Effect of Salt Coatings on Low Cycle Fatigue Behavior of Nickel -base Superalloy GTM-SU-718

AbstractNickel-base superalloys are used as components of gas turbines both of jet engines as well as marine engines. Sin e these components are subjected to high temperature and oxidizing environment, their performance is drastically affected by the environmental conditions. Marine environment further aggravates the situation due to presence of salt (NaCl) particles in air. This salt along with sulphur and vanadium present in the fuel oil, leads to formation of compounds like sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) and vanadium pentaoxide (V2O5) during combustion and causes hot corrosion and stress corrosion cracking of engine components. Strain controlled low cycle fatigue tests were conducted on the nickel base superalloy GTM-SU-718 in air, at room temperature on unexposed, exposed at 550°C for 25h, exposed at 650°C for 25h as well as on the specimens coated with layers of NaCl, 25wt.%NaCl+75wt.%Na2SO4 and 90wt.%Na2SO4+5wt.%NaCl+5wt.%V2O5 salt/salt mixtures separately and exposed at elevated temperatures for 25h. While the NaCl coated sample was exposed at 550°C, those coated with other two salt mixtures were exposed at 650°C. It was observed that fatigue life of the NaCl coated sample, exposed at 550°C for 25h was reduced, however, there was little effect on fatigue life of the other specimens referred to above, including even those coated with salt mixtures and exposed at 650°C

A Rigidity-Enhanced Antimicrobial Activity: A Case for Linear Cationic α-Helical Peptide HP(2–20) and Its Four Analogues

Linear cationic α-helical antimicrobial peptides are referred to as one of the most likely substitutes for common antibiotics, due to their relatively simple structures (≤40 residues) and various antimicrobial activities against a wide range of pathogens. Of those, HP(2–20) was isolated from Helicobacter pylori ribosomal protein. To reveal a mechanical determinant that may mediate the antimicrobial activities, we examined the mechanical properties and structural stabilities of HP(2–20) and its four analogues of same chain length by steered molecular dynamics simulation. The results indicated the following: the resistance of H-bonds to the tensile extension mediated the early extensive stage; with the loss of H-bonds, the tensile force was dispensed to prompt the conformational phase transition; and Young's moduli (N/m2) of the peptides were about 4∼8×109. These mechanical features were sensitive to the variation of the residue compositions. Furthermore, we found that the antimicrobial activity is rigidity-enhanced, that is, a harder peptide has stronger antimicrobial activity. It suggests that the molecular spring constant may be used to seek a new structure-activity relationship for different α-helical peptide groups. This exciting result was reasonably explained by a possible mechanical mechanism that regulates both the membrane pore formation and the peptide insertion

What do antenatal care providers understand and do about oral health care during pregnancy: a cross-sectional survey in New South Wales, Australia

BACKGROUND: There is mounting evidence to support the lack of awareness among pregnant women about health consequences and long term risks associated with poor oral hygiene during pregnancy. A recognised and important point of influence is their interaction with health professionals, particularly when receiving Antenatal Care. However, there is limited evidence about the perceptions of ANC providers in Australia toward the provision of perinatal oral healthcare. This study was undertaken to explore the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Antenatal Care (ANC) providers in New South Wales (NSW), Australia providing perinatal oral healthcare and to identify barriers to and predictors of their practices in this area. METHODS: A cross sectional survey was undertaken of ANC providers (general practitioners, obstetricians/gynaecologists and midwives) practising in NSW, Australia. Participants were recruited through their professional organisations via email, postal mail, and networking at conferences. The survey addressed the domains of knowledge, attitude, barriers and practices towards oral healthcare, along with demographics. Data was entered into SPSS software and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: A total of 393 surveys (17.6% response rate) were completed comprising 124 general practitioners, 74 obstetricians/gynaecologists and 195 midwives. The results showed limited knowledge among ANC providers regarding the impact of poor maternal oral health on pregnancy/infant outcomes. Most (99%) participants agreed that maternal oral health was important yet few were discussing the importance of oral health or advising women to visit a dentist (16.4–21.5%). Further, less than a third felt they had the skills to provide oral health advice during pregnancy. ANC providers who were more knowledgeable about maternal oral health, had training and information in this area and greater experience, were more likely to engage in practices addressing the oral health of pregnant women. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that ANC providers in NSW are not focussing on oral health with pregnant women. ANC providers seem willing to discuss oral health if they have appropriate education/training and information in this area. Further research at a national level is required to confirm whether these findings are similar in all Australian states

