Numerical simulation of flow through microchannels with designed roughness

A three-dimensional numerical simulation of flow through serpentine microchannels with designed roughness in form of obstructions placed along the channels walls is conducted here. CFD-ACE+ is used for the numerical simulations. The effect of the roughness height (surface roughness), geometry, Reynolds number on the friction factor is investigated. It is found that the friction factor increases in a nonlinear fashion with the increase in obstruction height. The friction factor is more for rectangular and triangular obstructions and it decreases as the obstruction geometry is changed to trapezoidal. It is observed that the obstruction geometry, i.e., aspect ratio plays an important role in prediction of friction factor in rough channels. It is also found that the pressure drop decreases with the increase in the roughness pitch. Hence, the roughness pitch is an important design parameter for microchannels.     

An analytical model for bedload layer thickness

A theoretical study has been carried out to determine the thickness of the bedload layer in an open channel turbulent flow with non-cohesive sediment, which is very crucial in sediment transport problems as this is treated as saltation height of a sediment particle and the reference level in suspension studies. A new expression of viscous shear stress is proposed, which is a function of effective viscosity of sediment–fluid mixture, velocity gradient and volumetric concentration of sediment particles. During particle collisions, impact shear stress is generated, which is another important parameter near the sediment bed. By including both the shear stresses, an expression for the thickness of the bedload layer is developed. The predicted bedload layer thickness is a function of viscous coefficient, impact coefficient, particle diameter, relative mass density of sediment particle, maximum bed concentration and non-dimensional shear stress. It agrees reasonably well when compared with a wide class of experimental data under different hydraulic conditions.     

Co(salen)/SBA-15 catalysed oxidation of a β-O-4 phenolic dimer under microwave irradiation

The microwave-assisted oxidative degradation of a lignin model phenolic dimer [1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenoxy)-2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)-propane-1,3-diol, 1] catalysed by Co(salen)/SBA-15 is reported. The investigated model compound 1 was prepared through a multistep synthesis and characterized by ¹H,¹³C NMR, and GC–MS studies. The catalyst was prepared by immobilizing [N,N′-bis(salicylidene)ethane-1,2-diaminato]Cobalt(II), Co(salen) complex onto the periodic mesopore channels of siliceous SBA-15. The activity of the Co(salen)/SBA-15 was investigated in the oxidation of 1 in the presence of hydrogen peroxide as oxidant, both under microwave irradiation and conventional heating. The phenolic dimer was selectively oxidized to 2-methoxy phenol with very high TON under microwave activation conditions. Comparatively, reactions run under conventional heating led to oligomerisation of the dimer and resulted in a mixture of products.     

Development of ultrafine grained high strength age hardenable Al 7075 alloy by cryorolling

High strength age hardenable Al 7XXX series alloys are difficult to process by many of the severe plastic deformation processes at room temperature. The Al 7075 alloy has been processed at cryogenic temperature and room temperature up to different rolling strains, in the present work, with the objective of developing a processing strategy to obtain ultrafine grained microstructure with enhanced mechanical properties in the alloy. It has been identified that the Al 7075 alloy samples can be successfully cryorolled to higher strains (up to 3.4) if the reduction per pass is less than 0.3 mm, however it was found to be difficult to deform the samples at room temperature. A cryorolling strain of 3.4 has been found to be desirable for producing the ultrafine grained Al 7075 alloys with the high angle grain boundaries. However, the subgrains are not recrystallized up to this strain in the case of room temperature rolled Al alloys. The strength and hardness of the cryorolled Al 7075 alloy samples are higher than that of the room temperature rolled samples as observed in the present work. The improved strength and hardness of cryorolled samples are due to the grain size effect and higher dislocation density. The reduction in dimple size of cryorolled Al 7075 alloy upon failure confirms the grain refinement and strain hardening mechanism operating in the heavily deformed samples.     

Shape control in micro borehole generation by EMM with the assistance of vibration of tool

Electrochemical micromachining (EMM) is gaining importance day by day due its advantages that include no tool wear, absence of stress/burr, high MRR, bright surface finish and ability to machine complex shapes regardless of hardness. Overcut and taper formation is the main problem during micro borehole machining. In this paper, an electrical circuit model of EMM is presented for better understanding of the process and experimental MRR is found to be in good agreement with theoretical MRR. In the present set up variation of overcut with voltage, pulsed frequency, vibration amplitude of tool and vibration frequency of tool are investigated. To reduce overcut and taper angle of micro borehole, machining zone is simulated with a reversed taper tool and verified by practical experiments for proper shape control during micro borehole generation. Variation of micro nozzle angle with different feed rates and different times of machining are also investigated for the shape control during micromachining with conical tool. Finally, it has been shown that both reversed taper and forward taper tool can be used for generation of taper less micro features i.e. boreholes.     

Simultaneous Determination of 23 Azo Dyes in Paprika by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

The present work describes the development and validation of a simple, quick and precise gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the analysis of 23 azo dye breakdown products in paprika samples. After the extraction procedure, dyes were identified on an Agilent J&W DB-5ms Ultra Inert capillary column using dichloroethane as a sample dissolvent. Limits of detection (LODs) were comprised between 10.6 and 84.4 ng/mL. Accuracy values in the range of 90–104 % for the 23 azo dye breakdown products were obtained, and RSD% for the analysis of 2.4 μg/mL of each compound was below 4.6 % (n = 9). The recovery for the azo dyes in paprika samples was comprised between 71.2 ± 3.5 % (benzidine) and 118.9 ± 2.5 % (para-cresidine). Results of this study suggest that the developed method is suitable for detection and quantification of azo dye breakdown products in the range of 60–240 μg/kg paprika. In addition, this GC-MS method allowed the simultaneous determination of disperse orange 3 (azo dye) with high accuracy and precision. The method has numerous advantages such as simplicity, low cost, easy operation and short analysis time and constitutes an efficient method for the monitoring of a large number of azo dyes in food matrices.