Electrochemical corrosion parameters of as-cast Al-Fe alloys in a NaCl solution

The aim of this study is to evaluate the general electrochemical corrosion resistance of Al-Fe alloys in the range of hypoeutectic compositions, Al-0.5 wt.% Fe and Al-1.5 wt.% Fe alloy. EIS plots, potentiodynamic polarization curves and an equivalent circuit analysis were used to evaluate the electrochemical parameters in a 0.5 M NaCl solution at 25 °C. It is shown that for an Al-0.5 wt.% Fe alloy, coarse cells tend to improve the corrosion resistance mainly due to the reduction in cellular boundaries and for an Al-1.5 wt.% Fe alloy, an opposite trend has been detected.     

Interrelation of wettability–microstructure–tensile strength of lead-free Sn–Ag and Sn–Bi solder alloys

A comparative investigation on the wettability and tensile strength of a Sn–2Ag, a Sn–40Bi and the traditional eutectic Sn–Pb solder alloys was carried out. The wettability is represented by thickness of covered layer (TCL) and spread area (SA) while the mechanical behaviour by the ultimate tensile strength (UTS). It is shown that the TCL of studied alloys decreased with the increase in the dipping temperature. It is also shown that TCL and SA have opposite behaviour with respect to the cooling rate. The Sn–Bi solder alloy has lower SA when compared with those of the Sn–Ag solder when similar cooling rates are considered. The Sn–Bi solder exhibits the best UTS/SA combination for dendritic spacings between 25 and 27?µm, associated with cooling rates ～2°C?s^?1, 2× lower than those of the Sn–Ag alloy. Besides, the Sn–Bi alloy has shown SA >70～80% associated with higher UTS (～80?MPa) as compared with the other alloys examined.     

Effects of Zr content on microstructure and corrosion resistance of Ti–30Nb–Zr casting alloys for biomedical applications

Titanium alloys show attractive properties for biomedical applications where the most important factors are biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, low modulus of elasticity, very good strength-to-weight ratio, reasonable formability and osseointegration. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Zr content (7.5 and 15 wt%) on microstructure and corrosion resistance of Ti–30Nb–Zr as-cast alloy samples. The corrosion tests were carried out in a 0.9% NaCl (0.15 mol L^?1) solution at 25 °C and neutral pH range. A horizontal centrifuged solidification set-up was used to obtain as-cast samples with a fine dendritic arrangement. In order to evaluate the corrosion behavior, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), polarization curves and an equivalent circuit analysis were used. It was found that the as-cast microstructure tends to have the dendrite arm spacings reduced with increasing Zr content. The results have shown that the addition of Zr to a Ti–30Nb alloy has been efficient to stabilize the beta phase. The resulting impedance parameters and passive current densities have shown that the Ti–30Nb alloys sample without Zr addition presents a higher surface reactivity which can induce a better osseointegration than those containing Zr.     

Maximum Likelihood-Based Direction-of-Arrival Estimator for Discrete Sources

This paper addresses the problem of direction-of-arrival (DOA) parameter estimation in array processing when the signals are inherently discrete, which is the case mainly in the digital communication context. Based on the particular structure of the signal space in the data model, a maximum likelihood-based approach is introduced. The strategy consists in transforming the parameter estimation problem into a decision task. It is shown through numerical simulations that the proposed solution closely follows the performance limit given by the Cramér–Rao bound. Some important features of the technique are as follows: (i) it is capable of handling any number of sources, provided that the number of sensors is greater than or equal to two and the number of snapshots is sufficiently greater than the cardinality of the signal space; (ii) the estimation quality is not affected by the angle and phase separation; and (iii) it offers the possibility to deal with uncalibrated arrays.     

Interfacial heat transfer coefficients and solidification of an aluminum alloy in a rotary continuous caster

The present study describes the development of an experimental set-up representing the metal/mold system of a rotary continuous caster as part of a methodology, which connected to a numerical heat transfer model permits to determine transient metal/mold heat transfer coefficients, h, during solidification. By using this approach the variation of h along the different mold walls and the metal surface has been investigated by a method based on numerically calculated/experimental fit of thermal profiles (IHCP). The results have shown that the used methodology permits the characterization of h and may be used in the simulation of solidification in industrial processes.     

Corrosion behavior of hypoeutectic Al-Cu alloys in H2SO4 and NaC1 solutions

alloys.     

Two-dimensional numerical model for the analysis of macrosegregation during solidification

This paper presents a 2D extension of a one-dimensional model proposed initially for the analysis of macrosegregation of multicomponent alloys. Some simulations were carried out to compare the performance of an explicit/implicit time integration scheme for coupling thermal-solutal fields with a fully implicit one. Simulations carried out for the analysis of a two-dimensional solidification problem has fitted the unidirectional and two-dimensional experimental data very well.     

Electrochemical corrosion of Pb–1 wt% Sn and Pb–2.5 wt% Sn alloys for lead-acid battery applications

The aim of this study was to compare the electrochemical corrosion behavior of as-cast Pb–1 wt% Sn and Pb–2.5 wt% Sn alloy samples in a 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution at 25 °C. A water-cooled unidirectional solidification system was used to obtain the as-cast samples. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) diagrams, potentiodynamic polarization curves and an equivalent circuit analysis were used to evaluate the electrochemical corrosion response. It was found that a coarse cellular array has a better electrochemical corrosion resistance than fine cells. The pre-programming of microstructure cell size of Pb–Sn alloys can be used as an alternative way to produce as-cast components of lead-acid batteries with higher corrosion resistance associated with environmental and economical aspects.