Radiation-curable carbon fiber prepreg composites

Radiation processing is the utilization of ionizing radiation, usually photons or electron beams, to produce useful physical and chemical changes in a material. A potential application for electron beam processing for composite manufacturing is for curing carbon fiber prepregs. These prepregs, carbon fibers or fabrics preimpregnated with liquid polymer resin, are commonly used in the aircraft industry. Their use, however, can be time consuming and labor intensive. The advantages of radiation curing over thermal or chemical curing methods include improved rate control, reduced curing times, and curing at ambient temperature. There is no need for chemical initiators. A radiation-curable prepreg has been designed to meet the mechanical and physical property specifications of a leading aircraft manufacturing company. The resin is a mixture of an expoxy diacrylate, polybutadiene diacrylate, and a multifunctional monomer. This resin was used to impregnate a plain weave carbon fabric, at a loading of 35 percent (by mass), using a solvent process. Preliminary characterization studies show that the cured polymer produced by irradiation in air to a dose of 40 kGy is amorphous with a maximum gel fraction of 85 percent. The softening point of the polymer varied from 228°C (30-kGy sample) to 237°C (50-kGy sample). The linear thermal expansion coefficient of the polymer was 1.7 × 10⁻⁴ m/m°C from 25°C to 150°C and was unaffected by varying the applied dose from 30 to 50 kGy.     

Development and Validation of HPTLC Method for Estimation of Tacrolimus in Formulations

A new, simple, and rapid high-performance thin-layer chromatographic method with a derivatization procedure was developed and validated for quantitative determination of tacrolimus. Tacrolimus was chromatographed on silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ TLC plate using toluene–acetonitrile–glacial acetic acid (6:4:0.1, by volume) as mobile phase. Tacrolimus was visualized using a derivatization reagent containing anisaldehyde–sulfuric acid in absolute alcohol and quantified by densitometric analysis in the reflectance mode at 675 nm. The method was found to give compact spots for the drug (R_f?=?0.40?±?0.03). The linear regression analysis data for the calibration plots showed good linear relationship with r²?=?.9989 in the concentration range 100–800 ng/spot. The method was validated for precision, recovery, repeatability, and robustness as per the International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. The minimum detectable amount was found to be 28.90 ng, whereas the limit of quantitation was found to be 97.04 ng. Statistical analysis of the data showed that the method is precise, accurate, reproducible, and selective for the analysis of tacrolimus. The method was successfully employed for the estimation of equilibrium solubility and quantification of tacrolimus as a bulk drug and in commercially available capsules and in-house developed self-microemulsifying formulations.     

Poly(acrylamide) functionalized chitosan: An efficient adsorbent for azo dyes from aqueous solutions

In the present communication we report on the optimization of persulfate/ascorbic acid initiated synthesis of chitosan-graft-poly(acrylamide) (Ch-g-PAM) and its application in the removal of azo dyes. The optimum yield of the copolymer was obtained using 16 × 10⁻² M acrylamide, 3.0 × 10⁻² M ascorbic acid, 2.4 × 10⁻³ M K₂S₂O₈ and 0.1 g chitosan in 25 mL of 5% aqueous formic acid at 45 ± 0.2 °C. Ch-g-PAM remained water insoluble even under highly acidic conditions and could efficiently remove Remazol violet and Procion yellow dyes from the aqueous solutions over a pH range of 3–8 in contrast to chitosan (Ch) which showed pH dependent adsorption. The adsorption data of the Ch-g-PAM and Ch for both the dyes were modeled by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms where the data fitted better to Langmuir isotherms. To understand the adsorption behavior of Ch-g-PAM, adsorption of Remazol violet on to the copolymer was optimized and the kinetic and thermodynamic studies were carried out taking Ch as reference. Both Ch-g-PAM and Ch followed pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetics. The thermodynamic study revealed a positive heat of adsorption (ΔH°), a positive ΔS° and a negative ΔG°, indicating spontaneous and endothermic nature of the adsorption of RV dye on to the Ch-g-PAM. The Ch-g-PAM was found to be very efficient in removing color from real industrial wastewater as well, though the interfering ions present in the wastewater slightly hindered its adsorption capacity. The data from regeneration efficiencies for ten cycles evidenced the high reusability of the copolymer in the treatment of waste water laden with even high concentrations of dye.     

Fully dense hot pressed calcium cobalt oxide ceramics

The processing parameters have been optimized to achieve highly pure and fully dense pellets of calcium cobalt oxide (Ca₃Co₄O₉) from solid-state ball milled calcium carbonate and cobalt oxide mixtures, calcined at optimized temperature and time, and consolidated by hot-pressing. The microscopic, spectroscopic, and thermal analysis suggest samples with longer ball-milling time require less calcination time for synthesizing highly pure crystalline phases of Ca₃Co₄O₉, and provide 99.2 ± 0.5% relative density.     

New Technology Introduction and Implementation: The Case of Paging Technology in the Ratlam Division of Indian Railways

Concomitant to the liberalisation policy and market reforms in India has been the issue of declining budgetary support for public sector organisations. Hitherto, Indian Railways, the biggest publicly-owned enterprise, has largely been supported by the exchequer. Since the early 1990s, however, the Railways has had to operate increasingly as a commercial rather than a social organisation. One of the ways of improving efficiency is to introduce efficiency-enhancing technologies. This paper is a case study of the introduction of paging technology to the Ratlam Division of Indian Railways. It describes the process of planning and implementation, the HRM implications of the adoption and how the process was successfully managed. It aims at shedding further light on the nature and the processes whereby technologies eventually gain company recognition and acceptance.     

Further remarks on sequential estimation of a scale parameter in exponential distributions with an unknown location

The sequential procedure developed by Govindarajulu and Sarkar [Sequential estimation of scale parameter in exponential distributions with unknown location. Utilitas Math.40, 161–178 (1991)] for estimating the scale parameter of an exponential distribution, when the location parameter is unknown, is further analyzed. Generalizing the results of Govindarajulu and Sarkar, the ‘asymptotic risk-efficiency’ of the sequential procedure is established for the general loss function. A simple method of obtaining the asymptotic distribution of the stopping time is given. For the case of quadratic loss function and linear cost of sampling, a much simpler proof for obtaining the second-order approximations for the risk is provided.     

Producing High-Quality Titanium Alloy by a Cost-Effective Route Combining Fast Heating and Hot Processing

Powder metallurgy is a very attractive method for producing titanium alloys, which can be near-net-shape formed and have freedom in composition selection. However, applications are still limited due to product affordability. In this paper, we will discuss a possible cost-effective route, combining fast heating and hot processing, to produce titanium alloys with similar or even better mechanical properties than that of ingot metallurgy titanium alloys. Two titanium alloys, Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr (Ti-5553) and Ti-5Fe, were successfully produced from HDH titanium powder and other master alloy powders using the proposed processing route. The effect of the processing route on microstructural variation and mechanical properties have been discussed.