Atomistic simulations of grain boundary migration in copper

While the motion of twist boundaries can be readily studied by atomistic simulations with molecular dynamics (MD) under the action of an elastic driving force, the approach fails for tilt boundaries. This is due to the interaction of the elastic stress with the grain boundary (GB) structure, which causes plastic strain by GB sliding. A novel concept, the orientation correlated driving force, is introduced to circumvent this problem. It is shown that this concept can be successfully applied to the study of the migration of tilt boundaries. The migration behavior of several twist and tilt GBs was investigated. The transition from low-to high-angle boundaries can be captured, and a structural transition of tilt boundaries was found at high temperatures, which also affected the migration behavior. The results compare well with experimental results of the motion high-angle boundaries, but for low-angle boundaries, the agreement is poor. This article is based on a presentation made in the “Hillert Symposium on Thermodynamics & Kinetics of Migrating Interfaces in Steels and Other Complex Alloys,” December 2–3, 2004, organized by The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.     

Untersuchung der Verteilung und Intensität filamentierter Barrierenplasmen für die Behandlung von Oberflächen

The application of barrier discharges at atmospheric pressure in air expands on the market of plasma technology, because it is an ecological and cost‐effective alternative to other processes of surface treatment. These plasmas usually consist of a multitude of spatially and temporally localized filaments, whose distribution should be as even as possible for homogeneous treatment. This holds especially for the plasma treatment of sensitive goods such as wool or other textiles. In equipment for continuous pass of material the barrier arrangements often consist of a system cylinder – cylinder or cylinder – plane, whereby the gap width changes locally. Space distribution and intensity of filaments has been investigated by means of short‐time photography and spatially resolved measurement of current distribution and energy distribution derived from it. The local dependency found can be explained by means of a capacitive equivalent circuit.     

Strengthening of concrete prisms using the plate-bonding technique

This paper presents the use of fracture mechanics for the plate bonding technique. Plates of steel or carbon-fibre reinforced plastic are bonded with an epoxy adhesive to rectangular concrete prisms and loaded in shear up to failure, what is normally known in fracture mechanics as mode II failure. In this special application a linear and a nonlinear approach are presented. The nonlinear equation derived for a realistic shear-deformation curve can only be used for numerical calculations. However, for simplified shear-deformation curves, the derived formula can be solved analytically. Results from tests, which are compared with the theory, are also presented.     

Electromigration-induced damage in bamboo Al interconnects

Depletion and hillock formation were examined in-situ in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) during electromigration of bamboo Al interconnect segments. Hillocks formed directly at the anode ends of the segments by epitaxial addition of Al at the bottom Al/TiN interface. Depletion occurred nonuniformly from the cathode end and stopped once the distance between the leading void and the hillock reached the critical length for electromigration at the given current density. A modified equation for the drift velocity is proposed, which includes the effect of nonuniform depletion and predicts that interconnects with nonuniform depletion are more reliable than those with uniform depletion.     

Polymeric schiff's base chelates and their precursors 8a), some cobalt chelates as catalysts for the isomerization of quadrycyclane to norbornadiene

Summary Starting with Z-2, 3-diamino-2-butenedinitrile as diamine component the synthesis of the low molecular N,N,O,O-chelate 3.Co and its ligand 3 is optimized. An easy synthesis of the chelate 8.Co covalently bound on macroreticular resins is presented. The chelates 8.Co are the most active heterogenous catalysts for the valence isomerization of quadricyclane to norbornadiene today.     

Computing hysteresis points of nonlinear equations depending on two parameters

A direct method is described for computing a hysteresis point (double turning point) corresponding to a cusp point of a system ofn nonlinear equations inn variables depending on two parameters. By addition of two equations a minimally extended system ofn+2 nonlinear equations is constructed for which the hysteresis point is an isolated solution. An efficient implementation of Newton's method is presented not requiring evaluations of second derivatives of the original problem. Two numerical examples show the efficiency of theQ-quadratically convergent method.     

The beginning of immigrant settlement in the Helsinki metropolitan area and the role of social housing

Finland has experienced a rapid increase inimmigration since the beginning of the 1990s.Almost half of the foreign population isconcentrated in the metropolitan area of thecapital, Helsinki. The development andexplanations of their settlement patterns havenot yet been thoroughly studied. It ishypothesised in this study that social housingcan explain the settlement patterns. Indices ofdissimilarity were calculated to study thelevel and development of spatial segregation ofimmigrant groups in the Helsinki metropolitanarea in 1995–99, and the association betweenthe settlement patterns of immigrants andsocial housing was studied by regressionanalysis. Neighbourhood-level data were used.The results indicate that the Helsinkimetropolitan area has avoided extreme ethnicsegregation so far and that segregation isdecreasing. Especially immigrants from poorcountries are clearly associated with socialhousing in their settlement patterns, evenafter adjustment for socio-economic anddemographic differentiation. Also newconstruction of social housing seems to haveaffected the spatial distribution of thisgroup. Despite this dependence, the group isnot extremely segregated, which is probablybecause the social housing sector is nottotally marginalised.