Outlier analysis of sloshing impact loads on liquid ship cargo

This paper introduces an outlier analysis which can improve the convergence of the statistical analysis results of sloshing model test data. The paper classify possible outliers in the sloshing model test into three categories and present a treatment method for each outlier. The developed outlier analysis is adapted to the model test results for the cargo of the liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) carrier in operation. The results of the present new method are compared with those of the conventional procedure, particularly focusing on long-term sloshing prediction. Through this study, the effectiveness of the present method is observed, and it is found that the present method provides is robust and reliable results in the application of experimental data for load prediction.

Synthesis of Cyanuric Chloride based Chiral Reagent for RP-HPLC Enantioseparation of (RS)-Propranolol

In this work, four cyanuric chloride based chiral reagents were prepared via nucleophile substitution of chlorine atom by L-proline derivatives and characterized by UV, FT-IR, HRMS, NMR and elemental analysis. Racemic propranolol was chosen for the chiral recognition study. The prepared chiral reagents were used in the synthesis of diastereomeric derivatives of (RS)-propranolol, under microwave heating conditions. RP-HPLC was used to separate the prepared diastereomeric derivatives. The effect of varying eluting phase concentrations and sample concentrations was optimized. The DFT calculations were performed using Gaussian 09 Rev A.02 to create the lowest energy optimised structures of diastereomeric derivatives. LOD (0.324 ng mL-1), LOQ (0.972 ng mL-1), calibration range (0.02-2.0 mg mL-1), correlation-coefficient (0.999), and recovery were the validation parameters for the present method (99.09 and 99.81 % for inter-day assay and 98.47 and 99.72 % for intra-day assay).

Ni-Electrocatalytic C(sp3)–C(sp3) Doubly Decarboxylative Coupling

This work presents a modern spin on one of the oldest known Csp3–Csp3 bond forming reactions in synthetic chemistry: the Kolbe electrolysis. This reaction holds incredible promise for synthesis, yet its use has been near non-existent in mainstream organic synthesis. In contrast to the strongly oxidative electrolytic protocol employed traditionally since the 19th century, the present method utilizes in situ generated redox-active esters (RAEs) which are combined with a mildly reductive Ni-electrocatalytic cycle. It can be used to heterocouple 1o, 2o, and even certain 3o RAEs with a protocol reminiscent of amide bond formation in terms of simplicity. Due to its mild nature the reaction tolerates a range of functional groups, is scalable, and was strategically enlisted for the synthesis of 25 known compounds to reduce overall step-counts by 74%.

Introduction of high tensile strain into Ge-on-Insulator structures by oxidation and annealing at high temperature

It is demonstrated in this work that a high temperature thermal process including oxidation and N2 annealing at 850 oC can provide tensile strain of ~0.58 % at maximum into Ge-on-Insulator (GOI) structures without any special patterning or external stressors. The different impacts of oxidation and annealing on tensile strain generation, surface roughness and crystal qualities in the GOI structures fabricated by Ge condensation and wafer bonding are systematically examined. Tensile strain of 0.47 % is achieved without severe thermal damages under the optimal thermal process condition, which indicates the high potential of the present method for improving the performance of GOI n-channel MOSFETs. The influence of thermal expansion mismatch between Ge and SiO2 are suggested as a possible physical origin of high amount of tensile strain into GOI structures.

An Improved Approach for Solving Partial Differential Equation Based on Reproducing Kernel Method

The traditional reproducing kernel method (TRKM) cannot obtain satisfactory numerical results for solving the partial differential equation (PDE). In this study, for the first time, the abovementioned problems are solved by adaptive piecewise interpolation reproducing kernel method (APIRKM) to obtain the exact and approximate solutions of partial differential equations by means of series expansion using reconstructed kernel function. The highlight of this paper is to obtain more accurate approximate solution and save more time through adaptive discovery. Numerical solutions of the three examples show that the present method is more advantageous than TRKM.

