Influence of a Strain Rate and Temperature on the Crack Tip Stress and Microstructure Evolution of Monocrystalline Nickel: a Molecular Dynamics Simulation

The effect of a strain rate and temperature on the crack tip stress and microstructure evolution ahead of a growing crack in monocrystalline nickel are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The correlation between the microstructure evolution and stress field near the crack tip is also explored. The results indicate that the crack tip stress distribution characteristics and crack propagation dynamics are closely related to the microstructure evolution caused by the change of the strain rate and temperature. At a lower strain rate and temperature, the crack propagates by the brittle mechanism without inducing the change in atomic configuration near the crack tip. The stress concentration occurs at the crack tip of a growing crack. The crack propagation exhibits a gradual brittle-to-ductile transition with an increase in temperature and a strain rate. The peak stress is accompanied by the microstructure evolution ahead of the crack tip.Влияние скорости деформации и температуры на напряжение у вершины трещины и развитие микроструктуры вблизи распространяющейся трещины в монокристаллическом никеле исследовали с помощью моделирования методом молекулярной динамики. Исследовали корреляцию между развитием микроструктуры и полем напряжений у вершины трещины. Результаты продемонстрировали, что характеристика распределения напряжений у вершины трещины и динамика распространения трещины тесно связаны с развитием микроструктуры, обусловленной изменением скорости деформации и температуры. При низких скорости деформации и температуре трещина распространяется по механизму хрупкого разрушения без воздействия на изменение расположения атомов у ее вершины. Концентрация напряжений возникает у вершины распространяющейся трещины. Распространение трещины характеризуется постепенным переходом от хрупкого разрушения к пластичному с увеличением температуры и скорости деформации. Максимальное напряжение сопровождается развитием микроструктуры у вершины трещины.Вплив швидкості деформації і температури на напруження у вістрі тріщини і розвиток мікроструктури поблизу тріщини, що розповсюджується, в монокристалічному нікелі досліджували за допомогою моделювання методом молекулярної динаміки. Досліджували кореляцію між розвитком мікроструктури і полем напружень у вістрі тріщини. Результати показали, що характеристика розподілу напружень у вістрі тріщини і динаміка поширення тріщини тісно пов’язані з розвитком мікроструктури, зумовленої зміною швидкості деформації і температури. За низьких швидкості деформації і температури тріщина поширюється по механізму крихкого руйнування без впливу на зміну розташування атомів у її вістрі. Концентрація напружень виникає у вістрі тріщини, що поширюється. Поширення тріщини характеризується поступовим переходом від крихкого руйнування до пластичного з підвищенням температури і швидкості деформації. Максимальне напруження супроводжується розвитком мікроструктури у вістрі тріщини

Dynamical study on polaron formation in a metal/polymer/metal structure

By considering a metal/polymer/metal structure within a tight-binding one-dimensional model, we have investigated the polaron formation in the presence of an electric field. When a sufficient voltage bias is applied to one of the metal electrodes, an electron is injected into the polymer chain, then a self-trapped polaron is formed at a few hundreds of femtoseconds while it moves slowly under a weak electric field (not larger than $$ V/cm). At an electric field between $1.0\times 10^4$ V/cm and $$ V/cm, the polaron is still formed, since the injected electron is bounded between the interface barriers for quite a long time. It is shown that the electric field applied at the polymer chain reduces effectively the potential barrier in the metal/polymer interface

High Performance Transparent Conducting Films of Cadmium Indate Prepared by Rf sputtering.

The authors are examining various spinel-structured thin films (e.g., Cd{sub 2}SnO{sub 4}, Zn{sub 2}SnO{sub 4}) to develop higher-quality transparent conducting oxides (TCO) than more conventional materials such as indium tin oxide. Here, the authors report on cadmium indate (CdIn{sub 2}O{sub 4}, CIO), which is another member of this family. Thin films of CIO were deposited by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering, from an oxide target, onto borosilicate glass substrates. The variables included the substrate temperature, sputtering gas composition, and pressure. Film properties were measured before and after heat treatment. Characterization involved Hall effect measurements, optical and infrared spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction, and atomic-force microscopy. Film resistivities as low as 2.3 {times} 10{sup {minus}4} {Omega} cm were achieved for a film thickness of 0.55 {micro}m. The transmittance was 90% in the visible region of the spectrum, without correction for substrate losses and without an anti-reflection coating. The plasma resonance occurred at longer wavelengths than for other materials and this, with a bandgap of approximately 3.1 eV, presents a wide window for optical transmittance. The highest mobility was 54 cm{sup 2} V{sup {minus}1} s{sup {minus}1} and the highest carrier concentration was 7.5 {times} 10{sup 20} cm{sup {minus}3}

Metal-insulator transition in the one-dimensional Holstein model at half filling

We study the one-dimensional Holstein model with spin-1/2 electrons at half-filling. Ground state properties are calculated for long chains with great accuracy using the density matrix renormalization group method and extrapolated to the thermodynamic limit. We show that for small electron-phonon coupling or large phonon frequency, the insulating Peierls ground state predicted by mean-field theory is destroyed by quantum lattice fluctuations and that the system remains in a metallic phase with a non-degenerate ground state and power-law electronic and phononic correlations. When the electron-phonon coupling becomes large or the phonon frequency small, the system undergoes a transition to an insulating Peierls phase with a two-fold degenerate ground state, long-range charge-density-wave order, a dimerized lattice structure, and a gap in the electronic excitation spectrum.Comment: 6 pages (LaTex), 10 eps figure

