The effect of heat treatments on the constituent materials of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel in hydrogen environment

AbstractA nuclear reactor pressure vessel (NRPV) wall is formed by two layer of different materials: an inner layer of stainless steel (cladding material) and an outer layer of low carbon steel (base material) which is highly susceptible to corrosion related phenomena. A reduction of the mechanical properties of both materials forming the wall would appear due to the action of the harsh environment causing hydrogen embrittlement (HE) related phenomena. As a result of the manufacturing process, residual stresses and strains appear in the NRPV wall, thereby influencing the main stage in HE: hydrogen diffusion. A common engineering practice for reducing such states is to apply a tempering heat treatment. In this paper, a numerical analysis is carried out for revealing the influence of the heat treatment parameters (tempering temperature and tempering time) on the HE of a commonly used NRPV. To achieve this goal, a numerical model of hydrogen diffusion assisted by stress and strain was used considering diverse residual stress-strain states after tempering. This way, the obtained hydrogen accumulation during operation time of the NRPV provides insight into the better tempering conditions from the structural integrity point of view

Reference values for intake of 6 types of soluble and insoluble fibre in healthy UK inhabitants based on the UK Biobank data.

To obtain a set of reference values for the intake of different types of dietary fibre in a healthy UK population. This descriptive cross-sectional study used the UK Biobank data to estimate the dietary patterns of healthy individuals. Data on fibre content in different foods were used to calculate the reference values which were then calibrated using real-world data on total fibre intake. UK Biobank is a prospective cohort study of over 500,000 individuals from across the United Kingdom with the participants aged between 40 and 69 years. UK Biobank contains information on over 500,000 participants. This study was performed using the data on 19990 individuals (6941 men, 13049 women) who passed stringent quality control and filtering procedures and had reported above-zero intake of the analysed foods. A set of reference values for the intake of 6 different types of soluble and insoluble fibres (cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectin and lignin), including the corresponding totals, was developed and calibrated using real-world data. To our knowledge, this is the first study to establish specific reference values for the intake of different types of dietary fibre. It is well-known that effects exerted by different types of fibre both directly and through modulation of microbiota are numerous. Conceivably, a deficit or excess intake of specific types of dietary fibre may detrimentally affect human health. Filling this knowledge gap opens new avenues for research in discussion in studies of nutrition and microbiota, and offers valuable tools for practitioners worldwide

Secondary recurrent multiple EGIST of the mesentary: A case report and review of the literature

AbstractINTRODUCTIONGastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are rare intra-abdominal tumors arising from mesenchymal stromal cells. EGISTs are mesenchymal tumors that originate outside the GI tract and tend to have similar characteristics to GISTs. To the best of our knowledge, few cases of long standing recurrent EGIST have been reported.PRESENTATION OF CASEWe present the case of a rare recurrent EGIST in the mesentery of a 39 year old female patient. The tumor was symptomatic at the time of complaint and measured 8.4cm×7.7cm×7.6cm. Histological analysis revealed a spindled pattern with fusiform cells arranged in long fascicles and little atypia. Immunochemistry showed positivity for CD117 and was negative for CD34, S-100, Desmin, and MSA. B-catenin was weakly positive. A Ki-67 staining shows approximately 5% positivity revealing a low proliferative rate. The patient was doing well postoperatively and was discharged on 400mg imanitib regimen.DISCUSSIONWhile GISTs are the most common tumors of the GI tract, recurrent EGISTs of the mesentery are extremely rare. Factors that indicate poor prognosis include tumor size greater than 5cm, mitotic rate greater than 1–5/10 HPF, presence of tumor necrosis or metastasis and most recently the c-kit mutation. Our patient had a very long time between recurrence of disease.CONCLUSIONThe current literature on EGISTs is limited. Our patient presents a very interesting case due to the time elapsed between disease recurrence and lack of metastasis or excessive growth

Role of multiaxial stress state in the hydrogen-assisted rolling-contact fatigue in bearings for wind turbines

Offshore wind turbines often involve important engineering challenges such as the improvement of hydrogen embrittlement resistance of the turbine bearings. These elements frequently suffer the so-called phenomenon of hydrogen-assisted rolling-contact fatigue (HA-RCF) as a consequence of the synergic action of the surrounding harsh environment (the lubricant) supplying hydrogen to the material and the cyclic multiaxial stress state caused by in-service mechanical loading. Thus the complex phenomenon could be classified as hydrogen-assisted rolling-contact multiaxial fatigue (HA-RC-MF). This paper analyses, from the mechanical and the chemical points of view, the so-called ball-on-rod test, widely used to evaluate the hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of turbine bearings. Both the stress-strain states and the steady-state hydrogen concentration distribution are studied, so that a better elucidation can be obtained of the potential fracture places where the hydrogen could be more harmful and, consequently, where the turbine bearings could fail during their life in service

Complete genome sequences of two Citrobacter rodentium bacteriophages, CR8 and CR44b

© 2014 Toribio et al. The complete genomes of two virulent phages infecting Citrobacter rodentium are reported here for the first time. Both bacteriophages were isolated from local sewage treatment plant effluents. Genome analyses revealed a close relationship between both phages and allowed their classification as members of the Autographivirinae subfamily in the T7-like genus

Hydrogen embrittlement of cold drawn prestressing steels: the role of the die inlet angle

