Papers by Author: J.L. Rossi

Abstract: The use of dental implants of titanium and its alloys has proved to be effective, through well established and documented parameters, both in the dimensions and in the manufacturing processes and also in the surgical techniques. There are clinical situations where there is a need to reduce the diameter of the implants, below 3.75 mm in diameter. In the current state of art of the implant technology it is desirable that these also have surfaces capable of decreasing the period of osseointegration. In the present work, to improve the mechanical strength of the material, an alloy of 80% of Ti and 20% of Zr % in mass was proposed and elaborated, aiming its use as biomaterial. Physical, chemical, microstructural and mechanical characterization was carried out. The surfaces of the treated samples were observed using: scanning electron microscopy (SEM); semi quantitatively chemically analyzed using dispersive energy spectroscopy (EDS: wettability of the samples was determined and, finally, the roughness was measured using optical profilometry. For the conditions used in the present work, it was concluded, that the best surface treatment for the TiZr 80/20 alloy was acid etching with 1% vol. hydrofluoric acid for 5 minutes, as this treatment presented the most prominent results of wettability and roughness simultaneously.

Abstract: Despite the success of osseointegrated implants, some biomechanical problems such as loosening or fracture of the abutment, crown fixation screw loosening and prosthetic instability, are common problems reported in the literature. Thus, the objective of the present study was to analyze the pullout resistance of straight and angled abutments in narrow diameter implants installed by means of friction. The specimen was composed of an implant of 3.3 mm x 11 mm fixed 2 mm above of a resin block. The abutments were fixed by friction receiving 3, 5 and 7 strikes of 0.05 J along the implant axis, and were positioned with 0 ̊, 10 ̊ and 20 ̊ of angulation. The abutments were subjected to pullout load, totalizing 10 repetitions for each test, i.e., the abutment was reinserted up to 10 times in the same implant. The results showed higher values of pullout load for the abutments with 7 strikes, and no statistical difference with 5 strikes suggesting better mechanical stability.

Abstract: This study describes the thermal diffusivity of thin duplex steel plates in the thickness direction measured using the laser-flash method after welding. The work reports the experimental efforts in recording temperature profiles of the grade UNS S32304 duplex steel during autogenous welding. The butt weld autogenous joints were carried out by the GTAW (gas tungsten arc welding) process with either argon or argon - 2% nitrogen atmospheres. The amount of nitrogen in the heat affected regions, after welding, was measured and correlated with the variation of the thermal diffusivity of the studied material. The temperature profiles were obtained using k-type thermocouples connected to a digital data acquisition system. Different thermal cycles and thermal diffusivity values were observed in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) for both samples. In the solidified zone (SZ) was observed similar increase of the thermal diffusivity values for the plates welded with pure argon and argon plus nitrogen atmosphere.

Abstract: Turning chips of zirconium alloys are produced in large quantities during the machining of alloy rods for the fabrication of the end plugs for the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) fuel elements parts of Angra II nuclear reactor (Brazil – Rio de Janeiro). This paper presents a study on the search for an efficient way for the cleaning, quality control and Vacuum Arc Remelting (VAR) of pressed zirconium alloys chips to produce a material viable to be used in the production of the fuel rod end plugs. The process starts with cutting oil clean out. The first step in this process consists in soaking a bunch of chips in clean water, to remove soluble cutting oils, followed by an alkaline degreasing bath and a wash with a high-pressure flow of water. Drying is performed by a flux of warm air. The oil free chips are then subjected to a magnet in order to detect and collect any magnetic material, essentially ferrous, that may be present in the original chips. Samples of the material are collected and then melted in a small non consumable electrode vacuum arc furnace for evaluation by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (EDXRFS) in order to define the quality of the chips. The next step consists in the 15 ton hydraulic pressing the chips in a die with 40 mm square section and 500 mm long, producing an electrode with 20% of the Zircaloy bulk density. The electrode was finally melted in a laboratory scale modified VAR furnace located at the CCTM–IPEN, producing 0.8 kg ingots. The authors conclude that the samples obtained from the fuel element industry can be melting in a VAR furnace, modified to accommodate low density electrodes, allowing a reduction up to 40 times the original storage volume, however, it is necessary to remelt the ingots to correct their composition in order to recycle the original zirconium alloys chips. in a process to reduce volume and allow the reutilization of valuable Zircaloy scraps.

