A paper that shows motion when being exposed to heat has in this study been called a paper muscle. A paper muscle can be used for many different applications, e.g. smart advertisement or indicators in printed paper products. The muscles created in the present work were prepared by gluing or printing a polymer layer onto paper. The polymer layers consisted of MELINEX, MYLAR or toner, which are known to expand when exposed to heat. Furthermore, all three material systems showed bending when exposed to heat. A mechanical bilayer model was implemented and used to quantitatively study the parameters that influence the bending of the muscles. The model indicated that the dimensional changes of the polymer layers relative to that of the copy paper was found to be approximately 0,1-0,5 % within the temperature range 23-60 °C. The experiments showed that the combined dimensional changes within the polymer and paper layers were not linear with respect to temperature, and that there was a significant difference in bending for muscles cut in the MD and in the CD. Also, when assuming that the polymer is the active component, the observed coefficient of thermal expansion was a factor ~10 greater compared to published literature data. These findings led to the conclusion that it was indeed the dimensional changes within the paper that were the dominant cause of the bending. This was confirmed by a muscle, comprising a bilayer of paper cut in the MD and the CD, which bended when exposed to heat. The results also indicate that a large part of the bending could be attributed to the hygrocontraction of paper.

<p>A new NO_x sensor for high-temperature applications has been developed and thouroghly characterised. The sensor layers are a mixed oxide of CoO, MgO and MgO₂ deposited by thermal evaporation with a porous platinum gate on top, deposited by thermal evaporation or sputtering. The sensitivity and selectivity of the sensor is promising and is shown to depend upon the ratio between Co and Mg in the film and a number of competing mechanisms are shown to take place on the sensor surface. Response and recovery of the device is still slow and there are some drift, which are suggested to be due to a restructuring sensor surface during operation that was found by SEM-studies. Finally,the oxide surface has been characterized by XPS and a novel process for deposition of the sensor layers by lift-off technique has been developed.</p>

Theoretical studies of point defect interactions and structural stability of compounds have been performed using density functional theory. The defect-related properties, such as activation energy of diffusion, electronic and magnetic structure of selected materials have been studied. The major part of the present work is devoted to a very important material for semiconductor industry, GaAs. The formation energies of intrinsic point defects and the solution energies of 3d transitions in GaAs have been calculated from first principles. Based on the calculated energies, we analysed the site preference of defects in the crystal. The tendency of defects to form clusters has been investigated for the intrinsic defects as well as for impurities in GaAs. The magnetic moment of 3d impurities has been calculated as a function of the chemical environment. The possibility of increasing the Curie temperature in (Ga,Mn)As by co-doping it with Cr impurities has been examined on the basis of calculated total energy difference between the disordered local moment and the ferromagnetically ordered spin configurations. We found that, in order to reach the highest critical temperature, GaAs should be separately doped with either Cr or Mn impurities. Also, we have shown that diffusion barrier of interstitial Mn depends on the charge state of this impurity in (Ga, Mn)As. The formation of defect complexes between interstitial and substitutional Mn atoms, and their influence on the value of diffusion barrier for interstitial Mn, has been studied. The pair interactions energies between interstitial oxygen atoms in hcp Zr, Hf and Ti have been calculated using first principles. Based on the calculated energies, the oxygen ordering structures in IVB transition metal solid solutions have been explained. A prediction of nitrogen ordering in Hf-N solid solution has been made. The thermodynamic description of intermetallic compounds in the Zr-Sn binary system has been obtained. The conclusion has been made that Zr substitution on the Sn sites takes place in the Zr4Sn phase, which accounts for the unusual stoichiometry of this Cr3Si structure type compound. The influence of pressure on the phase stability in the Fe-Si system has been investigated. We have found instability of the hcp Fe0.9Si0.1 random alloy with respect to the decomposition onto the Si-poor hcp Fe alloy and the B2 FeSi under high pressure. The tendency of this decomposition becomes stronger with increasing the applied pressure. / QC 20100624

