Digital image correlation approach to cracking and decohesion in a brittle coating/ductile substrate system

By using a digital image correlation technique, the full/local field strain in a brittle coating/ductile substrate system during tension has been successfully monitored. One of the most important experimental results indicates that the distribution of interfacial shear stress in the segmented coating is antisymmetric about the center, which clarifies several controversial assumptions introduced in theoretical models. Two key mechanical properties of thermal barrier coatings, fracture strength in coating and interfacial adhesion strength, were determined as 35.0 ± 4.6 and 14.1 ± 3.2 MPa, respectively, which are consistent with available experimental data

Extracellular secretion of Carocin S1 in Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum occurs via the type III secretion system integral to the bacterial flagellum

Background: Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum is a phytopathogenic enterobacterium responsible for soft rot, a disease characterized by extensive maceration of the affected plant tissue. This species also produces two or more antibacterial substances called bacteriocins, which enhance its competitiveness against related rival species. However, the secretion mechanism for low-molecular-weight bacteriocin is still unknown. Results: A mutant (flhC::Tn5) that did not secrete the low-molecular-weight bacteriocin (LMWB), Carocin S1, was generated by Tn5 insertional mutagenesis. Sequence analysis indicated that this insertion disrupted open reading frame 2 (ORF2) and ORF3 of this strain. Deletion and rescue experiments indicated that ORF2 and ORF3 were both required for extracellular LMWB secretion. The ORF2 and ORF3 sequences showed high homology with the flhD and flhC gene sequences of Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. atroseptica, Serratia marcescens, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Escherichia coli, indicating that they likely encoded key regulatory components of the type III flagella secretion system. Conclusion: Thus, the extracellular export of Carocin S1 by Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum appears to utilize the type III secretion system integral to bacterial flagella

High current density induced damage mechanisms in electronic solder joints: a state-of-the-art review

High current density induced damages such as electromigration in the on-chip interconnection /metallization of Al or Cu has been the subject of intense study over the last 40 years. Recently, because of the increasing trend of miniaturization of the electronic packaging that encloses the chip, electromigration as well as other high current density induced damages are becoming a growing concern for off-chip interconnection where low melting point solder joints are commonly used. Before long, a huge number of publications have been explored on the electromigration issue of solder joints. However, a wide spectrum of findings might confuse electronic companies/designers. Thus, a review of the high current induced damages in solder joints is timely right this moment. We have selected 6 major phenomena to review in this paper. They are (i) electromigration (mass transfer due electron bombardment), (ii) thermomigration (mass transfer due to thermal gradient), (iii) enhanced intermetallic compound growth, (iv) enhanced current crowding, (v) enhanced under bump metallisation dissolution and (vi) high Joule heating and (vii) solder melting. the damage mechanisms under high current stressing in the tiny solder joint, mentioned in the review article, are significant roadblocks to further miniaturization of electronics. Without through understanding of these failure mechanisms by experiments coupled with mathematical modeling work, further miniaturization in electronics will be jeopardize

Complex-valued Burgers and KdV-Burgers equations

Spatially periodic complex-valued solutions of the Burgers and KdV-Burgers equations are studied in this paper. It is shown that for any sufficiently large time T, there exists an explicit initial data such that its corresponding solution of the Burgers equation blows up at T. In addition, the global convergence and regularity of series solutions is established for initial data satisfying mild conditions

A tunable radiation source by coupling laser-plasma-generated electrons to a periodic structure

Near-infrared radiation around 1000 nm generated from the interaction of a high-density MeV electron beam, obtained by impinging an intense ultrashort laser pulse on a solid target, with a metal grating is observed experimentally. Theoretical modeling and particle-in-cell simulation suggest that the radiation is caused by the Smith-Purcell mechanism. The results here indicate that tunable terahertz radiation with tens GV=m field strength can be achieved by using appropriate grating parameter

Real-Time Substructure Tests and Numerical Simulation of Mechanical Characteristics of Natural Rubber-Laminated Bearings

