High-cycle fatigue behavior of friction stir butt welded 6061 aluminium alloy

Friction stir welding （FSW） of 6061 aluminium alloy butt joint was carried out at each rotation speed of 600, 800, 1000, 1200 r/min for two different travel speeds, 80 and 100 mm/min, at a constant probe depth of 1.85 mm. The calculated energy input based on the FSW parameters studied shows that the ultimate tensile strength （UTS） of the butt joint is obtained within a certain range of energy input of 297 kJ to 354 kJ out of total range of energy input studied from 196 kJ to 405 kJ. The fatigue behaviors of high-strength and low-strength joints performed at different stress ratios, i.e., 0.5, 0.3, 0.1, -0.3, -0.5, indicate that the fatigue behaviors of both the welds are sensitive to the microstructural features, such as stir zone （SZ）, thermo mechanically affected zone （TMAZ） and heat affected zone （HAZ）. The observed fatigue strengths were discussed in terms of the microstructure, crack path behavior and fracture surface.

Development of a new coated electrode with low nickel content for welding ductile iron and its response to austempering

Coated Electrodes with small amounts of nickel were developed for welding ductile iron(DI) and conversion of the same into austempered ductile iron(ADI) after austempering. Among six electrodes, Trials 3 and 4 were selected for establishing crack-free weld deposits via preheating and post-weld heat treatment. Austenitization was performed at 900°C for 2 h and austempering at 300 or 350°C for three different holding times to observe the results of austempering with respect to the microstructure, hardness, and austempering kinetics of the samples. The microstructures of the weld deposits showed needle-like bainitic ferrite with small amounts of retained austenite when treated at 300°C and feathery bainitic ferrite with large amounts of retainedaustenite when treated at 350°C. The electrode labeled with Trial 3 revealed greater austenite contents than that labeled with Trial 4 when treated with a 2 h holding time regardless of the austempering temperature applied. The transformation rate of the bainitic ferrite of Trial 3 was relatively higher than that of Trial 4 and showed a lower rate constant, leading to a higher diffusion rate of carbon in austenite.

Development and validation of a high throughput LC–MS/MS method for simultaneous quantitation of pioglitazone and telmisartan in rat plasma and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

Management of cardiovascular risk factors in diabetes demands special attention due to their co-existence. Pioglitazone （PIO） and telmisartan （TLM） combination can be beneficial in effective control of cardiovascular complication in diabetes. In this research, we developed and validated a high throughput LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous quantitation of PIO and TLM in rat plasma. This developed method is more sensitive and can quantitate the analytes in relatively shorter period of time compared to the previously reported methods for their individual quantification. Moreover, till date, there is no bioanalytical method available to simultaneously quantitate PIO and TLM in a single run. The method was validated according to the USFDA guidelines for bioanalytical method validation. A linear response of the analytes was observed over the range of 0.005-10 pg/mL with satisfactory precision and accuracy. Accuracy at four quality control levels was within 94.27%-106.10%. The inlxa- and inter-day precision ranged from 2.32% to 10.14% and 5.02% to 8.12%, respectively. The method was reproducible and sensitive enough to quantitate PIO and TLM in rat plasma samples of a preclinical pharmacokinetic study. Due to the potential of PIO-TLM combination to be therapeutically explored, this method is expected to have significant usefulness in future.

Continuous Wave Diode Laser Surface Texturing of Austenitic and Pearlitic Steels

Microstructuring of steel resulting in directional solidification and texturing, previously observed in various metallic materials during pulsed laser processing, melt-spinning, high-gradient liquid metal melting, zone melting etc., is reported for the first time in continuous wave diode laser processing of steels. Influence of laser interaction time on surface morphology/topology of austenitic manganese and pearlitic steels is investigated utilizing a wide rectangular multi-mode diode laser beam. X-ray diffraction analysis of the laser treated austenitic steel surface showed strong texturing influence, with preferred crystallographic orientation of γ-Fe crystals in the (200) plane, which increased with interaction time. In case of pearlitic steel, no such texturing influence could be observed. The free surface topologies were also observed to be different in each case, with well-aligned domes of γ-Fe observed in laser treated austenitic steel as compared to randomly oriented fine domes of metal oxides in pearlitic one. In situ surface temperature measurement during laser irradiation indicated higher temperature on pearlitic steel than in austenitic manganese steel owing to its lower effective thermal conductivity associated with higher oxide film formation.

Effect of Nano Size TiO₂Particles on Mechanical Properties of AWS E 11018M Type Electrode

Addition of nano size particles of TiO2 in the coating of shielded metal arc welding electrode (E 11018M) partially substituting the conventional micro size TiO2 was studied for possible enhanced electrode characteristics. The results show that the nano size particle of TiO2 improved recovery of elements such as Mn, Ni, Mo, Ti etc. as well as increased all-weld-metal tensile and charpy impact properties at –51℃. Furthermore, the charpy impact properties were found to be very sensitive to variations in Ti content of the weld deposit.

Role of Microstructural Constituents on Surface Crack Formation During Hot Rolling of Standard and Low Nickel Austenitic Stainless Steels

The effect of alloy segregation and delta （δ） ferrite contents on surface cracking of three standard （i.e. AISI 304L, AISI 310S and AISI 321） and two low nickel （i.e. LNi-1 and LNi-0.3） austenitic stainless steels （ASS） during hot roiling was investigated using optical microscopy （OM）, automatic image analyzer, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDX） and electron probe micro analyzer （EPMA）. It was observed that the amount of 6-ferrite varied among different grades and also distributed heterogeneously across the width of the steel plates. In general, low nickel ASS showed higher amount of 6-ferrite compared to the standard ASS grades. The tendency to surface cracking during hot rolling gradually increased with increasing 6-ferrite content. Interestingly, carbon and nitrogen exerted maximum effect on 6-ferrite formation. The higher carbon and nitrogen content in the steel decreased 6-ferMte content. In addition, the segregation of Cu and Mn plays significant role in low nickel ASS and Ni-Cr in case of standard ASS has profound effect on surface cracking of the steel plates. A possible cause of surface crack formation/origination in steel plates during hot rolling was discussed.

Organic farming in India: a vision towards a healthy nation

Food quality and safety are the two important factors that have gained ever-increasing attention in general consumers.Conventionally grown foods have immense adverse health effects due to the presence of higher pesticide residue,more nitrate,heavy metals,hormones,antibiotic residue,and also genetically modified organisms.Moreover,conventionally grown foods are less nutritious and contain lesser amounts of protective antioxidants.In the quest for safer food,the demand for organically grown foods has increased during the last decades due to their probable health benefits and food safety concerns.Organic food production is defined as cultivation without the application of chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides or genetically modified organisms,growth hormones,and antibiotics.The popularity of organically grown foods is increasing day by day owing to their nutritional and health benefits.Organic farming also protects the environment and has a greater socio-economic impact on a nation.India is a country that is bestowed with indigenous skills and potentiality for growth in organic agriculture.Although India was far behind in the adoption of organic farming due to several reasons,presently it has achieved rapid growth in organic agriculture and now becomes one of the largest organic producers in the world.Therefore,organic farming has a great impact on the health of a nation like India by ensuring sustainable development.