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Ammonia is a prospective zero-carbon-emission fuel for use in large marine diesel engines. Current research focuses on several technical aspects, such as injection strategies or exhaust gas aftertreatment options, but investigations regarding the impact of ammonia on engine oil degradation are largely absent from the literature. This study provides a methodology with which to evaluate this phenomenon via artificial oil alteration. By using an admixture of various contaminations to air, such as ammonia and its partial combustion product nitrogen dioxide, their respective impacts on chemical oil degradation were assessed. Subsequently, the lubricating performance of altered oils was investigated, with a focus on corrosion properties, deposit formation, and load-bearing capability. Although the application of a stoichiometric ammonia–air mixture resulted in less pronounced thermo-oxidative degradation compared to alteration with neat air, static and dynamic deposit formation as well as corrosion properties and load-bearing capability were severely impacted by the presence of ammonia. On the contrary, nitrogen dioxide contamination resulted in higher oxidation and acidification of the oil, but altered samples performed considerably better than ammonia-altered aliquots in terms of coking tendencies, corrosivity, and load bearing.

Stepped spillways have been increasingly used to handle flood releases from large dams associated with hydropower plants, and it is important to evaluate the fluctuating pressure field on the steps. Hydraulic model investigations were conducted on three 53° (1V:0.75H) sloping and relatively large-stepped chutes to characterize the mean, fluctuating, and extreme pressures acting on the most critical regions of the step faces, near their outer edges. The pressure development along the chutes is presented, generally indicating an increase of the modulus of pressure coefficients up to the vicinity of the point of inception of air entrainment, and a decrease further downstream. The extreme pressure coefficients along the spillway are fitted by an empirical formula, and the critical conditions potentially leading to cavitation on prototypes are calculated. The correlation between the cavitation index and the friction factor is also applied for predicting the onset of cavitation on prototypes, and the results are compared with the pressure data-based method. Generally, the results obtained from those methods yield typical values for the cavitation index in the vicinity of the point of inception, varying approximately from 0.8 to 0.6, respectively. In light of these results, maximum unit discharges of about 15–20 m2/s are considered advisable on 53° sloping large-stepped spillways without artificial aeration, for step heights ranging from 0.6 to 1.2 m. For much higher unit discharges, a considerable reach of the spillway may potentially be prone to the risk of cavitation damage.

Stepped spillways have been increasingly used to handle flood releases from large dams associated with hydropower plants, and it is important to evaluate the fluctuating pressure field on the steps. Hydraulic model investigations were conducted on three 53° (1V:0.75H) sloping and relatively large-stepped chutes to characterize the mean, fluctuating, and extreme pressures acting on the most critical regions of the step faces, near their outer edges. The pressure development along the chutes is presented, generally indicating an increase of the modulus of pressure coefficients up to the vicinity of the point of inception of air entrainment, and a decrease further downstream. The extreme pressure coefficients along the spillway are fitted by an empirical formula, and the critical conditions potentially leading to cavitation on prototypes are calculated. The correlation between the cavitation index and the friction factor is also applied for predicting the onset of cavitation on prototypes, and the results are compared with the pressure data-based method. Generally, the results obtained from those methods yield typical values for the cavitation index in the vicinity of the point of inception, varying approximately from 0.8 to 0.6, respectively. In light of these results, maximum unit discharges of about 15–20 m²/s are considered advisable on 53° sloping large-stepped spillways without artificial aeration, for step heights ranging from 0.6 to 1.2 m. For much higher unit discharges, a considerable reach of the spillway may potentially be prone to the risk of cavitation damage.

Rail lubrication is vital in determines the friction, wear and noise level in the wheel and rail contacts. In general, the primary function of a rail curve grease is to minimize friction between the contact as well as to protect side wear of rails on a curved track. In this study, three commercially applied railway greases were identified and the wear and friction behavior, as well as the load-carrying ability, were investigated. Before that, the grease's physiochemical properties in terms of the consistency and drop point, as well as the element content, were also examined. The tribological investigation of the greases was also carried out using four-ball wear tester. In this test, the wear preventive (WP) and extreme pressure (EP) properties of the grease were measured under sliding actions between the balls, and the wear surface analysis was also carried out. The tests results explained that the rail curve greases are very soft in texture yet have stable structure over a high-temperature range. The greases also presenting low friction coefficient; ranges between 0.070 to 0.090, and acceptable wear scar diameter indicating the good anti-friction and anti-wear properties. High load-carrying ability up to 400 kg is also the significant properties for a rail curve grease to perform as the desired functions.

