Q. B.

Nguyen
Y. H. D. Chua
K. S. Tun
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Effect of Addition of 23
National University of Singapore,
9 Engineering Drive 1,
and Copper Particulates and
Singapore 117576
Heat Treatment on the Tensile
J. Chan Response of AZ61 Magnesium
R. Kwok
Singapore Tecfinologies Kinetics Ltd
Alloy
(ST Kinetics),
In this paper, AZ61 magnesium alloy composites containing nanoalumina and micron-
249 Jaian Boon Lay, sized copper particulates are synthesized using the technique of disintegrated melt depo-
Singapore 619523 sition followed by hot extrusion. The simultaneous addition of nano-Al2Os and copper
particulates led to an overall improvement in both microstructural characteristics in
terms of distribution and morphology of secondary phases and mechanical response of
W. L. E. Wong AZ61. The presence of nanoalumina particulates broke down and dispersed the second-
Sctiooi of f\/leotianical and Systems Engineering, ary phase MgjyA2. The 0.2% yield strength increased from 216MPa to 274 MPa. The
Newcastle university International Singapore, ductility increased from 8.4% to 9.3% in the case of the AZ6I-I.5AI2O3 sample. The
180 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8, results of aging heat treatment in the case of the AZ61-1.5AI2O3-ICU sample showed sig-
Block P Room 220, nificant improvement in both tensile strength, ductility, and work offracture (54% incre-
Singapore 569830 ment). An attempt is made to correlate the tensile response of composites with their
microstructural characteristics. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4023769]
M. Gupta^
Department of Mechanicai Engineering, Keywords: magnesium, nanocomposite, mechanical behavior, microstructure, solidification
National university of Singapore,
9 Engineering Drivel,
Singapore 117576
e-maii: mpegm@nus.edu.sg

1 Introduction of alloys. The solution to further improve overall properties of

In view of the greenhouse effect and the moving trend towards
a green environment, tremendous efforts have been put in place to
seek for energy-saving solutions. Lightweight structural materials,
such as magnesium-based materials, have been the focus among
researchers and scientists [1-5]. Magnesium with a density of
1.74 g/cm^ is probably the best candidate of lightweight engineer-
ing metals available [6]. The combination of lightweight, good
mechanical properties, good castability, and machinability makes
magnesium-based materials promising engineering materials in
various applications in automotive, aerospace, electronics, sports,
and consumer products industries [4-7]. However, magnesium-
based materials still need to overcome its current limiting factors,
such as low ductility, rapid strength loss when used at high service
temperatures, poor creep, and corrosion resistance [4,6-9]. Thus,
magnesium is seldom used in its pure form but instead often
alloyed with aluminum, zinc, zirconium, silver, calcium, or rare
earth elements [2,4,10]. Aluminum alloying element improves the
castability and mechanical properties at room temperature. Zinc
enhances mechanical properties and corrosion resistance [10]. As
a result, magnesium-aluminum-zinc (AZ)-based alloys have been
receiving much attention from researchers around the world
[5-8]. AZ61 is one of the promising alloys among the AZ series
'Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Materials Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF
ENGINEERJNG MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received January 3, 2012; final
manuscript received June 25, 2012; published online May 6, 2013. Assoc. Editor:
Yoshlhiro Tomita.
AZ61 is to alloy it with another alloying element and/or nanocer-
amic particles to form more stable secondary phases and subse-
quently do heat treatment to improve tensile strength, ductility,
and dimensional stability [3,10-13]. Previous studies have proven
that the addition of Cu particulates into magnesium matrix signifi-
cantly increases the hardness and strength properties [1416].
Addition of alumina nanoparticulates led to a significant increase
in ductility of magnesium-based materials [17]. Aging treatment
ranging from 150 C to 225 C for different aging times imparts
the best effects on mechanical properties [1,2]. The literature
search, however, shows that no attempt has been done to incorpo-
rate nanoalumina and micron-sized copper particulates into
magnesium alloy AZ61 and to investigate their effects on micro-
structural and mechanical characteristics.
Accordingly, an attempt is made in the present study to add
nanoalumina particulates to improve ductility and copper to
enhance microstmctural characteristics, hardness, and strength of
AZ61 alloy. The choices of these additions, further, are also
expected to enhance high temperature properties, as established
before [4]. Aging heat treatment is also carried out on the specific
samples to improve their microstructure and tensile response. Dis-
integrated melt deposition (DMD) technique is used in the present
study to synthesize monolithic and composite materials, and all the
characterization studies were performed on the extruded samples.
2 Materials Preparation and Experimental Procedures
In the present study, AZ61 billets (from Magnesium Tokyo,
Japan) of 60 mm depth and 160 mm diameter were machined from

Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology JULY 2013, Vol. 135 / 031004-1
Copyright 2013 by ASME
 Fig. 1 Precasting materiais preparation
a 160-mm-diameterbiUet. Fifty-nanometer alumina particulates and
50-/xm-sized copper powder were supplied by Baikowski (Japan)
and Alfa Aesar's company with purity of 99.9%, respectively.
Arrays of holes with 10 mm diameter and 50 mm depth were com-
puter numerical control dried in AZ61 blocks to contain nano-
AI2O3 and Cu powders (see Fig. 1). Firstly, 1.5% volume percentage
of 50-nm AI2O3 particulates was added into AZ61. Subsequently,
three different volume percentages of Cu (1, 2, and 3 vol.%) were
added into AZ6I-I.5AI2O3 composite (Table 1). The 40-mm-diame-
ter cast ingots were produced using the DMD technique, which is
fully described elsewhere [16]. The ingots were machined down to
36 mm diameter and hot extmded at 350 C to 8-mm-diameter rods.
Aging heat treatment was carried out at 150 C for 5 h on the
selected AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU composite [18]. All characterizations,
including density measurement. X-ray, microstructure, coefficient of
thermal expansion, microhardness, tensile testing, and fracture
study, were carried out on extruded rods in the present study [17].
2.1 Density Measurement. Density (p) measurements were
performed in accordance with Archimedes' principle on three ran-
domly selected polished samples of monolithic AZ61 and AZ61-Cu-
AI2O3 materials taken from the extruded rods. Distilled water was
used as the immersion fluid. The samples were weighed using an
A&D ER-182 A electronic balance with an accuracy of 0.0001 g.
Theoretical densities of materials were calculated, assuming they are
fully dense, to measure the volume percentage of porosity in the end
materials. Rule of mixture was used in both calculations.
2.2 X-Ray Diffraction Studies. An automatic Shimadzu
LAB-X XRD-6000 diffractometer was used to identify phases
Tabie 1 Resuits of DiVID deposition yield and CTE measurements
Composition AZ61 (wt%) AI2O3 (Wt %)
AZ61 100.0 0.0
AZ61-1.5A1,O, 96.8 3.2
AZ61-1.5Al,O3-lCu 92.2 3.1
AZ61-1.5Al2Ov2Cu 88.0 3.0
AZ61-1.5Al,Ov3Cu 84.0 2.9
AZ6I-I.5A2O3-ICU-HT
031004-2 / Vol. 135, JULY 2013
present in the samples. The samples were polished and exposed to
Cu Ka radiation (A = 1.54056 A deg) using a scanning speed of
2 deg/min.
2.3 Microstructure Characterization. Microstructural char-
acterization studies were conducted on metallographically
polished extruded samples to investigate morphological character-
istics of grains, reinforcement distribution, and interfacial integ-
rity between the matrix and reinforcement. The etchant solution
was made using lO-cm' acetic acid, 5-cm^ picric acid, and
95-cm^ ethyl alcohol to reveal the grain boundaries for micro-
structural analysis. Field emission scanning electron microscopy
(FESEM)-S4300 equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy
was used. Image analysis using the Scion system was carried out
on the multiple images (0.18 mm x 0.24 mm) to determine the
morphology of second phases.
2.4 Coefficient of Thermal Expansion. The coefficients of
thermal expansion (CTE) of monolithic and composite samples
were determined by measuring the displacement of the samples as
a function of temperature in the temperature range 50-400 C
using an automated SETARAM 92-16/18 thermomechanical ana-
lyzer. The samples with 8 mm diameter and 10 mm height were
heated at 5 K/min , and the argon gas flow rate was maintained at
1.21/min^'.
2.5 Microhardness. Microhardness measurements were
made on the polished samples. Vickers microhardness was meas-
ured using a Shimadzu-HMV automatic digital microhardness tes-
ter using 25-gf-indenting load and a dwell time of 15 s.
Cu (wt %) Deposition yield (%) CTE (/jm/mK)
0.0 96.92 25.1
0.0 94.36 24.8
4.7 91.35 24.5
9.0 96.55 24.3
13.1 91.39 24.1
24.6
Transactions of the ASME
 Table 2 Results of XRD analysis: number of matched peaks size was gradually decreased with an increase in the amount of
copper. Heat treatment further rened grains of the AZ61-
Composition^hase Mg ]M[gl7Ali2 Mg2Cu AlCuMg Cu I.5AI2O3-ICU sample (Table 3).
Microstructural studies conducted on the extruded samples
AZ61 11 4
revealed reasonably uniform distribution of the secondary phases
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3 10 3
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU 10 3 3 2
in the AZ61 matrix (Fig. 2). This can be attributed to: (i) minimal
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-2CU 10 3 3 2 1 agglomeration of reinforcements during melting of matrix [14];
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-3CU 10 3 3 2 1 (ii) minimal gravity-associated segregation due to judicious selec-
AZ61-1.5Al2OvlCu-HT 10 3 3 2 tion of stirring parameters [15,16]; and (iii) the effect of nano-
AI2O3 hard particulates in dispersing second phases [17]. The
overall characteristics of these secondary phases were quantified
by image analysis and shown in Table 4. It is observed that nee-
2.6 Tensile Testing. The smooth bar tensile properties of the dlelike secondary phase was broken down to round-shaped sec-
extruded samples were determined in accordance with American ondary phase in the case of the AZ6I-I.5AI2O3 sample (Fig. 2).
Society for Testing and Materials test method E8M-05 using a The effect of nanoalumina in breaking down and dispersing the
MTS 810 tensile testing machine with a crosshead speed set at secondary phase Mgi7Ali2 of magnesium alloys, which lead to
0.254 mm/min on round tension test specimens of 5 mm diameter higher ductility, was observed earlier [17]. The volume of second-
and 25 mm gauge length. A MTS extensometer was used for strain ary phases increased significantly with the increase in amount of
recording. Cu. It is clearly seen that average aspect ratio of AZ61-1.5 AI2O3-
2Cu and AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-3CU samples are much higher compared
2.7 Fracture Behavior. Fracture surfaces of the tensile sam- to other samples, as much more needle shape and sharp comer
ples were characterized using FESEM-S4300 in order to provide shape of secondary phases can be visibly observed. The sharp cor-
insight into fracture mechanisms operating under tensile loading. ner secondary phases act as stress concentration sites, leading to
crack initiation, which eventually causes lower ductility. Accord-
ing to the microstructural observation coupled with the quantita-
3 Results and Discussion tive results of microstructural characteristics of secondary phases
of the aged sample, it was concluded that more homogeneous dis-
3.1 DMD Yield and Macrostructural Observation. Syn- tribution of secondary phases was observed compared to that prior
thesis of AZ61 with nano-Al203 and Cu particulates composites to heat treatment. Larger amount with smaller and round size of
was successfully accomplished by DMD technique with good dep- secondary phases were obtained. These are factors contributing to
osition yields, as shown in Table 1. Macrostmctural observation enhanced strength and ductility of aged samples [17,19].
on the deposited ingots revealed no detectable reaction between
the graphite crucible and melts, minimal oxidation of the melts, The experimental results of density and porosity measurements
and absence of blowholes and macropores. Subsequently, the suc- in Table 3 indicated that nearly dense materials were obtained by
cessful extrusion with smooth plastic flow indicated that the extru- DMD method coupled with hot extrusion. These results are con-
sion parameters were adequate [4]. The extruded rods showed a sistent with the observations made using optical microscopy and
smooth and shiny surface without any cracks. The observation is FESEM (Fig. 2). Presence of minimal porosity can be attributed
consistent with previous findings made on Mg-based composites to: (i) good compatibility between the AZ61 matrix and reinforce-
synthesized using the DMD method [1417]. ment, leading to the absence of voids and debonded regions usu-
Macroscopic observation of the heat-treated samples, particu- ally associated with ceramic reinforcements [15] and (ii) judicious
larly the machined tensile specimens, indicated no evidence of selection of experimental parameters during primary and second-
surface oxidation or presence of cracks. This can be attributed to ary processing [16].
the protective environment used during aging treatment.

