Tailor die quenching in hot stamping for producing ultra-high strength steel formed parts having strength distribution

Tailor die quenching in the hot stamping of quenchable steel sheets was developed to produce ultra-high strength steel formed parts having strength distribution. Local portions of the heated sheet were quenched by holding grooved tools at the bottom dead centre during the stamping. Non-contact portions were generated in the sheet by grooving the tools, and thus the strength in the contact portions is high owing to the quenching and that in the non-contact portions is low owing to the lack of the quenching. Hat-shaped products having a tensile strength of approximately 1.5 GPa only at four corners were formed.     

Three-dimensional ionic wind and electrohydrodynamics of tuft/point corona electrostatic precipitator

The two-dimensional flow interaction between the primary flow and the secondary flow (often called an electric wind or ionic wind) in the wire-duct electrostatic precipitator (ESP) has been investigated theoretically and experimentally in the past. However, the analysis was limited to the two-dimensional, which is acceptable only for the positive polarity and small tuft spacing. The negative corona, commonly used for the industrial ESPs, generates tufts along the corona wire and the point coronas on the discharge wire and requires three-dimensional analysis. Three-dimensional electric field and space-charge density distributions, and the flow interaction between the primary flow and secondary flow, i.e., electrohydrodynamics were investigated. The computational results show that the secondary flow distribution consists of a donut-shaped ring from each tuft or corona point, which was predicted by the first author 16 years ago. When the primary flow exists, a pair of spiral rings, like Goertler vortices, is formed in the direction of the primary flow. The flow interaction was described using dimensionless number N/sub EHD/, which is the ratio of the ionic wind velocity to the primary flow velocity. The effects of particle motion in the electrohydrodynamic field in the tuft/point corona ESPs are discussed.     

β-Sitosteryl (6'-O-linoleoyl)-glucoside of soybean (Glycine max L.) crude extract inhibits Y-family DNA polymerases

In the screening of selective DNA polymerase (pol) inhibitors, we isolated an acylated steryl glycoside, β-sitosteryl (6'-O-linoleoyl)-glucoside (compound 1), from the waste extract of soybean (Glycine max L.) oil. This compound exhibited a marked ability to inhibit the activities of eukaryotic Y-family pols (pols η, ι and κ), which are repair-related pols. Among mammalian Y-family pols, the activity of mouse pol κ was most strongly inhibited by compound 1, with an IC(50) value of 10.2 μM. On the other hand, compound 1 had no effect on the activities of other eukaryotic pols such as A-family (pol γ), B-family (pols α, δ, and ε), or X-family (pols β, λ and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase) pols. In addition, compound 1 had no effect on prokaryotic pols or other DNA metabolic enzymes such as calf primase of pol α, T7 RNA polymerase, T4 polynucleotide kinase, or bovine deoxyribonuclease I. Compound 1 consists of 3 groups: β-sitosteryl (compound 2), linoleic acid (compound 3), and D-glucose (compound 4). Compound 3 inhibited the activities of all mammalian pols tested, but compounds 2 and 4 did not have any effect on the tested pols. Kinetic studies showed that the inhibition of pol κ activity by compound 1 was noncompetitive with both the DNA template-primer and nucleotide substrate, whereas compound 3-induced inhibition was competitive with the DNA template-primer and noncompetitive with the nucleotide substrate. The relationship between the structure of compound 1 and the selective inhibition of eukaryotic Y-family pols is discussed.     

Optimization of the process parameters of an electrochemical cell in the IS process

One of the key reactions for efficient hydrogen production using the water-splitting iodine–sulfur (IS or S–I) process is the Bunsen reaction (SO₂+I₂+2H₂O=H₂SO₄+2HI). The Bunsen reaction was examined using an electrochemical cell with a cation exchange membrane as the separator. The optimal molalities of anolyte and catholyte were evaluated by total thermal efficiency using the heat/mass balance of the IS process. The I₂/HI ratio had little effect on the required total voltage; the I₂/HI ratio can be reduced to 0.5 without decreasing the total thermal efficiency. On the other hand, HI and H₂SO₄ molality greatly affected the total thermal efficiency. The total thermal efficiency increased with increasing HI molality up to and the maximum thermal efficiency was found at of H₂SO₄. Membrane resistances are very important parameters affecting the efficiency. The total thermal efficiency increased by 3.0% at a current density of the electrochemical cell of by increasing the operating temperature from 313 to 363 K.