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Natural fibers have been extensively studied as a reinforcement filler in obtaining composites, replacing partially synthetic fibers. The vast majority of these materials originate from agro-industrial waste with a high content of lignin and cellulose making it a very interesting material with low cost and good mechanical properties. The purpose of the study was to obtain a composite based on alkyl ketene dimer resin, for the manufacture of sustainable packaging, made of paper by adding a 10% (w/w) con-tent of green coconut fiber and sugarcane bagasse fiber, and evaluated the impact of the filler on the mechanical behavior of the systems. The studied material was characterized from mechanical tests, such as Ring Crush Test (RCT) and Concora Medium Test (CMT) evaluating the maximum resistance supported by centimeter in the pre-pared composites, by the specimens. Through the RCT tests, with 10% w/w fibers, it was possible to verify that the fiber from sugarcane bagasse reached an increase of about 1% in the reinforcement effect compared to pure paper, and a difference of up to 2% in strength mechanics in relation to coir fiber, and CMT tests shows the reinforcement effect of the presence of sugarcane bagasse fiber, with an increase of about 3% compared to pure paper, and with a mechanical strength higher by 1% compared to coconut fiber. Therefore, the study was funneled with sugar cane fiber, varying the content by 20 and 30 % (w/w), evaluating the impact on the dispersion of this filler in the polymeric matrix and, consequently, the mechanical response of the composite with these compositions. The conclusion of the study was that the system prepared with 20% (w/w) was the one that achieved the greatest optimization of the mechanical properties, evaluated by the tests. This type of material can be applied to obtain cardboard boxes with resistance to high loads, due to the achievement of good mechanical properties.

Currently, paper pulping production from woody materials has many disadvantages due to its high energy, chemical, water consumption, methane emissions, and deforestation. However, the use of non-woody materials solves these problems. This study focused on the use of non-virgin raw material (Enset leaf fiber) in pulp and paper making. Enset leaf residues are the primary solid residues after the steam plant is used for “Kocho” processing. This leaf fiber has a lignocellulose component, converting this residue into Pulp and paper is crucial in terms of economic and waste management via the Kraft process. It has a higher fiber quality, lower energy consumption, and high recoverability of the chemical raw materials used in the process. The chemical composition of the Enset leaf fiber was analyzed using the Technical Association of Pulp and Paper. It has an excellent fiber length (2.12±1.46mm), fiber diameter (26.55±15.6µm) andacceptable rigidity coefficient (1.05±0.07), and flexibility coefficient (125.23±0.04). The maximum pulp yield was obtained at a temperature of 120°C, NaOH concentration of 8%, and 40 min cooking time off, which was 69.92% w/w. The functional groups of the Enset leaf fiber and morphological characteristics of the fiber were investigated.

The characteristic pinched hysteresis behavior of memristors has been reported by stacks of a variety of materials. This paper aims to examine the principles of logic design using such two terminal memristive systems for high performance digital circuit applications. As against logic design with standard CMOS, the benefits of logic design with memristors have been stated. The realization and operation of memristor based AND and OR hybrid logic gates obtained by integrating memristors with standard CMOS logic have been discussed. The IMPLY and MAGIC logic families have been demonstrated by covering MAGIC NOR and NAND logic gate implementation with MAGIC NOR in detail. A qualitative comparison has been drawn towards the end of the paper to conclude on the suitability and application space for each of the logic families studied in this paper. This work also describes the hybrid CMOS-memristive logic family known as MRL (Memristor Ratioed Logic). With the addition of CMOS inverters, this logic family's OR and AND logic gates, which are based on memristive components, are given a full logic structure and signal restoration. The MRL family, in contrast to earlier memristor-based logic families, is compatible with conventional CMOS logic.

This paper mainly studies the composition of strengthening phase, characteristic precipitation temperature and composition range of strengthening phase in Ti-Al-Mo-Zr-Si medical titanium alloy, and the influence of element changes on the content and microstructure of strengthening phase. Promote the formulation of thermodynamic process of titanium alloy powder metallurgy, as well as the formulation of alloy hot working and solid solution aging process. In this paper, Panda thermodynamic software is used to calculate the multicomponent alloy thermodynamics and multicomponent phase diagram of titanium alloy materials. The effects of Al, Mo, Zr, Si and other elements on the precipitation of strengthening phase and the phase transformation content of solidification structure were obtained. It is found that the content of Mo is more than 2 wt.% β phase transition precipitation angle. Meanwhile, in order to avoid the excess of precipitates such as Mo5Si3 and M3Si, the content of Mo should be less than 4.6 wt.%. The content of Zr can be maintained at about 1.5 wt.%. If the aging precipitation of the material is considered, it can be controlled to be less than 2 wt.%. The content of this paper is the basis and improvement of titanium powder metallurgy technology and rapid prototyping technology.

Sustainable development requires green energy and low carbon footprint in manufacturing sector of photovoltaic systems. The electrical connections of photovoltaic cells need to have low electrical resistance in order to reduce the electrical losses and therefore to improve the performance of the photovoltaic panels. This paper aims to present researches related to bonding of wires that connect solar cells by using microwave technology. The microwave bonding has the main advantage that offers fast bonding but, in the same time, this technology does not offer stability of the thermal heating. Two different unwanted phenomena like thermal runaway and plasma arc discharge often lead to the damaging of copper and aluminum wires used in electrical connection. The study presented in this paper is focused on simulation of the thermal field developed in copper wires in order to optimize the bonding process and increase the quality of products. The simulation of the thermal field has been done using Fourier equations for conducting heating in copper materials and eutectic alloys. The simulation model has been validated through experimental heating using a 6 kW water-cooled microwave generator controlled by a matching load auto-tuner for best transfer of the power from generator to copper wires. The temperature has been measured in real time using an infrared pyrometer for metals with 2.3 μm spectral range and measurement range between 0o C and 7000 C. The study is finalized with elaboration of mathematical model for microwave-injected power as function for temperature developed in copper wires that can be applied with success in further microwave bonding applications of copper wires. In addition, the electrical resistance of bonded wires was measured in order to collect feedback for improving the microwave bonding process.

