Sliding wear of a-C:H coatings against alumina in corrosive media

This paper reports the results obtained from the study of friction and sliding wear in two corrosive solutions of an a-C:H coating deposited on 316L stainless against an alumina ball, employed as static counter part. Calculations of the values of the von Mises stresses developed at the coating–substrate interface, as soon as the ball touches the coated sample, and how this state of stress influences the response of the coated system under the corrosion environment, are presented and discussed. The results obtained from these calculations, as well as from the experiments conducted in the present research, are compared with other experiments published in the literature, where a-C:H coatings deposited on different substrates and with different coating architectures were tested in similar corrosive media. It has been determined that in those systems, where the von Mises stress in the coating, found in the vicinity of the interface, exceeds the threshold value of approximately 370MPa, coating failure with spallation will take place, regardless of the substrate nature on which this coating has been deposited. From this analysis it has been concluded that the coating yield strength is of utmost importance in conferring the a-C:H coated system there quired stability in a corrosive solution

Increase of the load carrying capacity of aluminium 2024-T3 by means of a NiP-CRC-DLC coating

The present investigation has been conducted in order to evaluate the tribological behavior of an AA2024-T3 aluminum alloy, coated with a NiP-CrC-DLC coating. The effect of NiP as intermediate layer was evaluated by carrying out calculations using ELASTICA © in order to determine its adequate thickness needed to avoid the plastic deformation of the substrate, ensuring then the integrity of the coating. To evaluate the efficiency of these calculations, a number of dry sliding wear tests were performed employing a ball-on-disk configuration, where alumina balls of 6 mm in diameter were used as counterpart. The sliding wear tests were carried out up to a sliding distance of 800 m, with a normal load of 5 N, a linear speed of 5 cm/s and a contact radius of 3 mm. The wear tracks were analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The wear volume was determined by means of optical profilometry. The results indicate that, under the present testing conditions, the NiP-CrC-DLC coating exhibits a satisfactory behavior from the mechanical stability point of view when the thickness of the NiP layer is higher than 60 µm, since no surface failures were observed at the end of the tests. For the coated system, the magnitude of the friction coefficient was found to be of approximately 0.1 and that of the wear rate was of about 2.31 ± 0.09 x 10-16 m3/N.m. On the contrary, for the uncoated substrate, the friction coefficient was of approximately 0.5 and the wear rate of 5.46 x 10-13 m3/N.m, that is to say, 3 orders of magnitude greater than that determined for the coated system

Dynamics of Simple Balancing Models with State Dependent Switching Control

Time-delayed control in a balancing problem may be a nonsmooth function for a variety of reasons. In this paper we study a simple model of the control of an inverted pendulum by either a connected movable cart or an applied torque for which the control is turned off when the pendulum is located within certain regions of phase space. Without applying a small angle approximation for deviations about the vertical position, we see structurally stable periodic orbits which may be attracting or repelling. Due to the nonsmooth nature of the control, these periodic orbits are born in various discontinuity-induced bifurcations. Also we show that a coincidence of switching events can produce complicated periodic and aperiodic solutions.Comment: 36 pages, 12 figure

Green manure in coffee systems in the region of Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais: characteristics and kinetics of carbon and nitrogen mineralization.

The use of green manure may contribute to reduce soil erosion and increase the soil organic matter content and N availability in coffee plantations in the Zona da Mata, State of Minas Gerais, in Southeastern Brazil. The potential of four legumes (A. pintoi, C. mucunoides, S. aterrimum and S. guianensis)to produce above-ground biomass, accumulate nutrients and mineralize N was studied in two coffee plantations of subsistence farmers under different climate conditions. The biomass production of C. mucunoides was influenced by the shade of the coffee plantation.C. mucunoides tended to mineralize more N than the other legumes due to the low polyphenol content and polyphenol/N ratio. In the first year, the crop establishment of A. pintoi in the area took longer than of the other legumes, resulting in lower biomass production and N2 fixation. In the long term, cellulose was the main factor controlling N mineralization. The biochemical characteristics, nutrient accumulation and biomass production of the legumes were greatly influenced by the altitude and position of the area relative to the sun

The Effects of Atmospheric Dispersion on High-Resolution Solar Spectroscopy

We investigate the effects of atmospheric dispersion on observations of the Sun at the ever-higher spatial resolutions afforded by increased apertures and improved techniques. The problems induced by atmospheric refraction are particularly significant for solar physics because the Sun is often best observed at low elevations, and the effect of the image displacement is not merely a loss of efficiency, but the mixing of information originating from different points on the solar surface. We calculate the magnitude of the atmospheric dispersion for the Sun during the year and examine the problems produced by this dispersion in both spectrographic and filter observations. We describe an observing technique for scanning spectrograph observations that minimizes the effects of the atmospheric dispersion while maintaining a regular scanning geometry. Such an approach could be useful for the new class of high-resolution solar spectrographs, such as SPINOR, POLIS, TRIPPEL, and ViSP