Material and local buckling response of ferritic stainless steel sections

Research Fund for Coal and Steel, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovació

Social Aspects of Livestock Waste Management in Cyprus

This work examined the social perception of the population towards the management of livestock waste in Cyprus. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to population residing relatively close to livestock waste production and management facilities. The responses showed that the greatest problems as perceived by the population are odour issues, health issues and the adverse impact on property values. The participants in the survey assessed traffic and noise as minor problems.The majority of people (73%) replied that land spreading of livestock waste is the dominant livestock waste management practice currently implemented in Cyprus. Only a small part reported not to be at all informed concerning livestock waste management. The participants in the survey believe that livestock waste management activities cannot significantly improve the employment level in Cyprus

Thermal Transport in Micro- and Nanoscale Systems

Small-scale (micro-/nanoscale) heat transfer has broad and exciting range of applications. Heat transfer at small scale quite naturally is influenced – sometimes dramatically – with high surface area-to-volume ratios. This in effect means that heat transfer in small-scale devices and systems is influenced by surface treatment and surface morphology. Importantly, interfacial dynamic effects are at least non-negligible, and there is a strong potential to engineer the performance of such devices using the progress in micro- and nanomanufacturing technologies. With this motivation, the emphasis here is on heat conduction and convection. The chapter starts with a broad introduction to Boltzmann transport equation which captures the physics of small-scale heat transport, while also outlining the differences between small-scale transport and classical macroscale heat transport. Among applications, examples are thermoelectric and thermal interface materials where micro- and nanofabrication have led to impressive figure of merits and thermal management performance. Basic of phonon transport and its manipulation through nanostructuring materials are discussed in detail. Small-scale single-phase convection and the crucial role it has played in developing the thermal management solutions for the next generation of electronics and energy-harvesting devices are discussed as the next topic. Features of microcooling platforms and physics of optimized thermal transport using microchannel manifold heat sinks are discussed in detail along with a discussion of how such systems also facilitate use of low-grade, waste heat from data centers and photovoltaic modules. Phase change process and their control using surface micro-/nanostructure are discussed next. Among the feature considered, the first are microscale heat pipes where capillary effects play an important role. Next the role of nanostructures in controlling nucleation and mobility of the discrete phase in two-phase processes, such as boiling, condensation, and icing is explained in great detail. Special emphasis is placed on the limitations of current surface and device manufacture technologies while also outlining the potential ways to overcome them. Lastly, the chapter is concluded with a summary and perspective on future trends and, more importantly, the opportunities for new research and applications in this exciting field

Accurate measurements of the electro-optic coefficients and birefringence changes using an external modulation signal

We propose a new method to measure within a high accuracy both the electro-optic properties and the birefringence changes in bulk crystals. This technique is based upon the frequency doubling electro-optic modulation (FDEOM) method in which an external modulator is inserted in the experimental Senarmont setup. We present a complete analysis of the optical response of a Senarmont setup within Jones formulation. The FDEOM method possesses as main advantages a high accuracy and sensitivity in the measurements due to a direct determination of the electric field-induced phase retardation in the crystal under study. The measurements are recorded with an adjustment of the shape of the output beam at a frequency double the frequency of the ac applied voltage. The external modulation version of this method allows us to perform measurements with a higher modulation depth and to avoid any additional dynamical perturbation in the electro-optic crystal under study. Therefore, even small values of the electro-optic coefficients can be accurately measured. Moreover, the new method is able to measure with a high accuracy the variations of the birefringence in any crystal, even if it does not present an electro-optic effect. Some significative results in LiNbO3 point out the large advantages of the method. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(00)04803-6]