High speed ball nose end milling of hardened AISI A2 tool steel with PCBN and coated carbide tools

High speed machining (HSM) of tool steels in their hardened state is emerging as an attractive approach for the mold and die industry due to its potential for significant cost savings and productivity improvement. An experimental study was conducted to investigate the tool wear mechanism and surface integrity in high speed ball nose end milling of hardened AISI A2 tool steel using coated tungsten carbide and polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) tools. It is found that coated carbide tools can only be used at low speed (120 m/min) while high content PCBN tools are suitable for HSM range (470 m/min). PCBN tools produce a damage free workpiece with better surface finish and less work hardening. Despite the higher tool cost, HSM with PCBN tools lead to reduction in both total cost and production time per part.     

Influence of overlap between the laser beam tracks on surface quality in laser polishing of AISI H13 tool steel

Polishing by laser beam radiation is a novel manufacturing process to modify the initial surface topography in order to achieve a desired level of surface finish. The performance of laser polishing (LP) is determined by an optimum combination of several key process parameters. In this regard, the overlap between two successive laser beam tracks is one of the important LP process parameters, which has a significant effect over the final surface quality. In the current study, influence of overlap between the laser beam tracks on surface quality was experimentally investigated during the laser polishing of AISI H13 tool steel. Surface areas were polished by using four different overlap percentages (e.g. 80%, 90%, 95%, and 97.5%) while applying the same energy density. The improvement of surface quality was estimated through the analysis of line profiling surface roughness R_a, areal topography surface roughness S_a, and material ratio function. Also, individual components of the surface quality, e.g. waviness and roughness, and their evolution during LP were statistically analyzed using the power spectral density and the transfer functions. Finally, as an example of the best achieved LP result, flat surface area was polished using optimum set of the process parameters improving surface quality by 86.7% through the reduction of an areal topography surface roughness S_a from 1.35 μm to 0.18 μm.     

Welding processes for wear resistant overlays

This paper presents a comprehensive survey of welding processes used to deposit wear resistant overlays. It is based on both literature review and research work performed at the Canadian Centre for Welding and Joining. The focus is on the two most popular material systems used for wear resistant overlays: nickel-base with the addition of tungsten carbide particles, and iron-base in which chromium carbides of the form M₇C₃ nucleate during solidification. The processes surveyed in detail are plasma transfer arc welding, submerged arc welding, laser beam welding, gas metal arc welding-related processes using tubular wires, oxy-acetylene flame brazing, and the still-experimental applications of friction stir processing. Cost and market are key factors influencing technical decisions on wear protection overlays, but the information is scarce and often tightly guarded. An informal survey from our industrial partners is included.     

Tool wear of coated drills in drilling CFRP

This study aimed to investigate the wear of certain coated drills when drilling carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRP). Three different drills were used in the drilling experiments: uncoated, diamond coated and AlTiN coated carbide (WC–Co) drills. The tool wear in CFRP machining was quite different from that in conventional metal machining. The primary wear type was a dulling or blunting of the cutting edge, which has been referred to as edge rounding wear or edge recession. In this paper, a hypothesis has been developed to explain the edge rounding wear in CFRP machining. Due to the fracture-based chip formation of CFRP, there is lack of the work material stagnation zone in front of the cutting edge, which normally prevents the edge wear in metal machining. Series of wear lead to rapid dulling of the cutting edge. The resistance to edge rounding wear on the coated as well as uncoated drills has been investigated. The diamond coating significantly reduces the edge rounding wear. However, AlTiN coated drills showed no visible improvement over the uncoated carbide drill, despite of their high hardness, thus not protecting the drill. The wear mechanisms of the uncoated carbide drill and coatings are discussed. It is believed that the 2-body and 3-body abrasive wear fail to explain the observed tool wear in CFRP drilling. However, the wear of the coatings and uncoated carbide substrate from tribo-meter tests correlated well with the tool wear in the CFRP drilling. Therefore, the tribo-meter test can be used to screen the prospective tool materials before carrying drilling experiment.     

