The influence of Na on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells was investigated. A gradient profile of the Na in the CIGS absorber layer can induce an electric field modulation and significantly strengthen the back surface field effect. This field modulation originates from a grain growth model introduced by a combination of alloy-hardening and pair-annihilation probabilities, wherein the Cu supply and...

Very high strain hardening coefficients (=G/23) are observed for aluminum-alloyed face-centered cubic Hadfield steel single crystals under tensile loading. Alloying with aluminum suppressed deformation twinning in two of the three crystallographic orientations studied, and transmission electron microscopy results revealed the existence of dense dislocation walls (sheets) along crystallographic ...

We consider essential mechanisms for orbit-shrinkage or “hardening” of compact binaries in globular clusters to the point of Roche-lobe contact and X-ray emission phase, focussing on the process of collisional hardening due to encounters between binaries and single stars in the cluster core. The interplay between this kind of hardening and that due to emission of gravitational radiation produce...

Cold hardening treatment - a brief exposure to low temperatures - can protect certain insects against subsequent exposure to temperatures sufficiently low to cause damage or lethality. Microarray analysis to examine the changes in transcript abundance associated with cold hardening treatment (0 degrees C for 2 h followed by 30 min recovery at 25 degrees C) was undertaken in Drosophila melanogas...

This paper provides a framework for optimization of Induction Hardening parameters by using Intelligent Techniques. Heat Treatment of Iron Alloy is carried out for improving Mechanical and Metallurgical properties like Ductility, Toughness, Hardness, and Tensile Strength etc. These properties play a important role for selection of material in Manufacturing Field. Induction Hardening on iron all...

Modelling fuel behaviour requires an accurate description of the cladding stress response for both operational and safety considerations. The transient creep response of Zirconium alloys is commonly modelled using a strain hardening rule which is known to hold in cases with monotonously increasing stresses. However, the strain hardening rule is experimentally known to fail in scenarios such as ...

Tetracalcium phosphate nanomonetite cements have been prepared by reaction milling of tetracalcium phosphate with orthophosphoric acid ethanol solution, which was modified with different water content. The presence of nanomonetite phase significantly reduced the pH value of cement pastes during hardening. The fast transformation of reactants in cement powder mixtures was observed during hardeni...

Hardening plasticity has a long history in constitutive modelling, with many applications in geomechanics. Mathematical models of non-hardening plasticity involve the definition of a single stationary yield surface in stress-space. Examples include the conventional models of elasto-plasticity, often based on the yield criteria of Tresca, von Mises, and Mohr-Coulomb. Within the yield surface the...

M. Stańczyk, T. Figlus, The Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Transport Katowice, Poland In the work the influence results of two different hardening coolant agents on the basic mechanical proprieties and microstructure of the round hot rolled bars were presented. The bars of 42CrMo4 steel were exposed to analysis, and for those bars in the hardening process, water and modern pro-ec...