Effective Elastic Properties of 3-Phase Particle Reinforced Composites with Randomly Dispersed Elastic Spherical Particles of Different Sizes Dedicated to Professor Karl Stark Pister for his 95th birthday

Higher-order multiscale structures are proposed to predict the effective elastic properties of 3-phase particle reinforced composites by considering the probabilistic spherical particles spatial distribution,the particle interactions,and utilizing homogenization with ensemble volume average approach.The matrix material,spherical particles with radius a1,and spherical particles with radius a2,are denoted as the 0th phase,the 1st phase,and the 2nd phase,respectively.Particularly,the two inhomogeneity phases are different particle sizes and the same elastic material properties.Improved higher-order(in ratio of spherical particle sizes to the distance between the centers of spherical particles)bounds on effective elastic properties of 3-phase particle reinforced proposed Formulation II and Formulation I derive composites.As a special case,i.e.,particle size of the 1st phase is the same as that of the 2nd phase,the proposed formulations reduce to 2-phase formulas.Our theoretical predictions demonstrate excellent agreement with selected experimental data.In addition,several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the competence of the proposed frameworks.

AgNi15 composite particles prepared by ultrasonic arc spray atomization method

Ultrasonic arc spray atomization (UASA) method was used to prepare high-melting-point, immiscible AgNi15 (mass fraction, %) composite particles. Sieving was used to determine the size distribution of the AgNi15 particles. The morphology, rapidly solidified structure and metastable solution expansion of the AgNi15 particles were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. The results show that the AgNi15 composite particles are spherical and well-dispersed, and the mass fractions of the particles with diameters <74μm and <55 μm are 99.5% and 98%, respectively. The rapidly solidified structure of the AgNi15 particles consists of spherical nickel-richβ(Ni)-phase particles dispersed throughout a silver-richα(Ag)-phase matrix andα(Ag)-phase nanoparticles dispersed throughout largerβ(Ni)-phase particles. The silver and nickel in the AgNi15 particles form a reciprocally extended metastable solution, and the solid solubility of nickel in the silver matrix at room temperature is in the range of 0.16%?0.36% (mole fraction).

Theoretical analysis of the double-differential cross-sections of neutron,proton,deuteron,^(3)He,andαfor the p+^(6) Li reaction

Based on the unified Hauser–Feshbach and exciton model,which can describe the particle emission processes between discrete energy levels with energy,angular momentum,and parity conservations,a statistical theory of light nucleus reaction(STLN)is developed to calculate the double-differential cross-sections of the outgoing neutron and light charged particles for the proton-induced^(6) Li reaction.A significant difference is observed between the p+^(6) Li and p+^(7) Li reactions owing to the discrepancies in the energy-level structures of the targets.The reaction channels,including sequential and simultaneous emission processes,are analyzed in detail.Taking the double-differential cross-sections of the outgoing proton as an example,the influence of contaminations(such as^(1) H,^(7)Li,^(12)C,and^(16)O)on the target is identified in terms of the kinetic energy of the first emitted particles.The optical potential parameters of the proton are obtained by fitting the elastic scattering differential cross-sections.The calculated total double-differential cross-sections of the outgoing proton and deuteron at E_(p)=14 MeV agree well with the experimental data for different outgoing angles.Simultaneously,the mixed double differential cross-sections of^(3) He andαare in good agreement with the measurements.The agreement between the measured data and calculated results indicates that the two-body and three-body breakup reactions need to be considered,and the pre-equilibrium reaction mechanism dominates the reaction processes.Based on the STLN model,a PLUNF code for the p+^(6) Li reaction is developed to obtain an ENDF-6-formatted file of the double-differential cross-sections of the nucleon and light composite charged particles.

Effect of sintering parameters on the microstructure and thermal conductivity of diamond/Cu composites prepared by high pressure and high temperature infiltration

Pure Cu composites reinforced with diamond particles were fabricated by a high pressure and high temperature （HPHT） infiltration technique. Their microstructural evolution and thermal conductivity were presented as a function of sintering parameters （temperature, pressure, and time）. The improvement in interfacial bonding strength and the maximum thermM conductivity of 750 W/（m.K） were achieved at the optimal sintering parameters of 1200℃, 6 GPa and 10 min. It is found that the thermal conductivity of the composites depends strongly on sintering pressure. When the sintering pressure is above 6 GPa, the diamond skeleton is detected, which greatly contributes to the excellent thermal conductivity.

