Mathematical Modeling of Decarburization in Levitated Fe-Cr-C Droplets

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - Using carbon dioxide to replace oxygen as an alternative oxidant gas has proven to be a viable solution in the decarburization process, with potential...     

Characterization of the Hot Deformation Behavior and Microstructure Evolution of a New γ-γ′ Strengthened Cobalt-Based Superalloy

Recently, cobalt-based γ-γ′ microstructured superalloys have attracted attention. However, studies on their processing behavior [i.e., processing maps (the variation of strain rate sensitivity (m) with temperature)] are limited. Thus, the high-temperature flow behavior of a γ-γ′ Co-30Ni-10Al-5Mo-2Ta-2Ti-5Cr (at. pct) superalloy was investigated using isothermal compression tests between 1348 and 1498 K at strain rates from 0.001 to 10 s⁻¹. The m contour map was generated using the experimental flow stress values, which were used to locate the optimum hot workability and desired microstructural processing range. A strong dependence of m on the deformation parameters (temperature, strain rate, and strain) was observed. A maximum m value of around 0.3 at 1460 K to 1498 K and strain rates of 0.01 to 0.5 s⁻¹ was found. The deformed samples show a fully recrystallized microstructure at high m. Unstable domains showed the formation of cavities at the grain boundary triple points and cracks along the grain boundaries at high strain rates (1 to 10 s⁻¹), corresponding to m < 0.10. A constitutive model was developed using an Arrhenius hyperbolic sine function, yielding an apparent activation energy of 540 ± 30 kJ mol⁻¹ for hot deformation. This study indicates reasonable formability under certain conditions below the solvus, thus opening possibilities for further thermomechanical treatment.

     

Studies on air permeability of multi-constituent nonwovens

In this work, a series of multi-constituent nonwovens possessing multi-modal fiber diameter distribution was prepared and the air permeability of such nonwoven structures was measured. This approach was extended to bi-constituent nonwovens consisting of fibers with bi-modal diameter distribution and mono-constituent nonwovens composed of fibers with mono-modal diameter distribution. The multi-constituent nonwovens exhibited highest air permeability, followed by the bi- and mono-constituent nonwovens for the same mean fiber diameter. This was explained in terms of the mean pore diameter of the multi-, bi-, and mono-constituent nonwoven structures. An analytical expression of mean fiber diameter of multi-constituent nonwoven structures was derived. The square of the mean fiber diameter in the multi-constituent nonwovens was found to be the harmonic mean of the volume-weighted square of the mean fiber diameter of the individual constituents. The mean fiber diameter coupled with Kozeny–Carman equation was found to predict the air permeability of the multi-, bi-, and mono-constituent nonwovens very well. It was observed that the mono-constituent nonwoven displayed the highest value of Kozeny–Carman coefficient, followed by the bi- and multi-constituent nonwovens.     

Fibrous raw material of bamboo origin with improved fibrillation and spinnability

For making use of the natural biomass, the textile features of the bamboo fibres were optimized. Since lignin content of the fibres is responsible for its textile properties, the alkali-treated bamboo fibres were bleached with peracetic acid that resulted into the desired removal of lignin content of the fibres. As evident from the scanning electron microscopic images, the morphology of the fibres was much improved over the control samples. The resulting fibre possesses desirable tenacity, colouring properties and strength. Overall, an improved method for chemical treatment of bamboo fibres is developed so that this natural biomass is used for textile purpose.     

Study of wettability test of pure aluminum against uncoated and coated carbide inserts

The wide application of aluminum in different industries has increased the need for finding the suitable cutting tool. In contrast to ferrous materials, the dry machining of aluminum is a great challenge. Wetting test is widely used to find out the chemical affinity of aluminum with different tool materials before proceeding for actual machining. Wettability tests were carried out in a high vacuum brazing chamber to find out the spreadability of aluminum on cutting tools. Mono or multilayer coated carbide tools with a top coating of TiC, TiN, Al₂O₃, TiB₂, MoS₂ and diamond on cemented carbide (WC-Co) cutting tool inserts were used in the experiment. The results revealed that diamond/graphite is the most inert for aluminum.     

Synergistic effect of carbon black and nanoclay fillers in styrene butadiene rubber matrix: Development of dual structure

Styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) based hybrid nanocomposites containing carbon black (CB) and organo-modified nanoclay (NC) was prepared. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the presence of intercalated, aggregated, and partially exfoliated structures. Incorporating 10 phr NC to the control SBR containing 20 phr CB resulted 153% increase in tensile strength, 157% increase in elongation at break and 144% stress improvement at 100% strain, which showed synergistic effect between the fillers. The dynamic modulus reinforcement of nanocomposites was examined by the Guth, Modified Guth, and Halpin–Tsai equations. For predicting CB filled nanocomposite modulus, the contribution of modified intercalated structure of clay and the ‘nano-unit’ (dual structure) comprising CB–NC should be considered.     

Experimental performance evaluation of a novel heat exchanger for a solar hot water storage system

The performance of a novel heat exchanger unit (‘Solasyphon’) developed for a solar hot water storage system was experimentally investigated. The ‘Solasyphon’ is a simple ‘bolt-on’ heat exchange unit that can be integrated externally to a traditional single-coil hot water cylinder (HWC) avoiding the costly replacement of an existing HWC with a twin-coil HWC. The installation cost of a ‘Solasyphon’ is lower compared to a traditional HWC thus offers greater cost effectiveness. A data acquisition system was designed to compare the thermal performance of an integrated ‘Solasyphon’ HWC with a traditional twin-coil HWC under controlled simulated conditions. The analysis was based on experimental data collected under various operating conditions including different primary supply temperatures (solar simulated); primary supply patterns and draw off patterns. The results indicated that the ‘Solasyphon’ delivered solar heated water directly to the top of the HWC producing a stratified supply at a useable temperature. Under variable solar conditions the ‘Solasyphon’ would transfer the heat gained by a solar collector to a HWC more efficiently and quickly than a traditional HWC. The ‘Solasyphon’ system can reduce installation costs by 10–40% and has a lower embodied energy content due to less material replacement.     

Microbial activity on the microstructure of bacteria modified mortar

Microbial modified mortar or concrete has become an important area of research for high-performance construction materials. This study investigates the effects of incorporating a facultative anaerobic hot spring bacterium on the microstructure of a cement–sand mortar. Environmental scanning electron microscopic (ESEM) views and image analysis (IA) of the bacteria modified mortar (thin-section) showed significant textural differences with respect to the control (without bacteria) samples. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study confirmed the formation of new phases of silicates (Gehlenite) within the matrix of such mortar material, which causes an improvement in the strength of the material. Electron probe microstructure analysis (EPMA) suggested that the bacterial treatment promoted uniform distribution of silicate phases and increased the calcium/silicon ratio within CSH gel of the matrices. The bacterium is found to leach a novel protein, which is capable of isolating silica from its source. The addition of such isolated protein, instead of the bacteria, into mortar also improves the strength of mortar.     

Real Time Global Tests of the ALICE High Level Trigger Data Transport Framework

The High Level Trigger (HLT) system of the ALICE experiment is an online event filter and trigger system designed for input bandwidths of up to 25 GB/s at event rates of up to 1 kHz. The system is designed as a scalable PC cluster, implementing several hundred nodes. The transport of data in the system is handled by an object-oriented data flow framework operating on the basis of the publisher-subscriber principle, being designed fully pipelined with lowest processing overhead and communication latency in the cluster. In this paper, we report the latest measurements where this framework has been operated on five different sites over a global north-south link extending more than 10,000 km, processing a ldquoreal-timerdquo data flow.