Numerically optimal design for the system with coupled complex transport phenomena-application to the Submerged Entry<Emphasis Type="Italic">Nozzle</Emphasis> in continuous slab caster

This study presents a simple and robust algorithm for the optimal design of the system with coupled complex transport phenomena: the transport phenomena comprise fluid flow, heat and mass transfer. The (1+1)-Evolution Strategy method is adopted as the optimization method. In order to analyze the transport phenomena in the complex geometry generated during the optimization procedure, thefinite volume method with a boundary fitted curvilinear coordinate system is used. To confirm the validity of the present method, the optimal design for the inner shape of the simplified two-dimensionalSubmerged Entry Nozzle in the continuous slab caster is conducted. It is shown that the resulting design of the nozzle is consistent with the purpose and constraints of the design.     

Control of NO x emissions from diesel engine by selective catalytic reduction (SCR) with urea

Topics in Catalysis - Among the catalysts screened, Cu-ion exchanged ZSM5 zeolite exhibited the highest NO removal activity, particularly at low reaction temperatures below 200&nbsp;°C,...     

用于虚拟现实的360度视频编码技术新进展*

随着虚拟现实技术不断发展,360度视频编码开始成为研究热点。应用于虚拟现实的360度视频与传统的视频相比分辨率更高,编码数据量更大,在实际应用中面临传输带宽有限的瓶颈,编码效率问题有待解决。归纳分析了国际标准组织联合视频研究组（joint video exploration team, JVET）正在制定的360度视频编码投影变换技术及其编码优化方法,综合对比了各变换技术的编码性能。根据当前最新研究成果,对下一步研究需要解决的问题进行了探讨总结,给出未来的研究方向和思路。     

The synergistic effect of boron nitride particle and die on the capillary extrusion processability of mLDPE

The synergistic effects of boron nitride (BN) powder and die on the rheology and processability of metallocene‐catalyzed low density polyethylene (mLDPE) were investigated. The processability in the extrusion process is closely related to the interfacial properties between the polymer melts and the die wall. BN powder was added to mLDPE to reduce the friction coefficient and surface energy. Adding 0.5 wt% BN powder to mLDPE was very effective in improving the processability and the extrudate appearance. To study the effect of die surface property, three different dies were applied in capillary extrusion. One was conventional tungsten carbide (TC) die, and the others were hot‐pressed BN (hpBN) die and hot‐pressed BN composite (hpBNC) die. The applications of these BN dies were quite effective in delaying surface melt fracture (sharkskin) and postponing gross melt fracture to higher shear rate compared to the TC die. These improvements result from the fact that BN dies reduce the wall shear stress significantly and promote slip. The synergistic effect of processability could be obtained when both BN powder and hpBN die were used together.     

Data Parallel Implementation of Belief Propagation in Factor Graphs on Multi-core Platforms

We investigate data parallel techniques for belief propagation in acyclic factor graphs on multi-core systems. Belief propagation is a key inference algorithm in factor graph, a probabilistic graphical model that has found applications in many domains. In this paper, we explore data parallelism for basic operations over the potential tables in belief propagation. Data parallel techniques for these table operations are developed for shared memory platforms. We then propose a complete belief propagation algorithm using these table operations to perform exact inference in factor graphs. The proposed algorithms are implemented on state-of-the-art multi-socket multi-core systems with additional NUMA-aware optimizations. Our proposed algorithms exhibit good scalability using a representative set of factor graphs. On a four-socket Intel Westmere-EX system with 40 cores, we achieve 39.5 $\times $ speedup for the table operations and 39 $\times $ speedup for the complete algorithm using factor graphs with large potential tables.     

Vitamin A microencapsulation within poly(methyl methacrylate)‐g‐polyethylenimine microspheres: Localized proton buffering effect on vitamin A stability

To stabilize vitamin A in a cosmetic/dermatological formulation, we present here a new encapsulation method based on polymer microspheres having a localized “proton‐buffering” capacity. Poly(methyl methacrylate)‐g‐polyethylenimine (PMMA‐g‐PEI) was prepared by direct condensation grafting of PEI onto poly(methyl methacrylate‐co‐methyl acrylic acid). The reaction was confirmed by FT‐IR analysis showing the amide vibration at 1,550 cm^?1. Elemental analysis indicated that the weight content of the grafted PEI was 1.6% (w/w). Vitamin A was encapsulated into PMMA‐g‐PEI microspheres by using an oil‐in‐water (O/W) single emulsion method. The presence of PEI moiety dramatically improved the chemical stability of vitamin A in microspheres. Vitamin A encapsulated within PMMA‐g‐PEI microspheres maintained 91% of its initial activity after 30‐day incubation at 40°C, while only maintaining 60% within plain PMMA microspheres. This study demonstrates that proton‐buffering within hydrophobic polymer matrix is a useful strategy for stabilizing “acid‐labile” active ingredients. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 517–522, 2004     

