Hot Corrosion Behavior and Microstructural Change of Al-Gradient CoNiCrAlYSi Coatings, Produced by LVPS and Diffusional Processes

Conventional and gradient CoNiCrAlYSi coatings were produced by using low vacuum plasma spray and an additional step of diffusional over aluminizing (pack cementation) techniques on an Inconel-738 substrate. Hot corrosion of these coatings was investigated using Na₂SO₄–20wt%NaVO₃ molten salt at 880?°C for 800?h. Hot corrosion rate was determined by measuring the weight gain of the specimens at regular intervals for a duration of 20?h. X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and electron probe micro analysis techniques were used to determine the nature of phases, investigation of the thermally grown oxide, examination of the surface attack and determination of the elemental distribution. The gradient coating showed better performance by re-healing alumina scale due to its possession of more β phase as Al reservoir. Results indicated that pack cementation process caused an increase in amount of aluminum-rich β phase and better hot corrosion properties of gradient coatings owing to the Al enrichment in the outer layer and rapid formation of protective oxide on the surface.     

The effect of magnesium compounds (MgO and MgAl2O4) on the synthesis of Lanthanum magnesium hexaaluminate (LaMgAl11O19) by solid-state reaction method

In the present study, the lanthanum magnesium hexaaluminate (LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉)(LaMA) powder was synthesized by the solid–state reaction method using two types of magnesium compounds, including magnesium oxide (MgO) and magnesium aluminate (MgAl₂O₄) spinel (MAS). The effect of substitution of magnesium oxide with MAS on the synthesis temperature, intermediate compounds and morphology of synthesized powders were investigated. The microstructural results showed that the intermediate compounds of lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO₃), aluminum oxide and MAS were formed in the presence of magnesium oxide, whereas in the latter case, the LaAlO₃ intermediate phase was not observed and La₄Al₂MgO₁₀ was formed at about 810 °C. Also in both cases, a single LaMA phase with the platelet-like morphology was formed. The thickness of the LaMA platelets decreased from 300 nm to 125 nm and the synthesis temperature increased from 1330 °C to 1355 °C, by replacing MgO with MAS.     

Internal surface protection of gas turbine blade by Si‐aluminide coating

A laboratory‐scale slurry silicoaluminizing process has been developed to apply coating into cooling passageways of a first‐stage gas turbine blade. Analytical techniques for characterizing the coatings comprised optical microscopy, SEM, EDS, and XRD. The results of metallographic examinations demonstrated that acceptable coatings had been formed in almost all of the passageways. The amounts of Al and Si in the topcoat were found to be in the ranges of 24–26 wt% and 4.5–6 wt%, respectively. The heat treated coating consisted largely of β‐NiAl phase as the coating matrix with uniform distribution of <2 µm‐size precipitates. In addition, oxidation and hot corrosion performance of the coatings were investigated by cyclic exposure to 1100 °C and the furnace method using a mixture of sodium sulfate‐40 wt% sodium vanadate‐10 wt% sodium chloride at 780 °C, respectively. It was found that the presence of Si in the coating improves both oxidation and hot corrosion Type II properties.     

Analytical analysis and optimisation of the Rayleigh step slider bearing

In tribology, the Rayleigh step is known as a bearing with the highest load capacity amongst all other possible bearing geometries. In classical resources on tribology, it is also shown that there is an optimum geometry for the Rayleigh step providing the highest load capacity. However, the analyses are confined to a special case where the effect of hydrostatic pressure is neglected. Furthermore, the possible optimum parameters in terms of the friction force and/or friction coefficient as well as the lubricant flow rate have not been discussed. In this study, the Rayleigh step is comprehensively analysed including the effect of variations of pressure at the boundaries on the optimum parameters. In addition, the bearing is also optimised considering lubricant flow rate, friction force and friction coefficient. It is shown that the optimum bearing parameters are strictly dependent on the variations of the pressure at the boundaries. It is also verified that the optimum point(s) in terms of load capacity are not necessarily equal to the optimum point(s) considering friction coefficient and/or lubricant flow rate even though if there is no pressure difference between bearing endings.     

