Assessment of white layer in hardened AISI 52100 steel and its prediction using grinding power

In the present work, the effect of various grinding mechanisms on white layer (WL) formation in AISI 52100 steel is studied using two types of alumina grains, one produced by sol–gel process and the other by conventional fusion. Further, a novel approach is proposed on predicting the WL formation using grinding power. This study correlates the power variation with the change in the metallurgical aspects of the work material. WL of about 56 µm thickness is observed in the material ground by worn out sol–gel alumina wheel. However, no WL is present in the material ground by fused alumina wheel. High toughness in sol–gel alumina led to generation of wear flats with increasing grinding passes and transformed the dominant grinding mechanism from shearing to plowing and sliding. This increases the temperature in the grinding zone, which was the reason for WL formation. Change in the dominant grinding mechanisms from shearing is found to increase the grinding power. Since the change in dominant grinding mechanisms is the cause for WL formation, the increase in grinding power is found to be a good measure in predicting the WL formation. The predictability of WL formation by grinding power is further validated by comparing the power variation in grinding process by both the grinding wheels.     

In vitro and in vivo investigations of upconversion and NIR emitting Gd2O3:Er3+,Yb3+ nanostructures for biomedical applications

The use of an “over 1000-nm near-infrared (NIR) in vivo fluorescence bioimaging” system based on lanthanide containing inorganic nanostructures emitting in the visible and NIR range under 980-nm excitation is proposed. It may overcome problems of currently used biomarkers including color fading, phototoxicity and scattering. Gd₂O₃:Er³⁺,Yb³⁺ nanoparticles and nanorods showing upconversion and NIR emission are synthesized and their cytotoxic behavior is investigated by incubation with B-cell hybridomas and macrophages. Surface modification with PEG-b-PAAc provides the necessary chemical durability reducing the release of toxic Gd³⁺ ions. NIR fluorescence microscopy is used to investigate the suitability of the nanostructures as NIR–NIR biomarkers. The in vitro uptake of bare and modified nanostructures by macrophages is investigated by confocal laser scanning microscopy. In vivo investigations revealed nanostructures in liver, lung, kidneys and spleen a few hours after injection into mice, while most of the nanostructures have been removed from the body after 24?h.     

Isopropylation of ethylbenzene over MCM-22 molecular sieve

MCM-22 materials (Si/Al ratios 24, 50 and 75) were synthesized and characterized. The catalytic activity was examined in the vapour phase isopropylation of ethylbenzene with isopropyl alcohol. Based on ethylbenzene conversion, the order of activity of the catalysts is found to be MCM-22(50) > MCM-22(24) = MCM-22(75). The selective formation of p-isopropyl ethylbenzene (p-IPEB) suggests that the reaction occurs mainly inside the 10-membered ring channel. The time on stream study over MCM-22(50) showed steady conversion for 6 h with nearly the same selectivity to p-isopropyl ethylbenzene (p-IPEB) and o-isopropyl ethylbenzene (p-IPEB).     

Multi-gateway association in wireless mesh networks

Most traditional models of wireless mesh networks involve a mobile device connecting to the backbone through one of the available gateways in a wireless mesh network. In this paper, we present an alternate model, in which mobile devices are allowed to connect through more than one of the available gateways. We call the model multi-gateway association (MGA). We present arguments for why such a model can result in better capacity, fairness, diversity and security when compared to the default single-association model. We also identify the primary challenges that need to be addressed when using multiple-gateway associations, and propose solutions to handle these challenges. Using simulations, we show that throughput benefits ranging from 10% to 125% can be obtained by the proposed model as compared to a default single association model with just two gateways and more importantly, benefits linear in the number of gateways are obtainable. Through simulations and analysis, we establish why only intelligent multi-gateway association and neither single or simple multi-gateway association strategies can yield significant benefits.     

