RF MEMS (Radio Frequency Micro Electro Mechanical System) switches are promising devices but their gold-on-gold contacts, assimilated for this work to a sphere / plane contact, represent a major reliability issue. A first step towards failure mechanism understanding is the investigation of the contact metal microstructure evolution under static and cyclic loading. After static and cyclic loadin...

Most technologically useful materials possess polycrystalline microstructures composed of a large number of small monocrystalline grains separated by grain boundaries. The energetics and connectivity of the grain boundary network plays a crucial role in determining the properties of a material across a wide range of scales. A central problem in materials science is to develop technologies capab...

Wheat quality, a complex term, depends upon intentional use for unambiguous products. The foremost determinants of wheat quality are endosperm texture (grain hardness), protein content and gluten strength. Endosperm texture in wheat is the single most important and defining quality characteristic, as it facilitates wheat classification and affects milling, baking and end-use quality. Various te...

Segmentation of images based in texture is a fundamental task in many computer vision environments. There are many objects in the real word whose main characteristic is not their mean gray level but other features related with their texture (like grain size, orientation, etc.) The existing methods for texture segmentation differ in the definition of the texture descriptors, and they range from ...

Film grain is the unique texture which results from the silver halide based analog photographic process. Film emulsions are made up of microscopic photo-sensitive silver grains, and the fluctuating density of these grains leads to what is known as film grain. This texture is valued by photographers and film directors for its artistic value. We present two implementations of a film grain renderi...

Part I of this thesis investigates the ."seed selection through ion channeling" process, employed to modify the grain size and crystallographic texture of polycrystalline Si thin films deposited on SiO 2. In each of the three experiments, polycrystalline Si films prepared by the low-pressure chemical-vapor deposition technique were used as the starting material. Si self-implantation, at a fixed...

In order to develop FeCrAl-based ODS alloy tubing with the coarse, high aspect ratio, appropriately oriented grain structures likely to deliver enhanced high temperature (1100C) hoop creep strength compared to conventionally formed ODS alloy tubing, flow forming techniques were explored in a European funded programme. The evolution of microstructure in PM2000 alloy tubing formed by warm flow fo...

The Collaborative Process-Centered Environment project (CPCE) aims at applying process modeling approach and technology to a given class of collaborative applications. The challenge is to deal with ne grain entities and interactions, and to provide the high level of adaptability and controlled exibility required by real world collaborative situations. The concept of a collaborative meta process...

Cereal Chem. 70(2): 179-183 Sorghum grains varying in grain hardness or endosperm texture (soft dispersion in hot water. Parboiled grain with soft endosperm texture and intermediate) and starch composition (nonwaxy and waxy) were contained less dispersible and soluble starch than parboiled grain with parboiled. Whole grain (one volume) and water (three volumes) were intermediate endosperm textu...