Analysis and estimation of yield strength of API X80 linepipe steel pipe by low-cycle fatigue tests

In the present study, spiral piping was conducted on API X80 linepipe steel, and the outer and inner wall pipe yield strengths were measured. A low-cycle fatigue test was conducted on a leveled X80 steel sheet to simulate piping and flattening processes, and the strain hardening and Bauschinger effects, induced from different strain histories, were evaluated and combined using Swift??s equation and the Bauschinger stress parameter, respectively. By analyzing the stress-strain curves obtained from the low-cycle fatigue test, the yield strengths of the outer and inner walls were estimated to be 592 MPa and 492 MPa, respectively, which are lower by 20?C80 MPa than that of the actual pipe used. Possible reasons for measured and estimated yield strength differences could be the simulation determining procedure of the pre-strain and Bauschinger stress parameters, preposition of same strain hardening behavior depending on strain history, and pre-strain differences depending on thickness location in the steel sheet during piping.     

Isothermal oxidation of physical vapor deposited partially stabilized zirconia thermal barrier coatings

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs), consisting of physical vapor deposited (PVD) partially stabilized zirconia (PSZ, 8 wt.%Y₂O₃) and a diffusion aluminide bond coat, were characterized as a function of time after oxidative isothermal heat treatment at 1373 K in air. The experimental characterizations was conducted by X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive spectroscopy. During cooling to room temperature, spallation of the PSZ ceramic coatings occurred after 200 and 350 h of isothermal heat treatment. This failure was always sudden and violent, with the TBC popping from the substrate. The monoclinic phase of zirconia was first observed on the bottom surface of the PVD PSZ after 200 h of isothermal heat treatment. The failure of TBCs occurred either in the bond coat oxidation products of αAl₂O₃ and rutile TiO₂ or at the interface between the oxidation products and the diffusion aluminide bond coat or the PSZ coating.     

Inhibition of RANKL-Induced Osteoclastogenesis by Novel Mutant RANKL

Background: Recently, it was reported that leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 4 (LGR4, also called GPR48) is another receptor for RANKL and was shown to compete with RANK to bind RANKL and suppress canonical RANK signaling during osteoclast differentiation. The critical role of the protein triad RANK–RANKL in osteoclastogenesis has made their binding an important target for the development of drugs against osteoporosis. In this study, point-mutations were introduced in the RANKL protein based on the crystal structure of the RANKL complex and its counterpart receptor RANK, and we investigated whether LGR4 signaling in the absence of the RANK signal could lead to the inhibition of osteoclastogenesis.; Methods: The effects of point-mutated RANKL (mRANKL-MT) on osteoclastogenesis were assessed by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), resorption pit formation, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), western blot, NFATc1 nuclear translocation, micro-CT and histomorphological assay in wild type RANKL (mRANKL-WT)-induced in vitro and in vivo experimental mice model. Results: As a proof of concept, treatment with the mutant RANKL led to the stimulation of GSK-3β phosphorylation, as well as the inhibition of NFATc1 translocation, mRNA expression of TRAP and OSCAR, TRAP activity, and bone resorption, in RANKL-induced mouse models; and Conclusions: The results of our study demonstrate that the mutant RANKL can be used as a therapeutic agent for osteoporosis by inhibiting RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis via comparative inhibition of RANKL. Moreover, the mutant RANKL was found to lack the toxic side effects of most osteoporosis treatments.     

Design of ultrafine eutectic-dendrite composites with enhanced mechanical properties in Fe-based alloy

The effect of Mn content on the evolution of microstructure and the enhancement of mechanical properties in Fe-Nb-Mn hierarchical composites consisted of ultrafine eutectic and primary dendrite has been studied by using X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microcopy and compression test. Fe-11Nb-5Mn hierarchical composite consisted of α′-Fe dendrite and urtrafine α′-Fe + Fe₂Nb eutectic, and exhibited a reasonably good combination of mechanical properties, i.e. yield strength of 1283 ± 10 MPa and compressive plastic strain of 7.75 ± 5%, while Fe-11Nb-15Mn composite consisted of ?-Fe dendrite and ?-Fe + Fe₂Nb eutectic structure with some retained γ phase, and exhibited a far better combination of mechanical properties, i.e. higher yield strength of 1462 ± 10 MPa and larger compressive plastic strain of 11.28 ± 2%. The origin for the simultaneous enhancement of high strength and large plastic strain is attributed to ?-Fe martensite formation and strain-induced martensitic transformation from ? to α′ during deformation.     