Experiments on the production of porous metallic materials were performed on Fe-base and Al-base alloys. The method involves dissolution of gases in the liquid state and solidification at various cooling rates. The alloy compositions were selected to induce solidification of primary particles intended to control the pore distribution. For the Fe-base alloys, nitrogen was introduced into the melt by dissolution of chromium nitride powder. Fe-Cr-Mn-Si-C alloys featuring M7C3 carbide particles were selected. For the Al-base alloys, hydrogen gas was dissolved into the melt by decomposition of water vapor. Al-Ti and Al-Fe alloys featuring primary Al3Ti and Al3Fe intermetallic particles, respectively, were considered. In the Fe-base alloys, a homogeneous distribution of gas pores through the specimens’ volume was obtained at high cooling rate (water quenching) and after introduction of external nucleating agents. In the case of the Al-base alloys, a good pore distribution was observed at all cooling rates and without addition of nucleating agents. Calculations of the variation of nitrogen (respectively hydrogen) solubility based on Wagner interaction parameters suggest that pore nucleation and growth occur during precipitation of the primary particles (M7C3 carbides, Al3Ti or Al3Fe intermetallics), due to composition changes in the melt and resultant supersaturation with gas atoms. Microscopic analyses revealed that the primary particles control the pore growth in the melt and act as barriers between adjacent pores, thereby preventing pore coalescence and promoting a fine pore distribution. Uniaxial compression testing of the porous Al-Ti and Al-Fe materials showed the typical compressive behavior of cellular metals. Further work is needed to improve the quality and reproducibility of the porous structures which can possibly be used in energy absorption or load-bearing applications. As a corollary result of the quenching of hypereutectic Fe-Cr-Mn-Si-C alloys in the experiments of synthesis of porous metals, a homogeneous featureless structure was observed in some parts of the samples, instead of the equilibrium structure of M7C3 and eutectic phases. Subsequent investigations on rapid solidification of Fe-base alloys at various alloy compositions and cooling rates led to the formation of a single-phase structure for the composition Fe-8Cr-6Mn-5Mo-5Si-3.2C (wt.%), at relatively low cooling rates (≈103 K/s) and for large sample dimensions (2.85 mm). The single phase, which is likely to be the hcp ɛ-phase, was found to decompose into a finely distributed structure of bainite and carbides at ≈600 °C. The annealed structure showed very high hardness values (850 to 1200 HV), which could be exploited in the development of high-strength Fe-base materials. / QC 20100809

For many decades zirconium alloys have been commonly used in the nuclear power industry as fuel cladding material. Besides their good corrosion resistance and acceptable mechanical properties the main reason for using these alloys is the low neutron absorption. Zirconium alloys are exposed to a very severe environment during the nuclear fission process and there is a demand for better design of this material. To meet this requirement a thermodynamic database is useful to support material designers. In this thesis some aspects of the development of a thermodynamic database for zirconium alloys are presented. A thermodynamic database represents an important facility in applying thermodynamic equilibrium calculations for a given material providing: 1) relevant information about the thermodynamic properties of the alloys e.g. amount and composition of phases, oxygen activity, heat capacity etc, and 2) significant information for the manufacturing process e.g. heat treatment temperature. The basic information in the database is first the unary data, i.e. pure elements; those are taken from the compilation of the Scientific Group Thermodata Europe (SGTE) and then the binary and ternary systems. All phases present in those binary and ternary systems are described by means of the Gibbs energy as a function of composition and temperature. Many of those binary systems have been taken from published or unpublished works and others have been assessed in the present work. The elements included in the databse are: C, Fe, Cr, Nb, Ni, Mo, O, Si, Sn, and Zr + H, and the assessment performed under this thesis are: Cr-Sn, Mo-Zr, Sn-Zr, Fe-Nb-Zr and Nb-O-Zr. All the calculations have been made using Thermo-Calc software and the representation of the Gibbs energy obtained by applying Calphad technique with some use of ab initio calculations. / QC 20100902

A new NOx sensor for high-temperature applications has been developed and thouroghly characterised. The sensor layers are a mixed oxide of CoO, MgO and MgO2 deposited by thermal evaporation with a porous platinum gate on top, deposited by thermal evaporation or sputtering. The sensitivity and selectivity of the sensor is promising and is shown to depend upon the ratio between Co and Mg in the film and a number of competing mechanisms are shown to take place on the sensor surface. Response and recovery of the device is still slow and there are some drift, which are suggested to be due to a restructuring sensor surface during operation that was found by SEM-studies. Finally,the oxide surface has been characterized by XPS and a novel process for deposition of the sensor layers by lift-off technique has been developed.

<p>In the first part of this thesis, the FE program MSC.Marc is applied for coupled thermomechanical simulations of wire-rod rolling. In order to predict material behaviour of an AISI 302 stainless steel at high strain rates generated during wire-rod rolling, a material model based on dislocation density is applied. Then, the evolution of temperature, strain rate and flow stress is predicted in the first four rolling passes of a wire block.</p><p>In the second part of the thesis, an alternative approach to simulation of shape rolling is evaluated. The approach is applied in order to save the computational time in cases where many shape-rolling passes are to be simulated. The approach is a combination of the slab method and a 2D FEM with a generalized plane-strain formulation. A number of various isothermal shape-rolling passes are simulated applying the simplified approach. The simulations are carried out using an in-house 2D FE code implemented in Matlab. The results are compared to fully 3D FE analyses. The comparison shows that the simplified approach can predict roll forces and roll torques with a fair accuracy, but the predicted area reductions are a bit underestimated. The reasons for the deviations between the simplified approach and the 3D FEM are discussed.</p>

