Local Nonuniformity Research Articles

Local Strain Hardening and Non-Uniformity of Plastic Strain of Tinplate

During evaluation of the mechanical properties of tinplate for packaging industry by uniaxial tensile test, a non-uniform plastic strain occurs very often. This phenomenon results from the fact, that the plastic deformation is not uniformly developed throughout the measured section. There is a localization of deformation in one or more places resulting in local changes of the tinplate ́s mechanical properties. This paper deals with local strain hardening and non-uniformity of plastic strain of the tinplate temper TH415CA during uniaxial tensile test. Based on micro hardness measurements in the following locally deformed areas, local changes of mechanical properties of the tinplate were determined. The reasons of early strain localization were assumed by microstructural analysis. In the present work are considering partial aspects of the problem focusing on the properties of the local strain hardening and their consequences for stability of uniform plastic strain.

A method for speech signal processing based on band filtering of the logarithmic spectrum

We propose a method for speech signal preprocessing based on band filtering of the logarithmic amplitude spectrum with a filter with odd impulse characteristic. With such filtering, we can detect local nonuniformities in the spectrum of a speech signal caused by abrupt inclinations of the vocal tract frequency characteristic, which represent useful features for speech recognition. We show examples of using the proposed approach on natural speech signals.

Propagation of Structural Waves along Waveguides with Non-Uniformities Using Wavenumber Domain Finite Elements

파이프, 평판과 같이 단면의 형상이 길이 방향으로 일정한 도파관 구조물을 따라 전파되는 진동의 반사 및 투과 특성은 여러 공학 분야에서 응용되는 중요한 주제이다. 도파관에 조인트 또는 균열 등의 국부적 불연속이 있는 경우, 스펙트럴 요소(spectral element)와 유한 요소(finite elment)를 결합한 SE/FE 방법이 주로 사용되고 있다. 그러나 이 방법은 보 이론에 기반한 스펙트럴 요소가 사용되므로 저주파수 대역 해석에 국한되는 단점이 있다. 고주파수 대역 해석에는 스펙트럴 수퍼 요소(spectral super element)와 유한 요소를 결합한 SSE/FE 방법이 제안되었으나 유한요소와 스펙트럼 요소의 연성으로 인해 많은 연산 시간이 요구된다. 이러한 문제점을 개선하고자, 본 연구에서는 국부적 불연속 구간의 단면이 일정한 경우에 대해 국부적 불연속 구간을 스펙트럴 수퍼 요소로 대체한 SSE/SSE 연성 해석을 시도하였다. 적용 모델로는 국부적 결함을 가진 레일의 파동 반사 및 투과, 그리고 주기적 보강재를 가진 평판의 진동전파에 대해 적용하였다. 결함을 가진 레일의 해석 예를 통해, 본 논문에서 사용한 SSE/SSE 방법과 기존의 SSE/FE 방법의 성능을 비교하였다. 보강재를 가진 평판의 예를 통해서는 반복 구조를 가진 도파관의 파동 전파 특성 해석에 SSE/SSE 방법이 유용함을 확인하였다. Wave reflection and transmission characteristics in waveguides are an important issue in many engineering applications. A combined spectral element and finite element (SE/FE) method is used to investigate the effects of local non-uniformities but limited at relatively low frequencies because the SE is formulated by using a beam theory. For higher frequency applications, a method named a combined spectral super element and finite element (SSE/FE) method was presented recently, replacing spectral elements with spectral super elements. This SSE/FE approach requires a long computing time due to the coupling of SSE and FE matrices. If a local non-uniformity has a uniform cross-section along its short length, the FE part could be further replaced by SSE, which improves performance of the combined SSE/FE method in terms of the modeling effort and computing time. In this paper SSEs are combined to investigate the characteristics of waves propagating along waveguides possessing geometric non-uniformities. Two models are regarded: a rail with a local defect and a periodically ribbed plate. In the case of the rail example, firstly, the results predicted by a combined SSE/FE method are compared with those from the combined SSEs in order to justify that the combined SSEs work properly. Then the SSEs are applied to a ribbed plate which has periodically repeated non-uniformities along its length. For the ribbed plate, the propagation characteristics are investigated in terms of the propagation constant.