3.2 Microstructural Characterization. Table 2 shows the
X-ray diffraction phase analysis of all samples. The secondary
phase Mgi7Ali2 was formed in both monolithic and composite
samples. Secondary phases Mg2Cu and MgAlCu were formed in
addition to the Mgi7Al|2 phase in micron-Cu-containing samples.
No elemental copper peaks were detected in the case of AZ31-
I.5AI2O3-ICU nanocomposites. Copper peaks, however, were
detected for samples containing 2 and 3 vol.% of copper.
The results of microstructural characterization revealed pres-
ence of nearly equiaxed grains in both monolithic and composite
samples. Secondary phases were predominantly located at grain
boundaries. Scion software was used to analyze grain size and
grain aspect ratio. The results revealed that presence of nanoalu-
mina and/or copper particulates reduced the grain size of magne-
sium alloy AZ61 marginally. The results also indicated that grain
3.3 Coefficient of Thermal Expansion. The results of CTE
in Table 1 show that the presence of nano-Al2O3 particulates and
the progressive addition of Cu particulates alloying element
decreased the average CTE values of monolithic AZ61. The
results suggest an appropriate integration of AZ61 magnesium
alloy with nano-Al2O3 particulates and Cu particulates alloying
element, which have low CTE values (7.4 x 10^ K"' and
17.4 X 10 K~' for alumina and copper, respectively) and the
ability of the reinforcements to effectively constraint the expan-
sion of the matrix, as demonstrated in prior studies [10,14].
The decreasing values in CTE can also be attributed to the pres-
ence of Cu-based phases, such as Mg2Cu and AlCuMg, which
suggest that the composites are more dimensionally stable as a
function of temperature than the monolithic AZ61. The results are
consistent with similar findings made by investigators on other