Effect of Tilted Magnetic Anisotropy on the Deterministic Current-Induced Magnetization Reversal in Quasi-Perpendicularly Magnetized Ta/Pt/CoFeB/Pt Multilayers

Deterministic current-induced magnetization reversal is observed in quasi-perpendicularly magnetized Ta/Pt/CoFeB/Pt multilayer thin films without the assistance of an in-plane field. In a quasi-perpendicularly magnetized system, the anisotropy is tilted slightly away from the normal to the film plane. This tilt in the anisotropy is obtained by growing the films in an oblique-angle sputter deposition technique, which results in a gradient in the thickness of the layers. To estimate the tilt, out-of-plane hysteresis loop measurements are performed in the presence of an in-plane bias field. The effect of the tilt is reflected in the shift in the hysteresis loop. A measurement of this shift at different relative azimuthal orientations of the in-plane projection of the tilt direction with respect to the in-plane bias field direction gives a tilt of 0.74 degrees (+/- 0.06 degrees) in Ta(3 nm) Pt(3 nm) CoFeB(0.5 nm) Pt(1 nm) with all the layers having a thickness gradient. In addition, field-induced domain wall velocity measurements in the creep regime on Ta(3 nm) Pt(3 nm) CoFeB(0.5 nm) Pt(1 nm) thin film with a thickness gradient only in CoFeB layer give an elliptical profile for the domain wall. In the current-induced magnetization reversal studies, threshold current density of 1.06 x 10(11) Am-2 is required to deterministically switch the device fabricated from Ta(3 nm) Pt(3 nm) CoFeB(0.5 nm) Pt(1 nm) thin film with all the layers having a thickness gradient. On application of in-plane bias, there is a shift in the threshold current densities given by 2.6 x 10(8) Am-2 of in-plane bias field

Tailoring of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in Permalloy thin films using nanorippled Si substrates

In this work the investigation of in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy induced by the morphology due to ion beam erosion of Si(1 0 0) has been done. Ion beam erosion at an oblique angle of incidence generates a well-ordered nanoripple structure on the Si surface and ripple propagates in a direction normal to ion beam erosion. Permalloy thin films grown on such periodic nanopatterns show a strong uniaxial magnetic anisotropy with easy axis of magnetization in a direction normal to the ripple wave vector. The strength of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is found to be high for the low value of ripple wavelength; it is decreasing with increasing value of ripple wavelength. Similarly, the strength of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy decreases with increasing Permalloy film thickness. Grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering data reveals an anisotropic growth of Permalloy thin films with preferential orientation of grains in the direction normal to the ripple wave vector. Permalloy thin film growth is highly conformal with the film surface replicating the substrate ripple morphology up to a film thickness of 50 nm has been observed. Correlation between observed uniaxial magnetic anisotropy to surface modification has been addressed

Tailoring of interface of polypropylene/polystyrene/carbon nanofibre composites by polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene

Mechanical and physical properties of polypropylene (PP)/polystyrene (PS) blend, PP/PS/polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene (SEBS) ternary blend and their composites with carbon nanofibers (CNF) were investigated. Composites of ternary blend exhibited superior properties compared to those of binary blends. Mechanical performance of nanocomposites was intimately related to their phase morphology. PP/PS/SEBS/0.1 wt% CNF hybrid composites exhibited excellent impact strength (Four-fold increase compared to PP/PS blend) and ductility (12-fold increase in elongation at break, with respect to PP/PS blend). Moreover, these composites displayed good tensile strength and modulus (15% increase in Young\u27s modulus, compared to PP/PS/SEBS blend) and are suitable for various end-use applications including automobile applications. Although crystallinity of PP phase is decreased by the incorporation of CNF, thermal stability of the composites remained almost unaffected. Contact angle measurements revealed that ternary composites exhibited maximum hydrophobicity