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Using the Flying Spot Technique (FST) we have studied minority carrier transport parallel and perpendicular to the surface of amorphous silicon films (a-Si:H). To reduce slow transients due to charge redistribution in low resistivity regions during the measurement we have applied a strong homogeneously absorbed bias light. The defect density was estimated from CPM measurements. The steady-state photocarrier grating technique (SSPG) is a 1-dimensional approach. However, the modulation depth of the carrier profile is also dependent on film surface properties, like surface recombination velocity. Both methods yield comparable diffusion lengths when applied to a-Si:H.

The present work studies the behaviour of bonded steel plates to reinforced concrete elements, which can be used in the strengthening of concrete structural elements. Metallic expansion bolts can be added.The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the behaviour to monotonic actions and particularly to cyclic loading of steel-epoxy-concrete connection with expansion bolts. This cyclic action is of particular interest due to the strong seismicity of the Portuguese territory.The research is mainly based in experimental analysis. The caracterization of the materials was carried out. Six models of the steel-epoxy connection were tested with monotonic loading. Twenty six models of steel-epoxy-concrete bond were submitted either to monotonic or to cyclic actions.Besides the type of action, other parameters were studied in the steel-epoxy-concrete connection models.These were the bond geometry area, the type of concrete, the type of epoxy and connection - with or without metallic expansion bolts.A parametric study with a numerical model of finite elements, as well as a global analysis of the experimental tests of the steel-epoxy-concrete connection was carried out.

The design of jobs is defined and its different implications. These aspects must be taken into consideration when applied to new automated systems, once it can occur workers in-adaptations to certain type of activity and tasks. Other concepts that emerge from this are the mental workload, stress, work accidents, shift work, or the physical environment that can reveal to become determinant in the process of job design. That means also the organizational design. In this sense, the manufacturing, organizational and individual dimensions, are the most meaningful in the mentioned process of organizational design. Are analyzed different application cases of robotized systems and their social effects, mostly those that are related to the dimensions of working conditions. Are particularly analyzed the new risk situations that occur with the use of robotic systems. One concludes on the need to take into consideration qualitative variables in the definition and design of robotic cells, jobs and production systems. This consideration influences directly in the labor productivity, in such way that the development of these methodologies of analysis can be considered as integrating the processes of technological innovation in manufacturing.

A range of CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 glasses have been prepared by fusion of pure starting materials in platinum crucibles. Compositions containing large amounts on network formers, Al2O3 and SiO2, are difficult to crystallize. If the amount of network former is reduced, glasses will self-nucleate and crystallize more readily, but the products of crystallization tend to react with water. This conflict has been partly resolved by adding MgO and ZnO and tailoring compositions so as to produce a phase, variously designated "Q" or "pleochroite", ideally Ca20Al32-2 vMg vSivO68, with v close to 4. Pleochroite crystallizes with a typically fibrous morphology. Preliminary experiments on fragments and melt-cast glass rods indicate that these compositions can be heat treated without deformation to yield highly crystalline, transparent ceramics. © 1989 Chapman and Hall Ltd.

The current transport in metal-amorphous semiconductor barriers is examined by solving the proper Poisson's equation and transport equations within the semiconductor's space charge region taking into account the role of trap shallow states distribution function. The effect of metal is also included through appropriate boundary conditions of the above solutions. Generalized transport equations will be derived either when thermionic drift-diffusion emission process dominates or when the conduction mechanism is mainly due to drift-diffusion emission. Both situations will be analysed with or without neglecting carriers losses during their collision free path, from which a tractable expression for the current-voltage characteristic will be determined.