This paper proposes a deep learning model for predicting the durability benchmark on concrete specimens. The durability benchmark on concrete samples is commonly estimated throughout the Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity measurements. This test establishes a relationship with concrete durability taken into consideration the material's homogeneity. The model proposed in this paper is feed by standard laboratory tests as input parameters, making the model a practical and efficient alternative to predict durability concrete benchmark, saving time, short-cut laboratory work, and avoiding sophisticated instrumentation use. Furthermore, it is an attractive alternative to the need for sophisticated instrumentation for estimating the Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity. The outcomes depict a high predictive accuracy about of 96% in the validation stage. In addition, the model was tested by a new dataset with different properties to demonstrate robustness and certainty in the model. Finally, the model achieves an impressive accuracy of 95.89% in the new validation dataset.

In this paper, a hollow square cross-section carbon fiber/epoxy composite beam was designed and manufactured. Evaluation of the beam behavior considered orientation and stacking sequence, aiming to reduce the number of layers and weight. Finite element method (FEM) was used to simulate the performance of the composite beam under 3-point bending and using three failure criteria, Tsai-Hill, Tsai-Wu and maximum stress. In order to identify the input parameters for the model, flat composites were tested under tension and compression. It was concluded that a minimum of 12 layers of unidirectional carbon fiber were required to reach the required load (44.5 kN). The prototype was successfully fabricated by vacuum-infusion process and subjected to 3-point bending test. The experimental failure load was within the predicted range by the Tsai-Hill failure criteria and maximum stress.

Road markings regulate and direct traffic by conveying specific information. It is of great significance to develop new road marking materials and improve the visibility of marking materials for improving traffic efficiency and ensuring traffic safety. This paper summarized the development status of various reflective road markings at home and abroad. In addition, the energy storage luminescent fluorescent/phosphor marking lines in road marking was emphatically generalized to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different improvement methods. Overall, strontium aluminate doped with Eu2+ co-doped with Dy3+ (SrAl2O4:Eu2+, Dy3+) phosphors and self-luminous pavement for energy storage had great prospects in improving road safety and reducing energy consumption.

This paper reports the synthesis of ZnS Quantum Dots (QDs) embedded in PVA by aqueous precipitation method and its application in antibacterial as well as to find or estimation of Escherichia coli (E.coli) concentration by using ZnS/PVA QD based mem-mode nanodevices. The as-synthesized ZnS/PVA samples are characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy (UV), Photo luminescence (PL), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Antibacterial property of ZnS/PVA QDs against gram positive (S.aureus) as well as gram negative (E.coli) are tested. The antibacterial property is found to be more in S.aureus in comparision to E.coli. Mem-behaviour of the as-fabricated devices is observed through electrical characterization. COMSOL MP Software is used for simulating I-V characteristics. The voltage gap is found to be a promising parameter for estimating E.coli concentration with ZnS/PVA QDs as active material and an electrical circuit is presented

Monodispersed Ag nanorods were synthesized using a one-pot synthesis method. These Ag nanorods normally manifest dual surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks. This work presents a study of the variation of SPR peaks with variation in the shape of Ag nanorods. Shape variation was achieved through the degradation of a shape-controlling agent (PVP in this work) under white light irradiance with silica passivation to halt further shape variations. This paper also reports the growth & characterization of thin films of the synthesized rod-shaped silver nanoparticles on glass slides along with studies on band pass filter characteristics of the as-synthesized nanoparticles.

Spinel ferrite nanoparticles are potential candidates for multiple biomedical applications. Spinel ferrite nanoparticles have been studied extensively for understanding physical, chemical, electro-optical as well as magnetic properties which are fascinating due to cationic distributions corresponding to tetrahedral sites and octahedral sites in a cubic phase. Biocompatibility and large magnetic moment are basic requirements in spinel ferrite nanoparticles for efficient functioning in specific application purpose. Fe3O4 (magnetite) is an important member of spinel ferrite group with high chemical stability and ferrimagetic material property at nanodimension. Superparamagnetic state and biocompatibility of magnetite (Fe3O4) spinel ferrite nanoparticle has already been proven. Spinel ferrite magnetite nanoparticles have been developed based on precipitation of iron oxide using ferric and ferrous ions at the ratio 2:1 in alkaline media at and above 100°C. The experimental parameters have been set to synthesize pure and uniformly sized magnetite nanoparticles. No other phases of iron oxides were detected other than magnetite spinel phase in the XRD result. The average crystal size has been determined from XRD peak broadening. Absorption spectra were investigated using UV-Vis Spectrometer and FTIR. Thermal and magnetic measurements were carried out Digital Scanning Calorimeter and SQUID Magnetometer. One sample of the prepared nanoparticles with polymer coating of polyvinyl alcohol has been studied for superparamagnetic nature. Superparamagnetic particles show saturation value of magnetization 51.26 emu/g at 100 K. ZFC-FC curves for two samples with polymer coating of polyvinyl alcohol and hydroxy-propyl methyl cellulose have also been studied. Keywords: Spinel Ferrite, Magnetite, Ferrimagnetism, Transition metal oxide, Superparamagnetism. Statements and declarations Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no competing financial interest that are related directly or indirectly to the reported work in this paper. Conflict of interest: There is no conflict of interest. Acknowledgements The Authors are grateful to IISER Bhopal, CRF facility for providing instrumentation facility to characterize magnetic properties. We acknowledge thanks to Lovely Professional University for providing us necessary characterization technique for the XRD analysis and thermal analysis.