Insiders' Views on Planning Practice

Planning practice involves a variety of specialties, interest areas, and orientations that makes the profession unique and all-encompassing. This unique broadness has left practitioners struggling for answers to some basic questions regarding policy, planning agenda, planners' contributions, and so on. This article is an attempt to bring some of those questions to the surface and to delineate the areas of agreement and dispute among planners practicing today at various levels and in various situations. It also raises many questions about the role of planners, their input or degree of influence in the decision-making process, the differences between what they believe and what they practice, and the trend orientation of the profession.     

An analytical approach for analysis and optimisation of slider bearings with infinite width parallel textures

This paper introduces an analytical approach to study the textured surfaces in hydrodynamic lubrication regime. For this purpose, a method of integrating the Reynolds equation for slider bearings with surface discontinuities is presented. By introducing appropriate dimensionless parameters, analytical relations for various texture profiles in both indented and projected forms are delivered. These relations express the nature of mathematical dependence between textured bearing performance measures and geometrical/operational parameters. An optimisation procedure is employed to achieve the optimum texturing parameters promoting maximum load capacity, load capacity to lubricant flow rate ratio and minimum friction coefficient for asymmetric partially textured slider bearings.     

Two-stage thermocatalytic upgrading of fuel oil to olefins and fuels over a nanoporous hierarchical acidic catalyst

A two-stage thermocatalytic upgrading process using a novel catalyst was investigated to produce light olefins and liquid fuels from fuel oil. The upgraded oil from the first thermal stage demonstrated lower viscosity and higher crackability compared to the virgin feedstock. In the next step, the vapor-phase catalytic cracking of the upgraded fraction was implemented over a novel nanoporous composite catalyst, characterized by the XRD, FTIR, NH₃- TPD, and N₂ physisorption techniques. In total, more than 55?wt% of light olefins, particularly propylene (25.5?wt%) together with 25.4?wt% and 32.5?wt% of gasoline and diesel fuel were obtained in this process.     

An iterative mathematical decision model for cloud migration: A cost and security risk approach

This paper presents an iterative mathematical decision model for organizations to evaluate whether to invest in establishing information technology (IT) infrastructure on‐premises or outsourcing IT services on a multicloud environment. This is because a single cloud cannot cover all types of users’ functional/nonfunctional requirements, in addition to several drawbacks such as resource limitation, vendor lock‐in, and prone to failure. On the other hand, multicloud brings several merits such as vendor lock‐in avoidance, system fault tolerance, cost reduction, and better quality of service. The biggest challenge is in selecting an optimal web service composition in the ever increasing multicloud market in which each provider has its own pricing schemes and delivers variation in the service security level. In this regard, we embed a module in the cloud broker to log service downtime and different attacks to measure the security risk. If security tenets, namely, security service level agreement, such as availability, integrity, and confidentiality for mission‐critical applications, are targeted by cybersecurity attacks, it causes disruption in business continuity, leading to financial losses or even business failure. To address this issue, our decision model extends the cost model by using the cost present value concept and the risk model by using the advanced mean failure cost concept, which are derived from the embedded module to quantify cloud competencies. Then, the cloud economic problem is transformed into a bioptimization problem, which minimizes cost and security risks simultaneously. To deal with the combinatorial problem, we extended a genetic algorithm to find a Pareto set of optimal solutions. To reach a concrete result and to illustrate the effectiveness of the decision model, we conducted different scenarios and a small‐to‐medium business IT development for a 5‐year investment as a case study. The result of different implementation shows that multicloud is a promising and reliable solution against IT on‐premises deployment.     

Use of axial dispersion model for determination of Sherwood number and mass transfer coefficients in a perforated rotating disc contactor

The mass transfer process in a perforated rotating disk contactor (PRDC) using a toluene-acetone-water system was investigated.The volumetric overall mass transfer coefficients are calculated in a PRDC column.Both mass transfer directions are considered in experiments.The influences of operating variables containing agitation rate,dispersed and continuous phase flow rates and mass transfer in the extraction column are studied.According to obtained results,mass transfer is significantly dependent on agitation rate,while the dispersed and continuous phase flow rates have a minor effect on mass transfer in the extraction column.Furthermore,a novel empirical correlation is developed for prediction of overall continuous phase Sherwood number based on dispersed phase holdup,Reynolds number and mass transfer direction.There has been great agreement between experimental data and predicted values using a proposed correlation for all operating conditions.