Study on ice-melting performance of gradient gas diffusion layer in proton exchange membrane fuel cell

In this study, a three-dimensional model was established using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to study the internal ice melting process of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The single-point second-order curved boundary condition was adopted. The effects of GDL carbon fiber number, growth slope of the number of carbon fibers and carbon fiber diameter on ice melting were studied. The results were revealed that the temperature in the middle and lower part of the gradient distribution GDL is significantly higher than that of the no-gradient GDL. With the increase of the growth slope of the number of carbon fiber, the temperature and melting rate gradually increase, and the position of the solid-liquid interface gradually decreases. The decrease in the number of carbon fibers has a similar effect as the increase in the growth slope of the number of carbon fibers. In addition, as the diameter of the carbon fiber increases, the position of the solid-liquid interface gradually decreases first and then increases.     

Effect of post heat-treatment on the microstructure and high-temperature oxidation behavior of precipitation hardened IN738LC superalloy fabricated by selective laser melting

The present study investigated the effect of as-built and post heat-treated microstructures of IN738LC alloy fabricated via selective laser melting process on high temperature oxidation behavior.The as-built microstructure showed fine cell and columnar structure due to high cooling rate.Ti element segrega-tion was observed in inter-cell/inter-columnar area.After post heat-treatment,the initially-observed cell structure disappeared,instead bimodal Ni3(Al,Ti)particles formed.High temperature(1273 K and 1373 K)oxidation test results showed parabolic oxidation curves regardless of temperature and initial microstructure.The as-built IN738LC fabricated via the selective laser melting process displayed oxida-tion resistance similar to or slightly better than that of IN738LC fabricated via wrought or cast process.Heat-treated SLM IN738LC,although had similar oxidation weight-gain values to those of the SLM as-built material at 1273 K,showed relatively better oxidation resistance at 1373 K.Bimodal Ni3(Al,Ti)precipitate formed in the post heat treatment changed the local chemical composition,thereby led to changes in alumina former/chromia former location and fraction on the alloy surface.It was concluded that in heat-treated IN738LC increased alumina former fraction was found,and this resulted in excellent oxidation resistance and relatively low weight-gain.     

Performance of BaZrO3/Y2O3 dual-phase refractory applied to TiAl alloy melting

Vacuum induction melting is a potential process for the preparation of TiAl alloys with good homogeneity and low cost. But the crucial problem is a selection of high stability refractory. In this study, a BaZrO₃/Y₂O₃ dual-phase refractory was prepared and its performance for melting TiAl alloys was studied and compared with that of a Y₂O₃ refractory. The results showed the dual-phase refractory consisted of BaZr_1-xY_xO_3-δ and Y₂O₃(ZrO₂), exhibited a thinner interaction layer (30 μm) than the Y₂O₃ refractory (90 μm) after melting the TiAl alloy. Although the TiAl alloys melted in the dual-phase and Y₂O₃ refractory exhibited similar oxygen contamination (<0.1 wt%), the alloy melted in the dual-phase refractory had smaller Y₂O₃ inclusion content and size than that in the Y₂O₃ refractory, indicating that the dual-phase refractory exhibited a better melting performance than the Y₂O₃ refractory. This study provides insights into the process of designing highly stable refractory for melting TiAl alloys.     

退火工艺对激光选区熔化成形Ti6Al4V合金组织及室温力学性能的影响

以Ti6Al4V球形粉末为原料,利用激光选区熔化成形方法制备了Ti6Al4V合金试样,采用光学显微镜、扫描电镜及力学性能测试等手段,研究了退火工艺对Ti6Al4V合金室温力学性能及组织的影响规律。结果表明: SLM成形沉积态Ti6Al4V合金室温抗拉强度超过1200 MPa,而平均断后伸长率仅为4.0%;在650 ℃下进行真空退火处理,合金的抗拉强度仍保持在1200 MPa左右,规定塑性延伸强度R_p0.2高于1150 MPa,但试样的断后伸长率<10%;而在750及800 ℃下进行真空退火处理,合金试样的抗拉强度降至1100 MPa左右,规定塑性延伸强度高于1050 MPa,伸长率达到甚至超过10%,材料的综合强韧性得到明显提升。随着真空退火加热温度和保温时间的增加,SLM成形Ti6Al4V合金原始β晶界逐渐变模糊,晶粒趋向于等轴化。与此同时,快速冷却转变的α′针状马氏体未出现明显地粗化。     

Experimental Investigation of Heat Storage and Heat Transfer Rates during Melting of Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Materials (NePCM) in a Differentially-Heated Rectangular Cavity

In this work, an experimental study of melting heat transfer of nano-enhanced phase change materials(NePCM) in a differentially-heated rectangular cavity was performed. Two height-to-width aspect ratios of the cavity, i.e., 0.9 and 1.5, were investigated. The model Ne PCM samples were prepared by dispersing graphene nanoplatelets(GNP) into 1-tetradecanol, having a nominal melting point of 37℃, at loadings up to 3 wt.%. The viscosity was found to have a more than 10-fold increase at the highest loading of GNP. During the melting experiments, the wall superheat at the heating boundary was set to be 10℃ or 30℃. It was shown that with increasing the loading of GNP, both the heat storage and heat transfer rates during melting decelerate to some extent, at all geometrical and thermal configurations. This suggested that the use of NePCM in such cavity may not be able to enhance the heat storage rate due to the dramatic growth in viscosity, which deteriorates significantly natural convective heat transfer during melting to overweigh the enhanced heat conduction by only a decent increase in thermal conductivity. This also suggested that the numerically predicted melting accelerations and heat transfer enhancements, as a result of the increased thermal conductivity, in the literature are likely overestimated because the negative effects due to viscosity growth are underestimated.     

