Search results for "Stability"
showing 10 items of 3085 documents
Heterogeneous network games: Conflicting preferences
2013
Proceeding at: 2nd Annual UECE Lisbon Meeting: Game Theory and Applications, took place 2010, November, 4-6, in Lisbon (Portugal). The event Web site http://pascal.iseg.utl.pt/~uece/lisbonmeetings2010/ In many economic situations, a player pursues coordination or anti-coordination with her neighbors on a network, but she also has intrinsic preferences among the available options. We here introduce a model which allows to analyze this issue by means of a simple framework in which players endowed with an idiosyncratic identity interact on a social network through strategic complements or substitutes. We classify the possible types of Nash equilibria under complete information, finding two thr…
Noncooperative dynamic games for inventory applications: A consensus approach
2008
We focus on a finite horizon noncooperative dynamic game where the stage cost of a single player associated to a decision is a monotonically nonincreasing function of the total number of players making the same decision. For the single-stage version of the game, we characterize Nash equilibria and derive a consensus protocol that makes the players converge to the unique Pareto optimal Nash equilibrium. Such an equilibrium guarantees the interests of the players and is also social optimal in the set of Nash equilibria. For the multi-stage version of the game, we present an algorithm that converges to Nash equilibria, unfortunately not necessarily Pareto optimal. The algorithm returns a seque…
Long-term stability of phase-separated half-Heusler compounds
2015
Half-Heusler (HH) compounds have shown high figure of merit up to 1.5. Here, we address the long-term stability of n- and p-type HH materials. For this purpose, we investigated HH materials based on the Ti0.3Zr0.35Hf0.35NiSn-system after 500 cycles (1700 h) from 373 to 873 K. Both compounds exhibit a maximum Seebeck coefficient of |α|≈ 210 μV K(-1) and a phase separation into two HH phases. The dendritic microstructure is temperature resistant and upon cycling the changes in the microstructure are so marginal that the low thermal conductivity values (κ4 W m(-1) K(-1)) could be maintained. Our results emphasize that phase-separated HH compounds are suitable low cost materials and can lead to…
Active colloidal suspensions: Clustering and phase behavior
2014
We review recent experimental, numerical, and analytical results on active suspensions of self-propelled colloidal beads moving in (quasi) two dimensions. Active colloids form part of the larger theme of active matter, which is noted for the emergence of collective dynamic phenomena away from thermal equilibrium. Both in experiments and computer simulations, a separation into dense aggregates, i.e., clusters, and a dilute gas phase has been reported even when attractive interactions and an alignment mechanism are absent. Here, we describe three experimental setups, discuss the different propelling mechanisms, and summarize the evidence for phase separation. We then compare experimental obse…
Thermoconvective instability and local thermal non-equilibrium in a porous layer with isoflux-isothermal boundary conditions
2014
The effects of lack of local thermal equilibrium between the solid phase and the fluid phase are taken into account for the convective stability analysis of a horizontal porous layer. The layer is bounded by a pair of plane parallel walls which are impermeable and such that the lower wall is subject to a uniform flux heating, while the upper wall is isothermal. The local thermal non-equilibrium is modelled through a two-temperature formulation of the energy exchange between the phases, resulting in a pair of local energy balance equations: one for each phase. Small-amplitude disturbances of the basic rest state are envisaged to test the stability. Then, the standard normal mode procedure is…
Application of modulated calorimetry to the Liquid metals using electromagnetic levitation and static magnetic field
2018
Measurement of the thermophysical properties of liquid metals is challenging because of their high chemical activity and high temperatures. The electromagnetic levitation allows one to hold the electrically conductive liquid sample containerless in an inert atmosphere in thermal equilibrium while measurements on the sample can be taken in a non-contact way followed by extraction of some thermophysical properties. Yet, the electromagnetic forces within the skin layer inside the sample cause convective flow of the liquid thus disabling the data extraction. A static magnetic field imposed over a sample is known to damp the convective flow. With these ideas, an experimental set-up with a DC mag…
Formation of metastable structures by phase separation triggered by initial composition gradients in thin films.
2012
Phase separation kinetics of a binary (A,B) mixture contained in a thin film of thickness D induced by a quench from the one-phase region into the miscibility gap is studied by simulations using a Cahn-Hilliard-Cook model. The initial randomly mixed state (50% A, 50% B) contains a concentration gradient perpendicular to the film, while the surfaces of the film are "neutral" (no preference for either A or B). In thermal equilibrium, a pattern of large A-rich and B-rich domains must result, separated by domain walls oriented perpendicularly to the external surfaces of the thin film. However, it is shown that for many choices of D and the strength of the initial gradient Ψ(g), instead a very l…
Investigation of thermal stability of ethylene copolymers with POSS - Study under static and dynamic conditions
2018
Abstract In the paper there was studied thermal stability of a series of ethylene copolymers with monoalkenylsiloxy- or monoalkenylsilsesquioxanes (POSS) under dynamic and static conditions. The copolymers proved to be more thermally stable than neat polyethylene and neat silsesquioxane comonomers. The kind and the content of the POSS units significantly affected degradation of the copolymers. Thermal oxidation process resulted in structural changes of the (co)polymers as it was evidenced by the variations in the kind and content of carbonyl, as well as by unsaturated end groups. Depending on the structure of the POSS comonomer incorporated into the polymer chain, the silsesquioxane units o…
Fabrication, characterization, thermal stability and nanoassemblies of novel pullulan-aspirin conjugates
2017
Abstract Present study deals with homogeneous and one-pot synthesis of novel macromolecular prodrugs (MPDs) of aspirin onto naturally occurring hydrophilic biopolymer pullulan. Pullulan-aspirin conjugates were synthesized by using green carboxylic acid activating reagent 1,1′-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI). The aspirin was first reacted with CDI to prepare aspirin-imidazolide at RT for 24 h which in situ reacted with pre-dissolved pullulan and the reaction preceded further for 24 h at 80 °C under nitrogen. Degree of substitution (DS 0.32–0.40) of aspirin onto pullulan was calculated from 1H NMR spectroscopy. Spectroscopic techniques confirmed the high covalent drug loading and purity. Thermal an…
Long term stability of learning outcomes in undergraduates after an open-inquiry instruction on thermal science
2018
This paper investigates the efficacy of an open-inquiry approach to achieve a long term stability of physics instruction. This study represents the natural continuation of a research project started four years ago when a sample of thirty engineering undergraduates, having already attended traditional university physics instruction, were involved in a six-week long learning experience of open-inquiry research activities within the highly motivating context of developing a thermodynamically efficient space base on Mars. Four years later, we explore the effectiveness of that learning experience by analyzing the outcomes that the students achieved by answering again the same questionnaire that …