Antifragile philosophy can be the key to improving the management of organizations that base their activity on research and development (R&D) projects. These are types of projects with the greatest uncertainty in all aspects, and the application of antifragile philosophy can result in streamlining their management and development. In this article, the Q methodology is used to investigate whether organizations in R&D environments have antifragile characteristics. To this end, 15 innovation experts from research institutes located in Northern Spain were interviewed about their position regarding project management behaviors that are related to antifragile philosophy. As a result, it was verified that the characteristics of an ideal system of a research institute with antifragile philosophy are multidisciplinary and autonomous teams with a capacity for rapid response and adaptation to the environment.

In this study, a chromium carbide layer was fabricated by an in-situ casting technique on ductile iron cast components. The procedure consists of (i) applying a ferrochrome slurry at the surfaces of silica sand moulds to create a surface layer (e.g. coating) and (ii) use a ductile iron alloy to cast the coated moulds. The microstructure of the realised surface layer was characterised and analysed via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), optical microscopy (OM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD).The corrosion behaviour of the samples was analysed by an electrochemical method using 0.03 M NaCl. The wear tests and Vickers hardness measurements were performed to determine the properties of the surface layer. It was determined that the layer is composed of chromium carbide (Cr₇C₃), ledeburite and pearlite. The ‘chromium carbide’constituent improved significantly both the wear resistance and the hardness of the surface layer. Electrochemical measurements have indicated that the carbide-based layer exhibits a lower corrosion resistance than the substrate (e.g. casting).

In the design of L-DED (laser-directed energy deposition) cladding processes, the chemical composition of the metallic powders is typically assumed to match that of the intended coating. However, during the deposition of the first layer, dilution with the substrate alters the weld metal composition, deviating from the nominal powder chemistry. Although the application of multiple layers can gradually reduce this dilution effect, it introduces additional complexity and processing time. This study proposes an alternative strategy to counteract substrate dilution from the very first deposited layer, eliminating the need for multilayer coatings. Specifically, to achieve a corrosion-resistant monolayer of AISI 316L stainless steel on a high-strength, quenched-and-tempered AISI 4140 steel substrate, a dilution-compensating alloy powder is added to the standard AISI 316L feedstock. Single-layer coatings, both with and without compensation, were evaluated in terms of chemical composition, microstructure, and corrosion resistance. The results show that unmodified coatings suffered a chromium depletion of approximately 2 wt.%, leading to a reduced pitting potential of Ep = 725 ± 6 mV in synthetic seawater. In contrast, the use of the compensation alloy preserved chromium content and significantly improved corrosion resistance, achieving a pitting potential of Ep = 890 ± 9 mV.

Corrosion behaviour of 2024-T6 castings produced by sand mould and metallic mould has been studied in media with different sodium chloride concentrations and pH values, using electrochemical techniques and scanning electron microscope. Corrosion rates and anodic and cathodic reaction kinetics are detailed to provide a fundamental understanding of the electrochemical behaviour of 2024-T6 at different conditions. The study shows a different corrosion mechanism depending on the pH. At pH 12, the more negative values of E_corr confirmed that the alkalinisation of aluminium incites the dissolution of the Al substrate. The effect of chloride concentration is reflected in shifts of E_corr towards more negative values. The research on the effect of the used mould demonstrates that the impact of the casting process in the cooling rate affects the pitting corrosion resistance.