Pressure fluctuations are a key issue in hydraulic engineering. However, despite the large number of studies on the topic, their role in spatial hydraulic jumps is not yet fully understood. The results herein shed light on the formation of eddies and the derived pressure fluctuations in stilling basins with different expansion ratios. Laboratory tests are conducted in a horizontal rectangular flume with 0.5 m width and 10 m length. The range of approaching Froude numbers spans from 6.4 to 12.5 and the channel expansion ratios are 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1. The effects of approaching flow conditions and expansion ratios are thoroughly analyzed, focusing on the dimensionless standard deviation of pressure fluctuations and extreme pressure fluctuations. The results reveal that these variables show a clear dependence on the Froude number and the distance to the hydraulic jump toe. The maximum values of extreme pressure fluctuations occur in the range 0.609&lt, X&lt, 3.385, where X is dimensionless distance from the toe of the hydraulic jump, which makes it highly advisable to reinforce the bed of stilling basins within this range.

Tribological properties of lithium potassium titanate (PT), molybdenum disulphide, and tungsten disulphide-dispersed mineral oil (MO) were investigated. The sample containing 2 wt.% WS2 exhibited the lowest coefficient of friction. However, the wear scar diameters of the additivated samples were very narrow. Extreme pressure properties of mineral oil were enhanced with the addition of additives. The rolling contact fatigue results exhibited better fatigue life of the balls in MoS2 and PT-dispersed MO. Surface characterization of the balls indicated more pitting on the balls of the MO and WS2-dispersed MO as compared to MoS2 and PT, indicating a stable film in the case of MoS2 and PT, which was confirmed by the presence of additives on ball surfaces by Raman spectrograph. The results of extended rolling contact fatigue tests proved that PT-added mineral oil provided the highest life cycles of the tested balls, followed by MoS2 and WS2-added mineral oil, thus, indicating PT as a plausible alternative to MoS2 and WS2.

Palm oil olein and palm oil ester is well-known potential candidate in plant-based oil to replace the conventional mineral oil. Harvested all year round, the advantages and benefits initiate the palm oil to be used in varieties of application. In this paper, palm oil olein was tested on its capability as a lubricant to replace the mineral oil. To enrich the performance of this oil, different types of nanoparticles additives were added. Previous studies proved that by adding small size of additives into lubricating oil can lessen the friction and improve anti-wear properties. The adjustment of the lubricating oil with nanoparticle additives will reduce the friction between two contact surfaces and produce less heat. In his study, three type material of solid additives namely nanoclay and carbon nanotubes were used. Four ball tester following ASTM D4072-94 was conducted to determine the optimum concentration of each additives and its tribological properties under boundary lubrication (metal to metal contact). Result obtained shows that the addition of 0.04 wt% of carbon nanotubes recorded the lowest coefficient of friction with a 10.8% improvement compared to the pure palm oil. The additive also contributed to better wear scar diameters and possessed good anti-wear properties for palm oil. This thus shows the significant potential of carbon nanotubes as the wear preventive additive for palm oil olein. It is also discovered that 0.04 wt% of nanoclays additive is the optimum concentration of the mixture with coefficient of friction reduced 22.16% compared to mineral oil.

Extreme pressures and temperatures are known to drastically affect the chemistry of iron oxides, resulting in numerous compounds forming homologous series nFeOmFe2O3 and the appearance of FeO2. Here, based on the results of in situ single-crystal x-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and density-functional theory+dynamical mean-field theory calculations, we demonstrate that iron in high-pressure cubic FeO2 and isostructural FeO2H0.5 is ferric (Fe3+), and oxygen has a formal valence less than 2. Reduction of oxygen valence from 2, common for oxides, down to 1.5 can be explained by a formation of a localized hole at oxygen sites. © 2021 American Physical Society. We acknowledge the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY, PETRA III), the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), and the Advance Photon Source (APS) for provision of beamtime. N. D. and L. D. thank the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany (BMBF, Grant No. 05K19WC1) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG Projects No. DU 954–11/1, No. DU 393–9/2, and No. DU 393–13/1) for financial support. N. D. and I. A. A. thank the Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linköping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU No. 2009 00971). Electronic structure calculations were supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Project No. 18-12-00492). Theoretical analysis of chemical bonding was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation in the framework of Increase Competitiveness Program of NUST “MISIS” (No. K2-2019-001) implemented by a governmental decree, No. 211. Support from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (Wallenberg Scholar Grant No. KAW-2018.0194), the Swedish Government Strategic Research Areas and SeRC, and the Swedish Research Council (VR) Grant No. 2019-05600 is gratefully acknowledged.

