Elevated-temperature impact toughness of Mg–(Gd, Y)–Zr alloy

The Charpy impact results for Mg–10Gd–3Y–0.5Zr and Mg–11Y–5Gd–2Zn–0.5Zr alloys at various temperatures showed that Mg–10Gd–3Y–0.5Zr was more sensitive to temperature. The increase in impact toughness with temperature was related to the blunt crack-tip at high temperatures. The delamination and local melt of matrix were responsible for the brittle-to-ductile transition of GW103 alloy. The branch and bridging of cracks resulting from ordered phases played an import role in the change in fracture mode from cleavage fracture to quasi-cleavage and dimple-fracture for WGZ1152 alloy

Interaction between M2-branes and Bulk Form Fields

We construct the interaction terms between the world-volume fields of multiple M2-branes and the 3- and 6-form fields in the context of ABJM theory with U($N$)$\times$U($N$) gauge symmetry. A consistency check is made in the simplest case of a single M2-brane, i.e, our construction matches the known effective action of M2-brane coupled to antisymmetric 3-form field. We show that when dimensionally reduced, our couplings coincide with the effective action of D2-branes coupled to R-R 3- and 5-form fields in type IIA string theory. We also comment on the relation between a coupling with a specific 6-form field configuration and the supersymmetry preserving mass deformation in ABJM theory.Comment: 30 pages, version to appear in JHE

Influence of soil properties and test conditions on sorption and desorption of testosterone

In this study, batch sorption and desorption experiments were conducted for testosterone using four agricultural soils and five clay minerals. Significant differences in sorption behavior were observed between abiotic and biotic systems. The Freundlich sorption coefficient Kf (µg per g)/(µg per mL) ranged from 8.53 to 74.46 for soils and from 35.28 to 1243 for clays. The maximum sorption capacity (µg per g) of soils ranged from 25.25 to 440.61 for soils and 168.46 to 499.84 for clays. Correlation of sorption model parameters with soil properties indicated that both clay content and soil organic matter are important variables in predicting testosterone sorption behavior. Observed testosterone desorption from agricultural soils ranged from approximately 14 to 100 percent after 3 desorption cycles, and the desorption percentage decreased as the initial testosterone concentration decreased. Temperature, ionic strength, the water/soil ratio and soil depth were determined to influence sorption and desorption of testosterone. Desorption significantly increase with the soil depth and with the increase in the water to soil ratio. Temperature had an inverse effect on the sorption capacity of the soils tested. Thermodynamic calculations showed that the enthalpy change of the soils tested were the range of 12.9-20.7 kJ per mol, indicating weak interaction between testosterone and soil. Our results suggest that additional studies on how soil particles with different size fractions affect hormones fate and transport are needed in order to determine the potential risk of testosterone leaching or runoff

Contribution of biomimetic collagen-ligand interaction to intrafibrillar mineralization

Contemporary models of intrafibrillar mineralization mechanisms are established using collagen fibrils as templates without considering the contribution from collagen-bound apatite nucleation inhibitors. However, collagen matrices destined for mineralization in vertebrates contain bound matrix proteins for intrafibrillar mineralization. Negatively charged, high\u2013molecular weight polycarboxylic acid is cross-linked to reconstituted collagen to create a model for examining the contribution of collagen-ligand interaction to intrafibrillar mineralization. Cryogenic electron microscopy and molecular dynamics simulation show that, after cross-linking to collagen, the bound polyelectrolyte caches prenucleation cluster singlets into chain-like aggregates along the fibrillar surface to increase the pool of mineralization precursors available for intrafibrillar mineralization. Higher-quality mineralized scaffolds with better biomechanical properties are achieved compared with mineralization of unmodified scaffolds in polyelectrolyte-stabilized mineralization solution. Collagen-ligand interaction provides insights on the genesis of heterogeneously mineralized tissues and the potential causes of ectopic calcification in nonmineralized body tissues

Time-Dependent Fatigue Crack Propagation Behavior of Two Solid-Solution-Strengthened Ni-Based Superalloys—INCONEL 617 and HAYNES 230

