Characteristics of Eddy Current Attenuation and Thickness Measurement of Metallic Plate

In eddy current testing, the law of attenuation of eddy current(EC) is of great concern. In conductive half space under the excitation of uniform magnetic field, the EC density decreases exponentially in the depth direction. However, in conductor with finite thickness tested by coil, the distribution of EC in the depth direction is more complicated. This paper studies the characteristics of EC attenuation in metallic plate of finite thickness. Simulation results show that there is an EC reflection at the bottom of plate, which changes the law of EC attenuation. A new concept, namely the equivalent attenuation coefficient, is proposed to quantify the speed of EC attenuation. The characteristics of EC attenuation are utilized to explain the nonmonotonic relation between coil voltage and plate thickness. Procedure of selecting frequency is discussed. Thereafter, measurement of plate thickness is carried out and accurate result is obtained.

Development of an Ultrasonic Motor That Uses an Inchworm Shaped Deformation of a Metallic Plate

At the present time, ultrasonic motors have been developed for a variety of purposes such as linear motion drives and rotational drives. The elaboration of an ultrasonic motor is time-consuming, because it is developed adapting on its application. In this study, a new ultrasonic motor structure that combines a piezoelectric element and a metallic plate is elaborated. The driving principle of this motor is that the metal plate is bent to an inchworm shape and rotates the rotor when the piezoelectric element is stretched. The objective of this study is to verify the functioning of the new motor experimentally.

Residual Stresses and Forming Quality of Metal Bipolar Plates for PEMFC During the Stamping Process

Stamping is a critical step in the manufacture of metallic bipolar plates.Typically,residual stress and a spring back effect appear on the bipolar plate after the stamping process,which impacts on the performance and lifetime of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC).The residual stress and spring back behavior which occur as a result of stamping a bipolar plate are investigated in this study.The effects of the punch radius,the die radius,the channel depth,and the clearance between the punch and the die on the residual stress and forming quality of the bipolar plate are examined.The stamping process can be divided into three stages.The high stress area and the middle section residual stress area were selected to study the formation process and to obtain the composition of the residual stress regions.Spring back was mainly related to the position of the fixed end of the sheet and the degree of plastic deformation,and the sheet thickness have increased by 2μm after spring back.Based on the results of finite element analysis,as described by the distribution of residual stress,the formation,the thickness of the middle cross section and the equivalent plastic strain,it was found that all the tool parameters affected the distribution of the residual stress.This research can provide a design reference for the manufacture of metallic bipolar plates based on the stamping process.

Vibration of a Two-Layer“Metal+PZT”Plate Contacting with Viscous Fluid

The present work investigates the mechanically forced vibration of the hydro-elasto-piezoelectric system consisting of a two-layer plate“elastic+PZT”,a compressible viscous fluid,and a rigid wall.It is assumed that the PZT(piezoelectric)layer of the plate is in contact with the fluid and time-harmonic linear forces act on the free surface of the elastic-metallic layer.This study is valuable because it considers for the first time the mechanical vibration of the metal+piezoelectric bilayer plate in contact with a fluid.It is also the first time that the influence of the volumetric concentration of the constituents on the vibration of the hydro-elasto-piezoelectric system is studied.Another value of the present work is the use of the exact equations and relations of elasto-electrodynamics for elastic and piezoelectric materials to describe the motion of the plate layers within the framework of the piecewise homogeneous body model and the use of the linearized Navier-Stokes equations to describe the flow of the compressible viscous fluid.The plane-strain state in the plate and the plane flow in the fluid take place.For the solution of the corresponding boundary-value problem,the Fourier transform is used with respect to the spatial coordinate on the axis along the laying direction of the plate.The analytical expressions of the Fourier transform of all the sought values of each component of the system are determined.The origins of the searched values are determined numerically,after which numerical results on the stress on the fluid and plate interface planes are presented and discussed.These results are obtained for the case where PZT-2 is chosen as the piezoelectric material,steel and aluminum as the elastic metal materials,and Glycerin as the fluid.Analysis of these results allows conclusions to be drawn about the character of the problem parameters on the frequency response of the interfacial stress.In particular,it was found that after a certain value of the vibration frequency,the presence of the metal layer in the two-layer plate led to an increase in the absolute values of the above interfacial stress.

