Solving multi-criteria optimization problem in submerged arc welding consuming a mixture of fresh flux and fused slag

In the present work, application of the Taguchi method in combination with grey relational analysis has been applied for solving multiple criteria (objective) optimization problem in submerged arc welding (SAW). A grey relational grade evaluated with grey relational analysis has been adopted to reveal an optimal parameter combination in order to obtain acceptable features of weld quality characteristics in submerged arc bead-on-plate welding. The idea of slag utilization, in subsequent runs, after mixing it with fresh unmelted flux, has been introduced. The parentage of slag in the mixture of fresh flux and fused flux (slag) has been denoted as slag-mix%. Apart from two conventional process parameters: welding current and flux basicity index, the study aimed at using varying percentages of slag-mix, treated as another process variable, to show the extent of acceptability of using slag-mix in conventional SAW processes, without sacrificing any characteristic features of weld bead geometry and HAZ, within the experimental domain. The quality characteristics associated with bead geometry and HAZ were bead width, reinforcement, depth of penetration and HAZ width. Using grey relational grade as performance index, we have performed parametric optimization yielding the desired features of bead geometry and HAZ. Predicted results have been verified with confirmatory experiments, showing good agreement. This proves the utility of the proposed method for quality improvement in SAW process and provides the maximum (optimum) amount of slag-mix that can be consumed in the SAW process without any negative effect on characteristic features of the quality of the weldment in terms of bead geometry.     

Development of autonomous mobile robot with manipulator for manufacturing environment

This paper describes the developmental effort involved in prototyping the first indigenous autonomous mobile robot, AMR, with a manipulator for carrying out tasks related to manufacturing. The objective is to design and develop a vehicle that can navigate autonomously and transport jobs and tools in a manufacturing environment. Proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensors are mounted on AMR for navigation. Among the exteroceptive sensors, a stereovision camera is mounted in front of AMR for mobile robot perception of the environment. Using the widely supported JPEG image file format, full high-resolution color images are transmitted frame by frame from the mobile robot to multiple viewers located within the robot work area, where fast reconstruction of these images enables remote viewing. A CMOS camera mounted on the manipulator identifies jobs for pick-and-place operation. A variation of correlation based adaptive predictive search (CAPS) method, a fast search algorithm in template matching, is used for job identification. The CAPS method justifiably selects a set of search steps rather than consecutive point-to-point search for faster job identification. Search steps, i.e., either coarse search or fine search, are selected by calculating the correlation coefficient between template and the image. Adaptive thresholding is used for image segmentation for parametric calculations required for proper gripping of the object. Communication with the external world allowing remote operation is maintained through wireless connectivity. It is shown that autonomous navigation requires synchronization of different processes in a distributed architecture, while concurrently maintaining the integrity of the network.     

Development of nano-structured Al2O3-TiB2-TiN coatings by combined SHS and laser surface alloying

A powder mixture of aluminium (Al), titania (TiO₂) and hexa-boron nitride (h-BN) was laser-triggered to undergo SHS (self-propagating high temperature synthesis) and was subsequently laser alloyed onto a mild steel substrate surface. A nano-structured coating was formed with high microhardness (～3000 HV_0.05 at the cross-section and ～2600 HV_0.2 on the top surface). X-ray diffraction (XRD) identified the presence of aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃), titanium di-boride (TiB₂), titanium nitride (TiN), iron (Fe) and its borides (FeB, Fe₂B) in the coating. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopic (HRTEM) analysis of the coating revealed nano-fibrous titanium-rich reinforcements in a matrix of nano-crystalline alumina. The thickness of titanium di-boride nano-fibres was an order of magnitude higher than the size of nano-alumina crystallites.     

Slag recycling in submerged arc welding and its influence on weld quality leading to parametric optimization

Slag generated during conventional submerged arc welding (SAW) has been recycled by mixing varying percentages of crushed slag with fresh flux to use in subsequent runs. The influence of using flux-slag mixture on various aspects of SAW weld parameters of bead geometry have been investigated in a quantitative basis. Slag has been reprocessed and reused in submerged arc welding to produce bead-on-plate weld on mild steel plates. Apart from conventional process parameters: voltage (OCV), wire feed rate, nozzle to plate distance (stick-out) and traverse speed, welding has been carried out using various percentages of flux-slag mixture; the % of fused flux in the mixture has been treated as a process parameter. Various bead geometry parameters viz. bead width; reinforcement, depth of penetration and depth of HAZ have been measured for each of weld prepared in the study. Using experimental data, a grey-based Taguchi approach has been applied for parametric optimization of this non-conventional SAW process. The aim was to reveal the optimal amount of slag-mix%, which could be applied in SAW process without imposing any adverse effect on features of bead geometry and HAZ. Optimal result has been checked through confirmatory test.     

Thermal stresses during freezing of a two-layer food

Thermal stresses during freezing of a two-layer material, that can contribute to crack formation, are studied. A 3D numerical model of a two-layer food with food analog Tylose^® and chocolate is presented. An apparent specific heat formulation was used to model the heat transfer with phase change over a temperature range. The mechanics model considered viscoelasticity in Tylose^®; thermal strains were imposed due to the increase in volume from ice formation in Tylose^® and the decrease in volume from freezing of the chocolate. Results show that complex evolution of stresses, that include compressive and tensile values, occur during freezing. Sensitivity analysis showed that the Poisson's ratio was a very important parameter that affects the magnitude of stress. Variations in calculated stresses were found to be proportional to variations in Young's modulus. Knowing the stresses, the possibilities of undesired cracking of a chocolate coating applied onto another material such as ice cream could be evaluated.     