Tool Design Induced Anisotropic Flow Behavior of Hot Extruded Aluminum Profiles

The hot extrusion process may lead to frequently observed textures in the profiles, like fiber structures in longitudinal direction. Aluminum profiles (AA6060) were extruded with different tool types (flat-face dies and modified porthole dies). Compression tests of cylindrical specimens, which were machined out of these profiles likewise in extrusion direction, were conducted to examine possible effects of the in-plane anisotropy in lateral direction. A hardness distribution over the cross section of the specimens was measured. It was found that dependent on tool design and profile geometry, the specimens developed preferred lateral flow directions during upsetting. Simulations of the upsetting test, with assigned Hill parameters to consider anisotropy of the material, showed, that this anisotropy, not the local hardness nonuniformity, is the main reason for the detected plastic flow properties.

Nonstationary Combustion of Methane with Gas Hydrate Dissociation

Kinetics of methane hydrate dissociation at combustion in the air atmosphere at the outer pressure of 1 bar was studied experimentally. Dissociation is divided into several characteristic time stages with different rates of gas hydrate decomposition. There is a very high temperature gradient along the granule radius. At combustion the movement velocities of dissociation front and pores are high. Thermal imaging of the powder surface demonstrates significant temperature maldistribution. Spatially nonuniform escape of methane from a sample leads to local temperature and concentration maldistributions in the flame, which cause thermal instability of the flame front and the loss of hydrodynamic stability. Instability of combustion generates two equivalent mechanisms of convective transfer: the shear laminar flow and large-scale vortices, which intensify fuel and oxidizer mixing. Experimental data have revealed not only the local spatial-time nonuniformities but also significantly nonstationary character of the averaged flow. The measured instantaneous and average velocities of methane on the powder surface allowed an estimate of the stoichiometric ratio. The maximal velocity of methane propagation corresponded to 1 mm/s in experiments without combustion and to 15 mm/s with combustion.

Polytype Inclusions in Cubic Silicon Carbide

The 3C-SiC layers on nominally on-axis 6H-SiC substrates were grown using sublimation epitaxy. More than 90% coverage by 3C-SiC is typically achieved at growth temperature of 1775°C. The main reason for the polytype inclusions to appear is local supersaturation non-uniformities over the sample surface which appear due to the temperature gradient and spiral growth nature of 6H-SiC. On the 6H-SiC spirals with small steps supersaturation is smaller and 3C-SiC nucleation and growth is diminished. Due to surface free energy and surface diffusion differences, polytype inclusions appear differently when 3C-SiC is grown on the Si- and C-faces. The 6H-SiC inclusions as well as twin boundaries act as neutral scattering centers and lower charge carrier mobility.

Nonstationary thermohydraulic code – UNSCELM

The UNSCELM code was developed to perform nonstationary thermohydraulic fuel-assembly calculations over cells cooled by a single-phase coolant. In contrast to previously developed codes, the assumption that the pressure is constant in a transverse section of a fuel assembly is not used in this code. This makes it possible to take account of large local nonuniformities over a transverse cross section of a fuel assembly (right up to reverse flows) as well as hydraulically isolated cells. The UNSCELM code was tested on the results of experiments performed at the Physics and Power Engineering Institute (FEI) on a 25-rod assembly cooled by the coolant 22%Na–78%K. The assembly simulated square packing of the fuel elements in a fuel assembly in the core of a lead-cooled BREST-OD-300 reactor. The satisfactory agreement between the computed and experimental distributions attests to the serviceability of the proposed algorithm in the code and the correctness of the closure relations for liquid-metal coolant.

Influence of the initial concentration of hydrogen and modes of vacuum annealing on the structure, phase composition, and mechanical properties of sheet billet of the VT6 alloy: Part 1. Influence of the initial hydrogen concentration and modes of vacuum annealing on the phase composition and the average diameter of grain of the VT6 alloy

The possibilities of using reversible hydrogen doping in combination with warm rolling for milling the structural components and the formation of a heterophase structure are shown by the example of the VT6 alloy. Alloy doping with 0.3–0.7 wt % hydrogen and the formation of a α + β + α2 structure is accompanied by the enhancement of the local nonuniformity of deformation and an increase in the number of recrystallization nuclei during warm sheet rolling. The relation between the initial hydrogen concentration and the temperature of vacuum annealing (VA) with the phase composition and the size of structural components is established.

