In-process measurement of topography change of grinding wheel by using hydrodynamic pressure

This paper deals with an in-process measurement method for topography change of a grinding wheel, which can apply to wet grinding. A pressure sensor is set beside a grinding wheel with a small gap. When grinding fluid is dragged into the gap, hydrodynamic pressure, which corresponds to the gap length and the topography, can be measured. This method is applied to a cylindrical grinding machine. No electromagnetic properties of a workpiece and a grinding wheel affect measured results. The pressure is decreased with the increase of the gap length when the grinding fluid is supplied in the tangential direction of the grinding wheel. Spectra of the pressure are measured with an FFT analyzer. Higher frequency components are increased with the progress of grinding because of turbulent flow. Loading and dulling of a grinding wheel can be detected by the proposed method as well as its wear.     

Influence of cobalt ions on the anodic oxidation of a lead alloy under conditions typical of copper electrowinning

The influence of cobalt ions in the solution on the anodic oxidation of a commercial Pb–Ca–Sn alloy under conditions typical of copper electrowinning was studied using cyclic voltammograms and potential decay transients. The cobalt ions changed the structure, morphology and chemical composition of the surface film from a loose porous film to a thin dense film. This change of surface film is the cause for the decreased rate of oxidation for the lead anode in the presence of cobalt ions. The steady state potential of the alloy during anodic oxidation decreased with (i) increasing cobalt ion concentration, (ii) increasing rotation speed, (iii) increasing temperature, (iv) decreasing acid concentration and (v) decreasing current density. The steady state potentials were lower in the presence of cobalt ions. This decrease in the steady state potential may indicate that oxygen evolution is more rapid on the more compact film formed in the presence of cobalt ions. Alternatively, an additional pathway of oxidation may be provided by the cobalt ions.     

Characterization of synthetic and activated sludge and conditioning with cationic polyelectrolytes

This study investigates the effect of cationic polyelectrolytes on the final properties of synthetic and activated sludge. Synthetic sludge was prepared according to established procedures. Activated sludge was produced in a labscale, continuous-flow reactor which was fed with live activated sludge from a waste-water treatment plant. Capillary suction time (CST) was used to evaluate the sludge dewatering behaviour. The results from experiments indicated that the cationic polyelectrolytes had a critical effect on sludge dewatering, and made an improvement in the final properties of sludge. The two types of sludge have very similar dewatering characteristics after cationic polymer conditioning. The development of synthetic sludge is suggested also to be a possible surrogate for studying the final properties of activated sludge.     

Heat transfer and solidification microstructure evolution of continuously cast steel by non-steady physical simulation

The heat transfer and solidification microstructure evolution during continuous casting were experimentally studied in this work. A new approach to physically simulate the steel solidification behavior during continuous casting was developed. Six steel grades with different solidification mode were introduced to elucidate the carbon equivalent dependent mold heat flux, prior austenite grain size and secondary dendrite arm spacing. It is found that the non-steady mold heat fluxes in the experiment against time for all steel grades are comparative to that versus distance in practical continuous casting. Due to the occurrence of L→L+δ→δ+γ→γ transformation with the largest amount of volume contraction in hypo-peritectic steel, it shows the lowest mold heat flux among these six steel grades. It is also demonstrated from the solidification microstructure results that the prior austenite grain size and secondary dendrite arm spacing in the physical simulation are in good agreement with those in continuously cast strand. In addition, the steel with a higher temperature for the onset of δ→γ transformation reveals the larger prior austenite grains resulted from the higher grains growth rate in the post solidification process.     

Enhanced corrosion performance of magnesium phosphate conversion coating on AZ31 magnesium alloy

Magnesium phosphate conversion coating (MPCC) was fabricated on AZ31 magnesium alloy for corrosion protection by immersion treatment in a simple MPCC solution containing Mg²⁺ and PO^3?₄ ions. The MPCC on AZ31 Mg alloy showed micro-cracks structure and a uniform thickness with the thickness of about 2.5 µm after 20 min of phosphating treatment. The composition analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the coating consisted of magnesium phosphate and magnesium hydroxide/oxide compounds. The MPCC showed a significant protective effect on AZ31 Mg alloy. The corrosion current of MPCC was reduced to about 3% of that of the uncoated surface and the time for the deterioration process during immersion in 0.5 mol/L NaCl solution improved from about 10 min to about 24 h.     

Multi-objective optimization of circular magnetic abrasive polishing of SUS304 and Cu materials

In this paper, a Multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm (MOPSOA) is applied to optimize surface roughness of workpiece after circular magnetic abrasive polishing. The most important parameters of polishing model, namely current, gap between pole and workpiece, spindle speed and polishing time, were considered in this approach. The objective functions of the MOPSOA depend on the quality of surface roughness of polishing materials with both simultaneous surfaces (Ra1, Ra2), which are determined by means of experimental approach with the aid of circular magnetic field. Finally, the effectiveness of the approach is compared between the optimal results with the experimental data. The results show that the new proposed polishing optimization method is more feasible.

