A mathematical model of rough surface contact characterization in spot welding

Based on the elastic-plastic mechanics and the contact mechanics, an asperity contact model for the resistance spot welding of the rough surface is presented. The numerical results indicate that the real contact area is only a small section of the nominal contact area. The value of the real contact area is randomly fluctuating within 20%. The real contact area’s distribution and each point’s deformation can also be obtained from this model, which is primary in the calculation of the contact resistance and the temperature field of the spot welding.

Two Dimensional Nanoscale Reciprocating Sliding Contacts of Textured Surfaces

Detailed behaviors of nanoscale textured surfaces during the reciprocating sliding contacts are still unknown although they are widely used in mechanical components to improve tribological characteristics. The current research of sliding contacts of textured surfaces mainly focuses on the experimental studies, while the cost is too high. Molecular dynamics（MD） simulation is widely used in the studies of nanoscale single-pass sliding contacts, but the CPU cost of MD simulation is also too high to simulate the reciprocating sliding contacts. In this paper, employing multiscale method which couples molecular dynamics simulation and finite element method, two dimensional nanoscale reciprocating sliding contacts of textured surfaces are investigated. Four textured surfaces with different texture shapes are designed, and a rigid cylindrical tip is used to slide on these textured surfaces. For different textured surfaces, average potential energies and average friction forces of the corresponding sliding processes are analyzed. The analyzing results show that ＂running-in＂ stages are different for each texture, and steady friction processes are discovered for textured surfaces II, III and IV. Texture shape and sliding direction play important roles in reciprocating sliding contacts, which influence average friction forces greatly. This research can help to design textured surfaces to improve tribological behaviors in nanoscale reciprocating sliding contacts.

CAD-DIRECTED INSPECTION PLANNING FOR FREEFORM SURFACE USING CONTACT PROBES

A methodology for CAD-directed measurement of freeform surface using a coordinate measuring machine equipped with a touch-trigger probe is presented, mainly including adaptive sampling of measurement points and registration of freeform surface. The proposed sampling method follows four steps： Freeform surface is fitted by bi-cubic B-spline; Curvedness measure of the surface is computed; Given a number of sampling points, an iterative algorithm is constructed for selecting a set of measurement points by employing the curvedness information; The measurement points is regularized for tradeoff between maximizing the measurement accuracy and minimizing the sampling time and cost. The aforesaid algorithm is demonstrated in term of a marine propeller blade. An offset surface registration method is presented to improve alignment accuracy of freeform objects, and Monte Carlo simulation is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the method.

NUMERICAL APPROACH TO DETERMINING INSTANTANEOUS CONTACT REGION FOR CONJUGATE SURFACES

According to the defect of traditional method of determining instantaneous contact regions for conjugate surfaces, a numerical approach to the determination is proposed. A local coordinate system is built by using the surface unit tangent and unit normal at the contact point. Considering that the gap forming the boundary of instantaneous contact region in the direction of the common normal vectors is given, a system of nonlinear equations is built to find the instantaneous contact boundary in local coordinate system, a modified Powell＇s hybrid algorithm of finite-difference approximation to the Jacobian used to solve the system. The new method simplifies the task of determining instantaneous contact regions without calculating curvatm＇e and relative curvature. The validity of the proposed approach is verified by an example of hypoid gears.

Microbial Evaluation of Meat Contact Surfaces in Red Meat Abattoirs of Bauchi State, North-Eastern Nigeria

Microbial quality (MQ) of meat contact surfaces (MCS) of six major abattoirs was evaluated with a subsequent further isolation and identification of E. coli O157. Two hundred and forty 240 swab samples (SS) from MCS that include cutting equipment, floor, tables and transport media were collected for total aerobic plate count and isolation of E. coli O157. Results of the SS indicated a mean value 7.1 ± 0.3 log10 cfu/cm2. A minimum value of 6.4 ± 0.6 log10 cfu/cm2 was recorded oncutting instrument from Ningi abattoir, while a maximum value of 7.8 ± 0.3 log10 cfu/cm2 was obtained from tables at Darazo abattoir. Only 3 (1.2%) of the 240 SS of the MCS were positive for E. coli O157 using the latex agglutination kit (Difco, Michigan, USA).

