No-bake sand molds are based on the curing of inorganic or organic binders with either gaseous catalysts or liquid catalysts. This article reviews the major aspects of no-bake sand bonding in terms of coremaking, molding methods, and sand processing. It discusses the points to be noted in handling sand-resin mixtures for no-bake molds or cones and lists some advantages of no-bake air-set cores and molds. The article describes the process procedures, advantages, and disadvantages of gas curing and air-setting hardening of sodium silicates. It examines the members of the air-setting organic binders, namely, furan no-bake resins, phenolic no-bake resins, and urethanes. The article provides an overview of gas-cured organic binders. It also illustrates the three commercial systems for sand reclamation: wet reclamation systems, dry reclamation systems, and thermal reclamation.

This article describes the ideal performance of various low-temperature and high-temperature fuel cells that depends on the electrochemical reactions that occur between different fuels and oxygen. Low-temperature fuel cells, such as polymer electrolyte, alkaline, and phosphoric acid, and high-temperature fuel cells, such as molten carbonate and solid oxide, are discussed. The article contains tables that provide information on the evolution of cell-component technology for these fuel cells. It concludes with information on the advantages and limitations of the fuel cells.

This article provides a detailed discussion on the types of furnace atmospheres required for heat treating. These include generated exothermic-based atmospheres, generated endothermic-based atmospheres, generated exothermic-endothermic-based atmospheres, generated dissociated-ammonia-based atmospheres, industrial gas nitrogen-base atmospheres, argon atmospheres, and hydrogen atmospheres. Atmospheres for backfilling, partial pressure operation, and quenching in vacuum are also discussed. Furnace atmospheres constitute four major groups of safety hazards in heat treating: fire, explosion, toxicity, and asphyxiation. The article reviews the fundamentals of principal gases and vapors. It describes how the evaluation of the atmospheric requirements of heat treating furnaces is influenced by factors such as cost of operation and capital investment.

Nitriding is a general term for all processes based on the addition of nitrogen to the surface of steel. When carbon is added along with the nitrogen, the process is called nitrocarburizing. This article provides a detailed discussion on the functional and structural properties of nitrided layers. It describes the structural changes on the surface of carbon steels, alloy steels, and austenitic stainless steels. The article explains the effects of the various nitriding processes, namely, gaseous nitriding, plasma nitriding, gaseous nitrocarburizing, and salt bath nitrocarburizing, on the structure and properties of nitrided layers.

This article describes the classification of fuel cells depending on the operating temperature and type of electrolytes used. This classification includes alkaline fuel cells, phosphoric acid fuel cells, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs), and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The article explains the corrosion processes in fuel cells due to solid-gas interactions, solid-liquid interactions, and solid-solid interactions. It discusses the long-term performance stability and long-term degradation processes of PEMFCs, MCFCs, and SOFCs. The article reviews the development of chemically and structurally compatible component materials in PEMFCs, MCFCs, and SOFCs.

Sintering atmosphere protects metal parts from the effects of contact with air and provides sufficient conduction and convection for uniform heat transfer to ensure even heating or cooling within various furnace sections, such as preparation, sintering, initial cooling, and final cooling sections. This article provides information on the different zones of these furnace sections. It describes the types of atmospheres used in sintering, namely, endothermic gas, exothermic gas, dissociated ammonia, hydrogen, and vacuum. The article concludes with a discussion on the furnace zoning concept and the problems that arise when these atmospheres are not controlled.

This article reviews the basic types of mold aggregates and bonding methods for expendable molds and coremaking. It provides an overview of mold media and the basic types of sands and their properties. The most significant clays used in green sand operations, such as bentonites, are discussed. The article describes the methods of sand bonding with inorganic compounds. It provides a description of resin-bonded sand systems: no-bake binder systems, heat-cured binder systems, and cold box binder systems. The article concludes with a discussion on the media used for expendable molds, namely, ceramic shells and rammed graphite, for casting reactive metals such as titanium or zirconium.

This article discusses classification of foundry processes based on the molding medium, such as sand molds, ceramic molds, and metallic molds. Sand molds can be briefly classified into two types: bonded sand molds, and unbonded sand molds. Bonded sand molds include green sand molds, dry sand molds, resin-bonded sand molds, and sodium silicate bonded sand. The article describes the casting processes that use these molds, including the no-bake process, cold box process, hot box process, the CO2 process, lost foam casting process and vacuum molding process. The casting processes that use ceramic molds include investment casting, and plaster casting. Metallic molds are used in permanent mold casting, die casting, semisolid casting, and centrifugal casting.

This article introduces the principles of Raman spectroscopy and the representative materials characterization applications to which Raman spectroscopy has been applied. A discussion on light-scattering fundamentals and a description of the experimental aspects of the technique are included. Emphasis is placed on the different instrument approaches that have been developed for performing Raman analyses on various materials. The applications presented reflect the breadth of materials characterization uses for Raman spectroscopy and highlight the analysis of bulk material and of surface and near-surface species.

Aggregate molding, or sand casting, is the gravity pouring of liquid metal into a mold that is made of a mixture molded against a permanent pattern. This article summarizes the most important materials in the process of sand casting of cast iron, including different types of molding aggregates, clays, water, and additives in green sand, chemically bonded organic resins, and inorganic binders in self-setting, thermosetting, and gas-triggered systems. It discusses three main types of reclamation systems: wet, dry, and thermal. The article concludes with a description of both nonpermanent and permanent mold processes.

