An experimental study of a confined and submerged impinging jet heat transfer using Al2O3-water nanofluid

An experimental investigation was performed to study the heat transfer performance of a 36 nm-Al₂O₃-particle–water nanofluid in a confined and submerged impinging jet on a flat, horizontal and circular heated surface. The tests were realized for the following ranges of the governing parameters: the nozzle diameter is 3 mm and the distance nozzle-to-heated-surface was set to 2, 5 and 10 mm; the flow Reynolds number varies from 3800 to 88 000, the Prandtl number from 5 to 10, and the particle volume fraction is ranging from 0 to 6%. Experimental data, obtained for both laminar and turbulent flow regimes, have clearly shown that, depending upon the combination of nozzle-to-heated surface distance and particle volume fraction, the use of a nanofluid can provide a heat transfer enhancement in some cases; conversely, for other combinations, an adverse effect on the convective heat transfer coefficient may occur. Within the experimental parameters used, it has been observed that highest surface heat transfer coefficients can be achieved using an intermediate nozzle-to-surface distance of 5 mm and a 2.8% particle volume fraction nanofluid. Nanofluids with high particle volume fractions, say 6% or higher, have been found not appropriate for the heat transfer enhancement purpose under the confined impinging jet configuration. On the other hand, for a very small and a large distance of nozzle-to-heated-surface, it has been observed that the nanofluid use does not provide a perceptible heat transfer enhancement and has, for some particular cases, produced a clear decrease of the convective heat transfer coefficient while compared to that obtained using distilled water.     

Finite Element Method Simulations to Improve Press Formability of Door Hinge

Door hinges are a key product in the automotive industry. The function of automotive door hinge is not only to close, open, and keep the open angle of the door but also to reduce traumas for passengers in the car when it is hit by another car. However, concentrated stress and strain occur at the corner of this product during forming, which can cause a crack if the shape of this area of the blank is not carefully designed. Accordingly, this article proposes a method for improving the press formability of a door hinge by changing the shape of the concerned area of the blank based on finite element method (FEM) simulations using the explicit dynamic code ABAQUS, version 6.5. The resulting optimized solution for robust forming was a corner radius of 7 mm, protrusion length of 18 mm, and protrusion height of 5 mm.     

A cohesive model of fatigue crack growth

We investigate the use of cohesive theories of fracture, in conjunction with the explicit resolution of the near-tip plastic fields and the enforcement of closure as a contact constraint, for the purpose of fatigue-life prediction. An important characteristic of the cohesive laws considered here is that they exhibit unloading-reloading hysteresis. This feature has the important consequence of preventing shakedown and allowing for steady crack growth. Our calculations demonstrate that the theory is capable of a unified treatment of long cracks under constant-amplitude loading, short cracks and the effect of overloads, without ad hoc corrections or tuning.     

Thermal spraying and adhesion of oxides onto graphite

Surface treatment of graphite (Cg), which is based on thermal spraying of oxides (Al₂O₃, ZrO₂), is proposed to reduce graphite reactivity and permeability toward oxygen. The study of coating adhesion allows recognition of the parameters that favor mechanical and chemical bonds. It also indicates the pretreatment of graphite, which leads to Cr₃C₂ or SiC bond coats. Different graphite-oxide systems were examined and showed that adhesion particularly depends on the thermal expansion coefficient mismatch between Cg, oxide, and the bond coat. Therefore, a post-treatment based on an impregnation with enamel of the porous oxide is essential to obtain effective protection of the graphite against the external environment.     

Magnetism in Si1 − xMnx diluted magnetic semiconductor thin films

We have studied the electrical and magnetic properties of p-type semiconductor thin films of Si_1 − xMn_x/Si (x = 0.036 and 0.05) grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Experimental results reveal that the resistivity of the samples decreases gradually with increasing measurement temperature, which can be described well by Mott's variable-range-hopping model. All the samples exhibit the ferromagnetic ordering above room temperature. Among these samples, Si_0.95Mn_0.05 has a higher hole density and magnetization. This indicates an enhancement of hole-mediated ferromagnetic exchange interactions when the Mn-doping concentration is increased.     

An adaptive extraction of generalized eigensubspace by using exact nested orthogonal complement structure

The contribution of this paper is three-fold: first, we propose a novel scheme for generalized minor subspace extraction by extending an idea of dimension reduction technique. The key of this scheme is the reduction of the problem for extracting the ith (i ≥ 2) minor generalized eigenvector of the original matrix pencil to that for extracting the first minor generalized eigenvector of a matrix pencil of lower dimensionality. The proposed scheme can employ any algorithm capable of estimating the first minor generalized eigenvector. Second, we propose a pair of such iterative algorithms and analyze their convergence properties in the general case where the generalized eigenvalues are not necessarily distinct. Third, by using these algorithms inductively, we present adaptive implementations of the proposed scheme for estimating an orthonormal basis of the generalized minor subspace. Numerical examples show that the proposed adaptive subspace extraction algorithms have better numerical stability than conventional algorithms.     

A comparison of historical land-use change patterns and recommendations for flood plain developments in three delta regions in Southeast Asia

Historical land-cover changes in three delta regions in Southeast Asia are assessed by using selected Landsat images from 1990 to 2005. Potential inundation areas of the delta regions for different return periods are estimated by using digital elevation model data and extreme-value distribution of annual maximum river discharges. The results indicate significant changes of natural land cover within the potential inundation areas due to agricultural exploitation and industrialization. Implications for flood-mitigation policies are discussed. There is a clear need for sustainable land-use management strategies in all three areas.     

Efficient and accurate measurement of very sharp crystallographic textures: A new measurement strategy

A new measurement strategy is introduced to determine very pronounced crystallographic textures of polycrystalline materials most accurately and efficiently. It features optimized adaptively refined successive X-ray pole figure measurements. To optimize both the total experimental time as well as the angular resolution, and thus the accuracy of pole figure measurements, traveling salesman problems on the hemisphere of poles have to be resolved. The corresponding algorithm is encoded and implemented as part of the software controlling the texture goniometer. The procedure was applied to pole figure measurements of a NiW alloy with extremely sharp Cube texture. The results are presented and compared to conventional measurement strategies.     

Triethyl and tributyl phosphite as flame-retarding additives in Li-ion batteries

This study examined the influence of triethyl and tributyl phosphite (TEP and TBP) additives on the electrochemical performance of lithium-ion cells. The cell performance of the TEP- and TBP-containing electrolytes was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, thermogravimetric analysis, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The flammability of the electrolytes was also investigated by measuring the self-extinguishing time of the electrolytes. The results showed that the TEP and TBP additives suppressed the flammability of the electrolyte, with a significant improvement in cell performance observed for the TEP additive. In addition, TEP and TBP additives improved the thermal stability of the battery and its electrochemical cell performance. Overall, 5 wt% TEP and TBP can be used as a flame-retarding additive to improve the cell performance of Li-ion batteries due to the decrease in cell impedance and SEI formation.