Protection of D16 Alloy against Corrosion in Neutral Aqueous Solutions and in an Aggressive Atmosphere Using Organic Inhibitors

The possibilities of protecting the aluminum alloy D16 with organic corrosion inhibitors are considered. The protective ability of the obtained nanoscale layers was evaluated by an express method (drop test), tests in a heat and moisture chamber, salt spraying, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The efficiency of treating D16 in aqueous solutions of organic inhibitors is correlated with the protective ability of chromate films.

     

Particle Separation in an Annular Converging Channel with an Inner Rotating Permeable Baffle

The relation between the separation efficiency of solid particles and the stability of the helical flow of a viscous fluid in a converging channel with an inner rotating permeable cylindrical baffle has been studied. The profiles of the axial and tangential velocities and the separation efficiency of solid particles have been calculated based on the numerical solution of a system of equations describing the hydrodynamics of two-phase media. Analysis of the obtained solutions shows that vortices having an effect on particle separation can appear in the converging channel. Moreover, the larger the size of the converging annular channel, the earlier a loss of stability occurs. It has been found that the formation of vortices is impossible for some flow regimes and, as a result of fluid flow stabilization, the fraction of particles settled on the permeable cylindrical baffle decreases. It has been shown that those regime parameters at which a helical flow exists should be selected for the development of combined action units involving filtering and the separation of the solid dispersed phase.     

Data quality and uncertainty assessment methodology for pavement LCA

In performing pavement life cycle assessment (LCA), users are facing various reports of energy intensity coefficient (EIC) of pavement materials which differ considerably among data sources and therefore alter the LCA results significantly. Instead of selecting a certain EIC without or of little explanation for the current pavement LCA practices, this study proposed a methodology to build probability density function (PDF) for EIC based on available data-set and their qualities. Each data was first evaluated about the data quality indicator (DQI) through data quality pedigree matrix and converted to PDF in modified Beta distribution form. Three weighting methods, the DQI one, coefficient of variation (COV) one and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) one, were developed to assign weightings for different data. Monte Carlo simulation was run with the weighted PDF of each data as input to obtain the ultimate PDF for EIC. A case study to estimate the bitumen’s EIC with eight data samples were performed using the proposed methodology. It is found (1): the estimates by the proposed methodology is of higher reliability (lower COV) compared to any single data due to utilisation of information of the overall data samples; (2) the AHP weighting method is most favoured despite the results of the three weighting methods are close; (3) the central estimates of bitumen’s EIC are between5.4~5.8 MJ/kg. The proposed methodology is helpful in aiding calculating EICs for pavement materials and capturing uncertainties in LCA results in a statistical sense.     

Revealing key topics shifts in thermal barrier coatings (TBC) as indicators of technological developments for aerospace engines

Scientometrics - Thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems reduce the temperature of the metallic substrate of aerospace engines, resulting in improved component durability, better fuel economy and...     

槽式太阳能集热管内相变微胶囊悬浮液的热力性能分析

针对传统使用水基和油基的太阳能集热器换热效果低和管壁热应力大的问题，以相变微胶囊悬浮液为工作流体，对抛物型槽式太阳能集热器进行了三维建模。采用蒙特卡罗射线追踪法结合有限容积法和有限元法的方法求解了太阳能集热管的光?热?力耦合问题，采用欧拉?欧拉多相流模型研究了相变微胶囊悬浮液在集热管内的流动换热特性。结果表明，相变微胶囊悬浮液强化了集热管内的对流换热，不仅降低了集热管的沿程壁温，且减少了集热管的周向温差，均化了集热管温度分布。集热管周向等效热应力呈花瓣型分布，对应的5个高温度梯度的位置附近(圆周角θ=5°, 90°, 175°, 225°和315°)出现等效应力局部峰值。吸热管内壁面θ=90°处轴向热应力为压应力，作用于整个管程，而径向热应力和切向热应力为拉应力，主要作用在进出口端。相变微胶囊悬浮液浓度越高，强化换热效果越好，集热管热应力越小，但产生的压降也随之增大。     

