Biodegradable materials investigation has become a necessity and a direction for many researchers worldwide. The main goal is to find sustainable alternatives which gradually replace plastics based on fossil resources from the market, because they are very harmful to the environment and to overall quality of life. In order to get to the stage of obtaining different functional parts from biodegradable materials, it is necessary to study their properties. Taking into account these shortcomings, this paper aims at the mechanical characterization (DMA—Dynamic Mechanical Analysis) and thermal degradation (thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)) of lignin-based biopolymers: Arboform LV3 Nature^®, Arboblend^® V2 Nature, and Arbofill^® Fichte Arboform^® LV3 Nature reinforced with aramid fibers. The tested samples were obtained by using the most common fabrication technique for polymers—injection molding. The obtained results for the DMA analysis showed separate polymeric-specific regions for each material and, based on the tanδ values between (0.37–0.54), a series of plastics could be proposed for replacement. The mechano-dynamic behavior could be correlated with the thermal expansion of biopolymers for temperatures higher than 50/55 °C, which are thermally stable up to temperatures of at least 250 °C.

The paper aims to investigate the behavior of Arboblend V2 Nature biopolymer samples covered with three ceramic powders, Amdry 6420 (Cr₂O₃), Metco 143 (ZrO₂ 18TiO₂ 10Y₂O₃) and Metco 136F (Cr₂O₃-xSiO₂-yTiO₂). The coated samples were obtained by injection molding, and the micropowder deposition was achieved by using the Atmospheric Plasma Spray (APS) method, with varied thickness layers. The present study will only describe the results for nine-layer deposition because, as the number of layers’ increases, the surface quality and mechanical/thermal characteristics such as wear, hardness and thermal resistance are also increased. The followed determinations were conducted: the adhesion strength, hardness on a microscopic scale by micro-indentation, thermal analysis and structural and morphological analysis. The structural analysis has highlighted a uniform deposition for the ZrO₂ 18TiO₂ 10Y₂O₃ layer, but for the layers that contained Cr₂O₃ ceramic microparticles, the deposition was not completely uniform. The thermal analysis revealed structural stability up to a temperature of 230 °C, the major degradation of the biopolymer matrix taking place at a temperature around 344 °C. The samples’ crystalline structure as well as the presence of the Cr₂O₃ compound significantly influenced the micro-indentation and scratch analysis responses. The novelty of this study is given by itself the coating of the Arboblend V2 Nature biopolymer (as base material), with ceramic microparticles as the micropowder coating material. Following the undertaken study, the increase in the mechanical, tribological and thermal characteristics of the samples recommend all three coated biopolymer samples as suitable for operating in harsh conditions, such as the automotive industry, in order to replace plastic materials.

All the cutting processes impose certain specifications for the work pieces obtained. In such conditions, the parameters as tolerance, roughness and geometrical deviations must be well known in order to determine the obtained accuracy of the processed work pieces. During the cutting process, due to some influences from the MTDW (Machine Tool, Device Work piece), a work piece can result with processing errors. In order to compensate this errors or, if it is possible to eliminate them, some measurement of the work piece dimensions are taken. In this way, the present study propose an evaluation of such aspects in order to establish, based on the work piece shape on radial and longitudinal direction, the imposed measures to compensate the processing errors. For high accuracy of the obtained data, an automated device will be used. The results will highlight the influenced areas of the processed work pieces and the possible factors which conduct to generating errors.

Manufacturing Engineering domain generally uses for creating virtual work piece profiles or tool representations descriptive parameters or simplified drawings. More recent and accurate methods such as the present study uses optical devices for obtaining virtual projections of work pieces/tools. This paper presents an experimental method applied in order to obtain the profile for a given cutting tool, which can offer in addition possibility to estimate the cutting tool wear, without using such built-in machine-tool device. The experimental values obtained are materialized by the accuracy which characterizes the accurate profile of the measured cutting tool. This fact can make a difference between a classical measurement method applied outside of machine tool sector and a new one provided by a device which offers the solution to measure a work piece directly on the machine tool, without modifying the actual work piece orientation conditions and at a low price.