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Modeling lane changing driving behavior has attracted significant attention recently. Most of the existing models are homogeneous and do not recognize the anticipation and relaxation phenomena occurring during the maneuver. To fill this gap, we adopted long short-term memory (LSTM) network and used large quantities of trajectory data extracted from video footage collected by an unmanned automated vehicle in Nanjing, China. Then, we divided complete lane changing behavior into two stages, that is, anticipation and relaxation. Description analysis of lane changing behavior revealed that the factors affecting the two stages are significantly different. In this context, two LSTM models with different input variables were proposed to predict the anticipation and the relaxation during the lane changing activity, respectively. The vehicle trajectory data were further divided into an anticipation dataset and a relaxation dataset to train the two LSTM models. Then we applied numerical tests to compare our models with two baseline models using real trajectory data of lane changing behavior. The results suggest that our models achieved the best performance for trajectory prediction in both lateral and longitudinal positions. Moreover, the simulation results show that the proposed models can precisely replicate the impact of the anticipation phenomenon on the target lane, and the relationship between the speed and spacing of the lane changing vehicle during the relaxation process can be reproduced with reasonable accuracy.

We study a new mathematical model of locally nonequilibrium processes of heat, mass, and momentum transfer taking into account the relaxation phenomena based on hyperbolic and parabolic equations. We also propose a method aimed at getting a priori Schauder-type estimates. The unique solvability of the problem with inner-boundary nonlocal conditions is established.

The relaxation processes in polycrystalline PZT films formed on silicon substrates have been studied during a quasi-static change in an external electric field. The dielectric relaxation is shown to be characterized at least by three relaxation times depending on the direction of the self-polarization in the film, the value of the polarizing field, and also the PZT film annealing temperature.

The hydrodynamics of the electron subsystems of semiconductors is studied in the approximations of the ideal and real liquid, taking into account processes of relaxation of temperatures and macroscopic velocities of electrons and phonons without assuming the local equilibrium of the system. A set of integral equations for the electron distribution function of the first order in gradients is obtained, which determines the sources in the hydrodynamic equations of the ideal liquid approximation and the dissipative flows of energy and momentum of electrons. The steady states of the system in the ideal liquid approximation are investigated. The exact formulas for the electron mobility of the semiconductor and its conductivity are derived and kinetic coefficients that determine current in a spatially inhomogeneous state are calculated. In the presence of an electric field, the phenomenon of difference of temperatures of the electron and phonon subsystems is predicted. The obtained expressions are specified for the case of temperatures much higher the Debye temperature.

The RILEM TC 272 PIM (Phase and Interphase behavior of innovative bituminous Materials)—TG1 Binder has initiated an inter-laboratory program investigating the phase and interphase behaviour of bituminous binders. Within the scope, four laboratories evaluated the low temperature properties of seven binders with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). DSC has been accepted as a powerful tool to evaluate, among others, the glass transitions, Tg, monitoring the endothermic or exothermic heat flow of a material under controlled temperature conditions. There are different ways to run the test, conventional temperature linear-DSC (TL-DSC), and temperature modulation-DSC (TM-DSC). The latter has been proven as an efficient method differentiating the structural relaxation phenomena from the heat capacity. In this study, emphasis was placed on comparing the Tg measured by TL- and TM-DSC to improve the interpretation of binder glass transitions. In this study, the scope was restrained to two Polymer modified Binders (PmBs): a commercially available modified binder named PmB1 and a highly modified binder (7.5 wt% high vinyl SBS) named PmB2, were evaluated and compared with two neat bituminous binders. Based on the thermographs of the PmB2 obtained through this inter-laboratory program, it was observed that the modification by 7.5% SBS resulted in a decrease of the Tg. This reduction of Tg reflects the positive influence of SBS at low temperatures.

For high stress deformed specimens containing dislocations in a nonequilibrium dissociation state the relaxation of the splitting width by annealing at very low temperatures (100°C to 140°C) is investigated by TEM measurements. As the formation of new double kinks is prevented by the low temperature, the motion of the partials is a result of the motion of existing kinks. Assuming the kink migration energy being equal for the 30° and for the 90° partial its value is found between 1 and 1.2 eV. Additional TEM observations of relaxation phenomena changing the dislocation arrangement at higher annealing temperatures are reported.

