Internal stresses in steel plate generated by shape memory alloy inserts

Neutron strain scanning was employed to investigate the internal stress fields in steel plate coupons with embedded prestrained superelastic NiTi shape memory alloy inserts. Strain fields in steel were evaluated at T = 21 °C and 130 °C on virgin coupons as well as on mechanically and thermally fatigued coupons. Internal stress fields were evaluated by direct calculation of principal stress components from the experimentally measured lattice strains as well as by employing an inverse finite element modeling approach. It is shown that if the NiTi inserts are embedded into the elastic steel matrix following a carefully designed technological procedure, the internal stress fields vary with temperature in a reproducible and predictable way. It is estimated that this mechanism of internal stress generation can be safely applied in the temperature range from −20 °C to 150 °C and is relatively resistant to thermal and mechanical fatigue. The predictability and fatigue endurance of the mechanism are of essential importance for the development of future smart metal matrix composites or smart structures with embedded shape memory alloy components

Tomographic capabilities of the new GEM based SXR diagnostic of WEST

International audienceThe tokamak WEST (Tungsten Environment in Steady-State Tokamak) will start operating by the end of 2016 as a test bed for the ITER divertor components in long pulse operation. In this context, radiative cooling of heavy impurities like tungsten (W) in the Soft X-ray (SXR) range [0.1 keV; 20 keV] is a critical issue for the plasma core performances. Thus reliable tools are required to monitor the local impurity density and avoid W accumulation. The WEST SXR diagnostic will be equipped with two new GEM (Gas Electron Multiplier) based poloidal cameras allowing to perform 2D tomographic reconstructions in tunable energy bands. In this paper tomographic capabilities of the Minimum Fisher Information (MFI) algorithm developed for Tore Supra and upgraded for WEST are investigated, in particular through a set of emissivity phantoms and the standard WEST scenario including reconstruction errors, influence of noise as well as computational time

The electronic properties of bilayer graphene

We review the electronic properties of bilayer graphene, beginning with a description of the tight-binding model of bilayer graphene and the derivation of the effective Hamiltonian describing massive chiral quasiparticles in two parabolic bands at low energy. We take into account five tight-binding parameters of the Slonczewski-Weiss-McClure model of bulk graphite plus intra- and interlayer asymmetry between atomic sites which induce band gaps in the low-energy spectrum. The Hartree model of screening and band-gap opening due to interlayer asymmetry in the presence of external gates is presented. The tight-binding model is used to describe optical and transport properties including the integer quantum Hall effect, and we also discuss orbital magnetism, phonons and the influence of strain on electronic properties. We conclude with an overview of electronic interaction effects.Comment: review, 31 pages, 15 figure

Structural correlations in heterogeneous electron transfer at monolayer and multilayer graphene electrodes

As a new form of carbon, graphene is attracting intense interest as an electrode material with widespread applications. In the present study, the heterogeneous electron transfer (ET) activity of graphene is investigated using scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM), which allows electrochemical currents to be mapped at high spatial resolution across a surface for correlation with the corresponding structure and properties of the graphene surface. We establish that the rate of heterogeneous ET at graphene increases systematically with the number of graphene layers, and show that the stacking in multilayers also has a subtle influence on ET kinetics. © 2012 American Chemical Society

Tritiated Steel Micro-Particles: Computational Dosimetry and Prediction of Radiation-Induced DNA Damage for In Vitro Cell Culture Exposures.

