Search results

There are thought to be great technical and economic benefits potentially available through the application of multiple surface engineering technologies in new market sectors. This is illustrated through the combined plasma and PVD treatment of low alloy steel substrates. Unique opportunities exist, through the advent of high energy beam technologies, to liquid phase thermochemically alloy aluminium and titanium materials which can then be combined with plasma or PVD techniques to enhance the performance of engineering components by many orders of magnitude. The most recent work in this field suggests that roller element bearings in titanium alloys will soon be within the bounds of design capability and advances towards the design and manufacture of titanium gears could well be possible in the longer term.

Despite their outstanding combination of properties, titanium and its alloys are very susceptible to severe adhesive wear in rubbing with almost all the engineering surfaces and can exhibit poor corrosion resistance in some aggressive environments. Surface engineering research centred at the University of Birmingham has been focused on creating designed surfaces for titanium components. Great progress has been made recently through the development of such novel surface engineering techniques as thermal oxidation, palladium‐treated thermal oxidation, oxygen diffusion and duplex systems. Such advances thus provide scope for designing titanium components for a diversified range of engineering applications, usually as direct replacements for steel components. By way of example, some of our successful steps towards titanium designed surfaces are demonstrated. To date, the potential of these novel techniques has been realised first in auto‐sport and off‐shore industries.

To focus on grid generation which is an essential part of any analytical tool for effective discretization.

This paper explores the application of the possibility of unstructured triangular grid generation that deals with derivationally continuous, smooth, and fair triangular elements using piecewise polynomial parametric surfaces which interpolate prescribed R³ scattered data using spaces of parametric splines defined on R² triangulations in the case of surfaces in engineering sciences. The method is based upon minimizing a physics‐based certain natural energy expression over the parametric surface. The geometry is defined as a set of stitched triangles prior to the grid generation. As for derivational continuities between the two triangular patches C⁰ and C¹ continuity or both, as per the requirements, has been imposed. With the addition of a penalty term, C² (approximate) continuity can also be achieved. Since, in this work physics‐based approach has been used, the grid is analyzed using intersection curves with three‐dimensional planes, and intrinsic geometric properties (i.e. directional derivatives), for derivational continuity and smoothness.

The triangular grid generation that deals with derivationally continuous, smooth, and fair triangular elements has been implemented in this paper for surfaces in engineering sciences.

This paper deals with the important problem of grid generation which is an essential part of any analytical tool for effective discretization. And, the examples to demonstrate the theoretical model of this paper have been chosen from different branches of engineering sciences. Hence, the results of this paper are of practical importance for grid generation in engineering sciences.

The paper is theoretical with worked examples chosen from engineering sciences.

This research aims to present the characteristics of dimple structure which was fabricated using a turning machine, where the characteristics include sizes, shapes, area ratio and aspect ratio. This research aims at filling the gap in the machining parameters of previous research in producing dimple by using turning process with the aid of dynamic assisted tooling for turning (DATT). In producing dimple, a carbide insert grade H1 was used on a hypereutectic aluminium silicon alloy (A390) material. Dimple has many advantages such as for reducing friction coefficient, load-carrying capacity and trap wear debris for sliding mechanical components.

There are seven machining parameters (cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut, frequency, amplitude, rake angle, relief angle and nose radius) which have an influence on dimple produced. Taguchi method (orthogonal arrays L8) was used to conduct the experiment systematically and efficiently for these seven parameters. A carbide insert grade H1 was used as a cutting tool on a turning machine with the aid of DATT. The dimple structure was fabricated on a cylindrical rod hypereutectic aluminium silicon alloy (A390). A profilometer 3D Alicona infinite focus and an optical microscope equipped with Vis software were used to analyse the fabricated dimple structure.

