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Simple method for the identification of electrical and thermal contact resistances in spark plasma sintering
Get PDFThe electrical and thermal contact resistances are key parameters for obtaining an accurate electro-thermal model of the spark plasma sintering (SPS) process. However, due to the lack of a general expression, these parameters are usually determined empirically. Thus, they are only valid for a specific material and SPS configuration.
A simple method based on a limited amount of experiments as well as a new formulation of the electrical and thermal contact resistances are developed. First, the evolution of those resistances is optimized on simple shapes (pellets) experiments. They are then transferred into the electro-thermal simulation of complex shapes configurations, which showed a good agreement between the experimental and computed data
Engineering Copper Adhesion on Poly-Epoxy Surfaces Allows One-Pot Metallization of Polymer Composite Telecommunication Waveguides
Get PDFMass gain in the aerospace sector is highly demandable for energy savings and operational efficiency. Replacement of metal parts by polymer composites meets this prerequisite, provided the targeted functional properties are recovered. In the present contribution, we propose two innovative and scalable processes for the metallization of the internal faces of carbon fiber reinforced polymer radiofrequency waveguides foreseen for implementation in telecommunications satellites. They involve sequential direct liquid injection metalorganic chemical vapor deposition of copper and cobalt. The use of ozone pretreatment of the polymer surface prior deposition, or of cost effective anhydrous dimethoxyethane as solvent for the injection of the copper precursor, yield strongly adherent, 5 µm Cu films on the polymer composite. Their electrical resistivity is in the 4.1–5.0 μΩ·cm range, and they sustain thermal cycling between −175 °C and +170 °C. Such homogeneous and conformal films can be obtained at temperatures as low as 115 °C. Demonstration is achieved on a polymer composite waveguide, composed of metallized 60-mm long straight sections and of E-plane and H-plane elbows, that paves the way towards the metallization of scale one devices
Global Descriptors for Visual Pose Estimation of a Non-Cooperative Target in Space Rendezvous
Get PDFThis paper proposes methods based on global descriptors to estimate the pose of a known object
using a monocular camera, in the context of space rendezvous between an autonomous spacecraft and
a non-cooperative target. These methods estimate the pose by detection, i.e., they require no prior
information about the pose of the observed object, making them suitable for initial pose acquisition and
the monitoring of faults in other on-board estimators. An approach is presented to fully retrieve the
object’s pose using a pre-computed set of invariants and geometric moments. Three classes of global
invariant features are analyzed, based on complex moments, Zernike moments and Fourier descriptors.
The robustness of the different invariants is tested under various conditions and their performance is
discussed and compared. The method offers a fast and robust solution for pose estimation by detection,
with a low computational complexity that is compatible with space-qualified processors
Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AA7075 Aluminum Alloy Fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS)
Get PDFAA7075 aluminum alloy is widely used for several high-technology applications for its high mechanical strength to weight ratio but is still the subject of several studies seeking a further increase in its mechanical properties. A commercial powder is used, either as-received or after ball-milling. Dense AA7075 samples are prepared in one step by Spark Plasma Sintering, at 550 °C with a holding time of 15 min and a uniaxial pressure of 100 MPa. No additional heat treatment is performed. Laser granulometry, X-ray diffraction and optical- and scanning electron microscopy show that both grain size and morphology are preserved in the dense samples, due to the relatively low temperature and short sintering time used. The samples prepared using the ball-milled powder exhibit both higher Vickers microhardness and transverse fracture strength values than those prepared using the raw powder, reflecting the finer microstructure
Protecting the downstream migration of salmon smolts from hydroelectric power plants with inclined racks and optimized bypass water discharge
Get PDFThe sustained development of hydropower energy in the last century has caused important ecological impacts, promoting recent advances in efficient mitigation measures to be implemented in existing and future hydropower plants. Although upstream fish migration has been largely addressed with the development of fish-pass infrastructures, downstream passage solutions are often missing or inefficient, strengthening the need for their improvement and efficiency assessment. The efficiency of horizontally inclined (26°) low bar spacing racks associated to a bypass was assessed using salmon smolts radiotelemetry along three successive hydropower plants (HPP) in the Ariège River (southern France). In average, nearly 90% of the smolts were successfully protected by the racks and rapidly guided to the bypass, within few minutes in most cases. Furthermore, we detected a significant positive influence of the bypass discharge (Qbp% expressed as the proportion of concurrent HPP discharge) on the probability of successful bypass passage, reaching 85% of successful passage with a Qbp% of only 3%, and more than 92% when the Qbp% exceeded 5%. The probability of bypass passage without hesitation (e.g. passage within the first 5 min) also increased with Qbp%, and reached 90% with 5% of Qbp%. Passage without hesitation was especially detected on the site having larger bypass entrances and transversal currents, providing better guidance into the bypass. High-efficiency results of inclined racks yielded with reduced Qbp% confirmed their relevance to mitigate some of the HPP ecological impacts, re-establishing safe downstream salmon migration with lower impact on energy production than older less efficient solutions
