Effect of Zr on microstructure and mechanical properties of the Al–Cu–Er alloy

ABSTRACT

The microstructure and mechanical properties of the Al–4Cu–2.7Er–0.3Zr alloy were investigated. The precipitates of the L1₂ structured phase with sizes 37?±?12?nm were formed in lines and homogenously distributed inside the aluminium matrix after annealing at 605°C for 1?h. The as-rolled Al–4Cu–2.7Er–0.3Zr alloy developed an increased hardness after 1?h annealing at 100–550°C and 0.5–6?h annealing at 150–250°C due to precipitation of the Al₃(Er,Zr) phase. Addition of Zirconium improved the tensile properties relative to those of the Zr-free alloy by approximately 20?MPa: yield strength?=?273–296?MPa and ultimate tensile strength?=?296–328?MPa in the alloys annealed at 100–150°C.     

Degradation analysis of a heavy-duty gas turbine engine under full and part load conditions

This paper describes the degradation analysis and the performance diagnostics of the gas-turbine (GT) cycle of a combined cycle power plant (CCPP). Three different operating loads, which are 100%, 75%, and 50%, were tested at different ambient conditions, namely, temperature, pressure, and humidity. First, a degradation model to simulate the GT performance with these various operating loads and conditions has been developed. It is then demonstrated how this degradation affects the GT and its components. The degradation analysis has been performed on 2500 readings obtained during 2 years of operation. After applying the load determining criteria, 60 readings were obtained to represent the full load operation and 40 reading points for each part-load operation. The degradation analysis has been carried out on the basis of actual data obtained from a CCPP; this differentiates this study from the others in the same area. Based on the commissioning test performance of the GT cycle, the model has been validated. The results show that the rate of degradation increases dramatically as the load increases. Moreover, the degradation rate also increases with an increase in the ambient air temperature. However, the degradation rate for the various studied parameters, namely, polytropic efficiencies, GT exhaust mass flow rate, and the overall GT efficiency, has been found to decrease with time. The maximum degradation percentage has been estimated to be −1.71% at full load conditions in comparison with −1.33% and −1.16% at 75% and 50% load, respectively.     

In situ polyaniline film formation using ferric chloride as an oxidant

In situ polyaniline (PANI) films were grown from an aqueous hydrochloric acid solution on glass substrates via the chemical oxidation of aniline using hydrated ferric chloride, FeCl₃.6H₂O (FC). The effect of initial molar ratios of FC/aniline on the yield of PANI films was monitored using the quartz crystal microbalance technique. The morphology of the resultant polymer film and powder was examined using scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the film possesses a porous character; however, the polymer powder consists of small particles with interconnected nanofibers. The polymer powder formed in the bulk was characterized using the energy dispersive analysis of X-ray, the X-ray diffraction, and the thermal gravimetric analysis. A comparison between the PANI produced from FC and ammonium peroxydisulfate was considered and discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Genotype by environment interactions in fertility traits in New Zealand dairy cows

New Zealand's seasonal dairy farming system entails a condensed calving pattern with cows required to conceive within approximately 12 wk of the planned start of calving. This has resulted in strong selection for fertility through culling of nonpregnant cows and relatively strong emphasis on fertility in Breeding Worth, the national breeding objective that drives sire selection. Despite this, average herd-level fertility is highly variable across New Zealand dairy farms. We studied genotype by environment interaction in fertility-related traits, with the goal of improving selection decisions in different fertility environments. We used data from the New Zealand national dairy database, which contains records on 3,743,862 animals. Herds were classified into high-, mid-, or low-fertility categories or environments based on herd average fertility performance, and data were analyzed in 2 different ways. First, we estimated genetic parameters when the fertility trait was defined specifically for each fertility environment to determine the extent to which genetic correlations between high- and low-fertility environments differed from 1 and the extent of changes in genetic variance across environments. Second, we used simple regression to evaluate the impact of ancestral genetic merit for fertility on cow fertility phenotypes to compare the effect of changes in genetic merit on phenotypic performance between fertility environments. The genetic standard deviations of fertility-related traits were 1.5 to 3.6 times higher in low-fertility herds than in high-fertility herds, and the genetic correlations between the same fertility-related traits between the high- and low-fertility environments were moderate to high, albeit with high standard errors. The high standard errors of the correlations reflected the low heritabilities of the traits and potential problems of culling bias, particularly for traits expressed in later parities. Regression analysis revealed that the bottom 30% of herds (in terms of fertility) could achieve more than twice the benefit from selection for fertility than the top 30% of herds. Although our analyses do not support separate genetic evaluations of fertility in the different environments, they indicate that low-fertility herds could benefit more from targeted selection of sires with higher fertility estimated breeding values than from selection based solely on the multitrait national index. Conversely, high-fertility herds could focus their sire selection on traits other than fertility, provided they avoid very low fertility sires.     

Numerical study on convective flow in a three-dimensional enclosure with hot solid body and discrete cooling

The aim of the present numerical study is to analyze the effect of cooler location and aspect ratio and position of the hot solid body inside the enclosure on three-dimensional natural convection flow in a cubical enclosure. The cooler and heater positions and aspect ratio of the heater in a cavity are examined under different combinations of partially cooling vertical sidewalls and, hot solid body in the cubical cavity. That is, (i) different cooler locations with a fixed size of the hot solid body, and, (ii) centrally located hot solid body with different aspect ratio. The three-dimensional convective flow and thermal arrangements in the enclosure are analyzed using the distribution of streamlines, isosurfaces, and Nusselt number. It is found that the cooler location and aspect ratio of hot solid body play a key role on convective cooling and energy transport inside the enclosure. The unit aspect ratio of hot solid body provides higher energy transport inside the enclosure for all cooler positions.     

The hydraulic‐thermal performance of miniature compact heat sinks using SiO2‐water nanofluids

Ever since the rapid increase in both the demand for the miniature electronic devices and their applications, heat dissipation in the electronic components has been a serious issue. A miniature plate‐pin heat sink model with square, circular, and elliptic pins is considered to enhance the hydrothermal performance of this kind of compact heat sink (CHS). Water and 3% of SiO₂‐water nanofluids of volume fraction were used with different Reynolds number ranges (100‐1000). The findings show that the base temperature of heat sink reduces while the Nusselt number enhances by using nanofluids and increasing Reynolds number. The lowest value of the base temperature is nearly 25% for the square pins and circular pins CHSs compared with a plate–fin heat sink at 3% of nanofluids. Furthermore, the highest value of the Nusselt number is about 98% at 3% SiO₂ for circular pin CHSs compared with the plate–fin heat sink. However, the pressure drop of CHSs is higher than that of plate–fin heat sink. Moreover, the most significant hydrothermal performance value is about 1.44 for water and around 1.51 for SiO₂ as using the CHS with circular and elliptic pins depends on the Reynolds number. Thus, applying CHSs with nanofluids instead of the traditional heat sinks might produce a substantial enhancement in the hydrothermal performance of heat sinks.     

Physiological and molecular study on the anti-obesity effects of pineapple (Ananas comosus) juice in male Wistar rat

Food Science and Biotechnology - The present study was performed to assess anti-obesity effects of raw pineapple juice in high fat diet (HFD)-induced fatness. Based on food type, rats were divided...