This article discusses the corrosion of chromium electrodeposits and the ways for optimizing corrosion resistance. It describes the processing steps and conditions for hard chromium plating. These steps include pretreatment, electroplating, and posttreatment. The article also provides information on duplex coatings and the applications of chromium electrodeposits.

This article introduces the principles of Raman spectroscopy and the representative materials characterization applications to which Raman spectroscopy has been applied. It includes a discussion of light-scattering fundamentals and a description of the experimental aspects of the technique. Emphasis has been placed on the different instrument approaches that have been developed for performing Raman analyses on various materials. The applications presented in the article reflect the breadth of materials characterization uses for Raman spectroscopy and highlight the analysis of bulk material and of surface and near-surface species.

This article addresses the impact of emerging technologies on future lubricant and tribology requirements. The connection between lubricant and tribological requirements is shown by briefly describing basic lubrication and friction processes in major engine components incorporating emerging technologies. The article introduces automotive lubricant development activities and the foundation of future automotive engine-lubricant trends. It discusses how emerging powertrain technology impacts future automotive lubricant and technology requirements, focusing on the effects of engine oils and additives on engine performance to meet powertrain performance requirements. A detailed overview of automotive engine oil performance evaluation methods and specifications, and their impact on the types of advanced lubricants being developed as well as future automotive engine testing requirements, is provided.

This article discusses postconsumer plastics recyclate quantities, the classification of plastics recycling into primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary categories, and how the life cycle of plastics is affected by recycling. The recycling processes of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which accounts for the largest percentage of plastic recycling, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastics, the other large-volume plastic recyclate, as well as vinyl resins and polycarbonate resins are described. The life cycle of plastics has four phases: poly formation, part fabrication, product service, and disposal. Landfilling is still the primary method of final disposal, and incineration is another option, but recycling has become a viable alternative. The article presents a comparison between secondary and tertiary recycling.

This article provides information on the thermodynamics and kinetics of high-temperature corrosion. The thermodynamics of high-temperature corrosion reactions reveals what reactions are possible under certain conditions and kinetics explains how fast these possible reactions will proceed. The article describes the diffusion process that plays a key role in oxidation and other gaseous reactions with metals. It discusses the development of stress in oxide layers. The article presents the sample preparation methods for high-temperature testing, and expounds the measurement methods of high-temperature degradation. It reviews a number of potential processes, which are responsible for high-temperature corrosion. The article details a wide range of coatings and coating processes for protecting components in a variety of operating conditions. It also discusses the testing methods used for materials at high temperatures, including furnace tests, burner rig testing, and thermogravimetric analysis, and the test methods conducted at high temperature and high pressure.

Control of temperature and furnace atmospheres has become increasingly critical to successful heat treating. Temperature instrumentation and control systems used in heat treating include temperature sensors, controllers, final control elements, measurement instruments, and set-point programmers. This article describes these items and discusses the classifications and control of furnace atmospheres. The article also describes the surface carbon control devices available for the wide variety of furnace atmospheres and evaluation of carbon control. Finally, the article provides a set of guidelines for safety procedures that are common to all industrial heat treating furnace installations.

Potentiometric membrane electrodes are electrochemical devices that can be used to quantify numerous ionic and nonionic species. This class of electrochemical sensors can be divided into ion-selective and gas-sensing membrane electrodes. The first half of this article mainly focuses on the subclasses, the membrane potential, electrode selectivity limitations and the methods of analysis of the ion-selective membrane electrodes. These methods of analysis include the use of calibration curves, addition techniques, subtraction techniques, and titration. The second half outlines gas sensing membrane electrodes, and discusses important elements that must be considered in addition to the potentiometric membrane electrode to ensure proper electrode response. These elements are reference electrodes, temperature controls, recording of the potential with respect to time, electrode storages, and sample pretreatment. The article also explains the applications of the potentiometric membrane electrodes with the aid of an example.

Synthetic diamond and cubic boron nitride are among a class of superhard materials from the boron-carbon-nitrogen-silicon family of elements. This article focuses on the two materials, the forms in which they are produced, and their respective properties. Synthetic diamond and cubic boron nitride compounds are available in the form of grit and sintered polycrystalline blanks of various size, shape, and composition. The article explains how superabrasive grains made from these materials can be used in lapping, polishing, and grinding applications, and how diamond and boron nitride blanks can be mounted to suitable substrates to form ultrahard cutting edges and tools.

Ammonia and ammonium hydroxide are not particularly corrosive in themselves, but corrosion problems can arise with specific materials, particularly when contaminants are present. This article discusses the corrosion resistance of materials used for the manufacture, handling, and storage of ammonia. These materials include aluminum alloys, iron and steel, stainless steels, nickel and its alloys, copper and its alloys, titanium and its alloys, zirconium and its alloys, niobium, tantalum, and nonmetallic materials.

The atmosphere within a furnace chamber is a basic factor in achieving the desired chemical reactions with metals during heat treating. This article presents the fundamentals of heat treating atmospheres, and describes two groups of atmosphere control, namely, furnace atmosphere control and supply atmosphere control. The two basic types of atmospheric supply systems are generated atmospheres and nitrogen-base atmospheres. The article provides a brief overview of the gas reactions associated with oxidation and carbon control to ensure either carburization, or to prevent decarburization. It demonstrates how the carbon potential control is achieved by controlling water vapor concentration, carbon dioxide concentration, or oxygen partial pressure. The article also describes the various devices and analyzers used to monitor sampled gas from furnace atmospheres, namely, chromatographs, oxygen probes, Orsat analyzers, infrared analyzers, dewpoint analyzers, and hot-wire analyzers. Finally, it discusses the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of these analyzers.