Tribological Properties of Nanometric Atomic Layer Depositions Applied on AISI 420 Stainless Steel

Atomic Layer Deposition ( ALD ) is a modern technique that Allows to deposit nanometric, conformal coatings on almost any kind of substrates, from plastics to ceramic, metals or even composites. ALD coatings are not dependent on the morphology of the substrate and are only regulated by the composition of the precursors, the chamber temperature and the number of cycles. In this work, mono- and bi -layer nanometric, protective low-temperature ALD Coatings, based on Al2O3 and TiO2 were applied on AISI 420 Stainless Steel in orderto enhance its relatively low corrosion resistance in chloride containing environments. Tribological testing were also performed on the ALD coated AISI 420 in order to evaluate the wear and scratch resistance of these nanometric layers and thus evaluate their durability. Scratch tests were performed using a standard Rockwell C indenter, under a variable load condition, in order to evaluate the critical loading condition for each coating. Wear testing were performed using a stainless steel counterpart, in ball-on-discconfiguration, in order to measure the friction coefficient and wear to confront the resistance. All scratch tests scars and wear tracks were then observed by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) in order to understand the wear mechanisms that occurred on the sample surfaces. Corrosion testing, performed under immersion in 0.2 M NaCl solutions, clearly showed that the ALD coatings have a strong effect in protecting the Stainless Steel Substrate against corrosion, reducing the corrosion current density by two orders of magnitude.Tribological The preliminary results showed that ALD depositions obtained at low Temperatures have a brittle behavior caused by the amorphous nature of their structure, and thus undergo delamination phenomena during Scratch Testing at relatively low applied loads. During ball-on-disc testing, the coatings were removed from the substrate, in particular for monolayer ALD configurations, Which seem to have a lower toughness when compared to bi-layer configurations

Resonant X-ray diffraction studies on the charge ordering in magnetite

Here we show that the low temperature phase of magnetite is associated with an effective, although fractional, ordering of the charge. Evidence and a quantitative evaluation of the atomic charges are achieved by using resonant x-ray diffraction (RXD) experiments whose results are further analyzed with the help of ab initio calculations of the scattering factors involved. By confirming the results obtained from X-ray crystallography we have shown that RXD is able to probe quantitatively the electronic structure in very complex oxides, whose importance covers a wide domain of applications.Comment: 4 pages 4 figures, accepted for publication in PR

Study of a crankshaft material destruction mechanism of forced diesels

При действии знакопеременных напряжений в материале коленчатого вала возникает усталостная трещина, постепенно проникающая вглубь изделия. При переменных деформациях края усталостной трещины сближаются, образуя притертую, гладкую зону излома. По мере развития трещины рабочая площадь сечения ослабляется. Что ведет к разрушению элемента коленчатого вала при эксплуатации. Повышение запаса усталостной прочности объясняется двумя основными причинами: благоприятным влиянием сжимающих начальных технологических остаточных напряжений и улучшением механических свойств поверхностного слоя в результате поверхностного пластического деформирования.During sign-variable tension in a material of a cranked shaft there is the fatigue crack can occur, which is gradually getting deep into a product. Variable deformations produce smooth zone of a break within the material. It leads to destruction of a cranked shaft while working. Increase of a stock of fatigue durability speaks two main reasons: beneficial effect of compressing initial technological residual tension and improvement of mechanical properties of a blanket as a result of superficial plastic deformation

Tribological Behavior of Thermal Spray Coatings, Deposited by HVOF and APS Techniques, and Composite Electrodeposits Ni/SiC at Both Room Temperature and 300 °C

The Both the thermal spray and the electroplating coatings are widely used because of their high wear resistance combined with good corrosion resistance. In particular the addition of both micro particles or nano‐particles to the electro deposited coatings could lead to an increase of the mechanical properties, caused by the change of the coating microstructure. The thermal spray coatings were deposited following industrial standards procedures, while the Ni/SiC composite coatings were produced at laboratory scale using both micro‐and nano‐sized ceramic particles. All the produced coatings were characterized regarding their microstructure,mechanical properties and the wear resistance. The tribological properties were analyzed using a tribometer under ball on disk configuration at both room temperature and 300oC. The results showed that the cermet thermal spray coatings have a high wear resistance, while the Ni nano‐composite showed good anti wear properties compared to the harder ceramic/cermet coatings deposited by thermal spray technique

Preliminary evaluation of sap flow data by stem heat balance method.

