Separation mechanism for double cylinder with shrink fitting system used for ceramics conveying rollers

Steel conveying rollers used in hot rolling mills must be exchanged frequently at great cost because hot conveyed strips induce wear and deterioration on the surface of roller in short periods. In previous studies, new roller structure was considered which has a ceramics sleeve connected with two steel shafts at both ends by shrink fitting. Here, although the ceramics sleeve can be used for many years, the steel shafts sometimes have to be exchanged for maintenance and reconstruction under the corrosive atmosphere. Since the thermal expansion coefficient of steel is about five times larger than that of ceramics, it is necessary to investigate how to separate the shrink fitting system by heating outside of sleeve and cooling inside of the shaft. Although how to separate the real roller has been discussed in the previous study, the separation mechanism has not been clarified yet. Therefore, in this study, several types of more fundamental models are investigated to understand the separation mechanism of real roller by the application of the finite element method. The results may be useful for designs of new rollers.     

Simulation of nanostructure production by electromigration considering specimen's shape

Al nanowires have been successfully formed utilizing electromigration in the passivated Al thin film specimen. A numerical simulation of the nanostructure production method was recently developed based on the governing parameter for electromigration damage. The results of the simulation were verified through experiment. It was shown that this procedure predicted the nanostructure volume formed during lifetime of the specimen, though the nanostructure formation was influenced by the current density and substrate temperature. In this study, the method is applied to Al specimens with various shapes to devote to the theoretical discussion on the efficient production of nanostructure. It is found that volume of the formed nanostructure depends on shape of the specimen. The shape affects distributions of current density, temperature and atomic density in the specimen, so formation speed, lifetime and consequently nanostructure volume during the lifetime are changed. It is clarified that this simulation method will contribute to seeking the optimum specimen's shape for efficient NS production.     

Bonding strength of DLC film on zirconia coating prepared by gas tunnel type plasma spraying

Bonding strength of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films on zirconia coatings prepared using a novel gas tunnel plasma spraying method has been studied and discussed. The emphasis is on the getting better characteristics of such doubly structured coatings (DSC) as comparing compared with properties of both components involved in the coatings. For the study of various failure mechanisms zirconia coatings of different thicknesses on aluminum substrates were prepared. The as-sprayed coatings were firstly polished and then subjected to deposition of DLC films. Adhesion of the DSC has been evaluated using a scratch test method. It has been found that the thicker coatings have higher hardness and lower porosity. The adhesion failures of DLC films on zirconia coatings (DSC) are caused by two different main mechanisms: (i) DLC films separation from the zirconia coatings, and (ii) DLC films breaking under stress load due to the brittleness of the material. In addition the adhesion failures are due to flaking of DLC films on the thinner zirconia coatings caused by a distortion of the aluminum alloy substrate coatings; and, chipping of DLC films themselves on the thicker zirconia coatings.     

Carboxymethyldextran/magnetite hybrid microspheres designed for hyperthermia

Recently, organic–inorganic hybrids composed of derivatives of dextran, a polysaccharide, and magnetite nanoparticles have attracted much attention as novel thermoseeds. If they can be fabricated into microspheres of size 20–30 μm, they are expected to show not only hyperthermia effects but also embolization effects in human liver and kidney cancers. In this study, we examined the fabrication of carboxymethyldextran/magnetite microspheres using a water/oil emulsion as the reaction medium. Improvement of the chemical stability of the microcapsules by coating with silica using a sol–gel process was also investigated. The obtained hollow microspheres contained particles of size 20–30 μm. Silica coating using an appropriate catalyst for hydrolysis and polycondensation of alkoxysilanes was found to be effective for preventing dissolution and collapse in simulated body environments.     

