Study of the Surface Morphology of Gas Hydrate

Study of the surface morphology of gas hydrate is of great importance in understanding its physical properties and occurrence.In order to investigate the surface morphology of different types(sI and sII)and occurrences(pore-filling and fracture-filling)of gas hydrate,both lab-synthesized and drilled-gas hydrate samples were measured using cryo-scanning electron microscopy(cryo-SEM).Results showed that the surface of s I hydrate was relatively smooth,and spongy nano-pores(200–400 nm)gradually occurred at the surface during continuous observation.The surface of sII hydrate was more compact,showing a tier-like structure.Hydrate occurred in quartz sand and usually filled the pores of the sediments and both hydrate and sediments were cemented with each other.SEM observation of the gas hydrates collected from the South China Sea showed that the surface morphology and contact relation with sediments varied with hydrate occurrence.For instance,hydrates dispersed in sediments mainly filled the pores of the sediments.The existence of microorganism shells,such as foraminifera,was beneficial to the formation of gas hydrate.When hydrate occurred as a massive or vein structure,it was easily distinguished from the surrounding sediments.The surface of hydrate with massive or vein structure showed two distinct characters:one was dense and smooth,the other is porous(several to tens of micrometers in diameter).The occurrence of different hydrate morphologies was probably caused by the supplement rates of methane gas.

Selection of Judging Indicators for Surface Morphology of Soil Crack under Different Development Degrees in Yuanmou Arid-Hot Valley Region

Quantification of complicated surface morphology of soil crack is a prerequisite and key to soil crack study. This paper takes soil crack quads in Yuanmou arid-hot valley region as examples, selecting several morphological indicators, and analyzes the soil crack＇s morphological features under various development degrees. By statistic analysis, three quantitative indicators for surface morphology are selected, namely soil crack area density, area weighted mean fractal dimension and connectivity index R, which can not only express the development intensity of soil cracks, but also effectively describe its morphological complexity and connectivity. The research results set a good base for the establishment of soil crack assessment system in Yuanmou arid-hot valley region.

Use of digital image analysis combined with fractal theory to determine particle morphology and surface texture of quartz sands

The particle morphology and surface texture play a major role in influencing mechanical and hydraulic behaviors of sandy soils. This paper presents the use of digital image analysis combined with fractal theory as a tool to quantify the particle morphology and surface texture of two types of quartz sands widely used in the region of Vitória, Espírito Santo, southeast of Brazil. The two investigated sands are sampled from different locations. The purpose of this paper is to present a simple, straightforward,reliable and reproducible methodology that can identify representative sandy soil texture parameters.The test results of the soil samples of the two sands separated by sieving into six size fractions are presented and discussed. The main advantages of the adopted methodology are its simplicity, reliability of the results, and relatively low cost. The results show that sands from the coastal spit(BS) have a greater degree of roundness and a smoother surface texture than river sands(RS). The values obtained in the test are statistically analyzed, and again it is confirmed that the BS sand has a slightly greater degree of sphericity than that of the RS sand. Moreover, the RS sand with rough surface texture has larger specific surface area values than the similar BS sand, which agree with the obtained roughness fractal dimensions. The consistent experimental results demonstrate that image analysis combined with fractal theory is an accurate and efficient method to quantify the differences in particle morphology and surface texture of quartz sands.

Water Striders:The Biomechanics of Water Locomotion and Functional Morphology of the Hydrophobic Surface(Insecta:Hemiptera-Heteroptera)

Water striders are insects living on the water surface, over which they can move very quickly and rarely get wetted. We measured the force of free walking in water striders, using a hair attached to their backs and a 3D strain gauge. The error was calculated by comparing force and data derived from geometry and was estimated as 13%. Females on average were stronger （1.32 mN） than males （0.87 mN）, however, the ratio of force to weight was not significantly different. Compared with other lighter species, Aquarius paludum seems stronger, but the ratio of force to weight is actually lower. A. paludum applies about 0.3 mN.cm^-1 to 0.4 mN.cm 1 with its mid-legs, thus avoiding penetrating the surface tension layer while propelling itself rapidly over the water surface. We also investigated the external morphology with SEM. The body is covered by effectively two layers of macro-and micro-hairs, which renders them hydrophobic. The setae are long （40 μm-60μm） and stiff, being responsible for waterproofing, and the microtrichia are much smaller （〈10μm）, slender, and flexible, holding a bubble over the body when submerged.

