Tribological behavior of composites fabricated by reactive SPS sintering in Ti-Si-C system

In this study, wear and friction behavior of two based-composites from the Ti-Si-C system, (40 wt% TiC; 28 wt% Ti₅Si₃; 17 wt% Ti₃SiC₂) and (18 wt% TiC; 26 wt% Ti₅Si₃; 41 wt% Ti₃SiC₂) reinforced by 15 wt% of large size SiC (100-150 µm) particles were investigated. The four-phase composites exhibited approximatively the same friction coefficient (µ ~ 0.9) under high loads (10 N and 7 N). The composite with high Ti₃SiC₂ showed higher wear rate values by one order of magnitude. However, under 1 N, the composite with high TiC content showed a higher running-in period and a lower steady state µ value (0.37 after 1000 m sliding distance). Scanning electron microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-Ray and Raman spectroscopy analysis of the worn surfaces of the two composites revealed that oxidation was the dominant wear mechanism. The oxidation process and the removal kinetics of the oxides during sliding controlled the tribological behavior of the composites. The influence of processing variables on microstructures development and wear mechanisms of the composites is discussed.     

Adaptive Impedance Control Applied to a Pneumatic Legged Robot

An adaptive impedance control scheme with estimation of robot andenvironment parameters is proposed in this paper. It consists of two stagesof adaptation and control. The first one performs an on-line estimation ofthe robot inertial parameters, during the complete (constrained or not)motion of the leg, while the second one compensates for the uncertainties onthe characteristics of the ground (position and stiffness). Simulationresults obtained for a single leg of a pneumatic driven, quadruped robotshow the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme in case ofconsiderable uncertainty both in the robot and ground parameters.     

Numerical investigation of the effects of graded layer on the performance of AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors

The effects of grading on the performance of heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) are studied by numerically solving the basic semiconductor equations. The numerical modelling is based on the extended drift–diffusion formulation with inclusion of thermionic emission current at the heterointerface of abrupt emitter HBTs. The results of the simulation show that the graded layer improves significantly the current driving capability of the HBT and lowers its offset voltage. However, owing to the increase in the recombination in the graded layer, the current gain of the graded HBT is lower and depends strongly on the bias at low and medium bias range. The simulation also reveals the presence of a potential minimum in the conduction band of the graded emitter HBT, which results in an electron accumulation in the region. This accumulation increases the emitter-base capacitance and its charging time, leading to a smaller unity-gain frequency f _T.     

Dynamic voltage scaling for series hybrid amplifiers

We present an optimization of the voltage scaling algorithm in low power audio class-G amplifier for headphones application to allow longer playback time. The optimization approach minimizes the voltage difference between the internal audio amplifier power supply and its output signal over a large range of operating conditions. The modeling is based on a behavioral model enabling accurate and rapid evaluation of efficiency and audio quality with realistic input stimuli. The model validated in practice is used to optimize the voltage scaling using only few power supply levels. Thanks to a global search algorithm followed by a local one, the optimization gives the better parameters for voltage scaling algorithm while keeping a good audio quality. The proposed configuration increases the efficiency up to 48% at nominal operation.     

Superplastic deformation behavior of 7075 aluminum alloy

A study has been made to investigate the effect of a prior amount of warm rolling on the superplastic forming behavior of a standard grade 7075 aluminum alloy. The thermomechanical treatment process presented for grain refinement includes furnace cooling from the solution treatment temperature to the overaging temperature, warm rolling from 65–85% deformation, recrystallization, and artificial aging treatment. Increasing the amount of warm rolling beyond 80% deformation does not produce material with higher elongation to failure when the thermomechanical treatment process presented is used. The largest value of elongation to failure was 700%, which was obtained for a specimen having a grain size of 8 μm at a strain rate of 6×10⁻³S⁻¹. The fracture surface exhibits a granular appearance indicative of an intergranular fracture mode. Dislocation activities within grains were observed, indicating the occurrence of dislocation slip during grain boundary sliding.     

Angle dependence and defect production in metal-on-metal cluster deposition on surfaces

We use molecular dynamics to analyze the dependence on the impact angle of the distribution of defects originated by the deposition of a Ag₁₉ cluster on Pd(1 0 0) at initial kinetic energies 0.1, 2, 20 and 95 eV. For increasing energy the cluster undergoes a transition from a multi-layered adsorbed structure to a two-dimensional one. Implantation of Ag atoms and promotion of Pd substrate atoms is common to all energies and angles and, for a given initial total kinetic energy, it increases with decreasing impact angle.     

Optimal business process deployment cost in cloud resources

Cloud computing is the fastest emerging technology that proposes several resources under various pricing strategies that are specified based on temporal constraints. The main aim of cloud computing is to enhance the performance level and minimize operating costs. Thus, organizations looking towards optimizing their spending on IT infrastructure find such pricing strategies very attractive, especially, to deploy their business process models. However, discovering the optimal deployment cost of a business process in cloud resources proposed under various pricing strategies becomes a highly challenging problem. So, the objective of the present paper is to present an approach that assists business process designers in finding an optimal assignment or scheduling based on the variety of pricing strategies. We use linear programming models with an objective function under a set of constraints. Besides, we propose an extension of the famous cloud simulator provided in the market, CloudSim, to simulate the cloud resources consumed to deploy a business process model. The experimental results show the feasibility, effectiveness, and performance of our approach.

     

Prediction of Tool Wear in the Turning Process Using the Spectral Center of Gravity

The recent increase in machining productivity is closely related to longer tool life and good surface quality. In the present study, an experimental technique is proposed to evaluate the performance of a cemented carbide inset during the machining of AISI D3 steel. The aim of this technique is to find a relationship between the vibratory state of the cutting tool and the corresponding wear during machining in order to detect the beginning of the transition period to excessive wear. A spectral indicator named spectral center of gravity, SCG, is proposed to highlight the three phases of tool wear using the spectra of the accelerations measured. Very promising results are obtained which can be used to underpin an industrial monitoring system capable of detecting the onset of transition to excessive wear and alerting the user of the end of the tool’s life. The purpose of this study is to review the vibration analysis techniques and to explore their contributions, advantages and drawbacks in monitoring of tool wear.