Structure of Crack in Thermally Dried Sludge Cake

We examined in this work the drying characteristics of wastewater sludge, considering the weight loss using an electronic balance and the morphology change of drying cake by an X-ray micro-computerized tomography scanner (micro-CT). The drying rates for sludge cake was 50-60% of the pure water test. The corresponding micro-CT images were scanned to explore the change in cake volume and development of internal crack over drying. The Otsu's method was applied to bilevel the scanned images, based on which the three-dimensional model for crack's internal structure was reconstructed. The cake porosity and the geometric factors of cracks, such as the compactness, the boundary fractal dimension, and the Sierpinski carpet fractal dimension, were evaluated. The shrinkage of cake volume and the development of internal crack occurred simultaneously. The skin layer formed by the former mechanism retards further drying. On the other hand, the internal cracks were shown to exhibit zigzagging with a noncircular cross section and fractal-like boundary, which should be able to enhance local drying. A possible role of change in crack structure on the rate of drying was discussed.     

A highly stable and efficient catalyst for direct synthesis of LPG from syngas

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel was directly synthesized from syngas over a hybrid catalyst which contained a methanol synthesis catalyst and zeolite. The new hybrid catalyst composed of (Pd–Ca/SiO₂) and β-zeolite, showed a high activity and selectivity for LPG production. X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization of the catalyst was used to analyze the deactivation of (Pd–Ca/SiO₂)/β-zeolite.     

Fluctuating enzymes: lessons from single-molecule studies

Recent single-molecule enzymology measurements with improved statistics have demonstrated that a single enzyme molecule exhibits large temporal fluctuations of the turnover rate constant at a broad range of time scales (from 1 ms to 100 s). The rate constant fluctuations, termed as dynamic disorder, are associated with fluctuations of the protein conformations observed on the same time scales. We discuss the unique information extractable from these experiments and the reconciliation of these observations with ensemble-averaged Michaelis-Menten equation. A theoretical model based on the generalized Langevin equation (GLE) treatment of Kramers' barrier crossing problem for chemical reactions accounts naturally for the observation of dynamic disorder and highly dispersed kinetics.     

Role of RE Element Nd on Boronizing Kinetics of Steels

Boronizing of AISI 1045 and ASTM W1-111/2 steels was carried out by pack boriding using Nd₂O₃-containing agent in the temperature range of 1053 to 1213?K. The effect of RE element Nd on boronizing kinetics was analyzed in terms of possible chemical reactions in boriding agent, surface elemental distribution and morphology evolution of the steels boronized at different temperatures. The results showed that the RE element Nd has two opposite effects on boronizing process, i.e., promoting effect at high temperatures and hindering effect at low temperatures. Boronizing using Nd₂O₃-containing agent can remarkably reduce the diffusion activation energy at higher temperatures. Empirical equations relating the boride layer thickness with processing time and temperature are established. Based on these equations, the contour diagrams of boride layer thickness for the studied steels boronized with addition of 5% Nd₂O₃ are presented.     

Process Mechanics of Low Plasticity Burnishing of Nitinol Alloy

Nitinol alloys have received considerable attention in biomedical and aerospace applications. Surface integrity of Nitinol devices by various manufacturing processes is crucial for their functionality. Low plasticity burnishing (LPB) is very promising to modify surface integrity due to its unique capability to adjust material properties down to the deep subsurface on the order of a few millimeters. Burnishing mechanics is essential to understand its effect on surface properties. The depth and width of burnished surface materials are characterized. A three-dimensional finite element simulation has been developed to incorporate the superelastic mechanical behavior of Nitinol. The simulation predictions are validated with the experimental results. The contact stresses, residual stresses, and strain profiles are investigated to better understand burnishing mechanics.     

