INHIBITION MECHANISM OF Na2MoO4 FOR CARBON STEEL IN 55% LiBr SOLUTION

Electrochemical measurement and chemical immersion test are employed to investigate the inhibition mechanism of Na_2MoO_4 for carbon steel,which is studied in 55%LiBr+0.07mol/L LiOH solution at high temperature.Testing results indicate that the passive film on carbon steel surface is mainly composed of Fe_3O_4,and Mo is involved in the process of film forming,in a form of MoO_3 and MoO_2.The parametric analysis of the evolving potential and the blend potential of MoO_2 shows that Mo mainly exists as MoO_2 in passive film when the concentration of Na_2MoO_4 is lower than 150 mg/L.While its concentration is greater than 150mg/L,it mainly exists as MoO_3 inside the film and exists as MoO_2 outside the film.MoO_4~(2-) is deoxidized as MoO_2 on the surface of carbon steel,which may impede the corrosion of active-site and raise the blend potential of carbon steel,and then MoO_4~(2-) adsorbs onto the defects of the passive film and decompounds as MoO_3 during the process of film forming.The electric field caused by different valence of Mo in passive film may retard the dissolution of carbon steel and lead to an increase in the polarization impedance and a decrease in hydrogen evolution.As a result,heavy concentrated Na_2MoO_4 solution(greater than 150mg/L)has excellent inhibition effect on carbon steel in LiBr solution.     

RESEARCH ON THE FORMATION MECHANISM OF INTERNAL CRACK IN THE CONTINUOUS CASTING SLAB

In view of the periodic bending deformation of solid-liquid interface in the solidification process for continuous casting slab, the variation of temperature gradient and dendritic spacing in the front edge of the solid-liquid interface, and the nucleation and propagation process of crack were studied. It is shown that the bending deformation of the interface results in the temperature field change in the front edge of solid-liquid interface, and the occurrence of temperature gradient along drawing direction results in the growth of secondary dendrites. The initial crack formed during the middle and final stage of solidification may extend to the surface of the casting slab and become an internal crack. The results of the theoretical analysis are basically in agreement with that of the experiment.     

Mechanical Design of a Trunk with Redundant and Viscoelastic Joints for Rhythmic Quadruped Locomotion

Passive mechanisms, such as free joints and viscoelastic components, enable natural oscillation of the robot body, which allows rhythmic locomotion with low energy and computational costs. In particular, joint viscoelasticity can be a powerful candidate for changing natural oscillation and so influence the operation performance of locomotion. The present study considers the passive mechanism of a trunk, and investigates the contributions of a trunk mechanism with redundant joints and tunable viscoelasticity to quadruped locomotion. A physical quadruped robot with a trunk mechanism is developed, and the walking performance of this robot for various gait patterns and joint viscoelasticities is investigated. A simulation model is also constructed based on the physical robot, and the contribution of the viscoelasticity to trunk oscillation and the appropriate joint viscoelasticity and number of trunk joints are discussed. Experimental results obtained using the physical robot indicate that the proposed trunk mechanism contributes to successful locomotion as compared to a robot with a rigid trunk and that the velocity is influenced by not only the gait pattern, but also the joint viscoelasticity (i.e., there are appropriate couplings of the joint viscoelasticity and gait pattern). The simulation results indicate that the trunk mechanism requires joint viscoelasticity in order to achieve oscillation and that a greater number of joints having a smaller joint viscoelasticity enables higher velocity. These results suggest that, in addition to the leg mechanism and the controller design, the design of the trunk mechanism is also important.     

Development of an Intelligent Pneumatic Cylinder for Distributed Physical Human–Machine Interaction

Pneumatic systems are well known for their advantages and simplicity, and have been applied in various applications. This paper presents the development and experimental evaluation of an intelligent pneumatic cylinder and its control system. The cylinder is designed to have an optical encoder, pressure sensor, valve and a Programmable System on a Chip (PSoC) as the central processing unit. The PSoC will handle I²C communication, input and output data from the analogue to digital converter, counter program and pulse width modulation (PWM) duty cycle. An application tool for a distributed physical human–machine interaction is proposed using an intelligent pneumatic cylinder. The system applied 36 links of the actuator to form an Intelligent Chair Tool (ICT). The control methodology presented contains an inner force loop and an outer position loop implemented using a unified control system driven by PWM to an on/off valve. In this research, four control approaches, i.e., position control, force control, compliance control and viscosity control, were constructed and experimented. The physical properties of various objects were also detected by the intelligent cylinder through the detecting function experiment. Finally, an emulation experiment using mass was carried out and the results clearly show the ability of the intelligent cylinder, and the control approaches towards realization of the future ICT application.     