Statistical properties of interparticle/void distance for amorphous plastics toughening

Statistical properties of interparticle/void distance (ID) for various particle/void and dispersion types are studied in relation with toughening of plastics using computer‐generated three‐dimensional models. Particle/void size groups adopted were either of constant diameter or of log‐normal distribution. Particles/voids were dispersed at uniform‐random or flocculated with multiple clusters. It was found that IDs are (a) of approximately Gaussian distribution for particles/voids of either a constant diameter or a log‐normal distribution, when they are dispersed at uniform‐random, but (b) not of Gaussian distribution for particle/void sizes of bimodal log‐normal distribution, nor for flocculated log‐normal distribution of particles/voids dispersed with multiple clusters. It was also found that the degree of ID uniformity for a single group of log‐normally sized particles/voids is not sensitive to standard deviation of particle/void size. Mixing effect on ID properties using two groups of log‐normally distributed particles/voids with similar mean particle/void diameters was simulated. It was found that, when a significant amount (36 vol %) of particles/voids of a small mean and standard deviation of ID was mixed with a group of particles/voids of a large mean and standard deviation of ID, mean and standard deviation of ID for the mixture were not substantially lower than those of the group of particles/voids of the large mean and standard deviation of ID. It was also found that the degree of ID uniformity for the mixture of the two groups was lower than those of individual groups, indicating that the mixing has deleterious effect on toughening. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 4256–4262, 2006     

Manufacturing and foaming of high melt viscosity of polypropylene by using electron beam radiation technology

The high melt viscosity of polypropylene was studied by grafting bifunctional monomers, 1,6‐hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA) and tripropylene glycol diacrylate (TPGDA), onto homopolypropylene (HPP) and random ter‐polypropylene (RTPP) under electron‐beam irradiation. Creation of the high‐melt‐viscosity polypropylene was possible at low radiation dosage and low monomer content, under a prohibition of both radiation degradation and homopolymerization. TPGDA monomer was more effective in increasing the melt viscosity of HPP compared with RTPP, whereas HDDA monomer was more effective for enhancing the melt viscosity of RTPP. Such different effects of monomers on melt viscosity may arise from different monomer structures, namely, TPGDA has additional three methyl groups, but HDDA has no methyl groups. Electron‐beam radiation technology, on an increase of the melt viscosity, was much more effective in HPP than RTPP, when compared with virgin polymers. Modified RTPP and HPP with high melt viscosity were capable of foaming with numerous fine cells, of which the modified HPP with 1.5 mmol TPGDA and 0.5 kGy could create more spherical foam cells and its bending strength was 1.5 times more than that of the foamed RTPP. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 46:431–437, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Preparation and properties of polyimide/silica hybrid composites based on polymer‐modified colloidal silica

A new type of polyimide/silica (PI/SiO₂) hybrid composite films was prepared by blending polymer‐modified colloidal silica with the semiflexible polyimide. Polyimide was solution‐imidized at higher temperature than the glass transition temperature (T_g) using 3,3′,4,4′‐biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and 4,4′‐diaminodiphenyl ether (ODA). The morphological observation on the prepared hybrid films by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) pointed to the existence of miscible organic–inorganic phase, which resulted in improved mechanical properties compared with pure PI. The incorporation of the silica structures in the PI matrix also increased both T_g and thermal stability of the resulting films. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 2053–2061, 2006     

Electrochemical properties of boron-carbon-nitride films formed by magnetron sputtering

The electrochemical behavior of B_1.0C_2.4N_1.0 thin film was investigated in acidic, neutral and alkaline solutions. The anodic polarization curve of the film in 1 M NaOH showed the anodic dissolution of the film. The curve of the film in 1 M HCl showed no anodic dissolution. The cathodic polarization curve in 1 M NaCl showed shift to a negative potential side, but the anodic polarization curve was the same as that of Pt. The anodic dissolution in 1 M NaOH depended on potentials, that is, no anodic dissolution was recognized in a potential range of −0.2 to 0.1 V but the dissolution rate increased with increasing potential in a range of 0.1-0.6 V. The anodic current density of the film is directly proportional to the dissolution rate at potentials higher than 0.1 V. The dissolution rate of the film was increased with increasing solution pH.