The recent developments in dielectric elastomers (DE) are spectacular. Currently, a DE as an actuator, 0.15 g of acrylic sandwiching SWCNT electrodes, is capable of lifting a weight of 8 kg by more than 1 mm at a speed of 88 msec. In the near future, DE motors could be used to drive electric vehicles. Moreover, the DE can be used as a high-efficiency sensor with the same structure. With a diameter of 20 mm and a thickness of 0.5 mm, it can accurately measure pressure from several kg to 150 kg. In addition, reversing this DE actuator (DEA) movement also enables high-efficiency power generation. In other words, when the DEA is stretched or pushed, it generates electric power. Single wall nanotubes (SWCNTs) were used as an electrode, and an acrylic DE power generation cartridge with a diameter of 80 mm was used. When the center of the DE power generation cartridge is pushed by about 15 mm, a power of 33.6 mJ is generated. Using these two DE cartridges, it was possible to charge a secondary battery through a DC converter. In addition to this power generator, practical research and development of power generation using wave power, wind power, waste heat, and fluids (ocean currents, water currents, etc.) is progressing. In this paper, we have described state-of-the-art DEAs, DE generators (including the case that the power generated locally by microgenerators are consumed locally), and DE sensors and explained their usefulness.

Forging tools must be able to withstand very strong mechanical, thermal, tribological, and chemical stresses. The extent to which a tool can withstand these stresses depends on the material used and its pre-treatment as well as the heat and surface treatment, i.e. the load capacity. The ratio of stress to load capacity determines how high the tool life of a forging tool is. This paper deals with the variations in the tool life of forging tools using the example of a specific industrial stage sequence and production conditions. Due to a large number of influencing variables that have an effect on the tool during the entire tool life history, the focus of this work is placed on influencing variables of the forming process. Based on real production parameters of a forging company, which are recorded during a period for the investigation, the process data are analyzed about an influence on the tool life. The investigation focuses on four influencing variables, namely the subjective assessment of the end of the tool life, the interaction between the forming stages, production interruptions, and the cooling and lubrication of the forming tools. For the parameters that are not yet recorded during the trials, promising available measurement methods are identified and tested under laboratory conditions. One example of this is the recording of the actual spray quantities that are sprayed onto the tool surface before the forming process. The results of the investigations show that the tool life fluctuations can be reduced by about 16% and as a consequence, the average tool life can be increased by about 13%.

The sulfur content present in graphene oxide prepared by Hummers' method has only been addressed by few papers so far. By modified Hammers method we synthesized thermally stable in ambient environment multilayer sulphur-doped graphene oxide. The samples were heat treated in an electrical furnace setup at different ambient temperatures and their crystallite size and linear coefficient of thermal expansion were extracted from Raman band intensity peak ratio as a function of temperature. We found unusually large (in comparison with graphene oxide) contraction on heating of multilayer two weight percent sulphur-doped graphene oxide with carbon to oxygen ratio of 2.3 in a narrow temperature range (308-318 K) with the lowest value of the linear thermal expansion coefficient of -18 ppm 1/K. Based upon an examination of the synthesized sulphur-doped graphene diffractograms, it is suggested that negative thermal expansion stems from the phonon backscattering by the sulphur impurity sites and the edges of the layers. The obtained experimental results have potential practical applications for fabrication of solar cells, sensors, lubricators, thermal actuators and also wavelike (second sound) thermal transport structures.

The process of mechanically activating chemical bonds usually involves applying external force. Since mechanical chemistry can be performed without solvents or with minimal amounts of solvent (catalytic quantities), it has become an imperative synthetic tool in multiple fields (e.g., physics, chemistry, and materials science) and is an attractive greener method for preparing diverse molecules. Catalysis, organic synthesis, solid-state medicinal preparation, metal complex synthesis, and many other chemistry fields have benefited from sustainable methods. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the benefits of using mechanochemical methods to produce a pharmaceutical crystal that is composed of dendrimer nanocrystals. Consequently, we describe and examine the importance of mechanical procedures in forming dendrimers and pharmaceutical crystals in this review.

The cutting fluid plays a significant role in minimizing heat generation and chip removal process during the machining of materials, hence improving tool life and surface finish of the workpiece. Many researchers have focused on minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) among the existing methods on the application of the coolant as it reduces the usage of coolant by spurting a mixture of compressed air and cutting fluid in an improved way instead of flood cooling. The MQL method has demonstrated to be appropriate as it fulfills the necessities of ‘green’ machining. Additionally, considering current environmental issues and provisions for safe healthy working conditions at the workplace, it is important to divert machining processes towards an eco-friendly path. Hence, the focus of research has been shifted to MQL using eco-friendly lubricants for green and sustainable manufacturing processes. In this review paper, the effect of different vegetable oil-based biodegradable coolants like castor oil, coconut oil, palm oil, etc. for different machining process parameters like cutting force, cutting temperature, surface finish, tool wear, etc. has been reviewed. It is observed that proper selection of cutting parameters along with lubricant through MQL can provide enhanced machinability to get desired outputs.

Plastic waste disposal is among the most challenging problems of the current era. Therefore, new methods and applications for the utilization of waste plastics are increasingly needed. To find them, it is essential to research and develop the material properties of recycled plastics. The effect of different ultraviolet light (UV) stabilizers on the color stability, melt properties and tensile properties of mixed waste plastics blends was studied in this paper. The mixed waste plastics collected from two different waste sources were prepared as specimens by injection molding, and studied with two different types and loading amounts of UV stabilizers. UV absorbers (UVAs) and hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS) were used as UV stabilizers. A specimen produced without the addition of a UV stabilizer was used as a reference specimen of both the blends. After the accelerated weathering, the addition of a UVA provided an improved, smaller change in color than the addition of HALS. Among the tensile properties, the addition of UV stabilizers clearly improved the tensile strength and tensile modulus for almost all the studied specimens. Additionally, the melt properties of both the studied plastic blends were found to be increased by the addition of UV stabilizers. Post-print / Final draft

