IIT Madras is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1959, it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.

IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for four years in a row by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the MHRD

It currently offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across 16 disciplines in Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management. About 596 faculty belonging to science and engineering departments and centres of the Institute are engaged in teaching, research and industrial consultancy.

IIT Madras

Solidification of metal foams was studied by in-situ X-ray radioscopy. Precursors were prepared by uni-axial hot compaction of metal/blowing agent powder blends, foamed in a X-ray transparent furnace and were then solidified. Foam evolution was continuously monitored. The cross-section of the foam at any instant was determined from the images by automatised image analysis. During cooling of the sample an unexpected small transient expansion stage was observed. In order to explain this behaviour different possible effects are proposed and evaluated. Experiments were carried out for alloys with and without blowing agent, for different heating times and cooling rates to separate the various possible mechanisms. It was observed that the transient expansion strongly depends on heating time and cooling rate. Some transient expansion is also observed for alloys without blowing agent demonstrating that the effect can only be partially ascribed to the behaviour of the blowing agent.

Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

World University root node

Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals

Anomalous behaviour of aluminium foams during solidification

The spreading of the three-phase contact (TPC) line after rupture of the thin film between a large air bubble and a flat solid surface was experimentally studied by means of a CCD high-speed video technique. The present study shows that the TPC line profile is noncircular for a deformed bubble. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science

Three-phase contact line profile between a large air bubble and a flat solid surface

This paper deals with the preparation and characterization of two types of in situ spinel bonded low cement high alumina based castable refractories. Semidried magnesium aluminate mass was prepared from cheaper precursors via coprecipitation and sol-gel routes for application in a refractory castable composition in different concentrations. The pH, average particle size, solid content, DTG analysis and XRD patterns of those two additives were observed. After being fired at elevated temperatures those two kinds of in situ spinel bonded castables were characterized and compared in terms of bulk density, apparent porosity, cold crushing strength, flexural strength, volume shrinkage, spalling resistance, and XRD phase analysis. Scanning electron microscopy of some selected fired samples was done to analyse the mode of interaction of in situ spinel bonds in castable microstructure. The corrosion resistance of the castables was estimated by heating with blast furnace and converter slags. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd and Techna S.r.l. All rights reserved.

Ceramics International

In situ spinel bonded refractory castable in relation to co-precipitation and sol-gel derived spinel forming agents

The microstructures of refractory castables prepared with sol-gel additives were studied. Several kinds of inorganic sol and gel materials were applied to high alumina based low and ultra low cement refractory castable compositions and these were fired at elevated temperature. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) study of the fired specimens was also performed.

Microstructures of refractory castables prepared with sol-gel additives

An efficient model-based method to detect, locate, and estimate leaks occurring in networks of pipelines is proposed in this paper. The method is applicable to networks carrying incompressible fluids. The proposed method is an adaptation of the generalized likelihood ratio test which utilizes flow and pressure measurements and a steady state model of the network. It not only can predict leaks and isolate the leaking branch but also can estimate the magnitude of leak and location along the branch. Modified serial compensation strategy is employed to detect multiple leaks. A simulation study of a large network demonstrates the efficacy of the method. Also a bench scale laboratory experiment is performed to corroborate the simulation study.