Determination of damage evolution in CFRP subjected to cyclic loading using DIC

Damage evolution in carbon fibre reinforced plastic subjected to fatigue loading (R = 0.5, ?1, 2) has been studied using digital image correlation to obtain full‐field surface strains. Damage initiation being a local phenomenon, its effect on global parameters is not significant. The local transverse strain is a better indicator of delamination which affects transverse strain more than the longitudinal strain. Variation of normalized local transverse strain (ratio of local transverse strain to applied stress) near the initiated delamination indicates that the damage evolution occurs over 2 to 3 stages. Each stage has a stable damage growth with a drastic increase between the stages. The stages correspond to different damage mechanisms (matrix cracking, fibre‐matrix debonding, delamination, and fibre breakage) dominating at different periods during the fatigue life. Scatter in normalized local transverse strain plots due to large relative displacements was eliminated using different reference images for DIC. Waviness due to shift in the time at which the images are captured during the loading cycles was avoided using a sine curve fit to obtain maximum transverse strain in a cycle. Normalized local transverse strain plots were found to qualitatively reflect the physical extent of damage, thereby providing confidence in the methodology. Fatigue life curves were generated and run‐out lives were determined.     

Sea urchin shaped ZnO coupled with MoS2 and polyaniline as highly efficient photocatalysts for organic pollutant decomposition and hydrogen evolution

In this work, an attempt has been made to fabricate multifunctional composite photocatalysts by coupling sea urchin shaped ZnO with MoS₂ and polyaniline (PANI) sheets, and a significant improvement in photocatalytic activity was perceived with composites in comparison to pristine components. It was found that the ternary ZnO–MoS₂-PANI photocatalyst showed excellent adsorptive decomposition of organic pollutants natural sunlight irradiation. In addition, enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution was also evidenced, which revealed the multifunctional nature of the photocatalysts. In the case of organic pollutant decomposition, the presence of MoS₂ in ZnO–MoS₂-PANI offers abundant catalytic active sites which result in adsorption of the pollutants and boost the photocatalytic activity. While for the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, the binary ZnO-PANI composite showed the utmost activity in comparison to the pristine components and ZnO–MoS₂-PANI, which is due to the fact that the higher loading of MoS₂ in the composite increases the number of S atoms on the basal planes, which are inactive for H₂ evolution, and hence results in decreased photocatalytic activity. The results discussed in this work may pave the approach for the design and development of ZnO based multifunctional materials for diverse photocatalytic applications.     

Differentiated reliability in optical networks: theoretical and practical results

This paper presents both theoretical and experimental studies carried on wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) networks with arbitrary (mesh) topology that provide optical circuits with differentiated reliability (DiR). Reliability is obtained by means of a modified shared path protection (SPP) switching scheme-here referred to as SPP-DiR. As explained in the paper, SPP-DiR networks provide multiple degrees of circuit reliability that satisfy client-specific reliability requirements in a cost-effective way. The theoretical study first defines the problem of optimally designing SPP-DiR WDM networks. It then presents a time-efficient suboptimal algorithm that determines the routing and the reliability degree of each demand in the given traffic matrix by applying both the conventional SPP and the SPP-DiR scheme. When compared to dedicated path protection switching, results obtained for the pan-European network using the proposed algorithm indicate cost reductions of about 16% when SPP is applied, and up to 34% when SPP-DiR is applied. The experimental study describes the /spl Omega/ testbed-a WDM optical circuit-switched mesh network with an IP control plane-which is believed to be the first testbed ever built that makes use of the SPP-DiR scheme. Experimental results performed on the /spl Omega/ testbed report restoration times of the optical circuits-disrupted by a fiber fault-that are few tens of milliseconds.     

Investigation on 2D photonic crystal-based eight-channel wavelength-division demultiplexer

In this paper, eight-channel wavelength-division demultiplexer (WDDM) is proposed and designed using two-dimensional photonic crystal (2DPC) ring resonator whose corresponding functional parameters such as transmission efficiency, resonant wavelength, Q factor are investigated. The proposed structure consists of bus waveguide, dropping waveguide and square ring resonators. Eight different channels are dropped by altering the cavity size and radius of the defect rods. The plane-wave expansion (PWE) and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) methods are employed to analyse the photonic band gap (PBG) of periodic and non-periodic structure and to arrive normalized transmission spectra, respectively. The resonant wavelengths of eight-channel demultiplexers are 1496.9, 1502.3, 1506.9, 1512.3, 1515.0, 1520.4, 1525.3 and 1530.6 nm. The average transmission efficiency, Q factor and spectral width of proposed demultiplexer are 81%, 825 and 1.8 nm, respectively. The mean channel spacing is about 4.2 nm. The size of the demultiplexer is small; hence, it can be utilized for photonic integrated circuits (PIC).