Dry Sliding Friction and Wear Properties of Al–25Zn–3Cu–(0–5)Si Alloys in the As-Cast and Heat-Treated Conditions

Dry sliding friction and wear properties of ternary Al–25Zn–3Cu and quaternary Al–25Zn–3Cu–(1–5)Si alloys were investigated using a pin-on-disc test machine after examining their microstructures and mechanical properties. An alloy (Al–25Zn–3Cu–3Si), which exhibited the highest tensile and compressive strengths, was subjected to T7 heat treatment. Surface and subsurface of the wear samples were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The hardness and both tensile and compressive strengths of the alloys increased with increasing silicon content, but the trend reversed for the latter ones above 3% Si. It was observed that T7 heat treatment reduced the hardness and both tensile and compressive strengths of the Al–25Zn–3Cu–3Si alloy, but increased its elongation to fracture greatly. Three distinct regions were observed underneath the surface of the wear samples of the Al–25Zn–3Cu–3Si alloy. The formation of these regions was related to the heavy deformation of surface material and mixing, oxidation and smearing of wear material. Al–25Zn-based ternary and quaternary alloys in both as-cast and heat-treated conditions were found to be superior to SAE 660 bronze as far as their mechanical and dry sliding wear properties are concerned.     

Dry sliding friction and wear properties of Al-25Zn-3Cu-3Si alloy

Friction and wear properties of Al-25Zn-3Cu-3Si alloy were investigated over a range of pressure and sliding speed using a pin-on-disc test machine. The friction coefficient of the alloy increased with sliding speed, but decreased with increasing pressure up to 1.5 MPa, above which the trend reversed. However, the temperature and wear volume of the alloy increased continuously with increasing pressure and sliding speed. A fine-grained layer and a region with flow lines were observed underneath the surface of the wear samples. The formation of these regions was related to smearing of wear particles and heavy deformation of surface material, respectively.     

Fast orthogonal search approach for distance protection of transmission lines

A distance protection scheme for transmission lines based on analyzing the measured voltage and current signals at the relay location using fast orthogonal search (FOS) is presented in this paper. FOS has the ability to accurately provide fast estimate of the voltage and current fundamental frequency phasors that are required for a digital distance relay. Compared to the conventional FFT, FOS can estimate the fundamental phasors with higher accuracy and less number of samples. The proposed scheme has been tested on a transmission line model to verify the merit of this approach. The tests presented include solid ground faults, phase faults, and high impedance faults at different fault locations and loading conditions. The proposed scheme can classify all fault cases in less than one cycle after the inception of the faults.     

Using gold sequences to improve the performance of correlation based islanding detection

One of the problems encountered when connecting distributed generators to a distribution system is the possibility of islanded operation. Traditionally this has been prevented through the application of passive under/over voltage and frequency relays which are triggered if the island contains mismatched amounts of active and/or reactive power, respectively. Various active techniques which reduce the power mismatch required for operation of the passive relays have been developed. These active techniques may fail to detect islanding in multiple generator islands if all the generators do not have identical active anti-islanding strategies. An islanding detection technique based on the correlation between disturbances in system voltage and a pseudo-random sequence used to perturb the generator’s output was developed for use in islands where generators may have different anti-islanding strategies. Previous investigations have always used pseudo-random sequences from the maximal length family of sequences. It is demonstrated in this paper that using either a Gold or Kasami sequence instead of a maximal length sequence can improve the performance of the correlation technique.     

Pectin isolated from white cabbage--structure and complement-fixing activity

This study was done to investigate whether white cabbage contained polysaccharides with immunostimulatory activity using the complement-fixing test as an indicator. The main polysaccharide isolated was of pectin nature. Methanolysis and (13)C-NMR showed that the polymers consisted of highly esterified alpha-galactopyranoside (alpha-GalpA), significant amounts of alpha-arabinose furanoside (alpha-Araf), beta-Galp and lesser amounts of rhamnose in the pyranose form (Rhap) and xylose in the pyranose form (Xylp). Linkage analyses showed that the alpha-GalpA residues were mainly 1,4-linked with small amounts of 1,3,4-linkages. The alpha-Araf residues were mainly terminally (t)- and 1,5-linked, whereas beta-Galp was t-, 1,3-, 1,6-, and 1,3,6-linked. Positive Yariv reaction indicated polymers with arabinogalactan type 2 like structures. alpha-Rhap was mainly present as 1,2- and 1,2,4-linked residues and Xylp was t- and 1,4-linked. The molecular weight varied greatly and was from 10 to 150 kDa. Cabbage polymers had biological activity and this complement-fixing activity was greatly affected by hydrolytic removal of Araf from pectic side chains.     