A simple piecewise cubic spline method for approximation of highly nonlinear data

Approximation methods are used in the analysis and prediction of data, especially laboratory data, in engineering projects. These methods are usually linear and are obtained by least-square-error approaches. There are many problems in which linear models cannot be applied. Because of that there are logarithmic, exponential and polynomial curve-fitting models. These nonlinear models have a limited application in engineering problems. The variation of most data is such that the nonlinearity cannot be approximated by the above approaches. These methods are also not applicable when there is a large amount of data. For these reasons, a method of piecewise cubic spline approximation has been developed. The model presented here is capable of following the local nonuniformity of data in order to obtain a good fit of a curve to the data. There is C1 continuity at the limits of the piecewise elements. The model is tested and examined with four problems here. The results show that the model can approximate highly nonlinear data efficiently.

Potential of in-cylinder exhaust gas recirculation stratification for combustion and emissions in diesel engines

It is difficult to decrease the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO x) and soot simultaneously in conventional diesel engines. Low-temperature combustion concepts have been studied in an effort to overcome this problem. Low-temperature combustion has the potential to reduce NO x and soot emissions, but it has many limitations, including narrow operating ranges, high carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions, and difficulties with ignition control. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) stratification is another combustion concept used to reduce NO x and soot emissions simultaneously using the local non-uniformity of EGR gas instead of increasing the overall EGR rate. In this study, the EGR stratification concept was improved using computational fluid dynamics. First, a two-step piston was developed to maximize the stratified EGR effects by obtaining a favourable EGR distribution pattern and injecting fuel into the high-EGR region. Then, the possibility of combustion and emission control using stratified EGR was estimated. The ideally distributed EGR in the cylinder results showed that the region of locally high EGR effectively influences the combustion characteristics and, thus, horizontally and centrally stratified EGR has the potential to reduce the nitric oxide (NO x) and soot emissions at the same time. Engine simulation results also showed simultaneous reductions in the NO x and the soot emissions.

Excitement of Local Non-Uniformities in Plasma by Unstable Ion-Temperature-Gradient Waves

It is considered excitement of local non-uniformities in plasma by unstable ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) waves. New version of these processes based on the approach of finite wave amplitude is suggested. Some features of ITG-waves in this approximation are discussed. First of all qualitative distributions of values of plasma density fluctuations and temperature fluctuations perturbed by ITG-waves inside non-uniform plasma along minor tokamak radius are estimated. It is shown the obtained dependencies based on the suggested model qualitatively correspond to the experimental data.

Intratumor Heterogeneity Characterized by Textural Features on Baseline 18F-FDG PET Images Predicts Response to Concomitant Radiochemotherapy in Esophageal Cancer

(18)F-FDG PET is often used in clinical routine for diagnosis, staging, and response to therapy assessment or prediction. The standardized uptake value (SUV) in the primary or regional area is the most common quantitative measurement derived from PET images used for those purposes. The aim of this study was to propose and evaluate new parameters obtained by textural analysis of baseline PET scans for the prediction of therapy response in esophageal cancer. Forty-one patients with newly diagnosed esophageal cancer treated with combined radiochemotherapy were included in this study. All patients underwent pretreatment whole-body (18)F-FDG PET. Patients were treated with radiotherapy and alkylatinlike agents (5-fluorouracil-cisplatin or 5-fluorouracil-carboplatin). Patients were classified as nonresponders (progressive or stable disease), partial responders, or complete responders according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. Different image-derived indices obtained from the pretreatment PET tumor images were considered. These included usual indices such as maximum SUV, peak SUV, and mean SUV and a total of 38 features (such as entropy, size, and magnitude of local and global heterogeneous and homogeneous tumor regions) extracted from the 5 different textures considered. The capacity of each parameter to classify patients with respect to response to therapy was assessed using the Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0.05). Specificity and sensitivity (including 95% confidence intervals) for each of the studied parameters were derived using receiver-operating-characteristic curves. Relationships between pairs of voxels, characterizing local tumor metabolic nonuniformities, were able to significantly differentiate all 3 patient groups (P < 0.0006). Regional measures of tumor characteristics, such as size of nonuniform metabolic regions and corresponding intensity nonuniformities within these regions, were also significant factors for prediction of response to therapy (P = 0.0002). Receiver-operating-characteristic curve analysis showed that tumor textural analysis can provide nonresponder, partial-responder, and complete-responder patient identification with higher sensitivity (76%-92%) than any SUV measurement. Textural features of tumor metabolic distribution extracted from baseline (18)F-FDG PET images allow for the best stratification of esophageal carcinoma patients in the context of therapy-response prediction.