     

Modelling of the mist formation in a segmented grinding wheel system

It has been found that using a segmented grinding wheel with a fluid chamber can significantly minimise the quantity of coolant while improving the ground surface integrity. The present investigation aims to explore the fluid flow mechanism in such a wheel system. To this end, the Weber theory for Newtonian jet instability was applied to quantitatively determine the contribution of coolant flow rate to mist and ligament modes. A semi-analytical model was then developed to predict the mist flow rate by taking into account both the grinding parameters and fluid properties. It was shown that the model prediction was in good agreement with experimental measurements. Because of the comprehensive integration of variables in the formulation, the model provides a good fundamental understanding of the mist formation and offers a practical guideline for the selection and use coolant in minimising the mist flow rate.     

Resistance of High-Nickel,Heat-Resisting Alloys to Air and to Supercritical CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> at High Temperatures

The reduction behaviour of wustite-type iron oxide scale on a low-carbon, low-silicon steel by dissolved carbon in the steel at 650–900 °C under pure nitrogen was studied. It was found that dissoved carbon in the steel examined was able to react with the wustite scale on the surface, leading to reduction of this scale. It was also found that the scale reduction rate was the most rapid within 750–800 °C, followed by that at 700 °C and then at 850 °C, whereas the rates were essentially zero at 650 and 900 °C. Decarburization occurred to the steel as a result of scale reduction, and the degree of decarburization at 750–800 °C was also the most severe. The rate of scale–carbon reaction was primarily controlled by carbon diffusion through the decarburization layer as the calculated carbon permeability, defined as the product of carbon diffusivity and the carbon concentration difference across the decarburization layer, also reached its maximum within 750–800 °C. Scale reduction led to the formation of pores at the scale–steel interface as a result of volume shrinkage when wustite was reduced to iron, but the porosity volume was smaller than calculated at 800–850 °C, which could have an inhibiting effect on the scale–carbon reaction. The calculated volume of CO + CO₂ gases generated as a result of scale–carbon reactions was about 100 times the calculated porosity volume. It was believed that the wustite scale was permeable to CO and/or CO₂, allowing the much larger volume of CO and CO₂ gases to escape through the scale layer.     

Active coke: Carbonaceous materials as catalysts for alkane dehydrogenation

The catalytic dehydrogenation (DH) and oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of light alkanes are of significant industrial importance. In this work both carbonaceous material deposited on VO_x/Al₂O₃ catalysts during reaction and unsupported carbon nanofibres (CNFs) are shown to be active for the dehydrogenation of butane in the absence of gas-phase oxygen. Their activity in these reactions is shown to be dependent upon their structure, with different reaction temperatures yielding structurally different coke deposits. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS), among other techniques, has been applied to the characterisation of these deposits – the first time this technique has been employed in coke studies. TEM and other techniques show that coke encapsulates the catalyst, preventing access to VO_x sites, without a loss of activity. Studies on CNFs confirm that carbonaceous materials act as catalysts in this reaction. Carbon-based catalysts represent an important new class of potential catalysts for DH and ODH reactions.     

Hydrogen bonding in blends of polyesters with dipeptide‐containing polyphosphazenes

New biomedically erodible polymer composites were investigated. Polyphosphazenes containing the dipeptide side groups alanyl–glycine ethyl ester, valinyl–glycine ethyl ester, and phenylalanyl–glycine ethyl ester were blended with poly(lactide‐co‐glycolide) (PLGA) with lactic to glycolic acid ratios of 50 : 50 [PLGA (50 : 50)] and 85 : 15 [PLGA (85 : 15)] with solution‐phase techniques. Each dipeptide ethyl ester side group contains two N? H protons that are capable of hydrogen bonding with the carbonyl functions of PLGA. Polyphosphazenes that contain only the dipeptide ethyl ester groups are insoluble in organic solvents and are thus unsuitable for solution‐phase composite formation. To ensure solubility during and after synthesis, cosubstituted polymers with both dipeptide ethyl ester and glycine or alanine ethyl ester side groups were used. Solution casting or electrospinning was used to fabricate polymer blend matrices with different ratios of polyphosphazene to polyester, and their miscibilities were estimated with differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Polyphosphazenes with alanyl–glycine ethyl ester side groups plus the second cosubstituent were completely miscible with PLGA (50 : 50) and PLGA (85 : 15) when processed via solution‐casting techniques. This suggests that the hydrogen‐bonding protons in alanyl–glycine ethyl ester have access to the oxygen atoms of the carbonyl units in PLGA. However, when the same pair of polymers was electrospun from solution, the polymers proved to be immiscible. Solution‐cast miscible polymer blends were obtained from PLGA (50 : 50) plus the polyphosphazene that was cosubstituted with valinyl–glycine ethyl ester and glycine ethyl ester side groups. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010