The aim of this work is to clarify dielectric relaxation phenomena in paraelectric phase of composites based on nanocrystalline cellulose and triglycine sulfate. Although the dielectric properties of this material were almost thoroughly investigated, but there has been no study devoted to relaxation anomalies in paraelectric phase. The results showed the presence of Debye-like relaxation at the entire studied frequency range 103 – 106 Hz under a weak electric field of 1 V.m-1 from phase transition temperature in the composite (54 ˚C) to 90 ˚C. In addition, the phenomena were observed at lower frequencies as compared to those of triglycine sulfate single crystals. The results were explained by the assumption based on critical slowing down occurred in the nanoparticles in the composite.

The results of investigations of temperature and time stability of cast microwires in glass insulation from resistive alloys of nickel–chrome, cobalt–chromium and copper–nickel systems are presented. It is established that microwires from the investigated alloys retain their temperature stability at temperatures not lower than 350°C. An investigation of the time stability showed that changes in the electrical resistance during long-term storage of microwires (up to 1 year) do not occur in warehouse conditions, and despite the high degree of nonequilibrium of alloys during high-temperature hardening of the melt, relaxation phenomena are not observed. Consequently, the investigated microwires from alloys based on nickel, cobalt and copper are a very promising material for manufacturing thermostable resistive elements for precision instrumentation.

Inner friction spectra are obtained and analyzed for various chemical structures of chitosan—temperature dependence of logarithmic damping factor of free torsion motion λ = f(Т) and temperature change of their frequency ν = f(Т) within the range from –150°С to 300°С. In basic and salt forms of chitosan, three intense local dissipative phenomena are revealed. It was found that each local dissipative process has correspondent characteristic change of frequency of oscillating process, stimulated in chitosan samples. This fact allowed one to reveal and theoretically analyze the change of shear modulus defect both for local temperature ranges and for the entire chitosan system as a whole.

Cross-correlated relaxation (CCR) in multiple-quantum coherences differs from other relaxation phenomena in its theoretical ability to be mediated across an infinite distance. The two interfering relaxation mechanisms may be dipolar interactions, chemical shift anisotropies, chemical shift modulations or quadrupolar interactions. These properties make multiple-quantum CCR an attractive probe for structure and dynamics of biomacromolecules not accessible from other measurements. Here, we review the use of multiple-quantum CCR measurements in dynamics studies of proteins. We compile a list of all experiments proposed for CCR rate measurements, provide an overview of the theory with a focus on protein dynamics, and present applications to various protein systems.

The use of bulk MgB 2 as a magnetic shield may have interesting applications in the accelerator field as magnetic protection of the particle beams. Many of these applications will require a low-temperature environment due to the high magnetic fields involved; therefore, the stability of superconducting bulk materials, at these low temperatures, must be carefully controlled. Critical stability issues of the bulk superconducting materials include macro- and micro-flux jumps, which are related, respectively, to the sudden loosing of the shielding effect and to the initial reduction of the shielding characteristic, which initiates the long-term relaxation phenomena. We have tested the shielding characteristics at 4.2 K of a bulk MgB 2 tube (L = 450 mm, OD/ID = 49/32.4 mm), produced by the reactive liquid infiltration process that is capable to reduce to a minimum the macro-flux jumps. Applying step-wise increasing transverse magnetic fields up to about 3 T on the surface of the tube, we measured the dynamics of the superconducting currents that, with their displacements, give rise to the relaxation phenomena. These effects have been modeled by the superposition of two exponential decay functions. This parametrization can help in the prediction of the magnetic behavior of this material, but in a limited time lapse.

A comparative analysis of relaxation transitions observed in the internal friction spectra of poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(vinyl formal) synthesized on its basis is presented. Two distinct peaks (α and β) of dissipative losses are revealed within the temperature range from–150 to +120°C. The time of acetylation of poly(vinyl alcohol) in the production of poly(vinyl formal) affects the characteristics of relaxation phenomena in poly(vinyl formal). A structural justification of change in the relaxation characteristics in poly(vinyl formal) is given according to the internal friction spectra and IR spectra.