Effect of extended defects in planar and pixelated CdZnTe detectors

We evaluated a spectroscopy-grade 15×15×7 mm3 CdZnTe (CZT) crystal with a high μτ-product, >10−2 cm2/V, but impaired by microscopic extended defects, such as walls of dislocations, low-angle and sub-grain boundaries, and Te inclusions. First, we evaluated a planar detector fabricated from this crystal using a Micro-scale X-ray Detector Mapping (MXDM) technique. Then, we fabricated from the same crystal a pixel detector to study local non-uniformities of the electric field. The measured X-ray response maps confirmed the presence of non-uniformities in the charge transport, and they showed that the global- and local-distortions of the internal E-field correlated to the extended defects and space-charge buildup on the side surfaces.

Wave reflection and transmission due to defects in infinite structural waveguides at high frequencies

In waveguide structures, waves may be partially reflected by local non-uniformities such as cracks and other defects. The reflection and transmission characteristics associated with the presence of a discontinuity may be used, in principle, to give some indication of both the location and size of the defect. A combined spectral element and finite element (SE/FE) method has been used previously to investigate the effects of local non-uniformities at relatively low frequencies. However, for analysis at higher frequencies, where complex deformation of the waveguide occurs, it is necessary to extend this approach. Such high frequency analysis is necessary if small defects are to be located within the waveguide cross-section. In order to investigate wave propagation at higher frequencies, a combined spectral super element and finite element (SSE/FE) method is presented. This method allows the transmission, reflection and wave conversion at discontinuities to be determined for complex waveguides. As an example of the use of this method, wave reflection and transmission in rails are estimated at frequencies between 20 and 40 kHz for various notional sawcut-like defects of progressively increasing size. This shows the feasibility of the approach for realistic waveguides. However, from these simulations it is shown that defects have to be quite large before they can be detected using a single transducer position on the rail cross-section using train-induced vibration.

Residual layer uniformity using complementary patterns to compensate for pattern density variation in UV nanoimprint lithography

How to form a thin and uniform residual layer, which is difficult to be created for a feature with nonuniform pattern densities, is of critical importance in nanoimprint lithography since residual layer removal by a reactive ion etching process will result in poor pattern transfer fidelity for nonuniform residual layers. A capacity-equalized mold using complementary cavity patterns to balance the imprinted volume of the feature with pattern density variation was verified to be a good method against pattern density variation for producing a uniform residual layer. To obtain an insight into the validity of the capacity-equalized mold, the effects of the introduced complementary patterns for capacity equalization on the residual layer, at locations that were not only at a distance away from the introduced complementary patterns but also the ones that were very close to the introduced complementary patterns, were carefully studied. It was found that a capacity-equalized mold with even very coarse complementary patterns as large as 10 times the minimum width of original patterns could result in a good uniform residual layer. It showed that the residual layer thickness was mainly determined by the volume of the capacity of the pattern trench with varied depths per unit area, but not by the size of the complementary patterns. Furthermore, the local nonuniformity induced by the complementary patterns themselves was also studied. The authors found that this local nonuniformity had little influence on producing a uniform residual layer that contributed to the low viscosity of the UV-curable resin. The authors also found that the nonuniformity of the residual layer was produced even by using a capacity-equalized mold due to the presence of air bubbles.

Effects of radiation heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components on in-cylinder soot emission formation in diesel engine

Combustion chamber components (cylinder head-cylinder liner-piston assembly-fuel film) were treated as a coupled body. Based on the three-dimensional numerical simulation of heat transfer of the coupled body, the multi-dimensional simulation computation coupling flow and solid on working process and combustion chamber components of internal combustion engine was performed using Discrete Transfer Radiation Model (DTRM) radiation heat transfer model, zoning solution method and boundary coupling method. The simulation was applied to the influence investigation of the space non-uniformity in radiation heat transfer among combustion chamber components on the generation of in-cylinder soot emissions. The results show that the space non-uniformity in heat transfer among the combustion chamber components has great influence on the generation of in-cylinder NOx emissions. The difference value of total soot in cylinder when exhaust valves are opened is 1.3% (no radiation), 0.8% (radiation). So the effect of radiation heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components on total soot production can be ignored. While in local area radiation heat transfer space non-uniformity has certain effect on soot production inside whole combustion chamber space, and has less effect on soot production in the area near the wall of combustion chamber components.

