Microstructure and Hot Workability of Twin-roll Cast Dispersoid-strengthened Al- Mg-Si-Mn alloys

Dispersoid-strengthened Al-Mg-Si-Mn aluminum alloys were produced by twin-roll casting (TRC) and conventional mold casting (MC). An extra-low temperature homogenization was performed at temperature of 430 °C for 6 h, which was followed by uniaxial hot compression tests. The results showed that the as-cast TRC samples had a lower eutectic fraction with a smaller size and a higher solid solution concentration compared to the as-cast MC samples. During the extra-low temperature homogenization, a large number of α-Al(Fe, Mn)Si dispersoids precipitated, and the dispersoids in the TRC sample had a greater number density than those in the MC sample. Precipitation-free zone (PFZ) formed near the eutectic regions, TRC sample had a lower PFZ fraction than that of MC sample. The TRC samples yielded higher flow stresses of hot deformation than MC sample owing to the stronger dispersoid strengthening effect. Severe edge cracking occurred in the deformed MC samples due to the high fraction of coarse AlFeMnSi intermetallic particles, no edge crack formed in the TRC samples owing to its lower fraction and fine intermetallics which improved the hot workability of TRC sample.

CFD simulation of reactive flow in parallel flow regenerative shaft kilns using porous media model

Understanding the flow pattern of the gas jets in packed beds can have considerable significance in improving reactor design and process optimization. This study researches the fuel diffusion in the radial direction and the flame length in a packed bed of a Parallel Flow Regenerative (PFR) Shaft kiln. This kiln is characterized that the fuel is injected vertically in the packed bed using a lot of lances in the cross-section while the combustion air is distributed continuously. Such a large, packed bed has to be approximated as a porous media. This assumption is used to model the reactive flow in the kilns. Using a box with 700 spheres of 52 mm spheres in Body-Centered Cube (B.C.C.) arrangement the local concentrations of injected nitrogen in airflow were measured. The measured values match approximately with those calculated with the Porous Media Model (PMM). The studied parameters are the number of burners and burner arrangements. The radial mixing of fuel and air in a packed bed is relatively bad. Therefore, a lot of burners are needed for better temperature homogenization in the cross-section.

Temperature Homogenization of Co-Integrated Shape Memory—Silicon Bimorph Actuators

The high work density and beneficial downscaling of shape memory alloy (SMA) actuation performance provide a basis for the development of actuators and systems at microscales. Here, we report a novel monolithic fabrication approach for the co-integration of SMA and Si microstructures to enable SMA-Si bimorph microactuation. Double-beam cantilevers are chosen for the actuator layout to enable electrothermal actuation by Joule heating. The SMA materials under investigation are NiMnGa and NiTi(Hf) films with tunable phase transformation temperatures. We show that Joule heating of the cantilevers generates increasing temperature gradients for decreasing cantilever size, which hampers actuation performance. In order to cope with this problem, a new method for design optimization is presented based on finite element modeling (FEM) simulations. We demonstrate that temperature homogenization can be achieved by the design of additional folded beams in the perpendicular direction to the active beam cantilevers. Thereby, power consumption can be reduced by more than 35 % and maximum deflection can be increased up to a factor of 2 depending on the cantilever geometry.

Estudo do colapso da turbulência em um canal aberto estratificado

Shortly after sunset the surface starts its cooling by the emission of longwave radiation. As a result of this process, the air layers along with the surface are cooled, thus giving rise to a Stable Boundary Layer (SBL). This paper aims to perform a numerical simulation of a turbulent flow and observe the effects of stratification on it. To perform this study, a reproduction of a flow in an open channel was made due the fact that the upper wall did not influence the flow, in which a temperature gradient between the lower and upper plates was applied. The CFD software used in this paper was OpenFOAM 2.4.0. The most appropriate solver for the present study is the buoyantPimpleFoam, which is suitable for compressible, turbulent, transient and heat transfer flows. Analyzing the results, it can be observed that before the thermal stratification process was performed the levels are coupled as a function of the turbulence. When this occurs, it causes greater velocity and temperature homogenization in the central region of the domain. For larger temperature gradients, it can be observed a laminarization of the flow due the thermal forcing being bigger than the mechanical ones.