The fragility parameter is one of the most important material constants that is extensively used in glass science, playing a central role in the enhancement of the understanding the glass formation process of disordered systems. Although fragility has been widely used, this concept has never been precisely defined and evaluated in relaxor ferroelectrics. Here, we have filled up this scientific gap. Based on a generalized Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation, the fragility parameter is introduced for relaxor ferroelectrics. The new formulation has been quantitatively assessed by combining dielectric spectroscopy and pyroelectric measurements on canonical relaxors. A clear correlation between the fragility and a new local structural heterogeneity related order parameter elucidates new information about the ferroelectric order of relaxor ferroelectrics. A new pathway to disentangle relaxation phenomena in other relaxor ferroics could have opened.

A method based on the hyperbolic mass transfer equation for processing the experimental data on the study of the diffusion kinetics in solid–reagent systems based on the delay of diffusion fluxes is proposed. Examples of calculating diffusion processes in metals are given.

T1rho imaging is a promising non-invasive diagnostic tool for early detection of articular cartilage degeneration. A mono-exponential model is normally used to describe the T1rho relaxation process. However, mono-exponentials may not adequately to describe NMR relaxation in complex, heterogeneous, and anisotropic materials, such as articular cartilage. Fractional-order models have been used successfully to describe complex relaxation phenomena in the laboratory frame in cartilage matrix components. In this paper, we develop a time-fractional order (T-FACT) model for T1rho fitting in human articular cartilage. Representative results demonstrate that the proposed method is able to fit the experimental data with smaller root mean squared error than the one from conventional mono-exponential relaxation model in human articular cartilage., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication at the 41st International Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference (IEEE EMBC 2019)

The technology of deposition of multilayer devices based on structured ferroelectric layers for microwave applications has been elaborated. The realized devices show high tunability, thermal stability, low microwave losses and the complete absence of slow relaxation phenomena, which makes them promising for microwave applications.

Hereby, we report the synthesis of composites (1-x) Cu0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 + (x) BaTiO3 [x = 0.075, 0.225] by the solid state method. The samples are prepared by the three step process where the constituent phases are individually synthesized and mixed in the stoichiometric ratio to obtain the final product. Although, the samples are intended to magnetodielectric and magnetoelectric effect studies, we report the analysis on structural and electrical properties in this work. The constituent samples of the composite were single phased cubic structured with space group Fd-3m for CZFO and Pm-3m for BTO phase. The XRD data analysis revealed the mixed diffractogram that exhibits both the phases. The dielectric property studies revealed the higher BTO phase containing composite to be highly dielectric compared to the low concentrated composite. The loss value of highly doped BTO is high and vice versa and both the samples show relaxation phenomena. Cole-Cole plot study revealed the current composite ferrite samples exhibit non-Debye character and thereby inherit spread of relaxation time.

The relaxation phenomena of polymers are very important because they play an important role in their physical properties. Dynamic mechanical analysis was used in this work in order to study the effect of tactic and compositional sequences on the relaxation processes observed in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). The polymers studied in this work were PVC modified by means of reductive hydrogenation and chlorination reactions at low degrees of modification. The results obtained with hydrogenated poly(vinyl chloride) indicated that the decrease in mmr tetrads at the end of the isotactic sequences in the chain by stereospecific hydrogenation led to concomitant decreases in intensity and temperature of the maximum of the β relaxation. This effect seemed to be stronger the longer the isotactic sequence associated with the said structure. On the other hand, in the case of chlorinated poly(vinyl chloride) (CPVC), the results of the evolution of the β relaxation with the degree of chlorination showed that the predominant factor was the compositional microstructure (substitution of hydrogen atoms by chlorine atoms, increasing the possibility of inter-chain interactions leading to a stiffening of the chain, with the consequent increase in the β temperature).

The studies focused on visual detectability of surface damages in aircraft composite skins were performed. The goals were to understand how inspection conditions and service factors affect the detectability during standard field control procedures, to establish reasonable barely visible impact damage threshold and to optimize maintenance program in the frameworks of Irkut MC-21 aircraft certification. The probability of surface damage detection as a function of damage size was experimentally evaluated on empennage-type stringer panels in relation to qualification of experts, paint color, viewing distance and surface contamination. The significance of those factors was estimated by non-parametric methods of mathematical statistics, the bootstrap technique was applied for empirical data reduction. Based on the criteria, accepted in industry, the thresholds of detectability were established for general and detailed visual inspection procedures. The special attention was paid to the investigation of impact dent relaxation phenomena, i.e. to the reduction of damage size in time. The relaxation tests were conducted under normal and under hot-wet conditions and it was determined that combination of moisture and elevated temperature leads to the maximum damage size reduction. The performed studies resulted in recommendations on actual external damage size values which should be used as input data in damage tolerance analysis and as detectability criteria in aircraft maintenance manual.