Table 3 Results of density and porosity measurements

Composition Theo, density (g/ctn^) Exp. dertsity (g/cm^) Porosity (%) Grain size (/im) Aspect ratio

AZ61 1.800 1.799 0.008 0.04 3.43 0.05 1.62

AZ6I-I.5AI2O3 1.832 1.831 0.001 0.07 2.56 0.03 1.48
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU 1.904 1.903 0.006 0.06 2.33 0.02 1.31
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-2CU 1.975 1.974 0.002 0.03 2.16 0.04 1.23
2.046 2.046 0.002 0.03 1.97 0.02 1.15
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU-HT 1.904 1.903 0.003 0.03 1.51 0.01 1.06

Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology JULY2013, Vol. 135 / 031004-3

 Fig. 2 Representative FESEM micrographs showing distribution of intermetallic phases

Table 4 Results of second phase characteristics

Second phase characteristic

Composition Amount (vol.9 Diameter (/im) Aspect ratio Interparticulate spacing (/jm)"

AZ61 2.54 0.13 1.16 0.02 1.30 5.29

AZ6I-I.5AI2O3 3.26 0.22 1.05 0.05 1.17 4.10
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU 12.43 0.31 1.23 0.02 2.09 1.86
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-2CU 19.62 0.38 1.26 0.01 2.28 1.26
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-3CU 24.17 0.32 1.29 0.01 2.77 1.04
AZ61 -1.5 AI2O3-1 Cu-HT 12.75 0.35 1.19 0.03 1.91 1.76

"Interparticulate spacing, = df \/'n./Af 1 j ; d is diameter and/is volume fraction of secondary phases [19].

