Assessment of gas tungsten arc welding thermal cycles on Inconel 718 alloy

Heat moving source models along with transient heat analysis by finite element method were used to determine weld thermal cycles and isothermal sections obtained from the application of a gas tungsten arc welding beads on Inconel 718 plates. Analytical (Rosenthal’s thick plate model) and finite element results show an acceptable approximation with the experimental weld thermal cycles. The isothermal sections determined by numerical simulation show a better approximation with the experimental welding profile for double-ellipse model heat distribution than Gauss model. To analyze the microstructural transformation produced by different cooling rates in the fusion and heat affected zones, Vickers microhardness measurements (profile and mapping representation) were conducted. A hardness decrement for the heat affected zone (~200 HV0.2) and fusion zone (~240 HV0.2) in comparison with base material (~350 HV0.2) was observed. This behavior has been attributed to the heterogeneous solubilization process of the γ″ phase (nickel matrix), which, according to the continuous-cooling-transformation curve, produced the Laves phase,δ and MC transition phases, generating a loss in hardness close to the fusion zone.

Fracture energy evaluation on 7075-T651 aluminum alloy welds determined by instrumented impact pendulum

By using an instrumented impact pendulum, the force versus time curves of 7075-T651 aluminum welds were obtained from standard Charpy-V samples. Considering the force-time curves and constant impact velocity, the fracture energies for different zones were quantified. A fracture energy improvement for the HAZ(33.6 J) was observed in comparison with the weld metal(7.88 J), and base metal(5.37 J and 7.37 J for longitudinal and transverse directions, respectively). This toughness increment was attributed to the microstructural transformation caused by the thermodynamic instability of η′ precipitates during the welding. Fracture energy for weld metal was higher than that for base metal, probably due to pores created during solidification. Regarding the dynamic yielding force obtained from the force-time curves, an approximation to the dynamic yield strength for weld, HAZ and base metal was determined. Fracture surfaces revealed an intergranular failure for base metal in longitudinal direction, whereas a predominately brittle failure(cleavage) with some insights of ductile characteristics was observed for the transverse direction. In contrast, a ductile failure was observed for weld metal and HAZ.

Toxicity of Mexican native plant extracts against larvae of Aedes aegypti(Diptera: Culicidae)

Objective: To evaluate five indigenous Mexican plants [Hippocratea excelsa, Hippocratea celastroides, Argemone mexicana(A. mexicana), Tagetes lucida, and Pseudosmodingium perniciosum(P. perniciosum)] toxicity against the fourth instar larvae of the dengue primary vector, Aedes aegypti(A. aegypti).Methods: Each plant part was treated successively with hexane, ethyl acetate, acetone, and methanol to extract potential active components of the plants against the dengue vector.Results: There was a range of toxicity at 24 or 48 h post-exposure for the different plant parts and organic solvent used(LC50 values ranged between 20 and 890 μg/mL). Extracts from seeds of A. mexicana(hexane washing with methanol and acetone) and stem-bark of P. perniciosum(hexane) showed highest toxicity to Ae. aegypti larvae at 48 h post-exposure(LC50 values were80, 50, and 20 μg/mL, respectively), thus making them potential candidates as biolarvicides.Efforts are on-going to characterize the bioactive components of the extracts, through chromatography, for their use as biological tools for the control of the primary dengue vector.Conclusions: A. mexicana and P. perniciosum are good candidates to combat the dengue vector, Ae. aegypti, as they were highly toxic to the larvae.

Photomechanical Ablation of 304L Stainless Steel, Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3) Thin Film, and Pure Silicon

Recently, a number of studies have focused on micro-manufacturing processes, which find use in a variety of applications, including the production of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The process of ablation in materials is mainly governed by the laser source and scanning speed. The rate of material ablation is influenced by chemical and physical properties. In this work, the energy from a CO2 laser was used to ablate three different materials, namely, stainless steel 304L, a thin film of amorphous aluminum oxide (Al2O3), and pure silicon, due to their wide use in MEMS technology. The laser parameters used were an average power of 18 W and a spot size of 200 μm. The maximum depth during the photomechanical ablation process was 72 μm in the case of 304L steel and 77 μm in the case of the Al2O3 thin film for a scan rate of 24 mm/min. However, at the same scan rate, silicon did not exhibit any penetration. As expected, while increasing scanning speed the ablation depth decreases due to reduced interaction time between laser and material. The theoretical ytterbium fiber laser shown in this study can thus be employed in the manufacturing of a wide variety of materials used in the production of MEMS as well as those used in clean energy technologies.

Optical Fiber Torsion Sensor with Mechanically Induced Long Period Fiber Gratings in Rare-Earth Doped Fibers

In this work wavelength sensitivity in mechanically induced long period fiber gratings (MLPFG) is analyzed. This analysis is first carried out both in standard single-mode fiber SMF-28 and in Er-doped fibers. The mechanical analysis for both types of fibers under different torsion conditions is presented. In order to apply the torsion one of the fiber ends is fixed while torsion is applied on the other end. A MLPFG whose period is 503 μm is used to press the fiber after torsion is applied. This allows for micro curvatures to be formed on the fiber, which in turn generates a periodical index perturbation on it. Here, it was noted that the sensitive wavelength shift of the rejection bands is bigger for Er-doped fibers. For a torsion of 6 turns applied to 10 cm of doped fiber the wavelength peaks can be moved up to 25 nm, which is longer to what was detected on standard fibers. Therefore, by using Er-doped fibers to monitor torsion on structures will give more sensitive and accurate results than using standard fibers. These results can be employed for sensing applications, especially for small to medium size structures, which can be mechanical, civil or aeronautics.

Rare-Earth Doped GdVO4 by Sol-Gel Method: Structural and Luminescence Properties

Rare earths have been extensively developed in recent years, however, new hosts allow high excitation and emission efficiency, in this sense, gadolinium vanadate has been extensively studied and in previous works it has been widely used in down conversion systems. Because of the strong absorption of the VO4 groups and efficient energy transfer from GdVO4 to lanthanide ions, in this work its up-conversion properties were studied when is co-doped with Yb3+, X3+ where X = Tm, Er and Ho. The powders synthesized presented a high crystallinity and a rounded morphology and exhibit a high luminescence when are excited with IR radiation.

Europium recovery process by means of polymeric nanoparticles functionalized with acrylic acid,curcumin and fumaramide

Polymeric nanoparticles of poly(methyl methacrylate)were obtained by emulsion polymerization techniques in a proce ss of two stages.The particles were functionalized with acrylic acid,curcumin,and fumaramide and three series of polymeric particles were obtained.The incorporation of functional groups was confirmed by Fourier transform-infrared spectrosocopy(FT-IR)and ultraviolet-visible(UV-Vis)methods.The spherical morphology of particles with an average diameter of 100 nm was observed by scartning electron microscopy(SEM).The polymeric materials were used for recovery of[Eu]from synthetic solutions.The nanoparticles show excellent chelation capacity to trap rare-earth ions,because they recover more than 85%of[Eu]at pH of 2.The images of SEM after extraction process show arrays between particles with larger average particle sizes to 1.5 um.In addition,the particles have a good stripping capacity,exceeding 50%of it,maintaining their homogeneity in morphology and good stability in dispersion for the recovery and stripping processes.A pseudo-second model order is obtained for the extraction and stripping processes while the best results of stripping process are obtained at pH of 6.

Tensile Properties and Fusion Zone Hardening for GMAW and MIEA Welds of a 7075-T651 Aluminum Alloy

Tensile and hardness values for 7075-T651 aluminum alloy in the as welded and post weld heat treated conditions（solubilization and artificial aging-T6）,obtained using GMAW and modified indirect electric arc（MIEA）welding processes are presented.Results showed that the base material along rolling direction exhibited a tensile strength of around 600 MPa and elongation of 11%.For the as welded condition,tensile strength was 260 MPa and elongation percent of 3%.This behavior was attributed to brittleness induced by the microstructural characteristics of the welded alloys,as well as high porosity.Hardness profiles along the welds were obtained and different welded zones were identified.A soft zone（＊100 HV0.1） in the heat affected zone for GMAW and MIEA was observed,the minimum hardness corresponding to weld metal（＊85 and ＊96 HV0.1for GMAW and MIEA,respectively）.The high dilution between filler and base metal during welding in MIEA allows to the Zn and Cu to flow from the base metal into the weld metal,inducing hardening by solution and subsequent artificial aging.In this regard,the hardness of the weld metal for MIEA increases by 56%,while the tensile strength reaches a value close to 400 MPa.For GMAW,non-favorable hardening effect was observed for the weld metal after solution and artificial aging.