Correlation between mechanical properties and dendrite array of the Sn-Zn alloy for lead-free solder

The development of lead-free solder has been an urgent and hard task for material due to health and environmental concerns over the lead content of conventional solders. The aim of the present work is to investigate the influence of microstructural dendritic array parameters of a Sn-4wt% and 12 wt% Zn lead-free solder alloys on its mechanical properties. A water-cooled (25 °C ±2°C) unidirectional solidification system was used in the experiments. The solidification set-up was designed in such way that the heat was extracted only through the water-cooled bottom, promoting vertical upward directional solidification. The experimental results permitted to establish correlations between thermal parameters and secondary dendrite arm spacings with ultimate tensile strength and elongation. It was concluded that the microstructural refinement has significantly improved the elongation (of about 10%). It was also found that, in a range of the cooling rate of about 0.5 and 10 ºC/s, the Sn-4 wt% Zn solder alloy has lower variation of the tensile strength (31 to 32 MPa) and elongation than the Sn-12 wt% Zn solder alloy (29 to 33 MPa).O desenvolvimento de solda sem chumbo tem sido uma tarefa árdua para cientistas de materiais pelas preocupações com a saúde e com o meio ambiente devido ao conteúdo de chumbo das soldas convencionais. O objetivo do presente trabalho é investigar a influência dos parâmetros da microestrutura dendrítica nas propriedades mecânicas das ligas sem chumbo: Sn-4 e 12%p Zn. Amostras das ligas em estudo foram obtidas por experimentos de solidificação conduzidos em um aparato que proporciona uma solidificação unidirecional vertical ascendente refrigerado à água (25 °C ±2°C), o qual garante a extração de calor apenas pela base do lingote em regime transitório de extração de calor. Os resultados experimentais permitiram estabelecer correlações entre parâmetros térmicos e espaçamentos dendríticos secundários com a resistência à tração e alongamento. Conclui-se dos resultados experimentais que o alongamento específico mostra-se significantemente melhorado (em torno de 10%) com o refino microestrutural para ambas as ligas. Encontrou-se também que em taxas de resfriamento na faixa entre 0,5 e 10 ºC/s, a liga Sn-4%p Zn é aquela que apresenta a menor variação entre limites de resistência à tração (31 a 32 MPa) e alongamento que a liga Sn-12%p Zn (29 a 33 MPa).767776Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Genetic evaluation of age at first calving for Guzerá beef cattle using linear, threshold, and survival Bayesian models

Age at first calving (AFC) is characterized as a censored trait due to missing values provided by recording mistakes and nonoccur-rence or delay in calving communication. In this context, we aimed to compare several statistical methods for genetic evaluation of AFC in Guzerá beef cattle under a Bayesian approach. Seven different methods were used for this purpose. The traditional linear mixed model (LM), which considers only uncensored records; the LM with simulated records (SM), which is based on data augmentation framework; the penalty method, in which a constant of 21 d was added to censored records; the bivariate threshold-linear method considering (TLcens) or not (TLmiss) censored information; and the piecewise Weibull proportional hazards model considering (PWPHcens) or not (PWPH) censored records. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.19 (TLcens) to 0.28 (SM) in non-survival approaches; and 0.40 and 0.46 to PWPH and PWPHcens methods, respectively. In general, breeding values correlations between different methods and the percentage of selected bulls in common indicated reranking, with these correlation ranging from -0.28 (between SM and PWPH) to 0.99 (between TLmiss and LM). The traditional LM, which considers only uncensored records, should be preferred due to its robustness and simplicity. Based on cross-validation analyses, we conclude that the TLmiss could be also a suitable alternative for breeding value prediction, and censored methods did not improve the analysis

The torsion cosmology in Kaluza-Klein theory

We have studied the torsion cosmology model in Kaluza-Klein theory. We considered two simple models in which the torsion vectors are $A_{\mu}=(\alpha,0,0,0)$ and $A_{\mu}=a(t)^2(0,\beta,\beta,\beta)$, respectively. For the first model, the accelerating expansion of the Universe can be not explained without dark energy which is similar to that in the standard cosmology. But for the second model, we find that without dark energy the effect of torsion can give rise to the accelerating expansion of the universe and the alleviation of the well-known age problem of the three old objects for appropriated value of the model parameter $\beta$. These outstanding features of the second torsion cosmology model have been supported by the Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) data.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in JCA