Microstructure–Thermal Conductivity Relationships for Plasma-Sprayed Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia Coatings

The microstructures of plasma-sprayed yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coatings are complex, contributing to challenges in establishing microstructure–thermal conductivity relationships. Furthermore, the dynamic evolution of microstructure and properties during service offers a significant challenge in defining design strategies and extended coating performance. In this paper, the relationship between microstructure and thermal conductivity is investigated for three sets of plasma-sprayed YSZ coating systems prepared using different morphology powders, different particle size distributions, and controlled modification of particle states through plasma torch parameters. Both ambient and temperature-dependent thermal conductivity were conducted in the as-sprayed and thermally aged states. The results suggest that a range of thermal conductivities can be achieved from the coatings, offering potential for microstructural tailoring for desired performance. The results also demonstrate that different as-deposited microstructures display varying propensity for sintering and these attributes need to be considered in the design and manufacturing cycle. This expansive study of a range of coatings has also allowed synthesis of the results through thermal conductivity–porosity maps and has allowed elucidation of the contributing microstructural components for both the ambient and high-temperature thermal conductivity. Considering that the operating thermal transport mechanisms are different at these two temperature extremes, such mapping strategies are of value to both science and technology.     

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Bufalin Derivatives

Bufalin and other cardiac steroids (CS) have been used for centuries for the treatment of congestive heart failure, arrhythmias, and other maladies. However, toxicity and the small therapeutic window of this family of steroids limit their use. Therefore, attempts to synthesize a potent, but less toxic, CS are of major importance. In the present study, two novel bufalin derivatives were synthesized and some of their pharmacological properties were characterized. The reaction of bufalin with Ishikawa’s reagent resulted in the production of two novel bufalin derivatives: bufalin 2,3-ene and bufalin 3,4-ene. The compounds were purified with TLC and HPLC and their structure was verified with UV, NMR, and MS analyses. The biological activities of these compounds were evaluated by testing their ability to inhibit the Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase activity of the brain microsomal fraction to induce cytotoxic activity against the NCI-60 human tumor cell line panel and non-cancer human cells, and to increase the force of contraction of quail embryonic heart muscle cells in culture. The two steroids exhibited biological activities similar to those of other CS in the tested experimental systems, but with reduced cytotoxicity, advocating their development as drugs for the treatment of heart failure and arrhythmias.     

Investigation of stretch on air permeability of knitted fabrics part II: effect of fabric structure

The structure of a fabric plays vital role in determining its air permeability. So, the study and comparison of air permeability of various fabric structures have their own significance. A detailed study is carried out here on various fabric structures to understand the effect of fabric structure on air permeability at their dry, wet and fully relaxed states. An automatic fabric stretching device has been designed and fabricated as an attachment with air permeability tester to test the air permeability of fabric samples under dynamic condition for this investigation. It is a fully automatic stretching equipment to stretch the fabric samples as per the preset value. The stretching device can be set with a predetermined degree of fabric stretch either in percentage or in mm and rate of extension also can be preset in mm per minute. From the results, it is clear that fabric structure has explicit impact on air permeability both in the unstretched and stretched states of the samples. Loose fabric structure and porous fabric structure show maximum air permeability under both sedate state and incrementally stretched states and vice versa.     

Cascaded collision lattice Boltzmann model (CLBM) for simulating fluid and heat transport in porous media

The present paper reports a cascaded collision lattice Boltzmann model for the simulation of an incompressible two-dimensional fluid flow in a porous media regime. The cascaded model is first validated for the nonporous regime using limiting conditions against previous finite element model reports. Subsequently, the cascaded collision model is applied to the lid-driven porous-filled cavity to demonstrate the largely augmented numerical stability of the model against the more common Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook and multiple relaxation time collision models. Finally, the cascaded model is applied to an inflow–outflow case of flow and heat transfer over a porous bluff body to showcase its efficiency in capturing the complex fluid and heat transport phenomenon through porous media.     

On the Interplay Between Adhesion Strength and Tensile Properties of Thermal Spray Coated Laminates—Part II: Low-Velocity Thermal Spray Coatings

In this two-part study, uniaxial tensile testing was used to evaluate coating/substrate bonding and compared with traditional ASTM C633 bond pull test results for thermal spray (TS) coated steel laminates. In Part I, the rationale, methodology, and applicability of the test to high-velocity TS coatings were demonstrated. In this Part II, the method was investigated for low-velocity TS processes (air plasma spray and arc spray) on equivalent materials. Ni and Ni-5wt.%Al coatings were deposited on steel substrates with three different roughness levels and tested using both uniaxial tensile and ASTM C633 methods. The results indicate the uniaxial tensile approach provides useful information about the nature of the coating/substrate bonding and goes beyond the traditional bond pull test in providing insightful information on the load sharing processes across the interface. Additionally, this proposed methodology alleviates some of the longstanding shortcomings and potentially reduces error associated with the traditional ASTM C633 test. The mechanisms governing the load transfer between the substrate and the coating were investigated, and the influence of Al in the coating material evaluated.     

Developing Outstanding Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Rechargeable Zn-Air Batteries Using High-Purity Spinel-Type ZnCo2Se4 Nanoparticles

Zinc-air batteries are gaining popularity as viable energy sources for green energy storage technologies. The cost and performance of Zn-air batteries are mostly determined by the air electrodes in combination with an oxygen electrocatalyst. This research aims at the particular innovations and challenges relating to air electrodes and related materials. Here, a nanocomposite of ZnCo₂Se₄@rGO that exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction, ORR (E_1/2 = 0.802 V), and oxygen evolution reaction, OER (η₁₀ = 298 mV@10 mA cm⁻²) is synthesized. In addition, a rechargeable zinc-air battery with ZnCo₂Se₄@rGO as the cathode showed a high open circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.38 V, a peak power density of 210.4 mW cm⁻², and outstanding long-term cycling stability. The electronic structure and oxygen reduction/evolution reaction mechanism of the catalysts ZnCo₂Se₄ and Co₃Se₄ are further investigated using density functional theory calculations. Finally, a perspective for designing, preparing, and assembling air electrodes is suggested for the future developments of high-performance Zn-air batteries.     

Fabrication and erosion studies of C-SiC composite Jet Vanes in solid rocket motor exhaust

C-SiC composite Jet-Vanes were fabricated using liquid silicon infiltration and tested in a plume of aluminum based solid propellant to study erosion resistance. The Jet-Vanes showed excellent resistance to thermo-oxidative erosion; average linear and mass erosion rates were 1 mm/s and 5 g/s, respectively. Morphology of the eroded surfaces suggests that alumina particles in the plume hit the leading edge of the Jet-Vane, damage it and some material is eroded away. Residual silicon melts and reacts with oxygen to form silica which in turn reacts with SiC matrix. The matrix of SiC, silicon and un-reacted carbon is loosened and erode by high shear forces. Once carbon fibers get exposed directly to the plume, these may be both eroded and oxidized.     

Active diagnosis of discrete-event systems

The need for accurate and timely diagnosis of system failures and the advantages of automated diagnostic systems are well appreciated. However, diagnosability considerations are often not explicitly taken into account in the system design. In particular, design of the controller and that of the diagnostic subsystem are decoupled, and this may significantly affect the diagnosability properties of a system. The authors present an integrated approach to control and diagnosis. More specifically, they present an approach for the design of diagnosable systems by appropriate design of the system controller. This problem, which they refer to as the active diagnosis problem, is studied in the framework of discrete-event systems (DESs); it is based on prior and new results on the theory of diagnosis for DESs and on existing results in supervisory control under partial observations. They formulate the active diagnosis problem as a supervisory control problem where the legal language is an “appropriate” regular sublanguage of the regular language generated by the system. They present an iterative procedure for determining the supremal controllable, observable, and diagnosable sublanguage of the legal language and for obtaining the supervisor that synthesizes this language. This procedure provides both a controller that ensures diagnosability of the closed-loop system and a diagnoser for online failure diagnosis. The procedure can be implemented using finite-state machines and is guaranteed to converge in a finite number of iterations. The authors illustrate their approach using a simple pump-valve system