Parallel unstructured finite volume lattice Boltzmann method for high-speed viscid compressible flows

Based on the double distribution function Boltzmann-BGK equations, a cell-centered finite volume lattice Boltzmann method on unstructured grids for high-speed viscid compressible flows is presented. In the equations, the particle distribution function is introduced on the basis of the D2Q17 circular function, and its corresponding total energy distribution function is adopted. In the proposed method, the advective term is evaluated by Roe’s flux-difference splitting scheme, and a limiter is used to prevent the generation of oscillations. The distribution functions on the interface are calculated by piecewise linear reconstruction, in which the gradient is computed by the least-squares approach. In order to do large-scale simulations, a parallel algorithm is illustrated. The present method is validated by a flow around the NACA0012 airfoil and a flow past a circular cylinder at high Mach numbers. The results agree well with the published results, which demonstrate that the present method is an efficient numerical method for high-speed viscid compressible flows. The parallel performance results show that the proposed parallel algorithm achieves 90% parallel efficiency on 4800 cores for a problem with [Formula: see text] unstructured triangle cells, which shows the potential to perform fast and high-fidelity simulations of large-scale high-speed viscid compressible flows in complicated computational domains.

Synthesis, Characterization and Catalytic Potency of Zn-based MOF for Knoevenagel Condensation Reaction

A Zn based metal organic framework with pyridine 2, 5-dicarboxylate (Zn-based MOF) were prepared as a reusable heterogeneous catalyst using solvothermal method. Zn-based MOF was used as heterogeneous catalyst for synthesis 5-arylidene malononitrile in ethanol under reflux condition. The attractive features of present method are mild reaction condition, short reaction time, simplicity, easy separation of catalyst and excellent yield. Keywords: Metal organic framework, heterogeneous catalyst, solvothermal method.

Highly Reliable Method to Obtain a Correlation Coefficient Unaffected by the SEM Noise Component for Examining the Degree of Specimen Damage due to Electron Beam Irradiation

A correlation coefficient is often used as a measure of the strength of a linear relationship (i.e., the degree of similarity) between two sets of data in a variety of fields. However, in the field of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), it is frequently difficult to properly use the correlation coefficient because SEM images generally include severe noise, which affects the measurement of this coefficient. The current study describes a method of obtaining a correlation coefficient that is unaffected by SEM noise in principle. This correlation coefficient is obtained from a total of four SEM images, comprising two sets of two images with identical views, by calculating several covariance values. Numerical experiments confirm that the measured correlation coefficients obtained using the proposed method for noisy images are equal to those for noise-free images. Furthermore, the present method can be combined with a highly accurate and noise-robust position alignment as needed. As one application, we show that it is possible to immediately examine the degree of specimen damage due to electron beam irradiation during a certain SEM observation, which has been difficult until now.

Lignin Biopolymer for the Synthesis of Iron Nanoparticles and the Composite Applied for the Removal of Methylene Blue

In the current study, lignin, an abundant natural polymer, was dissolved in ethylene glycol and acidic H2O to form nanoscale lignin. Then, zero-valent iron (ZVI) nanoparticles were synthesized in nanoscale lignin, producing a nZVI/n-lignin composite, via the borohydride reduction method. The use of nZVI/n-lignin for environmental remediation was tested by the removal of methylene blue in aqueous solutions at room temperature. The nZVI/n-lignin composite achieved a higher methylene blue removal ratio than that achieved by traditional nZVIs. Moreover, its excellent dispersibility in water and stability against oxidation in the air were observed. The functions of the nanoscale lignin in the composite material are (1) prevention of further growth and aggregation of the nZVI nanoparticles, (2) protection of nZVI from serious oxidation by H2O/O2, and (3) allowing better dispersibility of nZVI in aqueous solutions. These three functions are important for the field applications of nZVI/n-lignin, namely, to travel long distances before making contact with environmental pollutants. The present method for producing nZVI/n-lignin is straightforward, and the combination of nZVI and lignin is an efficient and environmentally friendly material for environmental applications.

Orthogonal ray interferometer: modification for testing convex and concave mirror surfaces

A non-contact optical method for testing of large concave and convex mirrors both spherical and aspheric is presented. It is based on the orthogonal ray interferometer modification. The point source is placed near the testing mirror and the chief ray propagates normally to its axis. The information about a tangential profile of testing mirror is contained in an interference pattern that is a result of superposition between two wavefronts, the first is reflected from the mirror, the second bypasses the mirror. Testing of the entire surface is carried out by rotating the mirror. Interferogram decoding method and algorithm for determination of an error of the testing surface are presented. The proposed method does not require bulky additional optical components what differs it from existing methods and makes promising primary for testing large astronomical mirrors. Furthermore, the method is universal and suited for surfaces with various geometrical parameters. The scheme with some modification of the present method is applied for surfaces without axis of rotational symmetry or freeform surfaces.