Effect of Starting Microstructures on the Reverse Transformation Kinetics in Low-Carbon Steel

The effect of the initial starting microstructures on the austenite reverse transformation kinetics is thoroughly studied in low-carbon steel. The different initial starting microstructures including the ferrite + pearlite, bainite, and martensite are obtained through varied forward transformation. It is found that the bainite phase demonstrates highest reverse transformation rate while the ferrite + pearlite shows the lowest transformation rate. The above observation can be explained through the different grain size of the initial starting microstructures as the grain boundaries could act as the nucleation sites for austenite reverse transformation. The explanation is further substantiated based on the consideration of the reverse transformation kinetics from the martensite microstructure with different grain size.

Simulating Arbitrary Electrode Reversals in Standard 12-lead ECG

Electrode reversal errors in standard 12-lead electrocardiograms (ECG) can produce significant ECG changes and, in turn, misleading diagnoses. Their detection is important but mostly limited to the design of criteria using ECG databases with simulated reversals, without Wilson's central terminal (WCT) potential change. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first study that presents an algebraic transformation for simulation of all possible ECG cable reversals, including those with displaced WCT, where most of the leads appear with distorted morphology. The simulation model of ECG electrode swaps and the resultant WCT potential change is derived in the standard 12-lead ECG setup. The transformation formulas are theoretically compared to known limb lead reversals and experimentally proven for unknown limb–chest electrode swaps using a 12-lead ECG database from 25 healthy volunteers (recordings without electrode swaps and with 5 unicolor pairs swaps, including red (right arm—C1), yellow (left arm—C2), green (left leg (LL) —C3), black (right leg (RL)—C5), all unicolor pairs). Two applications of the transformation are shown to be feasible: ‘Forward’ (simulation of reordered leads from correct leads) and ‘Inverse’ (reconstruction of correct leads from an ECG recorded with known electrode reversals). Deficiencies are found only when the ground RL electrode is swapped as this case requires guessing the unknown RL electrode potential. We suggest assuming that potential to be equal to that of the LL electrode. The ‘Forward’ transformation is important for comprehensive training platforms of humans and machines to reliably recognize simulated electrode swaps using the available resources of correctly recorded ECG databases. The ‘Inverse’ transformation can save time and costs for repeated ECG recordings by reconstructing the correct lead set if a lead swap is detected after the end of the recording. In cases when the electrode reversal is unknown but a prior correct ECG recording of the same patient is available, the ‘Inverse’ transformation is tested to detect the exact swapping of the electrodes with an accuracy of (96% to 100%).

Effect of Number of Roughing Passes on the Dynamic Transformation of Austenite during Simulated Plate Rolling

When austenite is deformed within the austenite phase field, it partially transforms dynamically into ferrite. Here, plate rolling simulations were carried out on an X70 steel using rough rolling passes of 0.4 strain each. The influence of the number of roughing passes on the grain size and volume fraction of induced ferrite was determined. Up to three roughing passes applied at 1100 °C followed by 5 finishing passes at 900 °C were employed. The sample microstructures were analysed by means of metallographic techniques. Both the critical strain to the onset of dynamic transformation as well as the grain size decreased with pass number during the roughing simulations. For the finishing passes, the mean flow stresses (MFS`s) applicable to each schedule decreased when a higher number of roughing passes was applied. The volume fraction of dynamically formed ferrite retained after simulated rolling increased with the roughing pass number. This is ascribed to the increased amount of ferrite retransformed into austenite and the finer grain sizes produced during roughing. The forward transformation is considered to occur displacively while the retransformation into austenite during holding takes place by a diffusional mechanism. This indicates that both dynamic transformation (DT) and dynamic recrystallization were taking place during straining.

Effect of stress redistribution during thermal actuation of shape memory alloys in notched cylindrical bars

Shape memory alloys present a unique ability to undergo a solid-to-solid, diffusionless, reversible phase transformation. The forward phase transformation is commonly associated with transforming from the austenitic phase to the martensitic phase, while the reverse transformation is defined by going from the martensitic phase to the austenitic phase. In thermal actuation loading paths, forward transformation is generally associated with cooling, while reverse transformation is commonly associated with heating. In this article, however, it is shown that reverse transformation may occur during cooling of notched cylindrical shape memory alloy bars. The reversal in phase transformation is associated with the redistribution of stress in the shape memory alloy due to the phase transformation.

Analysis of Methods for Ellipsoidal Height Estimation – The Case of a Local Geodetic Reference Network

Ghana’s local geodetic reference network is based on the War Office 1926 ellipsoid with data in latitude, longitude and orthometric height without the existence of ellipsoidal height. This situation makes it difficult to apply the standard forward transformation equation for direct conversion of curvilinear geodetic coordinates to its associated cartesian coordinates (X, Y, Z) in the Ghana local geodetic reference network. In order to overcome such a challenge, researchers resort to various techniques to obtain the ellipsoidal height for a local geodetic network. Therefore, this paper evaluates, compares, and discusses different methods for estimating ellipsoidal height for a local geodetic network. The investigated methods are the Abridged Molodensky transformation model, Earth Gravitational Model, and the Orthometric Height approach. To evaluate these methods, their estimated local ellipsoidal height values were implemented in the seven-parameter similarity transformation model of Bursa-Wolf. The performance of each of the methods was assessed based on statistical indicators of Mean Square Error (MSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Horizontal Position Error (HE) and Standard Deviation (SD). The statistical findings revealed that, the Abridged Molodensky model produced more reliable transformation results compared with the other methods. It can be concluded that for Ghana’s local geodetic network, the most practicable method for estimating ellipsoidal height is the Abridged Molodensky transformation model. Keywords: Abridged Molodensky Model, Earth Gravitational Model, Orthometric Height, Geodetic Network