Table 5 Results of tensile and microhardness properties

Composition Hardness (Hv) 0.2 YS (MPa) UTS (MPa) Failure strain (%) WoF (MJ/m^)

AZ6I 80.3 1.1 216 4 307 4 8.4 1.3 24.9 4.3

AZ6I-I.5AI2O3 103 1.9 237 9 334 8 9.3 1.3 30.1 3.7
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU 107 1.0 237 9 332 7 6.1 0.6 19.8 1.8
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-2CU 1121.6 252 7 332 5 3.0 0.8 9.9 2.5
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-3CU 116.8 1.1 274 4 339 8 2.1 0.5 7.6 1.8
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU-HT 119.6 1.0 258 2 332 3 9.2 0.3 30.5 1.2

031004-4 / Vol. 135, JULY 2013 Transactions of the ASME

 l2O3 ceramic particulates [17] and (ii) greater constraints
on localized matrix deformation during indentation due to the
increased presence of intermetallic phases and smaller grain size
(see Tables 3 and 4) [14]. This is consistent with earlier observa-
tions made on Mg-Cu and AZ3IB-AI2O3 formulations [16,17].
l-AZISl An increment in hardness value in the case of the heat-treated
2-AZ61+1.5A1203 sample, AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU-HT, compared to the nonheat-
3-AZ61+l..'A120+lCa treated one, AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU, was also observed. This can be
4.AZ61+1.5At2O+2Cn attributed to slightly higher volume of well-distributed, smaller,
.5.AZl+1.5AI203+3Ql and more spherical secondary phases coupled with homogene-
6.AZ61+l,5A1203+lOl(IID ously distributed, relatively smaller grains [2,11].

3.5 Tensile Characteristics. Results of room temperature

Strain (%)
Fig. 3 Stress-strain curves of samples at room temperature
magnesium-based formulations containing different types of rein-
forcements and in different length scales [9,14,16].
3.4 Hardness. Table 5 shows the results of microhardness
measurements. The results revealed a significant increase in aver-
age microhardness with the presence of nanoalumina and an
increasing amount of micron-sized copper particulates. The
increase in hardness of composites can be attributed primarily to:
(i) an increase in the presence of harder intermetallic phases and
tensile properties of monolithic and composite samples are shown
in Table 5. Addition of nanoalumina and/or micron copper partic-
ulates led to a significant improvement in 0.2% yield strength and
ultimate strength of AZ61 (Fig. 3). The yield strength and ultimate
strength increased from 216 MPa to 274 MPa and from 307 MPa
to 339 MPa, respectively. Ductility increased from 8.4% to 9.3%
in the case of the AZ6I-I.5AI2O3 composite sample. However,
subsequent addition of micron-sized copper led to a reduction in
ductility. Aging heat treatment led to simultaneous enhancement
of both strength and ductility of the AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU compos-
ite sample. An overall assessment in terms of work of fracture
indicated a 54% increment in the case of the aged sample, AZ61-
I.5AI2O3-ICU-HT (30.5 MJ/m') compared to that of the nonaged
sample (19.8 MJ/m^).

AZ61 - I.5ALO3-2CU ^

Fig. 4 Fractographs of samples showing microcracks, plastic deformation, and shear

feature

Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology JULY2013, Vol. 135 / 031004-5

