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Fused silica was polished to a high quality by a CO2 laser beam with a rapid scanning rate. The rapid scanning rate produced a line laser heat source, resulting in a "polishing line" during the polishing process. The Taguchi method was used to evaluate the comprehensive influence of polishing process parameters on the polishing qualities. Four factors, namely the length of laser reciprocating scanning (A), laser beam scanning speed (B), feed speed (C), and defocusing amount (D), were investigated in this study. The optimal process parameter combination (A1B1C1D1) was obtained. The surface roughness of fused silica was reduced from Ra = 0.157 μm to 0.005 μm. Through analysis of variance (ANOVA), it was found that laser beam scanning speed (B) had a significant influence on the polishing quality. The interaction of the two factors plays a decisive role in the determination of the best process parameters, and the influence of other multi-factor interaction can be ignored; the interaction between A × B is the largest, with a contribution of 42.69%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application range of fused silica optical components can be expanded and the cost of fused silica components can be reduced by depositing the same material film on fused silica substrate. However, due to the different manufacturing process, the performance of ALD SiO2 film is lower than that of fused silica substrate, which also limits the use of this process. In this paper, ALD SiO2 film with different thicknesses were deposited, and then the structure and properties were tested. Finally, the ALD SiO2 film was treated via the annealing process. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the ALD SiO2 film had good compactness and substrate adhesion. The Raman spectra showed that the ALD SiO2 film and substrate had the same structure, with only slight differences. The XRD pattern showed that ALD-fused silica did not crystallize before or after annealing. The infrared spectra showed that there was an obvious Si-OH defect in the ALD SiO2 film. The laser damage showed that the ALD SiO2 film had a much lower damage threshold than the fused silica substrate. The nanoindentation showed that the mechanical properties of the ALD SiO2 film were much lower than those of the fused silica substrate. After a low-temperature annealing treatment, the ALD SiO2 film Si-OH defect was reduced, the ALD SiO2 film four-member ring content was increased, the elastic modulus of the ALD SiO2 film was increased from 45.025 GPa to 68.025 GPa, the hardness was increased from 5.240 GPa to 9.528 GPa, and the ALD SiO2 film damage threshold was decreased from 5.5 J/cm2 to 1.3 J/cm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plain bars with a diameter of 10 mm are widely used in reinforced concrete buildings, and the bond behavior between the bars and concrete has an essential effect on the seismic performance of concrete structures. Thus, to assess the safety of old buildings and repaired buildings with normal concrete, it was necessary to further investigate the bond performance of the plain bars in the concrete. The bonding tests under monotonic and reversed cyclic loading were carried out on the specimens reinforced with plain bars, and the influences of concrete grade and embedment length on the bond behavior were taken into consideration. The results indicate the maximum bond stress under reversed cyclic loading is less than that under monotonic loading, and this is the same for corresponding slip for the same test parameters. The concrete compressive strength positively affects the maximum bond stress, whereas the embedment length has a negative effect. Based on the elasticity analysis and test data fitting, the expressions of bond stress at characteristic points on the bond stress–slip curves were carried out. Consequently, the bond stress–slip model was established, which could be applied to calculate the bond stress–slip relationships under monotonic and reversed cyclic loading. By comparison between the test curves and proposed model, a good agreement is observed, which indicates that the proposed model can be used to predict the bond stress–slip curve of plain bars in concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two mesomechanics models were analyzed in an attempt to reveal the relationship between stored energy and back stress. It has been indicated that the portion of elastic stored energy due to residual microstresses (ESR) is closely related to intergranular back stress (Xinter), and the stored energy of dislocations inside grains (ESD) can be estimated with the plastic work of intragranular back stress (Xintra). Then, the evolution of back stress during cyclic loading was studied, and the plastic work of back stress (WpB) was calculated with the low cycle fatigue experimental data of Ti-6Al-4V. The result shows that WpB is partially released at every reverse loading, sufficient to reproduce the evolution of stored energy correctly under cyclic loading. The study also reveals that partially released energy is related to the decrease of Xinter at the initial state of reversal loading resulting from the reduction of the plastic strain incompatibility between grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, silver nanowires (AgNWs) with a diameter of 40 nm and a length of 45 μm were dispersed into an ethanol solution to prepare AgNW solutions with concentrations of 1, 2, and 3 mg/mL, respectively. The AgNW solutions were then deposited on a glass substrate using spin-coating at 1000, 2000, and 3000 rpm for 45 s, respectively, to prepare transparent electrodes. The results showed that the