Miroslav Kvíčala

Stress-Strain Behaviour Simulation of Vanadium Microalloyed Steel with the Internal Defects During two Different Heating Strategies

This paper is focused on the explanation of a linkage between two different heating strategies and a grow of the internal casting defects, that are already present in continuously cast blooms made from vanadium micro-alloyed Cr-Mo steel. Internal defects initiation and propagation can be associated to unsuitable casting and heating conditions. Small casting voids surrounded by ferrite-bainite network enriched by carbides forming elements produce perfect conditions for crack grow during the bloom straightening, heating in the soaking pit and/or heat treatment. Moreover, we simulated the stress-strain behaviour of continuously cast round bloom during heating in soaking pit using the FEM software. It is shown that optimized heating strategy led to significantly lower rates of the plastic strain as a crucial value for the crack propagation.

Low-cost method of the highly porous iron sintering

This paper reports a study of low-cost method relating to the preparation of well defined porous iron-based materials. We employed the technique where the impressed iron oxide powder is sintered. We changed the specific volume fraction of sodium chloride as a primary pore forming additive to achieve the total porosity up to 70 % and effective/total porosity rate in a ratio of 0.89 with interconnected pores. The investigations of physical properties with respect to the particle size distribution, powder morphology, density, volume contraction and both effective and total porosity were carried out by laser diffraction (LD), pycnometric measurement, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy. Porous iron sintered electrodes represent a suitable alternative to the expensive nickel electrodes. K e y w o r d s: iron, sodium chloride, sintering, porosity, surface topography

Development of Titanium Based Biocompatible Materials with Controlled Porosity

This paper is dedicated to the development and optimization of the porous titanium materials suitable for biomedical usage in traumatology. Main aim of the presented research activities is focused on preparation of biocompatible titanium based materials with controlled porosity. It was found that titanium specimens with total porosity approximately 40 % revealed mechanical properties very similar to those of human cortical bone. Two-layer specimens with controlled porosity were prepared and tested by electron microscopy for post-sintering cracks. All tested specimens with controlled porosity were cracks free. Future works will include preparation of geometrically more complicated shapes, machining and in vitro cells proliferation testing.

Photosynthetic Active Pigments Changes in Norway Spruce (Picea abies) under the Different Acclimation Irradiation and Elevated CO2 Content

Photosynthetic active pigments content (chlorophylls and carotenoids) in Norway spruce (Picea abies) needles was measured by absorption spectroscopy. Norway spruce was exposed to low and high photosynthetic active radiation and ambient and elevated CO2 concentration. It was investigated that combination of low photosynthetic active radiation and elevated concentration of CO2 resulted in stimulation of chlorophylls and carotenoids production. Combination of high photosynthetic active radiation and elevated CO2 concentration led to overall chlorophylls and carotenoids content decrease. Moreover, specific leaf area trend could be used as a potentially reliable indicator of plant stress response.

Internal Reflectance Modelling of Hordeum vulgare Leaves During Drying

Spectral reflectance, or indexes that characterize spectral reflectance at concrete wavelength, is commonly used as an indicator of plant stress, or its photosynthetic apparatus status. In this paper, new leaf optical model is presented. Within this paper, experimental determination of surface and internal reflectance of Spring barley leaves and mathematical-physical modelling of internal reflectance were performed. It was proven that a new proposed theoretical model and the experimental spectra of internal reflectance are strongly correlated. It can be concluded that the total reflectance is not a function of epidermis condition, but it testifies about overall functional condition of Spring barley leaves.

Process of Identifying Stress Fields from Strain Fields in the Specimen with a Hole

The paper is focused on the process of identifying stress fields from strain fields in the specimen with a hole. The experiment was realized on the specimen with a hole made from anisotropic material. The main attention is paid to the analysis of deformation in the areas of stress (near the hole). That geometry generates a heterogeneous strain field which has been measured during the test using a digital image correlation system. The advantage of using heterogeneous strain fields in the identification procedure is that a complex state of stress-strain can be analyzed at the same time. On the other hand the stress field cannot be directly computed from the test and a suitable identification procedure has to be developed. Here, the virtual fields method (VFM) adapted for plastic strain has been used to identify the hardening behaviour and the anisotropy of the material. The values obtained by the VFM have been compared with the results coming from a standard identification made with uniaxial tensile tests.