 The significant increase in 0.2% yield strength and ultimate ten-
sile strength of monolithic AZ61 due to addition of nanoalumina
particulates and/or micron copper particulates can be primarily
attributed to: (i) grain refinement (see Table 3) [15]; (ii) presence
of reasonably distributed harder particulates/intermetallics phases
(Fig. 2) [14]; (iii) Orowan strengthening due to a significantly
reduced interparticulate spacing of intermetallics phases (see Ta-
ble 4) [19]; (iv) the effective load transfer between matrix and sec-
ondary phases [16]; and (v) the formation of internal stresses due
to different thermal expansion behavior between secondary phases
and the matrix [9]. Upon aging heat treatment, there was an incre-
ment in 0.2% yield strength compared to that of the nonaged sam-
ple. Precipitation took place during the aging treatment and
resulted in a higher amount of secondary phases (see Fig. 2 and
Table 4). Presence of homogenously distributed round and smaller
grains was another factor that contributed to the increment of
0.2% yield strength [11,17,20].
Table 5 also shows the increase in ductility of AZ61 when nano-
alumina particulates were added. An increase from 8.4% to 9.3% in
failure strain in the case of the AZ6I-I.5AI2O3 sample was
observed when compared to the AZ61 sample. The increase in
ductility can primarily be attributed to: (a) grain refinement (see
Table 1) [9]; (b) presence and reasonably good distribution of inter-
metallics [20]; and (c) reduction in size and roundness of second
phases (see Table 4 and Fig. 2) [17]. An increment of 51% in fail-
ure strain was also observed in the case of the aged sample, AZ61-
I.5AI2O3-ICU-HT. The failure strain increased from 6.1% for the
nonaged sample to 9.2% for the aged sample. This can be mainly
attributed to reduction in aspect ratio of secondary phases and
decrease in size and aspect ratio of the matrix grains [1,2,11,12].
The subsequent addition of copper to AZ6I-I.5AI2O3 led to
reduced failure strain (see Table 5). The inherent characteristic of
Cu addition in reducing failure strain of magnesium-based materi-
als was reported eariier [14-16]. The reduction in failure strain
with the presence of Cu can be mainly attributed to the presence
of a higher amount of secondary phases with sharper edges (see
Fig. 2). The presence of sharper and harder secondary phases
leads to plastic incompatibility, and they act as stress concentra-
tion and crack nucleation sites, leading to reduction in failure
strain under uniaxial tensile loading [15].
3.6 Fracture Behavior. The tensile fracture surfaces of mon-
olithic and composite samples are shown in Fig. 4. The study of
uniaxially deformed fracture surfaces indicated the microstructural
effects on fracture characteristics of nanocomposites. The mono-
lithic, AZ6I-I.5AI2O3, AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU, and AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-
lCu-HT samples showed mixed-mode fracture, presence of less
microcracks, and evidence of plastic deformation in the forms of
equiaxed dimples and shear band feature. However, fracture surfa-
ces of AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-2CU and AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-3CU samples
showed significant presence of microcracks and limited plastic
deformability and the breakage at Cu-Mg interface due to uncom-
pleted reaction between Cu and Mg [20-22] (Fig. 4 and Table 5).
In essence, the results of the present study clearly indicate the
ability of simultaneous addition of nano-Al2O3 and micron copper
particulates in enhancing the overall ambient temperature me-
chanical response of AZ61. Considering the ability of copper to
improve high temperature strength of magnesium [15] and that of
nanoalumina to enhance the oxidation resistance [4], it is expected
that AZ6I-AI2O3-CU formulations can be strong candidates for a
wider range of engineering applications.
4 Conclusions
The main conclusions that may be derived from this work are
as follows:
(1) The disintegrated melt deposition technique coupled with
hot extmsion can be used to synthesize AZ61, AZ61-
I.5AI2O3, and AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-CU formulations.
031004-6 / Vol. 135, JULY 2013
(2) Presence of nanoalumina breaks and disperses the
Mgi7Ali2 phase and increases strengths and ductility of
AZ61.
(3) Addition of Cu particulates leads to formation of Mg2Cu
and MgAlCu secondary phases in matrix. The increasing
presence of copper in AZ6I-I.5AI2O3 samples led to a rea-
sonable improvement in hardness and 0.2% yield strength,
while the ductility was compromised.
(4) Aging heat treatment enhanced microstmcture and tensile
response in terms of 0.2% yield strength and ductility of an
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU sample.
(5) Fracture behavior of AZ61, AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU, and
AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-ICU-HT samples showed evidence of a
mixed-mode fracture with limited presence of microcracks,
evidence of plastic deformation, and shear band feature,
while AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-2CU and AZ6I-I.5AI2O3-3CU sam-
ples exhibited significant presence of microcracks and lim-
ited evidence of plastic deformation.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to acknowledge National University
of Singapore and Agency for Science, Technology and
Research (ASTAR) Grant 092 137 0015 (WBS# R-265-000-
321-305).
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JULY 2013, Vol. 135 / 031004-7
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