Nitretação em plasma com gaiola catódica: investigação do mecanismo e estudo comparativo com a nitretação em plasma de tensão contínua

The ionic plasma nitriding is one of the most important plasma assisted treatment technique for surface modification, but it presents some inherent problems mainly in nitriding pieces with complex geometries. In the last four years has appeared a plasma nitriding technique, named ASPN (Active Screen Plasma Nitriding) in which the samples and the workload are surrounded by a metal screen on which the cathodic potential is applied. This new technique makes possible to obtain a perfect uniform nitrided layer apart from the shape of the samples. The present work is based on the development of a new nitriding plasma technique named CCPN (Cathodic Cage Plasma Nitriding) Patent PI 0603213-3 derived from ASPN, but utilizes the hollow cathode effect to increase the nitriding process efficiency. That technique has shown great improvement on the treatment of several types of steels under different process conditions, producing thicker and harder layers when compared with both, ASPN and ionic plasma nitriding, besides eliminating problems associated with the later technique. The best obtained results are due to the hollow cathode effect on the cage holes. Moreover, characteristic problems of ionic plasma nitriding are eliminated due to the fact that the luminescent discharge acts on the cage wall instead of on the samples surface, which remains under a floating potential. In this work the enhancement of the cathodic cage nitriding layers proprieties, under several conditions for some types of steels was investigated, besides the mechanism for nitrides deposition on glass substrate, concluding that the CCPN is both a diffusion and a deposition process at the same time

influência da adição de diferentes sais em pastas de cimento portland para cimentação de poços de petróleo

One of the great challenges at present time related with the materials area concerns of products and processes for use in petroleum industry, more precisely related to the Pre-salt area. Progresses were reached in the last years allowing the drilling of the salt layer, with the time reduction for drilling and larger success at the end. For the oil wells companies the preponderant factor is the technology, however, in spite of the progress, a series of challenges is still susceptible to solutions and one of them refers to the slurries preparation for cementing in those areas. Inside of this context, this study had for objective to analyze the influence of the salts NaCl, KCl, CaSO4 and MgSO4 in strength and chemical structure of the hydrated products. As methodology, they were prepared and analyzed cement slurries with varied concentrations of these salts that are commonly found in the saline formations. The salts concentrations used in formulations of the slurries were of 5%, 15% and 30%. The slurries were formulated with specific weight of 15,8 lb / gal and the cement used was Class G. Strength tests were accomplished in samples cured by 24 hours and 28 days. Also were realized crystallographic characterization (XRD) and morphologic (SEM). In agreement with the presented results, it is observed that the largest resistance values are attributed to the slurries with concentration of 15%. There was reduction of the strength values of the slurries formulated with concentration of 30%. Through the characterization microstructural it was possible to note the salts influence in the main cement hydrated products

Estudo da viabilidade técnica para obtenção de superfície duplex em aço inoxidável martensítico AISI 410 através do processo de deposição a plasma por gaiola catódica

The technique of plasma nitriding by the cathode cage mainly stands out for its ability to produce uniform layers, even on parts with complex geometries. In this study, it was investigated the efficiency of this technique for obtaining duplex surface, when used, simultaneously, to nitriding treatment and thin film deposition at temperatures below 500°C. For this, were used samples of AISI 41 0 Martensitic Stainless Steel and performed plasma treatment, combining nitriding and deposition of thin films of Ti and/or TiN in a plasma atmosphere containing N2-H2. It was used a cathodic cage of titanium pure grade II, cylindrical with 70 mm diameter and 34 mm height. Samples were treated at temperature 420ºC for 2 and 12 hours in different working pressures. Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with micro-analysis by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and analysis of Vickers Microhardness were used to investigate coating properties such as homogeneity and surface topography, chemical composition, layer thickness, crystalline phase, roughness and surface microhardness. The results showed there is a direct proportionality between the presence of H2 in plasma atmosphere and the quantity of titanium in surface chemical composition. It was also observed that the plasma treatment at lowpressure is more effective in formation of TiN thin film

Influência da adição do NaCl e KCl em sistemas de pastas contendo sílica para poços de petróleo em zonas evaporíticas e carbonáticas

