Wear of hardfacing white cast irons by solid particle erosion

The response of three commercial weld-hardfacing alloys to erosive wear has been studied. These were high chromium white cast irons, deposited by an open-arc welding process, widely used in the mineral processing and steelmaking industries for wear protection. Erosion tests were carried out with quartz sand, silicon carbide grit and blast furnace sinter of two different sizes, at a velocity of 40 m s-1 and at impact angles in the range 20° to 90°. A monolithic white cast iron and mild steel were also tested for comparison. Little differences were found in the wear rates when silica sand or silicon carbide grit was used as the erodent. Significant differences were found, however, in the rankings of the materials. Susceptibility to fracture of the carbide particles in the white cast irons played an important role in the behaviour of the white cast irons. Sinter particles were unable to cause gross fracture of the carbides and so those materials with a high volume fraction of carbides showed the greatest resistance to erosive wear. Silica and silicon carbide were capable of causing fracture of the primary carbides. Concentration of plastic strain in the matrix then led to a high wear rate for the matrix. At normal impact with silica or silicon carbide erodents mild steel showed a greater resistance to erosive wear than these alloys. © 1995.

Seasonal variation of alginic acid content in Sargassum cervicone Greville from Hikkaduwa

Sargassum cervicone Greville is one of the species of Sargassum occuring in abundance along the South Western Coast of Ceylon. Durairatnam 1966 carried out a survey from Ambalangoda to Hambantota, and estimated that approximately 130 tons of dried Sargassum can be harvested manually. The bulk of the Sargassum found in this area was Sargassum cervicone Greville.

Seasonal variation in the distribution and availability of Carangids ("Paraw" and "Parati") in the Wadge Bank

The Wadge Bank has been exploited regularly by Ceylon based trawlers since 1955 (Sivalingam & Medcof 1957). The bank is about 4,000 sq. miles in extent (Malpas 1926) and is located south of Cape Comorin within the Continental Shelf of India (Fig. 1). Carangids are taken in large numbers during the months of the south west monsoon (Sivalingam 1966). The quantity, in which the Carangids are captured as shown by the fishing records, is large enough to influence the total catch from the bank during these months (Fig. 2). Carangids are held in high esteem as excellent quality food fishes and accordingly constitute a commercially important group. This paper records the results of a detailed examination of the past fishing records in respect of this group, based on the analysis of the catch and fishing effort for the years 1957 to 1962. The distribution pattern of this group of fish in the Wadge Bank is discussed.

An improved technique to measure axial variation in wall flow along the channels of a diesel particulate filter

A technique to measure wall flow variation in Diesel Particle Filters (DPFs) is described. In a recent paper, it was shown how the flow distribution in DPFs could be measured in a non-destructive manner. This involved measuring the progressive dilution of a tracer gas introduced at the "outlet" channel upstream end. In the present paper, a significant further improvement to this technique is described, in which only a single probe is required, rather than the two of the previous technique. The single, traversable, probe consists of a controllable flow sink, and slightly downstream, a tracer gas supply. By controlling the sink flow rate such that a very small concentration of tracer gas is aspirated into it, the total flow up to that location in the channel is determined. Typical results showing the axial variation in the wall flow for known wall blockage cases are presented. It is suggested that this technique could be used to interpret the soot loading in the filter channels in a non-intrusive way.

Fish fauna of a coastal lagoon in Sri Lanka: distribution and seasonal variation

In this paper results of investigations carried out over the period of September 1977 to August 1978 are presented. These data were collected in the course of a detailed investigation into the biology and the eco-physiology of the young grey mullet and the grey mullet fishery of the Negombo Lagoon. In this paper the distribution and seasonal variation of fin fish species within the Negombo Lagoon are presented.

Studies on the fish ponds at Pitipana, Negombo 1: seasonal and diurnal variation of some hydrobiological factors

The present paper is a part of a detailed investigation on the biology of grey mullet, Mugli cephalus L., and the feasibility of its culture in the brackish waters of Sri Lanka. The authors present the results of investigation on the water quality of five experimental ponds at the Pitipana Brackishwater Fisheries Station, Negombo, carried out over a period of one year, December 1976 to November 1977, together with studies on the primary productivity are presented.