Initial experiments on a leg mechanism with a flexible geared joint and footpad

In the present work, a leg mechanism together with a flexible joint system is designed and constructed. The leg mechanism is expected to walk on uneven terrain and be subject to certain impact or contact forces. The effect of the designed flexible gear system and footpad on shock absorption is a main concern. The joint torque of the motor gear and the contact force of the foot are analyzed with different control schemes. The control performance of the leg movement by these methods is also presented. The proposed control methodology could next be applied to a newly designed two-link leg mechanism. It is hoped that the present study can be extended to an exoskeleton leg mechanism that is being developed.     

An investigation of climbing up stairs for an inchworm robot

In this research, an inchworm-type robot is being developed for the purpose of rescue missions. This robot has the ability to traverse obstacles such as stairs with fewer joints than legged robots. A self-standing inchworm robot, which has five links and four joints, is produced for trial purposes. In order for this robot to be able to climb up stairs, the kinematical analysis and the development of the program were investigated. As a result, the effectiveness of this robot is confirmed experimentally.     

Modeling and analysis on the internal impact of a Stewart platform utilized for spacecraft docking

In this paper, impacts at the joints of a closed-chain mechanism are modeled and analyzed. It is assumed that a Stewart platform is attached to one end of a spacecraft to be utilized as a docking platform and the spacecraft docks with another spacecraft. When the spacecrafts dock with each other, impact will rise at the docking point and the impact is absorbed by the docking platform. Although the impact at the contact point is very large, most of the impact is absorbed by the docking platform and negligible impact is transmitted to the spacecraft. The docking platform can absorb the shock by inertial effect, not by damping or friction. To show this, modeling of the internal impulses at the joints of a multi-body system is introduced and the internal impulses of the docking platform are analyzed by the modeling method.     

Mechanism and estimation of porosity defects in ductile cast iron

Abstract

Although there are many works on the formation mechanism of porosity defects due to solidification in ductile cast iron, the formation mechanism is still not clear and decreasing the porosity defects is still a main issue in the industry. This paper critically reviews conventional explanations for the porosity formation including estimation methods. Based on the discussion the authors propose a formation theory where it considers gas and oxide entrapment during mould filling, expansion of outer part of casting due to graphite formation and pressure decrease in the inner part, followed by the growth of entrapped small gas bubbles. This mechanism can explain various facts in practice and be usable to estimate the defects. It also gives a good way to design effective risers. Future challenges are also discussed including the effect of inoculation on the fluidity of the mushy region.     

New approach for prediction of roll force in rod rolling

Abstract

An approximate model is presented in which the equation for computing roll force in an oval-round (or round-oval) pass rolling sequence has been formulated with a new approach. The fundamental idea considered is to introduce the concept of a weak plane strain condition which gives a two-dimensional approximation of the three-dimensional deformation problem in rod or bar rolling. The generality and robustness of the model have been examined by conducting a two-pass low speed bar rolling experiment and a four-pass continuous high speed rod rolling test with various rolling temperatures, roll gaps (pass height), rolling speeds, and steel grades. The predicted roll forces were in good agreement with those experimentally measured, although the prediction was less good when the roll gap (pass height) varied. The proposed model was very fruitful in solving the three-dimensional deformation problem in rod or bar rolling.     

Liquid Al2O3-CaO-MgO inclusion entrapment at delta ferrite intercellular boundaries during solidification

Abstract

The behaviour of liquid Al₂O₃-CaO-MgO inclusions at the δ ferrite/melt interface in aluminium killed and calcium treated steel has been observed in situ using a confocal scanning laser microscope equipped with a gold image furnace. Movement of inclusions parallel to the solid/melt front was observed (a) during solidification rates below 1 μm s^-1 or with nearly static fronts, (b) during remelting of the front or (c) when inclusions at the solid/melt interface were pushed by a newly arriving liquid inclusion. Upon sliding, the inclusions tended to become entrapped in the intercellular regions of the front. After entrapment, a critical solidification velocity for pushing/engulfment was measured and compared with corresponding experimental results for pushing/engulfment at planar fronts. Engulfment at the intercellular boundaries occurred at solidification velocities larger than a critical velocity V_cr=9·91×10^-9 R^-1/2 in the present study. The result follows the same trend with respect to inclusion size as that found for planar interfaces, but indicates that the critical velocity is ~20%. lower. This is attributed to the observation that engulfment at intercellular regions involves replacing a section of the intercellular boundary with the inclusion, which decreases the surface energy change owing to engulfment compared with engulfment at planar fronts.