Microstructure evolution during thermomechanical processing in 3Mn-0.1C medium-Mn steel

ABSTRACT

Medium-Mn steels are energetically investigated as a candidate of the third generation advanced high strength steels (AHSSs). However, their phase transformation and microstructaure evolution during various heat treatments and thermomechanical processing are still unclear. The present study first confirmed the kinetics of static phase transformation behaviour in a 3Mn-0.1C medium-Mn steel. Hot compression tests were also carried out to investigate the influence of high-temperature deformation of austenite on subsequent microstructure evolution. It was found that static ferrite transformation was quite slow in this steel, but ferrite transformation was greatly accelerated by the hot deformation in austenite and ferrite two-phase regions. Characteristic dual-phase microstructures composed of martensite and fine-grained ferrite were obtained, which exhibited superior mechanical properties.

This paper is part of a Thematic Issue on Medium Manganese Steels.     

Effects of hydroxyl radical induced oxidation on water holding capacity and protein structure of jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) mantle

Protein oxidation is considered as an important issue in food preservation process. In the present study, the potential influence of protein oxidation on water holding capacity and protein structure of jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) mantle was investigated. After the hydroxyl radical oxidation, it was found that the carbonyl, surface hydrophobicity and dityrosine content of myofibrillar protein significantly increased (P < 0.05), while the content of total sulphydryl decreased significantly (P < 0.01). Meanwhile, the fluorescence intensity of squid was weakened, and the maximum absorption peak of fluorescence red shift as the H₂O₂ concentration increased. The sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed that not only the protein cross-linking but also degradation could have occurred. The content of α-helix decreased, the content of β-sheet, β-turn and the unordered structures increased after oxidation. In addition, oxidation resulted in a decrease in water holding capacity. Taken together, oxidation resulted in the damage of the myofibrillar structure, the increase in muscle loss rate and the decrease in water holding capacity.     

An Improved Protocol for Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation in Subterranean Clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.)

Subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) is the most widely grown annual pasture legume in southern Australia. With the advent of advanced sequencing and genome editing technologies, a simple and efficient gene transfer protocol mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens was developed to overcome the hurdle of genetic manipulation in subterranean clover. In vitro tissue culture and Agrobacterium transformation play a central role in testing the link between specific genes and agronomic traits. In this paper, we investigate a variety of factors affecting the transformation in subterranean clover to increase the transformation efficiency. In vitro culture was optimised by including cefotaxime during seed sterilisation and testing the best antibiotic concentration to select recombinant explants. The concentrations for the combination of antibiotics obtained were as follows: 40 mg L⁻¹ hygromycin, 100 mg L⁻¹ kanamycin and 200 mg L⁻¹ cefotaxime. Additionally, 200 mg L⁻¹ cefotaxime increased shoot regeneration by two-fold. Different plant hormone combinations were tested to analyse the best rooting media. Roots were obtained in a medium supplemented with 1.2 µM IAA. Plasmid pH35 containing a hygromycin-resistant gene and GUS gene was inoculated into the explants with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain AGL0 for transformation. Overall, the transformation efficiency was improved from the 1% previously reported to 5.2%, tested at explant level with Cefotaxime showing a positive effect on shooting regeneration. Other variables in addition to antibiotic and hormone combinations such as bacterial OD, time of infection and incubation temperature may be further tested to enhance the transformation even more. This improved transformation study presents an opportunity to increase the feeding value, persistence, and nutritive value of the key Australian pasture.     

Thermodynamic assessment of iron and the expansion behavior of porous ceramsite in pure mineral systems relating to solid waste components

Herein, Factsage software and sintering experiment were conducted to predict and correlate thermodynamic calculations of Fe in a synthetic solid waste and the expansion behavior of ceramsite. With the increase of Fe₂O₃ content, the liquid phase content and viscosity in the multi-component system gradually decreased and the melting temperature range became wider. This can match with the generation of the liquid phase with proper viscosity in the ceramsite and the full expansion properties. At 400–1000 °C, iron as a network former was tetrahedrally coordinated with oxygen to form Hercynite (Al₂FeO₄) phase; at 1180–1200 °C, iron as a network modifier dissolved into the silicate mineral structure to form the eutectic composition of Diopside (Ca₄Mg_3.62Fe_0.78Si_7.6O₂₄) and Ferrosolite (Si₁₆Mg_5.09Fe_10.66Ca_0.26O₄₈). The formation of iron-bearing silicate facilitated the generation of the viscous layer, so that the outer layer of the ceramsite exhibited sealing performance. Finally, a preferable porous ceramsite with compressive strength of 10.7 MPa and an apparent density of 708 kg/m³ was obtained. This study analyzes the effect of Fe₂O₃ on the expansion behavior of porous ceramsite and provides new insight into how to analyze different solid wastes to produce ceramsite in a predictable way.     

Interval analysis of mode shapes to identify damage in beam structures

Various damage detection methods have been proposed by several researchers in the past few decades. Amongst them, the efficiency of mode shapes in detecting damage has been demonstrated by many researchers when further processed. In most cases, the processing involves expansion or reduction of the mode shape data. However, vital information that are damage-prints are often lost during processing of the mode shape data. In addition, most of these processes involve long and complex computation, thus, leading to inaccurate damage identification. In this study, a simple and fast damage identification technique is proposed to identify damage in beam structures. Interval analysis is applied to the mode shapes of a beam structure in the damaged and undamaged states. The interval situations of each of the beam's segment via mode shape are derived to obtain the upper and lower bounds and the derived bounds are compared. To establish a relationship for identify the damaged point, a possibility of damage existence is defined for each segment of the beam structure. The mode shape increment is defined as the increase in the mode shape value. Furthermore, a damage measure index that provide enhance damage information is obtained as the product of the possibility of damage existence and mode shape increment. A numerical model of a simply supported steel beam is applied to demonstrate this method by imposing damage through thickness reduction of elements in segments. In addition, a parametric analysis is carried out to evaluate noise effect by considering varying damage severities and different noise levels. The results showed that this method is simple and provides considerable accurate results.     

汽轮机运行调节方式优化策略探析

分析了汽轮机的喷嘴调节、节流调节、旁通调节、定压调节和滑压调节等几种基本调节方式的特点,指出现役燃煤火电机组多因调节方式单一而普遍存在着调峰能力不足、负荷响应迟缓以及因长期偏离设计工况致使运行安全经济性下降等诸多问题,提出了通过调节方式的优化组合,采用(节流)定压-滑压-(喷嘴)定压-旁通调节的复合调节方式,以实现煤电机组安全、经济、灵活、快速地参与电网的深度调峰,破解具有强随机波动性的新能源电量规模化并网的困境。     

多约束下距离加权最优滑模末制导律

为解决多约束下制导炮弹的精确制导问题,采用带有相对距离权函数的最优滑模末制导律,将权函数引入到最优制导律中,通过改变制导炮弹的运动轨迹、运动时间,进而增强制导精度。针对单权函数难以同时满足制导精度与导引头视线角、过载等约束的问题,采用不同权函数的分段加权方法解决加权最优末制导引起的制导问题。结合滑模变结构控制理论,设计分段加权最优滑模末制导律,增强制导系统的抗干扰能力。仿真验证结果表明,该末制导律既能解决过载、导引头视线角、落角等多约束情况下的精确制导问题,同时又具有一定的鲁棒性。