Applying the variable separation method, an exact analytical solution is found for thermal conductivity equation, established based on the modified Fourier’s law with thermal flux relaxation and temperature gradient under Newton’s boundary conditions (BC). An alternative method is proposed for modeling the transient heat conduction in the plate washed at the boundaries by a liquid or gas, which differs from the traditional one in the absence of the need to determine the heat transfer coefficients from the criterial heat transfer equations, instead of which it is proposed to introduce summands into the classical heat conductivity equation. The summands should take into account the relaxation nature of solids, the features of heat transfer at the boundary, acceleration of heat flux and temperature gradient during the process.

We present a generalisation of the Debye relaxation model for the dielectric permittivity in the case in which the global relaxation process is the result of many elementary excitations. The relaxation dynamics is in this case non-Markovian. In the case of many events, for which the central limit theorem holds and Gaussianity as well as the assumption of independency are both plausible, the global relaxation time is given by a log-normal function. The hierarchy of relaxation times leads to a generalised expression of the dielectric permittivity.

Relaxation phenomena in polyvinyl alcohol and polyvinyl formal are studied. The internal friction spectra acquired in a free-damped torsional vibrations mode and temperature range from–150 to 120°C of two test samples each contained two distinct loss peaks, designated as α and γ, and weakly expressed β peaks. The acetylation time affects the position of all relaxation loss peaks. The physicochemical characteristics of relaxation processes are calculated. The mechanical relaxation data are confirmed by IR studies.

Creep and relaxation phenomena are being observed in shape memory alloys, not only at high temperatures but also at room temperature, due to their martensitic transformation. Transformation-induced creep and stress relaxation in shape memory alloys occur due to temperature variations during loading and unloading cycles. In this work, a one-dimensional fully coupled thermomechanical model was employed to develop a continuum framework for studying these behaviors in shape memory alloy wires. A decrease or increase in stress was observed during forward or reverse transformation at a constant amount of strain, showing the stress relaxation and stress recovery, respectively. Similarly, the model predicts that strain increases or decreases when stress is held fixed in the course of forward or reverse transformation, meaning the phenomena of creep and creep recovery, respectively. This model provides the ability of investigating the effects of different ambient temperatures, strain rates, applied stresses and strains, and wire radii on the creep and relaxation responses of shape memory alloys. Relaxation and creep experiments at different ambient temperatures and loading or unloading rates were also done on NiTi wires, and the theoretical predictions were shown to be in a good agreement with the empirical observations.

The strategy for computing the Boltzmann collision integrals for gaseous mixtures is presented and bestowed to compute the fully non-linear Boltzmann collision integrals for hard sphere gas-mixtures. The Boltzmann collision integrals associated with the first 26 moments of each constituent in a gas-mixture are presented. Moreover, the Boltzmann collision integrals are exploited to study the relaxation phenomena of diffusion velocities, stresses and heat fluxes in binary gas-mixtures of Maxwell molecules and hard spheres.

Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) is employed in order to investigate relaxation phenomena occurring in polyvinylchloride based microcomposites, reinforced by 2vol.% graphites. Samples were examined under identical conditions in a wide frequency and temperature range. Experimental data analyzed in terms of electric modulus formalism. M’ and M” values increased with frequency up to 1.105Hz. The peaks in M’ and M” values were developed at the same frequency range, indicating the appearance of the relaxation process in pure PVC. The real part of complex modules of pure PVC show a plateau with increasing temperature up to 80℃ follows by a sharp decrease near glass transition temperature. The M’ of the composites shows a plateau in low temperature region (up to 40℃) and a broad peak in temperature range of 40-115℃. Above 850c, the real part of complex modulus decreases for all specimens range 115-‘150℃. Two relaxation process, located in the low (70-80℃) and relatively higher (130℃) temperature range are recorded. The intensity of the decreases with the increase of Gr content. The second maximum of the imaginary part of electric modulus for all the specimens is observed at 130℃ and does not depend on the Gr content.