Realization of high strength and high ductility for AZ61 magnesium alloy by severe warm working

Extruded Mg–6%Al–1%Zn (AZ61) alloy bar was subjected to 4-pass Equal Channel Angular Extrusion (ECAE) processing at 448–573 K. At the processing temperature of 448 K, extremely fine grains with the average grain size of 0.5 mm are formed as a result of dynamic recrystallization originated by fine Mg₁₇Al₁₂ (b) phase particles having 50–100 nm diameter dynamically-precipitated during ECAE processing. The sizes of both α matrix and β phase decrease with decreasing processing temperatures. In tensile test at room temperature under the strain rate of 1×10^—3 s^—1, tensile strength increases with decreasing ECAE processing temperatures due to fine grains, fine precipitates and residual strain hardening. Especially, highest strength of 351 MPa was achieved in the specimen ECAE-processed at 448 K. In addition to such high strength, elongation reaches 33% in that specimen. This specimen exhibits clear strain rate dependencies of both flow stress and elongation even at room temperature. As a result, higher elongation of 67% is obtained under low strain rate of 1×10^—5 s^—1.In such specimen, non-basal slip and grain boundary sliding occur in addition to basal slip. Furthermore, there are grains with no dislocations, suggesting the occurrence of dynamic recovery. The contribution of all the deformation mechanisms would cause high ductility in fine-grained AZ61 alloy specimen with high strength.     

Internal gravity wave resonance of thermal convection fields in a square cavity with heat‐flux vibration

In this paper, the thermal convection field and its resonance phenomena in a square cavity with sinusoidal heat‐flux vibration were numerically investigated. As the angular velocity ω is changed, the thermal convection field at Pr = 0.71,Ra = 10⁶ is found to be classified into 5 regions. In particular, the field has the local maximum relative amplitude of midplane Nusselt's number at ω_c = 350, which corresponds to the angular velocity of internal gravity wave ω_r estimated by a theoretical equation proposed by Thorpe. This shows that the local enhancement is induced by internal gravity wave resonance. Such correspondence is observed for Ra ≥ 10⁵,Ra ≥ 10⁶ for Pr = 0.71, 7.1, respectively. For these ranges of Ra we propose a correlation equation, a function of Pr and Gr only, to estimate the resonant angular velocity. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 35(5): 309–322, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20122     

Highly flame retardant coating consisting of starch and amorphous sodium polyborate

Mixture of starch and amorphous sodium polyborate (SPB) is found to show high flame retardancy, when its aqueous solution is deposited and dried on organic polymer materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nonwoven, rigid polyurethane (RPU) foam, and polypropylene (PP) nonwoven. The PET nonwoven (10 mm thickness) and the RPU foam (10 mm thickness) coated with the mixture endure the premixed flame of butane gas burner with length of 100 mm for more than 12 min. The PP nonwoven (0.7 mm thickness) endures the nonpremixed flame with length of 65 mm in the 45 degrees Meckel burner test for more than 2 min. The backside temperatures in the both tests remain below 130 °C. The thermal analyses and the SEM observation indicate the mechanism that the SPB foam promotes the carbonization of starch and that the carbonized layer together with the SPB foam insulate inside from oxygen and heat.     

Inactivation of Lactobacillus fructivorans in physiological saline and unpasteurised sake using CO2 microbubbles at ambient temperature and low pressure

The ability of carbon dioxide microbubbles (MB‐CO₂) to inactivate Lactobacillus fructivorans suspended in physiological saline and unpasteurised sake at ambient temperature and a pressure lower than 2.0 MPa was investigated. The number of L. fructivorans cells in physiological saline solution containing 15% ethanol showed a 6‐log reduction following MB‐CO₂ treatment at 40 °C and 2.0 MPa for 50 min. The effectiveness of the treatment increased concomitantly with temperature, pressure and ethanol concentration of the sample solution but was unaffected by the glucose concentration in the sample solution. Furthermore, the number of L. fructivorans cells showed a 5‐log reduction in sake after MB‐CO₂ treatment at 40°C and 2.0 MPa for 60 min. Sensory evaluation revealed no significant difference between MB‐CO₂‐treated sake and unpasteurised sake. These results indicated that MB‐CO₂ treatment was highly effective for the inactivation of L. fructivorans and might become a practical method for pasteurising sake at ambient temperature.