Cermak et al. (1973) developed the first version of the heat balance method (HBM), which involves continuous application of heat in a stem segment and quantifying losses by axial and radial wood conduction. The heat flow carried out by the sap is determined from the difference between input power and axial and radial heat losses from the heated stem segment. Currently, this method follows Sakuratani (1981) and Baker & Van Bavel (1987), who modified the first HBM version by applying a constant power on the gauge, so reducing the electronic requirements for the measurements. The HBM is an absolute method that requires simple equipment and some basic procedures in order to minimize errors (Baker & Nieber, 1989; Steinberg et al., 1990; Valancogne & Nasr, 1993; Weibel & de Vos, 1994). However, it is difficult to evaluate sap flow measurements in field conditions since reference methods, such as lysimeters, soil water balance and other techniques are normally difficult to apply, especially for big plants. This paper focuses on this problem and considers some procedures to evaluate data supplied by HBM when reference methods are not available

Eficiência da produção agrícola de cana-de-açúcar no Estado de São Paulo entre as safras 1990/1991 a 2005/2006.

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi mapear a eficiência produtiva ao longo de 16 safras agrícolas, analisando a importância relativa do clima e do solo e inferindo sobre os aspectos socioeconômicos e conjunturais que interferem na sua composição. Admitiu-se que a energia disponível pode ser dada pela produtividade atingível estimada por modelos de simulação baseados em variáveis ambientais, enquanto que a produtividade observada representaria a energia efetivamente utilizada no processo. Os elementos climáticos explicaram 43% da variabilidade da eficiência da produção agrícola de cana-de-açúcar, na seguinte ordem de importância: radiação solar, deficiência hídrica, temperatura máxima, precipitação e temperatura mínima. Observou-se que o solo explicou 15% da variabilidade da eficiência, na média de todas as safras. Analisando a variação temporal dessa correlação, notou-se uma alteração no padrão de correlação a partir da safra 2001/2002. Em média, 42% da variabilidade da eficiência da produção de cana-de-açúcar no Estado de São Paulo foram explicadas por outros fatores, além do clima e do solo.CBA 2009

Geographic Variation in Informed Consent Law: Two Standards for Disclosure of Treatment Risks

We analyzed 714 jury verdicts in informed consent cases tried in 25 states in 1985–2002 to determine whether the applicable standard of care (“patient” vs. “professional” standard) affected the outcome. Verdicts for plaintiffs were significantly more frequent in states with a patient standard than in states with a professional standard (27 percent vs. 17 percent, P = 0.02). This difference in outcomes did not hold for other types of medical malpractice litigation (36 percent vs. 37 percent, P = 0.8). The multivariate odds of a plaintiff’s verdict were more than twice as high in states with a patient standard than in states with a professional standard (odds ratio = 2.15, 95% confidence interval = 1.32–3.50). The law’s expectations of clinicians with respect to risk disclosure appear to vary geographically

Extracellular vesicles from airway secretions: New insights in lung diseases

Lung diseases (LD) are one of the most common causes of death worldwide. Although it is known that chronic airway inflammation and excessive tissue repair are processes associated with LD such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or idiopathic pulmonary fibro-sis (IPF), their specific pathways remain unclear. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are heterogeneous na-noscale membrane vesicles with an important role in cell-to-cell communication. EVs are present in general biofluids as plasma or urine but also in secretions of the airway as bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), induced sputum (IS), nasal lavage (NL) or pharyngeal lavage. Alterations of airway EV cargo could be crucial for understanding LD. Airway EVs have shown a role in the pathogenesis of some LD such as eosinophil increase in asthma, the promotion of lung cancer in vitro models in COPD and as biomarkers to distinguishing IPF in patients with diffuse lung diseases. In addition, they also have a promising future as therapeutics for LD. In this review, we focus on the importance of airway secretions in LD, the pivotal role of EVs from those secretions on their pathophysiology and their potential for biomarker discovery

Dynamical two-mode squeezing of thermal fluctuations in a cavity opto-mechanical system

We report the experimental observation of two-mode squeezing in the oscillation quadratures of a thermal micro-oscillator. This effect is obtained by parametric modulation of the optical spring in a cavity opto-mechanical system. In addition to stationary variance measurements, we describe the dynamic behavior in the regime of pulsed parametric excitation, showing enhanced squeezing effect surpassing the stationary 3dB limit. While the present experiment is in the classical regime, our technique can be exploited to produce entangled, macroscopic quantum opto-mechanical modes

Mesoscopic scale modeling of concrete under triaxial loading using X-ray tomographic images

This paper focuses on the discrete modeling of triaxial behaviour of concrete. The originality of this work comes from two points. The first one concerns the predictive feature of the model developed for simulating the response of concrete specimens; the behaviour of mortar, rock, and their interaction being identified a priori or by means of experimental tests on the mortar and the rock. The second originality relates to the construction method of the discrete element assembly based on the 3D segmentation of tomographic images. Such a method allows modeling of concrete at the mesoscopic scale with an internal structure similar to the one of the concrete tested experimentally. The comparisons between numerical and experimental results show the model is capable to reproduce the triaxial behavior of concrete for confining pressure varying from 0 to 650 MPa