Effect of addition of SiC particles on the Microstructure and Hardness of Al-SiC composite

This work aims to investigate the effect of the addition of silicon carbide particles on the microstructure and the hardness of the Al-SiC metal matrix composites. The said composite is prepared using the stir casting technique for different weight percentages of the SiC particles. The higher composition of the reinforcement causes the clustering of the particles in the matrix. Thus, research has to be carried out on the aluminum-silicon carbide composites with the reinforcement 3wt%, 6wt%, 9wt%, and 12wt% of SiC particles to obtain the optimized composition. In order to study the microstructure and the reinforcement distribution in the matrix, a scanning electron microscope is utilized. The hardness testing has been carried out using the Vickers’ indentation technique for the as-cast and age hardening conditions. From the microstructural study, it is observed that the microstructure of the said composite exhibits the uniform distribution of the reinforcement. The EDX results show the presence of the reinforcing elements in the Al-SiC composite. From the results obtained from the hardness testing, it is observed that the presence of the carbide element in the composite increases the hardness of the Al-SiC particulate composites

Effect of Addition of Nanoclay on Machinability of Al/Nanoclay Metal Matrix Composites

In this study, machinability test was conducted on Al-Nanoclay metal matrix composites using lathe tool dynamometer. Composites were prepared with aluminium as the matrix and nanoclay particles with 2, 4, 6 percentage by weight as reinforcement. The effect of clay particles and machining parameters such as cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut on tangential force and chip formation was studied. From the results it is observed that the tangential force applied by the tool on MMC, facilitate chip breaking and the generation of chips significantly depends on feed but almost independent of speed. These results reveal the roles of the nanoclay reinforcement particles on the machinability of MMCs and provide a useful guide for a better control of their machining processes

A NUMERICAL STUDY OF SPRAY CHARACTERISTICS OF A PRESSURE SWIRL ATOMIZER

This paper deals with the numerical analysis of 2d model of aPressure Swirl Atomizer, which is developed to study the spray characteristics of atomizer, the flow parameters are SMD, aircore diameterand spray cone angle. The variation in nozzle diametersare 1.5m, 2m and 2.5m usingfuel is jet A and methodology affect flow over the atomizer. Results of CFD simulation indicated the optimum nozzle diameter of the atomizer, methodology required to have uniform flow and Spray characteristics within the atomizer. It also proved that CFD is a convenient tool for designing and optimizing the flow over the atomizer

A Numerical Study of Spray Characteristics of A Pressure Swirl Atomizer

This paper deals with the numerical analysis of 2d model of aPressure Swirl Atomizer, which is developed to study the spray characteristics of atomizer, the flow parameters are SMD, aircore diameterand spray cone angle. The variation in nozzle diametersare 1.5m, 2m and 2.5m usingfuel is jet A and methodology affect flow over the atomizer. Results of CFD simulation indicated the optimum nozzle diameter of the atomizer, methodology required to have uniform flow and Spray characteristics within the atomizer. It also proved that CFD is a convenient tool for designing and optimizing the flow over the atomizer

Development of nucleic acid aptamer-based lateral flow assays: A robust platform for cost-effective point-of-care diagnosis

Lateral flow assay (LFA) has made a paradigm shift in the in vitro diagnosis field due to its rapid turnaround time, ease of operation and exceptional affordability. Currently used LFAs predominantly use antibodies. However, the high inter-batch variations, error margin and storage requirements of the conventional antibody-based LFAs significantly impede its applications. The recent progress in aptamer technology provides an opportunity to combine the potential of aptamer and LFA towards building a promising platform for highly efficient point-of-care device development. Over the past decades, different forms of aptamer-based LFAs have been introduced for broad applications ranging from disease diagnosis, agricultural industry to environmental sciences, especially for the detection of antibody-inaccessible small molecules such as toxins and heavy metals. But commercial aptamer-based LFAs are still not used widely compared with antibodies. In this work, by analysing the key issues of aptamer-based LFA design, including immobilization strategies, signalling methods, and target capturing approaches, we provide a comprehensive overview about aptamer-based LFA design strategies to facilitate researchers to develop optimised aptamer-based LFAs

Design and mathematical modeling of an amphibious quadcopter for versatile operations

Amphibious drone is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) capable of performing in both air and under water for application in various fields, such as marine, military, and underwater habitat research, but complexity in the design and provable mathematical model to withstand the arguably swift changes in the forces during the transition phase makes it difficult to build a sustainable UAV that can operate seamlessly in both media. Beginning with the mathematical principles and physical laws, the basic concept of operation is arrived at in the present study for both media (air and water) keeping the prime objective as developing a reliable drone design and mathematical model that will satisfactorily describe the behavior of the amphibious drone with accuracy by defining the coordinate system to describe the amphibious drone’s kinematics. Basic forces and torques are considered to explicitly describe the drone dynamics using Newton–Euler equations, and the final equation derived is the matrix Newton’s second law. Based on the mathematical model, the final design of the drone is arrived at considering the feasibility of withstanding forces, placement of commercial-off-the-shelf components, and the amount of thrust required to carry the seamless operation. A prototype is built with active buoyancy control technique to control the underwater depth of the drone, which clearly satisfies the design and mathematical model developed in this study