Investigation of chipping and wear of silicon wafer dicing

Wafer dicing chipping and blade wear processes in transient and steady stages were investigated. Dicing blades with two different diamond grit sizes were used to cut wafers. In the cutting experiments, the dicing blades with two different diamond grit sizes were used to cut wafers and for a given type of wafer, the cooling water temperature, cutting feed speed, and rotational speed were fixed. The chipping size, blade surface wear area and surface roughness of the wafer were measured at cutting distances of 50, 150, 300, 975, 1350, and 1900 m, respectively. Cutting debris of cutting distances of 300 m and 1900 m was collected and analyzed. The correlation between blade surface properties and chipping size was investigated. Based on this experimental system, attention is to pay to examine the correlation between blade surface properties and chipping size for transient stage and steady stage. In transient stage, the roughness of dicing blade increases rapidly. This will rapidly increase the chipping size. In steady stage, the chipping size decreases slowly with the decreasing roughness of blade surface. This concludes that blade surface condition is an important factor that affects the chipping size. Moreover, in transient stage, diamond grits that are salient or less bonded to the blade detach leave caves on the blade surface which increases surface roughness of the blade and the chipping size. In steady stage, the heights of grits become even and the chipping size decreases accordingly.     

机动车轮胎磨损颗粒物化学组分特征研究

为研究机动车道路行驶过程中轮胎磨损排放的颗粒物理化特性,利用轮胎轮廓仿真磨耗仪,对国内主流17种轮胎胎面进行仿真磨耗实验,获得颗粒物样品,提取并检测其中18种元素和20种多环芳烃（PAHs）的含量.结果显示,元素和PAHs含量因轮胎品牌和速度等级的不同而差异显著.18种元素平均含量为（99.04±68.43）mg/g,占样品总重的9.90%,其中Si（88.97±67.85）mg/g、Zn（6.77±1.64）mg/g和Na（1.05±0.75）mg/g的平均含量均超过1mg/g,Cd的含量最低,为（0.43±0.31）μg/g.20种PAHs含量之和（∑20PAHs）在12.13~433.64 μg/g,平均为（94.13±110.18）μg/g,PY的平均含量最高（30.98±31.27）μg/g,其次是CHR、BaP、FA、PHE和BghiP,平均含量最低的是AC（0.58±0.2）μg/g;从环数看,以4环PAHs为主（占∑20PAHs的45.03%~67.93%）,其次为3环（平均含量为15.45%）和5环（平均含量为12.62%）.总体来说,国外品牌轮胎样品中元素和PAHs含量略高于国内品牌,而主要PAHs环数略低于国内品牌.     

环境中的轮胎磨损颗粒:从路面到海洋

轮胎磨损颗粒是环境中微塑料的主要来源之一,目前全球轮胎磨损颗粒的释放量在590万t·a^-1左右,约占海洋微塑料总量的15%.轮胎磨损颗粒产生于路面,通过雨水径流迁移,进而存在于路面、土壤、沉积物、水体、生物体等环境介质中.当前轮胎磨损颗粒的检测主要通过检测标记物来实现,因此,标记物的选择是关键.同时,轮胎磨损颗粒会通过吸附和浸出污染物产生污染,对人体和生物体都有一定的健康风险.对于环境中轮胎磨损颗粒的控制,最直接的方式就是在迁移路径中截留轮胎磨损颗粒和加速轮胎磨损颗粒的分解;而改进轮胎配方,降低磨损率可从源头减少轮胎磨损颗粒的释放.目前,人们对轮胎磨损颗粒的认识不足,检测方法还需要完善,其环境行为和风险评价也缺乏相关的研究.获得轮胎磨损颗粒从路面到海洋迁移的规律性认识,对于了解其生态风险和潜在污染问题十分重要.基于此,本文归纳总结了轮胎磨损颗粒的产生、检测方法、环境分布、潜在风险和缓解措施等方面的研究成果,分析了轮胎磨损颗粒研究今后应予以关注的方向.     

Carbon mitigation potential of Indian steel industry

Steel dominates the global metal production accounting for 5 % of increase in Earth’s atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂). Today, India is the 4th largest producer of crude steel in the world. The sector contributes around 3 % to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) but adds 6.2 % to the national greenhouse gas (GHG) load. It accounts for 28.4% of the entire industry sector emissions, which are 23.9% of the country’s total emissions. Being a developing country, India is not obliged to cut its emissions under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), but gave voluntary commitment to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 20–25 % from the 2005 level by 2020. This paper attempts to find out if the Indian steel sector can help the country in fulfilling this commitment. The sector reduced its CO₂ emissions per ton of steel produced by 58% from 1994 to 2007. The study generates six scenarios for future projections which show that the sector can reduce its emission intensity by 12.5 % to 63 %. But going by the conservative estimates, the sector can reduce emission intensity by 30 % to 53 %. However, actual emissions will go up significantly in every case.     

