STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF TWO SURFACTANTS ON SPRAY RETENTION BY BARLEY LEAVES

Surfactants are nowadays very useful additives to improve the effectiveness of phytosanitary treatments. They contribute to change the types of impact and thus the amount of spray retained by the leaves of the treated plant. We performed tests of retention on whole barley plants on BBCH 12 stage and small pieces of barley leaves at the same stage of growth. Spraying was done in three ways: water without surfactant, water with Break-Thru S240 and water with Li700. The three slurries of fluorescein contained in an amount of 0.2 g / l. Fluorescein retained by the leaves in both cases is then measured by a spectrofluoremeter. The retention tests on whole plants show that it is tripled by the first surfactant and doubled by the second. By cons on small pieces of barley leaves, the amount was increased by the use of surfactants but not to the same scale. This study concluded that the use of surfactants in spray pesticides may increase the amount of retention as a function of leaf area and the surfactant used

THE EFFECT OF LEAF ORIENTATION ON SPRAY RETENTION ON BLACKGRASS

Spray application efficiency depends on the pesticide application method as well as target properties. A wide range of drop impact angles exists during the spray application process because of drop trajectory and the variability of the leaf orientation. As the effect of impact angle on retention is still poorly documented, laboratory studies were conducted to highlight the effect of leaf orientation on drop impact outcomes. Measurements were performed with a high-speed camera coupled with a retro-LED lighting. Size and velocity of the drop were extracted by image analysis. Drop impact types were determined by the operator. Drops were produced with a flat-fan nozzle mounted on a movable ramp. Excised blackgrass [Alopecurus myosuroides HUDS. (ALOMY)] leaves were stretched between two parts of a U-shaped support. A surfactant (Break-Thru® S240) was sprayed to highlight the effect of mixture surface tension. The whole device was tilted from 0 to 90°. Relative volume proportions were computed within of an energy scale divided into 11 classes. These proportions have been weighted by an average volume distribution and the results were summed for all energy classes to obtain the total volume proportions for each impact outcomes and for all leaf angles. For distilled water (high surface tension) the increase of rebound proportion with the increase of drop impact angle is highlighted. For surfactant (lower surface tension), it results in an increase of drop fragmentation in Cassie-Baxter wetting regime. To be statistically representative, bigger drop samples should be used

Caractérisation et modélisation de la précipitation d'un alliage d'aluminium 319

National audienceUn modèle métallurgique représentant l'évolution de la nanostructure au cours du traitement thermique T5 d'un alliage d'aluminium de fonderie 319 a été réalisé. Ce modèle est fondé sur la physique du processus de coalescence (théorie LSW) de précipités sphériques (Al2Cu) dans une matrice (Al) saturée en soluté. Il permet d'obtenir une distribution de taille des précipités Al2Cu en fonction du traitement thermique appliqué et prend en compte les phénomènes de coalescence et de dissolution des précipités en fonction de leur taille. La simulation est assise sur des mesures de la taille et de la distribution de taille des particules par métallographie quantitative en microscopie électronique en transmission (MET). Celles-ci ont été couplées à des surrevenus de l'alliage depuis l'état T5 an de corroborer les résultats fournis par le modèle métallurgique. De plus, une caractérisation de la structure des précipités surviellis a été eectuée

Modelling of fatigue damage in aluminum cylinder heads

International audienceCar manufacturers are very much concerned with thermal fatigue ....

Comparison of spray retention on synthetic superhydrophobic surface with retention on outdoor grown wheat leaves

peer reviewedA method has been designed to test the retention of drops generated by a moving agricultural nozzle using high speed imaging both on synthetic and leaf surfaces. The method allows a precise investigation of spray retention by a characterisation of impact speed, drop diameter and impact behaviour. The paper presents a comparison of the spray behaviour on the synthetic surface with the behaviour on outdoor grown wheat leaves fixed on a microscope slide. Target surfaces were horizontal. A range of surface tension was tested using the tank-mix adjuvant Break-Thru S240 at different concentrations in distilled water. Results show the relevance of a synthetic surface for use as reference for the assessment of spray application efficiency. The drop behaviour on the superhydrophobic slide was representative of difficult-to-wet leaves surfaces. The reference surface avoids the natural variability of leaves and is therefore more suited to conduct comparative assessment of formulation retention performance.EUREKA project 4984 VEGEPH

Use of rotary atomiser to optimize retention on barley leaves while reducing driftable droplets

Controlled Droplet Application using rotary atomiser is based on an improved control of droplet size and trajectory comparatively to hydraulic nozzles. On the basis of literature, it was stated that the use of 60° forward angled spray combined with the narrow drop size distribution of a rotary atomiser could lead to low drift and high retention on monocotyledonous and superhydrophobic weeds at early stage. A Micromax120 atomiser was tuned to emit 270 µm VMD, 60° angled forward, to increase interception by the canopy structure. A spray mixture containing a superspreader adjuvant was used to avoid drop bouncing. An increase of spray retention comparatively to a Teejet 11002 at 1.4 bars was observed, although not proved statistically significant by these preliminary trials. On the drift side, the tilted spinning disc seemed to be advantageous since droplet spectra contains a low percentage of droplets under 100 µm and presents an ejection velocity of 25 m.s-1 at 5000 RPM. The spray drift was reduced about 50%. However, these setting were not found as efficient as expected. Indeed, angled spray proved to be more sensitive to advection and turbulence, as the spray was more exposed to the airflow than for the vertical position. It appears that angling the spray and choosing a drop size spectrum with a Volume Median Diameter as big as 270 µm is not sufficient to reduce significantly this issue. Some alternatives as decreasing the emission height are possible with angled sprays but require height control that seems difficult to reach in practical situations.Peer reviewe

Agricultural spray measurement by high-speed shadow imagery

Spray characteristics determine treatment performance and environmental contamination. Shadowgraphy associated with high-speed imaging presents an attractive option for measuring drop velocity and size simultaneously. This study presents an overview of the contrast problems occurring when using backlighted images and proposes appropriate solutions for reliable and quality measurements. Drop diameter measurement is based on the area inside the sub-pixel contour assuming a circular shape. Drop velocity is determined by tracking a drop on two successive images taking into account the drop size, speed limits and the general flow direction. Then, the drop size distribution is corrected taking in account the sampling rate of each drop. Finally, a comparison between PDA and shadowgraphy measurements realized simultaneously on the same spray location is presented

RTDrift, a model for assessing in real time the environmental risks related to the drift of pesticides

Un modèle, RTDrift, a été développé pour estimer la contamination causée par la dérive pour les pulvérisateurs à rampe en cours de traitement. Un pulvérisateur a été équipé de capteurs pour mesurer les paramètres de la dérive dont la pression de pulvérisation, les mouvements de rampe, la vitesse et direction du vent, la température et l’humidité ainsi que la géo-localisation. Pour chaque position successive des buses, un modèle de diffusionadvection gaussien avec sédimentation est utilisé pour calculer à partir de la buse le transport de chaque classe de gouttes déterminée préalablement par granulométrie laser en prenant en compte l’évaporation. Différents essais de terrain ont été réalisés où la dérive a été mesurée à différentes distances par fluorométrie sur collecteurs. La comparaison avec le modèle montre une estimation satisfaisante de la dérive sur base des mesures embarquées et offre le potentiel d’un estimateur de dérive en temps réel. Les pistes d’améliorations ultérieures sont évoquées.DRIFTIndic project n°290

Precipitation kinetics and evaluation of the interfacial mobility of precipitates in an AlSi7Cu3.5Mg0.15 cast alloy with Zr and V additions

Recent environmental restrictions constrained car manufacturers to promote cast aluminum alloys working at high temperatures (180 °C–300 °C). The development of new alloys permits the fabrication of higher-strength components in engine downsizing. Those technologies increase internal loadings and specific power and stretch current materials to their limits. Transition metals in aluminum alloys are good candidates to improve physical, mechanical, and thermodynamic properties with the aim of increasing service life of parts. This study is focused on the modified AlSi7Cu3.5Mg0.15 alloy where Mn, Zr, and V have been added as alloying elements for high-temperature applications. The characterization of the cast alloy in this study helps to evaluate and understand its performance according to their physical state: As-cast, as-quenched, or artificially aged. The precipitation kinetics of the AlSi7Cu3.5Mg0.15 (Mn, Zr, V) alloy has been characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations, and micro-hardness testing. The Kissinger analysis was applied to extract activation energies from non-isothermal DSC runs conducted at different stationary heating rates. Finally, first-order evaluations of the interfacial mobility of precipitates were obtained