Tungsten fibre reinforced Zr-based bulk metallic glass composites

A Zr-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) alloy with the composition (Zr55Al10Ni5Cu30)98.5Si1.5 was used as the base material to form BMG composites. Tungsten fiber reinforced BMG composites were successfully fabricated by pressure metal infiltration technique, with the volume fraction of the tungsten fiber ranging from 10% to 70%. Microstructure and mechanical properties of the BMG composites were investigated. Tungsten reinforcement significantly increased the material’s ductility by changing the compressive failure mode from single shear band propagation to multiple shear bands propagation, and transferring stress from matrix to tungsten fibers

Mobile robot localization using robust extended H-infinity filtering

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2009 Institution of Mechanical Engineers.In this paper, a novel methodology is provided for accurate localization of a mobile robot using autonomous navigation based on internal and external sensors. A new robust extended H∞ filter is developed to deal with the non-linear kinematic model of the robot and the non-linear distance measurements, together with process and measurement noises. The proposed filter relies on a two-step prediction-correction structure, which is similar to a Kalman filter. Simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.EPSRC, the Nuffield Foundation, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

Brueckner-Hartree-Fock and its renormalized calculations for finite nuclei

We have performed self-consistent Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (BHF) and its renormalized theory to the structure calculations of finite nuclei. The $G$-matrix is calculated within the BHF basis, and the exact Pauli exclusion operator is determined by the BHF spectrum. Self-consistent occupation probabilities are included in the renormalized Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF). Various systematics and convergences are studies. Good results are obtained for the ground-state energy and radius. RBHF can give a more reasonable single-particle spectrum and radius. We present a first benchmark calculation with other {\it ab initio} methods using the same effective Hamiltonian. We find that the BHF and RBHF results are in good agreement with other $\it{ab}$ $\it{initio}$ methods

Measurement of the c-axis optical reflectance of AFe2_2As2_2 (A=Ba, Sr) single crystals: Evidence of different mechanisms for the formation of two energy gaps

We present the c-axis optical reflectance measurement on single crystals of BaFe$_2$As$_2$ and SrFe$_2$As$_2$, the parent compounds of FeAs based superconductors. Different from the ab-plane optical response where two distinct energy gaps were observed in the SDW state, only the smaller energy gap could be seen clearly for \textbf{E}$\parallel$c-axis. The very pronounced energy gap structure seen at a higher energy scale for \textbf{E}$\parallel$ab-plane is almost invisible. We propose a novel picture for the band structure evolution across the SDW transition and suggest different driving mechanisms for the formation of the two energy gaps.Comment: 4 page

Model Wavefunctions for the Collective Modes and the Magneto-roton Theory of the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect

We construct model wavefunctions for the collective modes of fractional quantum Hall systems. The wavefunctions are expressed in terms of symmetric polynomials characterized by a root partition and a "squeezed" basis, and show excellent agreement with exact diagonalization results for finite systems. In the long wavelength limit, the model wavefunctions reduce to those predicted by the single-mode approximation, and remain accurate at energies above the continuum of roton pairs.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, minor changes for the final prl versio

Integrable impurities in Hubbard chain with the open boundary condition

The Kondo problem of two impurities in 1D strongly correlated electron system within the framework of the open boundary Hubbard chain is solved and the impurities, coupled to the ends of the electron system, are introduced by their scattering matrices with electrons so that the boundary matrices satisfy the reflecting integrability condition. The finite size correction of the ground state energy is obtained due to the impurities. Exact expressions for the low temperature specific heat contributed by the charge and spin parts of the magnetic impurities are derived. The Pauli susceptibility and the Kondo temperature are given explicitly. The Kondo temperature is inversely proportional to the density of electrons.Comment: 6 pages, Revtex, To appear in Europhysics Letter

Fragile phase stability in (1-x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3O3)-xPbTiO3 crystals: A comparisons of [001] and [110] field-cooled phase diagrams

Phase diagrams of [001] and [110] field-cooled (FC) (1-x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3O3)-xPbTiO3 or PMN-xPT crystals have been constructed, based on high-resolution x-ray diffraction data. Comparisons reveal several interesting findings. First, a region of abnormal thermal expansion above the dielectric maximum was found, whose stability range extended to higher temperatures by application of electric field (E). Second, the rhombohedral (R) phase of the ZFC state was replaced by a monoclinic MA in the [001] FC diagram, but with monoclinic MB in the [110] FC. Third, the monoclinic MC phase in ZFC and [001] FC diagram was replaced by an orthorhombic (O) phase in the [110] FC. Finally, in the [001] FC diagram, the phase boundary between tetragonal (T) and MA was extended to lower PT contents (x=0.25); whereas in the [110] FC diagram, this extended region was entirely replaced by the O phase. These results clearly demonstrate that the phase stability of PMN-xPT crystals is quite fragile, depending not only on modest changes in E, but also on the direction along which that E is applied.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl