Opportunities in Nanoengineered Surface Designs for Enhanced Condensation Heat and Mass Transfer

Recent advancements in surface nanoengineering have spurred intense interests in their implementation for enhancing condensation heat transfer. When appropriately designed, nanoengineered surfaces not only lead to highly efficient transport mechanisms not achievable with conventional dropwise condensation, they also demonstrate the possibility of augmenting condensation of low surface tension fluids widely used in industry. These advantages are further enhanced by the development of highly scalable nanofabrication methods, which enable the potential transition from laboratory-scale prototypes to real-world industrial applications. In this review, we discuss the progress, opportunities, and challenges of enhancing condensation heat and mass transfer with nanoengineered surfaces. This article provides an overview of the recent developments in micro/nanoscale coating and structure fabrication techniques and performs a thorough comparison of their condensation performance, elucidating the complex interfacial transport mechanism involved. Surface structuring methods that are durable, scalable and low-cost are essential attributes for large-scale industrial implementation. Here, the methods used to improve surface durability and demonstrations of nanostructure-enhanced meter-scale condensers are presented. Limitations are discussed and the potential techniques to overcome these challenges are summarized. Given the recent development of metal additive manufacturing technology and its growing relevance in manufacturing processes, we end this review by providing our perspectives on the opportunities in enabling surface nanostructuring of metal additive manufactured materials and the potential of nanometric-millimetric co-design optimization for the development of next-generation additively manufactured condensers.

Life Cycle Assessment of Coated and Thermally Modified Wood Façades

Façades—their design, aesthetics, performance, type of cladding material, and understructure—determine architectural expression and form unique appearances of individual buildings. In connection to the sustainable development idea, wood façades provide one of the alternatives of a contemporary building exterior look. Façade cladding made of coated and thermally modified wood can be successfully used for these buildings. In addition, thermally modified wood allows the use of local European wood species, while keeping cladding elements relatively thin. On the other hand, wood has certain structural limitations and disadvantages due to the properties of wood. The main weakness is caused by the surface durability of wood and its related need for maintenance over time. The scope of the study was a comprehensive assessment of coated non-heat-treated and thermally modified wood façades, performed in terms of life cycle assessment. The aim was to identify which type of wooden façade had the lowest environmental impact. According to the EN 15804 + A2 standard, the principle of evaluation of environmental parameters “cradle-to-gate-with options” was used to evaluate wooden façades and coatings and surface preservation methods. Simulations with the SimaPro program showed that the thermal modification of wood has a significant impact on the environment at the product stage. Nonetheless the thermally modified façade without any surface coating showed the lowest environmental impact in a 30 year time-horizon of the “use stage”. It was showed that surface maintenance methods applied, the coatings used, and the frequency of their application play an important role in the environmental impact of the investigated wooden façades.

Operating Performance of External Non-Involute Spur˝and Helical Gears: A Review

In practical use, most gears have an involute shape of tooth flanks. However, external involute gears have some drawbacks, such as unfavourable kinematic conditions at the beginning and end of meshing, a limited minimum number of teeth, and the highly loaded convex-convex (i.e., non-conformal) contact. Researchers have developed and analysed various non-involute forms of tooth flanks, but they have not been widely accepted. The main reasons are higher manufacturing costs and sensitivity to manufacturing and assembly errors. Analyses of non-involute forms of teeth are mostly theoretical (analytical and numerical), while there is a lack of experimental confirmations of theoretical assumptions. This paper reviews external non-involute shapes, their operating characteristics and possibilities of use compared to involute gears. Established criteria, such as Hertzian pressure, oil film thickness, bending stress at the root of the tooth, contact temperature, and gear noise, were used for assessment. The results of analytical studies and experimental research on S-gears are presented in more detail. S-gears have a higher surface durability and a lower heat load when compared to involute gears. The usability of non-involute gears is increasing with the development of new technologies and materials. However, the advantages of non-involute shapes are not so significant that they could easily displace involute gears, which are cheaper to manufacture.

Enhancing Design Features of Asymmetric Spur Gears Operating on a Specified Center Distance Using Tooth Sum Altered Gear Geometry

Asymmetric gears have evolved from the rising demand for power transmission drives with high load-carrying capacity, surface durability, and service life. Direct design and S± profile shifted system are the most common approaches used for enhancing design features by geometry modification in asymmetric gears. This paper aims at establishing asymmetric gear geometry modification using tooth sum alteration for a family of gears running on a specified center distance as a feasible design approach. A complete mathematical treatment of the design approach is provided, and an in-house developed computer program is used for numerical simulation. The paper explores the influence of dynamic load factors, location factors for bending, specific sliding on load-bearing capacity, and surface durability on different tooth sum alterations. The study concludes that tooth sum altered asymmetric gear geometry can be employed as an effective design technique that offers designers flexibility in designing gears for surface wear, load-bearing, and tooth life.

Effects of Preheating and Dual Shielding on Flux-Cored Arc Welded High-Strength Carbon Steel for Hardfacing Application

This work presented the hardfacing process of high-strength structural steel based on JIS G3106 standard grade SM490YA by semi-automatic flux-cored arc welding with a dual shielding process of flux-cored self-shielded and protective gas-shielded (FCAW-G). In the welding process, the surface of SM490YA specimen was hardfacing welded by metal cored wire based on chromium carbide which was in standard of 8555: E10-MF-65-G. The hardfacing welds from FCAW-G and traditional self-shielding FCAW (FCAW-S) with and without preheat were inspected by visual and penetrant tests for evaluating the welding quality. The macrostructure of the deposited layer was investigated by optical microscope and image analysis for analyzing the weld penetration and weld dilution. In addition, the hardness of the hardfacing welded specimens was tested for the evaluation of the surface durability of the welded SM490YA.

Antimicrobial Nanostructured Coatings: A Gas Phase Deposition and Magnetron Sputtering Perspective

Counteracting the spreading of multi-drug-resistant pathogens, taking place through surface-mediated cross-contamination, is amongst the higher priorities in public health policies. For these reason an appropriate design of antimicrobial nanostructured coatings may allow to exploit different antimicrobial mechanisms pathways, to be specifically activated by tailoring the coatings composition and morphology. Furthermore, their mechanical properties are of the utmost importance in view of the antimicrobial surface durability. Indeed, the coating properties might be tuned differently according to the specific synthesis method. The present review focuses on nanoparticle based bactericidal coatings obtained via magneton-spattering and supersonic cluster beam deposition. The bacteria–NP interaction mechanisms are first reviewed, thus making clear the requirements that a nanoparticle-based film should meet in order to serve as a bactericidal coating. Paradigmatic examples of coatings, obtained by magnetron sputtering and supersonic cluster beam deposition, are discussed. The emphasis is on widening the bactericidal spectrum so as to be effective both against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, while ensuring a good adhesion to a variety of substrates and mechanical durability. It is discussed how this goal may be achieved combining different elements into the coating.