A thin-film balance employing either a Sheludko capillary or a Mysels-inspired porous-medium film holder provides a direct measurement of disjoining-pressure isotherms in free, liquid thin films. However, each film holder suffers its own distinct disadvantages spanning non-uniform and slow liquid exchange, a limited range of measurable disjoining pressures, an inability for reuse, and a require...

Interactions in thin liquid foam films and between solid/liquid surfaces coated with the non-ionic surfactant hexaoxyethylene dodecylether (C12E6) were investigated with a TFPB (thin film pressure balance) and the MASIF (Measurement and Analysis of Surface Interaction Forces) technique, respectively. For foam films the formation of common black films (CBF) and Newton black films (NBF) was obser...

Microscale Laser Shock Peening (LSP), also known as Laser Shock Processing, is a technique that can be potentially applied to manipulate residual stress distributions in metal film structures and thus improve the fatigue performances of micro-devices made of such films. In this study, microscale LSP of copper films on single crystal silicon substrate is investigated. Before and after-process cu...

A suction line of a refrigeration cycle with vertical upward flow is one area where the refrigeration oil tends to accumulate. This paper discusses the flow characteristics of the oil film in a pipe with the vertical upward flow. Air and oil two-phase flow is used as the first step of the study and the flow pattern of the oil film in the vertical upward flow is observed. The oil film thickness ...

The transition metal nitrides like titanium nitride exhibit very interesting color variation properties depending on the different plasma deposition conditions using cylindrical magnetron sputtering method. It is found in this deposition study that nitrogen partial pressure in the reactive gas discharge environment plays a significant role on the color variation of the film coatings on bell-met...

The measurement of the thickness of an oil film in a lubricated component is essential information for performance monitoring and control. In this work a new method for oil film thickness measurement, based on the reflection of ultrasound, is evaluated for use in fluid film journal bearing applications. An ultrasonic wave will be partially reflected when it strikes a thin layer between two soli...

Contact resistance among the components of a polymer exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has a crucial effect on cell performance. The geometry of the endplate plays an essential role in the contact pressure distribution over the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and the amount of contact resistance between plates. In this work, the effects of endplate geometry on the contact pressure distribut...

The measurement system for the pressure between the blade of a laryngoscope and the upper airway tract during orotracheal intubation has been investigated with a film of microcapsules. Two types of the laryngoscope were used in the study: WisForegger and Mac-Intosh. The film is attached on the surface of the blade of the laryngoscope. The measurement was applied to 20 cases of the orotracheal i...