Fracture mechanics-based model of abrasive waterjet cutting for brittle materials

Advanced engineering ceramic materials such as silicon carbides and silicon nitride have been used in many engineering applications. The abrasive waterjet is becoming the most recent cutting technique of such materials because of its inherent advantages.In the present study, two elastic-plastic erosion models are adopted to develop an abrasive waterjet model for cutting brittle materials. As a result, two cutting models based on fracture mechanics are derived and introduced. The suggested models predict the maximum depth of cut of the target material as a function of the fracture toughness and hardness as well as the process parameters.It is found that both models predict the same depth of cut within a maximum of 11%, for the practical range of process parameters used in the present study. The maximum depth of cut predicted by the suggested models are compared with published experimental results for three types of ceramics. The effect of process parameters on the maximum depth of cut for a given ceramic material is also studied and compared with experimental work. The comparison reveals that there is a good agreement between the models' predictions and experimental results, where the difference between the predicted and experimental value of the maximum depth of cut is found to be an average value of 10%.Nomenclature C abrasive efficiency factor, see equation (16) - C ₁,C ₂ c ₁/4/3, c₂/4/3 - c ₁,c ₂ erosion models constants, see equations (1) and (2) - d _a local effective jet diameter - d _j nozzle diameter - d _S infinitesimal length along the kerf - f ₁ ( _E ) function defined by equation (7) - f ₂ ( _E ) function defined by equation (8) - f ₃ ( _e ) function defined by equation (14) - g ₁ ( _E ) f ₁( _e )/f ₃ ² ( _e ) - g ₂ ( _e ) f ₂( _e /f ₃ ² ( _e ) - H Vickers hardness of the target material - h maximum depth of cut - K _c fracture toughness of target material - k kerf constant - M linear removal rate, dh/dt - m mass of a single particle - abrasive mass flow rate - water mass flow rate - P water pressure - Q total material removal rate, see equation (11) - R abrasive to water mass flow rates - r particle radius - S kerf length - u traverse speed - V material volume removal rate (erosion rate) - V idealised volume removal by an individual abrasive particle - particle impact velocity - ₀ initial abrasive particle velocity - x,y kerf coordinates - local kerf angle, Fig. 1 - _E jet exit angle at the bottom of the workpiece, Fig. 1 - particle density - _w water density On leave from: Mechanical Engineering Department, Suez Canal University, Egypt.On leave from: Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Alexandria University, Egypt.     

Entropy and radiation on a pipe MHD flow with variable viscosity

The present work, the entropy generation due to radiation and variable viscosity magnetohydrodynamic effects with a porous medium in a circular pipe, has been obtained and studied numerically. The governing continuity, momentum, and energy equations in cylindrical coordination are converted into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations by means of similarity transformation. The resulting system of coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations is solved numerically by a Runge-Kutta method and shooting technique. Numerical results are presented for velocity, temperature profiles, pressure profile, entropy generation rates, and Bejan number for different physical parameters of the problem. Also, the effects of the pertinent parameters on the skin friction and the rate of heat transfer are obtained and discussed numerically and illustrated graphically.     

Polyamide-based composite membranes: Part 2. Interaction, crystallization and morphology

In this work, the interaction, crystallization and morphology of membranes derived from polyamides/poly (vinylalcohol) (PA/PVA, PA: PA66, PA69, PA610 and PA612) blend materials are studied at various weight fractions and various crystallization temperatures. The experimental work includes differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), polarized optical microscopy (POM) and scanning clectron microscopy (SEM). The equilibrium melting temperatures of polyamides in the blends are obtained using Hoffman-Weeks plots, and the interaction parameters are calculated using the Nishi-Wang equation, which is based on the Flory-Huggins theory. The values of the Flory-Huggins interaction parameters χ₁₂ are negative. Significant upward shifts of ν_NH are observed with increasing volume fraction of PVA. The morphology of membranes is impressively complex, diverse, and irregular. All compositions that show nodular morphology are in the μm-scale and the size of the nodules increases with increasing PA6 content. Large void cavities are observed in the substructure for the lower polymer concentrations.     

Modelling competence-based virtual organisations using the unified enterprise competence modelling language

Virtual organisations are non-conventional structures aiming at sharing the same goals, developing common practices or creating wealth in a collaborative manner. Accordingly, competence issues are important topics to be addressed in order to ensure coherence between the different objectives of entities taking part in a virtual organisation to guarantee an efficient use of available resources. This paper introduces the principles for modelling competence-based virtual organisations by using a uni?ed enterprise competence modelling language (UECML). Our proposed modelling approach is inspired from previous related works mainly in competence-based enterprise modelling. The language provides a neutral interface to virtual organisation modelling based on competences, taking into account the several roles and entities participating in a virtual organisation. Therefore, providing constructs covering processes, resources, competences, and virtual organisation (VO) entities. A case study of the Swiss virtual network Virtuelle Fabrik with regards to the project Abfallhai is presented and discussed, showing how the developed modelling language is adapted to model virtual organisations.     

Molecular Diversity Assessment Using Sequence Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP) Markers in Vicia faba L.