In this paper, aiming at the heat resistance and thermal deformation process of titanium matrix composites 0 vol.%, 2.5.vol.%, 5.vol.%. Thermal simulation experiment of titanium matrix composites with different (TiB+TiC) strengthening phase content. The measurement accuracy of material displacement is 0.01 mm. The compression is 70%, and the strain rate is 0.1 mm/s and 0.01 mm/s respectively. Compression tests at different strain rates and temperatures were carried out. The experimental results show that when the (TiB+TiC) 5vol% titanium composite is deformed at 0.01mm/s low strain rate, the peak stresses corresponding to 25°C, 250°C,350 °C and 500°C are increased to 1096MPa, 835MPa, 646MPa and 416MPa respectively. Under the condition of high strain rate of 0.1mm/s, the peak stresses corresponding to 25 °C, 250 °C, 350 °C and 500 °C are increased to 1230 MPa, 896 MPa, 723 MPa and 471 MPa respectively. The deformation law of stress rheological curve is roughly the same, and the high temperature zone has good plastic deformation ability. The titanium matrix composite has high compression rheological mechanical properties and good high-temperature plastic deformation ability. It is the preferred material component for the preparation of titanium matrix composite and powder forging.

Among other parts made of brass there are also the blades and the rotors of the hydraulic machines, respectively ship propellers, which during operation are degraded by cavitation erosion. As a result, most of the researches, including the most recent ones, are focused on the morphological analysis of structures eroded under the impact of micro-jets and shock waves, produced by cavitation hydrodynamics. The goal is to create new materials, but also to use new treatment technologies to increase cavitation resistance. As the literature is quite poor in studies related to the materials resistance to cavitation erosion, respectively treatments and technological procedures of it’s improvement, this paper presents the research results on the behavior of vibration cavitation erosion, carried out on three sets of CuZn39Pb3 brass samples, subjected to volumetric heat treatments of hardening for putting in solution at 800°C, followed by tempering at 250°C, 400°C and 600°C. The characterization of the behavior and the cavitation resistance of the structures resulting from the applied heat treatments is performed based on macroscopic images, taken at different representative periods, SEM images at the end of the test duration and values ​​of specific parameters recommended by ASTM G32-2016. The analysis highlights the differences caused by the change in structure by varying the temperature, but also the hardness of the surface exposed to the cavity. Thus, of the three treatments, it is found that the best resistance to cavitation is conferred by the structure resulting from hardening at 800°C, with tempering at 250°C.

Due to its characteristics, DD13 steel is recommended for various applications in the automotive field (including in the manufacture of components for car bodies). The paper presents solutions proposed by ISIM Timisoara for welding of DD13 steel, as alternative solutions to conventional welding processes. One solution that has proven to be viable for joining DD13 steel is the friction stir welding process (FSW). In terms of the quality of the welded joints obtained by applying the classic FSW welding process, these welds were excellent. In an attempt to obtain other benefits, mainly related to the efficiency of the welding process, ISIM Timisoara has developed research programs for the study and application of other methods based on the FSW process principle, namely: - hybrid friction stir welding ultrasonic assisted FSW-US; - friction stir welding in inert gas environment FSW – IG. The important effects due to the application of these methods are: improving (as appropriate) the degree of plasticization of the materials to be joined and increasing the degree of mixing of the materials as result of ultrasonic assistance of the FSW welding process; improvement of the welding process by reducing the pressing forces of the tool during welding, with an effect on increasing the service life of welding tool; respectively improving the aspect of the weld and some mechanical characteristics of the welded joints (at tensile tests, respectively static bending test). The obtained results showed that the two methods derived from the classical FSW welding process, can be used in industrial applications, with important benefits.

Welding tools are a determining factor in obtaining welded joints with desired characteristics. The international community pays great attention to research aimed at establishing the optimal characteristics of friction stir welding (FSW) tools. With the development of the FSW welding process with its own contributions, ISIM Timisoara has developed complex research resulting in the conception and design of (innovative) FSW welding tool solutions. A very important factor especially when welding high hardness materials is the durability / lifespan of FSW welding tools. The paper presents general considerations regarding the qualities that FSW welding tools must meet in general, but also ISIM achievements in the field of design and operation of welding tools. Studies regarding operating behavior of welding tools made of sintered tungsten carbide P20S, in terms of service life (wear), both in the case of applying the classical FSW welding process and the method of friction stir welding in inert gas environment (FSW-IG), when joining steels with wide industrial use (304L stainless steel, respectively DD13 steel), are also presented. Concrete data is presented with values of the degree of wear of the tools in the unit of time, in their critical areas: tools made of X38CrMoV5 steel alloy used for welding aluminum alloys with different characteristics, respectively tools made of sintered tungsten carbide P20S used for welding S 235 JR + N steel and 304L stainless steels.

The manufacture of photovoltaic panels for the production of sustainable energy also involves the stage of electrical connection of the cells in the panel structure. This electrical connection is made by soldering of copper strips on the negative electrode of the cell. During the bonding process, due to the temperature of approximately 220-240°C at which the connecting strip is continuously heated, cracking processes of the upper layer of glass from the cell surface were identified. For this reason, it is necessary either to heat to lower temperatures, a solution that is not viable due to the melting temperature of the solder alloy which usually exceeds 210°C, or a different dosing of the heat flux. The solution proposed in the paper is to create a variable heat flux that allows the melting of the solder alloy, but at the same time to reduce the thermal load of the glass support layer. Through the proposed variant, the energy dosing is done with the help of a heating system consisting of two sources, an ultra-acoustic energy source and a classical resistive source. The resistive source provides an amount of energy to ensure a temperature in the range of 60-140°C, the difference to the melting point of the solder alloy being transferred locally by ultrasonic pulses. Research has highlighted the need to limit the range of values of the pressure of the circular sonotrode, which positively influences the mechanical stress of the photovoltaic cell, but also leads to a reduction in the joining speed. The dosing of the two components of the total energy, the one coming from the resistive source and the one coming from the ultra-acoustic vibration source is decisive for the efficiency of the joining process and for the quality of the soldered joint. Microscopic analyses revealed micro-cracks of the glass surface layer at forces higher than 100 N. Areas with lack of soldering for resistive heating at temperatures lower than 130oC were highlighted, the difference of 90-110°C being achieved by the contribution of ultra-acoustic energy.

