Micro milling performance assessment of diamond-like carbon coatings on a micro-end mill

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2013 Institution of Mechanical Engineers.In micro milling, unpredictable tool life and premature tool failures are the major constraints for its industrial applications, and prolongation of the tool life so as to enhance the tooling performance presents great challenges. Appropriate coating techniques potentially offer a feasible and promising solution. In this study, diamond-like carbon films are deposited on a Ø500 µm diameter tungsten carbide (WC) micro-end mill by the plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition process. Coating characterisation has been undertaken and the diamond-like carbon coatings are found in good coverage on the tool except for a slight delaminating on the edge corners. Besides, the surface of the amorphous coatings is much smoother than that of WC. In addition, comprehensive cutting performance of the diamond-like carbon coated tool in dry slot milling of Al 6061-T6 has been compared with those of uncoated tools in both dry and wet conditions. It is observed that the use of diamond-like carbon coatings can reduce the cutting forces, lessen the tool wear, improves the surface roughness and minimise the micro-burr formation as compared to the corresponding performance of an uncoated tool in dry cutting. However, the performance improvement is still unreachable to those resulting from the cutting fluid influence.UK Technology Strategy Board and Kistler UK Ltd

Topological Charge of Lattice Abelian Gauge Theory

Configuration space of abelian gauge theory on a periodic lattice becomes topologically disconnected by excising exceptional gauge field configurations. It is possible to define a U(1) bundle from the nonexceptional link variables by a smooth interpolation of the transition functions. The lattice analogue of Chern character obtained by a cohomological technique based on the noncommutative differential calculus is shown to give a topological charge related to the topological winding number of the U(1) bundle.Comment: 20 pages, latex, nofigur

Theory of optimum shapes in free-surface flows. Part 1. Optimum profile of sprayless planing surface

This paper attempts to determine the optimum profile of a two-dimensional plate that produces the maximum hydrodynamic lift while planing on a water surface, under the condition of no spray formation and no gravitational effect, the latter assumption serving as a good approximation for operations at large Froude numbers. The lift of the sprayless planing surface is maximized under the isoperimetric constraints of fixed chord length and fixed wetted arc-length of the plate. Consideration of the extremization yields, as the Euler equation, a pair of coupled nonlinear singular integral equations of the Cauchy type. These equations are subsequently linearized to facilitate further analysis. The analytical solution of the linearized problem has a branch-type singularity, in both pressure and flow angle, at the two ends of plate. In a special limit, this singularity changes its type, emerging into a logarithmic one, which is the weakest type possible. Guided by this analytic solution of the linearized problem, approximate solutions have been calculated for the nonlinear problem using the Rayleigh-Ritz method and the numerical results compared with the linearized theory

Investigation of the Viscoelastic Effect on Optical- Fiber Sensing and Its Solution for 3D-Printed Sensor Packages

Viscoelasticity is an effect seen in a wide range of materials and it affects the reliability of static measurements made using Fiber Bragg Grating-based sensors, because either the target structure, the adhesive used, or the fiber itself could be viscoelastic. The effect of viscoelasticity on FBG-based sensing has been comprehensively researched through theoretical analysis and simulation using a finite-element approach and a further data processing method to reconstruct the graphical data has been developed. An integrated sensor package comprising of an FBG-based sensor in a polymer host and manufactured by using three-dimensional printing was investigated and examined through tensile testing to validate the approach. The application of the 3D-printed FBG-based sensor package, coupled to the data process method has been explored to monitor the height of a railway pantograph, a critical measurement requirement to monitor elongation, employing a method that can be used in the presence of electromagnetic interference. The results show that the effect of viscoelasticity can be effectively eliminated, and the graphical system response allows results that are sufficiently precise for field use to be generated

Ionospheric sounder as a means of monitoring ground moisture

Ionospheric sounding for monitoring effective reflection coefficient of ground moistur

A theory of microwave apparent temperature over the ocean

In the microwave region combined active (scatterometer) and passive (radiometer) remote sensors over the ocean show promise of providing surface wind speeds and weather information to the oceanographer and meteorologist. This has aroused great interest in the investigation of the scattering of waves from the sea surface. A composite surface scattering theory is investigated. The two-scale scattering theory proposed by Semyonov was specifically extended to compute the emmision and scattering characteristics of ocean surfaces. The effects of clouds and rain on the radiometer and scatterometer observations are also investigated using horizontally stratified model atmospheres with rough sea surfaces underneath. Various cloud and rain models proposed by meteorologist were employed to determine the rise in the microwave temperature when viewing downward through these model atmospheres. For heavy rain-fall rates the effects of scattering on the radiative transfer process are included