In this paper, we report an investigation on electrical conduction mechanisms of nanofluids based on commercial engine oil loaded with graphite (Gt) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes, at different concentrations. The impedance spectroscopy technique was used to measure the resistance and capacity characterizing each sample in a frequency range 100 Hz–1 MHz and a temperature range 300–400 K. Two formalisms were used to analyze the data: (a) the electrical conductivity which has found to follow the Jonscher’s law with single and double exponents for carbon nanotube concentrations below and above the percolation threshold, respectively, and (b) the complex impedance that has permitted to identify the relaxation peaks according to the Cole–Cole model. Both the two formalisms showed that when the carbon nanotube concentration is higher than the percolation threshold, a positive temperature coefficient and a remarkable change in conductivity were observed, suggesting that the presence of the carbon nanotube greatly affect the electrical properties of the engine oil as a result of additional polarization effect induced by these nanoparticles. Furthermore, the analysis of the temperature dependence of dc conductivity and relaxation time using the Arrhenius equation indicated the addition of carbon nanotubes into engine oil increase the activation energies.

We present a study about vibrational quenching and chemical processes of cold molecular ions immersed in an ultracold atomic gas. In particular, the quasiclassical trajectory method is applied to ${\mathrm{BaRb}}^{+}(v)+\text{Rb}$ collisions at $T\ensuremath{\gtrsim}1\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mK}$, revealing a large vibrational quenching cross section, which follows the Langevin capture model prediction. These results play a key role in the understanding of relaxation phenomena of cold molecular ions in ultracold gases.

This chapter summarizes many of the mathematical functions and techniques required to analyze relaxation phenomena quantitatively. Elementary mathematical results are given in Appendix B, and additional specialized results are presented in Chaps. 2, 3 and 5. Elementary statistics is briefly summarized in Chap. 4.

Spin glasses are a broad class of magnetic materials that exhibit varying degrees of disorder and magnetic frustration, resulting in characteristic glassy relaxation behavior including frequency-dependent susceptibility, aging, and memory. Ferroic glasses include spin glasses and also relaxor ferroelectrics and strain glasses, which exhibit glassy dynamics in polarization and strain respectively, in similar ways to spin glasses. This chapter introduces ferroic and spin glasses, their phenomenological classification, and some parallels with structural (amorphous) glasses. A brief theoretical treatment is given, including modeling of the relaxation phenomena in ferroic glasses. Strain glasses and relaxors are discussed, followed by a detailed taxonomy of spin glasses and comparison with collectively behaving particle systems and structurally amorphous magnetic materials. Finally, some characteristic experimental methods are discussed, and an outlook for the future involvement of glass scientists in the study of spin glasses is offered.

This chapter gives an overview of the thermodynamics of the glassy state and the kinetics of glass formation and relaxation. The emphasis is placed on thermodynamics. First, several characteristic features of glasses are discussed in relation to earlier definitions of the glassy state. Then, the glassy state is contrasted to equilibrium states by discussing glass formation versus crystallization, the glass transition versus equilibrium phase transitions, and relaxation phenomena typical of glasses. A major part is devoted to fundamental aspects of the thermodynamics of glasses, comprising a detailed discussion of enthalpy, entropy, and the kinetics of glass formation as derived by nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Another significant part focuses on the quantitative treatment of multicomponent glasses and glass melts by using the formalism of thermodynamics of mixed phases. Tools and models are presented allowing one to approach the properties of glasses relevant to industry. In terms of examples, the emphasis rests on oxide glasses, in specific, silicate glasses. The chapter closes with an outlook on future developments and on challenges for future research work.

The relaxation processes of the adiabatic temperature changes (ΔTad) at the phase transitions in Ni45Mn43CoSn11, Ni50Mn36.5In13.5, and Ni50Mn35In14.25B0.75 Heusler alloys with different magnetic structures have been studied using a direct extraction method in magnetic fields up to 14 T. It has been found that ΔTad exhibits short relaxation times (less than 10−1 (s)) in the vicinity of the second order phase transitions at the Curie temperatures. The relaxation times of the first order martensitic transitions strongly depend on the latent heat of the transition and can be characterized by a logarithmic law.

