A computational approach to the optimization of fracture resistance of multiphase materials (here high speed steels) by varying their microstructure is presented. The main points of the optimization of steels are as folIows: (1) development and verification of the model: numerical simulation of crack initiation and growth in real microstructures of steels, (2) computational experiment: simulati...

Mechanical properties of products produced with the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) process are known to be dependent on bead direction, especially when short fiber reinforcement is added to the polymer filament feedstock. As a result, the structural performance of fiber-filled FDM parts is expected to be improved by simultaneously computing preferred deposition directions while optimizing the ...

Mental representations have continuous as well as discrete, combinatorial properties. For example, while predominantly discrete, phonological representations also vary continuously; this is reflected by gradient effects in instrumental studies of speech production. Can an integrated theoretical framework address both aspects of structure? The framework we introduce here, Gradient Symbol Process...

To gain control over the diffusive heat flux in a given domain, one needs to engineer a thermal metamaterial with a specific distribution of the generally anisotropic thermal conductivity throughout the domain. Until now, the appropriate conductivity distribution was usually determined using transformation thermodynamics. By this way, only a few particular cases of heat flux control in simple d...

This review seeks to summarize the recent developments in the synthesis, structural characterization, properties, and applications in the ®elds of amorphous, bulk amorphous, and nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials. Conventional physical metallurgical approaches to improving soft ferromagnetic properties have relied on the optimization of chemical and microstructural features. Within the las...

INTRODUCTION Since McCormick [1] introduced a method for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction, known as solid-phase extraction (SPE), SPE using silica material [2] has become an essential technology for integrated point-of-care (POC) microsystem [3]. Recently, Price et al. provided an overview of these techniques [4], however it is still not easy to find the optimal solution for the microflui...

A technique for measuring the instantaneous deformation rate of hydrogel microstructures is introduced. In developing this technique, we have adapted microscopic particle image velocimetry, a method for measuring velocity fields in microfluidic devices. Small fluorescent seed particles are incorporated into the hydrogel microstructure, and as the structure swells or contracts, the displacement ...

Even though the brain is microscopically heterogeneous, the majority of currently used quantitative MRI methods in brain research employ idealized models to describe specific structures. Multidimensional relaxation-diffusion correlation (REDCO) is an assumption-free method that measures how water is distributed within the tissue. REDCO had never been used in clinical applications because of the...

We propose an alternative to the classical post-treatment of the homogenization method for shape optimization. Rather than penalize the material density once the optimal composite shape is obtained (by the homogenization method) in order to produce a workable shape close to the optimal one, we macroscopically project the microstructure of the former through an appropriate procedure that roughly...

Solid oxide fuel cells are able to convert fuels, including hydrocarbons, to electricity with an unbeatable efficiency even for small systems. One of the main limitations for long-term utilization is the reduction-oxidation cycling (RedOx cycles) of the nickel-based anodes. This paper will review the effects and parameters influencing RedOx cycles of the Ni-ceramic anode. Second, solutions for ...