Mechanical behaviour of conventional,Pt- and Pt/Ir-modified NiAl diffusion coatings after thermocyclic exposure at 1100°C

The influence of Pt- and Pt/Ir-modifications on the mechanical properties of NiAl coatings after thermocyclic exposure at 1100°C was investigated. Four-point-bending tests with in-situ acoustic emission measurement were used to determine the fracture strain. After 100 h of exposure a steep increase in fracture strain was observed for the NiAl coating. In contrast, the increase was found to be moderate for modified coatings. For all investigated coatings the fracture strain was correlated with the mean Al-concentration in the diffusion zone, and a moderate increase in the β-phase field with decreasing Al-concentration was found. In the two-phase (β/γ') stability region fracture strain increased steeply. Indentation hardness instead showed a steep decrease within the single β-phase field, but remained almost constant in the two-phase region. Reduced elastic modulus followed a V-curve behaviour, in which a decrease with ongoing Al-depletion in the β-stability region was followed by an increase in the two-phase region.     

The performance assessment of a combined organic Rankine-vapor compression refrigeration cycle aided hydrogen liquefaction

In this study, the performance of the combined cooling cycle with the Organic Rankine power cycle, which provides cooling of the hydrogen at the compressor inlet which compresses the constant temperature in the Claude cycle used for hydrogen liquefaction, on the system is examined. The Organic Rankine combined cooling cycle was considered to be using a geothermal source with a flow rate of 120 kg/s at a temperature of 200 °C. The first and second law performance evaluations of the whole system were made depending on the heat energy at different levels taken from the geothermal source. The thermodynamic analysis of the equipment making up the system has been done in detail. The temperature values at which the hydrogen can be effectively cooled were determined in the presented combined system. The efficiency coefficient of the total system was calculated based on varying pre-cooling values. As a result of the study, it was determined that cold entry of hydrogen into the Claude cycle reduced the energy consumption required for liquefaction. Amount of hydrogen cooled to specified temperature increase by increase in mass flow of geothermal water and its temperature. Liquefaction cost is calculated to be 0.995 $/kg H₂ and electricity produced by itself is calculated to be 0.025 $/kWh by the new model of liquefaction system. Cost of the liquefaction in the proposed system is about 39.7% lower than direct value of hydrogen liquefaction of 1.650 $/kg given in the literature.     

Effect of source spectral shape on task-based assessment of detection and resolution in optical coherence tomography

We demonstrate the effect of the spectral shape of broadband light sources in a task-based approach for assessment of signal detection and resolution in optical coherence tomography. We define two binary tasks: The signal is either present or absent and the signal can be either resolved or not. In a transparent sample bounded by two uniform interfaces we study the minimum detectable change in the index of refraction as well as the minimum resolvable distance between the layers in correlation with the source spectral shape and power. Results show that the area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) for a signal-detection task is not affected by the shape of the spectrum but solely by its optical power, whereas spectral shaping has an effect, which we quantify, on the AUC for the resolution task. Moreover, the AUC is demonstrated in relation to the concept of system sensitivity for a signal-detection task.     

Influence of mobility models on the performance of data dissemination and routing in wireless mobile ad hoc networks

Many routing protocols are proposed in the literature on mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). Some of those protocols which have been investigated under different assumptions are unable to capture the actual characteristics of MANETs. Therefore, there is a necessity to investigate the performance of MANETs under a number of different protocols with various mobility models. This paper evaluates the performance of the single path routing protocols (AODV, DSR, and DSDV), in the presence of different network loads and differing mobility models. Our findings show that DSR routing protocol has a better performance compared to other protocols with respect to various metrics.     

AN INTEGRATED FUZZY APPROACH FOR DETERMINING ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS IN CONCRETE INDUSTRY

This paper deals with the modeling of conceptual knowledge to capture the major customer requirements effectively and to transform these requirements systematically into the relevant design requirements. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a well-known planning and problem-solving tool for translating customer needs (CNs) into the engineering characteristics (ECs) and can be employed for this modeling. In this study, an integrated methodology is presented to rank ECs for implementing QFD in a fuzzy environment. The proposed methodology uses fuzzy weighted average method as a fuzzy group decision making approach to fuse multiple preference rankings for determining the weights of the customer needs. It adopts a fuzzy Analytic Network Process (ANP) approach which enables the consideration of inner dependencies in a cluster as well as the interdependencies between the clusters to determine the importance of ECs. The proposed approach is illustrated through a case study in ready-mixed concrete industry.     

Thermodynamic analysis of models used in hydrogen production by geothermal energy

Four models are developed for the use of geothermal energy for hydrogen production. These include using geothermal work output as the work input for an electrolysis process (Case 1); using part of geothermal heat to produce work for electrolysis process and part of geothermal heat in an electrolysis process to preheat the water (Case 2), using geothermal heat to preheat water in a high-temperature electrolysis process (Case 3), and using part of geothermal work for electrolysis and the remaining part for liquefaction (Case 4). These models are studied thermodynamically, and both reversible and actual (irreversible) operation of the models are considered. The effect of geothermal water temperature on the amount of hydrogen production per unit mass of geothermal water is investigated for all four models, and the results are compared. The results show that as the temperature of geothermal water increases the amount of hydrogen production increases. Also, 1.34 g of hydrogen may be produced by one kg of geothermal water at 200 °C in the reversible operation for Case 1. The corresponding values are 1.42, 1.91, and 1.22 in Case 2, Case 3, and Case 4, respectively. Greater amounts of hydrogen may be produced in Case 3 compared to other cases. Case 2 performs better than Case 1 because of the enhanced use of geothermal resource in the process. Case 4 allows both hydrogen production and liquefaction using the same geothermal resource, and provides a good solution for the remote geothermal resources. A comparison of hydrogen production values in the reversible and irreversible conditions reveal that the second-law efficiencies of the models are 28.5%, 29.9%, 37.2%, and 16.1% in Case 1, Case 2, Case 3, and Case 4, respectively.     

Sustainable housing in island conditions using Alker-gypsum-stabilized earth: A case study from northern Cyprus

The materials and energy sources needed for construction are limited by island conditions. Until recent decades, earth was widely used as a construction material in northern Cyprus due to its abundance and many technical advantages, however, as a construction material, earth is vulnerable to moisture. Ongoing research into gypsum-stabilized earth (known as Alker) at Istanbul Technical University since 1978 demonstrates the superior physical properties, increased durability, and human health benefits of this improved earthen material.     

Finite element analysis of GTAW arc under different shielding gases

The aim of this work is to use COMSOL software as a tool for solving the 2-D Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) problem in the Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) arc under the shielding gases argon, helium, nitrogen and argon + 10% hydrogen. COMSOL 3.5a worked perfectly for solving multiphysics phenomena, including the Navier-Stokes flow equation, the heat transfer equation and the Maxwell Equation. COMSOL software can be utilized to simulate the temperature and velocity profile in the GTAW arc after some validation procedures. Cumbersome experimental work can be avoided by using this numerical instrument.For our study, we compared the numerically calculated temperature profile and maximum plasma velocity under argon shielding gas and maximum temperature of a nitrogen arc with experimental results found in the literature. We also compared the numerically calculated velocity profile with another numerical solution found in the literature. Our comparisons showed good agreement. The highest temperature was in the nitrogen arc, while the highest voltage was in the helium arc. The highest total energy was in the helium arc similar to the voltage value. The highest plasma velocity values were obtained in the nitrogen and helium arcs. The most constricted arc was calculated in the nitrogen arc.