<p>This licentiate study was initiated by copper, zinc and galvanized steel producers in Europe, who felt a need to assess runoff rates of copper and zinc from the pure metals and commercial products at marine exposure conditions. Their motive was the increasing concern in various European countries and the on-going risk assessments of copper and zinc within the European commission. Also the circumstance that available runoff rates so far, had been reported for mainly urban exposure conditions, rather than marine. A collaboration was therefore established with the French Corrosion Institute, which runs a marine test site in Brest, and a set of vital questions were formulated. Their answers are the essence of this licentiate study.</p><p>Based on the ISO corrosivity classification and one-year exposures, the marine atmosphere of Brest is fairly corrosive for zinc (class C3) and highly corrosive for copper (C4). Despite higher corrosivity classifications for both metals in Brest compared to the urban site of Stockholm, used as a reference site, nearly all runoff rates assessed for copper, zinc and their commercial products were lower in Brest compared to Stockholm. This was attributed to a higher surface wetting in Brest and concomitant higher removal rate of deposited chloride and sulphate species from the marine-exposed surfaces. The comparison shows that measured corrosion rates cannot be used to predict runoff rates, since different physicochemical processes govern corrosion and runoff respectively.</p><p>For copper, the runoff rate in Brest was approximately 1.1 g m^-2 yr^-1 with cuprite (Cu2O) as main patina constituent. During periods of very high chloride and sulphate deposition, paratacamite (Cu₂Cl(OH)₃) formed which increased the runoff rate to 1.5 g m^-2 yr^-1. For zinc, with hydrozincite (Zn₅(CO₃)2(OH)₆) as the main patina constituent, the runoff rate was relatively stable at 2.6 g m^-2 yr^-1 throughout the year, despite episodes of heavy chloride and sulphate deposition.</p><p>The application of organic coatings of varying thickness on artificially patinated copper or on different zinc-based products resulted in improved barrier properties and reduced runoff rates that seem highly dependent on thickness. The thickest organic coating (150 µm thick), applied on hot dipped galvanized steel, reduced the runoff rate by a factor of 100. No deterioration of organic coatings was observed during the one-year exposures. Alloying zinc-based products with aluminium resulted in surface areas enriched in aluminium and concomitant reduced zinc runoff rates.</p><p>The release rate and bioavailability of copper from different anti-fouling paints into artificial seawater was also investigated. It turned out that the release rate not only depends on the copper concentration in the paint, but also on paint matrix properties and other released metal constituents detected. Far from all copper was bioavailabe at the immediate release situation. In all, the results suggest the importance of assessing the ecotoxic response of anti-fouling paints not only by regarding the copper release, but rather through an integrated effect of all matrix constituents.</p>

<p>Over one million hip prostheses are implanted in patients worldwide each year and the need is increasing as the patient group of younger and more active patients is increasing. Many parameters affect the longevity of the implant, where aseptic loosening caused by wear debris is the most common reason for revision. To be able to monitor wear in vivo and also to predict the longevity of new materials for hip prostheses are therefore important issues in this interdisciplinary research area. This thesis comprise a true non-invasive 3D method for determination of acetabular cup wear using Computed Tomography (CT) intended for clinical routine use in order to plan for a revision. It also comprises investigations of the influence of surface roughness and sterilization method in wear testing of materials for hip prostheses. Mainly wear of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) was investigated since it is the most common soft bearing in hip prostheses. The 3D-CT method was found to be easy to use and showed an accuracy and repeatability at a clinical relevant level for acetabular cup wear. It should lend itself well to semi-automation. The influence of surface roughness was investigated with both a multidirectional pin-on-disk machine and with a hip simulator. A new low friction coating, Micronite, was also evaluated with the pin-on-disk machine. This coating showed potential for use in artificial joints, but further investigations are needed. In the hip simulator test, it was found that not only a rougher counter surface increased wear, but also sterilization by γ-irradiation increased wear of UHMWPE cups.</p>

<p>Very often defects are present in rolled products. For wire rods, defects are very deleterious since the wire rods are generally used directly in various applications. For this reason, the market nowadays requires wire rods to be completely defect-free. Any wire with defects must be rejected as scrap which is very costly for the production mill. Thus, it is very important to study the formation and evolution of defects during wire rod rolling in order to better understand and minimize the problem, at the same time improving quality of the wire rods and reducing production costs.</p><p>The present work is focused on the evolution of artificial defects during rolling. Longitudinal surface defects are studied during shape rolling of an AISI M2 high speed steel and a longitudinal central inner defect is studied in an AISI 304L austenitic stainless steel during ultra-high-speed wire rod rolling. Experimental studies are carried out by rolling short rods prepared with arteficial defects. The evolution of the defects is characterised and compared to numerical analyses. The comparison shows that surface defects generally reduce quicker in the experiments than predicted by the simulations whereas a good agreement is generally obtained for the central defect.</p>