Fabrication of Al_2O_3-NaCl Composite Heat Storage Materials by One-step Synthesis Method

Thermal energy storage is an attractive option for effectiveness since it gives flexibility and reduces energy consumption and costs. New composite materials for storage and transformation of heat of NaCl-Al2O3composite materials were synthesized by one-step synthesis method. The chemical composition, morphology, structure, and thermal properties were investigated by XRD, EDS, SEM, and DSC. The results show that NaCl can be absorbed by Al2O3particle from 800 to 900 ℃ for Al2O3particle surface is rich active structure. The results also indicate that the leakage of NaCl when the phase change can be prevented by Al2O3particles and the enthalpy of phase change of NaCl-Al2O3material is 362 J/g. The composites have an excellent heat storage capacity. Therefore, this study contributes to one new thought and method to prepare high temperature heat storage material and this material can be applied in future thermal engineering.

Synthesis of SiC/Al Co-Continuous Composite by Spontaneous Melt Infiltration

Investigation has been made on the process of synthesizing SiC/Al co-continuous composite by spontaneous melt infiltration. It is found that nitrogen atmosphere is an indispensable factor for spontaneous infiltration of melt Al into SiC preform with continuous porosity. The critical temperature for spontaneous infiltration occurrence can be lowered and spontaneous infiltration rate increased by doping a small amount of Mg into the Al alloy. Adding fine SiO2 powders into the ceramic preform can play the similar role as Mg-doping by increasing wetting through the chemical reaction of 3SiO2+4AI=2Al2O3+3Si at the infiltration front. Infiltration rate can also be increased by Si-doping to lower the viscosity of the molten Al alloy. In addition, sufficient Si content in the molten Al is also indispensable to avoid the formation of Al4C in the synthesized composite.

SYNTHESIS AND PROPERTIES OF A NOVEL COMPOSITE ZSM-5 ZEOLITE/VERMICULITE CATALYST

The composite ZSM—5 zeolite/vermiculite catalyst,in which tiny ZSM—5 zeolite parti- cles embedded in the vermiculite substrate,has been synthesized by hydrothermal method with vermiculite as silicon source.The catalytic behavior of resulting catalyst for xylene isomerization,propylene aromatization and toluene disproportionation is better than that of HZSM—5 zeolite.

Characterization and adsorption behaviors of a novel synthesized mesoporous silica coated carbon composite

A novel mesoporous silica coated carbon composite(denoted SEG) with hierarchical pore structure has been successfully prepared in an aqueous solution that contains triblock copolymer template, aluminum chloride, siliceous source and expanded graphite. Textural property and morphology of the SEG composite were characterized by the combination of X-ray diffraction, N_2 adsorption–desorption, scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared measurements. Results show that mesoporous silica is steadily and uniformly grown on the surface of the graphite slices and the thickness of the silica layer can be finely tuned according to the silica/C molar ratio in the initial reaction solution. This newly synthesized SEG composite shows greatly increased adsorption capacity to methylene blue than the pristine expanded graphite in the batch tests. Both Langmuir and Frendlich models were further used to evaluate the adsorption isotherms of methylene blue over expanded graphite and SEG samples with different silica contents. Finally, pseudosecond-order model was used to describe the kinetics of methylene blue over expanded graphite and the silica-carbon composites.

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF HEAT TRANSFER DURING LASER CLADDING TO SYNTHESIZE TiCp/Al COMPOSITE

Based on the continuum model for binary solid-liquid phase change system, the math-ematic model to simulate the process of laser cladding in situ synthesis TiCp/Al composite on the surface of aluminum alloy was formulated. The additive source method was employed to treat with the heat release of synthetic reaction in powder mixture at certain temperatures, and also to solve the momentum and heat transfer caused by the relative movement between laser beam and the specimen. Two different types of driving forces for flow were considered in the model, i.e., the buoyancy force and the surface tension gradient at the laser pool surface. The three-dimensional transient temperature field simulation program was developed being based upon the commercial software PHOENICS. The calculated and observed fusion boundaries were compared and very good agreement was obtained.

