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P. Palanichamy ¹, M. Vasudevan ¹, A. Joseph ¹

Affiliations
1 Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam - 603 102, IN

Abstract

Ultrasonics based nondestructive testing techniques have been effective not only for flaw detection and evaluation purposes in materials but also for the characterization of materials properties and microstructures. In this paper, some of the important non-destructive research&developmental works carried out at the authors' laboratory on the characterization of material properties (microstructures and mechanical properties) in a variety of structural materials such as AISI type 316 austenitic stainless steels (SS), modified alloy D9 and Zircaloy-2 are discussed. Potential use of high frequency (>20MHz) ultrasonic measurements for characterisation of precipitation in AISI type 316LN SS that has a bearing on the properties and performance of the materials in service will be highlighted. Application of very high frequency (?1GHz) through scanning acoustic microscopy for various surface and sub-surface imaging of sensitized microstructures will be discussed.

Keywords

Silver Halides, Elastic Properties, Ultrasonic Properties.

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P. Palanichamy ¹, M. Vasudevan ¹

Affiliations
1 Metallurgy and Materials Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, IN

Abstract

In recent years, ultrasonic measurements are found to offer unique and nondestructive methods of determining the microstructures and quantifying residual stresses. Ultrasonic techniques developed based on velocity measurements are found to be more reliable than the existing techniques for characterizing the annealing behaviuor of cold worked austenitic stainless steel. The variation in ultrasonic velocity with annealing time/temperature exhibited three stages. Based on the microstructural investigations using metallography, the three stages have been identified to be recovery, progress of recrystallization and completion of recrystallization. Ultrasonic based residual stress measurements are nondestructive and offer quantitative estimation of surface/sub-surface and bulk residual stresses. In the present work, critically refracted longitudinal L_CR waves have been employed to measure residual stresses in A-TIG weld joints of type 316 LN stainless steel of various thickness. There was significant reduction in the magnitude of tensile residual stresses in A-TIG weld joints with increasing thickness of the plates joined. This residual stress measurement technique has several advantages including high spatial resolution for longitudinal residual stresses across the weld joints, easy and simple to use on fabricated components, cost effective and non-destructive.

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C. Dinesh Kumar ¹, V. Kumaresh ¹, J. Abhimanyu ¹, M. Vasudevan ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode-638401, T.N., IN

Abstract

Soil erosion, a complex phenomenon impacting the general land topography, essentially involves distinguishable stages such as detachment and transport of soil particles, storage and runoff of rainwater, and infiltration. Adoption of sustainable soil conservation measures suitable to the land use pattern are of great importance to arrest soil erosion. The present study deals with identifying the critical parameters affecting erosion from a cultivable farm land located in the southern rain-shadow area of Nilgiri Hills at Sathyamangalam. A series of rainfall simulations were performed under laboratory setup by varying rainfall intensity, soil texture, and conservation measures. Three types of soil conservation measures were practiced and tested for understanding water holding capacity and soil and erodability of the collected native soil. Results showed that mulching with dry leaves and growing of deep ischolar_main vetiver plants could give relatively good and comparable results in terms of soil moisture content and percentage of fine particles retained. However, the soil treated with dry sludge collected from co-composting of faecal matter resulted in highest retention of soil moisture as well as fine particles. This can be attributed to the presence of higher organic matter present in the sludge which has the ability to absorb and hold water. Additionally, the soil amended with dry sludge is expected to improve the productivity of land, thereby minimizing the supply of artificial fertilizers. It can be concluded that erosion control by co-composted-dried sludge can be employed as a sustainable alternative for simultaneous erosion control and productivity enhancement of agricultural soil.

Keywords

Co-Composting, Mulching, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion, Sludge, Vetiver Grass.

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R. Veluswamy ¹, A. Md. Muneer ¹, M. Krishnamoorthy ¹, P. Sivaraman ¹, A. S. L. K. Rao ¹, M. Vasudevan ², A. K. Bhaduri ²

Affiliations
1 Central Workshop Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam - 603102, IN
2 Materials Technology Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102, IN

Abstract

The soundness of welds is primarily determined by the quality of the ischolar_main pass. In order to ensure quality welds with full penetration, the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process is widely used in industry. Usually, the quality of manual GTA welding almost solely depends on the experience of individual welders, but the quality of automatic welding is greatly influenced by proper selection and control of welding parameters to overcome the influences from gravity, arc force, surface tension, heat accumulation, joint preparation and fit up precision, etc. Consequently, an automatic-welding system with penetration enhancing activating flux (PEAF) may easily resulting good welding quality, especially in shop floor welding without the joint preparation and good fit up. Automatic GTAW Process is being used widely in the manufacturing industries to weld the pressure vessels, irrespective of the material and its thermal conductivities. Optimal performance of any welding process is based on choosing the right combination of input parameters by trial and error method. This paper deals with the development of an automatic welding system by converting the existing welding machine in to a full fledged automatic machine by addition of wire feeder, a servo controlled carriage, etc. to obtain the optimal combination of input parameters in order to achieve a good quality of weld as per code requirements. Experiments show that the welding quality on steel plates was very successful by using WEAVER and carriage with activated flux.

Keywords

Automatic-Welding, PEAF-TIG, Wire Feeder, Optimization, Servo Control.

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M. Vasudevan ¹, V. M. Senthilkumar ²

Affiliations
1 esearch & Development Centre, in Management Studies, Bharathiar University Coimbatore, IN
2 Department of Humanities, Sri Shanmuga College of Engineering and Technology, Sankari, IN

Abstract

The sale of goods or commodities in small quantities for final consumption is retailing. Hypermarkets in India sell different types of essential commodities in addition to luxury items. These Hypermarkets are mainly located in tier I and tier II cities of India. Majority of the hypermarkets sell branded products produced by domestic and International companies. Hypermarkets of India offer products with varied price bands for each and every sections of urban society. Promotion stands for all the communications that a retailer may use in the marketplace. Promotion mix is composed of four distinct elements: Advertising, Sales Promotions, Word of mouth and Public Relations. The present research work examines the impact of promotional strategies employed by Hypermarkets in Bangalore. The survey was carried out in the selected hyper markets of Bangalore city. The primary data was collected from 400 customers of hyper markets. A properly structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Convenience sampling technique was used and data was analyzed by using statistical tools. The results showed that sales promotion has very high impact and other components of promotional mix like advertisements, public relations can be improved. This can be achieved by using an integrated marketing communications approach.

Keywords

Promotion, Word of Mouth, Communication, Impact.

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