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Lignin by-products from biorefineries has the potential to provide a low-cost alternative to petroleum-based precursors to manufacture carbon fiber, which can be combined with a binding matrix to produce a structural material with much greater specific strength and specific stiffness than conventional materials such as steel and aluminum. The market for carbon fiber is universally projected to grow exponentially to fill the needs of clean energy technologies such as wind turbines and to improve the fuel economies in vehicles through lightweighting. In addition to cellulosic biofuel production, lignin-based carbon fiber production coupled with biorefineries may provide $2,400 to $3,600 added value dry Mg−1 of biomass for vehicle applications. Compared to producing ethanol alone, the addition of lignin-derived carbon fiber could increase biorefinery gross revenue by 30% to 300%.

Microstructure level inhomogeneities between the harder martensite phase and the softer ferrite phase render the dual phase (DP) steels more complicated failure mechanisms and associated failure modes compared to the conventionally used low alloy homogenous steels. This paper examines the failure mode DP780 steel under different loading conditions using finite element analyses on the microstructure levels. Micro-mechanics analyses based on the actual microstructures of DP steel are performed. The two-dimensional microstructure of DP steel was recorded by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The plastic work hardening properties of the ferrite phase was determined by the synchrotron-based high-energy X-ray diffraction technique. The work hardening properties of the martensite phase were calibrated and determined based on the uniaxial tensile test results. Under different loading conditions, different failure modes are predicted in the form of plastic strain localization.

While sulfur in diesel fuels helps reduce friction and prevents wear and galling in fuel pump and injector systems, it also creates environmental pollution in the form of hazardous particulates and SO2 emissions. The environmental concern is the driving force behind industry's efforts to come up with new alternative approaches to this problem. One such approach is to replace sulfur in diesel fuels with other chemicals that would maintain the antifriction and antiwear properties provided by sulfur in diesel fuels while at the same time reducing particulate emissions. A second alternative might be to surface-treat fuel injection parts (i.e., nitriding, carburizing, or coating the surfaces) to reduce or eliminate failures associated with the use of low-sulfur diesel fuels. Our research explores the potential usefulness of a near-frictionless carbon (NFC) film developed at Argonne National Laboratory in alleviating the aforementioned problems.

Additive manufacturing was used to fabricate a head for an automotive-scale single-cylinder engine operating on natural gas. The head was consisted of a bimetallic composition of stainless steel and bronze. The engine performance using the bimetallic head was compared against the stock cast iron head. The heads were tested at two speeds (1200 and 1800 rpm), two brake mean effective pressures (6 and 10 bar), and two equivalence ratios (0.7 and 1.0). The bimetallic head showed good durability over the test and produced equivalent efficiencies, exhaust temperatures, and heat rejection to the coolant to the stock head. Higher combustion temperatures and advanced combustion phasing resulted from use with the bimetallic head. The implication is that with optimization of the valve timing, an efficiency benefit may be realized with the bimetallic head.

Disposal of automobile shredder residue (ASR), remaining from the reclamation of steel from junked automobiles, promises to be an increasing environmental and economic concern. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is investigating alternative technology for recovering value from ASR while also, it is hoped, lessening landfill disposal concerns. Of the ASR total, some 20% by weight consists of plastics. Preliminary work at ANL is being directed toward developing a protocol, both mechanical and chemical (solvent dissolution), to separate and recover polyurethane foam and the major thermoplastic fraction from ASR. Feasibility has been demonstrated in laboratory-size equipment.

Propagation-based and phase-enhanced x-ray imaging was developed as a unique metrology technique to visualize the internal structure of high-pressure fuel injection nozzles. We have visualized the microstructures inside 200-μm fuel injection nozzles in a 3-mm-thick steel housing using this novel technique. Furthermore, this new x-ray-based metrology technique has been used to directly study the highly transient needle motion in the nozzles in situ and in real-time, which is virtually impossible by any other means. The needle motion has been shown to have the most direct effect on the fuel jet structure and spray formation immediately outside of the nozzle. In addition, the spray cone-angle has been perfectly correlated with the numerically simulated fuel flow inside the nozzle due to the transient nature of the needle during the injection.

Cavitation plays a significant role in high pressure diesel injectors. However, cavitation is difficult to measure under realistic conditions. X-ray phase contrast imaging has been used in the past to study the internal geometry of fuel injectors and the structure of diesel sprays. In this paper we extend the technique to make in-situ measurements of cavitation inside unmodified diesel injectors at pressures of up to 1200 bar through the steel nozzle wall. A cerium contrast agent was added to a diesel surrogate, and the changes in x-ray intensity caused by changes in the fluid density due to cavitation were measured. Without the need to modify the injector for optical access, realistic injection and ambient pressures can be obtained and the effects of realistic nozzle geometries can be investigated. A range of single and multi-hole injectors were studied, both sharp-edged and hydro-ground. Cavitation was observed to increase with higher rail pressures.