The effects of a third element, namely silver, copper, zinc, or antimony, on the microstructure and mechanical properties of eutectic tin-bismuth (Sn–Bi) solder were investigated. The investigation showed that, except for zinc, the addition of a trace amount of the third element improves the ductility of the Sn–Bi solder owing to the formation of a fine, homogeneous ternary eutectic microstruct...

Nanocrystalline Ni-W alloys having both high ductility and high strength were produced by electrodeoisition. The plating bath for the electrodeposition contained nickel sulfate, citric acid, sodium tungstate and ammonium chloride, and was operated at various bath concentrations and conditions of electrolysis. The ductility and tensile strength of the deposited alloys are strongly influenced by ...

Life-cycle studies of the currently dominant transport biofuels (bioethanol made from starch or sugar and biodiesel made from vegetable oil) show that solar energy conversion efficiency is relatively poor if compared with solar cells and that such biofuels tend to do worse than conventional fossil transport fuels as to the emission of eutrophying and acidifying substances. Lifecycle studies of ...

We examine optimality and performance of a tandem manufacturing line driven by a surplusbased decentralized production control strategy. The main objective of this type of production strategies is to guarantee that the cumulative number of produced products follows the cumulative production demand on the output of the given network. The basic idea of surplus-based control strategy is presented ...

The subject of this paper is an environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) of processes needed to construct and maintain representative Swiss asphalt, concrete, and composite pavements (including subbase layers) applicable for the Swiss national road network over a period of 75 years. The environmental indicators analyzed are the global warming potential indic...

Stress magnitude and variability as estimated from large scale finite element (FE) analyses have been associated with compressive strength of human vertebral cancellous cores but these relationships have not been explored for whole vertebral bodies. In this study, the objectives were to investigate the relationship of FE-calculated stress distribution parameters with experimentally determined s...

Functional energy storage and return prosthetic and orthotic devices have been manufactured out of Nylon 11 using selective laser sintering due to its high ductility and energy return properties. However, there is concern that material voids caused by incomplete sintering may compromise material properties and lead to premature fracture. Post-build annealing has the potential to eliminate voids...

Concrete fracture failure is often observed at interaction zones between steel and concrete, including those in hybrid structure connections, shear studs in composite beams, and steel fasteners in concrete. Improvement in intrinsic ductility of the concrete material should suppress such failure mode and enhance the overall structural performance. In this paper, we introduce and experimentally d...

Knowledge of the yield point and ductility of a structure is important in seismic design. The yield point of an assembly is defined as a point where it begins to plastically deform, while ductility describes its ability to yield without substantial reduction in strength. These parameters can be determined from the analysis of the load-deformation curves resulting from destructive tests. To date...