Experimental investigation on chromium-diamond like carbon (Cr-DLC) coating through plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) on the nozzle needle surface

This study emphases the reduction of droplet defect in nozzle needle during the application of Cr-DLC coating on the substrate. The coatings were carried out in the highly sophisticated chamber with attached coating setup under the vacuum atmosphere. The materials were assessed in terms of their adhesiveness, hardness, wear resistance, and microstructural morphology. The dry wear test result reveals the appreciable outcome of nitrogen (N2) flushing on quality of interfacial bonding. The indentation confirms the superior morphology of coated substrates but yet insufficient to resist crack propagation due to weak in adhesiveness of chromium (Cr) layer under non-N2 flushing. Scanning electron microcopy (SEM) embedded with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) was deployed for analysis of cross-sectional coated of substrate. The statistical results claimed that the samples rejection without N2 flushing was showed up to 1.2%. However, the results revealed that Cr-DLC coating with N2 flushing reduced droplet defect and gain remarkable performance over a wide range of samples. Consequently, this novel methodology was employed to assess the coating performance by using a performance index based on tribological properties

Influence of firing temperature on the physical, thermal and microstructural properties of kankara kaolin clay: A preliminary investigation

In this study, natural deposits of Kankara kaolin clay were collected and investigated in order to determine physical, microstructural, thermal, and firing properties and assess clay’s suitability as starting material for various ceramic applications. Chemical analysis of the clay was performed using XRF. Mineralogical analysis and thermal analysis of the clay were conducted using XRD and thermogravimetric thermal analysis (TGA)/differential thermal analysis (DTA), respectively. In order to assess its ceramic behavior, the clay was fired at 900–1200 °C. Maturation characteristics of fired ceramics were assessed by measuring bulk density, apparent porosity, and shrinkage. It was found that main oxides in the clay are alumina, silica, and potassium oxide, while other oxides are present in trace quantities. Kaolinite, quartz, and illite are the phases found from the XRD results, while mullite ceramic phase formed at firing temperature above 1100 °C. Maturation tests showed that ceramic properties such as bulk density and shrinkage increase with temperature, while apparent porosity decreases with temperature. The results presented in this study prove that the clay is an appropriate material for producing traditional ceramics

Influence of firing temperature on the physical, thermal and microstructural properties of kankara kaolin clay: a preliminary investigation

In this study, natural deposits of Kankara kaolin clay were collected and investigated in order to determine physical, microstructural, thermal, and firing properties and assess clay's suitability as starting material for various ceramic applications. Chemical analysis of the clay was performed using XRF. Mineralogical analysis and thermal analysis of the clay were conducted using XRD and thermogravimetric thermal analysis (TGA)/differential thermal analysis (DTA), respectively. In order to assess its ceramic behavior, the clay was fired at 900-1200 °C. Maturation characteristics of fired ceramics were assessed by measuring bulk density, apparent porosity, and shrinkage. It was found that main oxides in the clay are alumina, silica, and potassium oxide, while other oxides are present in trace quantities. Kaolinite, quartz, and illite are the phases found from the XRD results, while mullite ceramic phase formed at firing temperature above 1100 °C. Maturation tests showed that ceramic properties such as bulk density and shrinkage increase with temperature, while apparent porosity decreases with temperature. The results presented in this study prove that the clay is an appropriate material for producing traditional ceramics

Internet of Things and Machine Learning Applications for Smart Precision Agriculture

Agriculture forms the major part of our Indian economy. In the current world, agriculture and irrigation are the essential and foremost sectors. It is a mandatory need to apply information and communication technology in our agricultural industries to aid agriculturalists and farmers to improve vice all stages of crop cultivation and post-harvest. It helps to enhance the country’s G.D.P. Agriculture needs to be assisted by modern automation to produce the maximum yield. The recent development in technology has a significant impact on agriculture. The evolutions of Machine Learning (ML) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have supported researchers to implement this automation in agriculture to support farmers. ML allows farmers to improve yield make use of effective land utilisation, the fruitfulness of the soil, level of water, mineral insufficiencies control pest, trim development and horticulture. Application of remote sensors like temperature, humidity, soil moisture, water level sensors and pH value will provide an idea to on active farming, which will show accuracy as well as practical agriculture to deal with challenges in the field. This advancement could empower agricultural management systems to handle farm data in an orchestrated manner and increase the agribusiness by formulating effective strategies. This paper highlights contribute to an overview of the modern technologies deployed to agriculture and suggests an outline of the current and potential applications, and discusses the challenges and possible solutions and implementations. Besides, it elucidates the problems, specific potential solutions, and future directions for the agriculture sector using Machine Learning and the Internet of things