The present paper analyzes the differences in behavior and resistance to erosion through vibrating cavitation, between the bronze structures CuSn-12C resulting from two volumetric thermal treatments of hardening and tempering. The analysis was performed on the basis of macro and microscopic images, as well as on the basis of the histogram in which the values ​​of the reference parameters used in the laboratory custom and prescribed by the international norms ASTM G32-2016 are compared. This shows the dependence of the degree of erosion as a function of the temperature of tempering heat treatment, after hardening, as a result of microstructural changes and the hardness of the surface attacked by cavitation. The experimental research is performed on the standard vibrating device within the Cavitation Erosion Research Laboratory of the Politehnica University of Timișoara.

This paper covers the literature review of the work by author, who have been involved in the subject of machine element repairing from the techno-economical point of view. Positive aspects of repairing, as opposed to purchasing new parts are shown and discussed. All of the examples given as part of the literature review are related to real, practical problems. It was concluded in all cases, that the repairing of damaged parts was the better option, since not only did it cost significantly less, it also noticeably decreased the equipment downtime, as there was no need to wait for the new part to be delivered.

With the development of new energy vehicles, it is necessary to develope new fast charging cathode materials for lithium ion batteries. This paper reports a simple carbon thermal reduction routine to synthesize layered LiMoO2 cathode for Li-ion batteries. Impurity-free micro-crystalline powders were synthesized by one-step method with a thermal treatment at 800°C for 5 hrs under N2 atmosphere. The structural, morphological and electrochemical properties of LiMoO2 were characterized by using X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), charge/discharge cycling and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The diffraction results indicate that the prepared sample has a layered hexagonal structure related to α-NaFeO2. The secondary particles are in order of 2.0 μm length on average with homogeneous distribution. The initial discharge capacity of LiMoO2 is 110.9 mAh·g-1 at 0.1 C, and the capacity can still remain 92.8 mAh·g-1 after 100 cycles. The good cycling performance and high rate discharge performance are attributed to the smaller charge-transfer resistance revealed by EIS results.

The strong vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation absorption and energy transfer mechanism is detected in SrF2: Gd3+, Eu3+ fluoride phosphor. The phosphor is synthesized by a wet chemical method followed by reactive atmospheric process (RAP). The Powder XRD analysis shows structural purity. The photoluminescence characteristics of SrF2:Gd3+, Eu3+ phosphor is studied using the remote access of 4B8 window (VUV beamline) of the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF) China. In this paper the mechanism of Energy transfer from the Gd3+ to Eu3+ through the cross relaxation process is investigated. The down-conversion of energy from VUV (142 nm) to visible with quantum efficiency (QE) around 124% has been detected. The PL excitation and emission characteristics of the prepared phosphor advocates it as a prominent material for the applications in mercury free fluorescent lighting (MFFL) & Plasma Display Panel.

The synthesis and characterization of spin-coated Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films with varying Al concentrations (0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) onto glass substrates have been demonstrated in this paper. The structural, electrical and optical properties of the spin-coated thin films have been investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) analysis, Van Der Pauw method and UV-visible spectroscopy. The EDX study shows well-defined peaks which confirm the presence of only Zn, O and Al and no other impurities in the films. The increase of Al and decrease of Zn weight percentages with increasing doping level confirms the effective substitution of Zn by Al. SEM of the surfaces of the films shows that undoped ZnO films contain particle agglomeration which is reduced with Al doping and the surfaces of the films gradually became more uniform. The thickness of the AZO films varied from 86 to 699 nm with increasing Al doping concentration. The electrical conductivity of the films increased up to ~ 7 × 10-2 (Ω.cm)-1 due to doping with 5% Al concentration. The optical transmittance highly increased above 95% in the visible range with the introduction of Al dopant and it kept rising with the increase of Al concentration. The optical energy band gap of undoped ZnO increased from 3.275eV to 3.342 eV with 5% Al doping.

Fire though an important component of life, the devastating effect of fire accidents is a threat to life and materials. Thus, the prevention and control of fire are becoming a serious concern. Hence, it is no wonder that fire retardant materials (FRMs) are slowly becoming ubiquitous in our daily lives. To control the fire in an unexpected fire accident or to prevent fire accidents FRMs are becoming essential requirements. To save material or life, fire retardant materials have been used for long knowingly or unknowingly. However, the understandings of chemistry and thermochemistry of materials helped for the development of efficient FRMs. Diversified materials, processing methods, and application modes have been developed, and all of them become specific depending on the nature and origin of the fire. In this regard, the inorganic FRMs form a distinct category due to their low cost, easier processing and wider choice of application mode without leaving any additional environmental burden either to land or the atmosphere. In this paper, different fire retardant materials and their properties with the abilities to tackle the fire at different temperatures are reviewed. The primary characteristics of fire and the thermal behaviours of FRMs as well as changes in behaviour/properties when FRMs are treated with certain synergistic systems are discussed. The importance of composition, morphology and structure of FRMs on the efficiency and applicability are discussed. Recent developments on the synthesis and characterisation of different types of FRMs and their composites have been elaborated. The effective applications and the commercial products based on their properties are also briefly covered. Overall, the review provides an overview of existing information on fire retardant materials in terms of their synthesis, processing, usability and limitations, with a prime attention on the process-structure-property relations of these materials.

