Influence of minor boron on the microstructures of a second generation Nibased single crystal superalloy

Boron is added into single crystal superalloys as a micro-alloying element to strengthen low angle grain boundaries.However,systematic investigations on the effect of boron on microstructures of single crystal superalloys are limitedly reported.The effect of boron on as-cast and heat-treated microstructures was investigated in two experimental Ni-based single crystal superalloys containing 3 wt% Re.The current results indicated that the volume fraction of(γ+γ′)eutectic and M_3B_2 borides was evidently increased,while the number of micropores was evidently decreased with the addition of 0.02 wt% boron.The(γ+γ′)eutectic could not be dissolved completely due to the lower incipient melting temperature caused by the formation of M_3B_2 borides.Meanwhile,the M_3B_2 borides were found to be enriched with indispensable strengthening elements Cr,Mo,W and Re,and this may lower the strengthening effect and cause stress concentration during high temperature creep.     

Mechanical characterization and strain-rate sensitivity measurement of Ti- 7333 alloy based on nanoindentation and crystal plasticity modeling

The relationship between crystal orientations and meso-mechanical properties of β phase Ti-7333 titanium was investigated through the combination of nanoindentation experiments and simulation. The crystal plasticity finite element(CPFE) model for nanoindentation of single body-centered cubic crystal was established based on the experimental data. And the crystal plasticity constitutive law was implemented to simulate the nanoindentation process, obtaining satisfied results with an acceptable error. From the simulated pileup morphology patterns with different crystal orientations, it was found that the β phase experienced a symmetrical and orientation-related deformation process. Meanwhile, the strain-rate sensitivity(SRS) of β phase was investigated through nanoindentation tests based on continuous stiffness measurement(CSM) under different strain rates,varying between 0.2, 0.05 and 0.01 s~(-1). Two grains with different orientations exhibited similar SRS exponents,m, calculated from the experimental results.     

Coupling effects of tungsten and molybdenum on microstructure and stressrupture properties of a nickel-base cast superalloy

In order to comprehensively understand the forming mechanism of abnormal phases solidified in a nickel-base cast superalloy with additives of tungsten and molybdenum, the coupling effects of W and Mo on the microstructure and stress-rupture properties were investigated in this paper. The results indicated that the precipitation of primary α-(W, Mo) phase depended tremendously on the amount of W and Mo addition. When the total amount of W and Mo was greater than 5.79 at%, α-(W, Mo) phase became easily precipitated in the alloy.With increasing of Mo/W ratio, the dendrite-like α-(W, Mo) phases were apt to convert into small bars or blockylike phases at the vicinities of γ′/γ eutectic. The morphological changes of α-(W, Mo) phase can be interpreted as the non-equilibrium solidification of W and Mo in the alloy. Since the large sized α-(W, Mo) phase has detrimental effects on stress-rupture properties in as-cast conditions, secondary cracks may mainly initiate at and then propagate along the interfaces of brittle phases and soft matrix. During exposing at 1100 ℃ for 1000 h, the α-(W, Mo) phases transformed gradually into bigger and harder M_6C carbide, which results in decreasing of stress-rupture properties of the alloy. Finally, the alloy with an addition of 14W-1Mo(wt%) maintained the longest stress lives at high temperatures and therefore it revealed the best microstructure stability after 1100 ℃/1000 h thermal exposure.     

Transition-metal-doped Fe2O3 nanoparticles for oxygen evolution reaction

Hematite(α-Fe_2O_3)has been extensively studied as a promising photocatalyst,with the capacity to split water under visible light.To tune its electronic structure and improve the performance for oxygen evolution reaction(OER),high-quality single crystals ofα-Fe_2O_3nanoparticles were synthesized and doped by various transition metals(M=V,Cr,Mn,Zn,Co,Ni,Cu,Nb,Mo,Ti)by a molten-salt flux method.Optical,electronic and catalytic properties of transition-metal-dopedα-Fe_2O_3(TM-dopedα-Fe_2O_3)have been systematically investigated.Cobalt has been identified as the best dopant forα-Fe_2O_3,reducing the OER overpotential by 0.16 V with respect to the undoped.     