Characteristics of alumina particles in dispersion-strengthened copper alloys

Two types of alumina dispersion-strengthened copper（ADSC） alloys were fabricated by a novel in-situ reactive synthesis（IRS） and a traditional internal oxidation（IO） process. The features of alumina dispersoids in these ADSC alloys were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It is found that nano-sized γ-Al2O3 particles of approximately 10 nm in diameter are homogeneously distributed in the IRS-ADSC composites. Meanwhile, larger-sized, mixed crystal structure alumina with rod-shaped morphology is embedded in the IO-ADSC alloy. The IRS-ADSC composites can obtain better mechanical and physical properties than the IO-ADSC composites; the tensile strength of the IRS-ADSC alloy can reach 570 MPa at room temperature, its electrical conductivity is 85% IACS, and the Rockwell hardness can reach 86 HRB.

Effects of Forming Conditions and TiC–TiB_2 Contents on the Microstructures of Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesized NiAl–TiC–TiB_2 Composites

The NiAl–TiC–TiB2 composites were processed by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis（SHS） method using raw powders of Ni, Al, Ti, B4 C, TiC, and TiB2, and their microstructure and micro-hardness were investigated. The TiC–TiB2 in NiAl matrix, with contents from 10 to 30 wt%, emerged with the use of two methods： in situ formed and externally added. The results show that all final products are composed of three phases of NiAl, TiC, and TiB2. The microstructures of NiAl–TiC–TiB2 composites with in situ-formed TiC and TiB2 are fine, and all the three phases are distributed uniformly. The grains of NiAl matrix in the composites have been greatly refined, and the micro-hardness of NiAl increases from 381 HV100 to 779 HV100. However, the microstructures of NiAl–TiC–TiB2 composites with externally added TiC and TiB2 are coarse and inhomogeneous, with severe agglomeration of TiC and TiB2 particles. The samples containing externally added 30 wt% TiC–TiB2attain the micro-hardness of 485 HV100. The microstructure evolution and fracture mode of the two kinds of NiAl–TiC–TiB2 composites are different.

Synthesis of ZrC Nanoparticles in the ZrO_2–Mg–C–Fe System Through Mechanically Activated Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis

ZrC nanoparticles in the matrix of Fe were produced by the mechanically activated self-propagating hightemperature method using ZrO2/C/Mg/Fe powder mixtures. The effects of milling time, Fe content, and combustion temperature as well as the formation route for synthesizing ZrC powder particles were studied. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, and DTA. The XRD results revealed that, after 18 h of mechanical activation, ZrO2/ZC/Mg/Fe reacted with the self-propagating combustion（SHS） mode at 870 °C producing the ZrC–Fe nanocomposite. It was also found that both mechanical activation and Fe content played key roles in the ZrC synthesis temperature. With a Fe content of（5–40） wt%, the SHS reaction proceeded favorably and both the ZrC formation temperature and the adiabatic temperature（Tad） decreased. The Mg O content was removed from the final products using a leaching test process by dissolving in hydrochloric and acetic acids.

Synthesizing Service Composition Models on the Basis of Temporal Business Rules

Transformational approaches to generating design and implementation models from requirements can bring effectiveness and quality to software development. In this paper we present a framework and associated techniques to generate the process model of a service composition from a set of temporal business rules. Dedicated techniques including path- finding, branching structure identification and parallel structure identification are used for semi-automatically synthesizing the process model from the semantics-equivalent Finite State Automata of the rules. These process models naturally satisfy the prescribed behavioral constraints of the rules. With the domain knowledge encoded in the temporal business rules, an executable service composition program, e.g., a BPEL program, can be further generated from the process models. A running example in the e-business domain is used for illustrating our approach throughout this paper.

Correlation between microstructure and tensile behavior of metal–intermetallic laminate compound with different initial Ni foil thickness

Ni-base metal–intermetallic laminate composites were obtained from in situ reaction synthesis between Ni and Al foils by utilizing plasma activated sintering. The effects of Ni foil thickness on the microstructure and tensile properties of the composites were investigated. The results show that the phases forming during reaction synthesis are independent of the starting thickness of the Ni foils. However, thicker reacted layers are obtained in the samples fabricated from 100 lm Ni foils（Ni100） than those obtained in the samples from 50 lm Ni foils（Ni50）when treated at the same process. The tensile strength of Ni100 samples increases with the temperature increasing at the expense of ductility. Dissimilarly, Ni50 composites treated at higher temperatures exhibit enhanced strength and ductility. Both Ni50 and Ni100 laminate fracture in a similar mechanism. Cracking first occurs in the brittle intermetallic layers. These original cracks result in shear bands in Ni layers emitted from the crack tips, and thus producing local stress concentration, which initiates new cracks in adjacent intermetallic layers. The multiplication of cracks and shear bands leads to the failure of the laminates.