Observation of a superparamagnetic breakdown in gadolinium chloride filled double-walled carbon nanotubes
Get PDFIn this article, the magnetic properties of gadolinium chloride-filled double-walled carbon nanotubes (GdCl3@DWNTs) in the temperature range 2-300 K are explored. The temperature-dependent phonon frequencies of the G-band were studied from 80-300 K to investigate the effect of temperature on the magnetic ordering. Temperature-dependent susceptibility measurements show that the GdCl3@DWNTs sample has a pronounced superparamagnetic phase from 83 K. The temperature dependence of the G-band frequency for filled tubes exhibited a distinct difference compared to pristine nanotubes, where a sharp phonon hardening at low temperatures was observed. A correlation between the onset temperature of superparamagnetism and the abrupt G-band phonon hardening in the filled tubes was verified. GdCl3@DWNTs were characterized by a finite remnant magnetization at 300 K which decreased as the temperature was lowered because of the presence of the discontinuous magnetic nanoparticles, providing a superparamagnetic contribution characterized by an S-shaped non-saturating hysteresis loop at 2 K. Remarkably, the onset of superparamagnetism, marked by the bifurcation point, occurred at roughly the same temperature where the G-band phonon frequency showed a pronounced hardening at approximately 80 K, indicating a close correlation between phonon modes and spin clusters
Creep of single-crystals of nickel-base γ-alloy at temperatures between 1150 °C and 1288 °C
Get PDFA γ-analogue of the superalloy CMSX-4 that does not contain the strengthening γ′-phase and only consists of the γ-solid solution of nickel has been designed, solidified as single-crystals of different orientations, and tested under creep conditions in the temperature range between 1150 and 1288 °C. The tests have revealed a very high creep anisotropy of this alloy, as was previously found for CMSX-4 at supersolvus temperature of 1288 °C. This creep anisotropy could be explained by the dominance of 011111 octahedral slip. Furthermore, the analysis of the creep data has yielded a high value of the creep activation energy, Qc≈442 kJ/mol, which correlates with the high activation energy of Re diffusion in Ni. This supports the hypothesis that dislocation motion in the γ-matrix of Re-containing superalloys is controlled by the diffusion of the Re atoms segregating at the dislocation core. The Norton stress exponent n is close to 5, which is a typical value for pure metals and their alloys. The absence of γ′-reprecipitation after high-temperature creep tests facilitates microstructural investigations. It has been shown by EBSD that creep deformation results in an increasing misorientation of the existing low angle boundaries. In addition, according to TEM, new low angle boundaries appear due to reactions of the a/2011 mobile dislocations and knitting of new networks
A marginalised particle filter with variational inference for non‐linear state‐space models with Gaussian mixture noise
Get PDFThis work proposes a marginalised particle filter with variational inference for non‐linear state‐space models (SSMs) with Gaussian mixture noise. A latent variable indicating the component of the Gaussian mixture considered at each time instant is introduced to specify the measurement mode of the SSM. The resulting joint posterior distribution of the state vector, the mode variable and the parameters of the Gaussian mixture noise is marginalised with respect to the noise variables. The marginalised posterior distribution of the state and mode is then approximated by using an appropriate marginalised particle filter. The noise parameters conditionally on each particle system of the state and mode variable are finally updated by using variational Bayesian inference. A simulation study is conducted to compare the proposed method with state‐of‐the‐art approaches in the context of positioning in urban canyons using global navigation satellite systems
Bimetallic RuNi nanoparticles as catalysts for upgrading biomass: metal dilution and solvent effects on selectivity shifts
Get PDFRuNi nanoparticles (NP) were prepared by decomposition of [Ru(η4-C8H12)(η6-C8H10)] and [Ni(η4-C8H12)2] by H2 in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) at 85 °C using several Ru/Ni ratios. The nanoparticles display a segregated structure in which Ni is on the surface, as ascertained by wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). The catalytic activity in the selective hydrogenation of furfural of these RuNi NP was correlated with the Ru content. High selectivity towards the partially hydrogenated product 2-(hydroxymethyl)furan (HF) was found when carrying out the reaction in tetrahydrofuran (THF). A different scenario was found when using a protic polar solvent, 1-propanol. Catalysts displaying Ru on the surface were able to hydrogenate the heteroaromatic ring, while those with Ni on the surface were highly selective towards the partially hydrogenated product. In addition, Ru surfaces were prone to catalyse the acetalization reaction in the presence of the alcoholic solvent, while the addition of Ni supressed this reactivity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations performed on hydrogenated Ru nanoparticles (Ru55H70) show differences in the adsorption energies of several reagents, products, reaction intermediates, and solvents onto the Ru NP surface, which are in line with the experimental catalytic results
Cyclic oxidation of alloy 718 produced by additive manufacturing compared to a wrought-718 alloy
Get PDFThe cyclic oxidation resistance at 900 °C of the alloy 718 produced by laser beam melting and electron beam melting was compared to that of the wrought-718 alloy. Results showed large differences regarding the rate of oxide layer spallation. The wrought alloy presents much more adherent oxide scale. Moreover, the standard heat treatment and the surface grinding slightly delay the catastrophic spallation. The role of sulfur and manganese on the adhesion of the oxide scale is quantitatively discussed using thermodynamic modelling. This result may force restrictions on the chemical composition of the alloy 718 powder used for additive manufacturing