In this paper, a color-tunable light emitting diode LED with two laterally arranged single quantum wells (SQWs) is designed, and simulated. In this work, III-nitride materials are used. The structure has been numerically investigated using the ATLAS simulation software. The proposed structure has three electrodes. This gives the opportunity to emit violet (420 nm) or green (560 nm) light individually. Furthermore, it can emit simultaneously a mixture of both colors, and at a certain mixture ratio the white light is obtained with chromaticity coordinates ( x = 0.3113, y = 0.3973). The lateral arrangement of the two SQWs reduces the negative effect of photon absorption; which will give good external quantum efficiency (EQE). The structure has a big importance in the application of the solid-state lighting, especially in the white light generation.

Photopolymerisation of 2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) through the use of N,N-Diethyldithiocarbamato-(1,2)-propanediol (DCPD) was studied. The photoinitiator DCPD was synthesized from sodium N,N-Diethyldithiocarbamate (NaSR) and 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol. For the photochemical decomposition of the C – S bond, UV light at 254 nm is used. The role of the monomer concentration, reaction time and DCPD to HEMA mol ratio on the conversion of HEMA to PHEMA were studied in this paper. It was found that percentage conversion of HEMA increased both with the rise in concentration of monomer and reaction time. Further, living radical nature of the poly2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (PHEMA) was ascertained by the photo block copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with PHEMA to form PHEMA-b-PMMA. The PHEMA and PHEMA-b-PMMA were characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR, Thermogravimetry.

Grinding aids to increase grinding efficiency in cement production are materials that can produce large amounts of high-quality cement in a short time by reducing surface energy by preventing particle agglomeration and improving fluidity. In the paper, a grinding aid using glycerol-waste antifreeze(GAP) is prepared and its effect on the grinding properties of clinker is investigated in contrast to that without the grinding aid. The results are as follows: The angle of repose of the cement powder added with GAP decreases as the grinding time increases (decreases by 3.8° when the grinding time is 60 minutes), indicating that it increases the flowability of the powder. On the contrary, the residual amount of 45µm sieve is also significantly reduced (4.6% decrease) and the specific surface area increases (30.5m2/kg), which results in an increase in the grinding efficiency. In the size range of 3 to 32µm, it increases the particle content, makes the particle size distribution uniform, the 7d and 28d activity index of the powder is improved by 5% and 6%, respectively, and increases the compressive strength of the cement. In addition, it is confirmed that the performance of the TEA grinding aid and the grinding aid are similar, and are very effective in terms of economy.

The Optical Fiber-based communication system has established its proficiency and inevitability towards regular progress and advancement worldwide. The most attractive wavelength for optical fiber communication is 1.55 μm, as it represents the lowest loss. The other challenging parameter ‘Material Dispersion’ gets reduced to ‘Zero’ at 1.27 μm wavelengths for conventional pure silica-based Optical Fiber. To improve the system towards a better unification between the loss and dispersion, the Dispersion Shifted Fiber (DSF) has been introduced. The Dispersion Flattened Fiber has introduced the concept of flat dispersion over a wide range of wavelengths. But the effective combination of the mechanisms to compensate for all the challenges is yet to be established properly. The said mechanisms are complex to design and implement. So, there is an immense scope to search for an alternative to get control over the loss and dispersion. At present, a fair number of material compositions of optical fiber are reported with different specifications. Our study on some of these fiber compositions has produced some interesting data towards the broader flatness and the minimum dispersion effect over a considerable range of wavelengths around the Zero Material Dispersion Wavelength (ZMDW). It helps to have more effective wavelength division Multiplexing (WDM). In this paper, we have studied different prospective options of optical fiber doping profiles to explore and propose an effective and optimized alternative among the available fiber profiles. We have studied the samples of pure SiO2 fibers along with B2O3 and GeO2 doped fibers and samples of Fluoride-based ABCY and ZBLAN glass Fibers to propose an effective combination of materials among the available options to get the optimized conjugation of loss and dispersion. Our report on the comparative study of different fiber materials has produced some effective results to have minimum material dispersion at the lowest loss wavelength to invite worldwide attention from system designers.

Focusing 3-axis diffractometer set-up equipped with bent perfect crystal (BPC) monochromator and analyzer offers the sensitivity in determination of strains Dd/d < 10-4 in polycrystalline materials which is about one order of magnitude higher with respect to that of conventional 2-axis neutron scanners. It also offers possibility of line profile analysis for reasonable sample volumes and counting times. In this paper, the feasibility of using the 3-axis set-up even for measurements of rather large bulk polycrystalline samples with an acceptable resolution is presented. As the 3-axis set-up exploits focusing in real and momentum space, by a proper adjustment of the curvature of the analyzer, a high-resolution determination of the lattice changes can also be achieved even on large irradiated gauge volumes, though with a slightly relaxed resolution. It can be successfully exploited namely, in the strain/stress measurements on samples exposed to an external load, e.g. in tension/compression rig, in aging machine etc. In addition to the original performance where the analysis is carried out by rocking the BPC analyzer and the neutron signal registered by a point detector, a new alternative is offered which uses a fixed rocking angle position of the analyzer and the detector signal is registered by a one-dimensional position sensitive detector (PSD). This trick makes possible in some cases the elastic strain/stress measurements considerably faster and thus reduces the drawback of the time consuming step-by-step analysis.

The sudden emergence of novel coronavirus CoVID-19 in China during the end of last year and its outburst all around the globe thereafter have raised serious questions about their instant management and diagnostic measures as it is infecting humans around in an exponential manner. The implementation of nanotechnology could perhaps ingenerate the rising distress due to the spread of the disease as the conventional antiviral drugs just control the symptoms. Nanoparticles drug delivery systems are engineered technologies that use nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery and controlled release of therapeutic agents. Nanoparticles based approach can replace the treatment with a more promising one that could meet these challenges. Understanding molecular pathogenesis of CoVID-19 infection is very important to exploit the nanoparticles to fight against it. A lot of nanostructures have been developed with antiviral and antibacterial properties for a variety of drug delivery and biomedical applications. The need of the hour is to exploit nano research to develop effective diagnostics tools, drugs, vaccines to treat and prohibit infection. In this paper an attempt has been made to understand the role and potential of various nanoparticles to inhibit CoVID-19 infection and its toxicity effects.