Microstructure of in situ Al_3Ti/6351Al composites fabricated with electromagnetic stirring and fluxes

The 6351 wrought aluminum alloy and K2TiF6-CaF2-LiCl components were selected as raw materials to fabricate in situ Al3Ti particulate reinforced aluminum alloy at 720℃via direct melt reaction method with electromagnetic stirring(EMS).CaF2 and LiCl acted as fluxes to lower the reaction temperature of the system.It is shown that the electromagnetic stirring and fluxes accelerate the emulsion process of K2TiF6.Optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrum were utilized to analyze the microstructure and components of composites.Compared to composites fabricated without EMS and fluxes,the sizes of endogenetic Al3Ti are refined from 10-15μm to 2-4μm,which are often accompanied with silicon element.The morphology of Al3Ti or Al3TiSi0.22 exhibits triangle,quadrilateral and other clumpy patterns. Because of the Ca elements from CaF2,the sizes of Mg2Si decrease from 8-10μm to 1-2μm due to the formation of Ca2Si.

Processing of nanostructured metallic matrix composites by a modified accumulative roll bonding method with structural and mechanical considerations

Particulate reinforced metallic matrix composites have attracted considerable attention due to their lightweight, high strength, high specific modulus, and good wear resistance. A1/B4C composite strips were produced in this work by a modified accumulative roll bonding process where the strips were rotated 90° around the normal direction between successive passes. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses reveal the development of nanostructures in the Al matrix after seven passes. It is found that the B4C reinforcement distribution in the matrix is improved by progression of the process. Additionally, the tensile yield strength and elongation of the processed materials are increased with the increase of passes.

Solid fraction evolution characteristics of semi-solid A356 alloy and in-situ A356–TiB_2 composites investigated by differential thermal analysis

The key factor in semi-solid metal processing is the solid fraction at the forming temperature because it affects the microstructure and mechanical properties of the thixoformed components. Though an enormous amount of data exists on the solid fraction-temperature re- lationship in A356 alloy, information regarding the solid fraction evolution characteristics of A356-TiB2 composites is scarce. The present article establishes the temperature-solid fraction correlation in A356 alloy and A356-xTiB2 （x = 2.5wt% and 5wt%） composites using dif- ferential thermal analysis （DTA）. The DTA results indicate that the solidification characteristics of the composites exhibited a variation of 2℃ and 3℃ in liquidus temperatures and a variation of 3℃ and 5℃ in solidus temperatures with respect to the base alloy. Moreover, the eutectic growth temperature and the solid fraction（fs） vs. temperature characteristics of the composites were found to be higher than those of the base alloy. The investigation revealed that in-situ formed TiB2 particles in the molten metal introduced more nucleation sites and reduced undercooling.

Synthesis of nano-CaCO_3 composite particles and their application

Nano-calcium carbonate composite particles were synthesized by the soapless emulsion polymerization technique of double monomers. The composite particles formation mechanism was investigated. The effects of composite particles on the mechanical properties of nano-CaCO3-ABS （acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer） composite material were studied. It was validated that the composite particles are made up of the nano-calcium carbonate cores and the shells of alternating copolymers of butyl acrylate （BA） and styrene （St）. The shells are chemically grafted and physically wrapped on the surface of nano-calcium carbonate particles. When the composite particles were filled in ABS matrix, the CaCO3 particles are homogeneously dispersed in the composite material as nanoscales. The impact strength of the composite material is obviously enhanced after filling appropriate amounts of composite particles. It can be concluded that the soapless emulsion polymerization of double monomers is an effective method for nano-CaCO3 surface treatment. 2008 University of Science and Technology Beijing. All rights reserved.