Micro end mill tool temperature measurement and prediction

The objective of this work is to characterize the heat transfer in micro end mill tools during machining operations. This analysis will aid in the design of heat dissipation strategies that could potentially increase tool life and machining precision. Tool temperatures, above the unmachined workpiece surface, have been measured using an infrared camera during slot milling of aluminum (6061-T6) and steel (1018) with 300 μm-diameter two-flute tungsten carbide end mills. The measured temperatures compare favorably with temperature distributions predicted by a two-dimensional, transient, heat transfer model of the tool. The heat input is estimated by applying Loewen and Shaw’s heat partitioning analysis. Analysis of heat transfer in the tool found that 46 s into a cut conduction through the length of the tool, storage in the tool, and convection from the surface account for 41.5%, 45%, and 13.5% of the heat generated during machining. Thermal expansion and cooling strategies are discussed.     

碳钢及低合金钢在重庆和万宁地区大气腐蚀规律研究

通过对17种碳钢和低合金钢在重庆地区江津试验站和海南万宁试验站进行16年的长期暴露试验,得到各种钢在重庆和万宁地区的大气腐蚀长期变化规律。指出在江津地区,碳钢和低合金钢可以用4年的短期大气腐蚀数据预测长期大气腐蚀规律。在万宁地区初期腐蚀率较低,但一定时间后腐蚀率呈上升趋势,耐候钢的腐蚀可以采用短期腐蚀数据预测长期结果,对于其他钢种则不能用短期数据预测长期腐蚀情况。对于江津地区,工程上选材可主要考虑经济因素。在万宁地区,工程上选材应重点考虑材料性能的差异。     

Microalgae: a promising tool for carbon sequestration

Increasing trends in global warming already evident, the likelihood of further rise continuing, and their impacts give urgency to addressing carbon sequestration technologies more coherently and effectively. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is responsible for over half the warming potential of all greenhouse gases (GHG), due to the dependence of world economies on fossil fuels. The processes involving CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) are gaining attention as an alternative for reducing CO₂ concentration in the ambient air. However, these technologies are considered as short-term solutions, as there are still concerns about the environmental sustainability of these processes. A promising technology could be the biological capture of CO₂ using microalgae due to its unmatched advantages over higher plants and ocean fertilization. Microalgae are phototrophic microorganisms with simple nutritional requirements, and comprising the major primary producers on this planet. Specific pathways include autotrophic production via both open pond or closed photobioreactor (PBR) systems. Photosynthetic efficiency of microalgae ranged from 10?C20 % in comparison with 1?C2 % of most terrestrial plants. Some algal species, during their exponential growth, can double their biomass in periods as short as 3.5 hours. Moreover, advantage of being tolerant of high concentration of CO₂ (flue gas), low light intensity requirements, environmentally sustainable, and co-producing added value products put these as the favoured organisms. Advantages of microalgae in comparison with other sequestration methodologies are discussed, which includes the cultivation systems, the key process parameters, wastewater treatment, harvesting and the novel bio-products produced by microalgal biomass.     

The catchment sediment budget as a management tool

There is increasing recognition that fine sediment represents an important diffuse source pollutant in surface waters, due to its role in governing the transfer and fate of many substances, including nutrients, heavy metals, pesticides and other organic contaminants, and because of its impacts on aquatic ecology. Catchment management strategies therefore frequently need to include provision for the control of sediment mobilisation and delivery. The sediment budget concept provides a valuable framework for assisting the management and control of diffuse source sediment pollution and associated problems, by identifying the key sources and demonstrating the importance of intermediate stores and the likely impact of upstream mitigation strategies on downstream suspended sediment and sediment-associated contaminant fluxes. Accordingly, the utility of the sediment budget concept for catchment management is further discussed, by introducing examples from several contrasting river basins.     

Life Cycle Assessment as an engineer's tool?

