Novel rare-earth-containing lead-free solders with enhanced ductility

Severallead-free material systems are availableas replacements for traditional lead-based solders in microelectronic packaging, including near-eutectic combinations oftin-rich alloys. Although these materials have superior mechanical properties as compared to the Pb-Sn system, much work remains in developing these materials for electronic packaging. Small additions of rare-earth elements have been shown to refine the microstructure of several lead-free solder systems, thus improving their mechanical properties. This study investigated the effect of the addition of lanthanum on the melting behavior, microstructure, and shear strength of an Sn-3.9Ag-0.7Cu alloy. The influence of LaSn₃ intermetallics on microstructural refinement and damage evolution in these novel solders is discussed.     

Comparative characteristic and erosion behavior of NiCr coatings deposited by various high-velocity oxyfuel spray processes

The purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the mechanical properties and microstructure details at the interface of high-velocity oxyfuel (HVOF)-sprayed NiCr-coated boiler tube steels, namely ASTM-SA-210 grade A1, ASTM-SA213-T-11, and ASTM-SA213-T-22. Coatings were developed by two different techniques, and in these techniques liquefied petroleum gas was used as the fuel gas. First, the coatings were characterized by metallographic, scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive x-ray analysis, x-ray diffraction, surface roughness, and microhardness, and then were subjected to erosion testing. An attempt has been made to describe the transformations taking place during thermal spraying. It is concluded that the HVOF wire spraying process offers a technically viable and cost-effective alternative to HVOF powder spraying process for applications in an energy generation power plant with a point view of life enhancement and to minimize the tube failures because it gives a coating having better resistance to erosion.     

Characteristic study of N07718 superalloy surface prepared by cold spray

For better performance in erosive–corrosive, wear and other extreme environmental conditions surface properties of metals and alloys are usually altered by different techniques. Amongst the various surface coating techniques cold spraying is a relatively new and less reported method. Coating formation at energy lower than the melting stage of materials brings novelty to this process. In this study surface of UNS No. - N07718 alloy is altered by cold spraying chromium-carbide (nickel-chromium) layer. The microstructure properties of this cold sprayed surface are observed by various characterization techniques and the results are used to study mechanism of coating layer formation by cold spray process. This newly developed cold sprayed surface is found to be eligible for further testing in wear and erosive-corrosive environmental conditions.     

Evaluation of hot corrosion resistance of HVOF coatings on a Ni-based superalloy in molten salt environment

High-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) has the advantage of being a continuous and most convenient process for applying coatings to industrial installations at site. In this study, Cr₃C₂–NiCr, NiCrBSi, Stellite-6 and Ni–20Cr coatings were deposited on a Ni-based superalloy (19.5Cr–3Fe–0.3Ti–0.1C–balance Ni) using an HVOF process. Hot corrosion studies were performed on bare as well as coated superalloy specimens after exposure to a molten salt environment at 900 °C under cyclic conditions. The thermogravimetric technique was used to establish the kinetics of corrosion. XRD, SEM/EDAX and EPMA techniques were used to analyse the corrosion products. The hot corrosion resistance of all the coatings were superior to bare superalloy. Among the coatings studied, the Ni–20Cr coated superalloy imparted maximum hot corrosion resistance, whereas the Stellite-6 coated indicated minimum resistance. The hot corrosion resistance of all coatings may be attributed to the formation of oxides and spinels of nickel, chromium or cobalt.     

Surface roughness optimization of cold-sprayed coatings using Taguchi method

In this paper, Taguchi L 18 orthogonal array have been employed for depositing the electro-conductive coatings by varying various process parameters, i.e., substrate material, type of powder feeding arrangement, stagnation gas temperature, stagnation gas pressure, and stand-off distance. The response parameter of the coatings so produced is measured in terms of surface roughness. The optimum process parameters are predicted on the basis of analyses (ANOVA) of the raw data and signal to noise ratio. The significant process parameters in order of their decreasing percentage contribution are: stagnation pressure, stand-off distance, substrate material, stagnation temperature of the carrier gas, and feed arrangement of the powder particles, respectively.     

