Improved fatigue crack growth resistance by retrogression and re‐aging heat treatment in 7010 aluminum alloy

Aircraft grade 7010 aluminum alloy was heat treated to two different conditions: (1) standard peak aging (T6) and (2) retrogression and re‐aging (RRA). The microstructures of these alloys were characterized by using transmission electron microscope. Fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) tests were conducted using standard compact tension specimens, following ASTM standards. Tests were conducted at various stress ratios, R ranging from 0.1 to 0.7. The RRA‐treated alloy was observed to contain coarsened η′ (MgZn₂) precipitates with higher inter‐particle spacing when compared with T6‐treated alloy. The grain boundary precipitates (GBPs) were also coarsened and discontinuous in RRA‐treated alloy as compared with continuous GBPs in T6 condition. The FCGR was lower and ΔK_th was higher in RRA‐treated alloy compared with T6‐treated alloy at all the stress ratios investigated. Improved fatigue crack growth resistance in RRA‐treated alloy was correlated to the modified microstructure and enhanced crack closure levels.     

Assessment of triboelectricity in colossal-surface-area-lanthanum oxide nanocrystals synthesized via low-temperature hydrothermal process

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have marked their applications in various fields, most importantly, in medical devices. The electrical...     

Boosted multivariate trees for longitudinal data

Machine learning methods provide a powerful approach for analyzing longitudinal data in which repeated measurements are observed for a subject over time. We boost multivariate trees to fit a novel flexible semi-nonparametric marginal model for longitudinal data. In this model, features are assumed to be nonparametric, while feature-time interactions are modeled semi-nonparametrically utilizing P-splines with estimated smoothing parameter. In order to avoid overfitting, we describe a relatively simple in sample cross-validation method which can be used to estimate the optimal boosting iteration and which has the surprising added benefit of stabilizing certain parameter estimates. Our new multivariate tree boosting method is shown to be highly flexible, robust to covariance misspecification and unbalanced designs, and resistant to overfitting in high dimensions. Feature selection can be used to identify important features and feature-time interactions. An application to longitudinal data of forced 1-second lung expiratory volume (FEV1) for lung transplant patients identifies an important feature-time interaction and illustrates the ease with which our method can find complex relationships in longitudinal data.     

Pervaporation separation of water‐isopropyl alcohol mixtures with blend membranes of sodium alginate and poly(acrylamide)‐grafted guar gum

The blend membranes of sodium alginate (Na‐Alg) and poly(acrylamide)‐grafted guar gum (PAAm‐g‐GG) in the ratios of 3:1 and 1:1 were prepared and studied for the pervaporation separation of water–isopropyl alcohol mixtures over the entire range of mixture composition at 30°C. Membranes prepared from neat Na‐Alg (M‐1) and the 1:1 blend of Na‐Alg and PAAm‐g‐GG (M‐3) showed the highest separation selectivity for 10 mass % water in the feed mixture, whereas membranes prepared with the 3:1 blend ratio of Na‐Alg to PAAm‐g‐GG showed the highest separation selectivity of 20 mass % water in the feed. Selectivity decreased with increasing amount of water in the feed for all the membranes, but these values show an increase with increasing amount of grafted copolymer in the blend mixture. Flux increased with increasing amount of water in the mixture, but the flux values did not change markedly with the PAAm‐g‐GG content in the blend membrane at the lower mass % water. At higher mass % of water, the flux values of the blends increase systematically with increasing amount of PAAm‐g‐GG in the blend polymer. For the 10 mass %‐containing binary mixtures, the pervaporation separation experiments were performed at 30, 40, and 50°C, and the resulting data were used to calculate the Arrhenius activation parameters. These data indicated activated pore‐type diffusion of the permeants in the membranes. Dynamic sorption studies were also performed on up to 40 mass % water–isopropyl alcohol mixtures at 30°C. These results, when analyzed by the empirical equation, indicated Fickian transport in all the cases. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 2014–2024, 2002     

Mangosteen Oil-In-Water Emulsions: Rheology, Creaming, and Microstructural Characteristics during Storage

The rheological properties and physical stability of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) extract in oil-in-water (MIO/W) emulsions were investigated. Rheological study on the emulsions exhibited Newtonian flow behavior. The 20?wt.% emulsion showed higher apparent viscosity than 10?wt.% MIO/W sample. The effects of salt (NaCl) concentration (0, 50, 100, and 200?mM) and heat treatment (70?°C) on the stability of the emulsions were also examined. Heat (70?°C)- and NaCl (100 and 200?mM)-treated emulsions showed creaming and droplet aggregation on storage for a period of 60?days. The 10?wt.% MIO/W emulsions stored at 4?°C showed a homogeneous distribution of oil droplets with good stability to creaming and viscosity independent of shear stress (i.e., a Newtonian liquid).     

Partial characterization of natural antioxidants in canola meal

Defatted canola meal was extracted with 95% (v/v) ethanol at 80 °C. The extract was fractionated on a Sephadex LH-20 column using methanol as eluate. Seven major fractions were isolated according to UV absorption, content of phenolics and sugars. Antioxidant activity of these fractions was evaluated in a β-carotenelinoleate model system. Fraction IV showed the best antioxidant effect by exhibiting the highest preventive activity against the bleaching of β-carotene. Further separation of this fraction on TLC indicated that it contains several compounds including phenolic acids and trihydroxy phenolic compounds such as flavones and flavonols.     

Differential scanning calorimetric studies on structured lipids from coconut oil triglycerides containing stearic acid

Triglycerides from coconut oil contain high levels of lauric acid. They were replaced by incremental amounts of stearic acid by interesterification reactions catalyzed by immobilized lipase (IM 60 from Rhizomucor miehei). The reactions were carried out in organic solvents such as hexane. Maximum incorporation of stearic acid was observed by 4 h at 37vv°C or by 2 h at 60vv°C when triglycerides to fatty acid (stearic acid) ratio was maintained at 1v:Ң. The stearic acid level in coconut oil triglycerides was increased from an initial value of 2% to 60% under these conditions. The stearic acid replaced lauric, myristic, and palmitic acids in unmodified triglycerides. A major portion of stearic acid incorporated was found in positions 1 and 3 of triglycerides. Differential scanning calorimetry indicated that stearic acid enrichment increased the solid fat content and also the higher melting polymorphs in modified lipids. The studies also indicated that low melting polymorphic forms of coconut oil triglycerides are converted to higher melting forms by stearic acid enrichment. The modified lipids thus obtained can find use in various food applications.     

Optimization of deposition conditions for bright Zn-Fe coatings and its characterization

Sulfate bath having ZnSO₄ · 7H₂O, Fe₂(SO₄)₃ · H₂O and thiamine hydrochloride (THC) and citric acid (CA) in combination, represented as (THC + CA) was optimized for deposition of bright Zn-Fe alloy coating on mild steel. Bath constituents and operating parameters were optimized by standard Hull cell method, for peak performance of the coating against corrosion. The effect of current density (c.d.), pH and temperature on deposit characters, such as corrosion resistance, hardness and glossiness were studied and discussed. Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) methods were used to assess the corrosion behaviors. Surface morphology, and composition of the coatings were examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), interfaced with EDXA facility, respectively. The Zn-Fe alloy, with intense peaks corresponding to Zn(100) and Zn(101) phases, showed highest corrosion resistance, evidenced by X-ray diffraction (XRD) study. A new and cheap sulfate bath, for bright Zn-Fe alloy coating on mild steel has been proposed, and results are discussed.