Functionalized carbon nanotubes for detecting viral proteins

We investigated the biocompatibility, specificity, and activity of a ligand-receptor-protein system covalently bound to oxidized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) as a model proof-of-concept for employing such SWNTs as biosensors. SWNTs were functionalized under ambient conditions with either the Knob protein domain from adenovirus serotype 12 (Ad 12 Knob) or its human cellular receptor, the CAR protein, via diimide-activated amidation. We confirmed the biological activity of Knob protein immobilized on the nanotube surfaces by using its labeled conjugate antibody and evaluated the activity and specificity of bound CAR on SWNTs, first, in the presence of fluorescently labeled Knob, which interacts specifically with CAR, and second, with a negative control protein, YieF, which is not recognized by biologically active CAR proteins. In addition, current-gate voltage (I-V(g)) measurements on a dozen nanotube devices explored the effect of protein binding on the intrinsic electronic properties of the SWNTs, and also demonstrated the devices' high sensitivity in detecting protein activity. All data showed that both Knob and CAR immobilized on SWNT surfaces fully retained their biological activities, suggesting that SWNT-CAR complexes can serve as biosensors for detecting environmental adenoviruses.     

Age Hardening Behavior of Wrought Al-Mg-Sc Alloy

Ageing of Al-6Mg alloy doped with varying concentration of scandium ranging from 0.2 wt% to 0.6 wt% has been carried out. Cold-rolled alloy samples are isochronally aged for 60 minutes at different temperatures. The cast and hot-rolled samples are also aged isochronally for 90 minutes at different temperatures up to 450°C. Isothermal ageing of cold-rolled samples is conducted at various temperatures for different periods of time ranging from 30 to 480 minutes. Hardness values of the differently processed alloys have been measured to understand the ageing behavior of Al-6Mg alloy with scandium addition. The hot-rolled alloys after ageing do not show any hardening response due to ageing. Ageing of cold-rolled alloys envisaged precipitation of Al₃Sc which is not noted to be dislocation induced. The kinetics of precipitation of Al₃Sc in Al-6Mg-Sc alloys are found to be controlled by the diffusion of scandium in aluminum.     

Crystallographic etching of few-layer graphene

We demonstrate a method by which few-layer graphene samples can be etched along crystallographic axes by thermally activated metallic nanoparticles. The technique results in long (>1 microm) crystallographic edges etched through to the insulating substrate, making the process potentially useful for atomically precise graphene device fabrication. This advance could enable atomically precise construction of integrated circuits from single graphene sheets with a wide range of technological applications.     

Stochastic Response and Stability of a Nonintegrable System

For determining the stochastic response and stability of a strongly nonlinear single-degree-of-freedom system using the stochastic averaging technique, the size of excitations should be small such that the response of the system converges weakly to a Markov process. This condition is not often met with practical problems, and therefore, application of this method for obtaining their responses becomes difficult. Further, for systems with nonlinearities that cannot be integrated in closed form, stability analysis by examining the conditions of the two boundaries of the problem is not possible. A semianalytical method along with a weighted residual technique is presented here to circumvent these difficulties and to determine the response and stability of a strongly nonlinear system subjected to sizable stochastic excitation. The weighted residual technique is employed to correct the errors in averaged drift and diffusion coefficients resulting due to the size of the stochastic excitation. Two example problems are solved as illustrations of the method.     

Simulation of thin-TFETs using transition metal dichalcogenides: effect of material parameters,gate dielectric on electrostatic device performance

In recent years, significant of scientific research effort has focused on the investigation of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) and other two-dimensional (2D) materials like graphene or boron nitride. Theoretical investigation on the physical aspects of these materials has revealed a whole new range of exciting applications due to wide tunability in electronic and optoelectronic properties. Besides theoretical exploration, these materials have been successfully implemented in electronic and optoelectronic devices with promising results. In this work, we have investigated the effect of monolayer TMDC materials and monolayer TMDC alloys on the performance of thin tunneling field-effect transistors or thin-TFETs. These are promising electronic devices that can achieve steep switching characteristics. We have used the self-consistent determination of the conduction and valence band levels in the device and a simplified model of interlayer tunneling current reported in recent literature that treats scattering semiclassically and incorporates the energy broadening effect using a Gaussian approximation . We have also explored the effect of gate dielectric material variation, interlayer dielectric variation, top gate metal workfunction on the performance of the device. Our study shows that proper choice of material in the top and bottom layers, optimization of materials used as gate and interlayer dielectric are necessary to extract the full potential of these devices. The electron affinity and bandgap of the TMDCs used in different layers effectively control the threshold voltage and current in the device. As seen from our simulation, interlayer materials with high dielectric constant can degrade subthreshold device performance, increase threshold voltage, whereas lowering interlayer thickness could increase device ‘on’ current at the expense of degraded subthreshold performance.