Nanostructure and properties of a Cu-Cr composite processed by severe plastic deformation

A Cu-Cr composite was processed by severe plastic deformation to investigate the role of interphase boundaries on the grain size reduction mechanisms. The as-deformed material exhibits a grain size of only 20nm. This gives rise to a dramatic increase of the hardness. Some deformation induced Cu super saturated solid solutions were clearly exhibited and it is shown that they decrease the hardness. The formation of such supersaturated solid solution and their influence on the mechanical properties are discussed

Entanglement Perturbation Theory for Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg Spin Chains

A recently developed numerical method, entanglement perturbation theory (EPT), is used to study the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chains with z-axis anisotropy $\lambda$ and magnetic field B. To demonstrate the accuracy, we first apply EPT to the isotropic spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, and find that EPT successfully reproduces the exact Bethe Ansatz results for the ground state energy, the local magnetization, and the spin correlation functions (Bethe ansatz result is available for the first 7 lattice separations). In particular, EPT confirms for the first time the asymptotic behavior of the spin correlation functions predicted by the conformal field theory, which realizes only for lattice separations larger than 1000. Next, turning on the z-axis anisotropy and the magnetic field, the 2-spin and 4-spin correlation functions are calculated, and the results are compared with those obtained by Bosonization and density matrix renormalization group methods. Finally, for the spin-1 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, the ground state phase diagram in $\lambda$ space is determined with help of the Roomany-Wyld RG finite-size-scaling. The results are in good agreement with those obtained by the level-spectroscopy method.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure

Hyperbolic Deformation Applied to S = 1 Spin Chains - Scaling Relation in Excitation Energy -

We investigate excitation energies of hyperbolically deformed S = 1 spin chains, which are specified by the local energy scale f_j^{~} = \cosh j \lambda, where j is the lattice index and \lambda is the deformation parameter. The elementary excitation is well described by a quasiparticle hopping model, which is also expressed in the form of hyperbolic deformation. It is possible to estimate the excitation gap \Delta in the uniform limit \lambda \rightarrow 0, by means of a finite size scaling with respect to the system size N and the deformation parameter \lambda.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Treatment delay of bone tumours, compilation of a sociodemographic risk profile: A retrospective study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bone tumours are comparatively rare tumours and delays in diagnosis and treatment are common. The purpose of this study was to analyse sociodemographic risk factors for bone tumour patients in order to identify those at risk of prolonged patients delay (time span from first symptoms to consultation), professional delay (from consultation to treatment) or symptom interval (from first symptoms to treatment). Understanding these relationships might enable us to shorten time to diagnosis and therapy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We carried out a retrospective analysis of 265 patients with bone tumours documenting sociodemographic factors, patient delay, professional delay and symptom interval. A multivariate explorative Cox model was performed for each delay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Female gender was associated with a prolonged patient delay. Age under 30 years and rural living predisposes to a prolonged professional delay and symptom interval.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are required for successful management of most bone tumour patients. We succeeded in identifying the histology independent risk factors of age under 30 years and rural habitation for treatment delay in bone tumour patients. Knowing about the existence of these risk groups age under 30 years and female gender could help the physician to diagnose bone tumours earlier. The causes for the treatment delays of patients living in a rural area have to be investigated further. If the delay initiates in the lower education of rural general physicians, further training about bone tumours might advance early detection. Hence the outcome of patients with bone tumours could be improved.</p

Effect of spark plasma sintering and high-pressure torsion on the microstructural and mechanical properties of a Cu–SiC composite

This investigation examines the problem of homogenization in metal matrix composites (MMCs) and the methods of increasing their strength using severe plastic deformation (SPD). In this research MMCs of pure copper and silicon carbide were synthesized by spark plasma sintering (SPS) and then further processed via highpressure torsion (HPT). The microstructures in the sintered and in the deformed materials were investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM). The mechanical properties were evaluated in microhardness tests and in tensile testing. The thermal conductivity of the composites was measured with the use of a laser pulse technique. Microstructural analysis revealed that HPT processing leads to an improved densification of the SPS-produced composites with significant grain refinement in the copper matrix and with fragmentation of the SiC particles and their homogeneous distribution in the copper matrix. The HPT processing of Cu and the Cu-SiC samples enhanced their mechanical properties at the expense of limiting their plasticity. Processing by HPT also had a major influence on the thermal conductivity of materials. It is demonstrated that the deformed samples exhibit higher thermal conductivity than the initial coarse-grained samples