Various shapes and sizes of ellipse dimples were produced in this research, including short and long drops with lengths in the range of 517.03–3,927.61 µm, widths of 565.15–1,039.19 µm, depths of 14.46–124.87 µm, area ratios of 5.05–25.65% and aspect ratios of 0.007%–0.111%. There were four experiments within the optimal area ratio range of 10%–20%, i.e. the second, third, seventh and eighth experiments. The width of these dimples was 895.95, 961.39, 787.27 and 829.22 µm, length was 826.26, 3163.13, 885.98 and 1026.65 µm, depth was 83.67, 84.19, 87.05 and 110.70 µm and area ratio was 15.12%, 13.14%, 14.79% and 12.70%. The surface roughness of textured surface was below 1 µm. In this research, the results obtained were similar with that of previous researchers on dimple structure related to tribology performance.

There exists machining parameters, namely, cutting speed and frequency, that were not used by previous research in producing dimple. These machining parameters (cutting speed and frequency) were used in this research to produce dimple via turning process with the aid of DATT using carbide insert grade H1. The turning process is an environmentally friendly process which is suitable for mass production for fabricating dimple structure as compared to most of the current methods which are widely used in fabricating dimple structure.

The progressive wear of cutting tools used in industrial cutlery production results in excessive burr formation and reduces tool service life. This paper aims to investigate the effects of the sheet surface finish on tool wear and service life during blanking.

Two alternative surface finish techniques were proposed and initially implemented under laboratorial conditions and compared with conventional acid pickling. Those surface finish techniques were then implemented on an industrial scale to improve the service life of cutting tools. Industrial blanking tests characterized the effect of sheet surface finish on tool life.

In the first technique, called skin pass, an additional mechanical pass under controlled conditions reduced the height of the surface peaks and resulted in partial embedding of the carbides into the surface. The second technique, called electrochemical pickling, removed solely the surface carbides, leaving behind a smoother surface without carbides. Real industrial blanking tests identified that the use of skin pass reduced burr formation and increased tool life by around 300 per cent when compared with conventional acid pickling. With electrochemical pickling, burr formation was further reduced and tool life increased further by 300 per cent when compared with skin pass.

First, this work proposes an alternative surface finishing technique (electrochemical pickling) to be used after annealing of stainless steel. Second, the work clearly shows the presence of protruding surface carbides when conventional surface finishing techniques are used, which do not exist after acid pickling.

When electrochemical pickling is implemented on an industrial scale, the life of blanking tools is substantially improved.

Although the sheet surface finish is widely recognized to affect metalforming processes, the literature lacks studies on the effect of sheet surface finish on tool wear during blanking. First, this work proposes an alternative surface finishing technique (electrochemical pickling) to be used after annealing of stainless steel. Second, the work clearly shows the presence of protruding surface carbides when conventional surface finishing techniques are used, which do not exist after acid pickling. Third, when electrochemical pickling is implemented on an industrial scale, the life of blanking tools is substantially improved.

The aim of this paper is to study the effect of deterministic roughness and small elastic deformation of surface on flow rates, load capacity and coefficient of friction in Rayleigh step bearing under thin film lubrication.

Reynolds equation, pressure-density relationship, pressure-viscosity relationship and film thickness equation are discretized using finite difference method. Progressive mesh densification (PMD) method is applied to solve the related equations iteratively.

The nature and shape of roughness play a significant role in pressure generation. It has been observed that square roughness dominates the pressure generation for all values of minimum film thickness. Deformation more than 100 nm in bounding surfaces influences the film formation and pressure distribution greatly. Divergent shapes of film thickness in step zone causes a delay of pressure growth and reduces the load capacity with decreasing film thickness. The optimum value of film thickness ratio and step ratios have been found out for the maximum load capacity and minimum coefficient of friction, which are notably influenced by elastic deformation of the surface.

It is expected that these findings will help in analysing the performance parameters of a Rayleigh step bearing under thin film lubrication more accurately. It will also help the designers, researchers and manufacturers of bearings.

Most of the previous studies have been limited to sinusoidal roughness and thick film lubrication in Rayleigh step bearing. Effect of small surface deformation due to generated pressure in thin film lubrication is significant, as it influences the performance parameters of the bearing. Different wave forms such as triangular, sawtooth, sinusoidal and square formed during finishing operations behaves differently in pressure generation. The analysis of combined effect of roughness and small surface deformation has been performed under thin film lubrication for Rayleigh step bearing using PMD as improved methods for direct iterative approach.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of surface topology on the performance of laser line scanning probe and to suggest methodology for 3D digitization of specular surfaces.

