Delamination of pipeline steels: determination of an anisotropic cleavage criterion

Cette étude concerne l’effet de l’anisotropie de la rupture par clivage appliquée à deux tôles d’acier faiblement allié, ferrito-bainitiques, pour gazoducs. La rupture de la tôle par délaminage est étudiée en fonction de la microstructure et du chargement mécanique, afin d’optimiser les propriétés de ces aciers et notamment leur résilience mesurée par essais Battelle et Charpy. Des essais mécaniques ont été effectués sur des mini-éprouvettes axisymétriques entaillées, dimensionnées à cette intention et prélevées dans les directions principales de la tôle, y compris dans la direction travers court. Des essais de traction ont permis de tracer une courbe de transition ductile-fragile sur ces éprouvettes entaillées, dans une gamme de températures comprise entre +20°C et -140°C. Les mécanismes de rupture et les sites d’amorçage de la rupture par clivage ont été identifiés au microscope électronique à balayage. L’analyse mécanique de ces essais a été menée aux différentes températures, le comportement mécanique étant identifié sur éprouvettes lisses sollicitées dans les mêmes directions que les éprouvettes entaillées. Des simulations par éléments finis des essais sur éprouvettes entaillées ont été effectuées afin d’analyser les champs de contrainte et de déformation à rupture et d’en extraire une valeur de contrainte critique de clivage, en fonction de la direction de sollicitation. L’impact du modèle de comportement choisi (critère de plasticité isotrope ou non) sur la valeur de la contrainte critique de clivage a été évalué. Le critère de rupture proposé tient compte des paramètres microstructuraux des aciers étudiés

An Integrated-Photonics Optical-Frequency Synthesizer

Integrated-photonics microchips now enable a range of advanced functionalities for high-coherence applications such as data transmission, highly optimized physical sensors, and harnessing quantum states, but with cost, efficiency, and portability much beyond tabletop experiments. Through high-volume semiconductor processing built around advanced materials there exists an opportunity for integrated devices to impact applications cutting across disciplines of basic science and technology. Here we show how to synthesize the absolute frequency of a lightwave signal, using integrated photonics to implement lasers, system interconnects, and nonlinear frequency comb generation. The laser frequency output of our synthesizer is programmed by a microwave clock across 4 THz near 1550 nm with 1 Hz resolution and traceability to the SI second. This is accomplished with a heterogeneously integrated III/V-Si tunable laser, which is guided by dual dissipative-Kerr-soliton frequency combs fabricated on silicon chips. Through out-of-loop measurements of the phase-coherent, microwave-to-optical link, we verify that the fractional-frequency instability of the integrated photonics synthesizer matches the $7.0*10^{-13}$ reference-clock instability for a 1 second acquisition, and constrain any synthesis error to $7.7*10^{-15}$ while stepping the synthesizer across the telecommunication C band. Any application of an optical frequency source would be enabled by the precision optical synthesis presented here. Building on the ubiquitous capability in the microwave domain, our results demonstrate a first path to synthesis with integrated photonics, leveraging low-cost, low-power, and compact features that will be critical for its widespread use.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Temperature stable mid-infrared GaInAsSb/GaSb Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs)

GaInAsSb/GaSb based quantum well vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) operating in mid-infrared spectral range between 2 and 3 micrometres are of great importance for low cost gas monitoring applications. This paper discusses the efficiency and temperature sensitivity of the VCSELs emitting at 2.6 μm and the processes that must be controlled to provide temperature stable operation. We show that non-radiative Auger recombination dominates the threshold current and limits the device performance at room temperature. Critically, we demonstrate that the combined influence of non-radiative recombination and gain peak – cavity mode de-tuning determines the overall temperature sensitivity of the VCSELs. The results show that improved temperature stable operation around room temperature can only be achieved with a larger gain peak – cavity mode de-tuning, offsetting the significant effect of increasing non-radiative recombination with increasing temperature, a physical effect which must be accounted for in mid-infrared VCSEL design

Velocity Profiles for Flow of Omani Crude Oils and Other Liquids

Velocity profiles of Newtonian immiscible liquids undergoing laminar flow between two horizontal plates under pressure gradient are investigated using a momentum balance equation. The differential equation describing the flow has been solved and equations for the velocity profiles of a two-layer and three-layer liquid systems are presented. As examples, we show flow patterns of two-layer water-crude oil system and three-layer system involving water, tetrachloromethane, xylene, cyclopentane and hexane. A distinctive pattern is noticeable between the velocity profiles of heavy (API 19.19) and light (API 40.89) Omani crude oils

he Direction of Spontaneous Magnetisation of Lanthanide Ions at a Site of Cubic Symmetry

The zero temperature direction of spontaneous magnetisation of lanthanide ions at a site of cubic symmetry is investigated as a function of the electrostatic and magnetic interactions. For all the values of J between J = 3 and J = 8, two-dimensional diagrams giving the orientation of spontaneous magnetisation are obtained as a function of the parameters R representing the relative strength of the magnetic to electrostatic interaction and the parameter x representing the relative strength of the fourth to the sixth order terms in the crystal field. The boundaries between regions of the parameter space with different directions of spontaneous magnetisation are investigated. It is found that at some boundaries there is a gradual rotation of the direction of spontaneous magnetisation and that at other boundaries there is a sudden change of orientation of spontaneous magnetisation at a critical value of the (R,x) parameters. Two types of behaviour are observed when there is a critical value of (R,x). There are boundaries where there is at the critical value a degenerate plane in which all the orientations can be direction of spontaneous magnetisation and some boundaries where two different principal crystallographic axes can be direction of spontaneous magnetisation at the critical value. In the latter case there is a region near the boundary where an unstable equilibrium orientation for the magnetisation can be found

Large-Area Single-Mode GaSb-based VCSELs using an Inverted Surface Relief

Large-area GaSb-based BTJ VCSELs at ∼2.35 μm were fabricated using an inverted surface relief technique to support the single transverse mode operation. The devices operate in continuous-wave and are (electro-)thermally tunable over 6 nm