Fabrication and densification enhancement of SiC-particulate-reinforced copper matrix composites prepared via the sinter-forging process

The fabrication of copper （Cu） and copper matrix silicon carbide （Cu/SiCp） particulate composites via the sinter-forging process was investigated. Sintering and sinter-forging processes were performed under an inert Ar atmosphere. The influence of sinter-forging time, temperature, and compressive stress on the relative density and hardness of the prepared samples was systematically investigated and subsequently compared with that of the samples prepared by the conventional sintering process. The relative density and hardness of the composites were enhanced when they were prepared by the sinter-forging process. The relative density values of all Cu/SiCp composite samples were observed to decrease with the increase in SiC content.

A simple method for purification of genomic DNA from whole blood using Fe_3O_4/Au composite particles as a carrier

Objective： To establish a method of genomic DNA extraction from whole blood using Fe3O4/Au composite particles as a carrier. Methods： Two crucial conditions （sodium chloride concentration and amount of the magnetic particles） were optimized and 8 different human whole blood samples were used to purify genomic DNA under the optimal condition. Then agarose gel electrophoresis and polymerase cbain reaction （PCR） were performed. Results： The optimal binding condition was 1.5 mol/L NaC1/10% PEG, and the optimal amount of Fe3O4/Au composite particles was 600μg. The yields of the genomic DNA from 100μl of different whole blood samples were 2-5 μg, and the ratio of A260/A280 was in the range of 1.70-1.90. The size of genomic DNA was about 23 kb and the PCR was valid. Conclusion： The purification system using Fe3O4/Au composite microparticles has advantages in high yield, high purity, ease of operating, time saving and avoiding centrifugation. The purified sample was found to function satisfactorily in PCR amplification.

Sol-Gel Preparation of Graphite/TiO_2 Composite Particles and Their Electrorheological Effect

Graphite/TiO2 composite particles were obtained by sol-gel technique in this paper. The structure and characteristic of the composite particles are analyzed by XRD, SEM and TG-DTA. The electrorheological properties of the ER fluid containing the particles were measured by a Couette-type rheometer under shear rates of 1-136 s-1 and AC electric fields of 0-3 kV/mm. The experimental results show that the leaking current density of the ER fluid is higher than that of pure titanium dioxide particles dispersed in damping oil. The shear yield stress of the ER fluid increases with increasing electric field and exhibits a typical Bingham flow behavior. The suspension demonstrates an excellent ER performance (τ/τo=1200) compared with conventional ER fluids (τ/τ0 ≤500). The sedimentation of the ER fluid is improved obviously due to the coating effect of the particles.

Analysis of Equivalent Oxygen DifFusivity of Particle Dispersed Composites

This paper presents a new method to determine the equivalent oxygen diffusivities of particle dispersed composites. This method can be used to design FGM thermal barrier systems with the function of oxygen barrier. A qualitative explanation of the oxidation of nickel with the increment of zirconia contents in the composite samples can be accepted by this method. The values of equivalent oxygen diffusivities obtained with this method are in excellent agreement with those from the EMT method for the composites with ZrO2 particle dispersed phase when the volume fractions of dispersed phase are lower than 25%.

A CFD-DEM-Wear Coupling Method for Stone Chip Resistance of Automotive Coatings with a Rigid Connection ParticleMethod for Non-Spherical Particles

The stone chip resistance performance of automotive coatings has attracted increasing attention in academic and industrial communities.Even though traditional gravelometer tests can be used to evaluate stone chip resistance of automotive coatings,such experiment-based methods suffer from poor repeatability and high cost.The main purpose of this work is to develop a CFD-DEM-wear coupling method to accurately and efficiently simulate stone chipbehaviorof automotive coatings inagravelometer test.Toachieve this end,an approach coupling an unresolved computational fluid dynamics(CFD)method and a discrete element method(DEM)are employed to account for interactions between fluids and large particles.In order to accurately describe large particles,a rigid connection particle method is proposed.In doing so,each actual non-spherical particle can be approximately described by rigidly connecting a group of non-overlapping spheres,and particle-fluid interactions are simulated based on each component sphere.An erosion wear model is used to calculate the impact damage of coatings based on particlecoating interactions.Single spherical particle tests are performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed rigid connection particle method under various air pressure conditions.Then,the developed CFD-DEM-wear model is applied to reproduce the stone chip behavior of two standard tests,i.e.,DIN 55996-1 and SAE-J400-2002 tests.Numerical results are found to be in good agreement with experimental data,which demonstrates the capacity of our developed method in stone chip resistance evaluation.Finally,parametric studies are conducted to numerically investigate the influences of initial velocity and test panel orientation on impact damage of automotive coatings.

