Friction and wear of Inconel 690 and Inconel 600 for steam generator tube in room temperature water

In the steam generators of nuclear power plants, the flow of cooling water can cause the tubes to vibrate, resulting in fretting wear damage due to contacts between these tubes and their supports. The tubes are made of Inconel 690 and Inconel 600 and the supports are made of STS 304. In this paper, fretting wear tests in water were performed using the materials Inconel 690 and Inconel 600 in contact with STS 304. Fretting tests using a cross-cylinder type set up were conducted under various vibrating amplitudes and applied normal loads in order to measure friction forces and wear volumes. Also, conventional sliding tests using a pin-on-disk type set up were carried out to compare these test results.In the fretting tests, friction force was found to be strongly dependent on normal load and vibrating amplitude. Coefficients of friction decreased with an increase in the normal load and a decrease in the vibrating amplitude applied. Also, the wear of Inconel 600 and Inconel 690 was predicted using a work rate model. Depending on the normal load and vibrating amplitude applied, distinctively different wear mechanisms and often drastically different wear rates occurred. It was found that the fretting wear coefficients for Inconel 600 and Inconel 690 were 9.3×10⁻¹⁵ and 16.2×10⁻¹⁵ Pa⁻¹, respectively. This study shows that Inconel 690 can result in lesser friction forces and exhibits less wear resistance than Inconel 600 in room temperature water.     

Frames of Reference in Mobile Augmented Reality Displays.

In 3 experiments, the authors investigated spatial updating in augmented reality environments. Participants learned locations of virtual objects on the physical floor. They were turned to appropriate facing directions while blindfolded before making pointing judgments (e.g., "Imagine you are facing X. Point to Y"). Experiments manipulated the angular difference between the learning heading and the imagined heading and between the actual heading and the imagined heading. The effect of actual-imagined on pointing latency was observed for naive users but not for users with brief training or instructions concerning the fact that objects can move with body movements. The results indicated that naive users used an environment-stabilized reference frame to access information arrays, but with experience and instruction the nature of the representation changed from an environment stabilized to a body stabilized reference frame. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A positive‐working photosensitive polyimide based on thermal cross‐linking and acidolytic cleavage

A novel positive‐working photosensitive polyimide (PSPI) based on a poly(hydroxyimide) (PHI), a crosslinking agent having vinyl ether groups, and a photoacid generator (PAG) was prepared. The PHI as a base resin of the three‐component PSPI was synthesized from 4,4′‐oxydiphthalic anhydride and 2,2′‐bis(3‐amino‐4‐hydroxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane through ring‐opening polymerization and subsequent thermal cyclization. 2,2′‐bis(4‐(2‐(vinyloxy)ethoxy)phenyl)propane (BPA‐DEVE) was used as a vinylether compound and diphenyliodonium 5‐hydroxynaphthalene‐1‐sulfonate was used as a PAG. The phenolic hydroxyl groups of the PHI and the vinyl ether groups of BPA‐DEVE are thermally crosslinked with acetal structures during prebake step, and the crosslinked PHI becomes completely insoluble in an aqueous basic solution. Upon exposure to UV light (365 nm) and subsequent postexposure bake (PEB), a strong acid generated from the PAG cleaves the crosslinked structures, and the exposed area is effectively solubilized in the alkaline developer. The dissolution behavior of the PSPI containing each 11.5 wt % of BPA‐DEVE and of the PAG was studied after UV exposure (365 nm) and PEB. It was found that the difference in dissolution rates between exposed and unexposed areas was enough to get high resolution. A fine positive pattern with a resolution of 5 μm in a 3.7‐μm‐thick film was obtained from the three‐component PSPI. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Tribological behavior of PTFE nanocomposite films reinforced with carbon nanoparticles

Carbon-based nanoparticles synthesized by heat treatment of nanodiamond in the temperature range of 1000–1900 °C were added to PTFE film to investigate the structural effect of the carbon particles on the tribological properties of PTFE composite film. Carbon-based nanoparticles were prepared by milling with micron sized beads in chemically treated water before their addition to PTFE film. The wear and frictional properties of PTFE nanocomposite film were measured by the ball on plate type wear test. The wear resistance of PTFE film was found to be enhanced by the addition of 2 wt% of carbon nanoparticles. The wear coefficient of PTFE film was decreased from 16.2 to 3.5 × 10⁻⁶ mm³/N m by the addition of carbon-based nanoparticles heat-treated at 1000 °C. Increasing the heating temperature of the nanodiamonds caused the extent of aggregation and particle size to increase. The wear resistance of PTFE nanocomposite film was enhanced by the addition of nanodiamonds heat-treated at 1000 °C, but decreased when the heat treatment temperature of carbon nanoparticles was further increased. Tribological behavior of PTFE nanocomposite films depending on the types of carbon nanoparticles were explained based on the structural, physical and chemical modification of carbon nanoparticles.     

Effects of chemical and plasma surface treatments on the O2-annealed Ni/Au contact to p-Gan

The effects of boiling Aqua Regia (AQ), N₂/Cl₂ plasma followed by AQ and O₂ plasma followed by AQ surface treatments prior to Ni/Au (20 nm/20 nm) metallization to p-GaN:Mg (∼ 3 × 10¹⁷ cm^− 3) have been investigated. N₂/Cl₂ plasma was employed in a bid to lower the Ga/N and O/Ga ratios of the GaN surface to improve the contact properties to p-GaN, while O₂ plasma was employed as an alternative to incorporate O into the Ni/Au system. Results show that a low Ga/N ratio does not necessarily correspond to a better contact. The positive effect of O₂ over N₂ anneal is observed only for the AQ-treated sample, although the mechanisms responsible for its positive effect: NiO formation and Ni/Au layer-reversal were observed for all O₂-annealed contacts. We conclude that the effect of O₂ anneal on the Ni/Au contact is dependant on the p-GaN surface prior to metallization.     

Design of electrically small ground planes for HF ground wave transmission

Electrically small spiral ground planes for a monopole and an electrically small antenna have been designed for HF ground wave transmission. Prototype ground planes have been built and tested. For the monopole, the transmission loss of the designed ground plane is 6 dB better than that of the same size ground radials. For the electrically small antenna, the transmission loss of the designed ground plane is 7 dB better than that of the same size solid ground plane at the antenna's operating frequency.     

Drug release from heat-treated polyvinyl alcohol films

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films containing 10% w/w of a model drug, sulphathiazole, were cast from aqueous solutions and subjected to heat treatment at specific temperatures for known periods of time. Heat treatment at temperatures above the T_g of the PVA films slowed down the rate of drug release from the films. Increasing the temperature of heat treatment from 120°C to 160°C further decreased the rate of drug release. On the other hand, if the heat treatment were conducted at a temperature below the T_g e.g. at 80°C, there were insignificant differences between the release profile of sulphathiazole from heat-treated films and that from untreated films. The duration of heat treatment affected the rate of drug release to a smaller extent compared to the temperature of heat treatment. These results correlated with the heat induced changes in the morphology of, and in the extent of water uptake by the PVA films.