Electronic Structure Effect on Model Cluster for L1_2 Structure of Al_3Ti Intermetallic Compound with an Addition of Alloying Elements Fe, Ni and Cu

By use of self-consistent field Xα scattered-wave (SCF-Xα-SW) method, the electronic structure was calculated for four models of Ti4Al14X (X=Al, Fe, Ni and Cu) clusters. The Ti4Al14X cluster was developed based on L12 Al3Ti-base intermetallic compound. The results are presented using the density of states (DOS) and one-electron properties, such as relative binding tendency between the atom and the model cluster, and hybrid bonding tendency between the alloying element and the host atoms. By comparing the four models of Ti4Al14X cluster, the effect of the Fe, Ni or Cu atom on the physical properties of Al3Ti-based L12 intermetallic compounds is analyzed. The results indicate that the addition of the Fe, Ni or Cu atom intensifies the relative binding tendency between Ti atom and Ti4Al14X cluster. It was found that the Fermi level (EF) lies in a maximum in the DOS for Ti4Al14Al cluster; on the contrary, the EF comes near a minimum tn the DOS for Ti4Al14X (X=Fe, Ni and Cu) cluster. Thus the L12 crystal structure for binary Al3Ti alloy is unstable, and the addition of the Fe, Ni or Cu atom to Al3Ti is benefical to stabilize L12 crystal structure. The calculation also shows that the Fe, Ni or Cu atom strengthens the hybrid bonding tendency between the central atom and the host atoms for Ti4Al14X cluster and thereby may lead to the constriction of the lattice of Al3Ti-base intermetallic compounds.

Modeling the Synergetic Effect of Various Factors on Chloride Transport in Nonsaturated Concrete

Diffusion has been systematically described as the main mechanism of chloride transport in reinforced concrete（RC） structure, especially when the concrete is in a saturated state. However, the single mechanism of diffusion is not able to describe the actual chloride ingress in the nonsaturated concrete. Instead, it is dominated by the interaction of diffusion and convection. With the synergetic effects of various factors taken into account, this study aimed to modify and develop an analytical convection- diffusion coupling model for chloride transport in nonsaturated concrete. The model was verified by simulation of laboratory tests and field measurement. The results of comparison study demonstrate that the analytical model developed in this study is efficient and accurate in predicting the chloride profiles in the nonsaturated concrete.

System failure analysis based on DEMATEL–ISM and FMECA

A new method of system failure analysis was proposed. First, considering the relationships between the failure subsystems,the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory(DEMATEL) method was used to calculate the degree of correlation between the failure subsystems, analyze the combined effect of related failures, and obtain the degree of correlation by using the directed graph and matrix operations. Then, the interpretative structural modeling(ISM) method was combined to intuitively show the logical relationship of many failure subsystems and their influences on each other by using multilevel hierarchical structure model and obtaining the critical subsystems. Finally, failure mode effects and criticality analysis(FMECA) was used to perform a qualitative hazard analysis of critical subsystems, determine the critical failure mode, and clarify the direction of reliability improvement.Through an example, the result demonstrates that the proposed method can be efficiently applied to system failure analysis problems.