HYBRID AND CHARACTERISTIC OF POLYANILINEBARIUM TITANATE NANOCOMPOSITE PARTICLES

Polyaniline-barium titanate (PAn-Ba-TiO3) ultrafine composite particles were prepared by the oxidative polymerization of aniline with H2O2 while barium titanate nanoparticles were synthesized with a sol-gel method. The infrared spectrogram shows that the polymerization of PAn in the hybrid process of PAn-BaTiO3 is similar with the polymeric process of pure aniline, and there is interaction of PAn and BaTiO3 in the PAn-Ba-TiO3. SEM and TEM results show that the average diameter of the composite particles is 1.50μm and the diameters of BaTiO3 nanoparticles are 5 - 15 nm in the composite particle. The electrical conductivity of the ultrafine com-posite particles is transformable from 10°to 10-11S/cm by equilibrium doping or dedoping method using various concentration of HCl or NaOH solutions.

Hypereutectic Al-Si Matrix Composites Prepared by In Situ Fe_(2)O_(3)/Al System

Al_(2)O_(3) particles reinforced hypereutectic Al-Si composites were prepared by in situ Fe_(2)O_(3)/Al reaction system.The thermodynamic analysis and microstructure evolution were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry,optical microscope,scanning electronic microscopy and transmission electron microscope.Results show that the reaction between Fe_(2)O_(3) and Al is spontaneous which can be separated into two steps at different temperatures.The in situ Al_(2)O_(3) particles in nano size distribute on the Al matrix accompanied with long needle-shapedβFe-rich intermetallic phase.With different content of Mn addition,βphase can be modified toα-Al15(Mn,Fe)3Si2 andδ-Al4(Fe,Mn)Si2.Both tensile strength and elongation results at room temperature and 300℃reveal that the optimal Fe-rich intermetallic phase is finer Chinese-script and polyhedralαphase with a Mn/Fe mass ratio 0.5 for the composites.Both in situ Al_(2)O_(3) particles andα-Fe phases contribute to the properties improvement of the composites。

Rheological properties of magnetorheological fluid prepared by gelatincarbonyl iron composite particles

Gelatincarbonyl iron composite particle was prepared by micro emulsion method. The analysis of scanning electron microscope(SEM) shows that the ultrafine particles are spheroids coated by gelatin, and the average sizes of particles are 310μm. The specific saturation magnetization σ_s is 130.9A·m2/kg, coercivity H_c is 0.823A/m, and residual magnetism r is 4.98Am2/kg for the composite particles. It is shown that the particles possess properties of soft magnetic. The yield stress of magnetorheological fluid(MRF) with composite particle reaches 70kPa at 0.5T magnetic induction. Magnetorheological effects are superior in lower magnetic field intensity and the subsidence stability of the MRF is excellent compared with pure carbonyl iron powder.

Facile Preparation of PVA-AA/TiO2 Composite Gel Particles and Their Tunable Photo-catalytic Property for the Degradation of Methyl Orange

In the presence of titanium dioxide powder, cross-linking reaction between commercial polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)-based macromonomer and acrylic acid(AA) was initiated with potassium persulfate in an emulsifying system. As a result, PVA-AA/TiO2 composite gel particles were obtained. The morphology and composition of the particles were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy scattering x-ray spectroscopy(EDS), Fourier infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis(TGA). The analysis results confirmed that the particles were the expected ones. TiO2 was dispersed homogeneously within the spheroidal particles. Compared to the control gel, the composite gel particles not only contained Ti element but also showed higher thermal stability. In addition, the photo-catalytic behavior of the particles for the degradation of methyl orange contained in aqueous solution was examined. The particles exhibited photocatalytic characteristic for the degradation of the model dye, which could be modulated by simply varying the amount of cross-linking agent or TiO2. The photo-catalytic degradation percentage of methyl orange maintained at 91%-96% after using the particles three times, which indicated that TiO2 could played its role repeatedly via being fixated within polyvinyl alcohol-based gel.