Study on Glow Discharge Plasma Used in Polyester Surface Modification

To achieve an atmospheric pressure glow discharge（APGD）in air and modify the surface of polyester thread using plasma,the electric field distribution and discharge characteristics under different conditions were studied.We found that the region with a strong electric field,which was formed in a tiny gap between two electrodes constituting a line-line contact electrode structure,provided the initial electron for the entire discharge process.Thus,the discharge voltage was reduced.The dielectric barrier of the line-line contact electrodes can inhibit the generation of secondary electrons.Thus,the transient current pulse discharge was reduced significantly,and an APGD in air was achieved.We designed double layer line-line contact electrodes,which can generate the APGD on the surface of a material under treatment directly.A noticeable change in the surface morphology of polyester fiber was visualized with the aid of a scanning electron microscope（SEM）.Two electrode structures-the multi-row line-line and double-helix line-line contact electrodes-were designed.A large area of the APGD plasma with flat and curved surfaces can be formed in air using these contact electrodes.This can improve the efficiency of surface treatment and is significant for the application of the APGD plasma in industries.

Pinion Tooth Surface Generation Strategy of Spiral Bevel Gears

Aviation spiral bevel gears are often generated by spiral generated modified（SGM） roll method.In this style,pinion tooth surface modified generation strategy has an important influence on the meshing and contact performances.For the optimal contact pattern and transmission error function,local synthesis is applied to obtain the machine-tool settings of pinion.For digitized machine,four tooth surface generation styles of pinion are proposed.For every style,tooth contact analysis（TCA） is applied to obtain contact pattern and transmission error function.For the difference between TCA transmission error function and design objective curve,the degree of symmetry and agreement are defined and the corresponding sub-objective functions are established.Linear weighted combination method is applied to get an equivalent objective function to evaluate the shape of transmission error function.The computer programs for the process above are developed to analyze the meshing performances of the four pinion tooth surface generation styles for a pair of aviation spiral bevel gears with 38/43 teeth numbers.The four analytical results are compared with each other and show that the incomplete modified roll is optimal for this gear pair.This study is an expansion to generation strategy of spiral bevel gears,and offers new alternatives to computer numerical control（CNC） manufacture of spiral bevel gears.

Multiscale Analysis on Two-dimensional Nanoscale Adhesive Contacts

Nanoscale adhesive contacts play a key role in micro/nano-electro-mechanical systems as the dimension of the components come to nanometer.Experimental studies on nanoscale adhesive contacts are limited by some uncertain factors and the cost of experiments is too high.Besides,nanoscale textured surfaces are difficult to process and nanoscale adhesive contacts of textured surfaces are still lack of investigation.By using multiscale method,which couples molecular dynamics simulation and finite element method,two-dimensional nanoscale adhesive contacts between a rigid cylindrical tip and an elastic substrate are investigated.For the contacts between the rigid cylindrical tip and smooth surface,Von Mises stress distributions,the maximum Von Mises stresses,and contact forces are compared for different radii to show the size effects and adhesive effects.The phenomena of hysteresis are observed and more obvious as the radii of the tip increase.The influences of indentation depth and indentation speed are also discussed.Then two series of textured surfaces are employed,and the influences of the texture asperity shape,asperity height,and asperity spacing on contact forces are studied.The contact forces comparisons show that textured surfaces can reduce contact forces effectively in the range of the two series.Contact forces of textured surfaces increase as the asperity heights increase,and textured surfaces with smaller asperity spacing will get higher contact forces.Contact forces may be controlled through textured surfaces in the future.The obtained results will help to improve contact condition and provide theory basis for texture design.

Contact Resistance and Arc Erosion of Tungsten-copper Contacts in Direct Currents

The arc erosion under medium direct currents in the argon flow was tested on tungsten-copper（W-Cu） contacts which were processed by hot extrusion and heat treatment. The scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and transmission electron microscopy（TEM） were used to study the microstructure of the W-Cu powders and compacts. The contact resistance, arcing energy, and arcing time were continuously measured by JF04C contact materials test system. Changes in tungsten-copper contact surface were observed by SEM. The test results showed that the arcing time and arcing energy all increase with current and voltage, but the changes of average contact resistance are more complicated. For a short arcing time, the average contact resistance decreases with increasing current due to the vaporization of Cu. However, for a longer arcing time, it slightly increases due to the formation of high resistant films, compound copper tungsten. The formation of compound copper tungsten was confirmed by the increased Rc kept in the range from 1.1 to 1.6 mΩ. The compound copper tungsten is first exposed with a tungsten and copper-rich surface, and then totally exposed due to evaporation of copper from the surface. At last a stabilized surface is created and the crystals decrease from 8 μm to 2 μm caused by the arc erosion.