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers were used to assess the genetic diversity and relationship among 58 faba bean (Vicia faba L.) genotypes. Fourteen SRAP primer combinations amplified a total of 1036 differently sized well-resolved peaks (fragments), of which all were polymorphic with a 0.96 PIC value and discriminated all of the 58 faba bean genotypes. An average pairwise similarity of 21% was revealed among the genotypes ranging from 2% to 65%. At a similarity of 28%, UPGMA clustered the genotypes into three main groups comprising 78% of the genotypes. The local landraces and most of the Egyptian genotypes in addition to the Sudan genotypes were grouped in the first main cluster. The advanced breeding lines were scattered in the second and third main clusters with breeding lines from the ICARDA and genotypes introduced from Egypt. At a similarity of 47%, all the genotypes formed separated clusters with the exceptions of Hassawi 1 and Hassawi 2. Group analysis of the genotypes according to their geographic origin and type showed that the landraces were grouped according to their origin, while others were grouped according to their seed type. To our knowledge, this is the first application of SRAP markers for the assessment of genetic diversity in faba bean. Such information will be useful to determine optimal breeding strategies to allow continued progress in faba bean breeding.     

The influence of multi-pass friction stir processing on the microstructural and mechanical properties of Aluminum Alloy 6082

Samples with one through three passes with 100% overlap were created using friction stir processing (FSP) in order to locally modify the microstructural and mechanical properties of 6082-T6 Aluminum Alloy. A constant rotational speed and three different traverse speeds were used for processing. In this article, the microstructural properties in terms of grain structure and second phase particles distribution, and also the mechanical properties in terms of hardness and tensile strength of the processed zone were addressed with respect to the number of passes and traverse speeds. The parameter combination which resulted in highest ultimate tensile strength was further compared with additional two rotation speeds. FSP caused dynamic recrystallization of the stir zone leading to equiaxed grains with high angle grain boundaries which increased with increasing the number of passes. The accumulated heat accompanying multiple passes resulted in increase in the grain size, dissolution of precipitates and fragmentation of second phase particles. Increasing the traverse speed on the other hand did not affect the grain size, yet reduced the particles size as well as increased the particle area fraction. Hardness and tensile test results of the stir zone were in good agreement where increasing the number of passes caused softening and reduction of the ultimate tensile strength, whereas, increasing the traverse speed increased the strength and hardness. Increasing the tool rotational speed did not have a significant influence on particle mean diameter, ultimate tensile strength and hardness values of the stir zone, whereas, it caused an increase in mean grain size as well as particle area fraction.     

Effect of minor nickel alloying with zinc on the electrochemical and corrosion behavior of zinc in alkaline solution

The electrochemical and corrosion behavior of pure zinc and Zn-0.5Ni alloy in strong alkaline solution (7 M KOH) was investigated by Tafel plot, potentiodynamic, potentiostatic and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) methods, and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Measurements were conducted under different experimental conditions. The results of both Tafel plot extrapolation and the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements exhibited the same trend, which the cathodic and anodic processes on the alloy surface are less significant compared with those on the pure zinc. The results revealed that, the shift in steady state of open-circuit potential (E_corr) to more negative potential in the case of the studied alloy compared with that of pure zinc has a positive effect on both charge efficiency and self-discharge.The anodic potentiodynamic measurements demonstrated that the polarization curves exhibited active/passive transition. The active dissolution of both pure zinc and its alloy increases with increasing temperature and scan rate. The activation energy (E_a) value of active region and peak current (I_AI) of the two studied electrodes in the investigated alkaline solution is calculated and compared. In the case of alloy, the results obtained at certain positive potential (+425 mV vs. SCE), exhibited high current density indicating that the most passive layer was destroyed. This indicates that the addition of small amount from Ni to Zn promotes the electrochemical reaction (in the passive region), acting as so-called self catalysis. Accordingly, one can conclude that, the electrochemical behavior of the investigated alloy in strong alkaline solution contributes to suppression of hydrogen gas evolution and increases the corrosion resistance. In addition, reactivation of the alloy surface takes place in the passive region.     

Potentiodynamic studies on anodic dissolution and passivation of tin, indium and tin–indium alloys in some fruit acids solutions

The anodic dissolution and passivation of tin, indium and tin–indium alloys were studied in 0.5 M solutions of both malic and citric acids, using potentiodynamic technique and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The E/I curves showed that the anodic behavior of all investigated electrodes exhibits active/passive transition. The active region of tin involves two anodic peaks (I and II) prior to the passive region in both the investigated acids, while indium exhibits two peaks (I and II) in malic and one peak in citric acid. These two peaks (I and II) correspond to the formation of InOOH and In(OH)₃/In₂O₃ system, respectively, but that observed peak in citric acid is to InOOH. The active region for tin–indium alloys (I, II and III) in citric acid showed one peak (I) and shoulders (II). This shoulder predominates with increasing temperature due to little In₂O₃ formation and its dissolution at higher temperatures. The disappearance of this shoulder for the alloys (IV and V) with high indium percent may be due to the formation of large amounts of In₂O₃ with tin oxides on the surface.