Tribological Stress Behaviour of Cast Iron without and with Surface Treatment under Concentrated Contact Load*

The graphite inclusions typical of grey solidified cast iron materials reduce the load-bearing capacity under locally concentrated pressure and simultaneous sliding stress. Surface treatment processes such as nitriding and electron beam remelting are known to improve the local stress behaviour. In this paper, the effects of the above-mentioned individual processes and their combination on the tribological stress behaviour of ferritic and pearlitic cast irons with different graphite morphologies are discussed. The results obtained in the model wear test ball-plate show that the specific wear coefficient of the investigated cast irons with different graphite morphology can already be reduced by at least one order of magnitude by an approx. 0.5–0.9 mm thick remelted surface layer with a surface hardness of 650–750 HV1. This treatment eliminates the graphite and produces ledeburitic carbides instead. The potential of an additional nitriding treatment depends on the parameters used, i. e. the nitrided layer thickness produced as well as the phase composition and the pore fraction of the compound layer. Based on stress calculations, the experimentally determined main influences such as the coefficient of friction, the pore fraction in the compound layer and the magnitude of the Hertzian pressure on the contact stress could essentially be confirmed.

Bulk modulus for fluid-saturated rocks at intermediate frequencies: Modification of squirt flow model proposed by Gurevich et al.

Summary Squirt flow is an essential cause of wave dispersion and attenuation in saturated rocks. The squirt flow model, proposed by Gurevich et al. (2010), has been widely applied to explain the wave dispersion and associated attenuation for saturated rocks at sonic and seismic frequency bands. In this model, the saturated bulk modulus is obtained by taking the partially relaxed frame bulk modulus as the dry frame modulus into Gassmann's formula with the mineral bulk modulus as the matrix bulk modulus. However, because of the weakening effect of soft pores on rock matrix bulk modulus, the model cannot accurately predict the saturated bulk modulus when the soft-pore fraction (the ratio of the soft porosity to total porosity) becomes large. We modified this model following Gurevich et al. (2010) by setting a different boundary condition. The modified squirt flow model can obtain correct saturated bulk modulus for large soft-pore fractions in the full range of frequencies, showing excellent consistency with the predictions of Gassmann and Mavko & Jizba (modified) at both low- and high-frequency limits, respectively. Modeling results show that the saturated bulk moduli and their dispersions calculated by the original and modified models exhibit little difference when the soft-pore fraction is small. Under this condition, the original model is as effective and accurate as the modified one. When the soft-pore fraction becomes larger, the differences in the bulk moduli and their dispersions become substantial, suggesting the original model is not applicable any longer. Furthermore, the differences calculated for the intermediate frequency range is even more obvious than other ranges, suggesting that the modified model should be used to calculate the bulk modulus and the dispersion in this frequency range. In summary, the modified squirt flow model can extend the original model's applicable range in terms of soft-pore fraction and has a potential application in rocks having a relatively large amount of soft-pore fraction such as basalts.

Bulk modulus for fluid-saturated rocks at high frequency: Modification of squirt flow model proposed by Mavko & Jizba

Summary The squirt flow model, proposed by Mavko & Jizba, has been widely used in explaining the frequency-related modulus and velocity dispersion between ultrasonic and seismic measurements. In this model, the saturated bulk modulus at high frequency is obtained by taking the so-called unrelaxed frame bulk modulus into Biot's or Gassmann's formula. When using Gassmann's formula, the mineral bulk modulus is taken as matrix bulk modulus. However, the soft pores (cracks) in rocks have a weakening effect on the matrix bulk modulus. The saturated bulk modulus at high frequency calculated with mineral bulk modulus as matrix bulk modulus is higher than the real values. To overcome this shortcoming we propose a modified matrix bulk modulus based on the Betti-Rayleigh reciprocity theorem and non-interaction approximation. This modification takes the weakening effect of soft pores (cracks) into consideration and allows calculating the correct saturated bulk modulus at high frequency under different soft-pore fractions (the ratio of soft porosity to total porosity) or crack densities. We also propose an alternative expression of the modified matrix bulk modulus, which can be directly obtained from laboratory measurements. The numerical results show that the saturated bulk modulus at high frequency using the original matrix bulk modulus (i.e. mineral bulk modulus) is approximated to that using the modified one only for rocks containing a small amount of soft-pore fraction. However, as the soft-pore fraction becomes substantial, using the original bulk matrix modulus is not applicable, but the modified one is still applicable. Furthermore, the results of the modified squirt flow model show good consistency with published numerical and experimental data. The proposed modification extends the applicable range of soft-pore fraction (crack density) of the previous model, and has potential applications in media having a relatively substantial fraction of soft pores or almost only soft pores, such as granite, basalt, and thermally-cracked glasses.