Optimal monolithic configuration for heat integrated ethanol steam reformer

A design concept for optimal design of monolith catalyst is presented through modeling of transport–kinetic interactions in a monolith catalyst. We argue that reactors employing monolithic catalysts should be based on its optimal choice of geometry. In line with that argument, we present a thorough analysis of the geometrical parameters influencing the performance of non-isothermal reactor operation. In this study, an optimal monolith configuration is estimated to be a combination (d_h, t_w) of (0.9 mm, 0.2 mm) for a compact ethanol reformer to produce hydrogen for portable applications where maximum volumetric reactor activity exists. A three-dimensional modeling framework is developed for the resulting optimal monolithic catalyst design that couples the reforming section with a suitable heat source in a recuperative way. As a result, greater ethanol conversion is obtained from the monolith channels near the periphery of the block. The coupling with combustion could predict the formation of cold and hot spots inside the reactor, their nature being dependent on the flow configuration. Further, the effect of altering the feed inlet operating conditions over the variation of ethanol conversion and temperature inside the reactor is also analyzed. The increase in reforming inlet velocity decreases the outlet conversion and shifts the cold spot, forward and deeper in co-flow configuration. The decreasing inlet feed temperature enhances the transfer of heat, eliminating the cold spot.     

Differential Signaling by Protease-Activated Receptors: Implications for Therapeutic Targeting

Protease-activated receptors (PARs) are a family of four G protein-coupled receptors that exhibit increasingly appreciated differences in signaling and regulation both within and between the receptor class. By nature of their proteolytic self-activation mechanism, PARs have unique processes of receptor activation, “ligand” binding, and desensitization/resensitization. These distinctive aspects have presented both challenges and opportunities in the targeting of PARs for therapeutic benefit—the most notable example of which is inhibition of PAR1 on platelets for the prevention of arterial thrombosis. However, more recent studies have uncovered further distinguishing features of PAR-mediated signaling, revealing mechanisms by which identical proteases elicit distinct effects in the same cell, as well as how distinct proteases produce different cellular consequences via the same receptor. Here we review this differential signaling by PARs, highlight how important distinctions between PAR1 and PAR4 are impacting on the progress of a new class of anti-thrombotic drugs, and discuss how these more recent insights into PAR signaling may present further opportunities for manipulating PAR activation and signaling in the development of novel therapies.     

Stability of combustion waves in the Zeldovich–Liñán model

In this paper we investigate the stability of the premixed combustion waves in the Zeldovich–Liñán model in the adiabatic limit in two spatial dimensions. It is shown that either wave or cellular instabilities emerge for the Lewis number for fuel greater or smaller than one respectively. On the Lewis number for fuel vs activation energy parameter plane, the critical parameter curve for wave (cellular) instability is a monotonically decaying (increasing) function, which tends to one for large values of activation energies and grows infinitely (vanishes) as the activation energy is decreased to some critical value (zero). Decreasing the recombination parameter, which corresponds to the relation between the characteristic times of the branching and recombination reactions, makes the combustion waves more stable by increasing the region of parameter values for stable traveling wave solutions. Increasing the ambient temperature is demonstrated to have similar stabilizing effect on combustion waves. The effect of the varying the Lewis number for radicals is shown to be more complex and depends on the regime of recombination. It is demonstrated that as the critical parameter values for the onset of instability are crossed, either pulsating or cellular two-dimensional solutions emerge. The properties of these solutions are studied. A comparison of the results of this paper with known data from the literature for deflagration of hydrogen–oxygen mixtures is made.     

On the thermal conductivity of bimodal SiC/A356 composites fabricated via powder metallurgy route

The present study investigates the thermal conductivity of bimodal SiC particulate distribution in aluminum matrix composites fabricated via powder metallurgy route. The effects of the SiC_p reinforcement size distribution and processing parameters such as sintering time and temperature on the thermal conductivity have been examined. The Box–Behnken experimental array was employed to identify the effects of selected variables on the thermal conductivity of the composite. A reasonable augmentation in the thermal conductivity was observed with an increase in sintering time and %volume fraction of fine SiC particulates. It has been demonstrated that the matrix doped with fine SiC particulates (37?µm) occupied interstitial positions and formed continuous SiC–matrix network resulting in minimizing the micropores that contributed for good thermal conductivity, that is, 235?W/mK. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) were conducted to evaluate the microstructure architecture and interfacial phase formation.