Effect of directionality of unidirectional grinding marks on friction and transfer layer formation of Mg on steel using inclined scratch test

Surface topography has been known to play an important role in the friction and transfer layer formation during sliding. In the present investigation, EN8 steel flats were ground to attain different surface roughness with unidirectional grinding marks. Pure Mg pins were scratched on these surfaces using an Inclined Scratch Tester to study the influence of directionality of surface grinding marks on coefficient of friction and transfer layer formation. Grinding angle (i.e., the angle between direction of scratch and grinding marks) was varied between 0 degrees and 90 degrees during the tests. Experiments were conducted under both dry and lubricated conditions. Scanning electron micrographs of the contact surfaces of pins and flats were used to reveal the surface features that included the morphology of the transfer layer. It was observed that the average coefficient of friction and transfer layer formation depend primarily on the directionality of the grinding marks but were independent of surface roughness on the harder mating surface. In addition, a stick-slip phenomenon was observed, the amplitude of which depended both on the directionality of grinding marks and the surface roughness of the harder mating surface. The grinding angle effect on the coefficient of friction, which consists of adhesion and plowing components, was attributed to the variation of plowing component of friction. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Investigations of a two-stage pulse tube cryocooler operating down to 2.5K

A two-stage pulse tube cryocooler (PTC) which produces a no-load temperature of similar to 2.5 K in its second stage at an operating frequency of 1.6 Hz has been designed and fabricated. The second stage of the system provides a refrigeration power of similar to 250 mW at 5.0 K. The system uses stainless steel meshes (mesh size 200) along with lead (Pb) granules and combinations of Pb, Er3Ni, and HoCu2 as the first and second stage regenerator materials, respectively. Experimental studies have been carried out on different pulse tube configurations by varying the dimensions of the pulse tubes and regenerators to arrive at the best one, which leads to the lowest no-load second stage cold head temperature. Using this configuration, detailed experimental studies have been conducted by varying the volume percentage ratios of the second stage regenerator materials such as HoCu2, Er3Ni, and Pb (with an average grain size of similar to 250 mu m). This article presents the results of our experimental studies on cryocoolers with the regenerator material arranged in layered structures. Comparative studies have also been presented for specific cases where the regenerator materials are arranged as a homogeneous mixture in the second stage. The experimental results clearly indicate that the design of PTCs should use only layered structures of regenerator materials and not homogenous mixtures.

Fatigue crack propagation in rocker and roller–rocker bearings of railway steel bridges

In this work, a method is proposed for rolling contact fatigue crack propagation analysis using contact and fracture theories in conjunction with fatigue laws. The proposed method is used in the fatigue analysis of rocker and roller–rocker bearings of a railway open web girder bridge which is instrumented with strain gages. Using a contact algorithm based on the minimum energy principle for bodies in rolling contact with dry friction, the normal and tangential pressure distribution are computed. It is seen that the most critical location of a crack in bearings is at a point very close to the contact region, as expected.

Fatigue crack propagation in rocker and roller-rocker bearings of railway steel bridges

In this work, a method is proposed for rolling contact fatigue crack propagation analysis using contact and fracture theories in conjunction with fatigue laws. The proposed method is used in the fatigue analysis of rocker and roller-rocker bearings of a railway open web girder bridge which is instrumented with strain gages. Using a contact algorithm based on the minimum energy principle for bodies in rolling contact with dry friction, the normal and tangential pressure distribution are computed. It is seen that the most critical location of a crack in bearings is at a point very close to the contact region, as expected. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of copper addition on the fracture and fatigue crack growth behavior of solution heat-treated SUS 304H austenitic steel

Small additions of Cu to the SUS 304H, a high temperature austenitic stainless steel, enhance its high temperature strength and creep resistance. As Cu is known to cause embrittlement, the effect of Cu on room temperature mechanical properties that include fracture toughness and fatigue crack threshold of as-solutionized SUS 304H steel were investigated in this work. Experimental results show a linear reduction in yield and ultimate strengths with Cu addition of up to 5 wt.% while ductility drops markedly for 5 wt.% Cu alloy. However, the fracture toughness and the threshold stress intensity factor range for fatigue crack initiation were found to be nearly invariant with Cu addition. This is because the fracture in this alloy is controlled by the debonding from the matrix of chromium carbide precipitates, as evident from fractography. Cu, on the other hand, remains either in solution or as nano-precipitates and hence does not influence the fracture characteristics. It is concluded that small additions of Cu to 304H will not have adverse effects on its fracture and fatigue behavior. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Studies on friction and transfer layer: role of surface texture

Friction influences the nature of transfer layer formed at the interface between tool and metal during sliding. In the present investigation, experiments were conducted using “Inclined Scratch Tester” to understand the effect of surface texture of hard surfaces on coefficient of friction and transfer layer formation. EN8 steel flats were ground to attain surfaces of different textures with different roughness. Then super purity aluminium pins were scratched against the prepared steel flats. Scanning electron micrographs of the contact surfaces of pins and flats were used to reveal the morphology of transfer layer. It was observed that the coefficient of friction and the formation of transfer layer depend primarily on the texture of hard surfaces, but independent of surface roughness of hard surfaces. It was observed that on surfaces that promote plane strain conditions near the surface, the transfer of material takes place due to the plowing action of the asperities. But, on a surface that promotes plane stress conditions the transfer layer was more due to the adhesion component of friction. It was observed that the adhesion component increases for surfaces that have random texture but was constant for the other surfaces

