amino-1,3-thiazol-4-yl)-3H-benzo[f]chromen-3-one (compound III) derivative, exhibit a very good antimicrobial effect. The molecular modeling study revealed that it is biologically safe, it is active and it fulfills Lipinski's rule of five. The physical and mechanical resistances of the polyurethane varnish formulations were also studied to evaluate any drawbacks associated with the addition of the derivative. The studies indicate that the physical incorporation of compound III actually enhances slightly both the physical and mechanical properties.     

Radio resource management for LTE-A relay-enhanced cells with spatial reuse and max–min fairness

One of the major issues in LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems is the poor capacity at the cell edge. This is mainly due to the interference experienced by the users as a result of the aggressive frequency reuse usually implemented. Relaying offers an attractive solution for this problem by offering better links than those with the eNodeB (eNB) for the terminals suffering from high path loss or high interference. However, adding relays complicates the resource allocation problem at the eNB and therefore the need for more efficient schemes arises. This is also aggravated by the reuse of resource blocks (RBs) by the relays to fully exploit the scarce spectrum, which, in turn, leads to intra-cell interference. In this paper, we study the joint power and resource allocation problem in LTE-A relay-enhanced cells that exploit spatial reuse. To guarantee fairness among users, a max–min fair optimization objective is used. This complex problem is solved using coordinate ascent and the difference of two convex functions (DC) programming techniques and the proposed scheme indeed converges to a local-optimum quickly. This is shown to be a satisfactory solution according to the simulation results that indicate an almost sevenfold increase in the 10th percentile capacity when compared to previously proposed solutions.     

Numerical simulation of two-phase mass transport in three-dimensional naturally fractured reservoirs using discrete streamlines

Simulation of multiphase mass transport in large field-scale heterogeneous, naturally fractured reservoirs with common grid-based methods is very time consuming and costly. An in-house streamline-based simulator is extended to simulate two-phase flow of oil and water in 3D heterogeneous, naturally fractured reservoirs. Different waterflooding problems have been simulated in 2D and 3D fractured reservoirs, and their results are compared with those of the grid-based commercial software. It has been shown that the streamline-based simulator can predict the results of the grid-based software with an acceptable accuracy, while its computational time and required memory is exceptionally less than the grid-based method.     

Control of Superelastic Behavior of NiTi Wires Aided by Thermomechanical Treatment with Reference to Three-Point Bending

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of thermomechanical treatment on the superelastic behavior of a Ti-50.5 at.%Ni wire in terms of loading/unloading plateau, mechanical hysteresis, and permanent set to optimize these parameters for orthodontic applications. A new three-point bending fixture, oral cavity configuration three-point bending (OCTPB) test, was utilized to determine the superelastic property in clinical condition, and therefore, the tests were carried out at 37 °C. The results indicate that the thermomechanical treatment is crucial for thermal transformation and mechanically induced transformation characteristics of the wire. Annealing of thermomechanically treated specimens at 300 and 400 °C for 1/2 and 1 h leads to good superelasticity for orthodontic applications. However, the best superelasticity at body temperature is obtained after annealing at 300 °C for 1/2 h with regard to low and constant unloading force and minimum permanent set.     

Electrical,electrochemical and photo-electrochemical studies on the electrodeposited n-type semiconductor hexagonal crystalline CdS thin film on nickel substrate

Electrodeposited cadmium sulfide (CdS) on nickel substrate of new properties from aqueous solutions of Cd²⁺ and S₂O₃ ^2? at 313 K has been obtained using cyclic voltammetric and potentiostatic techniques. The mechanism of the electrode reactions for the electrodeposition of CdS has been evaluated and proposed. Energy dispersive X-ray florescence elemental analysis and X-ray diffraction investigations demonstrate that, the electrodeposited CdS is pure and hexagonal polycrystalline in nature, at our optimal conditions. Furthermore, the electrodeposited CdS is of n-type semiconductor was investigated and confirmed by Mott–Schotky test. Donor concentration (N_D) was determined to be 1.0 × 10¹⁷ cm^?3. In this research we discovered that, the electrodeposited semiconductor CdS on Ni substrate has low resistivity and magnetic properties (became as a strong magnet) at the mentioned conditions. The photoelectrochemical measurements of the electrodeposited CdS on nickel electrode had been investigated at room temperature and under illumination giving good results.     

The response of viscoelastic-frictionless bodies under normal impact

This paper presents a computational finite element model capable of simulation of the impact response of viscoelastic-frictionless bodies. The variational method is developed to drive the equations of motion. The Lagrange multiplier method is exploited to impose the nonholmonic contact constraints and convert the problem form constraint problem to unconstraint one. The constitutive equations are expressed in integral form. and involving relaxation moduli are adopted to describe the nonaging simple material. Generalized Standard Linear Solid (Wiechert) model is adopted to simulate the internal damping (viscoelastic) behavior of the structure. Wiechert model is exploited in order to drive a recursive relationship and thereby eliminate storage problem. Newmark constant average acceleration is proposed to integrate the governing equation numerically and transfer the problem into a static one for each time increment.     

Incorporation of process integration into life cycle analysis for the production of biofuels

This article presents a new approach for incorporating process-integration tools into life cycle analysis (LCA) for biofuel production. Process synthesis techniques using mass- and energy-integration tools are employed to generate various scenarios for reducing mass and energy consumption in the process. The global implications of these changes and the associated trade-offs are assessed using the LCA tool: GREET. The developed approach enables the consideration of several levels of process integration while tracking the process economics and the reduction of the net greenhouse gas emissions. Several cases of biofuels with different processing technologies have been considered in this study, and the results show that when the process-integration tools are effectively utilized and combined with LCA, better insights are obtained and the net greenhouse gas emissions decrease drastically for different biofuels.