Chronic metabolic responses of postpartal dairy cows to subcutaneous glucagon injections, oral glycerol, or both

We examined the long-term effects of daily subcutaneous injections of 15 mg of glucagon during the first 14 d postpartum with or without coadministration of 400 mL of pure glycerol orally on blood metabolites and hormones and liver composition of Holstein dairy cows during early lactation. Fourteen multiparous cows with body condition score of ≥3.5 points (1-5 point scale) were assigned randomly to one of 4 treatment groups—saline, glucagon, glycerol, or glucagon plus glycerol. Fatty liver syndrome was induced by feeding cows a dry-cow ration supplemented with 6 kg of cracked corn daily during the last 6 wk of the dry period. Compared with saline treatment (n = 3), coadministration of glucagon and glycerol (n = 4) increased plasma glucose and insulin and decreased plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentrations in both treatment weeks, whereas glucagon alone (n = 3) produced similar changes plus a decrease in plasma β-hydroxybutyrate in the second week only. No significant changes were observed for the glycerol alone treatment (n = 4). We conclude that a single daily dose of glycerol for the first 14 d postpartum may potentiate the action of glucagon in the first treatment days to alleviate some symptoms of fatty liver syndrome, such as the increase in plasma nonesterified fatty acids and the decrease in plasma glucose and insulin, in Holstein dairy cows after parturition.     

The reuse of dried activated sludge for adsorption of reactive dye

Adsorption processes are alternative effective methods for removal of textile dyes from aqueous solutions. The adsorption ability of adsorbent affects by physico-chemical environment for this reason in this paper effect of initial pH, dye concentrations, temperature and dye hydrolyzation were determined in a batch system for removal of reactive dye by dried activated sludge. The Langmuir isotherm model was well described of adsorption reactive dye and maximum monolayer adsorption capacity (at pH 2) of activated sludge was determined as 116, 93 and 71mgg(-1) for 20 degrees , 35 degrees and 50 degrees C, respectively. Initial pH 2, 20 degrees C and 30min contact time are suitable for removal of reactive dyes from aqueous solutions. Activated sludge was characterized by FT-IR analysis and results showed that active sludge has different functional groups and functional groups of activated sludge are able to react with dye molecules in aqueous solution. The pseudo first-order, second-order and intraparticle diffusion kinetics were used to describe the kinetic data. The pseudo second-order kinetic model was fit well over the range of contact times and also an intra particle diffusion kinetic model was fit well but in the first 30min. The dye hydrolyzation was affected adsorption capacity of biomass and adsorption capacity of biomass decreased with dye hydrolyzation from 74 to 38mgg(-1).     

Wideband patch antennas for mobile communications

This paper describes a new technique for bandwidth enhancement of microstrip patch antennas. An electromagnetically coupled (EMC) feeding structure was employed to increase the bandwidth. L-strip feeding rectangular and triangular patches were simulated and tested. The obtained bandwidth (SWR2) is about 1200 MHz (52%) for the rectangular patch, while that of the triangular one is around 1300 MHz (56%). These results provide evidence that the proposed designs can be used in the DCS, PCS, UMTS, WLAN and IMT-2000 service frequency bands.     

Sensitivity of three pathogenic bacteria to Turkish cemen paste and its ingredients

Pastirma is a dry cured meat product which is pasted with cemen. This paste is prepared from ground fenugreek, garlic and red hot pepper (RHPP). In this study, the cemen mix/paste and all its ingredients were tested for their inhibitory effects on Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Yersinia enterocolitica. All samples had a varying inhibitory effect against all the bacteria tested during 4 days of storage. Complete cemen paste showed the strongest inhibitory effect on the three pathogens compared to ingredients alone. Fenugreek and RHPP had a bacteriostatic effect while the cemen paste and garlic had a bactericidal effect. S. aureus was the most sensitive bacterium while Y. enterocolitica was the most resistant. The results of this study confirmed the protective effect of cemen paste and garlic in food preservation especially against E. coli, S. aureus and Y. enterocolitica proving safety for public health. Hence it might be concluded that cemen paste is the first hurdle to prevent bacterial contamination, and a low pH (～4.83) value would also add an additional barrier to secure safety of the product. Finally, it can be suggested that similar studies should be conducted on actual meat systems to confirm these findings.