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The results of systematic studies of the electrospark alloying process with the introduction of dispersed materials into plasma of low-voltage pulsed discharges are presented. Technological methods have been developed for supplying the powder material straight into the treatment zone through a hollow electrode of an anode or from the side, with the electrode-anode periodically contacting the substrate of cathode. It has been established that under the same energy regimes, when powder materials were introduced into the discharge zone, the increase in the mass of the cathode per time unit increases from 10 to 15 times or more. This study presents the process of synthesis of carbide phases (TiC and WC) during electrospark alloying of steel substrates with electrodes made of Ti, W, and graphite, with additional supply powders of these materials into the processing zone. A process has been developed for the synthesis of ternary compounds, so-called MAX-phases: Ti2AlC, Ti2AlN and Ti3SiC2 by electrospark alloying with powder compositions TiAlC, TiAlN and TiSiC. These MAX phases exhibit a unique combination of properties that are characteristic of both metals and ceramics. Energy modes of the processing were optimized, which resulted in high-quality coatings with the maximum content of carbide phases and ternary compounds. It has been established that the energy of electrical pulses during electrospark alloying, when powders of materials are fed into the interelectrode gap, ranges from 0.8 to 3.0 J, depending on their thermal physical properties. High wear and corrosion resistant characteristics of C45 structural steel with such electrospark coatings are obtained. The wear of steel with coatings in comparison with uncoated steel decreased by an average of 5.5–6.0 times. It was estimated the high corrosion resistance of 40X13 steel coated with TiC and WC in 3% NaCl solution. The corrosion current for these coatings is 0.044 and 0.075 A/cm2, respectively, and is significantly less than for coatings made of TiAlC, TiAlN, and TiSiC compositions. X-ray phase and optical metallographic microscopy analyses enabled the display of the amorphous-crystalline nature of the coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: Specific prototyping of dental metal crowns and medical implants. The surface condition of the materials involved in dentistry is significant for the subsequent operations that are applied in oral cavity. Samples of Co–Cr–W alloy, obtained through selective laser melting (SLM) 3D printing, with different surface states were analyzed. Surface analysis after the 3D printing process and sandblasting was realized from microstructural, chemical composition, profilometry, droplet adhesion, scratch test, and microhardness perspectives. The results presented a hardening process and a roughness modification following the sandblasting procedure, a better adhesion of the liquid droplets, the appearance of micro-cracks during the scratch test, and the oxidation of the sample after the 3D printing process and surface processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of the method for assessing the level of safety at work starts with a document that contains the cover page, the description of the company (name, location, core business, organizational chart etc.), description of the work system, a detailed list of its components, and a brief description of the assessment method. It continues with a Microsoft Excel document, which represents the actual application of the method and, finally, there is another document presenting conclusions, proposals, and prioritizations, which leads to the execution of the Prevention and Protection Plan. The present paper approaches the issue of developing the Microsoft Excel document, an essential part of the method for assessing the level of safety at work. The document is divided into a variable number of worksheets, showing the risk categories of general, specific, and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the framework of the Multifractal Theory of Motion, which is expressed by means of the multifractal hydrodynamic model, complex system dynamics are explained through uniform and non-uniform flow regimes of multifractal fluids. Thus, in the case of the uniform flow regime of the multifractal fluid, the dynamics' description is "supported" only by the differentiable component of the velocity field, the non-differentiable component being null. In the case of the non-uniform flow regime of the multifractal fluid, the dynamics' description is "supported" by both components of the velocity field, their ratio specifying correlations through homographic transformations. Since these transformations imply metric geometries explained, for example, by means of Killing–Cartan metrics of the SL(2R)-type algebra, of the set of 2 × 2 matrices with real elements, and because these metrics can be "produced" as Cayleyan metrics of absolute geometries, the dynamics' description is reducible, based on a minimal principle, to harmonic mappings from the usual space to the hyperbolic space. Such a conjecture highlights not only various scenarios of dynamics' evolution but also the types of interactions "responsible" for these scenarios. Since these types of interactions become fundamental in the self-structuring processes of polymeric-type materials, finally, the theoretical model is calibrated based on the author's empirical data, which refer to controlled drug release applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]