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A general model of solids with vectorial microstructures is introduced. The field equationsare the obtained as Euler-Lagrange equations of a suitable energetic functional. The Cosserat model is encompassed in this model and it can be used to study the behaviour of granular media. A first approach to this problem deals with a two dimensional model, since in such a case the field equations have a...

5.1 Anodic Aluminum Oxide (AAO) Templated Nanowires Due to their small sizes and potential for controllable features, nanowires/tubes represent an attractive option for increasing the surface area of ceria-based anodes. Templated approaches are currently the most flexible routes to fabricating nanowires/tubes, as only a suitable filling method needs be developed for a particular material compos...

The microstructures of eutectics between compounds were studied for systems MnO-MnS, NaCl-NaF, NaBr-NaF, LiF-NaF, and FeO-FeS. With the exception of FeS, all the compounds had the NaC1-type structure. In the systems having only NaC1-type structures, the lamellas of the two eutectic phases had matching crystal orientations. There was less consistency among the eutectic systems, however, than bet...

Based on energy variation methods we calculated the deflection of membranes under the combined load of an external pressure and an internal lateral stress. A lateral load gives rise to buckling once a critical load is exceeded. The combination of transversal loads and lateral loads changes the properties of the membrane (and other structures) in the vicinity of the buckling load: The membrane d...

This paper deals with the reshaping technology for realizing three-dimensional (3-D) microstructures through plastic deformation of single-crystal silicon (SCS) films by applying Joule heating. SCS beams are used for determining the behavior of SCS microstructures during reshaping. The reshaped SCS structure has a sharp corner at a point where stress and heat are concentrated. The plastic defor...

The fabrication of capped microstructures such as channels or cavities typically involves multiple production steps. In this work we demonstrate a fabrication procedure that enables the generation of capped monolithic microstructures of arbitrary geometry in one single exposure step. The presented method also enables the embedment of metal self-aligned surfaces for use as electrodes or mirrors....

In this paper photo-electrochemical etching of silicon in HF-based solutions is employed as a versatile technique for fabrication of original silicon microstructures, alternative to commonly used methods. Photo-electrochemical etching, a well known technique for regular macropore formation, has been exploited to produce a multitude of different regular silicon microstructures (microtubes, micro...

Analysis of minute sample volumes is a major analytical challenge that requires an understanding of fluid flow in microstructures. Accordingly, flow dynamics of biological fluids and cell suspensions in straight glass-capped silicon microchannels (40 to 150 microns wide, 20 and 40 microns deep) were studied. We demonstrated that these microstructures are appropriate components for microfluidic ...