Preparation and Characterization of Binder Less Mg/Mg Alloy Infiltrated SiC<Subscript>p</Subscript> Reinforced Composites

SiC_p-reinforced commercial pure magnesium and AZ91 alloy MMCs’ were prepared through infiltration route without the use of any special atmospheres. The preform was prepared using a mixture of reinforcement particles and the matrix metal particles. The composites were prepared with various volume percentage of the reinforcement and their properties with the variation of SiC_p were analyzed. The interfacial properties of the composites were analyzed using microstructure, microhardness, and wear studies. Calculation of thermal conditions during infiltration was done to study the effect of adding matrix metal particles on the infiltration behavior and its effect on the uniformity distribution of the reinforcements.     

Ionic conductivity and dielectric studies of acid doped cellulose acetate propionate solid electrolyte for supercapacitor

Phosphoric acid doped cellulose acetate propionate (CAP) consisting of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as plasticizer was investigated. Ionic conductivities and dielectric studies were carried at different temperature with varying concentration of H₃PO₄ using AC impedance method. The highest conductivity was 8.1 × 10^?4 S cm^?1 at 343 K and a long tail was featured in dielectric studies indicating good capacitance nature of the electrolyte. Interactions between added constituents were observed in FTIR and differential scanning calorimetry studies. Thin and compact fabricated supercapacitor demonstrated specific capacitance of 64 F g^?1 using cyclic voltammetry. Furthermore, the supercapacitor properties like AC impedance and charge‐discharge were studied. Stability was up to 96% at 1000th cycle. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 56:196–203, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

A note on fast protonic solid state electrochromic device: NiOx/Ta2O5/WO3−x

In the present investigation, the electrochromic properties of a fast protonic solid state device: NiO_x/Ta₂O₅/WO_3−x prepared at room temperature (300 K) is reported. The non-stoichiometric tungsten oxide thin film is prepared by reactive DC magnetron sputtering technique on ITO coated glass; the oxides of tantalum (300 nm) and nickel (100 nm) are prepared by electron beam evaporation. This proton device has a coloration efficiency of 82.4 cm²/C and coloration and bleaching time of 6 and 5 s, respectively, and a transmittance variation of 60%. The work function of WO_3−x thin films by Kelvin probe in uncolored and colored states are 4.73 and 4.30 eV, respectively.     

Effect of Zr-SBA-15 support on catalytic functionalities of Mo, CoMo, NiMo hydrotreating catalysts

SBA-15 and ZrO₂ (10–50 wt.%) containing SBA-15 mesoporous materials were prepared by direct and post-synthesis methods. Characterization using low angle XRD, pore size distribution, CO₂ chemisorption indicate that hexagonal mesoporous structure is retained even after ZrO₂ addition (25 wt.%). Mo, CoMo and NiMo catalysts prepared using these supports were examined by XRD, oxygen chemisorption, temperature programmed reduction (TPR). The catalysts were tested for hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of thiophene and hydrogenation (HYD) of cyclohexene. HDS of thiophene for 8%Mo, 3%Co8%Mo, and 3%Ni8%Mo increases with increasing ZrO₂ loading in SBA-15 up to 25 wt.%. Oxygen chemisorption and TPR hydrogen consumption indicated that the molybdenum dispersion and anion vacancies, and catalytic activities are significantly influenced by ZrO₂ content in Zr-SBA-15. A comparison indicated that TiO₂-SBA-15, ZrO₂-SBA-15 supported CoMo catalysts show higher activities for hydrodesulfurization.     