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an increasingly important evaluation tool for decision making and stakeholder discussion; especially when applied during the planning phase, it can pinpoint process steps with a high environmental impact and thus, provide guidance towards optimising the actual technology implementation. These aspects influencing the engineer's work are investigated on the basis of an LCA of the production of Biodiesel from Tallow and Used Vegetable Oil. Impact assessments with the Sustainable Process Index (SPI) and with the problem-oriented approach, show largely concordant results. The highly aggregated indicator SPI makes comparison between options possible. It provides “a bigger picture” of the environmental impacts and is helpful in decision making.     

The recycling cycle of materials as a design project tool

Currently, a large number of companies consider recycling of materials as an opportunity to maximize profits and to reduce the environmental impact generated by these materials after they are disposed. However, there is also a strong constraint on the use of recycled materials mainly due to the lack of technical/scientific information, which would relate their physical properties to their recycling cycle. This information should be used in the initial phase of the product design to serve as reference for the simulation of a project to point out the physical properties obtained from recycling the Projected material (Pm). Thus, it would be possible to foresee some recycling strategy to keep the good characteristics of recycled materials by encouraging their use, regardless of the product to be designed.Therefore, the Recycling Cycle of Materials (RCM) is a tool that provides scientific/technical support in the selection of materials. It uses the information related to the physical properties of the Pm as a parameter for product design after five recycling cycles. For the case study, this tool has been applied to obtain the basic material of ABS/PC blend. Subsequently, this blend was evaluated using DSC, FTIR, traction and impact methods to obtain delimiting data for the definition of the mechanical properties resulting from the application of RCM.     

Effects of magnetic field and rotary tool on EDM performance

In this work, the effects of tool rotation and various intensities of external magnetic field on electrical discharge machining (EDM) performance have been studied. Experimental trials divided into three regimes of low energy regime, middle energy regime and high energy regime. The influences of process parameters were investigated on main outputs of material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (SR). In order to correlate the input parameters and output values two mathematical models were developed to predict the MRR and SR according to variations of discharge energy, magnetic field intensity and tool rotational speed. Results indicated that the applying a rotational magnetic field around the machining gap improves the MRR and SR. Combination of rotational magnetic field and rotary electrode increases the machining performance, in comparison of previous conditions. This is due to better flushing debris from machining gap. This work introduces a new method for improving the machining performance, in cost and time points of view.     

Environmental aspects of laser-based and conventional tool and die manufacturing

Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) technologies such as Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) have made it possible to eliminate environmentally polluting supply chain activities in the tooling industry and to repair and remanufacture valuable tools and dies. In this article, we investigate three case studies to reveal the extent to which DMD-based manufacturing of molds and dies can currently achieve reduced environmental emissions and energy consumption relative to conventional manufacturing pathways. It is shown that DMD's greatest opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of tool and die manufacturing will come from its ability to enable remanufacturing. Laser-based remanufacturing of tooling is shown to reduce cost and environmental impact simultaneously, especially as the scale of the tool increases.     

山东地区海水养殖区常见抗生素耐药菌及耐药基因分布特征

对山东地区海水养殖海域常见抗生素耐药菌及耐药基因分布进行调查,结果表明所调查5个海水养殖区水样中四环素类、磺胺类、-内酰胺类耐药菌比例显著(p0.05)高于氯霉素类和喹诺酮类耐药菌;此外用RT-PCR方法对共计15种耐药基因在水样中的丰度测定表明磺胺类(sul、dfra/16S rRNA=10-6~10-2)、喹诺酮类(qnr/16S rRNA=10-6~10-2)以及四环素类耐药基因(tet/16S rRNA=10-7~10-2)在各水样中丰度差异不显著,而氯霉素耐药基因(cata、cmle/16S rRNA=10-8~10-2)在不同水样中丰度差异显著,且cata1和cmle1丰度与可培养氯霉素耐药菌比例存在相关线性关系。实验数据说明山东海水养殖区水样中存在一定的抗生素耐药菌和耐药基因污染。     

我国废钢铁加工设备生产使用现状及前景展望

对我国2009年粗钢产量及废钢铁加工供应情况进行概述和预测,介绍了我国废钢铁加工设备的生产规模、使用状况及研发现状,以及我国废钢铁加工设备的种类及其性能。展望了我国废钢铁加工设备的前景,指出质优价廉、适合中国国情、具有环保功能的废钢铁加工设备市场发展空间巨大。