Natural rubber lamination is a kind of seismic isolation of bearings often used in civil engineering. The advantage of laminated bearings is large vertical stiffness and small lateral stiffness. In seismic regions, structural periods would be extended and the effect of seismic forces can be lowered using bearings. In previous tests, the static cyclic loading method was mainly used that failed to take account of the loading rate. The real-time substructure testing is proposed to simulate true seismic loads. This testing and test setup were first introduced, and the effect of the loading rate was studied. Then the effects of vertical pressure and peak acceleration of ground motion were studied. At last the test results were simulated by the finite element method, and an accurate method to calculate seismic responses of bridges with laminated bearings was proposed.Ламинирование природным каучуком – один из видов сейсмической изоляции опор, часто используемый в гражданском строительстве. Ламинированные опоры характеризуются высокой вертикальной жесткостью и низкой поперечной жесткостью. В сейсмических регионах сроки строительства увеличиваются, а влияние сейсмических сил может быть уменьшено за счет применения подобных опор. До сих пор основой для испытаний служил статический метод циклического нагружения, не позволявший учитывать его скорость. Предложен метод испытания в реальных условиях эксплуатации, моделирующий истинные сейсмические нагрузки. Внедрены метод испытаний и испытательная установка, изучено влияние скорости нагружения, вертикального давления и пикового ускорения движения грунта. Выполнено моделирование результатов испытания с помощью метода конечных элементов. Предложен точный метод расчета сейсмических характеристик мостов с опорами, ламинированными природным каучуком

Microstructures and properties of new Sn-Ag-Cu lead-free solder reinforced with Ni-coated graphene nanosheets

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This paper deals with microstructures and properties of SAC305 lead-free solder reinforced with graphene nanosheets (GNS) decorated with Ni nanoparticles (Ni-GNS). These Ni-coated GNS nanosheets were synthesized by an in-situ chemical reduction method. After morphological and chemical characterization, Ni-GNS were successfully integrated into SAC305 lead-free solder alloy with different weight fractions (0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 wt.%) through a powder metallurgy route. The obtained composite solders were then studied extensively with regard to their microstructures, wettability, thermal, electrical and mechanical properties. After addition of Ni-GNSs, cauliflower-like (Cu,Ni)6 Sn5 intermetallic compounds (IMCs) were formed at the interface between composite solder joint and copper substrate. Additionally, blocky Ni-Sn-Cu IMC/GNS hybrids were also observed homogenously distributed in the composite solder matrices. Composite solder alloys incorporating Ni-decorated GNSs nanosheets showed slightly reduced electrical resistivity compared to the unreinforced SAC305 solder alloy. With an increase in the amount of Ni-GNS, the composite solders showed an improvement in wettability with an insignificant change in their melting temperature. Mechanical tests demonstrated that addition of 0.2 wt.% Ni-GNS would result in 19.7% and 16.9% improvements in microhardness and shear strength, respectively, in comparison to the unreinforced solders. Finally, the added Ni-GNS reinforcements in the solder matrix were assessed with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy

A Non-coding RNA of Insect HzNV-1 Virus Establishes Latent Viral Infection through MicroRNA

Heliothis zea nudivirus-1 (HzNV-1) is an insect virus previously known as Hz-1 baculovirus. One of its major early genes, hhi1, is responsible for the establishment of productive viral infection; another gene, pag1, which expresses a non-coding RNA, is the only viral transcript detectable during viral latency. Here we showed that this non-coding RNA was further processed into at least two distinct miRNAs, which targeted and degraded hhi1 transcript. This is a result strikingly similar to a recent report that herpes simplex virus produces tightly-regulated latent specific miRNAs to silence its own key early transcripts. Nevertheless, proof for the establishment of viral latency by miRNA is still lacking. We further showed that HzNV-1 latency could be directly induced by pag1-derived miRNAs in cells infected with a pag1-deleted, latency-deficient virus. This result suggests the existence of a novel mechanism, where miRNAs can be functional for the establishment of viral latency