Concrete members are reinforced by steel fibers to overcome their brittle nature. This paper is focused on the effect of percentage of fiber and the maximum aggregate size on mechanical properties of concrete samples such as compressive and tensile strengths, and ductility. The mean values of these quantities show that by increasing the reinforcement content to 0.66% and the size to 12.5 mm, there is a dramatic improvement on properties of samples. Also, they demonstrate that the size of coarse aggregate has more effect on improvement of the quantities in comparison to steel fiber content and changing the size and fiber content has more effects on ductility than mechanical properties. Statistical approach which considers standard deviations of experimental data, confirms that the gravel regardless of fiber content, leads to the highest improvement on properties with size of 12.5 mm. But the results show for volumetric steel fiber without considering aggregate size, is 0.33%. This clearly indicates the effect of data scattering on mean values of mechanical properties and ductility.

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) is an anisotropic material with outstanding tensile strength in the direction of axial but low compressive strength in the direction of radial, so the radial compressive failure and sliding failure are easy to occur in the practical application of compression and hanging wires. In this paper, the influence of different parameters on radial compressive failure and sliding failure is studied. The finite element method is used to simulate and analyze the CFRP and wedge clamp to find optimum condition parameters to make the CFRP neither sliding failure nor radial compressive failure. The parameters are as follows: interference between the CFRP and the inner wedge, friction coefficient between the CFRP and the inner wedge, angle of the wedge, inner wedge material elastic modulus. The results show that the most appropriate parameter is: the interference between 0.0236mm and 0.0252mm, the friction coefficient between 0.194 and 0.206, the wedge angle is greater than 1.75° and the elastic modulus of wedge material has little influence on the compressive failure and slippage failure of the CFRP.

In this paper, the post ballistic impact behaviour of kevlar-glass fibre hybrid composite laminates was investigated against 9×19 mm projectile. Eight different types of composite laminates with different ratios of kevlar woven fibre to glass fibre were fabricated using hand lay-up with epoxy matrix. Ballistic behaviour like ballistic Limit (V50), energy absorption, specific energy absorption and Back Face Signature (BFS) were studied after bullet impact. The results indicated that as the Percentage of glass fibre is increased there was a linear increment in the ballistic behaviour. Addition of 16% kevlar fabric, composite sample meets the performance requirement of NIJ0101.06 Level III-A. Since the maximum specific energy absorption was observed in Pure Kevlar samples and the adding of glass fibre increases the weight and Areal Density of the sample, further investigations need to be carried out to utilize the potential of glass fibre for ballistic applications.

The important characteristic in the creation of longitudinal splitting cracks in pretensioned concrete members has found to be the geometry of the pre-stressing wire indents. Longitudinal splitting along prestressing tendons can result in severe splitting of prestressed member in the field under loading over time. The research evaluated the influence of wire type indentation on the longitudinal splitting in prestressed concrete members fabricated with different concrete mixtures and different compressive strength of concrete. A key objective was to find the best type of wire to avoid failures in the field. A study was conducted at Kansas State University to understand the effect of wire type on the longitudinal splitting between prestressing steel and prestressed concrete. Three different types of wires will be presented in this paper denoted as “WB”, “WF” and “WQ”. The wires have different parameters which include indent depth, indent width, indent sidewall angle, indent pitch and indent volume.

The paper presents a series of experimental researches performed using the design of experiments method RSD (Response Surface Design) for modeling and optimizing the welding process of PE 100 pipelines, used in natural gas distribution. In this sense, the aim was to analyze the influence of controllable factors such as pressure, temperature and time on the objective functions, aiming to obtain certain characteristics of the welded joint. By modeling the welding process, based on the results obtained, an optimal welding procedure was established and validated to meet the conditions imposed on the objective functions.

The constant need for recycling, waste prevention and general environmental protection represent the new directive approaches imposed by the geo-political, industrial and environmental context, at the regional, European and global level. Ensuring the environmental protection and reducing the natural resources consumption represent general purposes of the sustainable development and also considerations to implement the Circular Economy Model [1]. The present study is developed with respect to the previously mentioned principles: the waterjet cutting operations by the use of abrasive GARNETs for quality, speed and accuracy gain, are in continuous expansion, generating proportionally increasing wastes, which could be valorized by innovatively integrating them in advanced cementitious materials for the construction industry. The international research regarding the use of abrasive waterjet Garnet wastes as raw material for construction industry are at incipient stage and quite limited, but preliminary results are promising. Further studies are presently developed, considering the potential benefits and also the reduced toxicity degree of abrasive Garnet wastes. This paper offers a general overview concerning the recent studies performed in the topic of efficient use of abrasive Garnet wastes in different building materials. Supplementary, further research, both theoretical and experimental is considered, for developing green, advanced, high performance cement-based materials by using the abrasive waterjet Garnet wastes, mainly as fine grain addition or replacement in the composites.

The paper presents and compares the results on the reliability and remaining life assessment of a reactor (coxing box) from a petrochemical plant. The reactor shell is made of 16Mo5 (W1.5423) steel, with a thickness of 25 mm, plated with 3 mm thick X6CrAl13 (W1.4002) stainless steel. The assessment was made in two steps. For preliminary remnant life assessment, specifications of section VII of the ASME code was used followed by iRiS‑Thermo expert system. Further, experimental creep and metallographic replica analysis were performed. Results comparison of the two methods applied revealed a reduction of the preliminary estimated remaining live obtained using metallographic replica analysis. Based on the results obtained, the possibility to extend the service duration of the coxing box in the safety condition, using current process parameters, with of 20.000 hours was highlighted.