Dependence of photoluminescence spectra of epitaxial Pb1 − x Eu x Te (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1) alloy layers on conditions of growth

The photoluminescence spectra of the Pb1 − x Eu x Te (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1) alloy are studied at low temperatures. Epitaxial layers were grown by molecular-beam epitaxy at different temperatures. Along with the basic line corresponding to interband radiative recombination, additional emission lines are observed in the low-energy region of the spectra. Some nonuniformities are observed at the sample surface (within an area smaller than 1% of the total surface area). The concentration and size (1–10 μm) of the nonuniformities decrease with increasing temperature of growth. The additional emission lines are attributed to local nonuniformities in the layer. The dependence of the band gap of the Pb1−x Eu x Te (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1) alloy on the composition parameter x is determined at 77.4 K. The dependence is nonlinear and adequately described by the relation E g [eV] = 0.213 + 4.8x − 18.4x 2.

Quantified Temperature Effect in a CMOS Image Sensor

In recent years, CMOS image sensors (CISs) have increasingly become major players in the solid-state imaging market, a market in which charge-coupled device image sensors were once the dominant product. Exceptional circuit integration capability makes CMOS imagers suitable for implementation in a single-chip imaging system while inducing the temperature variation of an image sensor. In this paper, global and local high-leakage nonuniformities induced by on-chip temperature variations were controlled by both a Peltier junction device and on-chip resistors. Two test chips were fabricated using TSMC 0.13-?m CIS processes and TSMC 1-poly 6-metal 0.18-?m process technology, respectively. As expected, fixed-pattern noise increased with temperature. To quantify the influence of temperature, the maximum depth of an affected region was defined as DAR. The experimental results revealed that the DAR index increased with either an increase in power consumption or a space reduction between the resistor and the pixel array. The DAR index not only characterized affected regions in the experiment but also provided a valuable reference regarding temperature protection for future imager designs.

Effects of mechanical dispersion on the morphological evolution of a chemical dissolution front in a fluid-saturated porous medium

Summary The dissolution-induced finger or wormhole patterns in porous medium or fracture rock play a crucial role in a variety of scientific, industrial, and engineering practices. Although previous studies have extensively presented a number of numerical models which couples a system of nonlinear governing equations of porosity change due to mineral dissolution, the conservations of groundwater flow and transport of chemical species to investigate the morphological pattern of a chemical dissolution front within a fluid-saturated porous medium, whereas the mechanical dispersion effect has generally been neglected in the model development. This study addresses the effects of mechanical dispersion on the morphological evolution of a chemical dissolution front for a variety of cases. Mechanical dispersion processes is incorporated with the coupled nonlinear governing equation system so as to rebuild a newly numerical model. The results of numerical simulations demonstrate that mechanical dispersion has pronounced impacts on the morphological pattern of the chemical dissolution front. For single local non-uniformity case, mechanical dispersion reduces the finger length of an unstable single-fingering front or retains the shape of a stable planar front while speeding up the front advancement. In the case of two local non-uniformities, adding mechanical dispersion with different flow conditions can yield one of the following results: (1) the shape of the stable planar front is maintained but its advancement is accelerated; (2) the shape of the unstable single-fingering front is maintained but its length is reduced; (3) the unstable double-fingering front is merged into an unstable single-fingering front; and (4) the shape of the unstable double-fingering front is preserved but its fingering length is reduced. A comparison between the behavior diagrams of dissolution front morphology (with and without considering mechanical dispersion) shows that the double-fingering front occurs under condition where the upstream pressure gradient is higher and the non-uniformity spacing is larger while mechanical dispersion is taken into consideration.

Effects of the Local Soil Nonuniformity Upon Performances of Ground Grids

The effects are studied of the material for leveling spread over and of installation channels led through substation site upon the safety risk associated with grounding. The main ground grid performances in case of ground faults are analyzed for various ratios of overlaid material and surrounding soil resistivities and horizontal dimensions and thickness of the overlaid material. Also, the effects of the installation channels dug along various routes upon the potential distribution on the ground surface and step voltages are considered. It was shown that the mentioned local nonuniformities can substantially affect the safety performances of the ground grid and that they should be carefully taken into consideration. The local soil irregularities considered have been modeled by applying the method of finite elements.