This expository paper surveys the progress in a research program aiming at establishing the existence and long time behavior of $BV$ solutions to the Cauchy problem for hyperbolic systems of balance laws modeling relaxation phenomena.

The effect of the incorporation of silica nanoparticles on structural relaxation and curing kinetics of unsaturated polyester resin was investigated. The evaluations were made monitoring the curing behavior of the neat unsaturated polyester resin and the resin containing 3 wt% SiO2 nanoparticles using dynamic differential scanning calorimetry at heating rates of 2, 2.5, 3, and 3.5℃ min−1. Results revealed a salient increase in the redox activation energy of the unsaturated polyester resin containing silica, while the activation energy of thermal decomposition of peroxide did not show any change. On the interface of nanoparticles and matrix resin, the dissociation reaction of cobalt naphthenate reduced the effect of the promoter. Differential scanning calorimetry was also used to estimate the average size of cooperative rearrangement region of the nanocomposite. Results revealed the possible grafting of unsaturated polyester onto the nanoparticle surface. The attractive interaction between the matrix and nanoparticle hindered segmental relaxation of the polymer chains.

cited By 10; International audience; The paper deals with electromechanical and dielectric properties of polyurethanes (PU) block-copolymers. Most of the works published in the literature only consider electrostriction at room temperature at a given frequency. In this work, it is shown that electrostrictive coefficient ME is divided by 3-10 at increasing frequency over 3 decades of frequency, depending on the ratio of hard to soft segments in PU. Thus it is important to analyze the energy conversion efficiency by investigating the dielectric and viscoelastic properties. This work deals with the study of dielectric properties of 3 PU with different fractions of hard segments. Three relaxation phenomena (β, α and conduction) were investigated for each PU in the temperature-frequency range studied here, in order to optimize the copolymer composition in view of their best efficiency as actuators or mechanical energy harvesting devices.

Broad classes of functional materials exhibit glass-like phenomena originating with the frustration of a soft phonon driven phase transition, including relaxor ferroelectrics and shape memory strain glasses. While the soft phonon mechanism is mostly understood, how this mechanism becomes frustrated in the presence of disorder remains intensely debated. A common structural feature of the frustrated state is nanoscale regions of local ferroic displacements that form well above the ordering temperature; these are called polar nanoregions (PNRs) in relaxor ferroelectrics and ferroelastic nanodomains (FND) in the strain glasses. The existence of these small regions provides a basis to explain glass-like slow relaxation phenomena, which can manifest in the lattice dynamics as phonon over damping. However, this does not explain why the long-range order becomes localized into PNRs or FNDs, or why this happens specifically at the nanoscale. Recent scattering experiments and theories suggest an exciting new way to think about these problems in terms of the physics of lattice vibrations in chemically disordered crystals. More generally, probing the lattice dynamics of these systems sheds new light on the microscopic origin of the nanoregions, glassy behavior, and enhanced functional properties.

As discussed in previous chapters, the precessional magnetization dynamics is described by Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation. It may be noticed from the LLG equation that four important material parameters, namely, Lande g-factor, saturation magnetization, magnetic anisotropy, and Gilbert damping parameters directly govern the precessional dynamics. Ultrafast demagnetization and relaxation phenomena are also influenced by material parameters and sample conditions. To understand deeply, various factors related to material aspects of the specimen which affect the dynamics, numerous interesting theoretical and experimental studies have been performed.

The relaxation structure of ionic phthalocyanine-unmodified and -modified latex styrenealkyl(meth)acrylate polymers formed using various methods of emulsion polymerization is studied by dynamic mechanical relaxation spectroscopy taking into account data on the modifier distribution in the polymer and polymer functionality. The relaxation homogeneity of the studied polymer is characterized on the basis of the results of relaxation studies.