Numerical simulations of unsteady wet steam flows with non-equilibrium condensation in the nozzle and the steam turbine

Numerical techniques for non-equilibrium condensing flows are presented. Conservation equations for homogeneous gas-liquid two-phase compressible flows are solved by using a finite volume method based on an approximate Riemann solver. The phase change consists of the homogeneous nucleation and growth of existing droplets. Nucleation is computed with the classical Volmer-Frenkel model, corrected for the influence of the droplet temperature being higher than the steam temperature due to latent heat release. For droplet growth, two types of heat transfer model between droplets and the surrounding steam are used: a free molecular flow model and a semi-empirical two-layer model which is deemed to be valid over a wide range of Knudsen number. The computed pressure distribution and Sauter mean droplet diameters in a convergent-divergent (Laval) nozzle are compared with experimental data. Both droplet growth models capture qualitatively the pressure increases due to sudden heat release by the non-equilibrium condensation. However the agreement between computed and experimental pressure distributions is better for the two-layer model. The droplet diameter calculated by this model also agrees well with the experimental value, whereas that predicted by the free molecular model is too small. Condensing flows in a steam turbine cascade are calculated at different Mach numbers and inlet superheat conditions and are compared with experiments. Static pressure traverses downstream from the blade and pressure distributions on the blade surface agree well with experimental results in all cases. Once again, droplet diameters computed with the two-layer model give best agreement with the experiments. Droplet sizes are found to vary across the blade pitch due to the significant variation in expansion rate. Flow patterns including oblique shock waves and condensation-induced pressure increases are also presented and are similar to those shown in the experimental Schlieren photographs. Finally, calculations are presented for periodically unsteady condensing flows in a low expansion rate, convergent-divergent (Laval) nozzle. Depending on the inlet stagnation subcooling, two types of self-excited oscillations appear: a symmetric mode at lower inlet subcooling and an asymmetric mode at higher subcooling. Plots of oscillation frequency versus inlet sub-cooling exhibit a hysteresis loop, in accord with observations made by other researchers for moist air flow. Copyright © 2006 by ASME.

Cross-species chromosome painting in the Perissodactyla: delimitation of homologous regions in Burchell's zebra (Equus burchellii) and the white (Ceratotherium simum) and black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis)

Conserved chromosomal segments in the black rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis (DB1, 2n = 84), and its African sister-species the white rhinoceros, Ceratotherim simum (CSI, 2n = 82), were detected using Burchell's zebra (Equus burchellii, EBU, 2n = 44) chromosome-specific painting probes supplemented by a subset of those developed for the horse (Equus caballus, ECA, 2n = 64). In total 41 and 42 conserved autosomal segments were identified in C simum and D. bicornis respectively. Only 21 rearrangements (20 fissions and I fusion) are necessary to convert the Burchell's zebra karyotype into that of the white rhinoceros. One fission distinguishes the D. bicornis and C simum karyotypes which, excluding hetero- chromatic differences, are identical in all respects at this level of resolution. Most Burchell's zebra chromosomes correspond to two rhinoceros chromosomes although in four instances (EBU 18, 19, 20 and 21) whole chromosome synteny has been retained among these species. In contrast, one rhinoceros chromosome (DBI1, CSI1) comprises two separate Burchell's zebra chromosomes (EBU11 and EBU17). In spite of the high diploid numbers of the two rhinoceros species their karyotypes are surprisingly conserved offering a glimpse of the putative ancestral perissodactyl condition and a broader understanding of genome organization in mammals. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Base

Phylogenetic relationships among two species of golden monkey and three species of leaf monkey inferred from rDNA variation

Restriction maps of rDNA repeats of five species of Colobinae and three outgroup taxa, Hylobates leucogenys, Macaca mulatta, and Macaca irus, were constructed using 15 restriction endonucleases and cloned 18S and 28S rRNA gene probes. The site variation between Rhinopithecus roxellana and Rhinopithecus bieti is comparable to that between Presbytis francoisi and Presbytis phayrei, implying that R. bieti is a valid species rather than a subspecies of R. roxellana. Phylogenetic analysis on the 47 informative sites supports the case for Rhinopithecus being an independent genus and closely related to Presbytis. Furthermore, branch lengths of the tree seem to support the hypothesis that the leaf monkeys share some ancestral traits as well as some automorphic characters.

