RESUMO
Surface to hand transfer of viruses represents a potential mechanism for human exposure. An experimental process for evaluating the touch transfer of aerosol-deposited material is described based on controlling surface, tribological, and soft matter components of the transfer process. A range of high-touch surfaces were evaluated. Under standardized touch parameters (15 N, 1 s), relative humidity (RH) of the atmosphere around the contact transfer event significantly influenced transfer of material to the finger-pad. At RH < 40%, transfer from all surfaces was <10%. Transfer efficiency increased markedly as RH increased, reaching a maximum of approximately 50%. The quantity of material transferred at specific RHs above 40% was also dependent on roughness of the surface material and the properties of the aerosol-deposited material. Smooth surfaces, such as melamine and stainless steel, generated higher transfer efficiencies compared to those with textured roughness, such as ABS pinseal and KYDEX® plastics. Pooled human saliva was transferred at a lower rate compared to artificial saliva, indicating the role of rheological properties. The artificial saliva data were modeled by non-linear regression and the impact of environmental humidity and temperature were evaluated within a Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment model using SARS-CoV-2 as an example. This illustrated that the trade-off between transfer efficiency and virus survival may lead to the highest risks of fomite transmissions in indoor environments with higher humidity.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , Vírus , Aerossóis , Humanos , Umidade , SARS-CoV-2 , Saliva , Saliva ArtificialRESUMO
Every autumn rail networks across the world suffer delays, accidents and schedule changes due to low friction problems caused by leaves landing on the rails. These leaves form a layer that can reduce the friction between the wheel and the rail to a similar level as that between ice and an ice-skate ( µ = 0.01 - 0.05 ). Previous works have generated several hypotheses for the chemical reactions and low friction mechanism associated with these layers. In this work, the reaction between an aqueous extract of sycamore leaves and metallic iron is investigated. This reaction has been shown to produce a black precipitate, which matches field observations of leaf layers, while friction tests with these extracts produce characteristic ultra low friction. The reaction is investigated through FTIR, XPS, CHNS and ICP-MS analysis as well as wet chemical testing. The impact of the reaction on friction is investigated through three rounds of tribological testing. The results indicate that the black precipitate produced is iron tannate, formed by complexation of tannins with dissolved iron ions. Friction testing showed that eliminating tannins from the leaf extract resulted in a significant increase in the friction coefficient compared with the control.
RESUMO
Due to their design, hollow cavity and filled sodium, hollow head and sodium filled engine valves (HHSVs) have superior performance to traditional solid valves in terms of mass and temperature reduction. This paper presents a new manufacturing method for 42Cr9Si2 steel hollow head and sodium filled valves. An inertia friction welding process parameter optimization was conducted to obtain a suitable process parameter range. The fatigue strength of 42Cr9Si2 steel at elevated temperatures was evaluated by rotating bending fatigue test with material specimens. Performance evaluation tests for real valve components were then carried out using a bespoke bench-top apparatus, as well as a stress evaluation utilizing a finite element method. It was proved that the optimized friction welding parameters of HHSV can achieve good welding quality and performance, and the HHSV specimen successfully survived defined durability tests proving the viability of this new method. The wear resistance of the HHSV specimens was evaluated and the corresponding wear mechanisms were found to be those classically defined in automotive valve wear.