Biological effects of radioactive particles can be experimentally investigated in vitro as a function of particle concentration, specific activity and exposure time. However, a careful dosimetric analysis is needed to elucidate the role of radiation emitted by radioactive products in inducing cyto- and geno-toxicity: the quantification of radiation dose is essential to eventually inform dose-risk correlations. This is even more fundamental when radioactive particles are short-range emitters and when they have a chemical speciation that might further concur to the heterogeneity of energy deposition at the cellular and sub-cellular level. To this aim, we need to use computational models. In this work, we made use of a Monte Carlo radiation transport code to perform a computational dosimetric reconstruction for in vitro exposure of cells to tritiated steel particles of micrometric size. Particles of this kind have been identified as worth of attention in nuclear power industry and research: tritium easily permeates in steel elements of nuclear reactor machinery, and mechanical operations on these elements (e.g., sawing) during decommissioning of old facilities can result in particle dispersion, leading to human exposure via inhalation. Considering the software replica of a representative in vitro setup to study the effect of such particles, we therefore modelled the radiation field due to the presence of particles in proximity of cells. We developed a computational approach to reconstruct the dose range to individual cell nuclei in contact with a particle, as well as the fraction of "hit" cells and the average dose for the whole cell population, as a function of particle concentration in the culture medium. The dosimetric analysis also provided the basis to make predictions on tritium-induced DNA damage: we estimated the dose-dependent expected yield of DNA double strand breaks due to tritiated steel particle radiation, as an indicator of their expected biological effectiveness

Guidelines of the French Society of Otorhinolaryngology (SFORL), short version. Extension assessment and principles of resection in cutaneous head and neck tumors

AbstractCutaneous head and neck tumors mainly comprise malignant melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, trichoblastic carcinoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, adnexal carcinoma, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, sclerodermiform basalioma and angiosarcoma. Adapted management requires an experienced team with good knowledge of the various parameters relating to health status, histology, location and extension: risk factors for aggression, extension assessment, resection margin requirements, indications for specific procedures, such as lateral temporal bone resection, orbital exenteration, resection of the calvarium and meningeal envelopes, neck dissection and muscle resection

Negative Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Graphene Measured by Raman Spectroscopy

The thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of single-layer graphene is estimated with temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy in the temperature range between 200 and 400 K. It is found to be strongly dependent on temperature but remains negative in the whole temperature range, with a room temperature value of -8.0x10^{-6} K^{-1}. The strain caused by the TEC mismatch between graphene and the substrate plays a crucial role in determining the physical properties of graphene, and hence its effect must be accounted for in the interpretation of experimental data taken at cryogenic or elevated temperatures.Comment: 17 pagese, 3 figures, and supporting information (4 pages, 3 figures); Nano Letters, 201

A new Raman metric for the characterisation of graphene oxide and its derivatives

Raman spectroscopy is among the primary techniques for the characterisation of graphene materials, as it provides insights into the quality of measured graphenes including their structure and conductivity as well as the presence of dopants. However, our ability to draw conclusions based on such spectra is limited by a lack of understanding regarding the origins of the peaks. Consequently, traditional characterisation techniques, which estimate the quality of the graphene material using the intensity ratio between the D and the G peaks, are unreliable for both GO and rGO. Herein we reanalyse the Raman spectra of graphenes and show that traditional methods rely upon an apparent G peak which is in fact a superposition of the G and D’ peaks. We use this understanding to develop a new Raman characterisation method for graphenes that considers the D’ peak by using its overtone the 2D’. We demonstrate the superiority and consistency of this method for calculating the oxygen content of graphenes, and use the relationship between the D’ peak and graphene quality to define three regimes. This has important implications for purification techniques because, once GO is reduced beyond a critical threshold, further reduction offers limited gain in conductivity

Energy distributions of field emitted electrons from carbon nanosheets: manifestation of the quantum size effect

We emphasize the importance of experiments with voltage dependent field emission energy distribution analysis in carbon nanosheets. Our analysis shows the crucial influence of the band structure on the energy distribution of field emitted electrons in few-layer graphene. In addition to the main peak we found characteristic sub-peaks in the energy distribution. Their positions strongly depend on the number of layers and the inter-layer interaction. The discovery of these peaks in field emission experiments from carbon nanosheets would be a clear manifestation of the quantum size effect in these new materials.Comment: accepted for publication in JETP Letter