Laser surface texturing of a WC-CoNi cemented carbide grade: surface topography design for honing application

Abrasive effectiveness of composite-like honing stones is related to the intrinsic surface topography resulting from the cubic boron nitride (CBN) grains protruding out of the metallic matrix. Within this framework, Laser Surface Texturing (LST) is implemented for replicating topographic features of a honing stone in a WC-base cemented carbide grade, commonly employed for making tools. In doing so, regular arrays of hexagonal pyramids (similar to CBN grains) are sculpted by a laser micromachining system. Micrometric precision is attained and surface integrity does not get affected by such surface modification. Finally, potential of laser-patterned cemented carbide tools, as alternative to conventional honing stones, is supported by successful material removal and enhanced surface smoothness of a steel workpiece in the abrasive testing.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Stock Price Reaction to Dividend Changes: An Empirical Test

This paper investigates both long-term and short-term stock price reactions to announcements of dividend changes. We document that short-term abnormal returns surrounding dividend increases are more significant than those surrounding dividend decreases. In the long run, the mean monthly calendar time abnormal returns following dividend increases are positively significant, suggesting underreaction. Yet no long-term post-event abnormal returns are observed for dividend decreases. Examining subsamples sorted by market value of equity and percentage dividend change, respectively, we notice that the magnitude of percentage dividend changes is positively correlated with that of absolute abnormal returns, and firms of smaller size produce more apparent abnormal returns than do those of bigger size

Assessment of wear micromechanisms on a laser textured cemented carbide tool during abrasive-like machining by FIB/FESEM

The combined use of focused ion beam (FIB) milling and field-emission scanning electron microscopy inspection (FESEM) is a unique and successful approach for assessment of near-surface phenomena at specific and selected locations. In this study, a FIB/FESEM dual-beam platform was implemented to docment and analyze the wear micromechanisms on a laser-surface textured (LST) hardmetal (HM) tool. In particular, changes in surface and microstructural integrity of the laser-sculptured pyramids (effective cutting microfeatures) were characterized after testing the LST-HM tool against a steel workpiece in a workbench designed to simulate an external honing process. It was demonstrated that: (1) laser-surface texturing does not degrade the intrinsic surface integrity and tool effectiveness of HM pyramids; and (2) there exists a correlation between the wear and loading of shaped pyramids at the local level. Hence, the enhanced performance of the laser-textured tool should consider the pyramid geometry aspects rather than the microstructure assemblage of the HM grade used, at least for attempted abrasive applications

Wear Characterization of Cemented Carbides (WC–CoNi) Processed by Laser Surface Texturing under Abrasive Machining Conditions

Cemented carbides are outstanding engineering materials widely used in quite demanding material removal applications. In this study, laser surface texturing is implemented for enhancing, at the surface level, the intrinsic bulk-like tribological performance of these materials. In this regard, hexagonal pyramids patterned on the cutting surface of a tungsten cemented carbide grade (WC–CoNi) have been successfully introduced by means of laser surface texturing. It simulates the surface topography of conventional honing stones for abrasive application. The laser-produced structure has been tested under abrasive machining conditions with full lubrication. Wear of the structure has been characterized and compared, before and after the abrasive machining test, in terms of changes in geometry aspect and surface integrity. It is found that surface roughness of the machined workpiece was improved by the laser-produced structure. Wear characterization shows that laser treatment did not induce any significant damage to the cemented carbide. During the abrasive machining test, the structure exhibited a high wear resistance. Damage features were only discerned at the contacting surface, whereas geometrical shape of pyramids remained unchanged

Enhancing pre-service teachers’ projective agency for diverse and multilingual classrooms through a course on curriculum development

Framed in teacher research, this article examines on how a group of 220 preservice language teachers' understandings of teacher agency evolved in a course on second language teaching curriculum. The participants were enrolled on a master’s program on teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), and data were gathered through course activities which included two surveys, reflective blogs, and an essay. Based on inferential statistics and qualitative content analysis, findings show that, with different degrees of confidence, the student-teachers believe that their projective (future) agency was harnessed through the course developing (1) willingness to use teacher agency as a tool for professional development and (2) willingness to use teacher agency as a drive to engage in critical teaching practices for multilingual settings. Drawing on a trans-perspective of language teacher agency, the study advances a model of projective teacher agency

Wear characterization of cemented carbides (WC-CoNi) processed by laser surface texturing under abrasive machining conditions

Cemented carbides are outstanding engineering materials widely used in quite demanding material removal applications. In this study, laser surface texturing is implemented for enhancing, at the surface level, the intrinsic bulk-like tribological performance of these materials. In this regard, hexagonal pyramids patterned on the cutting surface of a tungsten cemented carbide grade (WC-CoNi) have been successfully introduced by means of laser surface texturing. It simulates the surface topography of conventional honing stones for abrasive application. The laser-produced structure has been tested under abrasive machining conditions with full lubrication. Wear of the structure has been characterized and compared, before and after the abrasive machining test, in terms of changes in geometry aspect and surface integrity. It is found that surface roughness of the machined workpiece was improved by the laser-produced structure. Wear characterization shows that laser treatment did not induce any significant damage to the cemented carbide. During the abrasive machining test, the structure exhibited a high wear resistance. Damage features were only discerned at the contacting surface, whereas geometrical shape of pyramids remained unchanged.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Critical Assessment of Two-Dimensional Methods for the Microstructural Characterization of Cemented Carbides

Cemented carbides, or hard metals, are ceramic–metal composites usually consisting of tungsten carbide particles bound by a cobalt-based alloy. They are the backbone materials for the tooling industry, as a direct consequence of the outstanding range of property combinations, depending on their effective microstructural assemblage, i.e., the physical dimensions and relative content of their constitutive phases. Hence, reliable microstructural characterization becomes key for hard metal grade selection and quality control. This work aimed to assess the practical twodimensional characterization methods for the most important one- and two-phase properties of cemented carbides, i.e., the carbide grain size, phase fraction, carbide contiguity, and binder mean free path. Three different methods—point, line, and area analysis—were implemented to characterize four microstructurally distinct grades. The images were acquired by optical and scanning electron microscopy, with the latter through both secondary and backscattered electrons. Results were critically discussed by comparing the obtained values of properties and the different characterization methodology. Inspection technique combinations were finally ranked based on accuracy, accessibility, and operability considerations. The line method was used to analyze all the properties, the area method, for the one-phase properties, and the point method, for only the phase fraction. It was found that the combination of optical microscopy and the line analysis method was suitable for a direct inspection and rapid estimation for carbides above fine grain size. The most precise results were achieved using line analysis of the images obtained by the backscattered electrons of the scanning electron microscope

Effective mass overshoot in single degree of freedom mechanical systems with a particle damper

We study the response of a single degree of freedom mechanical system composed of a primary mass, M, a linear spring, a viscous damper and a particle damper. The particle damper consists in a prismatic enclosure of variable height that contains spherical grains (total mass m_p). Contrary to what it has been discussed in previous experimental and simulation studies, we show that, for small containers, the system does not approach the fully detuned mass limit in a monotonous way. Rather, the system increases its effective mass up and above M+m_p before reaching this expected limiting value (which is associated with the immobilization of the particles due to a very restrictive container). Moreover, we show that a similar effect appears in the tall container limit where the system reaches effective masses below the expected asymptotic value M. We present a discussion on the origin of these overshoot responses and the consequences for industrial applications.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure