An investigation on SA 213-Tube to SA 387-Tube plate using friction welding process

Friction welding of tube to tube plate using an external tool (FWTPET) is a relatively newer solid state welding process used for joining tube to tube plate of either similar or dissimilar materials with enhanced mechanical and metallurgical properties. In the present study, FWTPET has been used to weld SA 213 (Grade T12) tube with SA 387 (Grade 22) tube plate. The welded samples are found to have satisfactory joint strength and the Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) study showed that inter metallic compound is absent in the weld zone. The different weld joints have been identified and the phase composition is found using EDX and XRD. Microstructures have been analyzed using optical and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mechanical properties such as hardness, compressive shear strength and peel test for different weld conditions are studied and the hardness survey revealed that there is increase in hardness at the weld interface due to grain refinement. The corrosion behavior for different weld conditions have been analyzed and the weld zone is found to have better corrosion resistance due to the influence of the grain refinement after FWTPET welding process. Hence, the present investigation is carried out to study the behavior of friction welded dissimilar joints of SA 213 tube and SA 387 tube plate joints and the results are presented. The present study confirms that a high quality tube to tube plate joint can be achieved using FWTPET process at 1120 rpm.     

Effect of Chilled Air on Machining Performance in End Milling

Flood coolant is customarily used to increase tool life and to improve workpiece surface finish in machining. It is also responsible for some adverse effects on the environment and users’ health, and hence the interest in chilled air assisted machining as an alternative to flood coolant. The effect of chilled air on machining performance was carried out using an end-milling operation on ASSAB 718HH mould steel using uncoated tungsten carbide inserts at different depths of cut, feedrates and cutting speeds under three different lubrication modes, i.e. chilled air, conventional coolant, and dry cutting. The relative performance of these modes is evaluated in terms of tool wear, surface finish, cutting force, and quality of the chips. Lower tool wear was observed using chilled air compared to that for the conventional flood coolant at a lower depth of cut, lower feedrate and lower cutting speed. The surface roughness was found to reduce at higher depths of cut, higher feedrates and higher cutting speeds for chilled air as compared to dry cutting and flood coolant. It is also observed that the cutting force experienced with chilled air is comparable and, in many cases, lower than that when using flood coolant. Stress lines on the chip surfaces show that the chips experienced the highest shear stress in dry cutting, followed by cutting with chilled air and lastly, with flood coolant.     

MACHINING PARAMETERS OPTIMIZATION FOR ALUMINA BASED CERAMIC CUTTING TOOLS USING GENETIC ALGORITHM

Alumina-based ceramic cutting tools can be operated at higher cutting speeds than carbide and cermet tools. This results in increased metal removal rates and productivity. While the initial cost of alumina based ceramic inserts is generally higher than carbide or cermet inserts, the cost per part machined is often lower. Production cost is the main concern of the industry and it has to be optimised to fully utilize the advantages of ceramic cutting tools. In this study, optimization of machining parameters on machining S.G. iron (ASTM A536 60-40-18) using alumina based ceramic cutting tools is presented. Before doing the optimization work, experimental machining study is carried out using Ti [C,N] mixed alumina ceramic cutting tool (CC 650) and Zirconia toughened alumina ceramic cutting tool (Widialox G) to get actual input values to the optimization problem, so that the optimized results will be realistic. The optimum machining parameters are found out using Genetic algorithm and it is found that Widialox G tool is able to machine at lower unit production cost than CC 650 tool. The various costs affecting the unit production cost are also discussed.     

Modelling very large magnetoresistance of graphene nanoribbon devices

We model a very large, tunable magnetoresistance (MR) in a graphene nanoribbon field-effect transistor, without artificial engineering of ferromagnetic contacts. A high MR of nearly 100% (about 50%) is obtained at low temperature (room temperature). We show that the MR ratio can be further tuned by using conventional electric field, in agreement with a recent experiment. The simulation results indicate that the large MR of GNRs stems from reduction of the bandgap of GNRs in the presence of applied magnetic field related to the 0(th) Landau level in graphene. Interestingly, in a more realistic device with edge roughness, the MR ratio is not degraded but rather enhanced, caused by the magnetic field induced spatial separation of the transport states. The large, tunable MR of GNRs resistant to edge roughness is attractive to device applications.     

