Effect of boron on the low-cycle fatigue behavior and deformation structure of INCONEL 718 at 650 °C

Symmetrical push-pull low-cycle fatigue (LCF) tests were performed on INCONEL 718 (IN718) containing 12, 29, 60, and 100 ppm B at 650 °C. The results showed that all the alloys experienced a relatively short period of initial cyclic hardening at low strain amplitudes, followed by a regime of saturation or slightly continuous cyclic softening. The initial cyclic hardening phase decreased with increasing strain amplitudes, and disappeared at the high strain amplitudes. A serrated flow was observed in the plastic regions of cyclic stress-strain hysteresis loops. The saturated cyclic stress amplitude at a given strain amplitude was highest for the alloy with 60 ppm B, and lowest for the alloy with 12 ppm B. The LCF lifetime increased with increasing B concentration up to 60 ppm, and then decreased as the B content increased from 60 to 100 ppm. Fractographic analysis suggested that the fracture mode changed from intergranular to transgranular cracking as the B concentration increased. The characteristic deformation microstructures produced by LCF tests at 650 °C, examined via transmission electron microscopy, were regularly spaced arrays of planar deformation bands on {111} slip planes in all four alloys. A ladderlike structure was observed in some local regions in the alloy with 12 ppm B. Heavily deformed planar deformation bands were observed in the fatigued specimens with 100 ppm B. The mechanism of improvement in the LCF life of IN718 due to B addition is discussed.     

Increased incidence of spina bifida occulta in fluorosis prone areas

Spina bifida, a congenital deformity of the posterior wall of vertebrae of the spine, is a midline defect of skin, vertebral arches and neural tube, usually in the lumbosacral region. Its incidence is reported to be 0.2 to 0.4 per 1000 live births. Various hypotheses have been put forward as etiological factors for spina bifida including consumption of potato affected by blight and hardness of drinking water but these have not been proven. Two groups of 50 randomly chosen children were established. The study group consisted of children aged 5 to 12 years, weighing 15 to 30 kg, consuming fluoride rich drinking water (4.5 and 8.5 ppm fluoride; WHO permissible limit is 1.5 ppm fluoride), and manifesting either clinical, dental and/or skeletal fluorosis. The control group consisted of age and weight-matched children, consuming less than or equal to 1.5 ppm fluoride in drinking water and not showing any evidence of fluoride toxicity. These children were evaluated for antenatal history, general clinical examination (especially for dimples, tufts of hair, haemangioma on skin throughout the length of spine), other congenital abnormalities, evidence of fluoride toxicity, biochemical estimation for fluoride levels in blood and serum and by skiagrams of the spine to examine for the presence of spina bifida occulta. A total of 22 (44%) of the 50 children in group A, the study group, and 6 (12%) of the 50 children in group B, the control group, revealed spina bifida occulta in the lumbosacral region.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Group‐in‐a‐Box Meta‐Layouts for Topological Clusters and Attribute‐Based Groups: Space‐Efficient Visualizations of Network Communities and Their Ties

An important part of network analysis is understanding community structures like topological clusters and attribute‐based groups. Standard approaches for showing communities using colour, shape, rectangular bounding boxes, convex hulls or force‐directed layout algorithms remain valuable, however our Group‐in‐a‐Box meta‐layouts add a fresh strategy for presenting community membership, internal structure and inter‐cluster relationships. This paper extends the basic Group‐in‐a‐Box meta‐layout, which uses a Treemap substrate of rectangular regions whose size is proportional to community size. When there are numerous inter‐community relationships, the proposed extensions help users view them more clearly: (1) the Croissant–Doughnut meta‐layout applies empirically determined rules for box arrangement to improve space utilization while still showing inter‐community relationships, and (2) the Force‐Directed layout arranges community boxes based on their aggregate ties at the cost of additional space. Our free and open source reference implementation in NodeXL includes heuristics to choose what we have found to be the preferable Group‐in‐a‐Box meta‐layout to show networks with varying numbers or sizes of communities. Case study examples, a pilot comparative user preference study (nine participants), and a readability measure‐based evaluation of 309 Twitter networks demonstrate the utility of the proposed meta‐layouts.     

