Effect of inoculation and nodularisation treatment temperature on recalescence and eutectic undercooling temperature in Spheroidal graphite (SG) cast iron

In this study, the effect of inoculant composition and nodularisation treatment temperature on recalescence temperature (TER) and undercooling temperature (TEU) in SG iron has been studied by using thermal analysis. 0·1, 0·2 and 0·3 wt-% of three types of inoculants Ca,Ce,Al–FeSi, Ca,Sr,Al–FeSi and Ca,Ba,Al–FeSi were used as so called stream inoculation. Ca,Ce,Al–FeSi was found to be the most potent one in reducing both recalescence (?T _r ) and eutectic undercooling (?T). The nodule count has also been found higher in Ca,Ce,Al–FeSi inoculated SG iron samples compared to other two inoculants. It has been observed that higher the nodule count lower is the ?T _r and ?T and vice versa. The recalescence and shrinkage relationship of 24 heats of differential case castings has been established; it was observed that the number of castings containing shrinkage in respective heats increase as the recalescence and nodularisation treatment temperature increases.     

Neural network optimized with evolutionary computing technique for solving the 2-dimensional Bratu problem

In this paper, a stochastic technique is developed to solve 2-dimensional Bratu equations using feed-forward artificial neural networks, optimized with genetic and interior-point algorithms. The 2-dimensional equations are first transformed into a 1-dimensional boundary value problem, and a mathematical model of the transformed equation is then formulated with neural networks using an unsupervised error. Network weights are optimized to minimize the error. Evolutionary computing based on genetic algorithms is used as a tool for global search, integrated with an interior-point method for rapid local convergence. The methodology is applied to solve three cases of boundary value problems for the Bratu equations. The accuracy, convergence and effectiveness of the scheme is validated for a large number of simulations. Comparison of results is made with the exact solution derived using MATHEMATICA, and is found to be in good agreement.     

Application of radially varying magnetic field on a peristaltic flow of non‐Newtonian fluid in the presence of heat and mass transfer

This article deals with the variable MHD effects on the peristaltic flow of a non‐Newtonian fluid in the presence of heat and mass transfer. The walls of annulus are maintained at different temperatures. Continuity, momentum concentration, and energy equations are utilized in the mathematical analysis. Two types of solutions, namely, the exact and numerical, are derived. These solutions are compared and discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20314     

Some electrical properties of co-evaporated GeO-BaO thin films

The direct-current electrical conduction both before and after the electroforming process is investigated in thin layers of GeO₂ co-evaporated with BaO and sandwiched between various metallic electrodes. The mobility associated with the conduction at low temperature (hopping) is evaluated. Electroformed devices show voltage-controlled negative resistance and electron emission. The effect of the nature of the metallic electrodes and that of the dielectric thickness on these electrical properties is reported.     

Shape optimization of wire-wrapped fuel assembly using Kriging metamodeling technique

In this work, shape optimization of a wire-wrapped fuel assembly in a liquid metal reactor has been carried out by combining a three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes analysis with the Kriging method, a well-known metamodeling technique for optimization. Sequential quadratic programming (SQP) is used to search the optimal point from the constructed metamodel. Two geometric design variables are selected for the optimization and design space is sampled using Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS). The optimization problem has been defined as a maximization of the objective function, which is as a linear combination of heat transfer and friction loss related terms with a weighing factor. The objective function value is more sensitive to the ratio of the wire spacer diameter to the fuel rod diameter than to the ratio of the wire wrap pitch to the fuel rod diameter. The optimal values of the design variables are obtained by varying the weighting factor.     

Maleated high oleic sunflower oil‐treated cellulose fiber‐based styrene butadiene rubber composites

Surface treatment of cellulose fibers was performed with maleated high oleic sunflower oil (MSOHO). The MSOHO‐treated cellulose fibers and unmodified cellulose fibers were dispersed in styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) using a two roll mill. Vapor grown carbon nanofibers (VGCNF) were also incorporated at only one parts per hundred rubber (phr) in unmodified cellulose fibers/SBR composites. The curing characteristics, mechanical properties, and water absorption of the resulting composites were determined. MSOHO‐treated fibers completed curing at much slower rate and also decreased the cure density of composites, compared to unmodified fibers. In contrast, the combination of VGCNF and unmodified cellulose fibers accelerated the SBR curing process, but reduced the cure density. MSOHO treatment improved the dispersion of the fibers in the SBR, which resulted in improved mechanical properties of composites. The composite incorporating 1 phr VGCNF and 15 phr unmodified cellulose fibers showed the greatest increase in tensile strength as compared with neat SBR. POLYM. COMPOS. 37:1113–1121, 2016. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

A medium access protocol exploiting multiuser-detection in CDMA ad-hoc networks

A new medium access protocol which exploits the physical layer capability of multiuser detection is proposed to help in improving the throughput/delay performance of ad-hoc networks. When more than one node has packets buffered for a common node in the neighborhood, all such nodes can simultaneously transmit their packets to the common receiver after reserving their surrounding channel. This is achieved in our protocol by extending the (sender-initiated) CSMA/CA collision avoidance framework by the receiver-initiated medium access technique and incorporating the transmission power control. We analyze the improvement in the throughput that can be achieved over the basic sender-initiated collision avoidance protocol in the network. Since the throughput improvement via multi-packet reception is influenced by the network layer activity as well, the performance of our protocol rolls back to that of the basic sender-initiated protocol in case of no coordination from the network layer. For the evaluation of performance of our protocol we simulate ad-hoc networks for different network topologies and traffic configurations. We observe the scheme to be capable in significantly improving the throughput/delay performance of the network.     

Morpho-anatomical characterization of some members of euglenophycota (algae) of north-east Punjab,Pakistan based on light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

The study was carried out in four districts, that is, Gujranwala, Gujarat, Narowal and Sialkot of Punjab, Pakistan. The sampling was carried out randomly in different seasons from the water bodies especially from wastewater. Twenty-one species belonging to Euglenophycota were identified using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy from which 04 species belong to genus Phacus, 02 species belonging to Trachelomonas and Euglena based on light microscopy. It was observed that Euglena was the most diverse genus and it is supposed to be the indicator species of the polluted water. It was observed that E. oblonga was found in maximum pH range, that is, 7.0–11.0. Similarly, E. brevicaudatus was found in maximum EC, that is, 169 ± 1.5 ms/cm these outcomes indicated that for internal examination along with LM, SEM was necessary for correct identification of algal sample up to specie level.     

Mechanical and Microstructural Evaluation of Squeeze Cast Al-4%Cu Alloy Using a Full-Factorial Experimental Design

A full factorial design was employed to investigate the effect of squeeze pressure in conjunction with thermal parameters, i.e., melt and die temperatures, on the mechanical properties of a squeeze cast Al-4%Cu alloy. Considerable variations in mechanical properties existed between different test runs, and these were discussed based on cooling rates previously quantified for a squeeze-cast Al-4%Cu alloy. The completeness of a full factorial design not only identified a combination of process parameters for optimum results but also facilitated an evaluation of the minimum pressure required to eliminate porosity and influence the die temperature on the microstructure of the squeeze-cast alloy. In addition to the optimum run, particular importance was given to those runs that had more desirable levels of control factors with respect to energy consumption or tooling life. A microstructural analysis of these runs indicated the possibility of precipitation hardening that can open up further investigations toward the opportunities associated with in situ heat treatment of age-hardening, squeeze cast aluminum alloys.