Cosmic-ray propagation at small scale: a support for protostellar disc formation

As long as magnetic fields remain frozen into the gas, the magnetic braking prevents the formation of protostellar discs. This condition is subordinate to the ionisation fraction characterising the inmost parts of a collapsing cloud. The ionisation level is established by the number and the energy of the cosmic rays able to reach these regions. Adopting the method developed in our previous studies, we computed how cosmic rays are attenuated as a function of column density and magnetic field strength. We applied our formalism to low- and high-mass star formation models obtained by numerical simulations of gravitational collapse that include rotation and turbulence. In general, we found that the decoupling between gas and magnetic fields, condition allowing the collapse to go ahead, occurs only when the cosmic-ray attenuation is taken into account with respect to a calculation in which the cosmic-ray ionisation rate is kept constant. We also found that the extent of the decoupling zone also depends on the dust grain size distribution and is larger if large grains (of radius about 0.1 microns) are formed by compression and coagulation during cloud collapse. The decoupling region disappears for the high-mass case due to magnetic field diffusion that is caused by turbulence and that is not included in the low-mass models. We infer that a simultaneous study of the cosmic-ray propagation during the cloud's collapse may lead to values of the gas resistivity in the innermost few hundred AU around a forming protostar that is higher than generally assumed.Comment: 8 pages, CRISM 2014 conference proceeding

Influence of local mechanical loadings paths on the oxidation assisted crack initiation of alloy 718

At high temperatures, alloy 718, like many other nickel-based superalloys, is sensitive to an oxidation-assisted intergranular crack (OAIC) growth mechanism. Former studies have pointed out that even if intergranular oxidation still occurred, intergranular crack initiation was inhibited due to specific mechanical loadings which were identified as Portevin-Le Châtelier (PLC) plastic instabilities. In the present work, key parameters triggering crack initiation or PLC instabilities in the [550–700°C] temperature range were determined for the studied grade by means of tensile tests on smooth specimens. Then, in order to assess the applicability of such a finding at a scale compatible with the material microstructure, a dedicated tensile V-shaped specimen was designed to generate different surface and sub-surface strain and strain rate histories. Thanks to a dual approach based on the observation of crack initiation location on this specific experimental specimen together with associated FE calculations, the critical mechanical loading paths inducing OAIC initiation have been specified. Thus, assuming that the metallurgical state is homogenous at the structure scale, a mapping of intergranular crack initiation is then obtainable

Thermochemical Heat Tranformer for Waste Heat Recovery: consideration of dynamic aspects for design

International audienceWaste Heat Recovery in the industrial sector often requires to upgrade the temperature of the heat fluxes in order to make them useful for the process. Thermochemical Heat Transformer can play a major role as they can provide high temperature lift when compared to alternative technologies. The aim of the presented work is twofold: - to identify suitable working pairs using water as working fluid taking into account three criteria: COP, temperature lift and equilibrium drop (difference of the operating temperature and pressure to their value at equilibrium) - to run a parametric study, thanks to a dynamic 2-salt/2-reactor model, to identify optimal specific heat power as a function of cycle time, working pairs and reactor heat transfer coefficient. For waste heat temperature at 90 °C and a cold source at 30 °C, the CaCl2 /H2O and Ca(NO 3)2 /H2O working pairs were identified as promising. The achieve temperature lift is as high as 90 K for a theoretical COP of 0.42. In dynamic operating, a specific heat power of 325 W/kg was found

Influence of interstitials content on the diffusion of Niobium in alloy 718

Many studies have emphasized the beneficial effect of niobium on the physical metallurgy of Ni-Cr-Fe alloy 718. Among the different strengthening actions of niobium, such as solid solution hardening and carbide precipitation, the precipitation of niobium with nickel in a strengthening phase γ” (Ni3Nb) during the aging heat treatment has the largest influence on the mechanical properties of alloy 718. The improvement of the niobium distribution and diffusion in the Ni-matrix may allow a more homogenized repartition of γ” precipitates and seems then to be an effective way to upgrade the mechanical properties. As γ” precipitates decompose to the stable δ phase at very long aging times, the study of the effect of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen concentrations on precipitation and dissolution of the δ phase may give information on γ” precipitation and on niobium distribution. It is the purpose of the present work to examine the role that the alloy content of interstitial species plays with the niobium-rich δ phase evolution in alloy 718. Alloy 718 samples were heat treated under hydrogenated argon at 980°C for 0 to 96 hours in order to gradually curb the content of interstitial species by reaction with the reducing atmosphere. Chemical analyses realized by glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS) confirmed the reduction of the concentration of these species. Specimens were solution-treated for 1h at 1050°C in an inert atmosphere and furnace cooled. Some of the samples were then aged at 920°C for times ranging from 10 min to 1 hour. The precipitation was measured quantitatively in terms of volume fraction and the morphology of the precipitates was appreciated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The differences in the precipitation kinetics and in the microstructure evolution for each interstitial concentration are then discussed