Crystal orientation and thickness dependence of superconductivity on tetragonal FeSe1-x thin films

Superconductivity was recently found in the simple tetragonal FeSe structure. Recent studies suggest that FeSe is unconventional, with the symmetry of the superconducting pairing state still under debate. To tackle these problems, clean single crystals and thin films are required. Here we report the fabrication of superconducting beta-phase FeSe1-x thin films on different substrates using a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. Quite interestingly, the crystal orientation, and thus, superconductivity in these thin films is sensitive to the growth temperature. At 320C, films grow preferably along c-axis, but the onset of superconductivity depends on film thickness. At 500C, films grow along (101), with little thickness dependence. These results suggest that the low temperature structural deformation previously found is crucial to the superconductivity of this material

Neutrino mixing in the seesaw model

In the seesaw model with hierarchical Dirac masses, the neutrino mixing angle exhibits the behavior of a narrow resonance. In general, the angle is strongly suppressed, but it can be maximal for special parameter values. We delineate the small regions in which this happens, for the two flavor problem. On the other hand, the physical neutrino masses are hierarchical, in general, except in a large part of the region in which the mixing angle is sizable, where they are nearly degenerate. Our general analysis is also applicable to the RGE of neutrino mass matrix, where we find analytic solutions for the running of physical parameters, in addition to a complex RGE invariant relating them. It is also shown that, if one mixing angle is small, the three neutrino problem reduces to two, two flavor problems.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures; added new sections on RGE effects and universal seesaw; version to appear in EPJ

Wall Effects in Cavity Flows and their Correction Rules

The wall effects in cavity flows have been long recognized to be more important and more difficult to determine than those in single-phase, nonseparated flows. Earlier theoretical investigations of this problem have been limited largely to simple body forms in plane flows, based on some commonly used cavity-flow models, such as the Riabouchinsky, the reentrant jet, or the linearized flow model, to represent a finite cavity. Although not meant to be exhaustive, references may be made to Cisotti (1922), Birkhoff, Plesset and Simmons (1950, 1952), Gurevich (1953), Cohen et al. (1957, 1958), and Fabula (1964). The wall effects in axisymmetric flows with a finite cavity has been evaluated numerically by Brennen (1969) for a disk and a sphere. Some intricate features of the wall effects have been noted in experimental studies by Morgan (1966) and Dobay (1967). Also, an empirical method for correcting the wall effect has been proposed by Meijer (1967). The presence of lateral flow boundaries in a closed water tunnel introduces the following physical effects: (i) First, in dealing with the part of irrotational flow outside the viscous region, these flow boundaries will impose a condition on the flow direction at the rigid tunnel walls. This "streamline-blocking" effect will produce extraneous forces and modifications of cavity shape. (ii) The boundary layer built up at the tunnel walls may effectively reduce the tunnel cross-sectional area, and generate a longitudinal pressure gradient in the working section, giving rise to an additional drag force known as the "horizontal buoyancy." (iii) The lateral constraint of tunnel walls results in a higher velocity outside the boundary layer, and hence a greater skin friction at the wetted body surface. (iv) The lateral constraint also affects the spreading of the viscous wake behind the cavity, an effect known as the "wake-blocking." (v) It may modify the location of the "smooth detachment" of cavity boundary from a continuously curved body. In the present paper, the aforementioned effect (i) will be investigated for the pure-drag flows so that this primary effect can be clarified first. Two cavity flow models, namely, the Riabouchinsky and the open-wake (the latter has been attributed, independently, to Joukowsky, Roshko, and Eppler) models, are adopted for detailed examination. The asymptotic representations of these theoretical solutions, with the wall effect treated as a small correction to the unbounded-flow limit, have yielded two different wall-correction rules, both of which can be applied very effectively in practice. It is of interest to note that the most critical range for comparison of these results lies in the case when the cavitating body is slender, rather than blunt ones, and when the cavity is short, instead of very long ones in the nearly choked-flow state. Only in this critical range do these flow models deviate significantly from each other, thereby permitting a refined differentiation and a critical examination of the accuracy of these flow models in representing physical flows. A series of experiments carefully planned for this purpose has provided conclusive evidences, which seem to be beyond possible experimental uncertainties, that the Riabouchinsky model gives a very satisfactory agreement with the experimental results, and is superior to other models, even in the most critical range when the wall effects are especially significant and the differences between these theoretical flow models become noticeably large. These outstanding features are effectively demonstrated by the relatively simple case of a symmetric wedge held in a non-lifting flow within a closed tunnel, which we discuss in the sequel