Synthesis of Ti-based bulk quasicrystal by shock compression

We attempted to produce a Ti₄₅Zr₃₈Ni₁₇ bulk icosahedral (i) quasicrystal by a shock compression technique, in which a single-stage powder gun discharges a flyer plate that consolidates the target powders. The results were also compared with those by a conventional hot-pressing. The powder mixtures for the shock compression were blended by two kinds of methods; that is, gently mixing in a vial, and mechanically alloying by a planetary ball mill. A large bulk i-phase sample, with a Ti₂Ni crystal phase, was synthesized from mechanically alloyed powders after shock compression at a higher flyer velocity, although the conventional hot-pressing at 3 MPa synthesized only the Ti₂Ni phase. For the gently mixed powders, no reaction occured even after shock compression. High-pressure and high-temperature produced during shock compression, and milling process were key factors to obtain the i-phase. The Vickers hardness and the wetting contact angle with pure water under an atmospheric pressure for the bulk sample containing the i-phase were about 7 GPa and about 70°, respectively.     

Bi-Cu film deposition in aqueous solutions

The relatively uniform bismuth-copper film was electrodeposited between −15 and −20 mV in the sulfate electrolyte containing 4 mmol/L bismuth ion and 2 mmol/L copper ion. Only copper was electrodeposited at −5 mV. The dendritic bismuth-copper film was electrodeposited under −20 mV. The cathodic current became constant between −20 and −400 mV. Therefore, bismuth-copper electrodeposition changes from charge transfer controlling to diffusion controlling at −20 mV. On the other hand, the uniform bismuth-copper film was electrodeposited between −5 and −35 mV in the methanesulfonate electrolyte containing 4 mmol/L bismuth ion and 2 mmol/L copper ion. The dendritic bismuth-copper film was electrodeposited under −35 mV. The potential region for good electrodepositon in methanesulfonate electrolyte is wider than that in sulfate electrolyte. Therefore, it is easy to control electrodeposition conditions by using methanesulfonate electrolyte.     

Sensory‐motor control mechanism for reaching movements of a redundant musculo‐skeletal arm

This paper studies the human arm's sensory‐motor control mechanism in reaching movements. First, we formulate both the kinematics and dynamics of a two‐link planar arm model with six redundant muscles. The nonlinear muscle dynamics is modeled based on several biological understandings. We then show the stability of the overall system and perform some numerical simulations. By considering the internal forces induced by the redundant muscles, we show that the damping factors in each joint can be regulated, and as the result, it can realize humanlike quasistraight line reaching movements. In addition, we also propose the gravity compensation method at the muscle input level and present the result of numerical simulation to verify the usefulness of this method. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Interaction among a row of ellipsoidal inclusions

In this paper the interaction among a row of N ellipsoidal inclusions of revolution is considered. Inclusions in a body under both (A) asymmetric uniaxial tension in the x-direction and (B) axisymmetric uniaxial tension in the z-direction are treated in terms of singular integral equations resulting from the body force method. These problems are formulated as a system of singular integral equations with Cauchy-type or logarithmic-type singularities, where unknowns are densities of body forces distributed in the r,,z directions. In order to satisfy the boundary conditions along the ellipsoidal boundaries, the unknown functions are approximated by a linear combination of fundamental density functions and polynomials. The present method is found to yield rapidly converging numerical results for interface stresses. When the elastic ratio E ₁E _I/E _M>1, the primary feature of the interaction is a large compressive or tensile stress _n on the interface =0. When E ₁E _I/E _M<1, a large tensile stress or _t on the interface =1/2 is of interest. If the spacing b/d and the elastic ratio E _I/E _M are fixed, the interaction effects are dominant when the shape ratio a/b is large. For any fixed shape and spacing of inclusions, the maximum stress is shown to be linear with the reciprocal of the squared number of inclusions.     

SIR Weighting Combining Diversity Using Matched Filter for Personal Communication Systems

We propose a novel SIR weighting postdetection combining diversity scheme with a new accurate SIR estimation method. The SIR is estimated and used as the weighting factor to compensate severe cochannel interference, one of the most important issues for PCS in terms of frequency utilization. Theimprovement offered by the proposal depends on SIR estimation accuracy.The SIR is, in this paper, estimated by a matched filter where theauto-correlation between received signal and unique word is calculated. Computer simulationsconfirm that the SIR of each diversity branch can be estimated easily andaccuratelyby the proposed SIR estimation method. The proposed diversity scheme achievesaperformance very close to that of ideal SINR weighting diversity underRayleighfading with severe cochannel interference. When average SIR = 10 dB and thenumber of branches(L)=4, the proposed diversity scheme lowers the requiredE_b/N₀ by 5 dB at BER = 1×10^-3compared to conventional maximal ratio combining diversity. This paper alsopresentsthe unique word length required to realize adequate performance, i.e.,robustnessagainst high-pitch Rayleigh fading.     

Influence of water vapor on the reduction of cuprous chloride to copper microfibers

Reduction of cuprous chloride has been examined in various atmospheres, mostly at 600°C, to produce copper microfibers that can be applied as a filler for electromagnetic interference shielding and electron conductive paste composites. The reduction with hydrogen resulted in formation of a large amount of copper films, but fine particles and short filaments were obtained when carbon black was mixed into the raw material. The most promising copper microfibers with dimensions of several mm length and 1–10 m thickness could be produced with the system CuCl — C — H₂O using argon as a carrier gas, where H₂ and CO formed then probably reduced the vaporized CuCl molecules. Introduction of hydrogen gas into this system increased the yield of copper microfibers, though they became more bent, curved and kinked in shape. However, the morphology of the microfibers is still acceptable as a filler.     

New modifications of poly(vinyl alcohol)s and their applications

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PV-OH), prepared from poly(viny) acetate), is used widely in many industries. Various grades have been produced, with different degree of polymerization and degree of hydrolysis. Recently, novel modified (PV-OH)s with anion, cation, silanol or hydrophobic groups have been studied and developed. They have new properties in addition to those of ordinary PV-OH and have new applications. The methods of modification and the characteristics and some applications of the modified polymers are described.     

Photo-induced graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate on oxidized poly(vinyl alcohol) fiber

Photo-induced graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate on oxidized poly(vinyl alcohol) fiber was investigated. Oxidation of the fiber sample with sodium hypochlorite or periodic acid led the radical formation by photo-irradiation to intensify markedly. ESR spectra of the irradiated oxidized sample proved that a considerable amount of triplet component radical was contained in it, whereas the unoxidized sample mostly indicated a singlet. The spectra found in the irradiated unoxidized sample was assigned to two radicals, I and II, and for the oxidized sample, to III and IV. The spectrum for I must be a singlet, and a triplet for II, III, and IV. Among the last three, II was less stable toward heat. As the oxidized sample has a high activity for photoinitiation, the radicals of III and IV are presumed to be the sites of graft copolymerization: