Thermal plasma spheroidization of aluminum oxide and characterization of the spheroidized alumina powder

Spheroidization of aluminum oxide powder was done by thermal plasma processing. The powder was injected into the plasma jet issuing out of a DC plasma torch. Trajectories of the particles in the plasma jet were seen using a high speed camera and then in-flight velocity and temperature of alumina particles were determined using a ‘Spray Watch’ system. Characterization of the spheroidized powder was done by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The results showed that increase of the plasma torch power leads to increase in the extent of spheroidization and conversion to γ-alumina. Results obtained showed that the process can be extended to synthesize free flowing alumina powder for thermal spray applications.     

The role of renewables in meeting rural energy needs in South Asia

South Asia is the poorest and most deprived region in the world. Rural population represent upto 75% of its population. Traditionally the rural masses have been dependent on fuelwood and agro-residues - both due to poverty and due to lack of local fossil resources. South Asia is expected to continue its dependence on renewable sources of energy for meeting rural energy needs to the year 2010. New renewables are expected to enter rural markets as technology develops.     

Fluorescent superlattices of gold nanoparticles: A new class of functional materials

Fluorescent three-dimensional (3-D) superlattices of dansyl glutathione protected gold nanoparticles, with potential applications in molecular detection, have been synthesized at an air/water interface by controlling the pH of the nanoparticle suspension. The number of fluorophores per nanoparticle was calculated to be ∼127. Morphologies of the superlattice crystals were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Most of the crystals observed were triangular in shape. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) were used to study the packing of nanoparticles in these crystals. Both these studies showed that the nanoparticles were arranged in a face-centered cubic (fcc) pattern with a particle-particle distance (center-center) of ∼10.5 nm. Evolution of the crystal morphologies with time was also examined. The fluorescence properties of these triangles were studied using confocal fluorescence imaging and confocal Raman mapping, which were in good agreement with the morphologies observed by SEM. The superlattice exhibits near-infrared (NIR) absorption in the range 1100–2500 nm. Easy synthesis of such functional nanoparticle-based solids makes it possible to use them in novel applications. We utilized the fluorescence of dansyl glutathione gold superlattice crystals for the selective detection of bovine serum albumin (BSA), the major protein constituent of blood plasma, based on the selective binding of the naphthalene ring of the dansyl moiety with site I of BSA. Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available for this article at and is accessible for authorized users. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com     

Tata钢厂改进铸机对铸坯质量的改善

2002年,Tata钢厂改进了它的一台六流铸机,改进内容包括在结晶器中加入电磁搅拌器(EMS)和在中间包和结晶器之间使用浸入式水口(SEN)以能提供一种封闭式浇注工艺.改进的目标是提高铸坯的现行质量并且开发其生产多种高附加值钢材品种的能力,以丰富产品种类.改进的铸机投入生产后,要生产出合乎质量要求的铸坯就必须对铸机的一些操作参数进行优化.本文讨论了Tata钢厂依据不同的优化方法使用改进的铸机所取得的一些经验.     

Microstructural study of transient liquid phase bonded cast INCONEL 738LC superalloy

The microstructure of the transient liquid phase (TLP) bonded joint of a cast INCONEL 738LC superalloy, made with a commercial Ni-Cr-B filler alloy, Nicrobraz 150, was examined by analytical scanning and transmission electron microscopic techniques. Due to incomplete isothermal solidification at the bonding temperature, the residual liquid interlayer transformed to nonequilibrium eutectic microconstituents consisting of chromium-rich M₅B₃, nickel-rich M₂₃B₆, and nickel-based γ solid solution phases. Also, a significant volume fraction of complex fcc Cr-Mo-W rich carboborides was observed in the joint/base alloy interface region. This is contrary to the predictions of the currently available TLP models that predict a precipitate-free joint/base alloy interface. It is suggested that solid-state diffusion of boron prior to completion of equilibration process induced the formation of carbo-boride phase, which needs to be adequately considered to develop an optimum postbraze heattreatment process to produce a joint with optimum properties.     

Helix-forming tendencies of amino acids depend on their sequence contexts: tripeptides AFG and FAG show incipient beta-bulge formation in their crystal structures

