Development and integration of digital technologies addressed to raise awareness and access to European underwater cultural heritage. An overview of the H2020 i-MARECULTURE project

The Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) represents a vast historical and scientific resource that, often, is not accessible to the general public due the environment and depth where it is located. Digital technologies (Virtual Museums, Virtual Guides and Virtual Reconstruction of Cultural Heritage) provide a unique opportunity for digital accessibility to both scholars and general public, interested in having a better grasp of underwater sites and maritime archaeology. This paper presents the architecture and the first results of the Horizon 2020 iMARECULTURE (Advanced VR, iMmersive Serious Games and Augmented REality as Tools to Raise Awareness and Access to European Underwater CULTURal heritage) project that aims to develop and integrate digital technologies for supporting the wide public in acquiring knowledge about UCH. A Virtual Reality (VR) system will be developed to allow users to visit the underwater sites through the use of Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) or digital holographic screens. Two serious games will be implemented for supporting the understanding of the ancient Mediterranean seafaring and the underwater archaeological excavations. An Augmented Reality (AR) system based on an underwater tablet will be developed to serve as virtual guide for divers that visit the underwater archaeological sites

Machinability of extruded H13 tool steel: Effect of cutting parameters on cutting forces, surface roughness, microstructure, and residual stresses

The production of H13 tool steel (TS) by material extrusion (MEX) is a promising method in various applications, but as-built surface roughness does not comply with the quality requirements. Hence, this study investigated the effects of cutting parameters on tool wear, cutting forces, surface quality, microhardness, structure, and residual stresses when machining H13 TS produced by MEX. Dry machining (DM) proved advantageous in certain indicators such as tool wear and cutting forces in comparison to the flood cooling (FC). The lowest surface roughness (0.08 µm) was achieved at the cutting speed of 80 m/min, feed per tooth of 0.005 mm, and FC which corresponded to a 41 % decrease compared to DM under same conditions. Surface microhardness increased by 20 % after machining, decreasing with distance from the surface. The highest compressive residual stresses were observed under FC, while the DM resulted in a 78.2 % decrease in residual stresses due to a partial annealing effect caused by higher surface temperature. Overall, DM exhibited great potential for achieving high-quality surfaces with a favorable structure and residual stresses. This study´s novelty and robustness lie in its significant contribution to practical industrial applications, such as mold and core production

Software emulator of nuclear pulse generation with different pulse shapes and pile-up

WOS: 000377399700011The optimal detection of output signals from nuclear counting devices represents one of the key physical factors that govern accuracy and experimental reproducibility. In this context, the fine calibration of the detector under diverse experimental scenarios, although time costly, is necessary. However this process can be rendered easier with the use of systems that work in lieu of emulators. In this report we describe an innovative programmable pulse generator device capable to emulate the scintillation detector signals, in a way to mimic the detector performances under a variety of experimental conditions. The emulator generates a defined number of pulses, with a given shape and amplitude in the form of a sampled detector signal. The emulator output is then used off-line by a spectrometric system in order to set up its optimal performance. Three types of pulse shapes are produced by our device, with the possibility to add noise and pulse pile-up effects into the signal. The efficiency of the pulse detection, pile-up rejection and/or correction, together with the dead-time of the system, are therein analyzed through the use of some specific algorithms for pulse processing, and the results obtained validate the beneficial use of emulators for the accurate calibration process of spectrometric systems. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.internal IGA grant of Palacky University [IGA_PrF_2016_022]; Operational Program Education for Competitiveness - European Social Fund of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic [CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0168]; Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [1059B211404723]Authors thank to internal IGA grant of Palacky University (IGA_PrF_2016_022) and the support by the Operational Program Education for Competitiveness - European Social Fund (project CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0168) of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. This work was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under project No. 1059B211404723. Authors thank to Helena Sedlackova and Giorgio Zoppellaro for their help