This paper summarized the research work carried out by a team from Department of Steel Structures and Structural Mechanics, together with Department of Materials Science and Engineering, from University Politehnica Timisoara, which tried to determine the possibility to use welding for obtaining built-up cold-formed steel beams made of corrugated galvanized steel sheets (grade S350GD+Z). There were analyzed two joining processes: MIG brazing and Resistance Spot Welding with the aim to replace the self-drilling screws used until now. The results are very promising and these solutions of joining have beside economic advantages also technical and quality ones.

The paper aims to report preliminary researches towards to development of new hybrid welding system by coupling a microwave beam with a TIG torch. The main research was focused on the designing of hybrid system as well as to establish the heating/welding mechanism by coupling two different thermal sources. Therefore, a specific welding chamber was designed taking into consideration the limitations provided by microwave waveguide technical specs, geometrical shape and dimensions of the TIG torch as well as the temperature monitoring during welding process and video surveillance for data recording. A microwave generator with adjustable power from 0 to 1250 W was coupled with a TIG torch and welding power source in order to establish the main parameters for hybrid system. The preliminary researches reported that the MW-TIG hybrid welding could be applied to eutectic joining of materials using low power (up to 600 W) injected from microwave generator as well as low welding current (up to 20 A). The flow of shielding gas have been established initially to 2 l/m. The research related to stabilization of MW-WIG plasma arc have been studied by increasing the flow of shielding gas up to 10 l/m. The results have shown that the microwave generator and TIG torch can be coupled to obtain hybrid-welding process without any matching tuning devices but with risks for damaging the microwave generator. Further researches will be done in order to design auxiliary devices to optimize the hybrid-welding process and to avoid any unwanted plasma arc discharge from welded base materials to microwave generator. In terms of temperature monitoring, an infrared pyrometer has been used. The IR pyrometer was targeted to the base materials in order to be able to measure their temperature without any influences from plasma arc. The results obtained have shown a stable plasma at average microwave power around 400 W even without any TIG current.

The paper presents the results of researches carried out by a joint team from Department of Steel Structures and Structural Mechanics, together with Department of Materials Science and Engineering, from University Politehnica Timisoara, focused on the possibility of creating built-up cold-formed steel beams made of corrugated galvanized steel sheets by resistance welding, which will replace the similar beams built by self-drilling screws. Resistance spot welding technologies were developed and tested, together with mechanical testing of the welded joints, which were performed in our laboratories. The results obtained and presented confirm the good quality of the welded joints and, as a result, the good capability of this technology to be used in production, to replace the old type of beams.

The paper aims to report researches in microbonding process of composite magnetic materials using as thermal source the heat produced in base materials by the conversion of the electromagnetic waves with high frequency into thermal energy. This technology can be applied by targeting the base materials with microwaves and taking into account that composite magnetic materials based on ferrites, present good absorbance and conversion properties of the microwaves into heat. For experimental research, the base materials were sintered sampled of raw products obtained from stoichiometric mixtures of 6Fe2O3 + BaCO3. The raw products were obtained by milling and alloying processes using planetary ball mills. The milling and alloying processes have been perfomed in dry environement for homogeneous mixtures and wet environment for mixtures obtained using mechanical alloying. In terms of eutectic alloys used for microbonding, there have been used lead free Sn96,5%+Ag3%+Cu0,5% with melting point around 2170 C. The microbonding process have been perfomed in two steps: first step was focused on prepairing the base materials by cleaning and deposition of eutectic alloys on their surfaces; the second step was the heating of the base materials in microwave field. A microwave generator with adjustable input power from 0 W to 6000 W with a WR340 waveguide have been used as thermal sources. The researches have shown that the base materials were bonded using less than 10 % of microwave power and the eutectic alloys reached the melting temperature în less than 3 seconds when the magnetron was set to full power. A matching load impedance automatic tuner up to 6000 W have been used for increasing the level of absorbed power from nicrowave generator to samples and decreasing the level of rejected power from composite magnetic material to microwave generator. The temperature have been measured using IR pyrometers with range measurement between 0 and 7000 C. The process can be succesfully applied to a large scale for small parts of electrical engines with permanent cermic magnets.

Developing a non-destructive method which delivers fast, accurate and non-invasive results regarding the concrete compressive strength, is an important issue, currently investigated by many researchers all over the world. Different methodologies, like using the simple non-destructive testing (NDT) or the fusion of different techniques approach, were taken into consideration in order to find the optimal, most suitable method. The purpose of this paper is to present a new approach in this direction. The methodology consists in predicting the concrete compressive strength through ultrasonic testing, for non-destructive determination of the dynamic and static moduli of elasticity. One important, basic assumption of the proposed methodology considers values provided by technical literature for concrete dynamic Poisson’s coefficient. The air-dry density was experimentally determined on concrete cores. The dynamic modulus of elasticity was also experimentally determined by using the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) method on concrete cores. Further on, the static modulus of elasticity and the concrete compressive strength can be mathematically calculated, by using the previously mentioned parameters. The experimental procedures were performed on concrete specimens, namely concrete cores extracted from the raft foundation of a multistorey building; initially they were subjected to the specific NDT, namely ultrasonic testing, and the validation of the results and the proposed methodology derives from the destructive testing of the specimens. The destructive testing is generally recognized as the most trustable method. The precision of the proposed method, established with respect to the destructive testing, revealed a high level of confidence, exceeding 90% (as mean value). It was noticed that even the cores with compressive strength outside of mean range interval (minimum and maximum values) presented high rate of precision, not influencing the overall result. The high rate of accuracy makes this method a suitable research background for further investigations, in order to establish a reliable NDT methodology which could substitute the very invasive and less convenient, destructive method.