One of the major challenges faced nowadays by oil companies is the exploration of pre-salt basins. Thick salt layers were formed in remote ages as a consequence of the evaporation of sea water containing high concentrations of NaCl and KCl. Deep reservoirs can be found below salt formations that prevent the outflow of oil, thus improving the success in oil prospection. The slurries used in the cement operations of salt layers must be adequate to the properties of those specific formations. At the same time, their resulting properties are highly affected by the contamination of salt in the fresh state. It is t herefore important to address the effects of the presence of salt in the cement slurries in order to assure that the well sheath is able to fulfill its main role to provide zonal isolation and mechanical stability. In this scenario, the objective of the present thesis work was to evaluate the effect of the presence of NaCl and KCl premixed with cement and 40% silica flour on the behavior of cement slurries. Their effect in the presence of CO2 was also investigated. The rheological behavior of slurries containing NaCl and KCl was evaluated along with their mechanical strength. Thermal and microstructural tests were also carried out. The results revealed that the presence of NaCl and KCl affected the pozzolanic activity of silica flour, reducing the strength of the hardened slurries containing salt. Friedel´s salt was formed as a result of the bonding between free Cl- and tricalcium aluminate. The presence of CO2 also contributed to the degradation of the slurries as a result of a process of carbonation/bicarbonataion

Estudo sobre as potencialidades de compósitos à base de gesso e fibras de coco seco para aplicação na construção civil

The use of gypsum, one of the oldest building materials for the construction industry in the country has been experiencing a significant and steady growth, due to its low cost and some of its properties that confer comparative advantage over other binder materials. Its use comprises various applications including the coating of walls and the production of internal seals and linings. Moreover, the fibers are being increasingly incorporated into arrays fragile in an attempt to improve the properties of the composite by reducing the number of cracks, the opening of the same and its propagation velocity. Other properties, depending on the function of the component material or construction, among these thermal and acoustic performances, are of great importance in the context of buildings and could be improved, that is, having better performance with this embodiment. Conduct a comparative study of physico-mechanical, thermal and acoustic composite gypsum incorporating dry coconut fiber, in the form of blanket, constituted the main objective of this work. Improving the thermal and acoustic performances of precast gypsum, used for lining and internal vertical fences of buildings, was the purpose of development of these composites. To evaluate the effect of fiber content on the properties of the composites were used to manufacture the composite layer with different thicknesses. The composites were fabricated in the form of plates with dimensions of 500x500x24mm. To facilitate the comparative study of the properties were also made with material gypsum boards only. We then determined the physico-mechanical, thermal and acoustical plaster and composites. The results indicated that the composites were significant gains in relation to thermal performance and also acoustic, in certain frequency range, increasing the thickness of the blanket. Concerning other physical-mechanical properties, the results showed that although the compressive strength was lower than for the composite did not occur after a fracture catastrophic failure. The same trend was observed with regard to resistance to bending, since the composites have not suffered sudden rupture and still continued after the load supporting point of maximum load

Estudo da influência da temperatura de brasagem nas uniões zircônia/aço inox 304 utilizando metalização mecânica

Metal-Ceramic (M/C) Zirconia-stainless steel interfaces have been processed through brazing techniques due to the excellent combination of properties such as high temperature stability, high corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties. However, some M/C interfaces show some defects, like porosity and cracks results in the degradation of the interfaces, leading even to its total rupture. Most of time, those defects are associated with an improper brazing parameters selection to the M/C system. In this work, ZrO2 Y-TZP and ZrO2 Mg - PSZ were joint with the stainless steel grade 304 by brazing using a eutectic silver-copper (Ag28Cu) interlayer alloy with different thermal cycles. Ceramic surfaces were previous mechanically metallized with titanium to improve adhesion of the system. The effect of temperature on the M/C interface was studied. SEM-EDS and 3 point flexural bend test were performed to evaluate morphology, chemical composition and mechanical resistance of the M/C interfaces. Lower thermal cycle temperatures produced better results of mechanical resistance, and more regular/ homogeneous reaction layers between braze alloy and metal-ceramic surfaces. Also was proved the AgCu braze alloy activation in situ by titanium

Estudo termo-mecânico de interconector metálico recoberto com filme de La0,8Ca0,2CrO3 e de interconector cerâmico de La0,8Sr0,2Cr0,92Co0,08O3 para PaCOS