To enhance the lubricating and extreme pressure (EP) performance of base oils, two types of oil-soluble ionic liquids (ILs) with similar anion albeit dissimilar cations were synthesized. The physical properties of the prepared ILs were measured. The anticorrosion properties of ILs were assessed by conducting corrosion tests on steel discs and copper strips, which revealed the remarkable anticorrosion properties of the ILs in comparison with those of the commercial additive zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP). The tribological properties of the two ILs as additives for poly-α-olefin-10 (PAO10) with various mass concentrations were investigated. The tribological test results indicate that these ILs as additives are capable of reducing friction and wear of sliding contacts remarkably as well as enhance the EP performance of blank PAO10. Under similar test conditions, these IL additives exhibit higher lubricating and anti-wear (AW) performances than those of ZDDP based additive package in PAO10. Subsequently, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) were conducted to study the lubricating mechanism of the two ILs. The results indicate that the formation of tribochemical film plays the most crucial role in enhancing the lubricating and AW behavior of the mixture lubricants.

The pressure–viscosity coefficient, α, is a measure of the pressure dependence of the viscosity of the liquid in elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL). There seems to be confusion around the understanding of the pressure–viscosity response in the inlet zone. In this paper the values of α were obtained from measurements of viscosity as a function of pressure and offers a understanding on the piezoviscous effect at various inlet pressures for those liquids. Moreover, the viscosities of several commercial engine oils and laboratory blends of mineral and synthetic base oils with polymer additives were measured at pressures up to 1 GPa and at temperatures of 40°C, 75°C, and 100°C. It was observed in some of these materials The significant changes within viscosity are temperature- and pressure-dependent. Analysis of the experimental results indicated that the solidification (significant increase viscosity) is due to liquid-solid phase transitions occurring in the lubricant’s polymer additives. Thus, this paper gives evidence on the role of molecular weight and concentration of polymer and its influence on the pressure- and temperature-dependent onset of the phase transitions. This transition has not been discussed in the open literature and is not accounted for in current bearing design using the Barus equation or the modified Yasatomi equation and may be the cause of some bearing damage modes.

Orientation: Exchange market pressure (EMP) is the selling pressure of domestic currency or excess demand needed for foreign currency. Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyse EMP using extreme value theory (EVT) and to compare two commonly used EVT methods. Motivation for the study: To determine whether the EMP of two African countries can be modelled with EVT, and if so, which method would be best suited. To determine periods of extreme pressure or currency crisis by using these methods. Lastly, to study the individual components of the EMP index during these periods of stress of crises. Research design/approach and method: The monthly data of the three components of the EMP index for two African countries (Republic of South Africa [RSA] and Kenya) were studied for a period of 19 years (1999–2017). The data were modelled using the generalised Pareto distribution (GPD) with the peak over threshold (POT) method using maximum likelihood estimation. Moreover, the data were also modelled using the non-parametric Hill estimate. Appropriate estimated and empirical quantiles are reported in order to determine periods of extreme pressure or crises. The components of the EMP RSA data set were modelled with appropriate autoregressive moving averages and/or autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity/generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (ARMA/ARCH/GARCH) processes to ensure independent and identically distributed variables. Main findings: Reliable and accurate estimates were obtained for the scale and shape parameter using the GPD POT method for both countries. Positive shape parameters confirmed generalised extreme value distributions with heavy tails of the Frechet type. Similarly, accurate and reliable shape estimates were computed using the non-parametric Hill estimator for both countries. Practical/managerial implications: The GPD POT method more closely reflected estimates to the empirical qauntiles compared to the Hill method. It is feasible to model the EMP data of two African countries with EVT using both POT estimation methods. However, the GPD method using maximum likelihood estimation was more accurate compared to the non-parametric Hill estimate. Contribution/value-add: It is feasible to model the EMP data of two African countries using EVT using both POT methods. As a consequence periods of extreme pressure could be identified. Therefore the individual components of the EMP at those periods of extreme pressure could be studied more closely.

