Effect of thin-film coating on wear in EGR-contaminated oil.

Increased use of higher-efficiency compression ignition direct injection (CIDI) diesel engines instead of today's gasoline engines will result in reduced fuel consumption and greenhouse gases emissions. However, NO{sub x} and particulate exhaust emissions from diesel engines must be significantly reduced due to their possible adverse health effects. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is an effective way to reduce NO{sub x} emissions from diesel engines, but the particulates and acidic exhaust products in the recirculated gas will contaminate engine lubricant oil by increasing the soot content and total acid number (TAN). These factors will increase the wear rate in many critical engine components and seriously compromise engine durability. We have investigated the use of commercially available thin and hard coatings (TiN, TiCN, TiAlN, and CrN) to mitigate the negative effects of EGR on wear. In tests with the four-ball machine according to ASTM D4172, we found that all the four coatings deposited on M-50 steel significantly reduced wear in EGR-contaminated oils when compared with uncoated M50 steel balls

Seawater effect on pin-loaded laminated composites with two parallel holes

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of seawater on the failure mode, first failure load and bearing strength behaviour of the pinned joint of fibreglass-reinforced woven epoxy composite prepregs. The specimens were kept in seawater for 3- and 6-month periods. After each period, their mechanical properties were examined. The edge distance-to-upper hole diameter (E/D), the two hole-tohole centre diameter (K/D), the distance from the upper or the lower edge of the specimen to the centre of the hole-to-hole diameter (M/D), and the width of the specimen-to-hole diameter (W/D) ratios were selected as parameters. Moreover, the finite element models of the specimens were developed using ANSYS software, and the Tsai-Wu criterion was used to obtain the first failure load. The numerical and experimental results were compared and were found to be in good agreement for the first failure load