Melting heat transfer analysis of electrically conducting nanofluid flow over an exponentially shrinking/stretching porous sheet with radiative heat flux under a magnetic field

Modern magnetic nanomaterial processing operations are progressing rapidly and require increasingly sophisticated mathematical models for their optimization. Stimulated by such developments, in this paper, a theoretical and computational study of a steady magnetohydrodynamic nanofluid over an exponentially stretching/shrinking permeable sheet with melting (phase change) and radiative heat transfer is presented. Besides, wall transpiration, that is, suction and blowing (injection), is included. This study deploys Buongiorno's nanofluid model, which simulates the effects of the Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The transport equations and boundary conditions are normalized via similarity transformations and appropriate variables, and the similarity solutions are shown to depend on the transpiration parameter. The emerging dimensionless nonlinear coupled ordinary differential boundary value problem is solved numerically with the Newton-Fehlberg iteration technique. Validation with special cases from the literature is included. The increase in the magnetic field, that is, the Hartmann number, is observed to elevate nanoparticle concentration and temperature, whereas it dampens the velocity. Higher values of the melting parameter consistently decelerate the boundary layer flow and suppress temperature and nanoparticle concentration. A higher radiative parameter strongly increases temperature (and thermal boundary layer thickness) and weakly accelerates the flow. The increase in the Brownian motion reduces nanoparticle concentrations, whereas a greater thermophoretic body force strongly enhances them. The Nusselt number and Sherwood number are observed to be decreased with an increasing Hartmann number, whereas they are elevated with a stronger wall suction and melting parameter.     

The control of paracetamol particle size and surface morphology through crystallisation in a spray dryer

The parameters governing the crystallisation of paracetamol using various conventional techniques has been extensively studied, however the factors influencing the drug crystallisation using spray drying is not as well understood. The aim of this work was to investigate the crystallisation of an active pharmaceutical ingredient through evaporative crystallisation using a spray dryer to study the physicochemical properties of the drug and to use semi-empirical equations to gain insight into the morphology and particle size of the dried powder. Paracetamol solutions were spray dried at various inlet temperatures ranging from 60 °C to 120 °C and also from a series of inlet feed solvent compositions ranging from 50/50% v/v ethanol/water to 100% ethanol and solid-state characterisation was done. The size and morphology of the dried materials were altered with a change in spray drying parameters, with an increase in inlet temperature leading to an increase in particle Sauter mean diameter (from 3.0 to 4.4 µm) and a decrease in the particle size with an increase in ethanol concentration in the feed (from 4.6 to 4.4 µm) as a result of changes in particle density and atomised droplet size. The morphology of the dried particles consisted of agglomerates of individual crystallites bound together into larger semi-spherical agglomerates with a higher tendency for particles having crystalline ridges to form at higher ethanol concentrations of the feed.     

超高强7055铝合金铸锭均匀化工艺优化

采用光学显微镜、扫描电镜、差热分析及透射电镜等手段,对一种航空用超高强7055铝合金大尺寸铸锭的均匀化工艺进行分析与优化。提出分级提高均匀化温度的方法,在确保不发生过烧的情况下,最大限度改善铸锭质量。结果显示:低温预均匀化时,铸锭中析出大量的Al₃Zr相,能够大幅度降低对后续挤压变形的再结晶比例;对铸锭采用400 ℃×4 h+465 ℃×16 h+474 ℃×8 h的分级均匀化处理工艺,能够显著消除铸锭中低熔点相的含量,提高铸锭质量,同时相比于原工艺节省约13 h。新的均匀化处理工艺,不仅提高了生产效率,还能够为后续工艺提供良好的铸锭。     

选区激光熔化316L不锈钢的各向组织与性能

对采用选区激光熔化(SLM)制备的316L不锈钢增材制造试样进行了横向、纵向力学性能与微观组织分析。结果表明,增材制造SLM试件亚结构组织由尺寸为0.4 μm左右的胞状组织所构成,组织之间无明显的成分偏析,纵向与横向拉伸强度分别达到808和713 MPa,在经过1050 ℃热处理后,原组织中部分胞状组织消失,纵向及横向强度分别下降到673 MPa及579 MPa,增材制造试样相对传统热轧试样(550 MPa)具有明显的强度优势。SLM试样组织中存在未熔合缺陷,缺陷几何形状的方向性对其在拉应力作用下连接成裂纹有显著影响。热处理后缺陷长度方向与拉伸应力平行的纵向试样伸长率达到47.5%,横向试样伸长率为20%,伸长率指标均显著低于热轧316L钢试样,未熔合缺陷是导致3D打印试件塑性指标降低的主要因素之一。