Non-Thermal Atmospheric Plasma:Can it Be Taken as a Common Solution for the Surface Treatment of Dental Materials?

This study aimed to evaluate the surface roughness and wetting properties of various dental prosthetic materials after different durations of non-thermal atmospheric plasma（NTAP）treatment.One hundred and sixty discs of titanium（Ti）（n：40）,cobalt chromium（Co-Cr）（n：40）,yttrium stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystals（Y-TZP）（n：40）and polymethylmethacrylate（PMMA）（n：40）materials were machined and smoothed with silicon carbide papers.The surface roughness was evaluated in a control group and in groups with different plasma exposure times [1-3-5 s].The average surface roughness（Ra）and contact angle（CA）measurements were recorded via an atomic force microscope（AFM）and tensiometer,respectively.Surface changes were examined with a scanning electron microscope（SEM）.Data were analyzed with two-way analysis of variance（ANOVA）and the Tukey HSD test α=0.05）.According to the results,the NTAP surface treatment significantly affected the roughness and wettability properties（P 〈 0.05）.SEM images reveal that more grooves were present in the NTAP groups.With an increase in the NTAP application time,an apparent increment was observed for Ra,except in the PMMA group,and a remarkable reduction in CA was observed in all groups.It is concluded that the NTAP technology could enhance the roughening and wetting performance of various dental materials.

Research on fatigue evaluation method of high-speed train axle based on axle box acceleration

As a key safety component of the high-speed train, fatigue fracture of the axle would lead to major accidents such as derailment or overturning. The complexity of the axle dynamic stress test seriously enhances the difficulty of axle fatigue damage analysis. In this paper, the dynamic stress test of the high-speed train axle was carried out,the axle box acceleration was monitored on-track during the test, and the relationship between the axle stress spectrum and acceleration was analyzed on-track. The results show that the relationships between the axle equivalent stresses and the Root Mean Square(RMS) values of the axle box vertical acceleration and lateral acceleration exhibit a strong joint probability density distribution. The concept of the virtual surface density of wheel-rail contact is also proposed to realize the purpose of using axle box acceleration to deduce axle equivalent force. The results quantify the relationship between axle box acceleration and axle equivalent force, provide a new method for predicting the axle damage using the acceleration RMS values, and open up a new approach for structural health monitoring of high-speed train axles.

NUMERICAL STUDY ON FLANGING AND SPRINGBACK OF STAMPED THICK METAL PLATE

A quasi-three-dimensional shell element model, which can beeffectively used to simulate the flanging and spring-backdeformation, is introduced into the independently developed CAEsoftware, KMAS, In this model, a double surface contact algorithm,which allows the gap between punch and die to change, and a spring-back treatment scheme based on finite element meshing are described.And then the flanging and spring-back deformations of the retractor'skickstand of a railcar made of stamped thick metal plate arenumerically simulated. The simulation results of flanging deformationare compared with those of international commercial software,PAM-STAMP, and experimental ones. Finally, a predicting scheme ofspring-back quantily for this problem is given.

A study on characteristics of shock train inside a shock tube

Shock tubes are devices which are used in the investigation of high speed and high temperature flow of compressible gas. lnside a shock tube, the interaction between the reflected shock wave and boundary layer leads to a complex flow phenomenon. Initially a normal shock wave is formed in the shock tube which migrates toward the closed end of the tube and that in turn leads to the reflection of shock. Due to the boundary layer interaction with the reflected shock, the bifurcation of shock wave takes place. The bifurcated shock wave then approaches the contact surface and shock train is generated. Till date only a few studies have been conducted to investigate this shock train phenomenon inside the shock tube. For the present study a computational fluid dynamics （CFD） analysis has been performed on a two dimensional axi-symmetric model of a shock tube using unsteady, compressible Navier-Stokes equations. In order to investigate the detailed characteristics of shock train, parametric studies have been performed by varying different parameters such as the shock tube length, diameter, pressure ratio used inside the shock tube.

