In Situ Synthesis of a Wear Resistant Layer on the Surface of Low Carbon Steel produced by Laser Melt Injection Technology

Titanium and his compounds are one of the most frequently used reinforcing particles in iron – ceramic composite materials. These materials will possess special characteristics because they are quenchable, their hardness can be increased by heat treatment and they can be quite easily machined. The point of the technology developed in the Bay Zoltán Institute of Materials Sciences and Technology is to form the reinforcing layer on the surface of the sample in an in situ way by melting the surface of the low carbon steel and the laminar carbon felt using laser beam while the titanium metal powder is simultaneously added to the melt. Several methods (metallographic examinations, selective area hardness measurements, SEM, and XRD) were applied to answer the questions about the optimal conditions for the in situ synthesis of a wear resistant layer

The Impact of PRRS Eradication Program on the Production Parameters of the Hungarian Swine Sector

Background: The Hungarian national eradication program of PRRS was successfully completed between 2014 and 2022. There were doubts about the efficiency of the eradication program in Hungary from the beginning to the tune that it might only be carried out efficiently through depopulation–repopulation of the infected herds, which is a very costly procedure. In our study, we investigated the impact of the depopulation–repopulation procedure, which played a prominent role in the PRRS eradication program on the productivity of the Hungarian swine sector–namely, on the number of slaughter pigs per sow per year and the total live slaughter weight per sow per year. Material and Methods: Since 2014, we monitored the evolution of the PRRS eradication through the depopulation–repopulation approach on the large-scale breeding herds in Hungary. Most producers replaced their herds with animals that were free of PRRS and other infectious diseases (mycoplasmosis, actinobacillosis, swine dysentery, atrophic rhinitis, etc.). On this basis, we evaluated the change in the number of slaughter pigs per sow per year as a consequence of depopulation–repopulation of the herds being carried out. In the statistical analysis linear regression was used. Conclusions: The results of our study demonstrate that the PRRS eradication program with the herd depopulation–repopulation approach led to a considerable improvement of the productivity of Hungarian pig farming. This result also demonstrates that, independent of the PRRS eradication, it is still necessary to consider investments into the individual production units to increase efficiency, and to carry out herd depopulation–repopulation in cases where the current genetics limits improvements in productivity