Investment castings (usually involving ceramic based shells) have traditionally been separated from the mould tree using an abrasive cutting operation. While material removal rates are relatively high, the process unfortunately suffers from poor accuracy control that often necessitates further finishing operations. Following an overview of key considerations in investment casting including tree...

Captive giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) mostly do not attain the longevity possible for this species and frequently have problems associated with low energy intake and fat storage mobilization. Abnormal tooth wear has been among the causes suggested as an underlying problem. This study utilizes a tooth wear scoring method ("mesowear") primarily used in paleobiology. This scoring method was app...

Managing subsurface damage during the shaping process and removing subsurface damage during the polishing process is essential in the production of low damage density optical components, such as those required for use on high peak power lasers. Removal of subsurface damage, during the polishing process, requires polishing to a depth which is greater than the depth of the residual cracks present...

This paper aims to compare the tribo-mechanical properties and structure–property relationships of a wear resistant cobalt-based alloy produced via two different manufacturing routes, namely sand casting and powder consolidation by hot isostatic pressing (HIPing). The alloy had a nominal wt % composition of Co–33Cr–17.5W–2.5C, which is similar to the composition of commercially available Stelli...

Dentifrices with different compositions are available on the market, but there is limited information about their properties. The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics of 12 dentifrices divided into three categories, as containing desensitizing agents, Triclosan or whitening agents. Desiccation loss/residue analysis: 5 g of dentifrice was weighed five ti...

The traditional Taguchi method is widely used for optimizing the process parameters of a single response problem. Optimization of a single response results the non-optimum values for remaining. But, the performance of a machining process is often evaluated by several quality responses. Under such circumstances, multi-characteristics response optimization may be the solution to optimize multi-re...

Artificial neural networks have emerged as a good candidate to mathematical wear models, due to their capabilities of handling nonlinear behavior, learning from experimental data and generalization. In the present work the potential of using neural networks for the prediction of abrasive wear properties of unfilled and graphite filled carbon fabric reinforced epoxy composite under various testi...

Magnesium lignosulfonate and kraft lignin were activated by different oxidizing agents for use in phenolic resin composites used for the production of abrasive components. The physicochemical properties of the oxidized materials were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), dynamic mechanical-thermal analysis (DMTA) and inverse gas chro...

Influence of topographical features on mechanical properties of 0.1 wt % Multi-Layer Graphene (MLG)/clay-epoxy nanocomposites has been studied. Three different compositions were made: (1) 0.1 wt % MLG-EP; (2) 0.1 wt % clay-EP and (3) 0.05 wt % MLG-0.05 wt % clay-EP. The objective of making hybrid nanocomposites was to determine whether synergistic effects are prominent at low weight fraction of...

Inhalation of silica dust is associated with pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, substitute abrasive materials have been suggested for use in abrasive blasting operations. To date, toxicological evaluation of most substitute abrasives has been incomplete. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the pulmonary toxicity of a set of substitute abrasives (garnet, staurolite, coal slag, spec...