Control Method for Steel Strip Roughness in Two-stand Temper Mill Rolling

How to control surface roughness of steel strip in a narrow range for a long time has become an important question because surface roughness would significantly influence the appearance of the products. However, there are few effective solutions to solve the problem currently. In this paper, considering both asperities of work roll pressing in and squeezing the steel strip, two asperity contact models including squeezing model and pressing in model in a two-stand temper mill rolling are established by using finite element method（FEM）. The simulation investigates the influences of multiple process parameters, such as work roll surface roughness, roll radius and roll force on the surface roughness of steel strip. The simulation results indicate that work rolls surface roughness and roll force play important roles in the products; furthermore, the effect of roll force in the first stand is opposite to the second. According to the analysis, a control method for steel strip surface roughness in a narrow range for a long time is proposed, which applies higher work roll roughness in the first stand and lower roll roughness in the second to make the steel strip roughness in a required narrow range. In the later stage of the production, decreasing the roll force in the first stand and increasing the roll force in the second stand guarantee the steel strip roughness relatively stable in a long time. The following experimental measurements on the surface topography and roughness of the steel strips during the whole process are also conducted. The results validate the simulation conclusions and prove the effect of the control method. The application of the proposed method in the steel strip production shows excellent performance including long service life of work roll and high finished product rate.

Research on the influence of contact surface constraint on mechanical properties of rock-concrete composite specimens under compressive loads

The contact form of rock-concrete has a crucial influence on the failure characteristics of the stability of rock-concrete engineering.To study the influence of contact surface on the mechanical properties of rock-concrete composite specimens under compressive loads,the two different contact forms of rock-concrete composite specimens are designed,the mechanical properties of these two different specimens are analyzed under triaxial compressive condition,and analysis comparison on the stress-strain curves and failure forms of the two specimens is carried out.The influence of contact surface constraint on the mechanical properties of rock-concrete composite specimens is obtained.Results show that the stress and strain of rock-concrete composite specimens with contact surface constraint are obviously higher than those without.Averagely,compared with composite specimens without the contact surface,the existence of contact surface constraint can increase the axial peak stress of composite specimens by 24%and the axial peak strain by 16%.According to the characteristics of the fracture surface,the theory of microcrack development is used to explain the contact surface constraint of rock-concrete composite specimens,which explains the difference of mechanical properties between the two rock-concrete composite specimens in the experiment.Research results cannot only enrich the research content of the mechanics of rock contact,but also can serve as a valuable reference for the understanding of the corresponding mechanics mechanism of other similar composite specimens.

Evaluation of gas wettability and its effects on fluid distribution and fluid flow in porous media

The special gas wettability phenomenon of reservoir rocks has been recognized by more and more researchers.It has a significant effect on efficient development of unconventional reservoirs.First,based on the preferentially gas-covered ability and surface free energy changes,definition and evaluation methods have been established.Second,a method for altering rock wettability and its mechanisms have been studied,surface oriented phenomena of functional groups with low surface energy are the fundamental reason for gas wettability alteration of rock.Third,the effect of gas wettability on the surface energy,electrical properties and dilatability are investigated.Last,the effects of gas wettability on capillary pressure,oil/gas/water distribution and flow are investigated with capillary tubes and etchedglass network models.The gas wettability theory of reservoir rocks has been initially established,which provides theoretical support for the efficient production of unconventional reservoirs and has great significance.