Mode-dependent dispersion in Raman line shapes: Observation and implications from ultrafast Raman loss spectroscopy

Ultrafast Raman loss spectroscopy (URLS) enables one to obtain the vibrational structural information of molecular systems including fluorescent materials. URLS, a nonlinear process analog to stimulated Raman gain, involves a narrow bandwidth picosecond Raman pump pulse anda femtosecond broadband white light continuum. Under nonresonant condition, the Raman response appears as a negative (loss) signal, whereas, on resonance with the electronic transition the line shape changes from a negative to a positive through a dispersive form. The intensities observed and thus, the Franck-Condon activity (coordinate dependent), are sensitive to the wavelength of the white light corresponding to a particular Raman frequency with respect to the Raman pump pulse wavelength, i.e., there is a mode-dependent response in URLS. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics.

Characterization of barium titanate fine powders formed from hydrothermal crystallization

A detailed evaluation of size, shape and microstrains of BaTiO3 crystallites produced by hydrothermal crystallization at 90 – 180 °C and 0.1 – 1.2 MPa, from amorphous TiO2· xH2O (3 < × < 8) gel and aqueous Ba(OH)2 is presented, using X-ray line-broadening and TEM studies. Whereas the concentration of Ba(OH)2 and the acceptor impurities affect the crystallite shape, the stoichimetry with respect to Ba/Ti, donor as well as acceptor impurities, and the temperature of crystallization influence the microstrains. It is shown that strains in the crystallites are related to the point defects in the lattice. Compensation of the residually present hydroxyl ions in the oxygen sublattice by cation vacancies results in strains leading to metastable presence of the cubic phase at room temperature. Studies on the diffuse phase transition behaviour of these submicron powders show that the stable tetragonal phase is produced only on annealing at high temperatures where the mobility of cations vacancies are larger. Heat-treatment reduces anisotropy and strain in undoped samples, whereas annealing is less effective in doped materials. Comparison of the crystillite size by TEM showed better agreement with the Warren—Averbach method.

Changes to near-surface region of PTFE during dry sliding against steel

PTFE specimens were slid against an EN24 disc. The unworn and worn surfaces as well as the wear debris were examined by X-ray diffraction. Sliding was found to introduce (i) shrinkage of the unit cell, (ii) enlargement of crystallites and (iii) residual stresses in the slid PTFE surface. No conformational changes in the 157 helix could be observed due to sliding. The wear debris was found to be 1 mgrm thick warped laminates.

Characterization of Alloy-Spinel-Corundum Equilibrium in the System Fe-Ni-Al-O

The three phase equilibrium between alloy, spinel solid solution and α-alumina in the Fe-Ni-Al-O system has been fully characterized at 1823K as a function of alloy composition using both experimental and computational methods. The oxygen potential was measured using a solid state cell incorporating yttria-doped thoria as the electrolyte and Cr+ Cr2O3 as the reference electrode. Oxygen concentration of the alloy was determined by an inert gas fusion technique. The composition of the spinel solid solution, formed at the interface between the alloy and an alumina crucible, was determined by EPMA. The variation of the oxygen concentration and potential and composition of the spinel solid solution with mole fraction of nickel in the alloy have been computed using activities in binary Fe-Ni system, free energies of formation of end member spinels FeO•(1+x)Al2O3 and NiO•(1+x)Al2O3 and free energies of solution of oxygen in liquid iron and nickel, available in the literature. Activities in the spinel solid solution were computed using a cation distribution model. The variation of the activity coefficient of oxygen with alloy composition in Fe-Ni-O system was calculated using both the quasichemical model of Jacob and Alcock and the Wagner's model, with the correlation of Chiang and Chang. The computed results for the oxygen potential and the composition of the spinel solid solution are in good agreement with the measurements. The measured oxygen concentration lies between the values computed using models of Wagner and Jacob and Alcock. The results of the study indicate that the deoxidation hyper-surface in multicomponent systems can be computed with useful accuracy using data for end member systems and thermodynamic models.

Effect of prestrain on fatigue crack propagation in mild steel containing non-metallic inclusions

The effect of tensile prestrain on fatigue crack propagation behaviour of commercial mild steel with significant amount of stringer inclusions has been studied. In prestrained materials the usual stable stage II crack growth region is preceded by a phase wherein a retardation in crack growth rate occurs. No such behaviour is observed in annealed material. The amount of retardation is found to increase with increase in prestrain. A mechanism for the observed retardation in crack growth rate is also presented.

Effect of Prestrain on Fracture Toughness of Rolled Mild Steel with Significant Inclusion Content

The basic method of JIc calculation using a single specimen is discussed. Dokouipil's approach for evaluating the JIc value is extended further and the effect of prestrain on rolled mild steel with significant inclusions is studied using this modified approach. Although this method does not give an accurate value of JIc, it is quite effective for a comparative study. While the fracture toughness of annealed and 7% prestrained materials are about the same, the fracture toughness of 3% prestrained material is significantly lower.