27 research outputs found
Using a multi-level tailored design process to develop a customer satisfaction survey for university evaluation
A multi-level procedure is described in order to develop a total quality management survey tool in the field of engineering academia. As a first step a review of
available evaluation tools for universities is conducted, resulting in over 150 items used for evaluation purposes. Secondly all dimensions of educational evaluation used in previous research are summarized, resulting in 15 dimensions. In a third step, items are assigned to the dimensions, overlapping items were combined or removed, and item content and dimensions were adjusted to the specific conditions of the target faculty. Fourthly, the resulting twelve dimensions were used in first, investigative interviews in the target population. Results indicate that eleven dimensions sufficiently mapped all aspects of evaluation. After revising the items to improve understanding in a fifth step cognitive pretests were conducted. The final revision resulted in 83 items assigned to eleven dimensions
Wir bitten um ein differenziertes Urteil: Möglichkeiten zur Reduktion von Nondifferentiation bei Rating-Skalen
Nondifferentiation ist ein generelles PhÀnomen bei der EinschÀtzung von MeinungsgegenstÀnden mittels Rating-Skalen: Zwischen den MeinungsgegenstÀnden
wird nicht so deutlich unterschieden, wie aufgrund der Skalen möglich. In zwei experimentellen Studien zu unterschiedlichen MeinungsgegenstÀnden werden in
der Literatur diskutierte Verfahren zur Reduzierung der Nondifferentiation zusammen mit einem hierfĂŒr bisher nicht verwendeten Verfahren (konstante Summe, KS) hinsichtlich ihres Einflusses auf Nondifferentiation verglichen. Eine erste Studie (N = 139) belegt eine signifikant erhöhte Differenzierung bei KS im Vergleich zu einem verbalen Einschub. FĂŒr eine zweite Studie werden in einer Voruntersuchung (N = 138) stark positiv und stark negativ eingeschĂ€tzte MeinungsgegenstĂ€nde ausgewĂ€hlt, die in der anschlieĂenden Hauptuntersuchung (N = 200) ohne Messwiederholung bewertet werden. Hierbei werden insgesamt 3 verschiedene Verfahren zur Verbesserung der Differenzierung verwendet und einem rein verbalen Einschub gegenĂŒbergestellt. Auch hierbei erweist sich die KS generell als das Verfahren, das die höchste Differenzierung bewirkt
Mesoscopic superconductors in the London limit: equilibrium properties and metastability
We present a study of the behaviour of metastable vortex states in mesoscopic
superconductors. Our analysis relies on the London limit within which it is
possible to derive closed analytical expressions for the magnetic field and the
Gibbs free energy. We consider in particular the situation where the vortices
are symmetrically distributed along a closed ring. There, we obtain expressions
for the confining Bean-Livingston barrier and for the magnetization which turns
out to be paramagnetic away from thermodynamic equilibrium. At low temperature,
the barrier is high enough for this regime to be observable. We propose also a
local description of both thermodynamic and metastable states based on
elementary topological considerations; we find structural phase transitions of
vortex patterns between these metastable states and we calculate the
corresponding critical fields.Comment: 24 pages, 20 figure
A dual point description of mesoscopic superconductors
We present an analysis of the magnetic response of a mesoscopic
superconductor, i.e. a system of sizes comparable to the coherence length and
to the London penetration depth. Our approach is based on special properties of
the two dimensional Ginzburg-Landau equations, satisfied at the dual point
Closed expressions for the free energy and the
magnetization of the superconductor are derived. A perturbative analysis in the
vicinity of the dual point allows us to take into account vortex interactions,
using a new scaling result for the free energy. In order to characterize the
vortex/current interactions, we study vortex configurations that are out of
thermodynamical equilibrium. Our predictions agree with the results of recent
experiments performed on mesoscopic aluminium disks.Comment: revtex, 20 pages, 9 figure
Nanostructure, mechanical and tribological properties of reactive magnetron sputtered TiCx coatings
Mechanical and high pressure tribological properties of nanocrystalline Ti(N,C) and amorphous C:H nanocomposite coatings
Structure and mechanical properties of low temperature magnetron sputtered nanocrystalline (nc-)Ti(N,C)/amorphous diamond like carbon (a-C:H) coatings
This paper reports on the structure and mechanical properties of ~ 2 Όm thick nanocomposite (nc-) Ti(N,C)/amorphous diamond like carbon (a-C:H) coatings deposited on 100Cr6 steel substrates, using low temperature (~ 200 °C) DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The carbon content was varied with acetylene partial pressure in order to obtain single layer coatings with different a-C:H carbon phase fractions. The nanocrystalline Ti(N,C) phase is approximately stoichiometric for all coatings and the a-C:H phase fraction increases from 31 to 47 at.% as the coatings stoichiometry changed from TiC1.34 N0.51 to TiC2.48 N0.48, respectively. TiC1.34 N0.51 coatings showed the highest nanoindentation hardness (H) of ~ 14 GPa and a modulus (Er) of ~ 144 GPa; H reduced to < 6 GPa and Er to < 70 GPa for TiC2.48 N0.48 coatings. nc-Ti(N,C)/a-C:H coatings are promising candidates for applications where better matching of the modulus between a relatively low modulus substrate, hard loading support layer and low modulus-high H/E ratio top layer is required
Structure and mechanical properties of low temperature magnetron sputtered nanocrystalline (nc-)Ti(N,C)/amorphous diamond like carbon (a-C:H) coatings
This paper reports on the structure and mechanical properties of ~ 2 Όm thick nanocomposite (nc-) Ti(N,C)/amorphous diamond like carbon (a-C:H) coatings deposited on 100Cr6 steel substrates, using low temperature (~ 200 °C) DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The carbon content was varied with acetylene partial pressure in order to obtain single layer coatings with different a-C:H carbon phase fractions. The nanocrystalline Ti(N,C) phase is approximately stoichiometric for all coatings and the a-C:H phase fraction increases from 31 to 47 at.% as the coatings stoichiometry changed from TiC1.34 N0.51 to TiC2.48 N0.48, respectively. TiC1.34 N0.51 coatings showed the highest nanoindentation hardness (H) of ~ 14 GPa and a modulus (Er) of ~ 144 GPa; H reduced to < 6 GPa and Er to < 70 GPa for TiC2.48 N0.48 coatings. nc-Ti(N,C)/a-C:H coatings are promising candidates for applications where better matching of the modulus between a relatively low modulus substrate, hard loading support layer and low modulus-high H/E ratio top layer is required
Kinetics of fluid demixing in complex plasmas: Domain growth analysis using Minkowski tensors
Mechanical and high pressure tribological properties of nanocrystalline Ti(N,C) and amorphous C:H nanocomposite coatings
This paper reports on the mechanical and high pressure tribological properties of nanocrystalline (nc-) Ti(N,C)/amorphous (a-) C:H deposited, using low temperature (⌠200 °C) DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The mechanical properties are affected by the nc-Ti(N,C)/a-C:H phase fraction ratio. For increasing C contents (from 31 to 47 at.%) an increase of the a-C:H phase content and a degradation of the nanocrystalline phase occurs leading to a reduction in nanoindentation hardness (H) values (from 15 to 9 GPa) and reduced modulus (Er) values (from 150 to 80 GPa). A strong correlation between H/E ratio and wear performance was exhibited by the coatings. The synthesized coatings survived up to 100 m sliding distance when tested using pin-on-disc sliding configuration at > 4.5 GPa contact pressures and the measured friction coefficient values were similar for all films (ÎŒ ⌠0.21â0.25)