Karin E. Hansson

Theory of hot crack formation

Abstract The hot crack sensitivity in metals is suggested to be caused by the supersaturation of vacancies created during the solidification process. Equations have been derived to predict the nucleation and growth of cracks by the condensation of vacancies. The transition temperature from brittle to ductile fracture was found to be related to the decrease in the supersaturation of vacancies due to an annealing process. The hot crack sensitivity was observed to be related to the supersaturation of vacancies, the diffusion rate, and the structure coarseness. The effect of surface active elements such as phosphorous and sulphur in steel alloys is discussed.

Artificial agent action in markets

We summarise our experiences of a number of demonstrators and simulation experiments designed to test the feasibility of using artificial decision making agents in real-time domains, and comment on the significance of our results to autonomous artificial agent action patterns in markets. Our main hypothesis is that the use of norms can extend the capability of artificial decision makers beyond what is obtained from implementing individual utility maximizers in keeping with rational choice theory.