Modification and aging precipitation behavior of hypereutectic AI-21wt.%Si alloy treated by P+Ce combination

In the present study, the tested hypereutectic Al-21wt.%Si alloys were prepared by modifying the melt using different proportions of P and Ce, and then applying T6 heat treatment. The modification effects and mechanism of P＋Ce complex modifier on the Si phase of hypereutectic Al-21wt.%Si alloy were studied, and the aging precipitation behavior after modification was characterized by means of tensile strength measurement, OM, SEM and TEM analysis. The results show that the massive primary silicon phase particles are significantly refined after modification, while the needle-like eutectic silicon crystals become fibrous and short. It was found that the mechanism of phosphorus modification on the primary silicon can be attributed to heterogeneous nucleation of AlP, while the modification mechanism of Ce can be explained by adsorbing-twinning theory. In the aged microstructure of the modified hypereutectic Al-21wt.%Si alloy, there existed some strengthening phases such as AI4Cu9, Al2Cu, AlCu3, and Al57Mn12. The P＋Ce complex modifier not only affected the size of primary silicon and eutectic silicon, but also the aging behavior of alloys under the heat treatment process. When Al-21wt.%Si alloy was modified using 0.08%wt.P ＋ 0.6wt.% Ce, the aging precipitates were dispersed uniformly in the alloy, and its mechanical properties at room and elevated temperatures are optimized （Rm = 287.6 MPa at RT, Rm = 210 MPa at 300 ℃）.

Use of a Laser/TIG Combination for Surface Modification of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy

The surface modification of materials such as Ti-6Al-4V is necessary to improve their wear resistant properties for use in tribological applications. In this paper it is shown that a laser with low power and tungsten inert gas (TIG) can be combined together for surface modification of Ti-6Al-4V alloy, and when performed in a controlled atmosphere of pure nitrogen or a mixture of nitrogen and argon, can produce a wear-resistant surface alloy. Compared with laser processing, a cheaper surface modification process has been developed involving a shorter processing time, which is free of stringent requirements such as a vacuum system.

DIRECT DIGITAL DESIGN AND SIMULATION OF MESHING IN WORM-GEAR DRIVE

A direct digital design method （DDDM） of worm-gear drive is proposed. It is directly based on the simulation of manufacturing process and completely different from the conventional modeling method. The loaded tooth contact analysis （LTCA） method is analyzed, in which the advanced surface to surface searching technique is included. The influence of misalignment errors and contact deformations on contact zone and transmission error （TE） is discussed. Combined modification approach on worm tooth surface is presented. By means of DDDM and LTCA, it is very conven- ient to verify the effect of worm-gear drive＇s modification approach. The analysis results show that, the modification in profile direction reduces the sensitivity of worm-gear drive to misalignment errors and the modification in longitudinal direction decreases the TE. Thus the optimization design of worm-gear drive can be achieved prior to the actual manufacturing process.

Tensile ductility improvement of AlSi9Cu1 alloy by chemical composition optimization

Diesel engines, characterized by higher breakout pressure and compression ratio in comparison with gasoline engines, require particularly elevated tensile properties for their engine parts. In order to maintain both high strength and high ductility in the cylinder head, i.e., to obtain higher percent elongation without further reducing the tensile strength, Al Si9Cu1 alloy was used to prepare the cylinder head in an aluminum diesel engine. At the same time, the effect of different modification elements, Na or Sr, and Fe content on the reduction of secondary dendrite arm spacing(SDAS) was discussed, and the design of T7 heat treatment parameters were analyzed in order to improve the tensile ductility. The result shows:(1) The SDAS is as small as 18±3 μm for the Sr modified alloy.(2) The percent elongation of the alloy with Sr modification increases by 66.7% and 42.9%, respectively, compared with the unmodified alloy and the alloy with Na modification.(3) Lower Fe content alloy(0.10%) gives good results in percent elongation compared to the alloy with higher Fe content(0.27%); in particular, after Sr modification and T7 heat treatment, the elongation of over 5% is obtained.

Spotlight on chimeric antigen receptor engineered T cell research and clinical trials in China

T cell mediated adoptive immune response has been characterized as the key to anti-tumor immunity. Scientists around the world including in China, have been trying to harness the power of T cells against tumors for decades. Recently, the biosynthetic chimeric antigen receptor engineered T cell(CAR-T) strategy was developed and exhibited encouraging clinical efficacy, especially in hematological malignancies. Chimeric antigen receptor research reports began in 2009 in China according to our Pub Med search results. Clinical trials have been ongoing in China since 2013 according to the trial registrations on clinicaltrials.gov.. After years of assiduous efforts, research and clinical scientists in China have made their own achievements in the CAR-T therapy field. In this review, we aim to highlight CAR-T research and clinical trials in China, to provide an informative reference for colleagues in the field.