On the Determination of Residual Stress and Mechanical Properties by Indentation

Residual stresses are of practical importance in bulk materials and coatings, which critically affects their mechanical integrity and reliability. Comparing with traditional techniques, the depth-sensing indentation technique provides a quick and effective method of measuring the residual stress field. In this study, we have used the finite element method to investigate the effect of in-plane residual stress on hardness and stiffness measurements of a bulk material/thick coating. It is found that the contact hardness, stiffness, and indentation work are sensitive to the residual stress, in particular for materials with a relatively high yield strain. Based on the reverse analysis, a new technique is proposed for measuring the yield strength, Young’s modulus, and in-plane residual stress in bulk material and thick coatings through one simple indentation test. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated through numerical examples. The effect of residual stress on indentation stress, plastic zone, and surface profile are also investigated. It is found that when the indentation is dominated by elastic deformation, the large recovery makes the surface profile measured after unloading an unreliable parameter in characterizing the properties

On the Determination of Residual Stress and Mechanical Properties by Indentation

Residual stresses are of practical importance in bulk materials and coatings, which critically affects their mechanical integrity and reliability. Comparing with traditional techniques, the depth-sensing indentation technique provides a quick and effective method of measuring the residual stress field. In this study, we have used the finite element method to investigate the effect of in-plane residual stress on hardness and stiffness measurements of a bulk material/thick coating. It is found that the contact hardness, stiffness, and indentation work are sensitive to the residual stress, in particular for materials with a relatively high yield strain. Based on the reverse analysis, a new technique is proposed for measuring the yield strength, Young’s modulus, and in-plane residual stress in bulk material and thick coatings through one simple indentation test. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated through numerical examples. The effect of residual stress on indentation stress, plastic zone, and surface profile are also investigated. It is found that when the indentation is dominated by elastic deformation, the large recovery makes the surface profile measured after unloading an unreliable parameter in characterizing the properties

Determination of Uniaxial Residual Stress and Mechanical Properties by Instrumented Indentation

We propose an improved technique to determine the uniaxial residual stress, elastic modulus, and yield stress of a linear elastic, perfectly plastic bulk material from the force–displacement curve of one conical indentation test. Explicit relationships between the indentation loading–unloading parameters, material properties, and residual stress are established through extensive finite element analyses. Good agreement is found between the input material parameters used in numerical indentation tests and the properties identified from the reverse analysis, with an error of less than 10% in most cases. The technique is applied to a nanoindentation experiment on the crosssection of a thermal barrier system, to measure the elastic–plastic behavior and the residual stress in the bond coat. Likewise, the improved method may be used to measure effectively the material properties and uniaxial residual stress of a multilayer system

Determination of Uniaxial Residual Stress and Mechanical Properties by Instrumented Indentation

We propose an improved technique to determine the uniaxial residual stress, elastic modulus, and yield stress of a linear elastic, perfectly plastic bulk material from the force–displacement curve of one conical indentation test. Explicit relationships between the indentation loading–unloading parameters, material properties, and residual stress are established through extensive finite element analyses. Good agreement is found between the input material parameters used in numerical indentation tests and the properties identified from the reverse analysis, with an error of less than 10% in most cases. The technique is applied to a nanoindentation experiment on the crosssection of a thermal barrier system, to measure the elastic–plastic behavior and the residual stress in the bond coat. Likewise, the improved method may be used to measure effectively the material properties and uniaxial residual stress of a multilayer system

Testing the Bell Inequality at Experiments of High Energy Physics

Besides using the laser beam, it is very tempting to directly testify the Bell inequality at high energy experiments where the spin correlation is exactly what the original Bell inequality investigates. In this work, we follow the proposal raised in literature and use the successive decays $J/\psi\to\gamma\eta_c\to \Lambda\bar\Lambda\to p\pi^-\bar p\pi^+$ to testify the Bell inequality. Our goal is twofold, namely, we first make a Monte-Carlo simulation of the processes based on the quantum field theory (QFT). Since the underlying theory is QFT, it implies that we pre-admit the validity of quantum picture. Even though the QFT is true, we need to find how big the database should be, so that we can clearly show deviations of the correlation from the Bell inequality determined by the local hidden variable theory. There have been some critiques on the proposed method, so in the second part, we suggest some improvements which may help to remedy the ambiguities indicated by the critiques. It may be realized at an updated facility of high energy physics, such as BES III.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

A high-throughput FRET-based assay for determination of Atg4 activity

Atg4 is required for cleaving Atg8, allowing it to be conjugated to phosphatidylethanolamine on phagophore membranes, a key step in autophagosome biogenesis. Deconjugation of Atg8 from autophagosomal membranes could be also a regulatory step in controlling autophagy. Therefore, the activity of Atg4 is important for autophagy and could be a target for therapeutic intervention. In this study, a sensitive and specific method to measure the activity of two Atg4 homologs in mammalian cells, Atg4A and Atg4B, was developed using a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based approach. Thus LC3B and GATE-16, two substrates that could be differentially cleaved by Atg4A and Atg4B, were fused with CFP and YFP at the N- and C-terminus, respectively, allowing FRET to occur. The FRET signals decreased in proportion to the Atg4-mediated cleavage, which separated the two fluorescent proteins. This method is highly efficient for measuring the enzymatic activity and kinetics of Atg4A and Atg4B under in vitro conditions. Applications of the assay indicated that the activity of Atg4B was dependent on its catalytic cysteine and expression level, but showed little changes under several common autophagy conditions. In addition, the assays displayed excellent performance in high throughput format and are suitable for screening and analysis of potential modulators. In summary, the FRET-based assay is simple and easy to use, is sensitive and specific, and is suitable for both routine measurement of Atg4 activity and high-throughput screening

Semiconductor-cavity QED in high-Q regimes: Detuning effect

The non-resonant interaction between the high-density excitons in a quantum well and a single mode cavity field is investigated. An analytical expression for the physical spectrum of the excitons is obtained. The spectral properties of the excitons, which are initially prepared in the number states or the superposed states of the two different number states by the resonant femtosecond pulse pumping experiment, are studied. Numerical study of the physical spectrum is carried out and a discussion of the detuning effect is presented.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomics analysis identifies host pathways modulated during toxoplasma gondii infection in swine

Toxoplasma gondii is a leading cause of foodborne illness and consumption of undercooked pig meat is a major risk factor for acquiring toxoplasmosis, which causes a substantial burden on society. Here, we used isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) labelling coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to identify cellular proteins and pathways altered during T. gondii infection in pigs. We also used parallel reaction monitoring-based LC-MS/MS to verify the levels of protein expression of infected spleens and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs). At 6 days post-infection (dpi), 156, 391, 170, 292, and 200 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were detected in the brain, liver, lung, MLNs and spleen, respectively. At 18 dpi, 339, 351, 483, 388, and 303 DEPs were detected in the brain, liver, lung, MLNs and spleen, respectively. Although proteins involved in immune responses were upregulated in all infected tissues, protein expression signature in infected livers was dominated by downregulation of the metabolic processes. By weighted gene co-expression network analysis, we could further show that all proteins were clustered into 25 co-expression modules and that the pink module significantly correlated with the infection status. We also identified 163 potential anti-T. gondii proteins (PATPs) and provided evidence that two PATPs (HSP70.2 and PDIA3) can reduce T. gondii burden in porcine macrophages in vitro. This comprehensive proteomics analysis reveals new facets in the pathogenesis of T. gondii infection and identifies key proteins that may contribute to the pig’s defense against this infection