The Effect of Deflazacort Treatment on the Functioning of Skeletal Muscle Mitochondria in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe hereditary disease caused by a lack of dystrophin, a protein essential for myocyte integrity. Mitochondrial dysfunction is reportedly responsible for DMD. This study examines the effect of glucocorticoid deflazacort on the functioning of the skeletal-muscle mitochondria of dystrophin-deficient mdx mice and WT animals. Deflazacort administration was found to improve mitochondrial respiration of mdx mice due to an increase in the level of ETC complexes (complexes III and IV and ATP synthase), which may contribute to the normalization of ATP levels in the skeletal muscle of mdx animals. Deflazacort treatment improved the rate of Ca²⁺ uniport in the skeletal muscle mitochondria of mdx mice, presumably by affecting the subunit composition of the calcium uniporter of organelles. At the same time, deflazacort was found to reduce the resistance of skeletal mitochondria to MPT pore opening, which may be associated with a change in the level of ANT2 and CypD. In this case, deflazacort also affected the mitochondria of WT mice. The paper discusses the mechanisms underlying the effect of deflazacort on the functioning of mitochondria and contributing to the improvement of the muscular function of mdx mice.     

整体壁板离散填料滚弯成形有限元模拟

具有一定曲率外形的铝合金整体壁板属于典型的多筋零部件,传统弯曲成形工艺成形困难,容易产生多种缺陷。提出了离散填料辅助滚弯成形整体2A12T4铝合金壁板滚弯工艺,并通过实验与整体填料滚变成形进行了对比,同时采用有限元模拟技术,探究了离散填料辅助整体壁板滚弯成形中的影响因素。研究结果表明:填料数量、上下垫板厚度等因素对成形性能影响较大,填料在3~6块时成形稳定,可以有效地避免筋条屈曲与失稳;随垫板厚度增加,壁板表面圆弧更加光滑、连续,但是回弹性增强;上下垫板分别在10~20 mm厚度时,综合性能较好。通过离散填料辅助滚弯技术可以成形出质量较高的整体壁板。     

An Atomistic Understanding of Allosteric Inhibition of Glutamate Racemase: a Dampening of Native Activation Dynamics

Glutamate racemases (GR) are members of the family of bacterial enzymes known as cofactor-independent racemases and epimerases and catalyze the stereoinversion of glutamate. D-amino acids are universally important for the proper construction of viable bacterial cell walls, and thus have been repeatedly validated as attractive targets for novel antimicrobial drug design. Significant aspects of the mechanism of this challenging stereoinversion remain unknown. The current study employs a combination of MD and QM/MM computational approaches to show that the GR from H. pylori must proceed via a pre-activation step, which is dependent on the enzyme's flexibility. This mechanism is starkly different from previously proposed mechanisms. These findings have immediate pharmaceutical relevance, as the H. pylori GR enzyme is a very attractive allosteric drug target. The results presented in this study offer a distinctly novel understanding of how AstraZeneca's lead series of inhibitors cripple the H. pylori GR's native motions, via prevention of this critical chemical pre-activation step. Our experimental studies, using SPR, fluorescence and NMR WaterLOGSY, show that H. pylori GR is not inhibited by the uncompetitive mechanism originally put forward by Lundqvist et al.. The current study supports a deep connection between native enzyme motions and chemical reactivity, which has strong relevance to the field of allosteric drug discovery.     

On Application of Carbon-Containing Electrode Materials in Technology of Electrospark Alloying: Part 1. Peculiarities of Coating Formation Using Electrospark Treatment of Titanium Alloy OT4-1

Electrospark treatment of OT4-1 titanium alloy was performed sequentially with a STIM-20N hard-alloy electrode (TiC–20% Ni) and carbon-containing material (graphite and carbon-based composite materials). Kinetics of the mass transfer of the hard-alloy electrode was studied. The cathode mass loss during the first minute of the treatment was established. The kinetics results were processed using the methods of mathematical statistics. The erosion resistance of the applied carbon-containing materials was determined. Phase composition and relief of the coatings formed were analyzed. It was found that the application of the carbon-containing material increases the content of refractory phases in the coatings. Increase in the time of the treatment using the carbon-containing materials decreases the roughness of the coatings.