Two different molds, one having milled surface and the other with polished surface, were used to identify effect of surface characteristics on the performance of laser line scanning probe mounted on bridge-type coordinate measuring machine. The point cloud data acquisition of two surfaces was carried out using different combinations of laser scanning parameters. The point cloud sets thus obtained were analyzed in terms of completeness, noise and accuracy. The polished mold which exhibited specular reflection was digitized at different scanning angles of laser line scanning probe using the best combination of scanning parameters.

Results confirmed that surface characteristics play important role to determine quality of the reverse engineering (RE) process. The results in terms of completeness, accuracy and noise for point cloud sets have successfully been obtained for milled and polished surfaces. Three-dimensional (3D) comparison analysis suggested larger deviation in cases of polished surface as compared to milled surface. The point cloud set acquired with proposed approach was better in terms of both completeness and noise reduction.

There has been an increased demand for measurement of metallic, polished and shiny surfaces in automotive, aerospace and medical industries. These surfaces are very difficult to scan because they exhibit specular reflection instead of diffuse reflection. Laser line scanning probe which is a non-contact method is in great demand for RE. This is due to the fact that it possesses very high data acquisition speed. However, laser scanning is hugely affected by surface characteristics which in turn govern specular reflection.In this paper, it has been shown that a surface that exhibits various degrees of specular reflection can be digitized efficiently if appropriate combination of scanning parameters and positions of laser line scanning probe are used. Also, this paper has attempted to offer a procedure to overcome incompleteness and noise in 3D data as obtained by the laser line scanning probe.

Three types of pattern on the monocrystalline silicon surface were prepared by using laser surface processing equipment. The DLC film and Si-DLC film on the patterning surface were deposited by using PECVD-2D plasma chemical vapor deposition sets. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The tribological properties of the films were investigated by using the UMT-2 micro friction and wear tester. The surface topography, composition, hardness and elastic modular of the films were determined by Raman spectrum, nano mechanics tester and three-dimensional topography instrument. The worn surface topographies of the surface patterning films were tested by scanning electron microscopy.

The results show that the patterning monocrystalline silicon substrate surface has good anti-friction property under low load. The patterning DLC film and Si-DLC film surface have very good anti-friction property under all the test loads. The reason of these results is that the surface patterning film not only reduces the real contact area of the friction pairs but also has low surface bonding force.

This paper prepared three kinds of microscopic patterns on the monocrystalline silicon surface by using laser surface processing equipment. And then deposited DLC film and Si-DLC film on the patterning surface. All kinds of surface patterning monocrystalline silicon had very good anti-friction property under low load. And all kinds of surface patterning nano-hard film had perfect anti-friction property under all test loads.

The laser nitriding process is involved with high temperature heating and high cooling rates. This, in turn, results in high levels of thermal stresses in the heated region. Moreover, the residual stress in the heated region remains high after the completion of the heating process, which limits the application of the laser nitriding process. The purpose of this paper is to investigate thermal stresses development and residual stress levels in the nitrided region.

The microstructural changes and residual stress development in the laser gas‐assisted nitrided zone are examined. Finite element modeling is carried out to predict temperature and stress fields in the laser nitrided layer. The indentation tests and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) technique are used to determine the residual stress levels while previously derived analytical formula is used to predict the residual stress levels in the nitrided region.

The residual stress predicted attains values within 230 MPa, which remains almost uniform in the nitrided layer, except in the surface region. In this case, residual stress reduces slightly due to the low temperature gradient developed in this region and the unconstrained expansion of the free surface. When comparing the residual stress predicted with the measurement results as obtained from the XRD technique as well as the indentation tests, all the results are in reasonably good agreement. The small discrepancies between the experimental data and predictions are attributed to the assumptions made in the model study and the measurement errors.

The depth of nitrided layer is limited 60 μm. This limits the applicability of the coating for high wearing rates.

The nitrided surface improves the surface properties of steel, which can be used in industry more efficiently.

The paper describes an original model study on stress formation, an experiment for surface characterization and estimation of residual stress formation and contains new findings.