Improvement of impact toughness of 5Mn-1Al-0.5Ti steel by intercritical annealing

The present study is aimed at improving the impact toughness of 5Mn-1Al-0.5Ti steel by incorporating ferrite-martensite dual phase microstructure by intercritical annealing. Although (8-12)Mn martensitic steels usually show very low impact toughness due to the occurrence of intergranular fracture, the martensitic structure of the present 5Mn-1Al-0.5Ti steel fails by transgranular cleavage fracture due to higher grain boundary strength than matrix strength incurred by reduced Mn content and segregation of Ti along grain boundaries. Nevertheless, it still shows very poor impact toughness at room temperature due to its coarse grain size. The application of intercritical annealing, i.e., formation of dual phase microstructure, is shown to significantly decrease ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT), with only a small degradation of tensile properties; however, microstructural examinations show that most of ferrite/martensite interfaces have a character of low angle boundaries and therefore such decrease in DBTT is not necessarily due to the formation of ferrite-martensite dual phase structure, but rather to the refinement of grain size by low temperature annealing.     

Periodic Exposure of Plasma-Activated Medium Alters Fibroblast Cellular Homoeostasis

Excess amounts of redox stress and failure to regulate homeostatic levels of reactive species are associated with several skin pathophysiologic conditions. Nonmalignant cells are assumed to cope better with higher reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) levels. However, the effect of periodic stress on this balance has not been investigated in fibroblasts in the field of plasma medicine. In this study, we aimed to investigate intrinsic changes with respect to cellular proliferation, cell cycle, and ability to neutralize the redox stress inside fibroblast cells following periodic redox stress in vitro. Soft jet plasma with air as feeding gas was used to generate plasma-activated medium (PAM) for inducing redox stress conditions. We assessed cellular viability, energetics, and cell cycle machinery under oxidative stress conditions at weeks 3, 6, 9, and 12. Fibroblasts retained their usual physiological properties until 6 weeks. Fibroblasts failed to overcome the redox stress induced by periodic PAM exposure after 6 weeks, indicating its threshold potential. Periodic stress above the threshold level led to alterations in fibroblast cellular processes. These include consistent increases in apoptosis, while RONS accumulation and cell cycle arrest were observed at the final stages. Currently, the use of NTP in clinical settings is limited due to a lack of knowledge about fibroblasts’ behavior in wound healing, scar formation, and other fibrotic disorders. Understanding fibroblasts’ physiology could help to utilize nonthermal plasma in redox-related skin diseases. Furthermore, these results provide new information about the threshold capacity of fibroblasts and an insight into the adaptation mechanism against periodic oxidative stress conditions in fibroblasts.     

A study on methane–air premixed flames interacting with syngas–air premixed flames

Numerical study on the interaction between methane–air and syngas–air premixed flames is conducted according to equivalence ratio and global strain rate in detailed chemistry. This study targets at understanding of an interacting combustion system as an alternative retrofit concept where one can modify the existing facilities minimally in industrial and power plant burners in order to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide. It is seen that methane premixed flame interacting with syngas premixed flame can be sustained even over the rich flammable limit of single methane premixed flame. The inspection of detailed flame structure such as the distributions of major species and chain carrier radicals, flame separation distance, spatial flow velocity, and spatial distribution of the rate of production and consumption of CH₄, H₂, and CO is also conducted to depict the flame interactions. The importance of global strain rate and thus the flame separation distance in the enhanced burning of methane premixed flame is also stressed through the inspection of the consumption rates of H₂, CO, and CH₄. Anomalous phenomena such as the migration of premixed flame cross the stagnation plane and the nearly constant flame separation distance are also discussed.     

Evaluation of Enhanced Heat Transfer Within a Four Row Finned Tube Array of an Air Cooled Steam Condenser

Air cooled steam condensers (ACSC) consist of finned-tube arrays bundled in an A-frame structure. Inefficient performance under extreme temperature operating conditions is a common problem in ACSCs. The purpose of this study was to improve the heat transfer characteristics of an annular finned-tube system for better performance in extreme climatic conditions. Perforations were created on the surface of the annular fins to increase heat transfer coefficient (h). Mesh generation and finite volume analyses were performed using Gambit 2.4.6 and Fluent 6.3 with an RNG k–? turbulent model to calculate pressure drop (ΔP), heat flux (q), and heat transfer coefficient (h). Solid (no perforations) finned-tubes were simulated with free stream velocity ranging between 1 m/s–5 m/s and validated with the published data. Computations were performed for perforations at 30° interval starting at ±60°, ±90°, ±120°, ±150°, and ±180° from the stagnation point. Five cases with single perforation and three cases with multiple perforations were evaluated for determining the maximum q and h, as well as minimum ΔP. For the perforated case (perforations starting from 60° at interval of 30°), the fin q and h performance ratios increased by 5.96% and 7.07%, respectively. Consequently, the fin ΔP performance ratio increased by 11.87%. Thus, increased q and h is accompanied with a penalty of higher ΔP. In contrast, a single perforation location at 120° provided favorable results with a 1.70% and 2.23% increase in q and h performance ratios, respectively, while there was a relatively smaller increase (only 1.39%) of ΔP performance ratio. Perforations in the downstream region at ±120°, ±150°, and ±180° also resulted in a similar favorable outcome. Furthermore, the spacing of the fins along the arms of an A-frame ACSC was altered to decrease ΔP across the finned-tube array. Fin spacing in the A-frame structure with sparsely spaced fins in the center resulted in a 1.80% reduction in ΔP. Thus, penalty in ΔP for a perforated fin can possibly be offset by changing the fin spacing along the arms of an A-frame structure.     