Nonadiabatic approach to dimerization gap and optical absorption coefficient of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model

An analytical nonadiabatic approach has been developed to study the dimerization gap and the optical absorption coefficient of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model where the electrons interact with dispersive quantum phonons. By investigating quantitatively the effects of quantum phonon fluctuations on the gap order and the optical responses in this system, we show that the dimerization gap is much more reduced by the quantum lattice fluctuations than the optical absorption coefficient is. The calculated optical absorption coefficient and the density of states do not have the inverse-square-root singularity, but have a peak above the gap edge and there exist a significant tail below the peak. The peak of optical absorption spectrum is not directly corresponding to the dimerized gap. Our results of the optical absorption coefficient agree well with those of the experiments in both the shape and the peak position of the optical absorption spectrum.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. to be published in PR

A reduction of unilateral ureteral obstruction-induced renal fibrosis by a therapy combining valsartan with aliskiren

Wu WP, Chang CH, Chiu YT, Ku CL, Wen MC, Shu KH, Wu MJ. A reduction of unilateral ureteral obstruction-induced renal fibrosis by a therapy combining valsartan with aliskiren. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 299: F929-F941, 2010. First published August 4, 2010; doi:10.1152/ajprenal.00192.2010.-The protective effect of combination therapy with valsartan and aliskiren against renal fibrosis remains to be defined. This study was undertaken to examine the protective effects of the combination of valsartan and aliskiren against renal fibrosis induced by unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). Combination therapy with valsartan (15 mg . kg(-1) . day(-1)) and aliskiren (10 mg . kg(-1) . day(-1)), valsartan monotherapy (30 mg . kg(-1) . day(-1)), and aliskiren monotherapy (20 mg . kg(-1) . day(-1)) all significantly ameliorated the increase in blood urea nitrogen and the degree of hydronephrosis determined by the increase in weight and length of the obstructed kidney. The dose titration study and blood pressure measurement confirmed that the combination therapy provided a greater benefit independent of the vasodilatory effect. There were no significant changes in serum levels of creatinine, sodium, and potassium in UUO rats and any treatment groups. Combination therapy also attenuated UUO-related increases in the scores of tubular dilatation, interstitial volume, interstitial collagen deposition, alpha-smooth muscle actin, the activation of ERK 1/2, the infiltration of monocytes/macrophages, the mRNA expression of snail-1, and transforming growth factor-beta 1 to a greater extent compared with aliskiren or valsartan used alone. The mRNA expression of renin and the (pro) renin receptor significantly increased after UUO. Combination therapy and monotherapy of valsartan and aliskiren had a comparable enhancing effect on the mRNA expression of renin, whereas all these treatments did not affect the expression of the (pro) renin receptor. In conclusion, a direct renin inhibitor in conjunction with an angiotensin II receptor blocker exerts increased renal protection against renal fibrosis and inflammation during obstruction over either agent alone

Measurement of the Intrinsic Radiopurity of Cs-137/U-235/U-238/Th-232 in CsI(Tl) Crystal Scintillators

The inorganic crystal scintillator CsI(Tl) has been used for low energy neutrino and Dark Matter experiments, where the intrinsic radiopurity is an issue of major importance. Low-background data were taken with a CsI(Tl) crystal array at the Kuo-Sheng Reactor Neutrino Laboratory. The pulse shape discrimination capabilities of the crystal, as well as the temporal and spatial correlations of the events, provide powerful means of measuring the intrinsic radiopurity of Cs-137 as well as the U-235, U-238 and Th-232 series. The event selection algorithms are described, with which the decay half-lives of Po-218, Po-214, Rn-220, Po-216 and Po-212 were derived. The measurements of the contamination levels, their concentration gradients with the crystal growth axis, and the uniformity among different crystal samples, are reported. The radiopurity in the U-238 and Th-232 series are comparable to those of the best reported in other crystal scintillators. Significant improvements in measurement sensitivities were achieved, similar to those from dedicated massive liquid scintillator detector. This analysis also provides in situ measurements of the detector performance parameters, such as spatial resolution, quenching factors, and data acquisition dead time.Comment: 28 pages, 12 figure

Peripheral fillings of relatively hyperbolic groups

A group theoretic version of Dehn surgery is studied. Starting with an arbitrary relatively hyperbolic group $G$ we define a peripheral filling procedure, which produces quotients of $G$ by imitating the effect of the Dehn filling of a complete finite volume hyperbolic 3--manifold $M$ on the fundamental group $\pi_1(M)$. The main result of the paper is an algebraic counterpart of Thurston's hyperbolic Dehn surgery theorem. We also show that peripheral subgroups of $G$ 'almost' have the Congruence Extension Property and the group $G$ is approximated (in an algebraic sense) by its quotients obtained by peripheral fillings. Various applications of these results are discussed.Comment: The difference with the previous version is that Proposition 3.2 is proved for quasi--geodesics instead of geodesics. This allows to simplify the exposition in the last section. To appear in Invent. Mat

Interacting Modified Variable Chaplygin Gas in Non-flat Universe

A unified model of dark energy and matter is presented using the modified variable Chaplygin gas for interacting dark energy in a non-flat universe. The two entities interact with each other non-gravitationally which involves a coupling constant. Due to dynamic interaction, the variation in this constant arises that henceforth changes the equations of state of these quantities. We have derived the effective equations of state corresponding to matter and dark energy in this interacting model. Moreover, the case of phantom energy is deduced by putting constraints on the parameters involved.Comment: 9 pages; Accepted for publication in European Physical Journal