The origin of Mosuo people as revealed by mtDNA and Y chromosome variation

The Mosuo, living in the Lugu Lake area in northwest Yunnan Province, China, is the only matriarchal population in China. The Mosuo was officially identified as Naxi nationality although its relationship with Naxi remains controversial. We studied the gen

Mitochondrial DNA hypervariable region-1 sequence variation and phylogeny of the concolor gibbons, Nomascus

The still little known concolor gibbons are represented by 14 taxa (five species, nine subspecies) distributed parapatrically in China, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. To set the stage for a phylogeographic study of the genus we examined DNA sequence

Dentin phosphoprotein frameshift mutations in hereditary dentin disorders and their variation patterns in normal human population

Background: Dentin phosphoprotein ( DPP) is the most abundant non-collagenous protein in dentin, which is highly phosphorylated and plays key roles in dentin biomineralisation. The aetiology of isolated hereditary dentin disorders in most affected familie

A common SNP of MCPH1 is associated with cranial volume variation in Chinese population

Microcephaly (MCPH) genes are informative in understanding the genetics and evolution of human brain volume. MCPH1 and abnormal spindle-like MCPH associated (ASPM) are the two known MCPH causing genes that were suggested undergone recent positive selectio

Allozyme variation in four hatchery populations of Thai pangas, Pangasius hypophthalmus in Bogra, Bangladesh

Genetic variation of four hatchery stocks of Thai pangas, Pangasius hypophthalmu [sic] of Bogra region, Bangladesh was studied from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2003. Muscle samples were collected for allozyme analysis from four (Bhai-Bhai, Jahangir, Belal and Bhai-Bon) different hatchery populations. For allozyme electrophoresis, eight enzymes were used and 11 loci viz. Adh-1*, Est-1*, GJpdh-1*, Gpi-1*, Gpi-2*, Jdhp-1*, Ldh-1*, Ldh-2*, Mdh-1*, Mdh-2*and Pgm* were identified, of which three loci (Est-1*, Gpi-2*, G3pdh-1 and Pgm*) were polymorphic in all the four populations. The mean proportion of polymorphic loci per population and the mean proportion of heterozygous loci per individual was 36.36% and 13.33, respectively for all the population studied. The highest variability measured by the mean number of alleles per locus was 1.545 in Bhai-Bon hatchery population. Based on Nei's (1972) genetic distance, the dendrogram (UPGMA) shows that four populations have made two clusters by D-value (D=0.043). Bhai-Bhai and Jahangir hatchery populations have made cluster-I, and Belal Uddin and Bhai-Bon hatchery populations formed cluster-II. Among the four populations, BhaiBhai and Jahangir hatchery populations were differentiated from each other by the D-value of 0.013, and Belal Uddin and Bhai-Bon populations were differentiated from each other by the D-value of 0.002, which suggests that the four populations may be fallen into the local population or race.

Allozyme and morphological variation in four hatchery stocks of Thai pangas, Pangasius hypophthalmus in Mymensingh, Bangladesh

Genetic and morphological characters of four hatchery population (Shambhuganj, Brahmaputra, Anudan and Bhai-Bhai) of Thai pangas, Pangasius hypophthalmus in Mymensingh region of Bangladesh was studied using morphological characters and allozyme markers from 29 November 2001 to 29 November 2002. A total of 14 morphometric and 6 meristic characters were verified, among which 3 morphometric (BDA, PELFL and HW) and 2 meristic characters (AFR, CFR) of Anudan hatchery population were found to be significantly higher (p>0.001) than those of the other three hatchery populations. Brahmaputra hatchery population was also significantly higher in two meristic characters (PCFR and CFR). For allozyme electrophoresis nine enzyme markers were used viz.: Esr-1*, G3pdh-2*, Gpi-1*, Gpi-2*, Ldh-1*, Ldh-2*, Mdh-1*, Mdh-2* and Pgm* where three loci (Esr-1*, Gpi-2* and Pgm*) were polymorphic (p>0.95) in Anudan and Brahmaputra hatchery populations. The mean proportion of polymorphic loci per population was higher (33.3%) in Brahmaputra and Anudan hatchery populations. Also the expected heterozygosity levels were 0.149 and 0.177 in Brahmaputra and Anudan hatchery populations, respectively. Based on Nei's (1972) genetic distances, the UPGMA dendrogram grouped the populations into two clusters. The Brahmaputra and Anudan populations are in one group; Shambhuganj, and Bhai-Bhai populations are in the second group. High genetic variation in Thai pangas was observed in the Brahmaputra and Anudan hatchery populations and less variation in the other two hatchery populations.