Abstract: This paper presents the initial developments of a prototype device intended to perform measurements of the fastening torque in the range bellow 1 N.m – hereby denominated microtorque. The device is intended to yield data for analysis of in vitro torquing and detorquing experiments, for fixation and removing of abutments in dental implants and implants in artificial bones. The analysis of the data acquired allowed the authors to observe characteristic fingerprints or signal signatures associated to the type of abutment or implant under experimentation as well as of the mechanical prototype characteristics. In this paper, two different systems of abutment and implant were analyzed. The correlation between the phenomena associated to the signal fingerprints indicate that the developed measurement protocol may be extended to other implant / abutment systems. The authors suggest that the insertion and removal torque curves evaluated in this study would facilitated the correlation between the abutments stability in actual patients and the dynamical behavior under masticatory function.

Abstract: The hot stamping process consists to heat the steel blank, at total austenitization temperatures and to transfer it into the press tooling for forming and fast cooling to fully martensitic transformation. This transference from furnace to press stage promotes some steel oxidation. The application of metallic coatings avoids this phenomenon. The Al-Si coating, a patented process, has been the most applied on steel. Hence, alternative coatings like Zn-Ni are under development. It is known that this furnace heating causes chemical elements diffusion that results in intermetallics formation. This study had the objective of analyze the diffusion profiles of chemical elements present in the substrate, 22MnB5 steel, and coatings of Al-Si and Zn-Ni, using glow-discharge optical emission spectroscopy - GDOES and to correlate the results with those obtained with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy - EDS. The results showed that for the Zn-Ni sample, the Zn and Fe profiles at the interfacial zone, are predominant; which justify the high proportion of ZnFe phases as showed using scanning electron microscopy - SEM images. For the Al-Si sample at the interfacial zone, the profile of Al and Fe varies simultaneously; besides that, silicon diffusion in the substrate is more effectively than the nickel diffusion. For this reason, it was possible to identify AlFeSi phase near to the steel substrate.

Abstract: The objective of this study was to identify the best torque of insertion and removal of mini-implants with a twin screw design (compact and self-drilling) into artificial bones with density and trabecular thickness, similar to anterior, middle and posterior regions of the jaws. Observation of the mini-implants surface using electron microscopy was performed before and after the tests. The torque values obtained during the insertion and removal was measured by digital torque wrench. The analyzed results led to the conclusion that the insertion and removal torques were larger with increase in bone density and cortical thickness. The design of the threads of the mini-implants influenced the insertion torque. Threads with smaller pitch increased the value of insertion torque. The anterior bone drilling installation reduces the insertion torque independent of bone density. Torque increased mainly by increasing the bone density and not necessarily with increased cortical thickness suggesting that the bone density of the trabecular bone must be considered in designing the installation of mini-implants.

Abstract: The new engine developments are providing engine mechanical and thermal loads increase on the components. Besides the unfavorable wear conditions, the components should provide similar or improved performance compared with current baselines. For piston rings, the performance is given by the ring capacity of sealing and scrapping. These performances can be measured in an engine using the results of lube oil consumption and blow-by. The main intention of this work is to provide support for new piston rings developments by laser hardening parameters optimization, reducing the wear degradation. Hence, the aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of laser hardening on contact surface from the second ring and verify the microstructure modification and rings shape distortion due to heat input. The results indicate that the laser parameters can be tailored in order to achieve adequate macrostructures and micro constituents distribution. The ring ovality was inside to acceptable levels.

Abstract: Many engineering specifications, manufacturing procedures, inspection and quality control have begun to require that the residual stress of a particular component be evaluated. This is becoming as commonplace as the demands on the mechanical properties. In the country there are few research laboratories qualified to perform these tests and also found a worrying lack of skilled labor. Studying the formation and distribution of residual stress fields will improve the operational criteria of wheel safety, among other gains. It is known that these residual stress fields could be added to the effects of system load (tare weight plus occupation of vehicle traction, braking and torque combined). The results obtained used drilling method and rosette type strain gages, are convergent with similarity to those obtained using FEA simulation over critical region for global and superficial in principal stresses mode. The relevance of the present study and research on residual stresses meets safety improvements in cars wheel industry.

Abstract: In the fabrication of nuclear reactor core parts, machining chips of Zircaloy are generated. These alloys are strategic for nuclear technology and cannot be discarded. In the present work are presented two methods for recycling of Zircaloy chips. One of the methods is by melting in VAR furnace and the other by powder metallurgy method. By this method the Zircaloy was submitted to hydriding process and milled in a high-energy ball mill. The powder was cold isostatically pressed and vacuum sintered. The elemental composition of the samples obtained by both ways was determined by XRF and compared to the specifications. The phase composition was determined by XRD. The microstructures resulting of both processing methods, before and after rolling were characterized using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The good results of the powder metallurgy method suggest the possibility of producing small parts, like cladding cap-ends, using near net shape sintering.