Cold-drawn prestressing steel wires are susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement (HE) in aggressive environments, and residual stress-strain states generated in wires by the drawing process play the key role there. Correspondingly, alterations of the stress-strain fields due to peculiarities of the drawing procedure affect the serviceability of wires under HE. On the basis of performed numerical simulations of the process of cold drawing with the use of different drawing dies, the paper addresses the effect of the inlet angle of the die on residual stress-strain fields in wires, and derives their consequences for wires hydrogenation and their susceptibility to HE. The reduction of the die inlet angle is shown to be beneficial for the wires performance.Встановлено, що холоднодеформовані сталеві дроти для арматури попередньо напружених залізобетонів чутливі до водневого окрихчення (ВО) в агресивних середовищах. Залишкові напружено-деформовані стани, які утворюються в цих дротах внаслідок холодного волочіння, відіграють при цьому ключову роль. Зміна цих напружено-деформованих станів через особливості процесу волочіння впливає на роботоздатність дротів під час ВО. На основі числового моделювання холодного волочіння з використанням відмінних фільєрів розглянуто дію вхідного кута фільєра на напружено-деформовані стани в дротах і зроблено висновки про наслідки їх впливів на наводнення дротів в агресивному середовищі і схильність до ВО. Показано, що зменшення вхідного кута фільєра волочіння має позитивний вплив на роботоздатність дротів.Установлено, что холоднодеформированные стальные проволоки для арматуры предварительно напряжeнных железобетонов являются чувствительными к водородному охрупчиванию (ВО) в агрессивных средах. Остаточные напряженно-деформированные состояния, которые создаются в этих проволоках вследствие холодного волочения, играют при этом ключевую роль. Изменение этих напряженно-деформированных состояний вследствие особенностей процесса волочения влияет на работоспособность проволок при ВО. На основе численного моделирования холодного волочения с использованием различных фильеров рассмотрено воздействие входного угла фильера на напряженно-деформированые состояния в проволоках и сделаны выводы относительно последствий их влияния на наводороживание проволок в агрессивной среде и склонность к ВО. Показано, что уменьшение входного угла фильера волочения имеет положительное влияние на работоспособность проволок

Perturbations in the relaxation mechanism for a large cosmological constant

Recently, a mechanism for relaxing a large cosmological constant (CC) has been proposed [arxiv:0902.2215], which permits solutions with low Hubble rates at late times without fine-tuning. The setup is implemented in the LXCDM framework, and we found a reasonable cosmological background evolution similar to the LCDM model with a fine-tuned CC. In this work we analyse analytically the perturbations in this relaxation model, and we show that their evolution is also similar to the LCDM model, especially in the matter era. Some tracking properties of the vacuum energy are discussed, too.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX; discussion improved, accepted by CQ

Numerical analysis of hydrogen-assisted rolling-contact fatigue of wind turbine bearings

Offshore wind parks at locations further from the shore often involve serious difficulties, e.g. the maintenance. The bearings of offshore wind turbines are prone to suffer hydrogen-assisted rolling-contact fatigue (HA-RCF). Three important aspects linked with bearing failures are being extensively researched: (i) rolling contact fatigue (RCF), (ii) influence of carbide particles on fatigue life, and (iii) local microplastic strain accumulation via ratcheting. However, there is no reference related to bearing failure in harsh environment. This way, this paper helps to gain a better understanding of the influence of hydrogen on the service life of offshore wind turbine bearings through a numerical study. So, the widely used RCF ball-on-rod test was simulated by finite element method in order to obtain the stress-strain state inside the bearings during life in service and, from this, to elucidate the potential places where the hydrogen could be more harmful and, therefore, where the bearing material should be improved

Optimization of the simulation of stress-assisted hydrogen diffusion for studies of hydrogen embrittlement of notched bars

The stress-strain assisted hydrogen diffusion in metals under variable loading is concerned as a key element of elucidation of hydrogen embrittlement (HE). The suitability of simplified treatments of hydrogen diffusion in notched solids under monotonic loading is addressed comparing various 1D and 2D modeling approaches with the purpose to assess if generated approximate solutions can provide acceptable results along the diffusion depth towards prospective rupture sites, so that quite more expensive simulations may be eluded. For different geometry-and-loading cases, respective time-depth domains are revealed where certain simplified procedures can be fairly suitable to carry out calculations of metal hydrogenation for the purposes of HE analysis and control, while the choice of the optimum strategy for the stress-strain assisted diffusion simulations in notched members is case- and purpose-dependent.Проаналізовано дифузію водню в металах за наявності напружень і деформацій, зумовлених змінними навантаженнями. Шляхом порівняння серії одно- і двовимірних модельних підходів зроблено висновок про можливість застосування спрощених процедур до розв’язування задач про дифузію водню в тілах з вирізами, щоб уникнути громіздких обчислень. Для різних геометрії і навантаження виявлено відповідні області змінних часу і глибини дифузії, за яких деякі спрощені підходи можуть дати прийнятні результати для визначення наводнювання металів. Вибір оптимального шляху вивчення дифузії за впливу напружень і деформацій залежить від конкретної мети моделювання.Проанализирована диффузия водорода в металлах при наличии напряжений и деформаций, вызванных изменяющимися нагружениями. Путем сравнения одно- и двумерных модельных подходов сделан вывод о возможности применения упрощенных процедур к решению задач о диффузии водорода в телах с вырезами, чтобы избежать громоздких вычислений. Для разных геометрии и нагружения выявлены соответствующие области переменных времени и глубины диффузии, когда некоторые упрощенные подходы могут дать приемлемые результаты для определения наводороживания металлов. Выбор оптимального способа изучения диффузии при воздействии напряжений и деформаций зависит от конкретных целей моделирования