A Parametric Study of Spontaneous Ignition in Large Coal Stockpiles

Self-heating of coal during its storage and transportation has been a serious problem for decades. Coal stored in large piles for long duration is subjected to weathering by atmospheric air that prevails with different temperatures and moisture content. Chemisorption of atmospheric oxygen results in low-temperature oxidation of pile, which generates heat due to exothermic reactions. If the local heat release rate is higher as compared to the heat dissipated, a significant increase in temperature is possible and this results in spontaneous ignition of the pile. The presence of moisture in coal delays the occurrence of self-heating. This motivates to analyze a scenario of using moist coal to delay or even prevent the self-ignition in dry coal until a given time period of its storage. The main objective of this work is to investigate the critical conditions, which may lead to spontaneous ignition in large coal stockpiles containing dry and moist coal layers. A one-dimensional numerical model is used for this purpose. A parametric study is carried out considering different porosity, superficial air velocity and reactivity values. The time period of coal pile storage is fixed as 360 days. The location and time taken for self-ignition in the pile within this period is reported for each case. In summary, considering several cases, the simulations systematically reveal that highly reactive coal with high pile porosity and higher superficial gas velocity takes the least time to reach the self-ignition temperature.

     

Microstructural analysis,radiography, tool wear characterization,induced residual stress and corrosion behavior of conventional and cryogenic trepanning of DSS 2507

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - In the present study, an endeavour has been made in trepanning of Duplex steel (DSS 2507) under wet and cryogenic environments. DSS 2507 steel is...     

Analysis of tribological behaviour of aluminum-titanium carbide-basalt metal matrix composite

In the recent years, particulate reinforced aluminum based matrix composites are playing an important role in automobile and aerospace applications due to their enhanced properties. In this work, an attempt has been made to optimize the tribological behaviour of aluminum 7075 matrix reinforced with titanium carbide (3 percent weight) and basalt particles (2 percent weight) using Taguchi based grey relational analysis. Composites are fabricated according to american society for testing materials standard using stir casting method dry sliding wear tests were carried out using pin on disc apparatus as per Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array. Grey relational analysis was used to obtain the optimum process parameters for multiple quality characteristics such as wear rate and coefficient of friction. Then significant contribution of wear parameters was determined by analysis of variance. A confirmatory test was carried out to validate the test result. Finally, the micro structural investigation on the worn surfaces was performed by scanning electron microscope.     

Experimental investigation on the effect of photovoltaic panel partially and fully submerged in water

This study presents an experimental analysis of improving the thermal, electrical efficiency, and yield of a conventional solar still (CSS). The photovoltaic (PV) efficiency decreases with increase in water depth inside the basin while the still efficiency is higher in the case of fully submerged condition. The maximum water production was about 8 kg/m ²/day with PV under fully submerged condition; and during off‐shine hours the still efficiency was higher when compared with the partially submerged condition. Similarly, with a decrease in water temperature the panel efficiency is increases. The maximum hourly water production with and without the PV was found to be 1.3 and 0.45 kg/m ², respectively. The main outcome of this study is that this mechanism can be used in isolated locations where there is a scarcity of current and distilled water.     

Mosquito-larvicidal efficacy of gold nanoparticles synthesized from the seaweed,Turbinaria ornata (Turner) J.Agardh 1848

Malaria is considered a dreadful mosquito-borne infectious disease of human beings caused and spread by biting of the female mosquito Anopheles stephensi infected with a parasitic protozoan Plasmodium falciparum. Continuous application of chemicals/synthetic insecticides for vector control causes various problems such as resistant mechanism of mosquito, toxicity to nontarget aquatic organisms and disturbance to the microbial community of the soil. Currently, green synthesized nanoparticles are being employed in various biological processes including insect and pest control. The present investigation focused on the mosquito-larvicidal property of Turbinaria ornata-mediated gold nanoparticles (To-AuNPs) and its boiled aqueous extract (To-AE) against the malarial vector A. stephensi. The recorded lethal concentration (LC₅₀ and LC₉₀) values (µg/ml) of To-AE and To-AuNPs against fourth instar larvae of A. stephensi were 37.77 and 159.55 and 12.79 and 78.70, respectively. The To-AuNPs were characterized through UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), x-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), zeta potential and dynamic light scattering (DLS) method. The presently synthesized gold nanoparticles through the single-step, eco-friendly method is a potentially effective mosquitocidal agent.