Surface Morphology of Soil Cracks in Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley Region,Southwest China

Surface morphology of soil cracks is one of the important factors influencing the water evaporation rate in cracked soil in Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley Region,Southwest China. Quantitative study of the complicated surface morphology of soil cracks is a prerequisite for further studies of soil-cracking mechanisms. The present paper establishes a quantitative indicator system by application of concepts and methods originating from Fractal Geometry and Network Analysis. These indicators can effectively express the complicated features of soil-crack network structure. Furthermore,a series of values related to soil-crack morphology was obtained by image processing on field photos of soil-crack quads,and gradation criteria for the degree of development of soil cracks were determined. Finally,the changes in values of the morphological indicators under different degrees of development were analyzed in detail. Our results indicate that (1) the degree of development of soil cracks can be divided into five grades,i.e.,feeble development,slight development,medium development,intensive development and extremely intensive development; (2) the values of the indicators change predictably with increasing degree of development of soil cracks. The area density (Dc) increases,and both the area-weighted mean ratio of crack area to perimeter (AWMARP),which reflects the intensity of cracking,and the index r,which is related to the connectivity of a soil crack,grow uniformly (albeit with different forms). AWMRAP increases at a geometric rate while r shows logarithm-mic growth,indicating a gradual increase in theconnectivity of a soil crack. Nevertheless,the area-weighted mean of soil-crack fractal dimension (AWMFRAC) shows a decreasing trend,indicating a gradual decline in the complexity of cracks as area density increases.

Degradation of joint surface morphology, shear behavior and closure characteristics during cyclic loading

In order to investigate the failure mechanism of rock joint,a series of laboratory tests including cyclic direct shear tests under constant normal load(CNL)conditions were conducted.Morphology parameters of the rock joint surface were precisely calculated by means of a three-dimensional laser scanning machine.All test results were analyzed to investigate the shear behavior and normal displacement behavior of rock joints under CNL conditions.Degradation of rock joint surface during cyclic shear tests was also analyzed.The comparison results of the height parameters and the hybrid parameters of the joint surface during cyclic tests show that the degradation of the surface mostly happens in the first shear and the constant normal loads imposed on the joints have significant promotion effects on the morphology degradation.During cyclic shear tests,joints surfaces evolve from rough state to smooth state but keep an overall undulation.Dilatancy of rock joints degrades with the degradation of joint surface and the increase of normal loads.The closure deformation of joint is larger than that of the intact rock,and the normal stiffness increases with the increase of shearing times.

Study of the Material Transfer Characteristics and Surface Morphology Due to Arc Erosion of PtIr Contact Materials

By means of breaking tests on PtIr contact materials via a JF04C contact material testing machine, it was attempted to elucidate the characteristics of the various surface morphology and material transfer after the arc erosion process caused by break arc. The material transfer characteristics appeared in the experiments were concluded and analyzed. Meanwhile, the morphology of the anode and cathode surface were observed and analyzed by SEM.

Modeling of contact surface morphology and dust particles by using finite element method

The effect of dust particles on electric contacts and a hazardous size range of hard dust particles using a rigid model were discussed before. As further research, elastic-plastic model of finite element analysis was established in this work, which is closer to real condition. In this work, the behavior of large size and small size particles, and the influence of particles hardness were investigated. The calculating result of small-size particles presents a general hazardous size coefficient for different contact surface morphology; for large-size particles, it presents a hazardous size coefficient for complicated composition of the dust. And the effect of the dust shape is also discussed.

Dopant diffusion and surface morphology of vanadium implanted 4H-silicon carbide

The diffusion behaviours of vanadium implanted p- and n-type 4H-SiC are investigated by using the secondary ion mass spectrometry （SIMS）. Significant redistribution, especially out-diffusion of vanadium towards the sample surface is not observed after 1650 ℃annealing for both p- and n-type samples. Atomic force microscopy （AFM） is applied to the characterization of surface morphology, indicating the formation of continuous long furrows running in one direction across the wafer surface after 1650 ℃ annealing. The surface roughness results from the evaporation and re-deposition of Si species on the surface during annealing. The chemical compositions of sample surface axe investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）. The results of C ls and Si 2p core-level spectra axe presented in detail to demonstrate the evaporation of Si from the wafer and the deposition of SiO2 on the sample surface during annealing.

Thermodynamics of Molten Pool Predicted by Computational Fluid Dynamics in Selective Laser Melting of Ti6Al4V:Surface Morphology Evolution and Densification Behavior

