A non-contact method for part-based process performance monitoring in end milling operations

Surface response to excitation (SuRE) method was originally developed for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. SuRE was used to evaluate the performance of completed milling operations. The method generates surface waves on the plate and studies the spectrum changes at selected points to detect defects and change of compressive forces. In this study, the length, depth, and width of a slot were changed step by step. The surface of the aluminum plate was excited in the 20–400 kHz range with a piezoelectric element. A laser scanning vibrometer was used to monitor the vibrations at the predetermined grid points after the dimensions of the slot were changed methodically. The frequency spectrums of measured vibrations were calculated by using the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT). The sums of the squares of the differences (SSD) of the spectrums were calculated to evaluate the change of the spectrums. The SuRE method was able to determine if the dimensions were changed in each case at all the selected points. The scanning laser vibrometer is not feasible to be used at the shop floor. However, the study demonstrated that a piezoelectric element attached to any of the grid points would be able to evaluate the completed machining process.     

Modelling 3-D cutting dynamics with neural networks

Identification of 3-D cutting dynamics requires an expensive experimental set-up and complicated analysis. Recently, time series methods were used to model cutting dynamics. This approach allows a simpler experimental set-uup and estimates the discrete transfer functions used for simulation and/or calculation of frequency domain characteristics of the system. In this paper, the use of neural networks is proposed to model the 3-D cutting dynamics. Neural networks can be trained using the same experimental set-up used for the time series methods. However, several time series models (for different cutting speeds) can be represented with a single neural network, and cutting forces can be studied for varying cutting speed conditions. Also, four neural networks were used to store the frequency domain characteristics of the thrust direction cutting force. In this study, the estimation errors for the neural networks were less than 7% of the defined range (the difference between the maximum and minimum of the data).     

Quality evaluation model using loss function for multiple S-type quality characteristics

Most of the studies of quality system or product-quality assessment deal with a single quality characteristic to determine the quality loss. Products are often assessed on more than one quality characteristic. For this reason, different multivariate quality loss functions have been proposed. However, these loss functions only consider the nominal-the-best quality characteristics (N-type); they do not consider the condition when the quality characteristics are of the smaller-the-better (S-type). In this article, we present a quality evaluation model using loss function for multiple S-type quality characteristics. A numerical example is illustrated showing that using inappropriate loss functions will lead to inaccurate results that give either an underestimate or overestimate of the expected quality costs.     

Non-destructive determination of residual stress state in steel weldments by Magnetic Barkhausen Noise technique

The purpose of this study is non-destructive determination of residual stresses in the welded steel plates by Magnetic Barkhausen Noise (MBN) technique. A MBN-stress calibration set-up and a residual stress measurement system with scanning ability were developed. To control the accuracy and the effectiveness of the developed system and procedure, various MBN measurements were carried out. The MBN results were verified by the hole-drilling method. Microstructural investigation and hardness measurements were also conducted. It was concluded that if the calibration procedure including the effect of microstructure is appropriate then MBN is a very promising method for non-destructive, fast and accurate prediction of residual stresses in the welded plates.     

Kinetics of the oxidative color removal and degradation of bromophenol blue with hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by copper(II)-supported alumina and zirconia

Copper-supported alumina and zirconia catalysts were prepared and their catalytic activity towards the oxidative color removal and degradation of bromophenol blue with H₂O₂ was investigated. The rate of reaction with alumina is greater than that with zirconia, which ascribed to the increased amount of copper loaded on the catalyst as well as to the increased surface area. A brown intermediate (peroxo-compound), formed at the early stages of the reaction, inhibited the reaction rate. The rate of reaction increased with increase in pH of the medium as well as with added chloride ions. Both catalysts are very stable and can be used for several times without notable loss in their catalytic activities.     

Improving the throwing power of acidic zinc sulfate electroplating baths

The effect of some plating parameters, such as Zn²⁺ ion concentration, pH, current density, temperature and duration on the throwing power, as well as on the throwing index of acidic zinc sulfate baths has been investigated. The addition of p‐anisidine (PA) and/or sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (DBS) has been examined as a possible means of improving the uniformity of deposit distribution. The additives cause a substantial increase in the overpotential for the reduction of Zn²⁺ ions and consequently improve the throwing power of the baths. The throwing power increases by a factor of four in the presence of DBS and a factor of one‐and‐a‐half in the presence of PA. The inhibition of zinc reduction was assumed to occur via adsorption of the PA or DBS molecules on the cathode surface and the adsorption followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The surface morphology of the zinc plated with and without the additives was examined by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Estimation method for determining surface film conductance during cooling of fish packages

This paper presents an alternative method for determining the surface film conductance of an infinite fish slab subjected to the cooling process. Many methods have been published, but their solutions have inherent appreciable inaccuracy and limitations. The present authors used the temperature histories of five locations within a slab sample of fish, obtained by the experimental investigation part of this work, along with the inverse heat conduction problem (IHCP) technique to develop a correlation for variable surface film conductance. When the above correlation was used for temperature predictions, the predicted and experimentally measured temperature distribution profiles were compared numerically. Better agreement than that implemented by other investigators was achieved. This revealed the accuracy and superiority of the present method, and the limitations of other methods are overcome in this method.     

STRUCTURAL DETERMINATION OF TITANIUM-OXIDE NANOPARTICLES BY X-RAY ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY

As a potential application of titanium-oxide nanoparticles, it is extremely important to investigate a detailed picture of the surface and interior structural properties of nanocrystalline materials, such as rutile and anatase with diameters 7.0 and 4.5nm, respectively. X-ray absorption spectroscopy has been used to identify the local Ti environment and related electronic structure. We combine the experimental results at the Ti edge in both bulk and nano-crystals to determine the lattice distortion in terms of differently characteristic preedge features and the variation in the multiple-scattering region of X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra. The relationship between the transition peaks and the surface-to volume ratio is also discussed.     

Effect of Bimodal Grain Size Distribution on the Strain Hardening Behavior of a Medium-Entropy Alloy

The evolution of strain hardening behavior of the Fe_(50)(CoCrMnNi)_(50) medium-entropy alloy as a function of the fraction of recrystallized microstructure and the grain size was studied using the Hollomon and Ludwigson equations.The specimens under study were partially recrystallized,fully recrystallized with ultrafine-grained microstructure,and fully recrystallized with coarse grains.The yield strength decreases steadily as the fraction of recry stallized micro structure and grain size increases due to the recovery process and the Hall-Petch effect.Interestingly,the bimodal grain distribution was found to have a significant impact on strain hardening during plastic deformation.For instance,the highest ultimate tensile strength was exhibited by a 0.97 μm specimen,which was observed to contain a bimodal grain distribution.Furthermore,using the Ludwigson equation,the effect of the bimodal grain distribution was established from the behavior of K_2 and n1 curves.These curves tend to show very high values in the specimens with a bimodal grain distribution compared to those that show a homogenous grain distribution.Additionally,the bimodal grain distribution contributes to the extensive L(u|")ders strain observed in the 0.97 μm specimen,which induces a significant deviation of the Hollomon equation at lower strains.