A study on design and properties of woven-nonwoven multi-layered hybrid geotextiles

The area of forests continues decreasing while the water/soil loss becomes worse. In these complicated environments, mechanical properties, stability, high modulus and low elongation of geotextiles are required. On a premise of the acquisition of good mechanical properties and the improvement in the deformation and puncture resistance of nonwoven fabric, woven/nonwoven hybrid geotextiles are designed and made with needle punch processing technology in this study. The test results indicate that the mechanical properties of hybrid geotextiles are improved significantly when the areal density of nylon fabrics is increased. In particular, with the areal density of 400 g/m2, hybrid geotextiles exhibit the maximal mechanical properties and puncture resistance. Moreover, the pore fraction of hybrid geotextiles decreases as a result of a rise in the areal density of nylon top/bottom layers. The use of a 3 D mesh fabric as the interlayer provides the needle punched composite geotextiles with the highest tensile resistance, puncture resistance. The composite geotextiles are treated with acid and alkali to simulate the corrosion under natural conditions of stabilized soil. The resultant geotextile has good mechanical properties and acid/alkali degradation resistance. This allows the hybrid geotextiles to stabilize water and soil conservation in complicated conditions.

The Experimental Study of Nodular Cast Iron Volume Changes during Solidification

The volume changes during solidification of Nodular Cast Iron (NCI) in the sand mold studied using Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT). Both hypo- and hyper-eutectic compositions are considered by adjusting the carbon fraction in the composition during the experimental studies. The microstructural analysis and measurements are taken from the samples to evaluate the different phases present, the nodule count and size distributions. At the beginning of solidification, the experimental result shows the volume change is negligible. During the eutectic growth, the samples expand until the end of solidification. The displacement measurement shows the expansion continued when solidification finished. The volume change studies during solidification indicate that as the carbon fraction increases the volume expansion decreases. On the other hand, it is found that the pore fraction decreases as the volume expansion decreases. The fraction of primary austenite decreases as the fraction of carbon increases, and that leads to having a lower pore fraction.

Wire-arc additive manufacturing of Al-Mg alloy using CMT and PMC technologies

Among the several metallic additive manufacturing (MAM) technologies available, the wire-and-arc based ones are very beneficial due to the lower operational costs, higher efficiency use of raw materials, and high deposition rates achieved. The Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) process stands out by the lower heat input compared to the other wire-and-arc based methods. On the other hand, processes such as Pulse Multi Control (PMC) and its variants have not been tested yet in additive manufacturing and for this reason they should be evaluated. Therefore, considering the technologies potential and the need of automotive and aeronautical industry of manufacturing parts of complex and optimized geometry in a faster way, the study of these technologies is very relevant. Thus, the objective of this paper is the additive manufacturing of walls with Al-Mg alloy using CMT, CMT-Pulse, PMC, PMC-Mix, and MIG-Pulse, and the evaluation of the hardness, mechanical strength, and porosity of the manufactured parts aiming future industrial applications. The results showed good mechanical properties, small pore fraction, and geometric uniformity of parts produced with PMC and PMC-Mix. MIG-Pulse and PMC parts presented the smaller pore fraction among the GMAW variants, although no difference was noticed in the mechanical properties of the parts.

Enhancing internal mass transport in Fischer–Tropsch catalyst layers utilizing transport pores

A one-dimensional model of Fischer–Tropsch catalyst layers is used for optimization of layer thickness and transport pore fraction to avoid diffusive restrictions and improve productivity.