The three-dimensional physical model of the randomly packed powder material irradiated by the laser beam was established,taking into account the transformation of the material phase,the melt spreading and the interaction of the free surface of the molten pool and the recoiling pressure caused by the material evaporation during the selective laser melting.Influence of the processing parameters on the thermal behavior,the material evaporation,the surface morphology and the densification behavior in the connection region of the molten pool and the substrate was studied.It was shown that the powder material underwent the transformation from the partial melting state to the complete melting state and finally to the overheating state with the applied laser energy density increasing from 167 J/mm^(3) to 417 J/mm^(3).Therefore,the solidified track ranged from the discontinuous tracks with the rough surface to the continuous tracks with residual porosities,then to the continuous and dense tracks and terminally to the fluctuated tracks with the increase in the laser energy density.Meanwhile,the laser energy effect depth was maintained the positive relationship with the laser energy density.The vortex velocity obtained in the free surface of the molten pool towards to the rear region in the opposite laser scan direction promoted the melt convection to the edge region of the molten pool as the laser energy density was higher than 277 J/mm^(3),demonstrating the efficient energy dissipation from the center of the irradiation region to the whole part of the molten pool and the attendant production of the sufficient melt volume.Therefore,the efficient spreading of the molten pool and the metallurgical bonding ability of the melt with the substrate was obtained at the optimized laser energy density of 277 J/mm^(3).However,the severe material evaporation would take place as the melt was overheated,resulting in the formation of the residual pores and poor surface quality.

Simulation and experimental study on the surface morphology and energy lost of the target material under non-overlapping impact of angular particles

In order to further understand the effect of solid impurities on pipeline wall during erosion,the particle impact process without fluid was extracted for specific study.The effect of multi-impact particles on the wall of pipeline was studied experimentally and simulated.In this experiment,an improved ejection apparatus was implemented to carry out multi-impacts non-overlapping impingement by rhombic particles made of high speed steel(W18Cr4V)on the AA6061 aluminum alloy plate through changing particle angle,incident angle,orientation angle and impact velocity.As a result,each particle's penetration depth was investigated and particles' rebound trajectory can be described through this experiment as well as surface morphology of the target material after impingement.The ductile damage criterion,shear damage criterion and MSFLD damage criterion were jointly implemented in ABAQUS/CAE software to simulate the whole process of collision which proved to be effective by getting consistent result compared with experimental data.It is found that under the condition of continuous non-overlapping impact,the target material produces a small work hardening effect in the impact area by converting kinetic energy of moving particles into internal energy of plate so as to reduce the penetration depth of each impact particle.

ADHESION STRENGTH OF COATING SUBSTRATE AND SURFACE MORPHOLOGY OF PRETREATMENT

Premature failure of coated tool often results from a poor adhesion of coating-substrate and shortens the lifetime of the tool. The results of increasing the adhesion strength of thin film coatings on cutting tool inserts by pretreating the inserts with sandblasting technique to obtain a desirable surface morphology of the inserts are presented. A geometric model representing the ideal surface morphology is established to enhance the nucleation density and adhesion strength of coating-substrate. Thin film coating experiment is conducted on the substrates of four different sample groups. Indentation and wear tests are performed on coated inserts to evaluate the effect of sandblasting on the adhesion strength of the coatings. A theoretical analysis is provided on the formation and growth of atom clusters in terms of the contact angle and the thermodynamic barrier of a substrate to predict thin film nucleation.

Investigation of the Surface Morphology and Structural Characterization of Palm Fiber Reinforced Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (PF-ABS) Composites

With the aid of Injection Moulding Machine (IMM) Palm fiber reinforced Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) composites (PF-ABS) were prepared. Three sets of samples were prepared for three different wt% (5%, 10% and 20%) of fiber contents. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) experiments were performed to study the surface morphology, microstructure (if it crystalline or noncrystalline) and new bond formation after preparation of the composites. SEM pattern shows that after addition of palm fiber in PF-ABS composites the brittleness increased due to creation of voids in the composites except 10% fiber content in PF-ABS. From XRD pattern it is clear that the palm fiber, ABS and PF-ABS composites are amorphous in nature. Moreover FTIR spectrum shows that there is no new bond formed after addition of palm fiber in ABS polymeric matrix to create PF-ABS composites.

Investigation on the Effect of Film Thickness on the Surface Morphology, Electrical and Optical Properties of E-Beam Deposited Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) Thin Film

The following article has been retracted due to the fact that the authors practise fraud. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter, and the Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry treats all unethical behavior seriously. This paper published in Vol. 4 No. 10 194-202, 2014 has been removed from this site. ? Title: Investigation on the Effect of Film Thickness on the Surface Morphology, Electrical and Optical Properties of E-Beam Deposited Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) Thin Film ? Authors: Golam Saklayen, Shahinul Islam, Ferdous Rahman, Abu Bakar

Influence of Al Preflow Time on Surface Morphology and Quality of AlN and GaN on Si(111) Grown by MOCVD

We investigate the influence of A1 preflow time on surface morphology and quality of AIN and GaN. The AIN and GaN layers are grown on a Si （111） substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, x-ray diffraction and optical microscopy are used for analysis. Consequently, we find significant differences in the epitaxial properties of AlN buffer and the GaN layer, which are dependent on the AI preflow time. A1 preflow layers act as nucleation sites in the case of AiN growth. Compact and uniform AIN nucleation sites are observed with optimizing A1 preflow at an early nucleation stage, which will lead to a smooth AIN surface. Trenches and AlN grain clusters appear on the AIN surface while meltoback etching occurs on the GaN surface with excessive A1 preflow. The GaN quality variation keeps a similar trend with the AIN quality, which is influenced by AI preflow. With an optimized duration orAl preflow, crystal quality and surface morphology of AIN and GaN could be improved.