Design,Synthesis, in vitro MAO‐B Inhibitory Evaluation,and Computational Studies of Some 6‐Nitrobenzothiazole‐Derived Semicarbazones

Monoamine oxidase B (MAO‐B) is an important drug target for the treatment of neurological disorders. A series of 6‐nitrobenzothiazole‐derived semicarbazones were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as inhibitors of the rat brain MAO‐B isoenzyme. Most of the compounds were found to be potent inhibitors of MAO‐B, with IC₅₀ values in the nanomolar to micromolar range. Molecular docking studies were performed with AutoDock 4.2 to deduce the affinity and binding mode of these inhibitors toward the MAO‐B active site. The free energies of binding (ΔG) and inhibition constants (K_i) of the docked compounds were calculated by the Lamarckian genetic algorithm (LGA) of AutoDock 4.2. Good correlations between the calculated and experimental results were obtained. 1‐[(4‐Chlorophenyl)(phenyl)methylene]‐4‐(6‐nitrobenzothiazol‐2‐yl)semicarbazide emerged as the lead MAO‐B inhibitor, with top ranking in both the experimental MAO‐B assay (IC₅₀: 0.004±0.001 μM ) and in computational docking studies (K_i: 1.08 μM ). Binding mode analysis of potent inhibitors suggests that these compounds are well accommodated by the MAO‐B active site through stable hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions. Interestingly, the 6‐nitrobenzothiazole moiety is stabilized in the substrate cavity with the aryl or diaryl residues extending up into the entrance cavity of the active site. According to our results, docking experiments could be an interesting approach for predicting the activity and binding interactions of this class of semicarbazones against MAO‐B. Thus, a binding site model consisting of three essential pharmacophoric features is proposed, and this can be used for the design of future MAO‐B inhibitors.     

Integration of functional reliability analysis with hardware reliability: An application to safety grade decay heat removal system of Indian 500 MWe PFBR

A passive system can fail either due to classical mechanical failure of components, referred to as hardware failure, or due to the failure of physical phenomena to fulfill the intended function, referred to as functional failure. In this paper a methodology is discussed for the integration of these two kinds of unreliability and applied to evaluate the integrated failure probability of the passive decay heat removal system of Indian 500 MWe prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR). The probability of occurrence of various system hardware configurations is evaluated using the fault tree method and functional failure probabilities on the corresponding configurations are determined based on the overall approach reported in the reliability methods for passive system (RMPS) project. The variation of functional reliability with time, which is coupled to the probability of occurrence of various hardware system configurations is studied and incorporated in the integrated reliability analysis. It is observed that this consideration of the dependence of functional reliability on time will give significant advantages on system reliability. The integrated reliability analysis is also explained using an event tree. The impact of the provision for forced circulation in the primary circuit on functional reliability is also studied with this procedure and it is found that the forced circulation capability helps to bring down the total decay heat removal failure probability by lowering the peak temperatures after the reactor shut down.     

Passive system reliability analysis using Response Conditioning Method with an application to failure frequency estimation of Decay Heat Removal of PFBR

Innovative nuclear reactor designs include passive means to achieve high reliability in accomplishing safety functions. Functional reliability analyses of passive systems include Monte Carlo sampling of system uncertainties, followed by propagation through mechanistic system models. For complex passive safety systems of high reliability, Monte Carlo simulations using mechanistic codes are computationally expensive and often become prohibitive. Passive system reliability analysis using recently proposed Response Conditioning Method, which incorporates the insights obtained from approximate solutions like response surfaces in simulations to obtain computationally efficient and consistent probability estimates, is presented in this paper. The method is applied to evaluate the reliability of passive Decay Heat Removal (DHR) system of Indian Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR). The accuracy as well as efficiency of the method is compared with direct Monte Carlo simulation. The variability of the reliability values is estimated using bootstrap technique. The system abilities, to prevent critical structural damage as well as to ensure operational safety, are quantitatively ascertained. The system functional failure probabilities are integrated with hardware failure probabilities and the inclusion of passive system unreliability in Probabilistic Safety Assessment is demonstrated.     

Theoretical and experimental performance analysis for cold trap design

Cold trap is a purification unit used in sodium system of FBR's for maintaining the oxygen/hydrogen level in sodium within acceptable limits. It works on the principle of crystallization and precipitation of oxides/hydrides of sodium in a wire mesh, when the temperature of sodium is reduced below the saturation temperature. The cold traps presently used have lower effectiveness and get plugged prematurely. The plugged cold traps are cleaned and then put back into service. Frequent cleaning of cold trap results in the long down time of the sodium system. New design of cold trap has been conceived to overcome the above problems. The mathematical modeling for the new design was carried out and validated with experimentally tested results for its effectiveness. This paper shares the experience gained on the new design of cold trap for FBR's.