651 research outputs found
Numerical Simulation of Machining Nickel-Based Alloy
none3The phenomenological models for material flow stress and fracture, typically used in the Finite Element simulations of machining Nickel-based alloys, are often deemed to represent only certain metallurgical material states. In contrast, these models are not suitable to describe the constitutive behavior of the workpiece for different metallurgical states (i.e., annealed, aged, etc.) and, consequently, different hardness values. Since the description of the material behavior requires correct formulation of the constitutive law, new flow stress models which include also the hardness effect should be developed and used, for computer simulation of machining Nickel-based alloys. This paper describes the development of a hardness-based flow stress and fracture models for machining Inconel 718 alloy which can be applied for a wide range of work material hardness. These models have been implemented in a non-isothermal viscoplastic numerical model to simulate the influence of work material hardness on the chip formation process. The predicted results are being validated with experimental results properly carried out for this research. They are found to satisfactory predict the cutting forces, the temperature and the chip morphology from continuous to segmented chip as the hardness values changeopenDel Prete A.; Filice L.; Umbrello D.;DEL PRETE, Antonio; Filice, L.; Umbrello, D
A stabilized formulation with maximum entropy meshfree approximants for viscoplastic flow simulation in metal forming
The finite element method is the reference technique in the simulation of metal forming and provides excellent results with both Eulerian and Lagrangian implementations. The latter approach is more natural and direct but the large deformations involved in such processes require remeshing-rezoning algorithms that increase the computational times and reduce the quality of the results. Meshfree methods can better handle large deformations and have shown encouraging results. However, viscoplastic flows are nearly incompressible, which poses a challenge to meshfree methods. In this paper we propose a simple model of viscoplasticity, where both the pressure and velocity fields are discretized with maximum entropy approximants. The inf-sup condition is circumvented with a numerically consistent stabilized formulation that involves the gradient of the pressure. The performance of the method is studied in some benchmark problems including metal forming and orthogonal cutting
On the performances of different nodal integration techniques and their stabilization
Finite element method was successfully applied in the simulation of several forming processes; however, it does not represent an absolute reference point. In fact, large deformation corresponds to a heavy mesh distortion. Powerful rezoning-remeshing algorithms strongly reduce the effects of such a limitation but the computational time significantly increases and additional errors occur. Nodal Integration is a recently introduced technique that allows finite element method to provide reliable results also when meshes becomes distorted in traditional FEMs. Furthermore, volumetric locking problems seem to be avoided using this integration technique instead of other methods such as coupled formulations. Nevertheless, spurious low-energy modes appear due to the nodal averaging of strain. For this reason stabilizing methods application seems to be suitable. What is more, different nodal integration techniques have been proposed, although spurious modes are a common problem. In this paper the performances of three different nodal integration techniques and the effects of a recently introduced stabilization methodology are studied simulating a classical forming process
Machinability of Waspaloy under different cutting and lubri-cooling conditions
Nickel-based super alloys are widely employed in critical applications, mainly in aerospace, marine, and chemical industries, concerning the production of high-performance artifacts. These alloys are considered as hard-to-cut materials, because of their modest machinability, so it is very difficult to implement in an industrial context high-speed machining processes that can lead to higher quality products, with improved mechanical characteristics and higher dimensional accuracy, and increase productivity. Among these alloys stands out Waspaloy, thanks to its very high mechanical properties, such as stiffness and strength to weight ratio. In order to implement effective machining processes, it is important to analyze the behavior of the material during machining in terms of variables of industrial interest (forces, tool wear, etc.). The aim of this paper is to disclose the results of an experimental investigation aimed to determine the effects of different cutting parameters on cutting forces, chip morphology, tool wear, and temperature at tool-chip interface, during orthogonal machining of Waspaloy (45 HRC). Experiments were performed in different lubri-cooling conditions (dry, wet, and cryogenic) and at varying cutting conditions (cutting speed and feed rate)
Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis in Childhood Vasculitis: A Perspective Comparative Pilot Study
