Surface polaritons in two-dimensional left-handed photonic crystals

Using an extended plane-wave-based transfer-matrix method, the photonic band structures and the corresponding transmission spectrum of a two-dimensional left-handed photonic crystal are calculated. Comparisons between the periodic structure with a single left-handed cylindric rod are made, and many interesting similarities are found. It is shown that, due to the localized surface polaritons presented by an isolated left-handed rod, there exist many exciting physical phenomena in high-dimensional left-handed photonic crystals. As direct results of coupling of the localized surface polaritons of neighboring left-handed rod, a lot of almost dispersionless bands, anti-crossing behavior, and a zero $\bar{n}$ gap are exhibited in the left-handed periodic structure. Moreover, in a certain frequency region, except distorted by a lot of anti-crossing behavior, there exists a continual dispersion relation, which can be explained by the long-wavelength approximation. It is also pointed out that high-dimensional left-handed photonic crystals can be used to design narrow-band filter.Comment: sign errors in equation

A Strategy for Modelling Mechanochemically Induced Unzipping and Scission of Chemical Bonds in Double-Network Polymer Composite

A molecular mechanics model for covalent and ionic double-network polymer composites was developed in this study to investigate mechanisms of mechanochemically induced unzipping and scission of chemical bonds. Morse potential function was firstly applied to investigate mechanical unzipping of the covalent bonds, and then stress-dependent mechanical energy for the interatomic covalent bonds was discussed. A new mechanochemical model was formulated for describing the mechanically induced ionic bond scissions based on the Morse potential model and equations for electrostatic forces. Based on this newly proposed model, mechanochemical behaviors of several common interatomic interaction types (e.g., A+B-, A2+B2-/A2+2B-/2A+B2- and A3+B3-/A3+3B-/3A+B3-) of the ionic bonds have been quantitatively described and analyzed. Finally, mechanochemical unzipping of the covalent bonds and dissociation of the ionic bonds have been characterized and analyzed based on the molecular mechanics model, which has well predicted the chemical and mechanochemical activations in the covalent and ionic double-network polymer composites

Modeling strategy for dynamic-modal mechanophore in double-network hydrogel composites with self-growing and tailorable mechanical strength

Smart materials with self-growing and tailorable mechanical strength have wide-range potential applications in self-healing, self-repairing, self-assembly, artificial muscle, soft robots and intelligent devices. However, their working mechanisms and principles are not fully understood yet and mathematically and physical modeling is a huge challenge, as traditionally synthesized materials cannot self-grow and reconstruct themselves once formed or deformed. In this study, a phenomenological constitutive model was developed to investigate the working mechanisms of self-growing and tailorable mechanical strength in double-network (DN) hydrogel composites, induced by mechanochemical transduction of dynamic-modal mechanophore. An extended Maxwell model was firstly employed to characterize the mechanical unzipping of hydrogel composites, and then mechanochemically induced destruction and reconstruction processes of brittle network in the hydrogel composite were formulated. The enhanced mechanical strength of brittle network has been identified as the key driving force to generate self-growing and tailorable mechanical strength in the hydrogel composite. Finally, a stress-strain constitutive relationship was developed for the dynamic-modal mechanophorein the hydrogel composite. Simulation results obtained from the proposed model were compared with the experimental data, and a good agreement has been achieved. This study provides an effective strategy for modelling and exploring the working mechanism in the mechanoresponsive DN hydrogel composites with self-growing and tailorable mechanical strength

A cooperative domain model for multiple phase transitions and complex conformational relaxations in polymers with shape memory effect

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are thermo-rheologically complex materials showing significant temperature and time dependences. Their segments often undergo cooperative phase transitions and conformational relaxations simultaneously along with shape memory effect (SME). In this study, a cooperative domain model is proposed to describe the composition dependence, multiple phase transitions and conformational relaxations of SMPs within their glass transition zones. Variations in local-area compositions and cooperative domains of the amorphous SMPs cause significant differences in their segmental relaxation. At a fixed domain size, both intermolecular activation energy and relaxation time significantly influence the SME and thermomechanical properties of the SMPs. Finally, the model is successfully applied to predict the shape memory behavior of SMPs with one stage SME and triple-SME, and the theoretical results have been validated by the experimental ones. This model could be a powerful tool to understand the working mechanisms and provide a theoretical guidance for the designs of multi-SME in SMPs

A phenomenological model for dynamic response of double-network hydrogel composite undergoing transient transition

We present a phenomenological model for dynamic deformation and mechanical response of double-network (with short-chained ionic network and long-chained covalent network) hydrogel composite based on theory of transient networks. Molecular structures and stress-strain relations of the hydrogel composite were investigated based on thermomechanical properties of the individual network. Constitutive relations were derived for its nonlinear viscoelastic responses and annihilation/reformation rates of active short chains were determined by means of Eyring formula. An extended Volokh model was proposed to separate effects of large strain hysteresis and anomalous viscoelastic relaxation on the hydrogel composite after strain reversal. Experimental results from rate-independent tests are well in agreement with that of the numerical simulations. This study provides a fundamental simulation tool for modelling and predicting mechanics and mechanisms of viscoelastic response and mechanical responses in double-network hydrogel composite

Distributed Utilization Control for Real-time Clusters with Load Balancing

Recent years have seen rapid growth of online services that rely on large-scale server clusters to handle high volume of requests. Such clusters must adaptively control the CPU utilizations of many processors in order to maintain desired soft real-time performance and prevent system overload in face of unpredictable workloads. This paper presents DUC-LB, a novel distributed utilization control algorithm for cluster-based soft real-time applications. Compared to earlier works on utilization control, a distinguishing feature of DUC-LB is its capability to handle system dynamics caused by load balancing, which is a common and essential component of most clusters today. Simulation results and control-theoretic analysis demonstrate that DUC-LB can provide robust utilization control and effective load balancing in large-scale clusters

Room-temperature ammonia sensor based on ZnO nanorods deposited on ST-cut quartz surface acoustic wave devices

Using a seed layer-free hydrothermal method, ZnO nanorods (NRs) were deposited on ST-cut quartz surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices of ammonia sensing at room-temperature. For a comparison, a ZnO film layer of 30 nm thick was also coated onto ST-cut quartz SAW device using a sol–gel and spin-coating technique. The ammonia sensing results showed that the sensitivity, repeatability and stability of the ZnO NRs coated SAW device were superior to those of the ZnO film coated SAW device due to the large surface-to-volume ratio of the ZnO NRs