WO3 nanoflakes decorated with CuO clusters for enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting

The low quantum efficiency arising from poor charges transfer and insufficient light absorption is one of the critical challenges toward achieving highly efficient water splitting in photoelectrochemical cells. Three dimensions(3D) structures and heterojunctions have received intensive research interests recent years due to their excellent ability to separate photo-generated charges as well as the enhanced light harvesting property. Herein,3 D Cu O/WO_3 structure was fabricated through a facile solvothermal method followed by chemical bath deposition. The loading of Cu O clusters on WO_3 nanoflake arrays results in a much improved photocurrent density compared with that of pristine WO_3 nanoflake arrays, which reaches 1.8 m A/cm2 at 1.23 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement demonstrates that the improved performance of Cu O/WO_3 electrode is attributed to the accelerated charge transfer kinetics as a result of the desirable band alignment in Cu O/WO_3 heterojunction. This work demonstrates a facile strategy to construct superior WO_3 electrode, which will ultimately allow for efficient storage of solar energy into hydrogen.     

DanHong Injection inhibits the development of primary abdominal aortic aneurysms in apoE knockout mice

Clinical observations indicate that DanHong Injection （DHI） can increase blood flow and reduce various syndromes in patients with cardiovascular disease. How- ever, it still needs to define the function of DHI and the involved mechanisms in details, such as the protective effect on the development of primary abdominal aortic aneurysms （AAAs）. In this study, we determined whether DHI is able to inhibit AAA in apoE knockout （apoE-/-） mice. Thirty apoE-/- male mice on high-fat diet （0.5 % cholesterol, 21% fat） were randomly divided into two groups and received i.p. injection of saline （100 μL/day） and DHI （100 μL/day）, respectively, for 16 weeks. At the end of experiment, we determined the development of atherosclerosis in en face aorta and aneurysms,pathological morphology of arterial wall, and serum lipid levels. We also determined the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 （MCP-1）, MMP-2, and MMP-9 mRNA in aortic wall using real-time RT-PCR. Our results indicated that high-fat diet induced the development of AAAs in apoE-/- mice, but the induction was totally blocked by DHI （P 〈 0.01）. The result of staining of abdominal aortic cross sections showed that DHI main- tained the collagen content in arterial wall, thereby pre- venting the animals from the development of AAA. Although DHI had little effect on serum total- and LDL- cholesterol levels, it reduced the expression of MCP-1, MMP-2, and MMP-9 mRNA in aortic wall （P 〈 0.01）. Taken together, our study suggests that DHI can inhibit the high-fat diet-induced AAA formation. The inhibitory effects may be related to the maintenance of the collagen content and inhibition of expression of AAA-related genes. Our study may suggest a new application of DHI in clinics.     

Deep cleaning of a metallurgical zinc leaching residue and recovery of valuable metals

Huge quantities of zinc leaching residues (ZLRs) generated from zinc production are dumped continuously around the world and pose a potential environmental threat because of their considerable amounts of entrained heavy metals (mainly lead). Most ZLRs have not been properly treated and the valuable metals in them have not yet been effectively recovered. Herein, the deep cleaning of a ZLR and recovery of valuable metals via a hydrometallurgical route were investigated. The cleaning process consists of two essential stages:acid leaching followed by calcium chloride leaching. The optimum conditions for extracting zinc, copper, and indium by acid leaching were a sulfuric acid concentration of 200 g·L-1, a liquid/solid ratio of 4:1 (mL/g), a leaching time of 2 h, and a temperature of 90℃. For lead and silver extractions, the optimum conditions were a calcium chloride concentration of 400 g·L-1, a pH value of 1.0, a leaching time of 1 h, and a temperature of 30℃. After calcium chloride leaching, silver and lead were extracted out and the lead was finally recovered as electrolytic lead by electrowinning. The anglesite phase, which poses the greatest potential environmental hazard, was removed from the ZLR after deep cleaning, thus reducing the cost of environmental management of ZLRs. The treatment of chlorine and spent electrolyte generated in the process was discussed.     