Compositional Dependence of Surface Morphology and Electrical Properties of GaInAsSb Alloys Grown by Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition

MOCVD growth and characterization of GaSb rich and InAs rich GaInAsSb on GaSb substrates were investigated. The surface of InAs rich GaInAsSb epilayer was different from GaSb rich film. The flux of TMSb in vapor phase might be the cause of the different surface features between GaSb rich and InAs rich epilayers. The n type conduction of InAs rich GaInAsSb was also different from GaSb rich samples. The p type conduction is often attributed to native lattice defect or carbon impurity on group Ⅴ sites. Carbon might occupies group Ⅲ sites as donor in InAs rich GaInAsSb film. The strength of the chemical bonding between carbon and group Ⅲ or group Ⅴ elements had much to do with the carbon impurity site preference, resulting in the two type conductions of GaInAsSb film grown by MOCVD.

EFFECTS OF SOLVENT TREATMENT ON SURFACE MORPHOLOGY AND COMPOSITION OF POLY(METHYL METHACRYLATE)-g-POLY(ETHYLENE OXIDE)

Surface morphology and composition of solution-cast films of poly(methyl methacrylate)-g-poly(ethylene oxide)(PMMA-g-PEO) were investigated by using XPS, DSC, SEM and contact angle measurement. The microphase separatedstructure of the copolymers was studied by TEM. Generally, for the same graft copolymer, the surface content of PEO orhydrophilicity can be as follows: Surface treated with petroleum ether or cyclohexane>surface untreated with solvent>surface treated with water or ethyl alcohol. Graft copolymer having longer PEO side chains and higher PEO content shows aseparated PEO phase with even a certain degree of crystallinity on the surface. PEO crystallinity was destroyed by water orethyl alcohol treatment, however, surface treatment with petroleum ether or cyclohexane favors the growth of PEO crystal.TEM shows that graft copolymers with longer PEO side chains (M_n of PEO, 3200) may readily undergo microphase separation and the shape and size of domains depend on the copolymer's composition.

Study on Morphology of Surface of Large Area YBCO Thin Films on Zr（Y）O_2 Substrate

Large area YBCO superconducting thin films were grown on the Zr(Y)O2 substrate at 750 and 800℃ respectively by magnetron sputtering, and the surface morphology was studied with AEM. STM and SEM with an EDS and ECP attachments. The YBCO thin film was found to be a caxis orientated single crystal. At 800℃, the surface out-growths of the thin film Were mainly CuO particles and many small holes were found on the surface. which resulted in rougher surface; whereas, at 750℃, the out-growths were mainly the 123 structure in the form of rod-like and polygon and the surface was much smoother because of less small holes on the surface. The mechanism of the thin film growth and the formation of the small holes on the surface grown at the two temperature were discussed.

Surface morphology and impurity distribution of electron beam recrystallized silicon films on low cost substrates for solar cell absorber

A line shaped electron beam recrystallised polycrystalline silicon film on the low cost substrate was investigated for the use of the solar cell absorber. The applied EB energy density strongly influences the surface morphology of the film system. Lower EB energy density results in droplet morphology and the rougher SiO2 capping layer due to the low fluidity. With the energy increasing, the capping layer becomes smooth and continuous and less and small pinholes form in the silicon film. Tungstendisilicide (WSi2) is formed at the interface tungsten/silicon but also at the grain boundaries of the silicon. Because of the fast melting and cooling of the silicon film, the eutectic of silicon and tungstendisilicide mainly forms at the grain boundary of the primary silicon dendrites. The SEM-EDX analysis shows that there are no chlorine and hydrogen in the area surrounding a pinhole after recrystallization because of outgassing during the solidification.

INFLUENCE OF RESIDUAL STRESS AND SURFACE MORPHOLOGY ON FATIGUE PROPERTIES OF STEEL 60Mn

Influence of residual stress and surface morphology induced by shot-peening on fatigue behav- ior of a medium temperature tempered spring steel 60 Mn has been studied.The compressive residual stress induced in the near-surface region may improve fatigue limit from 930 to 1010 MPa,and the very high tensile residual stress in the interior may reduce it from 1010 to 940 MPa,whereas the severe surface damage may cause a drop-off of it from 1010 down to 800 MPa.Fatigue cracks initiated in such position where the equivalent Mises stress,including residual stress,exceeded the local strength of the material.The compressive residual stress, induced by shot-peening,may intensify the effect of crack closure,so as to decrease the crack growth rate.