The formidable progress achieved in the research at extreme conditions led to important discoveries of many unusual and interesting physical and chemical phenomena. Materials with high compressibility were and still are of particular interest due to a significant reduction of volume which could result in unexpected changes of bonding and/or electronic properties. Among highly compressible materials simple diatomic molecules such as H2, N2, and O2 are particularly interesting because they form new types of solids at high pressure. Hydrogen, being the most abundant element in the universe, possesses simple electronic structure, therefore, the study of hydrogen systems is of special interest. In the last three decades, there were subsequently explored and described several high-pressure phases of hydrogen up to 400 GPa. However, there is still a vast area of unexplained effects, which requires further analysis. The contributed work discusses Raman experiments in a wide pressure and temperature range where rotational and lattice phonon excitations have been measured in the Raman spectrum of solid H2 and D2 at 10, 77, 150 and 300 K from 2 to 180 GPa and up to 380 GPa at 300 K. Analysis of the Raman spectra allows to model how the rotational modes change with pressure and temperature and how the mass scaling laws evolve as the density increases in both hydrogen and deuterium. Comparison of vibrational frequencies of the isotopes appears to be extremely useful for estimation of equivalent pressures for both isotopes. Nitrogen and oxygen are archetypal elements possessing unique features such as extremely strong triple bond in case of N2 and magnetic moment in O2 . Both N2 and O2 exhibit rich polymorphism, with additional phases of O2 derived from its electronic and magnetic properties. N2 /O2 mixtures (for example, 20.9% O2 and 78% N2 mixture is air that we breathe) have been studied up to 12 GPa at 300 K experimentally and explored up to 500 GPa at 0 K theoretically. In the current project, N2 /O2 molecular systems are examined at 300 K up to 150 GPa. Rich polymorphism is observed, with seven phases exhibiting drastically different Raman spectra for concentrations below 45% of O2 and a more stable area with three phases in the concentration range from 45% to 80% of oxygen at pressures above 12 GPa. Moreover, characteristic Raman spectra obtained for the mix with 25% O2 after laser heating to approximately 2000 K at 25 and 96 GPa reveals pronounced peaks indicating the potential formation of new compounds.

The tribological performance of crude Nigeria-based castor oil has been investigated and compared with that of a foreign, 20W-50 high quality crankcase oil, to see its suitability as base oil for lubricating oils in indigenous vehicle and power plants engines. The experiment was conducted using a four ball tester. The results showed that unrefined castor oil has superior friction reduction and load bearing capability in an unformulated form than the commercial oil; can compete favourably with the commercial oil in wear protection when formulated with suitable antiwear agent, hence can be a good alternative base stock for crankcase oils suitable for Nigeria serviced vehicles, and plants engines from tribological, environmental, and non-food competitive points of view.

Strength at extreme pressures (>1 Mbar or 100 GPa) and high strain rates (106-108 s-1) of materials is not well characterized. The goal of the research outlined in this thesis is to study the strength of tantalum (Ta) at these conditions. The Omega Laser in the Laboratory for Laser Energetics in Rochester, New York is used to create such extreme conditions. Targets are designed with ripples or waves on the surface, and these samples are subjected to high pressures using Omega’s high energy laser beams. In these experiments, the observational parameter is the Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instability in the form of ripple growth on single-mode ripples. The experimental platform used for these experiments is the “ride-along” laser compression recovery experiments, which provide a way to recover the specimens having been subjected to high pressures. Six different experiments are performed on the Omega laser using single-mode tantalum targets at different laser energies. The energy indicates the amount of laser energy that impinges the target. For each target, values for growth factor are obtained by comparing the profile of ripples before and after the experiment. With increasing energy, the growth factor increased. Engineering simulations are used to interpret and correlate the measurements of growth factor to a measure of strength. In order to validate the engineering constitutive model for tantalum, a series of simulations are performed using the code Eureka, based on the Optimal Transportation Meshfree (OTM) method. Two different configurations are studied in the simulations: RM instabilities in single and multimode ripples. Six different simulations are performed for the single ripple configuration of the RM instability experiment, with drives corresponding to laser energies used in the experiments. Each successive simulation is performed at higher drive energy, and it is observed that with increasing energy, the growth factor increases. Overall, there is favorable agreement between the data from the simulations and the experiments. The peak growth factors from the simulations and the experiments are within 10% agreement. For the multimode simulations, the goal is to assist in the design of the laser driven experiments using the Omega laser. A series of three-mode and four-mode patterns are simulated at various energies and the resulting growth of the RM instability is computed. Based on the results of the simulations, a configuration is selected for the multimode experiments. These simulations also serve as validation for the constitutive model and the material parameters for tantalum that are used in the simulations. By designing samples with initial perturbations in the form of single-mode and multimode ripples and subjecting these samples to high pressures, the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability is investigated in both laser compression experiments and simulations. By correlating the growth of these ripples to measures of strength, a better understanding of the strength of tantalum at high pressures is achieved.

Ultrathin graphene (UG) has been prepared by exfoliation of graphite oxide by a novel technique based on focused solar radiation. Graphene based engine oil nanofluids have been prepared and their frictional characteristics (FC), antiwear (AW), and extreme pressure (EP) properties have been evaluated. The improvement in FC, AW, and EP properties of nanofluids is respectively by 80, 33, and 40% compared with base oil. The enhancement can be attributed to the nanobearing mechanism of graphene in engine oil and ultimate mechanical strength of graphene. � 2011 American Chemical Society.