distribution of AgNWs on the substrate increased in density with the increase in the AgNW solution concentration and the decrease in spin speed. The effect of concentration on the distribution of AgNWs was greater than that of the spin speed. The transmittance of each electrode was between 84.19% and 88.12% at 550 nm, the average sheet resistance was between 20.09 and 358.11 Ω/sq, the highest figure of merit (FoM) was 104.42, and the lowest haze value was 1.48%. The electrode prepared at 1000 rpm with a concentration of 2 mg/mL and that prepared at 3000 rpm with a concentration of 3 mg/mL were very similar in terms of the average sheet resistance, transmittance at 550 nm, FoM, and haze value; thus, these two electrodes could be considered equivalent. The haze value of the electrode was positively correlated with the spin speed at low concentration, but that relationship became inverse as the concentration rose. For the AgNWs used in this experiment with an aspect ratio of 1125, the concentration of the AgNW solution should reach at least 2 mg/mL to ensure that the FoM of the electrode is greater than 35. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are promising for multifunctional and structural application in different industries. However, the limited size of BMGs hinders their further application. The welding of BMGs has shown the possibility of getting rid of the casting size limitation. The heat-affected zone (HAZ) and fusion zone (FZ) often undergo severe crystallization during the welding process. It is still unclear whether the crystallization occurs during the heating process or the cooling process. To figure out the crystallization mechanisms of Zr-based BMGs during the electron beam welding process, the Zr-based BMGs with the composition of Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 were remelted by electron beam. The microstructures of the HAZ and the remelting zone (RZ) were analyzed. The thermal field of the electron beam welding was obtained by the finite element method (FEM). The critical conditions for crystallization during the heating and cooling processes were obtained by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the Kissinger equation. The results show that the Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 in the HAZ undergoes severe crystallization, while the Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 in RZ keeps amorphous state after the remelting process. The low cooling rate in the HAZ is responsible for its crystallization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, electromagnetic pollution management has gained much attention due to the various harmful effects on wildlife and human beings. Electromagnetic absorbers can convert energy from electromagnetic waves into thermal energy. Previous reports have demonstrated that reduced graphene oxide (rGO) makes progress in the electromagnetic absorption (EA) field. But the high value of permittivity of rGO always mismatches the impedance which results in more electromagnetic wave reflection on the surface. In this work, sandwich-like rGO/CuS/polypyrrole (PPy) nanoarchitectures have been synthesized by a facile two-step method. The experimental result has shown that a paraffin composite containing 10 wt.% of rGO/CuS/PPy could achieve an enhanced EA performance both in bandwidth and intensity. The minimum reflection loss (RL) value of −49.11 dB can be reached. Furthermore, the effective bandwidth can cover 4.88 GHz. The result shows that the as-prepared rGO/CuS/PPy nanoarchitectures will be a promising EA material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nucleation and grain growth that occur during solidification have been extensively examined, but insight into the influence of an external field on the formation of heterogeneous crystal nuclei above the liquidus remains unclear in the peritectic refinement mechanism. In this work, we studied the effect of cooling rate above the liquidus on the formation of primary Al3Zr and grain refinement in Al-0.2%Zr alloys with inter-cooling annular electromagnetic stirring (IC-AEMS). The results show that the size and distribution of primary Al3Zr are greatly improved, and the morphology transformed from large plate/blocky shapes without IC-AEMS to small blocks with IC-AEMS. Meanwhile, above the liquidus, the addition of an Al-Zr master alloy to pure Al alone did little to enhance the refinement, but after IC-AEMS, the grains were refined dramatically. The refinement result seems to be explained by two hypotheses of pre-nucleation and explosive nucleation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clear away the harmful effects of the increment of electromagnetic pollution, high performance absorbers with appropriate impedance matching and strong attenuation capacity are strongly desired. In this study, a chain-like PPy aerogel decorated with MOF-derived nanoporous Co/C (Co/C@PPy) has been successfully prepared by a self-assembled polymerization method. With a filler loading ratio of 10 wt %, the composite of Co/C@PPy could achieve a promising electromagnetic absorption performance both in intensity and bandwidth. An optimal reflection loss value of −44.76 dB is achieved, and the effective bandwidth (reflection loss lower than −10 dB) is as large as 6.56 GHz. Furthermore, a composite only loaded with 5 wt % Co/C@PPy also achieves an effective bandwidth of 5.20 GHz, which is even better than numerous reported electromagnetic absorption (EA) materials. The result reveals that the as-fabricated Co/C@PPy—with high absorption intensity, broad bandwidth, and light weight properties—can be utilized as a competitive absorber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]