Numerical and experimental analysis of quenching process for cam manufacturing

In order to obtain satisfactory mechanical properties for the cam used in high-power ship diesel engines, a new quenching technology was proposed by designing a two-stage quenching process with an alkaline bath as the quenching medium. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed new quenching technology, both numerical analysis and experimental study were performed. The new quenching technology was analyzed using finite element method. The combined effects of the temperature, stress and microstructure fields were investigated considering nonlinear material properties. Finally, an experimental study was performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed new quenching technology. The numerical results show that internal stress is affected by both thermal stress and transformation stress. In addition, the direction of the internal stress is changed several times due to thermal interaction and microstructure evolution during the quenching process. The experimental results show that the proposed new quenching technology significantly improves the mechanical properties and microstructures of the cam. The tensile strength, the impact resistance and the hardness value of the cam by the proposed new quenching technology are improved by 4.3%, 8.9% and 3.5% compared with those by the traditional quenching technology. Moreover, the residual stress and cam shape deformation are reduced by 40.0% and 48.9% respectively for the cam manufactured by the new quenching technology.

Numerical and Experimental Study of the 3D Effect on Connecting Arm of Vertical Axis Tidal Current Turbine

Vertical axis tidal current turbine is a promising device to extract energy from ocean current. One of the important components of the turbine is the connecting arm, which can bring about a significant effect on the pressure distribution along the span of the turbine blade, herein we call it 3D effect. However, so far the effect is rarely reported in the research, moreover, in numerical simulation. In the present study, a 3D numerical model of the turbine with the connecting arm was developed by using FLUENT software compiling the UDF（User Defined Function） command. The simulation results show that the pressure distribution along the span of blade with the connecting arm model is significantly different from those without the connecting arm. To facilitate the validation of numerical model, the laboratory experiment has been carried out by using three different types of NACA aerofoil connecting arm and circle section connecting arm. And results show that the turbine with NACA0012 connecting arm has the best start-up performance which is 0.346 m/s and the peak point of power conversion coefficient is around 0.33. A further study has been performed and a conclusion is drawn that the aerofoil and thickness of connecting arm are the most important factors on the power conversion coefficient of the vertical axis tidal current turbine.

Experimental study on the 350 msw simulated heliox saturation-370 msw excursion diving

-The chief purpose of the research was to understand the physiological function change regularity, performance and adaptability of the human body living and working under high pressure for prolonged time.In January 1989, 4 naval divers entered the habital of NMRI's 500 msw saturation diving system after a series of adaptive diving training. The breathing mixture was helium-oxygen. After 55 h compression (including intermediate stages) the 350 msw depth was reached, where the divers lived and worked for 72 h 10 min. No sign of discomfort or significant HPNS was found in the 4 divers.The second and third day of the saturation exposure, the divers carried out 370 msw dry and wet chamber excursion diving 2 man-time each, the divers effectively carried out operational work under water, the total excursion time was 1 h each excursion dive.Saturation decompression started after 3-day storage exposure, the divers were gradually brought toward the surface 25 msw a day on the average by employing the linear steady rate of decompression. During decompression, no case of DCS occurred. Immediate post-dive medical check-ups shows that they were physically normal.More than 120 biomedical indices were monitored and measured on the divers at different period of the experiment. The organisms showed a good adaptability and certain operating capability, and both the compression and decompression profiles were proved to be satisfactory.The detailed experimental data obtained provided sound scientific basis for the practical application of future great depth open sea saturation diving.