Polarographic behaviour of diisopropylaminoethane thiol hydrochloride

The polarographic behaviour of diisopropylaminoethanethiol HCl (RSH) has been studied in presence of 0·1 M LiCl at the dme. The effects of pH, supporting electrolyte, concentration, drop time and temperature on the characteristics of the wave have been investigated. The curves consist of two waves—a small pre-wave followed by a normal anodic wave over the entire pH range (2·60–12·60). The maximum number of moles absorbed on unit area is 3·98 × 10^?10 mole/cm², ie 2·4 × 10¹⁴ molecules/cm², which corresponds to an area 41·6 Ų per adsorbed molecule. The adsorption coefficient and molar adsorption energy are 6·34 × 10² and 26·34 kcal/mole respectively. The electrode reaction is reversible, diffusion-controlled and involves a one-electron tranfer process. The pK of the ?SH group is 10·6. Controlled-potential electrolysis, interaction with mercuric chloride and mathematical analysis reveal the depolarization of mercury with the formation of a Hg(I) complex, mercurous mercaptide RSHg, which rapidly changes to more stable mercuric complex (RS)₂Hg.     

Laser beam weld-metal microstructure in a yttrium modified directionally solidified Ni3Al-base alloy

The microstructure of laser beam weld-metal of an yttrium doped directionally solidified alloy IC 6A, with chemical composition Ni–16Al–8.5Mo–0.12B–0.05C–0.03Y (at.%) was studied. The dendritic microsegregation observed within the fusion zone indicated that dendrite cores were slightly depleted in molybdenum and aluminum and the interdendritic regions were also considerably enriched in yttrium. Severe cracking in the weld-metal was observed and was found to be closely associated with interdendritic eutectic-type microconstituents identified as consisting of γ, γ′ and Ni–Mo phases. An yttrium-rich phase (Ni₃Y) was observed in some interdendritic regions containing the eutectic γ, γ′ and Ni–Mo products. Their formation was discussed in relation to plausible microsegregation induced alteration of primary solidification path during cooling from welding temperatures.     

Stabilization of a 3D axially symmetric pendulum

Stabilizing controllers are developed for a 3D pendulum assuming that the pendulum has a single axis of symmetry and that the center of mass lies on the axis of symmetry. This assumption allows development of a reduced model that forms the basis for controller design and global closed-loop analysis; this reduced model is parameterized by the constant angular velocity component of the 3D pendulum about its axis of symmetry. Several different controllers are proposed. Controllers based on angular velocity feedback only, asymptotically stabilize the hanging equilibrium. Then controllers are introduced, based on angular velocity and reduced attitude feedback, that asymptotically stabilize either the hanging equilibrium or the inverted equilibrium. These problems can be viewed as stabilization of a Lagrange top. Finally, if the angular velocity about the axis of symmetry is assumed to be zero, controllers are introduced, based on angular velocity and reduced attitude feedback, that asymptotically stabilize either the hanging equilibrium or the inverted equilibrium. This problem can be viewed as stabilization of a spherical pendulum.     

Modified neo-fuzzy neuron-based approach for economic and environmental optimal power dispatch

At the central energy management center in a power system, the real time controls continuously track the load changes and endeavor to match the total power demand with total generation in such a manner that the operating cost is minimized while all the operating constraints are satisfied. However, due to the strict government regulations on environmental protection, operation at minimum cost is no longer the only criterion for dispatching electrical power. The idea behind the environmentally constrained economic dispatch formulation is to estimate the optimal generation schedule of generating units in such a manner that fuel cost and harmful emission levels are both simultaneously minimized for a given load demand. Conventional optimization techniques become very time consuming and computationally extensive for such complex optimization tasks. These methods are hence not suitable for on-line use. Neural networks and fuzzy systems can be trained to generate accurate relations among variables in complex non-linear dynamical environment, as both are model-free estimators. The existing synergy between these two fields has been exploited in this paper for solving the economic and environmental dispatch problem on-line. A multi-output modified neo-fuzzy neuron (NFN), capable of real time training is proposed for economic and environmental power generation allocation.This model is found to achieve accurate results and the training is observed to be faster than other popular neural networks. The proposed method has been tested on medium-sized sample power systems with three and six generating units and found to be suitable for on-line combined environmental economic dispatch (CEED).