Numerical Controlled Rolling Process of Thick Metal Plate

Thick metal plate rolling process has become more and more important in building a flat roof of drilling on the bottom at sea. This is because not only the product quality requirement higher and higher but also the marketing competition. To improve the process of thick metal plate rolling and to increase productivity a numerical controlled rolling process is developed, which include the process planning, the mathematical model establishment and the numerical control system development. The process is for the 17 000 kN×3 000 mm movable up roller bending machine. According to the machine configuration non-symmetry rolling process is planed. This makes it possible to integrate all the steps of plate shaping up such as end side bending, several times of semi-shape bending and the last shape finishing. Since the process will perform under the numerical controlled condition whole steps of the process are considered can be worked in the automatic cycle. The mathematic model consists of two sections, the theory model and the experience parameters model. Which takes the original plate parameters such as geometry and mechanics, characters of the machine such as the movement limits, tonnage and so on as input and calculates all the parameters needed in process performing. Meanwhile, the mathematic Model is totally adapted to the control system. The numerical control system development scheme is based on all the works above. Here, a system plan is provided. The functional modules and hardware selection, in detail, are introduced. The system software on top level and the controlling software for controller are developed. And some unit techniques in the system such as timer setting, communication between system and controller, video integration, and the ability of resisting impact force are introduced. The process has been used successfully in production for more than two years. Practice approves that the process is robust.

Phase orientation improved the corrosion resistance and conductivity of Cr_(2)AlC coatings for metal bipolar plates

In view of the M_(n+1)AX_(n)(MAX)phase coatings benefting the adaptive passivation flm for good corrosion resistance and high electronic density of states for excellent electrical conductivity,here,we reported the Cr_(2)Al C MAX phase coatings with different preferred orientations by a homemade technique consisting of vacuum arc and magnetron sputtering.The dependence of surface and interface microstructural evolution upon the corrosion and electrochemical properties of deposited coating was focused.Results showed that all the Cr_(2)Al C coatings with different phase orientations greatly improved the performance of stainless steel(SS)316 L substrate.Specifcally,the lowest value of interface contact resistance(ICR)reached to 3.16 mΩcm^(2)and the lowest corrosion current density was 2×10^(-2)μA cm^(-2),which were much better than those of bare SS316L.The combined studies of electrochemical properties and theoretical calculations demonstrated that the Cr_(2)Al C coatings with preferred(103)orientation were easier to form oxide passivation flm on their surface to increase the corrosion resistance.

Application of self-adaptive temperature recognition in cold-start of an air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack

The Self-adaptive control of the temperature can achieve the start of fuel cell at different operating temperatures, which is very important for the successful cold-start of the air-cooled PEMFC. The temperature distribution characteristics during the cold-start process were analyzed based on adaptive temperature recognition control in this paper. Preheating model and cold-start model were established and the optimal balance between the hot air flow rate and the temperature required to promote a uniform temperature distribution in the stack was explored in the preheating stage. Finally, the non-equilibrium mass transfer, as well as the temperature rise in the catalyst layer and gas diffusion layer with different current densities, were analyzed in the start-up stage. The results indicate that the air-cooled PEMFC stack can be successfully started up at -40 ◦C within 10 min by means of external gas heating. The current density and air velocity have significant impacts on the temperature of aircooled PEMFC stack. Dynamic analysis of air-cooled PEMFCs and real-time monitoring are suitable for machine learning and self-adaptive control to set the operation parameters to achieve successful cold start. Optimize the matching of load current and cathode inlet speed to achieve thermal management in low temperature environment.

Balancing the corrosion resistance and through-plane electrical conductivity of Cr coating via oxygen plasma treatment

Developing an electrically conductive and corrosion-resistant coating is essential for metal bipolar plates of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs). Although enhanced corrosion resistance was seen for Cr coated stainless steel(Cr/SS) bipolar plates, they experience a quick decrease of through-plane electrical conductivity due to the formation of a porous and low-conductive corrosion product layer at the plate surface, thus leading to an increase in interfacial contact resistance(ICR). To tackle this issue, the multilayer Cr coatings were deposited using the magnetron sputtering with a remote inductively coupled oxygen plasma(O-ICP) in the present study. After the O-ICP treatment, a Cr oxide layer(Cr O*) is formed on the specimen surface. The Cr O*/Cr/SS has a remarkably lower stable corrosion rate(iss) than that of the native Cr oxides(Cr On/Cr/SS). Compared with Cr On/Cr/SS, the excellent performance of Cr O*/Cr/SS is attributed to a denser and thicker surface layer of Cr O* with Cr being oxidized to its highest valence state,Cr(VI). More importantly, the through-plane electrical conductivity of the specimens treated by the optimized O-ICP decreases much slowly than Cr On/Cr/SS and thus, the increament of ICR of Cr O*/Cr/SS after the potentiostatic polarization test is considerably smaller than that of Cr On/Cr/SS, which is benefited from the reduced issthat mitigates the deposition of corrosion products and hinders further oxidation of Cr coating. Therefore, Cr O*/Cr/SS proves to be a well balanced trade-off between corrosion resistance and through-plane electrical conductivity. The results of this study demonstrate that O-ICP treatment on a conductive metal coating is an effective strategy to improve the corrosion resistance and suppress the increase of ICR over the long-term polarization. The technique reported herein exhibits its promising potential application in preparing corrosion resistant and electrically conductive coatings on metal bipolar plates to be used in PEMFCs.