UV-shielding by a polyurethane/f-Oil fly ash-CeO2 protective coating

A waste material called oil fly ash (OFA) was acid-functionalized, yielding f-OFA-COOH, which was then reacted with cerium oxide (CeO₂) to make CeO₂-functionalized OFA, or f-OFA-CeO₂. Pristine OFA and f-OFA-CeO₂ were used to make waterborne polyurethane (WBPU) dispersions, referred to as WBPU/OFA and WBPU/f-OFA-CeO₂, respectively, with defined OFA and f-OFA-CeO₂ content. All the dispersions were applied to mild steel as organic coatings to evaluate their protective properties, such as their hydrophobicity, adhesive strength and UV-shielding resistance. These protective properties varied based on the OFA and f-OFA-CeO₂ content. The highest water contact angle, minimum water swelling and maximum adhesive strength were found using WBPU/f-OFA-CeO₂-20 coating (using 2.00 wt% f-OFA-CeO₂), which also showed the maximum ultraviolet (UV) absorption via UV–vis spectroscopy analysis. This UV shielding result also matched field test results, as that coating was found to exhibit the lowest UV degradation near a marine atmosphere, as shown by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The least affected hydrophobicity was also recorded for the sample with the WBPU/f-OFA-CeO₂-20 coating.     

Structural integrity assessment of the containment structure of a pressurised heavy water nuclear reactor using impact echo technique

The impact echo technique is based on the use of transient stress waves for non-destructive detection of flaws in concrete structures. Impact-echo testing has been carried out for assessment of the structural integrity of the ring beam of a pressurised heavy water nuclear reactor. In order to develop the test procedure for carrying out impact echo testing, mock up calibration blocks were made. The detectability of the impact echo system has also been established in terms of the depth and the lateral dimension of the detectable flaw for the ring beam under consideration. Based on the optimised test parameters identified with the help of the studies carried out on the mock up blocks, impact echo testing was carried out on the ring beam of the reactor containment structure, for assessing its structural integrity.     

Effect of type and percentage of reinforcement for optimization of the cutting force in turning of Aluminium matrix nanocomposites using response surface methodologies

Aluminium matrix composites (AMCs) now hold a significant share of raw materials in many applications. It is of prime importance to study the machinability of such composites so as to enhance their applicability. Sufficient work has been done for studying the machining of AMCs with particle reinforcements of micron range. This paper presents the study of AMCs with particle reinforcement of under micron range i.e. nanoparticles. This paper brings out the results of an experimental investigation of type and weight percent of nanoparticles on the tangential cutting force during turning operation. SiC, Gr and SiC-Gr (in equal proportions) were used with Al-6061 alloy as the matrix phase. The results indicate that composites with SiC require greater cutting force followed by hybrid and then Gr. Increase in the weight percent also significantly affected the magnitude of cutting force. RSM was used first to design and analyze the experiments and then to optimize the turning process and obtain optimal conditions of weight and type of reinforcements for turning operation.     

Non-uniform Euler-Bernoulli beams under a single moving oscillator: An approximate analytical solution in time domain

Dynamic responses of simply supported non-uniform beams traversed by a moving oscillator are analysed in this paper. An approximate analytical method based on Rayleigh-Ritz (R-R) formulation is developed. The fundamental approximate mode obtained from R-R method is used in the present formulation to determine the responses of the beam and the oscillator. Effects of surface irregularities on the displacement and acceleration responses of the beam and the vehicle are also analysed. The results are compared with those obtained using Finite element method (FEM). A numerical example is provided to illustrate the validity of the present method which shows that the proposed method is simple, computationally more efficient compared to FEM and gives fairly good results. Though the single-mode approach used in the present paper is a classical one and numerous studies on the responses of uniform beams under moving loads have been reported in the past, its application to non-uniform beams (for which there does not exist any closed form expression for mode shapes) under a moving load, especially a moving oscillator, is presented for the first time.     

Effect of iron alloying in evolution of nanostructure and microstructural stability in nickel

Nanocrystalline materials show many interesting properties such as high strength and hardness due to nanosized grains and high density of interfaces. In this context, the present work reports the effect of Fe (iron) addition in Ni (nickel) on nanostructure retention during the annealing of Ni-Fe alloy (with 0, 18.5, 28.5 and 43 wt% Fe) at 450 °C for 16 h. Furthermore, effect of annealing on the deformation mechanism was investigated. The integral breadth method revealed the decrease in grain size with increase in wt% Fe in Ni. The strain rate sensitivity exponent which is a signature of operating deformation mechanism showed a higher value (0.10803) in case of Ni-18.5 wt% Fe during nanoindentation. However, Ni-0 wt% Fe, Ni-28.5 wt% Fe and Ni-43 wt% Fe were characterized by a relatively low strain rate sensitivity exponent (between 0.02069 and 0.10803). Results indicated the presence of Hall-Petch relationship up to 18.5 wt% Fe and inverse Hall-Petch relationship above 18.5 wt% Fe.     

Corrosion of Alloy Haynes 230 in High Temperature Supercritical Carbon Dioxide with Oxygen Impurity Additions

The corrosion of Ni-based alloy Haynes 230 in supercritical carbon dioxide at temperatures of 650 and 750 °C at a pressure of 20 MPa was investigated. In high-purity research grade CO₂, the corrosion performance of the alloy was excellent with a thin, uniform, protective chromium-rich oxide layer forming on the surface. Introduction of 10 and 100 ppm O₂ impurity in the CO₂ environment noticeably enhanced oxidation with evidence of oxide spallation and nodule formation. In these oxygen impurity added tests, increased oxidation led to subsurface voids due to the more rapid outward diffusion of chromium as well as intergranular alumina and chromia. The oxygen concentration at the inlet and the outlet of the autoclave was measured and used to support the results of characterization of the surface oxide to develop a more holistic understanding of the role of oxygen impurity on the corrosion process. In all cases, there some carbon was observed, which manifested as slightly higher concentration of chromium–carbide phase at the grain boundaries compared to the unexposed alloy.     

Effect of Retrogression and Re-Aging on Tensile Mechanical Properties in Transverse Direction of Extruded Rods from Aluminum Alloy AA7049

Metal Science and Heat Treatment - The effect retrogression and re-aging (RRA treatment) on the tensile properties in the transverse direction of extruded rods from aluminum alloy AA7049 is...