Mechanical behavior modeling of nanocrystalline NiAl compound by a feed-forward back-propagation multi-layer perceptron ANN

In this paper, an artificial neural network (ANN) model has been developed to predict the yield and tensile strengths of hot pressed NiAl intermetallic compound based on the experimental data from Albiter et al. [A. Albiter, M. Salazar, E. Bedolla, R.A.L. Drew, R. Perez, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 347 (2003) 154]. The predicted results, with a correlation relation between 0.9791 and 0.9921, show a very good agreement with the experimental values. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the importance of the effects of chemical composition and temperature on the mechanical behavior of hot pressed NiAl intermetallic compound.     

Study of payment scheduling problem to achieve client–contractor agreement

This paper aims to determine simultaneously the amount, timing, and location of progress payments in projects in order to achieve a set of equitable solutions in the client–contractor negotiation process. The objective function tries to minimize the distance between the final solutions and the best achievable solutions of the client and the contractor. Due to combinatorial nature of the proposed problem, an iterative two-stage search method is proposed. In the first stage, a set of payments is determined to maximize the contractor's net present value (NPV), another set to maximize the client's NPV, and another one to minimize the objective function. In the second stage, activities are rescheduled to improve the solutions by fixing the amount and location of progress payments. A hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm named GASA, along with a simulated annealing (SA) and a genetic algorithm (GA), is introduced for the first stage, while the activities are optimally scheduled in the second stage. It has been shown that SA is better for the contractor’s objective function and GA for the client’s objective function, but GASA is the best in all situations; besides, the proposed method has represented to be an efficient approach to obtain non-dominated solutions in the client–contractor negotiation process.     

The Effect of Ti on Mechanical Properties of Extruded In-Situ Al-15 pct Mg2Si Composite

This work was carried out to investigate the effect of different Ti concentrations as a modifying agent on the microstructure and tensile properties of an in-situ Al-15 pctMg₂Si composite. Cast, modified, and homogenized small ingots were extruded at 753 K (480 °C) at the extrusion ratio of 18:1 and ram speed of 1 mm/s. Various techniques including metallography, tensile testing, and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the mechanical behavior, microstructural observations, and fracture mechanisms of this composite. The results showed that 0.5 pctTi addition and homogenizing treatment were highly effective in modifying Mg₂Si particles. The results also exhibited that the addition of Ti up to 0.5 pct increases both ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and tensile elongation values. The highest UTS and elongation values were found to be 245 MPa and 9.5 pct for homogenized and extruded Al-15 pctMg₂Si-0.5 pctTi composite, respectively. Fracture surface examinations revealed a transition from brittle fracture mode in the as-cast composite to ductile fracture in homogenized and extruded specimens. This can be attributed to the changes in size and morphology of Mg₂Si intermetallic and porosity content.     

Feldspar/titanium dioxide/chitosan as a biophotocatalyst hybrid for the removal of organic dyes from aquatic phases

Feldspar/titanium dioxide/chitosan hybrid, a photoactive biocompatible adsorbent for anionic dyes, was synthesized, characterized, and successfully tested. The adsorbent characterization, pH role, adsorbent dose effect, equilibrium data, kinetic plats, and thermodynamic parameters are reported. The point of zero charge for the hybrid was measured to be 8.3, and the most favorable pH range for the adsorption process was found to be below this pH value. The adsorption equilibrium study demonstrated that the Freundlich model was best fitted to the experimental data. Without UV light exposure, the prepared adsorbent adsorbed 72 mg of Acid Black 1 (AB1)/g of sorbent (86% removal) from a 100‐mL solution with an initial dye concentration of 50 mg/L, whereas UV irradiation resulted in an increase in the elimination of AB1 dye (97% removal). The kinetic data was depicted well by the pseudo‐second‐order model. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that the reaction between the hybrid and the dye was exothermic and also spontaneous at lower temperatures. In the batch desorption process, several aqueous solutions adjusted to different pH values were tested, and the best desorption performance (90% desorption) was achieved at pH 11. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40247.     

Rapid determination of soil unconfined compressive strength using reflectance spectroscopy

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Understanding the physical and especially mechanical properties of forest soils is very important in forest engineering operations including...     

Development of a coupled wavelet transform and evolutionary Levenberg‐Marquardt neural networks for hydrological process modeling

This research aims to present a general framework by which the most appropriate wavelet parameters including mother wavelet, vanishing moment, and decomposition level can be chosen for a joint wavelet transform and machine learning model. This study is organized in 2 parts: the first part presents an evolutionary Levenberg‐Marquardt neural network (ELMNN) model as the most effective machine learning configuration, and the second part describes how the wavelet transform can be effectively embedded with the developed ELMNN model. In this research, the rainfall and runoff time series data of 2 distinct watersheds at 2 different time scales (daily and monthly) were used to build the proposed hybrid wavelet transform and ELMNN model. The conclusions of this study showed that the Daubechies wavelet more than other wavelet families is capable to extract the informative features of hydrologic series. The vanishing moment and decomposition level of this mother wavelet should be selected based on the watershed behavior and the time resolution of rainfall and runoff time series, respectively. The verification results for both watersheds at daily and monthly time scales indicated root mean square error, peak value criterion, low value criterion, and Kling‐Gupta efficiency as about 0.017, 0.021, 0.023, and 0.91, respectively.     

