In the second step, the magnetically induced strains are modeled in terms of a symmetric functional dependent on the magnetization. While this model component quantifies the active strains associated with domain wall processes, it does not account for passive or material strains of the kind found in conventional materials. These strains are modeled in the third step through a plane wave model for the displacements in combination with inplane balancing for the forces. This yields a coupled magnetomechanical PDE system that is posed in weak form through a Galerkin discretization in space followed by a finite difference approximation of the resulting temporal system. Future research directions in the areas of sensoriactuation, vibration control and implementation of the proposed modeling methodology for other types of smart materials are also highlighted.
Thermal plasmas offer several advantages for the deposition of hard coatings.
In particular, the high energy density of the thermal plasma allows higher precursor flow rates and a wider choice of precursors. Expansion of the plasma into a low pressure chamber offers the additional advantages that nanosize particles can be generated. Two experiments will be described in which supersonic plasma jets have been used to deposit nanophase hard coatings. In the first one boron carbide is deposited through vapor phase deposition on the substrate. In the second one nanosize particles are nucleated in the expansion nozzle and subsequently deposited.