Venting of fission products and shielding in thermionic nuclear reactor systems

Most thermionic reactors are designed to allow the fission gases to escape out of the emitter. A scheme to allow the fission gases to escape is proposed. Because of the low activity of the fission products, this method should pose no radiation hazards

Influence of High-Productivity Process Parameters on the Surface Quality and Residual Stress State of AISI 316L Components Produced by Directed Energy Deposition

The production of large components is one of the most powerful applications of laser powder-directed energy deposition (LP-DED) processes. High productivity could be achieved, when focusing on industrial applications, by selecting the proper process parameters. However, it is of crucial importance to understand the strategies that are necessary to increase productivity while maintaining the overall part quality and minimizing the need for post-processing. In this paper, an analysis of the dimensional deviations, surface roughness and subsurface residual stresses of samples produced by LP-DED is described as a function of the applied energy input. The aim of this work is to analyze the effects of high-productivity process parameters on the surface quality and the mechanical characteristics of the samples. The obtained results show that the analyzed process parameters affect the dimensional deviations and the residual stresses, but have a very little influence on surface roughness, which is instead dominated by the presence of unmelted particles

Atomic layer deposited protective layers

This paper reviews the use of Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) in protective coatings. Because of the growth principle ALD allows the deposition of dense conformal films on substrates of different size and shape. Recently, ALD has received increasingly interest in deposition of protective coatings. In protective coatings oxides are the most common materials and especially Al, Ti, and Ta oxides have been applied. The use of nanolaminates enables improving the protection properties. Since ALD films are pinhole-free and often thin they are used to protect against moisture, radiation, out-gassing but not often against corrosion of metals. Very good moisture barriers are obtained with thin ALD oxide layers on polymers and cardboard. This property is also very attractive in encapsulation of OLEDs. In studies of energy technology materials protection of electrodes in Li-ion batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors by ALD has been reported and significant improvement in the stability has been achieved. Yet another area is protection of silver jewelry from tarnishing by a thin oxide layer. In traditional corrosion protection of metals ALD films have proven to be useful in tailoring of interfaces and sealing of defects in coatings made by other techniques. © 2017 Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.Peer reviewe

On the quality of unsupported overhangs produced by laser powder bed fusion

One of the main design constraints for additive manufacturing is the definition of downward-facing surfaces, which can lead to problems, like part failing or warping, during construction and poor surface quality. In this paper, a specific index has been defined to represent the surface quality of the downward-facing surfaces induced by the laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process. In order to validate the quality index, a design of experiment (DoE) that considers geometric parameters of the overhangs has been defined and carried out, and the quality of resulting surfaces has been evaluated using an optical scanning system. The statistical analysis (ANOVA) has allowed identifying the relationships between significant geometrical parameters and the quality index here proposed

Abrasive fluidized bed finishing to improve the fatigue behaviour of Ti6Al4V parts fabricated by electron beam melting

A study of the abrasive fluidized bed (AFB) finishing process was conducted to quantify the obtainable improvement of the fatigue behaviour of Ti6Al4V parts produced by electron beam melting (EBM). Axial-symmetric EBM samples were rotated at high speed inside a fluidized bed of stainless-steel media. The effects of the treatment time and the rotational speed on morphological features and fatigue life of the EBM samples were investigated. Outcomes showed that the improvement in surface properties induced by the AFB finishing process determined an increase up to 50% in fatigue life and a shift of the S-N curve

Monitoring and mentoring strategies for diffusing sustainability in supply networks

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the impact of monitoring and mentoring strategies on sustainability diffusion within supply networks through focal companies and how suppliers engage in implementing these strategies. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reports on three in-depth case studies conducted with focal companies and their suppliers. An interaction approach was adopted to guide the analysis of focal companies’ strategies for implementing and diffusing sustainability in supply networks. Findings - The monitoring strategy impacts sustainability diffusion at the dyadic level, while the mentoring strategy is a prerequisite for the diffusion of sustainability at the supply network level. The findings suggest that coupling monitoring with mentoring can lead to diffusion beyond first-tier suppliers. Interaction intensity, supplier proactiveness and mindset change facilitate sustainability diffusion in supply networks. Research limitations/implications - The authors suggest more research be conducted on specific practices within monitoring and mentoring, as some of these imply very different levels of commitment and interaction. Practical implications - The paper suggests that in the future, companies will be increasingly called upon to adopt cooperative initiatives to enable the diffusion of sustainability in supply networks. Originality/value - The contribution of the paper lies in its identification of the impacts of monitoring and mentoring strategies on the diffusion of sustainability in networks, revealing different supplier engagement in these strategies, which may foster or hinder sustainability diffusion.©2020 Emerald Publishing Limited. This manuscript version is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY–NC 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Microstructure and Residual Stress Evolution of Laser Powder Bed Fused Inconel 718 under Heat Treatments

The current work aimed to study the influence of various heat treatments on the microstructure, hardness, and residual stresses of Inconel 718 processed by laser powder bed fusion process. The reduction in residual stresses is crucial to avoid the deformation of the component during its removal from the building platform. Among the different heat treatments, 800 °C kept almost unaltered the original microstructure, reducing the residual stresses. Heat treatments at 900, 980, and 1065 °C gradually triggered the melt pool and dendritic structures dissolution, drastically reducing the residual stresses. Heat treatments at 900 and 980 °C involved the formation of δ phases, whereas 1065 °C generated carbides. These heat treatments were also performed on components with narrow internal channels revealing that heat treatments up to 900 °C did not trigger sintering mechanisms allowing to remove the powder from the inner channels

Particle Survival and Polydispersity in Aggregation

We study the probability, $P_S(t)$, of a cluster to remain intact in one-dimensional cluster-cluster aggregation when the cluster diffusion coefficient scales with size as $D(s) \sim s^\gamma$. $P_S(t)$ exhibits a stretched exponential decay for $\gamma < 0$ and the power-laws $t^{-3/2}$ for $\gamma=0$, and $t^{-2/(2-\gamma)}$ for $0<\gamma<2$. A random walk picture explains the discontinuous and non-monotonic behavior of the exponent. The decay of $P_S(t)$ determines the polydispersity exponent, $\tau$, which describes the size distribution for small clusters. Surprisingly, $\tau(\gamma)$ is a constant $\tau = 0$ for $0<\gamma<2$.Comment: submitted to Europhysics Letter