Experimental investigation of precision turning of Monel K-500 under dry conditions

In this paper, final surface accuracy in turning the super alloy Monel K-500 is studied. The experiments were conducted on the basis of the design of experiment methodology considering four inputs of tool nose radius, feed rate, depth of cut, and cutting speed, and three outputs of surface roughness, dimensional deviation, and tool wear. The aim of this work is to identify these three phenomena to achieve a desirable machined surface with acceptable finishing and the least deviation from nominal dimensions under different parametric conditions. It was observed that the quality of the machined surface in the direction of the machining length is not constant and, in some trials, the values of Ra increase considerably at the end of the machining length. The results show that cutting speed can improve surface accuracy, in a way that the more the cutting speed, the less the dimensional deviation. Less depth of cut and tool radius affect dimensional deviation as well. Although it has a small effect on dimensional deviation, feed rate plays the most important role in controlling tool wear. Finally, on the basis of Grey relational analysis, a simultaneous optimization is carried out on surface roughness, dimensional deviation, and tool wear values. In order to minimize these responses, optimal parametric conditions are presented. A satisfying correspondence was observed between the predicted results and the confirmation observations.     

The Effect of Size and Concentration of Nanoparticles on the Mass Transfer Coefficients in Irregular Packed Liquid–Liquid Extraction Columns

This investigation explored the effects of nanofluids on mass transfer enhancement using an irregularly packed liquid–liquid extraction column and the chemical systems of water–acetic acid–toluene. SiO₂ nanoparticles with sizes of 10, 30, or 80 nm are dispersed in toluene–acetic acid to produce nanofluids with different volume fractions of 0, 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 vol.%. The effects of nanoparticle size and concentration on dispersed phase mass transfer coefficient were discussed based on the experimental data. This is for the first time that the effect of nanoparticle size is studied in liquid–liquid extraction systems. It was found that the mass transfer enhancement was more significant in nanofluids with smaller particles. It was also observed that mass transfer coefficient is larger in nanofluids compared to that in dispersed phase without nanoparticles, with a peak enhancement at a nanoparticle volume fraction of 0.05 vol.% for 10-nm particles and 0.01 vol.% for 30- and 80-nm particles. The maximum mass transfer coefficient enhancement was approximately 42% at 0.05% concentration of nanoparticles using smaller particles (10 nm). Finally, a novel correlation for prediction of effective diffusivity in the presence of nanoparticles has been proposed, which is a function of nanoparticle size and its concentration. The main advantage of this approach is that the principal effect of these two parameters is considered in correlation without which the experimental data could not be fitted with an acceptable accuracy.     

A Fully Coupled Finite Element Formulation for Elastically Supported Foil Journal Bearings

Foil gas journal bearings consist of a compliant metal shell structure that supports a rigid journal by means of a gas film. The prediction of steady operating characteristics such as minimum film thickness, load capacity, and drag require the coupled solution of the shell structure and the gas flow. A general fully coupled finite element approach is presented. A single four noded finite element that incorporates the elastically supported shell structure of the foil and the gas film modeled by a compressible Reynolds equation is developed. The resulting system of nonlinear finite elements is solved by the Newton Raphson method.     

Effect of an emulsifying surfactant on diesel degradation by cultures exhibiting inducible cell surface hydrophobicity

BACKGROUND: Accumulation of petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment is often attributed to inherently slow degradation rates. This study was conducted to determine if diesel biodegradation by cultures exhibiting inducible cell surface hydrophobicity could be enhanced by addition of a chemical surfactant promoting emulsification. Experiments were designed to determine quantitatively the enhancement in diesel degradation caused by Triton X‐100 for two bacterial cultures, Exiguobacterium aurantiacum and Burkholderia cepacia. RESULTS: In the presence of Triton X‐100 at twice the critical micelle concentration (CMC) the extent of degradation in whole diesel in 5 days was 1.6–1.8 times that observed over 15 days with no surfactant. The enhancement in overall degradation of diesel range resolved peaks (DRRP, representing n‐alkanes and branched alkanes) was 1.76 and 1.26 times for E. aurantiacum and B. cepacia cultures respectively. Although an enhancement in decay rate was observed for all n‐alkane components, it was most significant for C19, C25 and pristane. CONCLUSION: For cultures exhibiting direct interfacial uptake, the beneficial effect of an emulsifying surfactant found here is in contrast to earlier studies reporting a detrimental effect due to detachment of cells from the oil/water interface. Surfactant addition may have significant potential in enhancing degradation of the more recalcitrant components. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Enzymatic oxidation of alkoxyanilines for preparation of conducting polymers