Dynamics of Bacterial Community Structure in the Rhizosphere and Root Nodule of Soybean: Impacts of Growth Stages and Varieties

Bacterial communities in rhizosphere and root nodules have significant contributions to the growth and productivity of the soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). In this report, we analyzed the physiological properties and dynamics of bacterial community structure in rhizosphere and root nodules at different growth stages using BioLog EcoPlate and high-throughput sequencing technology, respectively. The BioLog assay found that the metabolic capability of rhizosphere is in increasing trend in the growth of soybeans as compared to the bulk soil. As a result of the Illumina sequencing analysis, the microbial community structure of rhizosphere and root nodules was found to be influenced by the variety and growth stage of the soybean. At the phylum level, Actinobacteria were the most abundant in rhizosphere at all growth stages, followed by Alphaproteobacteria and Acidobacteria, and the phylum Bacteroidetes showed the greatest change. But, in the root nodules Alphaproteobacteria were dominant. The results of the OTU analysis exhibited the dominance of Bradyrhizobium during the entire stage of growth, but the ratio of non-rhizobial bacteria showed an increasing trend as the soybean growth progressed. These findings revealed that bacterial community in the rhizosphere and root nodules changed according to both the variety and growth stages of soybean in the field.     

Separation of CO2 by 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol aqueous solution in microporous hydrophobie hollow fiber contained liquid membrane

The absorption of CO₂ from a mixture of CO₂/N₂ gas was carried out using a flat-stirred vessel and the polytetrafluoroethylene hollow fiber contained aqueous 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) solution. The reaction of CO₂ with AMP was confirmed to be a second order reversible reaction with fast-reaction region. The mass transfer resistance in the membrane side obtained from the comparison of the measured absorption rates of CO₂ in a hollow fiber contained liquid membrane with a flat-stirred vessel corresponded to about 90% of overall-mass-transfer resistance. The mass transfer coefficient of hollow fiber phase could be evaluated, which was independent of CO₂ loading.     

Effects of high pressure treatment on the quality and storage of kimchi

The effects of high pressure treatment on the microflora and storage of kimchi were investigated. In a bacterial suspension, numbers of Lactobacillus plantarum were reduced by 6 logs by 500 MPa, at 25 °C for 10 min. Kimchi juice did not alter the rate of inactivation of lactic acid bacteria by high pressure treatment. There was no change in the texture of kimchi subjected to a pressure of 400 MPa, but an increase in cutting force was observed at 600 MPa. When kimchi was pressurized at 400 MPa for 10 min at 25 °C and subsequently stored at 20 °C for 4 weeks, the total number of viable cells stayed at 10³ CFU mL⁻¹. High pressure treatment above 400 MPa prevented excessive acidification that typically occurs during the extended storage of kimchi. The inflation of pouches as a result of accumulated carbon dioxide was also prevented by high pressure treatment. Although colour changes were accelerated by high pressure treatment, this study demonstrates that high pressure treatment can be used to control overripening during the distribution and storage of kimchi products.     

Numerical Investigation of the Combustion Characteristics and Nitric Oxide Formation in a Municipal Waste Incinerator

Numerical analysis has been carried out to investigate the combustion and NO formation and distribution characteristics using a beta probability density function (PDF) method in a three-dimensional municipal waste incinerator by considering the turbulent reacting flow with thermal radiation. For numerical calculation, the multiblock method is adopted to simulate a complex geometry. The program developed has been validated with a commercial program. Considering not only thermal NO but also prompt NO, parametric studies for excess air ratio, secondary air injection, and radiation have been undertaken. By increasing the primary air supply, higher excess air ratio lowers the temperature inside the incinerator so that the amount of NO formation is reduced. When the secondary air injection is considered, more secondary air injection does not always reduce NO formation because of another factor, the equivalence ratio. Additionally, in order to simulate the real situation in an incinerator, nongray gas radiation should be introduced, since including the radiation effect results in lower NO formation because of radiative heat loss.     

A Study of the Vortical Flow over a Delta Wing with a Leading Edge Extension

The present paper describes computational and experimental work on the vortex flow characteristics of a sharp-edged delta wing with a leading edge extension (LEX). Experiment was carried out using a low-speed wind tunnel that has a test section of 3.5 m(W)×2.45 m(H)×8.7 m(L). The angle of attack of the delta wing ranges from 10° to 30°. The free stream velocity is fixed at 20 m/s, which corresponds to Reynolds number of 0.88×106. Computations using the mass-averaged implicit 3D Navier-Stokes equations were applied to predict the complicated vortical flow over the delta wing. The governing equations were discretized in space using a fully implicit finite volume differencing formation. The standard k-e turbulent model was employed to close the governing equations. The present computations predicted the experimented flow field with a good accuracy.     

Massless links with external forces and bushing effect for multibody dynamic analysis

When the contribution of lightweight components to the total energy of a system is small, the inertia effects are sometimes ignored by replacing them to massless links. For example, a revolute-spherical massless link generates two kinematic constraint equations between adjacent bodies and allows four relative degrees of freedom. In this paper, to implement a massless link systematically in a computer program using the velocity transformation technique, the velocity transformation matrix of massless links is derived and numerically implemented. The velocity transformation matrix for a revolute-spherical massless link and a revolute-universal massless link are appeared as a 6X4 matrix and a 6X3 matrix, respectively. A massless link model in a suspension composite joint transmitting external forces is also developed and the numerical efficiency of the proposed model is compared to a conventional multibody model. For a massless link transmitting external forces, forces acting on links are resolved and transmitted to the attached points with a quasi-static assumption. Numerical examples are presented to verify the formulation.