Development of an automatic weld surface appearance inspection system using machine vision

In this paper, an automatic inspection system for weld surface appearance using machine vision has been developed to recognize weld surface defects such as porosities, cracks, etc. It can replace conventional manual visual inspection method, which is tedious, time-consuming, subjective, experience-depended, and sometimes biased. The system consists of a CCD camera, a self-designed annular light source, a sensor controller, a frame grabbing card, a computer and so on. After acquiring weld surface appearance images using CCD, the images are preprocessed using median filtering and a series of image enhancement algorithms. Then a dynamic threshold and morphology algorithms are applied to segment defect object. Finally, defect features information is obtained by eight neighborhoods boundary chain code algorithm. Experimental results show that the developed system is capable of inspecting most surface defects such as porosities, cracks with high reliability and accuracy.

Grinding behavior and surface appearance of(TiC_p+ TiB_w)/Ti-6Al-4V titanium matrix composites

（TiCp＋ TiBw）/Ti-6Al-4V titanium matrix composites（PTMCs） have broad application prospects in the aviation and nuclear field. However, it is a typical difficult-to-cut material due to high hardness of the reinforcements, high strength and low thermal conductivity of Ti-6Al-4V alloy matrix. Grinding experiments with vitrified CBN wheels were conducted to analyze comparatively the grinding performance of PTMCs and Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Grinding force and force ratios, specific grinding energy, grinding temperature, surface roughness, ground surface appearance were discussed. The results show that the normal grinding force and the force ratios of PTMCs are much larger than that of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Low depth of cut and high workpiece speed are generally beneficial to achieve the precision ground surface for PTMCs. The hard reinforcements of PTMCs are mainly removed in the ductile mode during grinding. However, the removal phenomenon of the reinforcements due to brittle fracture still exists, which contributes to the lower specific grinding energy and grinding temperature of PTMCs than Ti-6Al-4V alloy.

Wear Behavior of Cold Pressed and Sintered Al_2O_3/TiC/CaF_2-Al_2O_3/TiC Laminated Ceramic Composite

A novel laminated Al2O3/TiC/CaF2-Al2O3/TiC sandwich ceramic composite was fabricated through cold pressing and sintering to achieve better anti-wear performance, such as low friction coefficient and low wear rate. Al2O3/TiC/CaF2 and Al2O3/TiC composites were alternatively built layer-by-layer to obtain a sandwich structure. Solid lubricant CaF2 was added evenly into the Al2O3/TiC/CaF2 layer to reduce the friction and wear. Al2O3/TiC ceramic was also cold pressed and sintered for comparison. Friction analysis of the two ceramics was then conducted via a wear-and-tear machine. Worn surface and surface compositions were examined by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersion spectrum, respectively. Results showed that the laminated Al2O3/TiC/CaF2-Al2O3/TiC sandwich ceramic composite has lower friction coefficient and lower wear rate than those of Al2O3/TiC ceramic alone because of the addition of CaF2 into the laminated Al2O3/TiC/CaF2-Al2O3/TiC sandwich ceramic composite. Under the friction load, the tiny CaF2 particles were scraped from the Al2O3/TiC/CaF2 layer and spread on friction pairs before falling off into micropits. This process formed a smooth, self-lubricating film, which led to better anti-wear properties. Adhesive wear is the main wear mechanism of Al2O3/TiC/CaF2 layer and abrasive wear is the main wear mechanism of Al2O3/TiC layer.

Preparation and Compaction Behaviour of Poly(methyl methacrylate) Coated Iron Microparticles

The poly（methyl methacrylate）（PMMA） coatings onto surface of iron particles were electrochemically prepared and the effect on both surface structure and internal structure of the resulted material after compaction was carried out.The electrochemical polymerization treatment was performed in a fluidized bed electrolyzer using sulphuric acid solution containing potassium persulphate and methyl methacrylate（MMA）.The surface topography and the microstructure of the samples were observed by scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and optical microscopy（OM）.It was found that the PMMA layer coated onto iron particles results in improvement of their compressibility compared with uncoated powders,and classical lubricants are not necessary for compacting particles coated.