Experimental investigation of the effect of temperature on the density of kaolin clay

In this study, natural clay mineral was investigated to understand the influence of temperature on its physical properties. To explore the potential suitability of clay as raw material for various high temperature applications, investigation of chemical composition analysis of the clay was conducted using X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The characteristics of the fired ceramics were assessed and the results revealed the presence of alumina, silica and potassium oxide in significant level than other impurities in the clay. Due to superior bonding behaviour at elevated temperatures, it was obtained that the bulk density increases sharply at firing temperatures above 1100 °C. The result revealed that the increase in linear shrinkage with firing temperature due to the liquid phase formation at firing temperature above 1000 °C and the highest linear shrinkage is achieved at firing temperature of 1200 °C. It was also revealed that the shrinkage and bulk density directly proportional to each other. From the maturation results, the ceramic properties such as bulk density and shrinkage increases with temperature, however, the apparent porosity decreases with temperature. The characterization test was carried out as per the standards and High Temperature furnace was used for firing the clay materials

Synthesis, crystal structure, optical, thermal, mechanical, dielectric and DFT studies of 3, 5-dimethylprazole:1,3,5-benzene tricarboxylic acid molecular adduct crystal

An organic molecular adduct, 3, 5-Dimethylpyrazole:1,3,5-benzene tricarboxylic acid was synthesized and single crystals grown in methanol-acetone (1:1) solvent mixture by slow solvent evaporation solution growth technique at room temperature. The formation of the molecular adduct and crystal structure have been confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies and NMR spectroscopic techniques. Further, the title crystal belongs to monoclinic crystal system with space group, P21/c and the supramolecular architecture of adduct involves extensive intermolecular O-H�N, N-H�O, O-H�O and C-H�O hydrogen bonding interactions. UV�Vis-NIR spectrum was recorded to find out the lower cut-off wavelength, percentage transmission and optical band gap energy. The fluorescence properties of the title crystal were identified by Photoluminescence spectral studies. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectral analysis was carried out to confirm the presence of various functional groups in the grown crystal. The quantum chemical analyses were performed by density functional theory (DFT) using B3LYP/6-311G (d,p) basis set. The thermal and mechanical properties of the grown crystal have been investigated by TG/DTA analyses and Vickers micro hardness measurement, respectively. The dielectric behaviours of title single crystal have also been investigated as a function of frequency at different temperatures

Effect of Charging and Discharging Process of PCM with Paraffin and Al2O3Al_2O_3 Additive Subjected to Three Point Temperature Locations

This analysis focused on investigating thermal storage behaviour on phase change material along with $Al_2O_3$ as an additive. The experimental investigation was performed by three set temperature points, i.e. 40 °C, 50 °C and 60 °C with the mass circulation rate through the tank of 5 kg/min, 3 kg/min and 2 kg/min. The forced circulation method was used to circulate the liquid, water was used as a working medium and $Al_2O_3$ as nano particle. Paraffin acts a phase change material to conduct the experimental procedure. The combination of paraffin with $Al_2O_3$ improves the latent heat storage of the material. The performance, with respect to charging and discharging of the material, was investigated and it was observed that the temperature location point of 50 °C shows the best results in terms of charging and discharging phenomena, compared to other two temperature location points. During the process of charging, the maximum rate of heat transfer can be achieved by $Al_2O_3$ nanofluids. Paraffin along with $Al_2O_3$ are characterized by the best thermal storage behaviour during the latent heat storage at charging process and dissipation of heat during discharge process. The rapid cooling comparison for three set location points has been studied and best solidification was achieved at the point of 60 °C; this is due to the rapid cooling at higher elevation temperatures. The energy that was stored in thermal form is to be transferred with the aid of heat exchanger, a special type heat exchanger employed in this analysis to transfer the heat. From this analysis it is concluded that paraffin with $Al_2O_3$ are characterized by the best performance in terms of the charging and discharging phenomenon