Kawasaki disease (KD) and Henoch–Schönlein purpura (HSP) are the most frequent vasculitis in childhood. For both, a multifactorial mechanism has been hypothesised, with an abnormal immune response in genetically predisposed children. Gut microbiota (GM) alterations might trigger the hyperimmune reaction. Our aim was to explore the GM in KD and compare it with the GM of HSP and febrile children. Children diagnosed with KD, HSP and non-KD febrile illness (F) were enrolled. GM was profiled by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and compared with the profiles of healthy children from previous studies. We enrolled 13 KD, 10 HSP and 12 F children. Their GM significantly differed from controls, with an overall reduction in the relative abundance of beneficial taxa belonging to the Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae families. Potential KD and HSP signatures were identified, including smaller amounts of Dialister in the former, and Clostridium and Akkermansia in the latter. Notably, the GM structures of KD, HSP and F patients stratified by abdominal involvement, with more severe dysbiosis in those suffering from intestinal symptoms. This is the first study analysing GM in a mostly Caucasian cohort of KD and HSP children. Our data could open up new opportunities for childhood vasculitis treatment
Effects of Ti6Al4V mechanical and thermal surface modification on the adhesion of a chitosan-bioactive glass coating
Biomedical implants interact with human tissues introducing significant perturbation into the body. Implant surfaces can be then functionalized enabling better biocompatibility. At the same time, the additional use of a coating provides further functions such as corrosion protection, osteointegration, and drug delivery. In this context, a composite made of chitosan and bioactive glass nanoparticles has been used for coating Ti6Al4V alloy samples processed beforehand using different processes, i.e., polishing, milling, grit blasting, and electrical discharge machining. Experiments have been carried out to correlate substrate surface conditions and coating effectiveness in terms of scratch resistance with the final aim to obtain suitable guidelines to improve substrate-coating performances
Thread-level information for comment classification in community question answering
Community Question Answering (cQA) is a new application of QA in social contexts (e.g., fora). It presents new interesting challenges and research directions, e.g., exploiting the dependencies between the different comments of a thread to select the best answer for a given question. In this paper, we explored two ways of modeling such dependencies: (i) by designing specific features looking globally at the thread; and (ii) by applying structure prediction models. We trained and evaluated our models on data from SemEval-2015 Task 3 on Answer Selection in cQA. Our experiments show that: (i) the thread-level features consistently improve the performance for a variety of machine learning models, yielding state-of-the-art results; and (ii) sequential dependencies between the answer labels captured by structured prediction models are not enough to improve the results, indicating that more information is needed in the joint model
Division of Giardia isolates from humans into two genetically distinct assemblages by electrophoretic analysis of enzyme encoded at 27 loci in comparison with Giardia muris
Giardia that infect humans are known to be heterogeneous but they are assigned currently to a single species, Giardia intestinalis (syn. G. lamblia). The genetic differences that exist within G. intestinalis have not yet been assessed quantitatively and neither have they been compared in magnitude with those that exist between G. intestinalis and species that are morphologically similar (G. duodenalis) or morphologically distinct (e.g. G. muris). In this study, 60 Australian isolates of G. intestinalis were analysed electrophoretically at 27 enzyme loci and compared with G. muris and a feline isolate of G. duodenalis. Isolates of G. intestinalis were distinct genetically from both G. muris (approximately 80% fixed allelic differences) and the feline G. duodenalis isolate (approximately 75% fixed allelic differences). The G. intestinalis isolates were extremely heterogeneous but they fell into 2 major genetic assemblages, separated by fixed allelic differences at approximately 60% of loci examined. The magnitude of the genetic differences between the G. intestinalis assemblages approached the level that distinguished the G. duodenalis isolate from the morphologically distinct G. muris. This raises important questions about the evolutionary relationships of the assemblages with Homo sapiens, the possibility of ancient or contemporary transmission from animal hosts to humans and the biogeographical origins of the two clusters.G. Mayrhofer, R. H. Andrews, P. L. Ey and N. B. Chilto
Autophagy-related protein LC3 and Beclin-1 in the first trimester of pregnancy
Autophagy is a degradation process that acts in response to environmental stressors. Recently, autophagy has been detected in normal term,
preeclamptic and intrauterine growth-restricted placentas. The object of this work was to investigate the presence of autophagy in first trimester
voluntary interruption of pregnancy placental villi by the expression of autophagy-related proteins, light chain 3 (LC3), and Beclin-1. In first
trimester placental villi laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) analysis revealed LC3 and Beclin-1 immunoreactivity prevalently located in
villous cytotrophoblasts. Using LSCM, LC3, and Beclin-1 were localized to the cytoplasm of the trophoblast layer in human full-term placentas.
Beclin-1 expression and LC3 activation were confirmed by western blotting. These data emphasize that autophagy activation is different
among cytotrophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts depending on the gestational age and thus we speculate that autophagy might play a prosurvival
role throughout human pregnancy
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