Doped lanthanum chromite ( LaCrO3 ) has been the most common material used as interconnect in solid oxide fuel cells for high temperature ( SOFC-HT ) that enabling the stack of SOFCs. The reduction of the operating temperature, to around 800 º C, of solid oxide fuel cells enabled the use of metallic interconnects as an alternative to ceramic LaCrO3, From the practical point of view, to be a strong candidate for interconnect the material must have good physical and mechanical properties such as resistance to oxidizing and reducing environments, easy manufacture and appropriate thermo-mechanical properties. Thus, a study on the physic-mechanical interconnects La0,8Sr0,2Cr0,92Co0,08O3 ceramics for SOFC -AT obtained by the method of combustion , as well as thermo-mechanical properties of metallic interconnects (AISI 444) covered with La0,8Ca0,2CrO3 by deposition technique by spray-pyrolysis fuel cells for intermediate temperature (IT-SOFCs). The La0,8Sr0,2Cr0,92Co0,08O3 was characterized by X -ray diffraction(XRD) , density and porosity , Vickers hardness (HV) , the flexural strength at room temperature and 900 °C and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The X -ray diffraction confirmed the phase formation and LaCrO3 and CoCr2O4, in order 6 GPa hardness and mechanical strength at room temperature was 62 MPa ceramic Interconnector. The coated metal interconnects La0,8Ca0,2CrO3 passed the identification by XRD after deposition of the film after the oxidation test. The oxidative behavior showed increased resistance to oxidation of the metal substrate covered by La0,8Ca0,2CrO3 In flexural strength of the coated metal substrate, it was noticed only in the increased room temperature. The a SEM analysis proved the formation of Cr2O3 and (Cr,Mn)3O4 layers on metal substrate and confirmed the stability of the ceramic La0,8 Ca0,2CrO3 film after oxidative test

Plásticos reforçados a base de tecidos híbridos: efeitos da anisotropia e geometria normativa na caracterização mecânica e da fratura

As most current studies, reinforced plastics have been, in recent years, a viable alternative in building structural elements of medium and large, since the lightness accompanied by high performance possible. The design of hybrid polymer composites (combination of different types of reinforcements) may enable structural applications thereof, facing the most severe service conditions. Within this class of composite materials, reinforced the underlying tissues hybrid high performance are taking space when your application requires high load bearing and high rigidity. The objective of this research work is to study the challenges in designing these fabrics bring these materials as to its mechanical characterization and fracture mechanisms involved. Some parameters associated with the process and / or form of hybridization stand out as influential factors in the final performance of the material such as the presence of anisotropy, so the fabric weave, the process of making the same, normative geometry of the specimens, among others. This sense, four laminates were developed based hybrid reinforcement fabrics involving AS4 carbon fiber, kevlar and glass 49-E as the matrix epoxy vinyl ester resin (DERAKANE 411-350). All laminates were formed each with four layers of reinforcements. Depending on the hybrid fabric, all the influencing factors mentioned above have been studied for laminates. All laminates were manufactured industrially used being the lamination process manual (hand-lay-up). All mechanical characterization and study of the mechanism of fracture (fracture mechanics) was developed for laminates subjected to uniaxial tensile test, bending in three and uniaxial compression. The analysis of fracture mechanisms were held involving the macroscopic, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy

Estudo da segregação gravitacional do processo de injeção de vapor em reservátórios heterogêneos

Due to reservoirs complexity and significantly large reserves, heavy oil recovery has become one of the major oil industry challenges. Thus, thermal methods have been widely used as a strategic method to improve heavy oil recovery. These methods improve oil displacement through viscosity reduction, enabling oil production in fields which are not considered commercial by conventional recovery methods. Among the thermal processes, steam flooding is the most used today. One consequence in this process is gravity segregation, given by difference between reservoir and injected fluids density. This phenomenon may be influenced by the presence of reservoir heterogeneities. Since most of the studies are carried out in homogeneous reservoirs, more detailed studies of heterogeneities effects in the reservoirs during steam flooding are necessary, since most oil reservoirs are heterogeneous. This paper presents a study of reservoir heterogeneities and their influence in gravity segregation during steam flooding process. In this study some heterogeneous reservoirs with physical characteristics similar those found in the Brazilian Northeast Basin were analyzed. To carry out the simulations, it was used the commercial simulator STARS by CMG (Computer Modeling Group) - version 2007.11. Heterogeneities were modeled with lower permeability layers. Results showed that the presence of low permeability barriers can improve the oil recovery, and reduce the effects of gravity segregation, depending on the location of heterogeneities. The presence of these barriers have also increased the recovered fraction even with the reduction of injected steam rate

Supressão do ruído de rolamento superficial utilizando a transformada Curvelet

Among the many types of noise observed in seismic land acquisition there is one produced by surface waves called Ground Roll that is a particular type of Rayleigh wave which characteristics are high amplitude, low frequency and low velocity (generating a cone with high dip). Ground roll contaminates the relevant signals and can mask the relevant information, carried by waves scattered in deeper regions of the geological layers. In this thesis, we will present a method that attenuates the ground roll. The technique consists in to decompose the seismogram in a basis of curvelet functions that are localized in time, in frequency, and also, incorporate an angular orientation. These characteristics allow to construct a curvelet filter that takes in consideration the localization of denoise in scales, times and angles in the seismogram. The method was tested with real data and the results were very good

Influência da areia argilosa na recuperação de petróleo por injeção de vapor

Continuous steam injection is one of heavy oil thermal recovery methods used in the Brazilian Northeast because of high occurrence of heavy oil reservoir. In this process, the oil into the reservoir is heated while reduces, substantially, its viscosity and improves the production. This work analyzed how the shaly sand layers influenced in the recovery. The studied models were synthetics, but the used reservoir data can be extrapolated to real situations of Potiguar Basin. The modeling was executed using the STARS - Steam Thermal and Advanced Process Reservoir Simulator - whose version was 2007.10. STARS is a tool of CMG Computer Modeling Group. The study was conducted in two stages, the first we analyzed the influence of reservoir parameters in the thermal process, so some of these were studied, including: horizontal permeability of the reservoir and the layer of shaly sand, ratio of horizontal permeability to vertical permeability, the influence of capillary pressure layer of shaly sand and as the location and dimensions of this heterogeneity can affect the productivity of oil. Among the parameters studied the horizontal permeability of the reservoir showed the most significant influence on the process followed by diversity. In the second stage three models were selected and studied some operational parameters such as injection rate, distance between wells, production time and completion intervals. Among the operating parameters studied the low rate and intermediate distances between wells showed the best recoveries

Remoção de ruídos sísmicos utilizando transformada de wavelet 1D e 2D com software em desenvolvimento

In the Hydrocarbon exploration activities, the great enigma is the location of the deposits. Great efforts are undertaken in an attempt to better identify them, locate them and at the same time, enhance cost-effectiveness relationship of extraction of oil. Seismic methods are the most widely used because they are indirect, i.e., probing the subsurface layers without invading them. Seismogram is the representation of the Earth s interior and its structures through a conveniently disposed arrangement of the data obtained by seismic reflection. A major problem in this representation is the intensity and variety of present noise in the seismogram, as the surface bearing noise that contaminates the relevant signals, and may mask the desired information, brought by waves scattered in deeper regions of the geological layers. It was developed a tool to suppress these noises based on wavelet transform 1D and 2D. The Java language program makes the separation of seismic images considering the directions (horizontal, vertical, mixed or local) and bands of wavelengths that form these images, using the Daubechies Wavelets, Auto-resolution and Tensor Product of wavelet bases. Besides, it was developed the option in a single image, using the tensor product of two-dimensional wavelets or one-wavelet tensor product by identities. In the latter case, we have the wavelet decomposition in a two dimensional signal in a single direction. This decomposition has allowed to lengthen a certain direction the two-dimensional Wavelets, correcting the effects of scales by applying Auto-resolutions. In other words, it has been improved the treatment of a seismic image using 1D wavelet and 2D wavelet at different stages of Auto-resolution. It was also implemented improvements in the display of images associated with breakdowns in each Auto-resolution, facilitating the choices of images with the signals of interest for image reconstruction without noise. The program was tested with real data and the results were good

Sistema inteligente para estimar a porosidade em sedimentos a partir da análise de sinais GPR