<i>H</i>, <i>W</i>, <i>Z</i>Bosons, Dark Matter: Composite Particles?

The present article develops a model initially published in ref. [1]. It is a quasi-classical quantum model of composite particles with ultra-relativistic (UR) constituents (leptons and quarks). The model is used to calculate the mass energy of three composite particles: a UR tauonium, a UR bottomonium and a UR leptoquarkonium. The result is that these three hypothetic particles have masses close to 125 GeV: the Higgs boson mass energy. These results are recalled in the present article. Then the model is extended to calculate the mass energy of pi-mesons, W and Z bosons. Finally, the model provides a hypothesis on dark matter.

Characterization of Fe-containing particles in Chengdu,southwest China,using single-particle aerosol mass spectrometry

Single-particle aerosol mass spectrometry was used to study the characteristics of Fecontaining particles during winter in Chengdu,southwest China.The mass concentrations of PM_(2.5)and PM_(10)during the study period were 64±38 and 89±49μg/m~3,respectively,and NO_(2)and particulate matter were high compared with most other regions of China.The Fecontaining particles were divided into seven categories with different mass spectra,sources and aging characteristics.The highest contribution was from Fe mixed with carbonaceous components(Fe-C,23.1%)particles.Fe was more mixed with sulfate than nitrate and therefore the contribution of Fe mixed with sulfate(Fe-S,20.7%)particles was higher than that of Fe mixed with nitrate(Fe-N,12.5%)particles.The contributions from Fe-containing particles related to primary combustion were high in the small particle size range,whereas aged Fecontaining particles and dust-related particles were mostly found in the coarse particle size range.The air masses mainly originated from the west and east of Chengdu,and the corresponding PM_(2.5)concentrations were 79±36 and 55±36μg/m~3,respectively.The west and east air masses showed stronger contributions of Fe-containing particles related to biomass burning(Fe-B)and fossil fuel combustion(Fe-C and Fe-S)particles,respectively.The southwest area contributed the most Fe-containing particles.Future assessments of the effects of Fe-containing particles during heavy pollution period should pay more attention to Fe-C and Fe-S particles.Emission-reduction of Fe-containing particles should consider both local emissions and short-distance transmission from the surrounding areas.

A New Interpretation of the Higgs Vacuum Potential Energy Based on a Planckion Composite Model for the Higgs

We present a new interpretation of the Higgs field as a composite particle made up of a positive, with, a negative mass Planck particle. According to the Winterberg hypothesis, space, i.e., the vacuum, consists of both positive and negative physical massive particles, which he called planckions, interacting through strong superfluid forces. In our composite model for the Higgs boson, there is an intrinsic length scale associated with the vacuum, different from the one introduced by Winterberg, where, when the vacuum is in a perfectly balanced state, the number density of positive Planck particles equals the number density of negative Planck particles. Due to the mass compensating effect, the vacuum thus appears massless, chargeless, without pressure, energy density, or entropy. However, a situation can arise where there is an effective mass density imbalance due to the two species of Planck particle not matching in terms of populations, within their respective excited energy states. This does not require the physical addition or removal of either positive or negative Planck particles, within a given region of space, as originally thought. Ordinary matter, dark matter, and dark energy can thus be given a new interpretation as residual vacuum energies within the context of a greater vacuum, where the populations of the positive and negative energy states exactly balance. In the present epoch, it is estimated that the dark energy number density imbalance amounts to, , per cubic meter, when cosmic distance scales in excess of, 100 Mpc, are considered. Compared to a strictly balanced vacuum, where we estimate that the positive, and the negative Planck number density, is of the order, 7.85E54 particles per cubic meter, the above is a very small perturbation. This slight imbalance, we argue, would dramatically alleviate, if not altogether eliminate, the long standing cosmological constant problem.