Studies of world carbon fiber industry from a perspective of patent analysis

Patents are the manifestation of the industry R&D endeavor;therefore, World carbon fiber in-dustry from the perspective of patent analysis is studied .Findings from the analysis show a continual increase of carbon fibers patents since 1969 , and the growth rate began even faster after the year of 2005.Five countries (Japan, China, US, Germany and Korea) took dominant positions in global carbon fibers R&D , and the sum of patents applied in these five countries accounted for 80%of the total patents in the world .Corporations do play an active role in global carbon fibers R&D , and over 60%of patents were applied by corporations .Among them , the top 3 corporations were all from Ja-pan, which had much more patents than the other patent assignees .Furthermore, most corporations were not active in cooperation with others , except Toyota Motor Corp .Global carbon fibers R&D fo-cused on sheet manufacture cloth , core wire layer , heat connect provide and filter activated draw . And there is big difference between Japan and China in the R&D focus .China ’ s corporations have exhibited rapid growth in the number of patent applications in recent years , but there is still a large gap between China and foreign countries in view of global patent layout and influence .By providing the insight into the evolution of global carbon fibers industrial and technological development through the perspective of patent analysis , this study hopes to provide an objective statistic reference for fu-ture policy directions and academic researches .     

Flow and heat transfer behaviour of nanofluids in microchannels

Flow and heat transfer of aqueous based silica and alumina nanofluids in microchannels were experimentally investigated. The measured friction factors were higher than conventional model predictions at low Reynolds numbers particularly with high nanoparticle concentrations. A decrease in the friction factor was observed with increasing Reynolds number, possibly due to the augmentation of nanoparticle aggregate shape arising from fluid shear and alteration of local nanoparticle concentration and nanofluid viscosity. Augmentation of the silica nanoparticle morphology by fluid shear may also have affected the friction factor due to possible formation of a core/shell structure of the particles. Measured thermal conductivities of the silica nanofluids were in approximate agreement with the Maxwell-Crosser model, whereas the alumina nanofluids only showed slight enhancements. Enhanced convective heat transfer was observed for both nanofluids, relative to their base fluids (water), at low particle concentrations. Heat transfer enhancement increased with increasing Reynolds number and microchannel hydraulic diameter. However, the majority of experiments showed a larger increase in pumping power requirements relative to heat transfer enhancements, which may hinder the industrial uptake of the nanofluids, particularly in confined environments, such as Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS).     

Condition-Based Spare Ordering Model for a Two-Stage Degrading System

Proper supply of spares is critical to guarantee safe operation,improve service quality and reduce maintenance costs.This paper proposes a condition-based spare ordering model for a two-stage degrading system,which consists of inflection point transfer process and two-stage degradation process with continuous degradation process and random external shocks.External shocks itself does not directly lead to system failure,but it will speed up the degradation process.In turn,degradation can also make the system more vulnerable to shocks.In general,the degradation rate at the defective stage is greater than that at the normal stage.The proposed model depends on system degradation process and spare lead-time.In order to achieve accurate maintenance and deal with emergency maintenance caused by system rapid degradation after inflection point transfer time,the model considers both the regular lead-time and expedited lead-time.Before inflection point transfer time,regular spare ordering policy is performed.After inflection point transfer time,expedited spare ordering policy is implemented.The decision variable of the model is the ordering time.The objective of this study is to determine the optimal ordering time such that the expected cost rate is minimized.Finally,a numerical example is presented to illustrate the proposed model and sensitivity analysis on critical parameters is carried out.