This Thesis presents the elaboration of a methodological propose for the development of an intelligent system, able to automatically achieve the effective porosity, in sedimentary layers, from a data bank built with information from the Ground Penetrating Radar GPR. The intelligent system was built to model the relation between the porosity (response variable) and the electromagnetic attribute from the GPR (explicative variables). Using it, the porosity was estimated using the artificial neural network (Multilayer Perceptron MLP) and the multiple linear regression. The data from the response variable and from the explicative variables were achieved in laboratory and in GPR surveys outlined in controlled sites, on site and in laboratory. The proposed intelligent system has the capacity of estimating the porosity from any available data bank, which has the same variables used in this Thesis. The architecture of the neural network used can be modified according to the existing necessity, adapting to the available data bank. The use of the multiple linear regression model allowed the identification and quantification of the influence (level of effect) from each explicative variable in the estimation of the porosity. The proposed methodology can revolutionize the use of the GPR, not only for the imaging of the sedimentary geometry and faces, but mainly for the automatically achievement of the porosity one of the most important parameters for the characterization of reservoir rocks (from petroleum or water)

Arthropoda de solo em um ecossistema semi-árido da região neotropical: composição, variabilidade temporal e estratificação

Caatinga is an important laboratory for studies about arthropods adaptations and aclimatations because its precipitation is highly variable in time. We studied the effects of time variability over the composition of Arthropods in a caatinga area. The study was carried out at a preservation area on Almas Farm, São José dos Cordeiros, Paraíba. Samples were collected in two 100 m long parallel transects, separated for a 30 m distance, in a dense tree dominated caatinga area, between August 2007 and July 2008. Samples were collected in each transect every 10 m. Ten soil samples were taken from each transect, both at 0-5 cm (A) and 5-10 cm (B) depth, resulting in 40 samples each month. The Berlese funnel method was used for fauna extraction. We registered 26 orders and the arthropods density in the soil ranged from 3237 to 22774 individuals.m-2 from January 2007 to March 2008, respectively. There was no difference between layers A and B regarding orders abundance and richness. The groups recorded include groups with few records or that had no records in the Caatinga region yet as Pauropoda, Psocoptera, Thysanoptera, Protura and Araneae. Acari was the most abundant group, with 66,7% of the total number of individuals. Soil Arthropods presented a positive correlation with soil moisture, vegetal cover, precipitation and real evapotranspiration. Increases in fauna richness and abundance were registered in February, a month after the beginning of the rainy season. A periodic rain events in arid and semiarid ecosystems triggers physiological responses in edafic organisms, like arthropods. Edafic arthropods respond to time variability in the Caatinga biome. This fauna variation has to be considered in studies of this ecosystem, because the variation of Arthropods composition in soil can affect the dynamics of the food web through time

Tartarugas marinhas da Bacia Potiguar/RN: diagnóstico, biologia alimentar e ameaças

This work aimed to study the diversity and distribution of marine sea turtles stranded in Potiguar Basin, Rio Grande do Norte, as well as aspects related to feeding behavior associated with human impacts. The study was conducted through the analysis of data from stranded animals, recorded in a daily monitoring in an area bounded on the north by the municipality of Aquiraz, in the state of Ceará, and the east by the municipality of Caicara do Norte, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Stranded dead animals were necropsied and for the analysis of the diet of animals, esophagus, stomach and intestines were fixed in 10% formalin and after that, the stomach contents were sorted and stored in 70% alcohol. Representative fragments of these organs were removed for making histological slides, with a view to histological characterization of the digestive tract. 2.046 occurrences of turtles were recorded during the period from 01/01/2010 to 31/12/2012. The Chelonia mydas species showed the highest number of records and it was observed in 66.81 % (N = 1,367) of cases; followed by Eretmochelys imbricata with 4.45 % (N = 91) and by Lepidochelys olivacea with 1.22% (N = 25). The Caretta caretta and Dermochelys coriacea species were, respectively, 0.93 % (N = 19) and 0.05 % (N = 1) records of strandings. In 26.54 % of cases, it was not possible to identify the species. Regarding the spatial distribution, the stretch A was the one that had the highest number of strandings and a larger number of records were registered in the warm months of the year. The dietary analysis showed that C. mydas fed preferentially on algae; C. caretta had a diet with a predominance of the item "coral´s fragments" and E. imbricata species showed preference for an animal origin material. Related to this anthropic interaction, 57.14 % (n = 76) of animals that died at the rehabilitation s base, showed cause of death due to complications from ingesting debris. According to the data presented, the Potiguar Basin presents itself as an area with important diversity and distribution of marine sea turtle as well is characterized as a feeding and nidification area for these species