Effects of internal factors on surface wettability of corn stalk rind

Corn stalk is one of heterogeneous materials with anisotropy and variability.As the rind of corn stalk consists of rich lignin and cellulose similar to wood properties,and possessing high mechanical strength,then can be used as raw material of stalk artificial board and paper.The corn stalk rind has significant differences in fiber morphology,chemical composition and mechanical properties at different heights.Nano-SiO2 composite material contained in the epidermis of corn stalk rind is not conducive to exert adhesive into a board.To study board-making technology by intact corn stalk rind,the wettability of corn stalk rind at different sampling heights is necessary to be analyzed by keeping or removing the epidermis.To analyze the surface wettability difference,the contact angle with water,element compositions and the chemical compositions of corn stalk rind at different sampling heights were studied before and after removal of epidermis.A Fourier transform infrared(FTIR)analysis was performed.The results showed that the removal of the epidermis could significantly improve the hydrophilicity of corn stalk rind.Before removal of the epidermis,the varying contents of elements including C and Si dominate the surface wettability differences at different sampling heights of corn stalk.With an increase in the sampling height,the mass fraction of C increases while that of Si decreases,which result in increasing hydrophilicity.After removal of the epidermis,the surface wettability of corn stalk rind is mainly determined by the mass fraction of hemicellulose,and the higher the sampling height,the larger the mass fraction of hemicellulose resulting in the increase of hydrophilicity.

Analysis of asphalt mix surface-tread rubber interaction by using finite element method

The surface texture of the pavement plays a very important role in driving the frictional properties at the tire rubber-pavement interface. Particularly, the hysteretic friction due to viscoelastic deformations of rubber depends mainly on the pavement surface texture. In the present paper, the effect of micromechanical pavement surface morphology on rubber block friction was brought in by comparing the friction results for three different asphalt mix morphological surfaces, named stone mastic asphalt （SMA）, ultra-thin surfacing （UTS） and porous asphalt （PA）. The asphalt surface morphologies of these mixes were captured by using an X-ray tornographer, from which the resulting images micromechanical finite element （FE） meshes for SMA, UTS and PA pavements were developed by means of the SimpleWare software. In the FE model, the rubber and asphalt binder were modeled as viscoelastic （V-E） materials and the formulation was given in the large deformation frame- work. FE simulations were then carried out by using contact algorithm between rubber and the road surface. It was observed that the rubber friction inversely varies with the sliding speed and positively varies with the pressure for all the pavement morphological and stiffness conditions. Furthermore, it was observed that the highly porous pavement surface results in large dissipation of energy, hence, large rubber friction which shows that the mix characteristics of pavements have a simaificant effect on rubber friction.

A thin transition film formed by plasma exposure contributes to the germanium surface hydrophilicity

Plasma treatment and 10% NH_4OH solution rinsing were performed on a germanium（Ge） surface.It was found that the Ge surface hydrophilicity after O_2 and Ar plasma exposure was stronger than that of samples subjected to N_2 plasma exposure. This is because the thin Ge Ox film formed on Ge by O_2 or Ar plasma is more hydrophilic than Ge Ox Ny formed by N_2 plasma treatment. A flat（RMS 〈 0：5 nm） Ge surface with high hydrophilicity（contact angle smaller than 3°） was achieved by O_2 plasma treatment, showing its promising application in Ge low-temperature direct wafer bonding.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE NON-DARCY FLOW AND SOLUTE TRANSPORT IN A CHANNELED SINGLE FRACTURE

The characterization of fracture rocks is always a key issue in understanding the flow and solute transport in fractured media. This article studies the solute transport in a Channeled Single Fracture （CSF）, a single fracture with contact in certain areas. The flow in a CSF often has preferential pathways and the transport in a CSF often has Break Through Curves （BTCs） with long tails. The Surface Contact Ratio （SCR）, the ratio of the contact area to the total fracture area, is an important indicator for the fracture surface roughness. To study the flow and solute transport in a CSF, a controlled physical model is constructed and a series of flow and tracer test experiments are carried out. Under our experimental conditions, the flow in a CSF is found to follow the Forchheimer equation , where and are the hydraulic gradient and the average pore velocity, respectively and and are two parameters related to the viscous and inertial flow components, respectively. Furthermore, it is found that b decreases with the decrease of SCR. For the solute transport, it is found that the BTCs often deviate from the traditional Fickian behavior, by the early-arrival and the long tailing. More interestingly, the observed BTCs often have a double-peak or a multi-peak, that would be difficult to explain using the existing transport theory such as the Advection-Dispersion Equation （ADE）. In addition, the longitudinal dispersion coefficient is found to be scale-dependent in a CSF and the relationship is of exponential type.