LOFT L9-3 Experiment Simulation Using the SPACE Code

The KHNP （Korea Hydro ＆ Nuclear Power Co.） has developed a multipurpose nuclear safety analysis code called SPACE （the safety and performance analysis code） for nuclear power plants. SPACE code is a best-estimated two-phase three-field thermal-hydraulic analysis code used to analyze the safety and performance of pressurized water reactors. In this paper, LOFT （loss of fluid test） L9-3 experiment using the SPACE code was selected to confirm the capability of SPACE code and the results calculated by the SPACE code are compared with those measured through the experiment. The results were compared with the experimental data and those of the other code simulations. Throughout the simulation result, it was concluded that the SPACE code can effectively simulate LOFT L9-3 experiment.     

A heuristic method of variable selection based on principal component analysis and factor analysis for monitoring in a 300 kW MCFC power plant

In a commercialized 300 kW molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) power plant, a univariate alarm system that has only upper and lower limits is usually employed to identify abnormal conditions in the system. Even though univariate alarms have already been adopted for system monitoring, this simple monitoring system is limited for using in an extended monitoring system for fault diagnosis. Therefore, based on principal component analysis (PCA), a recursive variable grouping method for a multivariate monitoring system in a commercialized MCFC power plant is presented in this paper. In terms of development, since a principal component analysis model that contains all system variables cannot isolate a system fault, heuristic recursive variable selection method using factor analysis is presented here. To verify the performance of the fault detection, real plant operations data are used. Furthermore, comparison between type 1 and type 2 errors for four different variable groups demonstrates that the developed heuristic method works well when system faults occur. These monitoring techniques can reduce the number of false alarms occurring on site at MCFC power plant.     

Integrated carbon composite bipolar plate for polymer–electrolyte membrane fuel cells

The electrical resistance of bipolar plates for polymer–electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) should be very low to conduct the electricity generated with minimum electrical loss. The resistance of a bipolar plate consists of the bulk material resistance and the interfacial contact resistance when two such plates are contacted to provide channels for fuel and air (oxygen) supplies.     

An Impulse-time Perturbation Approach for a Symmetric Extra-insensitive Input Shaper

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - In this study, symmetric perturbation extra-insensitive input shapers (SPEI-ISs) are proposed to enhance the robustness of the...     

Morphology effect on the transferred charges in triboelectric nanogenerators: Numerical study using a finite element method

The structural shape of the interface between a metal and dielectric material in a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is an important factor that can improve the device performance. Many interfacial structures have been developed to improve the TENG performance. However, there have been very few studies on the numerical interpretation of various types of contact interfaces. For various interfacial structures on which uniform triboelectric charge density is distributed, the surface charge density (in-plane, out-of-plane, and total) is systematically analyzed to predict the quantity of the transferred charges on the bottom metal under a short-circuit condition. In this work, a numerical study is conducted using a finite element method. The numerical results confirm that the increase in the quantity of the transferred charges collected on the bottom metal via electrostatic induction is related to the increase in the area of the surface structures (i.e., surface enlargement effect due to the formation of complex interfacial morphology). The estimated magnitude of the transferred charges shows the following decreasing trend for the various structural shapes: rectangle > cylinder > pyramid > cone > flat.     

Harmful effects of pyrethroid ester insecticide on the male reproductive system mainly through affecting testicular function and inflammatory markers

Pyrethroid esters are widely used as insecticides worldwide. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the harmfuleffect of deltamethrin on the male reproductive system through the assessment of reproductive hormones, inflammatorymarkers, and testicular function. To achieve our aim, eighty male 7-9-week-old, Wistar rats were taken, weighed, anddivided into four experimental groups. The first group was kept as a control group, and the other three groups weregiven deltamethrin orally at different concentrations (0.87, 8.7, and 17.4 mg/kg body weight) for nine weeks. The resultsindicated that deltamethrin administration associated with a significant decrease in reproductive hormones, especiallyFSH, LH, and significant elevation in the interleukin 2 (IL2), interleukin 6 (IL6), histamine, and cortisol levels. Also, thesignificance of inhibition of sperm motility and viability, decreased testis weights, sperm count, and fructose in semenwere noted. These findings clarify the harmful effect of deltamethrin on the male reproductive system by producing asignificant alteration in reproductive hormones, inflammatory markers as well as testicular function.