Fabrication of spherical particles with mixed amorphous / crystalline nanostructured cores and insulating oxide shells
By spark-eroding Fe75Si15B10 in water/ethanol mixtures, spherical particles with nanostructured cores consisting of mixed amorphous and crystalline phases were produced. The relative volume fractions of the amorphous and crystalline phases were dependent on the water/ethanol ratio. In the same process, continuous oxide layers were formed on the particle surfaces. The basic mechanisms responsible for the formation of the surface oxide layers and the core nanostructures were modeled. At frequencies ranging from 1 to 100 MHz, the combination of the core nanostructures and the insulating oxide shells yielded exceptionally low-loss magnetic behavior.
ANALYTICAL NONLINEAR-PROBABILISTIC MODEL OF THE EQUIVALENT ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE OF A LAYER OF METAL GRANULES
As a result of processing the experimental data, an analytical continuous nonlinear-probabilistic model of the equivalent electrical resistance of a layer of metal granules in the working liquid was created. It is described by four equations: the modified Gaussian distribution and the dependences on the instantaneous values of the discharge current in the layer of metal granules of the mathematical expectation, dispersion and correction coefficient of the range of its equivalent electrical resistance. Based on the form of the dependences obtained during the experiments and the physics of the processes that occur in this case, two main groups of analytical functions are considered that approximate the obtained dependences. Criteria and methods for finding the optimal values of their coefficients are described. The adequacy of the approximation of each of the three obtained dependences by several analytical functions was investigated, the optimal values of the coefficients of which were found by the described method. Analytical functions was compared, which approximate the dependence of the mathematical expectation of the equivalent electrical resistance of a layer of metal granules on the instantaneous values of the discharge current in it with the known nonlinear models of the resistance of such a medium. References 33, figures 3, tables 3.
Changes in Quartz During Heating and the Possible Effects on Si Production
In Si and FeSi production, the main Si source is SiO2, in the form of quartz. Reactions with SiO2 generate SiO gas that further reacts with SiC to Si. During heating, quartz will transform to other SiO2 modifications with cristobalite as the stable high-temperature phase. Transformation to cristobalite is a slow process. Its rate has been investigated for several industrial quartz sources and has been shown to vary considerably among the different quartz types. Other differences in behavior during heating between these quartz sources, such as softening temperature and volume expansion, have also been studied. The quartz-cristobalite ratio will affect the rate of reactions involving SiO2. The industrial consequences and other implications of the observed difference between quartz types are discussed. Initial studies of industrial quartz were published by Ringdalen et al. In the current work, a new experimental method has been developed, and an investigation of several new quartz sources has confirmed the earlier observed large variation between different sources. The repeatability of the data has been studied and the effect of gas atmosphere investigated. The results from the earlier work are included as a basis for the discussion.