Thermophysical properties, namely, density, viscosity, and electrical conductivity of HgTe and Hg 0.9 Cd 0.1 Te melts were measured as a function of temperature. A pycnometric method was used to measure the melt density in the temperature range of 948 to 1073 K for the HgTe melt and 1011 to 1131 K for the Hg 0.9 Cd 0.1 Te melt. The density results show a maximum at 1023 and 1020 K, respectively, for the HgTe and Hg 0.9 Cd 0.1 Te melts. The viscosity and electrical conductivity were simultaneously determined using a transient torque method from 944 to 1098 K for the HgTe melt and from 1016 to 1127 K for the Hg 0.9 Cd 0.1 Te melt. The measured electrical conductivity decreases as the mole fraction of CdTe, x, increases at a specific temperature, and increases as a function of temperature, which shows a semiconductor-like behavior. The measured viscosity decreases as the mole fraction of CdTe, x, increases at a specific temperature and decreases as the temperature increased. The analysis of the electrical conductivity of the melts and the relationship between the kinematic viscosity and density implied a structural transition in these melts. No relaxation phenomena were observed in the density, electrical conductivity, and viscosity of the HgTe and Hg 0.9 Cd 0.1 Te melts.

The work is devoted to a brief overview of the Interstitialcy Theory (IT) as applied to different relaxation phenomena occurring in metallic glasses upon structural relaxation and crystallization. The basic hypotheses of the IT and their experimental verification are shortly considered. The main focus is given on the interpretation of recent experiments on the heat effects, volume changes and their link with the shear modulus relaxation. The issues related to the development of the IT and its relationship with other models on defects in metallic glasses are discussed.

This study presents the new relaxation function describing the non-Debye relaxation phenomena. The relaxation function is based on a new theoretical model of the relaxation polarization. The non-Debye relaxation is explained with the model of nonlinear damped oscillator. It is shown that the relaxation function describes the relaxation spectra of the Davidson-Cole and Havriliak–Negami types as well as spectra with the left-skewed loss peak.

The relaxation properties of polymer composites based on latex styrene-alkyl methacrylate polymers and water-soluble 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octa[(3,5-biscarboxy)-phenoxy]phthalocyanine are studied in the temperature range from −150 to +250°C. Characteristic mechanical loss maxima are observed on the inner friction spectra of unmodified and modified polymers corresponding to various patterns of intermolecular mobility and local and segmental types of intermolecular interactions. The modification of the polymers is accompanied by decreases in their glass-transition temperatures. This effect may be explained by a decrease in the intermolecular interactions of copolymer units in the presence of phthalocyanine.

The dependence of the permittivities of a number of model systems on the bulk resistivity is studied experimentally. The effect of fractal polarization is considered on the basis of analysis of experimental data. A qualitative model of relaxation phenomena is proposed for a new type of surface polarization that can be treated as a logical continuation of the Maxwell-Wagner polarization to conducting filters.

Fatigue and crack propagation tests are carried out on 7075-T73 open hole aluminium alloy specimens. A remarkable increment of fatigue life due to the Split Sleeve Cold ExpansionTM process is observed, further improved by applying the process twice on the same hole. Comparable increments are obtained by using the StressWaveTM method. Specific tests are performed in order to point out a possible relaxation of the residual stresses due to fatigue loading. The results obtained reveal no relaxation phenomena in the tested specimens. The compressive residual stress around cold expanded holes is numerically evaluated. Dedicated experiments based on the Sachs method are conducted to confirm the residual stress prediction.

Keywords: nonequilibirum phenomena; diffusion in confined systems; dynamics and relaxation in confined systems; entropic transport in confined systems; ion and polymer translocation; forces induced by fluctuations; confined active mater; macromolecular crowding., Comment: Editorial article of the Special Issue "Nonequilibrium Phenomena in Confined Systems". This Special Issue collect a limited number of selected invited talks presented during the XXV Sitges Conference on Statistical Mechanics. The conference took place in Barcelona, 6-10 June, 2016

The analysis of stress-relaxation tests in viscoelastic materials is discussed. Stress-relaxation tests are performed by means of a two-stage process, as a stretching stage up to an assumed strain level, according to a given strain rate, followed by a constant strain stage. Major attention is devoted to the influence of experimental variables, namely the strain level and the strain rate during stretching stage, on the subsequent relaxation phenomena. A constitutive analysis to interpret the behaviour shown by experimental tests is performed, accounting for the influence of the above mentioned experimental variables, to get an actual definition of time dependent behaviour of the material. This procedure is applied to investigate stress-relaxation phenomena in polymeric materials and soft biological tissues, as ligaments. The results confirm the necessity to analyse data from stress-relaxation tests taking into account the experimental variables that characterize the different stages, and evaluating the influence of the specific variables outlined.