The fatigue crack propagation (FCP) as well as the sustained loading crack growth (SLCG) behavior of two solid-solution-strengthened Ni-based superalloys, INCONEL 617 (Special Metals Corporation Family of Companies) and HAYNES 230 (Haynes International, Inc., Kokomo, IN), were studied at increased temperatures in laboratory air under a constant stress-intensity- factor (K) condition. The crack propagation tests were conducted using a baseline cyclic triangular waveform with a frequency of 1 3 Hz. Various hold times were imposed at the maximum load of a fatigue cycle to study the hold time effect. The results show that a linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) parameter, stress intensity factor (K), is sufficient to describe the FCP and SLCG behavior at the testing temperatures ranging from 873 K to 1073 K (600 C to 800 C). As observed in the precipitation-strengthened superalloys, both INCONEL 617 and HAYNES 230 exhibited the time-dependent FCP, steady SLCG behavior, and existence of a damage zone ahead of crack tip. A thermodynamic equation was adapted to correlate the SLCG rates to determine thermal activation energy. The fracture modes associated with crack propagation behavior were discussed, and the mechanism of time-dependent FCP as well as SLCG was identified. Compared with INCONEL 617, the lower crack propagation rates of HAYNES 230 under the time-dependent condition were ascribed to the different fracture mode and the presence of numerous W-rich M6C-type and Cr-rich M23C6-type carbides. Toward the end, a phenomenological model was employed to correlate the FCP rates at cycle/time-dependent FCP domain. All the results suggest that an environmental factor, the stress assisted grain boundary oxygen embrittlement (SAGBOE) mechanism, is mainly responsible for the accelerated time dependent FCP rates of INCONEL 617 and HAYNES 230

Electronic structure of fluorides: general trends for ground and excited state properties

The electronic structure of fluorite crystals are studied by means of density functional theory within the local density approximation for the exchange correlation energy. The ground-state electronic properties, which have been calculated for the cubic structures $CaF_{2}$,$SrF_{2}$, $BaF_{2}$, $CdF_{2}$, $HgF_{2}$, $\beta$-$PbF_{2}$, using a plane waves expansion of the wave functions, show good comparison with existing experimental data and previous theoretical results. The electronic density of states at the gap region for all the compounds and their energy-band structure have been calculated and compared with the existing data in the literature. General trends for the ground-state parameters, the electronic energy-bands and transition energies for all the fluorides considered are given and discussed in details. Moreover, for the first time results for $HgF_{2}$ have been presented

Integrating fluctuations into distribution of resources in transportation networks

We propose a resource distribution strategy to reduce the average travel time in a transportation network given a fixed generation rate. Suppose that there are essential resources to avoid congestion in the network as well as some extra resources. The strategy distributes the essential resources by the average loads on the vertices and integrates the fluctuations of the instantaneous loads into the distribution of the extra resources. The fluctuations are calculated with the assumption of unlimited resources, where the calculation is incorporated into the calculation of the average loads without adding to the time complexity. Simulation results show that the fluctuation-integrated strategy provides shorter average travel time than a previous distribution strategy while keeping similar robustness. The strategy is especially beneficial when the extra resources are scarce and the network is heterogeneous and lowly loaded.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV

We present the first measurement of directed flow ($v_1$) at RHIC. $v_1$ is found to be consistent with zero at pseudorapidities $\eta$ from -1.2 to 1.2, then rises to the level of a couple of percent over the range $2.4 < |\eta| < 4$. The latter observation is similar to data from NA49 if the SPS rapidities are shifted by the difference in beam rapidity between RHIC and SPS. Back-to-back jets emitted out-of-plane are found to be suppressed more if compared to those emitted in-plane, which is consistent with {\it jet quenching}. Using the scalar product method, we systematically compared azimuthal correlations from p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions. Flow and non-flow from these three different collision systems are discussed.Comment: Quark Matter 2004 proceeding, 4 pages, 3 figure

Azimuthal anisotropy: the higher harmonics

We report the first observations of the fourth harmonic (v_4) in the azimuthal distribution of particles at RHIC. The measurement was done taking advantage of the large elliptic flow generated at RHIC. The integrated v_4 is about a factor of 10 smaller than v_2. For the sixth (v_6) and eighth (v_8) harmonics upper limits on the magnitudes are reported.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, contribution to the Quark Matter 2004 proceeding