A hierarchical architecture based on traveling salesman problem for hybrid wireless network-on-chip

Wireless Networks - The increased latency and power consumption are the major challenges of traditional wired Network-on-Chip (NoC). The Wireless NoC (WNoC) architecture is regarded as a novel...     

Kinetics studies on copolymerization of acrylonitrile vinyl acids by solvent–water suspension polymerization

Polyacrylonitrile is an important polymer that is widely used in the manufacture of synthetic fibers, particularly for applications in apparel. Although a vast amount of literature is available on the polymerization process of acrylonitrile (AN) with other monomers, there are few reports of studies on polymerization in a mixed solvent of water with an organic solvent. It is conceivable that this method could combine the advantages of the solution and suspension polymerization methods. Synthesis of AN copolymers with two vinyl acids, methacrylic acid (MAA) and itaconic acid (IA), is carried out by solvent–water suspension polymerization. The polymerizations are performed with an equal ratio mixture of dimethylformamide as a solvent and water as a nonsolvent at 60°C using α,α‐azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator. The kinetics of polymerization are studied by plotting the conversion versus reaction time for different mole ratios of AN with vinyl acids. Copolymers are characterized by FTIR and capillary viscometery. The results show that IA depresses the rate of polymerization more than MAA in this reaction medium, and this effect becomes more significant at higher vinyl acid mole ratios. High conversion in a short reaction time is obtainable for copolymers with a low vinyl acid mole fraction. However, for mole ratios of more than 93:7, the rate of the reaction is drastically reduced and low conversion (<60%) results, even after 8 h. The intrinsic viscosities of all cases are surprisingly high. Although they are reduced with increasing acidic comonomer mole fraction, this reduction is more significant for IA compared to MAA. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 1284–1291, 2005     

TLP bonding of Ti-6Al-4V and Mg-AZ31 alloys using pure Ni electro-deposited coats

Transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding of Mg-AZ31 and Ti-6Al-4V alloys was performed using pure thin Ni electro-deposited coat interlayer (12 μm). The effect of bonding temperature, time and pressure on microstructural developments and subsequent mechanical properties across joint interface was studied at a temperature range from 500 to 540 °C, bonding time from 1 to 60 min and bonding pressure from 0 to 0.8 MPa. The mechanisms of bond formation varied across the joint region, with solid-state diffusion dominant at the Ti-6Al-4V interface and eutectic diffusion at the Mg-AZ31 interface. Joint microstructure was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to detect the formation of intermetallic phases at the fracture surface. The maximum joint shear strength of 61 MPa was obtained at a temperature of 520 °C, 20 min and at a bonding pressure of 0.2 MPa. This joint strength was three times the bond strength reported for joints made using adhesives and represents 50% of the Mg-AZ31 alloy shear strength.     

Mechanical and Tribological Characterization of Al-Mg2Si Composites After Yttrium Addition and Heat Treatment

In this study, the effect of heat treatment and yttrium additions on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and tribological behavior of Al-15% Mg₂Si cast composites was investigated. The microstructural study revealed the presence of both primary and secondary Mg₂Si phases in all composite specimens and also Y-containing intermetallics (Al₂Y phases) at higher concentrations. It was also found that Y addition does not change the size and morphology of primary Mg₂Si particles considerably, but the pseudo-eutectic Mg₂Si changed from a flake-like morphology to fine fibrous or rod-like one. The results show that proper content of Y additions can reduce the amount of Mg₂Si phase through dissolving it into the matrix, lead to the precipitation of Al₂Y phase and improve the mechanical properties. Modified composites with 0.5% Y exhibited an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 290 MPa with an elongation of 4.3%. After exposing the composite to solution treatment at 520 °C for 4 h, the tensile strength of the composite continuously increased with the increase of Y content, and reached the maximum at 1% Y. The maximum UTS and elongation at room temperature for the heat-treated composites are 294 MPa and 7.4%, respectively. In the cast specimen, fracture surfaces are covered by packets with coarse steps, suggesting a brittle mode of failure. Modified composites with 0.5 wt.% Y contain several cracked particles together with a few decohered primary Mg₂Si particles. In solution heat-treated state, dimples present at the fracture surface are rather coarse but homogenous, showing a semi-ductile mode of fracture. Wear test results showed that the wear resistance of all specimens increases with the addition of Y up to 0.3 wt.%. Scanning electron microscopic observations of the worn surfaces revealed that the dominant wear mechanism was abrasive wear accompanied by some delamination wear mode.