High temperature micropillar compression of Al/SiC nanolaminates

The effect of the temperature on the compressive stress–strain behavior of Al/SiC nanoscale multilayers was studied by means of micropillar compression tests at 23 °C and 100 °C. The multilayers (composed of alternating layers of 60 nm in thickness of nanocrystalline Al and amorphous SiC) showed a very large hardening rate at 23 °C, which led to a flow stress of 3.1 ± 0.2 GPa at 8% strain. However, the flow stress (and the hardening rate) was reduced by 50% at 100 °C. Plastic deformation of the Al layers was the dominant deformation mechanism at both temperatures, but the Al layers were extruded out of the micropillar at 100 °C, while Al plastic flow was constrained by the SiC elastic layers at 23 °C. Finite element simulations of the micropillar compression test indicated the role played by different factors (flow stress of Al, interface strength and friction coefficient) on the mechanical behavior and were able to rationalize the differences in the stress–strain curves between 23 °C and 100 °C.     

Experimental Investigation on Microstructural and Mechanical Attributes of Al 7075-T6/SiC/CR/MoS2 Based Green Hybrid Composite Via Advanced Vacuum-Sealed Bottom Pouring Stir Casting

Silicon - Hybrid metal matrix composites are the modern age materials that are extensively employed in automotive, civil construction, and bio-medical sectors. These composites should be...     

On the Correlation Between Fatigue Striation Spacing and Crack Growth Rate: A Three-Dimensional (3-D) X-ray Synchrotron Tomography Study

In situ three-dimensional (3-D) X-ray synchrotron tomography of fatigue crack growth was conducted in a 7075-T6 aluminum alloy. Local measurements of da/dN were possible with the 3-D data sets obtained from tomography. A comparison with fatigue striation spacings obtained from scanning electron microscopy of the fracture surfaces yielded excellent correlation with da/dN obtained from tomography. The X-ray tomography technique can be used to obtain a highly accurate and representative measurements of crack growth locally in the microstructure of the material.     

A HOMOGENEOUS MODEL FOR MASS TRANSFER ENHANCEMENT IN GAS-LIQUID-LIQUID SYSTEMS

A modified homogeneous mass transfer model based on penetration theory is proposed for the mass transfer enhancement in gas-liquid-liquid systems. The present model assumes the existence of a shuttle mechanism between the organic dispersed phase and the continuous aqueous phase and considers the effect of diffusivity along with the solubility ratio and the dispersed phase holdup. The concept of effective diffusivity for gas in liquid-liquid emulsions has been used to consider the effect of diffusivity on mass transfer enhancement. The proposed model predicts the experimentally obtained enhancement factor with reasonable accuracy and numerical simplicity. Fresh experiments were also conducted to further validate the proposed model.     

Comparison of measured and calculated reaction rate distributions in an scwr-like test lattice

High resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements were performed on 61 rods of an SCWR-like fuel lattice, after irradiation in the central test zone of the PROTEUS zero-power research reactor at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. The derived reaction rates are the capture rate in ²³⁸U (C₈) and the total fission rate (F_tot), and also the reaction rate ratio C₈/F_tot. Each of these has been mapped rod-wise on the lattice and compared to calculated results from whole-reactor Monte Carlo simulations with MCNPX. Ratios of calculated to experimental values (C/E’s) have been assessed for the C₈, F_tot and C₈/F_tot distributions across the lattice. These C/E’s show excellent agreement between the calculations and the measurements. For the ²³⁸U capture rate distribution, the 1σ level in the comparisons corresponds to an uncertainty of ±0.8%, while for the total fission rate the corresponding value is ±0.4%. The uncertainty for C₈/F_tot, assessed as a reaction rate ratio characterizing each individual rod position in the test lattice, is significantly higher at ±2.2%. To determine the reproducibility of these results, the measurements were performed twice, once in 2006 and again in 2009. The agreement between these two measurement sets is within the respective statistical uncertainties.