Smart Technologies for Environmental Safety and Knowledge Enhancement in Intermodal Transport

International concerns about security in transport systems are leading to a new international regulation in this field. This introduces new requirements for operators and authorities as well as it opens new challenges, in particular when referred to seaports and maritime transport in the Mediterranean area, where many seaport terminals and infrastructures are affected by a noteworthy technological divide from North European contexts. In such contexts, the adoption of the new regulations can represent the right chance for upgrading the local operative standards, increasing latu sensu the quality of maritime transport performances, while conferring a greater level to security and safety checks. This paper explores the chances for increasing the level of Mediterranean seaport competitiveness allowed by technological innovations in transport systems, both in operations and organization of these infrastructures. The aim of the work is to study the effects of the adoption of technological solutions such as wireless communications and radiofrequency identification on the competitiveness of Mediterranean seaport infrastructures. Technological solutions designed to identify good items help operators in organizing activities in terminals and make maritime transport faster in delivering goods, by cutting the handling time and costs in seaport terminals. Seaports that adopt this kind of technologies, and the surrounding economic areas connected to seaports, have a greater attractiveness on shipping companies and operators, since they allow faster handling activities and easier checks on goods. Besides, the analysis of direct and indirect effects of the use of such technologies specifically focuses on the contribution that the use of these solutions gives in ensuring higher security levels, by increasing the level of information and knowledge associated to goods. The different types of security provided (e.g. for people, environment and goods) and the extreme flexibility of the technologies involved give the overall worth of the challenge. It seems to be a great chance of growth for the Mediterranean area, more than a mere compliance to the international security regulations.

Analysis of the sustainability of collusion in the liner shipping industry

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Heat treatment effects on the corrosion resistance of some HVOF-sprayed metal alloy coatings

The present study evaluates the effects of a 600 °C, 1 h heat treatment on the corrosion resistance of threeHigh Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) flame-sprayed alloy coatings: a Co–28Mo–17Cr–3Si (similar to Tribaloy-800) coating, a Ni–20Cr–10W–9Mo–4Cu–1C–1B–1Fe (Diamalloy-4006) coating and a Ni–32Mo–16Cr–3Si–2Co (similar to Tribaloy-700) coating. Electrochemical polarization tests and free corrosion tests wereperformed in 0.1 M HCl aqueous solution. The corrodkote test (ASTM B380-97R02) was also performed, toevaluate the coatings qualitatively. The heat treatment improves the corrosion resistance of the Co–28Mo–17Cr–3Si coating and of the Ni–20Cr–10W–9Mo–4Cu–1C–1B–1Fe coating by enhancing their passivationability. The precipitation of sub-micron sized secondary phases after the treatment may produce galvanicmicrocells at intralamellar scale, but the beneficial contribution provided by the healing of the very small but dangerous interlamellar defects (normally present in thermal spray coatings but not detectable usingordinary scanning electron microscopy) prevails. The effect on Ni–32Mo–16Cr–3Si–2Co coatings is moreambiguous: its sensitivity to crevice corrosion is worsened by the heat treatment

Fast Regime - Fluidised Bed Machining (FR-FBM) of thermally sprayed coatings

Finishing of thermally sprayed metallic, ceramic, and cermet coatings is required to meet tolerances andrequirements on surface roughness in most industrial applications. Conventional machining is a costlyand time-consuming process, and is difficult to automate. Therefore, this study investigates and developsa new technique highly amenable for automation: fast regime—fluidized bed machining (FR-FBM).Atmospheric plasma sprayed TiO2, Cr2O3, and HVOF-sprayed WC-17%Co and Tribaloy-800 coatings,deposited on AISI 1040 steel substrates, were subjected to FR-FBM treatment. The effects of the leadingoperational parameters, namely, abrasive size, jet pressure, and processing time, were evaluated on allcoatings by using a two/three-levels full factorial design of experiments. The FR-FBM treated surfaceswere observed by FE-SEM and their surface finishing was evaluated by contact profilometry. Significantimprovements in surface finishing of all the machined thermally sprayed coatings can always be detected,with FR-FBM being able to guarantee the precision and to ensure the closest geometrical tolerances

Fast Regime - Fluidized Bed Machining (FR-FBM) of thermally sprayed coatings

Finishing of thermally sprayed metallic, ceramic, and cermet coatings is required to meet tolerances andrequirements on surface roughness in most industrial applications. Conventional machining is a costlyand time-consuming process, and is difficult to automate. Therefore, this study investigates and developsa new technique highly amenable for automation: fast regime—fluidized bed machining (FR-FBM).Atmospheric plasma sprayed TiO2, Cr2O3, and HVOF-sprayed WC-17%Co and Tribaloy-800 coatings,deposited on AISI 1040 steel substrates, were subjected to FR-FBM treatment. The effects of the leadingoperational parameters, namely, abrasive size, jet pressure, and processing time, were evaluated on allcoatings by using a two/three-levels full factorial design of experiments. The FR-FBM treated surfaceswere observed by FE-SEM and their surface finishing was evaluated by contact profilometry. Significantimprovements in surface finishing of all the machined thermally sprayed coatings can always be detected,with FR-FBM being able to guarantee the precision and to ensure the closest geometrical tolerances