A biomimetic route for synthesis of a conducting molecular complex between polyalkoxyanilines and a polyelectrolyte, poly (sodium 4‐styrenesulfonate) (SPS) is presented. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was used to catalyze the polymerization of alkoxyanilines. A few of water‐soluble ring‐substituted polyalkoxyanilines have been enzymatically synthesized with variation of groups, such as ortho‐methoxy, meta‐methoxy, ortho‐ethoxy, and meta‐ethoxy to form polyalkoxyanilines/SPS complexes. The presence of alkoxy substituents affects the polymerization reactions. These enzymatic oxidation reactions occur in a different potential range to that observed for the chemical polymerization. Similar electrochemical and optical properties were obtained for every pair of ortho‐ and meta‐alkoxy substituted polyanilines. For comparing, polyalkoxyanilines were also prepared by chemical polymerization in the presence of SPS. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 103: 3724–3729, 2007     

Consumer perceptions of deals: Biasing effects of varying deal prices.

Some brands in the market opt to offer a single "deal" price (e.g., Pepsi brand soft drink at $1.09 every alternate week), whereas others opt to offer 2 or more deal prices (e.g., Coca-Cola brand soft drink at $0.99 in Week 1 and $1.19 in Week 3). It was hypothesized that offering multiple deal prices is likely to result in underestimation of deal frequency and average deal price, which will bias the price consumers are willing to pay for the brand. Results from 3 laboratory experiments, a longitudinal experiment, and a survey support the hypotheses. In addition, consumers are likely to be willing to pay more for the brand when it is offered at 2 deal prices with a small difference compared with a single deal price. Implications of these findings for consumer welfare and pricing policy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Room temperature preparation of highly crosslinked microgels

A series of highly crosslinked microgels has been prepared at room temperature via photoinitiated polymerisation in dilute solution using methyl methacrylate (MMA) and ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA), respectively as non-functional monomer and crosslinker in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as a solvent. The effect of monomer concentration and EDMA/MMA ratio on the yield, molecular weight and microgel size was studied and the data were compared to those previously obtained for microgels of similar composition prepared by thermal initiation. This mild polymerisation method yields better results compared to the more conventional thermal method, since it allows higher monomer concentrations to be employed as well as a better microgel size control. Consequently, the method can be advantageously used for the preparation of highly crosslinked microgels with improved properties, particularly useful, e.g. for molecular imprinting applications.     

Modified Photobioreactor for Biofixation of Carbon Dioxide by Chlorella vulgaris at Different Light Intensities

The performance of a modified bioreactor inside a light enclosure for carbon dioxide biofixation by Chlorella vulgaris was investigated. The influence of different light intensities on the CO₂ biofixation and biomass production rates was evaluated. The results showed that the photon flux available to the microalgal cultures can be a key issue in optimizing the microalgae photobioreactor performance, particularly at high cell concentrations. Although the optimal pH values for C. vulgaris are in the range of 6–8, cell growth can take place even at pH 4 and 10. Batch microalgae cultivation in the photobioreactor was used to investigate the effect of different light intensities. The maximum biomass concentration of 1.83 g L^?1 was obtained at a light intensity of 100 μmol m^?2s^?1 and under aeration with 2 L min^?1 of 2 % CO₂‐enriched air.     

Oxidative polymerization of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene using transition-metal tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine

A method for the synthesis of water-soluble polyethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) by using transition-metal tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine (TSPc) and hydrogen peroxide as effective catalysts in the presence of sulfonated polystyrene (SPS) is reported. The reactions were carried out with different catalysts, such as iron, cobalt and manganese phthalocyanine. Metallophthalocyanines have shown good activities for polymerization, although they degraded easily under oxidizing conditions. In order to determine the role of pH during the polymerization, the reaction was carried out under different pH conditions 2, 2.5 and 3 and the best results were obtained at pH 2. The conductivity of our product was obtained and compared with similar commercial material. PEDOT was characterized by UV–vis and FT-IR spectroscopies and also cyclic voltammetry. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) demonstrated that the synthesized polymer has convenient electroactivity.