High Temperature Oxidation and Wear Resistance of Y-modified Hot Dipping Aluminized Coating on SCH12 Steel

Microstructures,high-temperature oxidation and wear resistance of hot dipping Al-Si-Y coating on SCH12 heat resistant cast steel were investigated in this study.The aluminized coating was characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM),energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry(EDX)and X-ray diffraction(XRD).The results showed that the coating was composed of the Al-rich outer layer and the intermetallics inner layer.In the Al-rich layer,some Y-rich precipitates and Fe-Al-Si-Cr precipitates could be observed.The intermetallics layer presented three layers induced by the increase of Fe,Cr,Ni content and the corresponding decrease of Al,Si content.The oxidation tests were conducted in still air at 850℃for up to 100 h.After oxidation,a top oxide scale composed of mainlyα-Al2O3,Al5Y3O12 was formed on the steel surface.The intermetallics beneath the oxide scale consisted of mainly FeAl and small amount of Fe2Al5 and Cr3Si phase.The mass gain of the coated and uncoated SCH1steel is 0.45 mg/cm 2 and 0.57 mg/cm 2,respectively.The wear resistance was investigated using a high-temperature pin-on-disc tribometer at 650℃.The wear rate for the coated and uncoated steel is 0.45μm 3 /μm.N and 3.01μm 3 /μm.N,respectively.The high temperature wear tests and oxidation tests results demonstrated that the yttrium-modified aluminized specimen had significantly improved high-temperature wear resistance and equivalent oxidation resistance compared with the original SCH12 specimen.     

Synthesis and Erosion Behaviors of Nanoscale Coatings Prepared by Wire Arc Spraying

The effects of erosive parameters,such as impact angles and environment temperature,on erosion properties of FeBSiCrMnNb nanoscale coatings were investigated.A series of coatings were prepared by wire arc spraying process.The microstructure of the coating consists of amorphous andα(Fe,Cr)nanocrystalline phase.The nanocrystals with average size of 39 nm are homogenously dispersed in amorphous matrix.The erosion results reveal that the coating exhibits better erosion resistance at lower impact angle.The erosion rates of the coating decrease as function of environment temperature.The relatively erosion resistance of the nanoscale coating is 3.7 times higher than that of AISI1045 steel substrate at 650°C.The main failure mechanism of the coating is brittle fracture.     

Evidence of room temperature ferromagnetism in Co-doped transparent CuAlO2 semiconductor

We synthesized CuAl_1−xCo_xO₂ (x = 0.00-0.07) thin films by solid-state reaction from Cu₂O and Al₂O₃ on a sapphire (0 0 1) substrate by a simple and cost-effective spin-on technique. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy confirm the formation of single impurity-free delafossite CuAlO₂ structure for all the compositions. We observed diamagnetism for pristine CuAlO₂ and ferromagnetism for Co-doped CuAlO₂ at room temperature. Specially, the coercivity (H_c) and saturation magnetization (M_s) are significantly enhanced with Co composition from 1 at.% to 5 at.% but show the reverse tendency with higher Co content.     

Microstructural control of TiAl-Nb alloys by directional solidification

The lamellar microstructure of TiAl-Nb alloys with and without low boron additions is controlled using double directional solidification (DS). In alloys without the addition of boron, the β phase is seeded during double DS. Complete peritectic transformation occurs in both the dendritic and interdendritic regions, which can lead to the successful alignment of both the high-temperature α phase and the lamellar microstructures. Well-aligned lamellar microstructures can be easily achieved if the alloy composition is close to the peritectic point on the hypo-peritectic side. In alloys with low boron additions, however, the competitive growth of the α phase breaks the continuity of the lamellar microstructure in the region ahead of stable growth, which finally results in columnar grain coarsening and unsuccessful alignment of the lamellar microstructures.     

Corrosion characteristics of boronized AISI 8620 steel in oil field water containing H<Subscript>2</Subscript>S

The corrosion behaviours of non-boronized and boronized AISI 8620 steels in both oil field water and H₂S-saturated oil field water have been investigated by means of immersion test, electrochemical method, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The experimental results show that boronized steel has better corrosion resistance to as-received oil field water and H₂S-saturated oil field water than the non-boronized steel. Both non-boronized and boronized steels have reacted with H₂S and form corrosion film of FeS, which could not retard the corrosion process due to pores and cracks in the FeS film, and large scale of pitting corrosion is found on non-boronized AISI 8620 steel surface. The immersion corrosion of non-boronized AISI8620 in both corrosion solutions can be divided into two stages: the rapid corrosion stage with high slope and the gradual corrosion stage with low slope, corresponding to uniform corrosion and corrosive product scaling off the surface, respectively. The better corrosion resistance shown by boronized AISI 8620 steel is ascribed to lower corrosion current as compared with the non-boronized AISI8620 steel.