Many of the theoretical methods used for predicting the occurrence of alpha-helices in peptides are based on the helical preferences of amino acid monomer residues. In order to check whether the helix-forming tendencies are based on helical preferences of monomers only or also on their sequence contexts, we synthesized permuted sequences of the tripeptides GAF, GAV, and GAL that formed crystalline helices with near alpha-helical conformation. The tripeptides AFG and FAG formed good crystals. The x-ray crystallographic studies of AFG and FAG showed that though they contain the same amino acids as GAF but in different sequences, they do not assume a helical conformation in the solid state. On the other hand, AFG and FAG, which contain the same amino acids but in a different sequence, exhibit nearly the same backbone torsion angles corresponding to an incipient formation of a beta-bulge, and exhibit nearly identical unit cells and crystal structures. Based on these results, it appears that the helix-forming tendencies of amino acids depend on the sequence context in which it occurs in a polypeptide. The synthetic peptides AFG (L-Ala-L-Phe-Gly) and FAG (L-Phe-L-Ala-Gly), C14H19N3O4, crystallize in the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with a = 5.232(1), b = 14.622(2), c = 19.157(3) A, Dx = 1.329 g cm-3, Z = 4, R = 0.041 for 549 reflections for AFG, and with a = 5.488(2), b = 14.189(1), c = 18.562(1) A, Dx = 1.348 g cm-3, Z = 4, R = 0.038 for 919 reflections for FAG. Unlike the other tripeptides GAF, GGV, GAL, and GAI, the crystals of AFG and FAG do not contain water molecule, and the molecules of AFG aor FAG do not show the helical conformation. The torsion angles at the backbone of the peptide are psi 1 = 144.5(5) degrees; phi 2, psi 2 = -98.1(6) degrees, -65.2(6) degrees; phi 3, psi 13, psi 31 = 154.1(6) degrees, -173.6(6) degrees, 6.9(8) degrees for AFG; and psi 1 = 162.6(3) degrees; phi 2, psi 2 = -96.7(4) degrees, -46.3(4) degrees; phi 3, psi 13, psi 31 = 150.1(3) degrees, -168.7(3) degrees, 12.2(5) degrees for FAG. The conformation angles (phi, psi) for residues 2 and 3 for both AFG and FAG show incipient formation of an beta-bulge.     

Improved generalized neuron model for short-term load forecasting

The conventional neural networks consisting of simple neuron models have various drawbacks like large training time for complex problems, huge data requirement to train a non linear complex problems, unknown ANN structure, the relatively larger number of hidden nodes required, problem of local minima etc. To make the Artificial Neural Network more efficient and to overcome the above-mentioned problems the new improved generalized neuron model is proposed in this work. The proposed neuron models have both summation () and product () as aggregation function. The generalized neuron models have flexibility at both the aggregation and activation function level to cope with the non-linearity involved in the type of applications dealt with. The training and testing performance of these models have been compared for Short Term Load Forecasting Problem.     

Effect of Grain Size on the Weldability of Cast Alloy 718

Electron beam welding was conducted on cast alloy 718 with varying grain sizes obtained using Microcast (MX™) and conventional cast (CC) techniques. The average value per section of Total Crack Length (Av. TCL) was measured on each cross section and used to represent the material's weldability. It was found for the first time that the grain size had a reduced effect on the weldability of cast alloys, relative to that reported in the literature for wrought alloys; i.e., increased grain size in the range of 90-3000 microns resulted in improved weldability. This was determined to be related to the probability of welds intersecting grain boundaries and causing grain boundary microfissuring. The conclusion from the experimental analysis is corroborated by the use of a Weibull-type analysis to evaluate the probability of a weld microfissure occurring relative to the grain size. As grain size increases, the probability of the weld intersecting the grains is reduced, and thus, the likelihood of microfissuring is reduced. With regard to a single crystal, there are no grain boundaries intercepting the weld (probability = 0), and thus, microfissuring related to constitutional liquation of primary carbides, or segregation of species to grain boundaries would not occur.     

Water in India’s development: Issues,developmental policy and programmes,and planning approach

The importance of water resources development for sustaining life and the agrarian economy under the conditions prevalent in India is brought out. The inadequacy of drinking water and irrigation facilities inspite of large investments under the various Plans is very disappointing, as also the poor development of the hydroelectric potential. Despite the rich environmental and natural resources of India, there has been very little developmental work due to various reasons, chief of them being non-involvement by specialized technologists in the areas where they matter most. The need for a scientific policy and a planned approach is emphasized so that higher employment generation and rapid economic growth can be achieved.     

Storage of surface flows through groundwater recharge

The Ganga basin in India has a serious problem of water availability. The basin, which is only one twelfth of the United States in area, has a population greater than the totalus population, and is increasing at a rate of 2·5% per annum. About 77% of the population is engaged in agriculture which is totally dependent on irrigation, as almost 85% of the rainfall comes down in 2–3 monsoon months. Surface storage possibility is extremely limited, but groundwater recharge appears feasible, since sedimentary alluvial formations extend to depths of thousands of metres. Three alternative schemes of groundwater recharge have been proposed. One involves pumping heavily along perennial rivers prior to the monsoon so as to lower the water-table and promote induced groundwater recharge. The second proposes a similar approach along nonperennial rivers. The third involves irrigation during the monsoon with groundwater lowered adequately in the non-monsoon period so that enough induced groundwater recharge takes place to provide adequate supplies for non-monsoon months. A simulation-optimization model has been developed to study the surface flow-groundwater interaction and has been applied to study comparative cost effectiveness of the three alternate approaches. Sensitivity analysis has also been carried out. It is shown that the third scheme is the most attractive.