On the combined use of scratch tests and CLA profilometry for the characterization of polyester powder coatings: influence of scratch load and speed

The prediction of the mechanical properties of polyester powder coatings is of paramount importance, asthey have to undergo a wide variety of forces and deformations during their service life. Determine theresponse of polymeric coatings to the actual loading conditions can be, however, very troublesome astheir properties are function of the material physical state, rate-dependence and yield and breakbehaviour. Further, the characterization of soft, contaminated organic surfaces such as polymers canoften cause severe problems with reliability and imaging accuracy due to instrumental artefacts.This is therefore the context in which this paper investigates the capability of multiple parametersscratch tests joined with non-contact CLA profilometry and FE-SEM to detect the scratch response ofpolyester powder coatings for protective and decorative outdoor applications. Scratch tests with bluntcontact geometry were used to evaluate the response of polyester coatings baked at different time–temperature programs and, so, at different stages of their curing process. In particular, being suchcoatings highly non-linear in their response tomechanical stress or strain, the influence from scratch load and speed was carefully taken into account. Analytical evaluations of the experimental results led to goodcorrelations between the extent of the deformed zone after scratch, scratch parameters and curingoperational settings. This allows mapping the scratch response of the polyester topcoats to broad rangesof both scratch parameters and curing conditions

Microstructural and Tribological Characterization of As-Sprayed and Heat-Treated HVOF Deposited Ni Alloys

The microstructural, micromechanical (Vickers microindentation, scratch testing) and tribological(pin on disk tests against steel and alumina spherical pins) properties of three High velocity oxy\u2013fuel (HVOF) sprayed Ni based alloy coatings, namely Diamalloy 4006 (Ni\u201320Cr\u201310W\u20139Mo\u20134Cu\u20131B\u20131C\u20131Fe), Tribaloy-700 (Ni\u201332Mo\u201316Cr\u20134Si\u20132Co) and Inconel-625 (Ni\u201322Cr\u20139Mo\u20134Nb), werecharacterised, both in the as sprayed condition and after thermal treatments at 600uC and 800uC.As deposited Tribaloy-700 possesses a low degree of crystallinity and lower hardness; crystallineintermetallics are formed after heat treatments, definitely improving mechanical strength andtribological resistance against 100Cr6 steel counterpart, but not against alumina counterpart. TheInconel-625 and Diamalloy 4006 as sprayed coatings consist of supersaturated crystalline solidsolutions. The former is not much affected by heat treatments and has low hardness and poortribological properties. The latter, instead, displays precipitation of secondary phases after heattreatment. Particularly, the 600\ub0C treatment improves coating strength and wear resistanceagainst steel, whereas the 800u\ub0C one is less effective, probably because it causes excessivecrystal grain size increase

RAYLEIGH-BÉNARD INSTABILITY OF THE POWER-LAW FLUID FLOW IN A POROUS MEDIUM: NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS

The thermal instability of fluid saturated porous media is a topic extensively investigated in the last decades. The scientific community has focused its efforts especially on the study of the stability of Newtonian fluids [1]. The investigation of the stability of non-Newtonian fluids is a topic poorly explored. Only a few papers extended the results reported by Horton and Rogers [2], Lapwood [3], and Prats [4] to non-Newtonian fluids. The aim of this paper is to further develop the work done by Barletta and Nield [5] with reference to a fluid characterised by a temperature-dependent consistency index. A two dimensional fluid saturated horizontal porous layer is thus investigated with respect to the onset of thermal instability. The porous layer is subject to a horizontal throughflow and it is heated from below as in the classical Prats problem. A power-law fluid is considered. An extended Darcy's law and Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation are assumed while the solid phase and the fluid phase are in local thermal equilibrium. A temperature-dependent viscosity model is employed. The porous layer is impermeable. Two different temperatures are imposed, with heating from below. The problem here described is investigated both numerically and experimentally. From the theoretical viewpoint, the stationary basic throughflow is perturbed by plane wave disturbances. A linear stability analysis is thus carried out using the normal mode method. The eigenvalue problem obtained is solved numerically by means of the Runge-Kutta method coupled with the shooting method. The neutral stability curves are obtained along with the critical values of the stability parameters that identify the threshold for the onset of thermal instability. The experimental configuration employed for the analysis of this problem consists of a Hele-Shaw cell. The cell is composed by an aluminium frame with a central window obtained by using two polycarbonate plates that ensure the optical access to the cell for velocity measurements. These measurements are performed with a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The isothermal boundary conditions are obtained by circulating water for the hot lower boundary, and by circulating coolant for the cold upper boundary. Two free surface wells are connected to the cell, allowing injection and extraction of fluid in order to generate a constant horizontal flow. A syringe pump is used to inject the requested discharge inside the cell. The pump discharge is modulated by a Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) control system. In order to obtain a purely vertical temperature gradient, the cell is thermally insulated in all its components with foam rubber and thermal insulating tape. The experimental investigation poses several challenges, such as the choice of tracers for PIV measurements, the discrimination between horizontal velocity components induced by convection and the imposed throughflow, the presence of hysteretic effects in cell appearance and disappearance, and the correct reproduction of shear-thickening behaviour