The present study reports the development of Mg–Sm₂O₃ nanocomposites as light-weight materials for weight critical applications targeted to reduce CO₂ emissions, particularly in the transportation sector. Mg-0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 vol % Sm₂O₃ nanocomposites are synthesized using a powder metallurgy method incorporating hybrid microwave sintering and hot extrusion. The microstructural studies showed dispersed Sm₂O₃ nanoparticles (NPs), refinement of grain size due to the presence of Sm₂O₃ NPs, and presence of limited porosity. Microhardness and dimensional stability of pure Mg increased with the progressive addition of Sm₂O₃ NPs. The addition of 1.5 vol % of Sm₂O₃ NPs to the Mg matrix enhanced the ignition temperature by ~69 °C. The ability of pure Mg to absorb vibration also progressively enhanced with the addition of Sm₂O₃ NPs. The room temperature compressive strengths (CYS and UCS) of Mg–Sm₂O₃ nanocomposites were found to be higher without having any adverse effect on ductility, leading to a significant increase in energy absorbed prior to compressive failure. Further, microstructural characteristics are correlated with the enhancement of various properties exhibited by nanocomposites.

The present study addresses the synthesis and characterization of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)/graphene oxide (GO) and PMMA/GO + TiO₂ nanocomposites for potential application as dental materials. PMMA/0.0025 wt% GO and PMMA/0.0025 wt%GO + 1 wt% TiO₂ were processed using twin-screw extrusion including melt compounding. The mechanical, thermal, and microstructural behaviors of nanocomposites were determined and compared with pure PMMA. The results of this work revealed that PMMA nanocomposites are potential candidates as dental materials.

An approximate analytical solution method for thermal stresses in an annular fin with variable thermal conductivity is presented. Homotopy perturbation method (HPM) is employed to estimate the non-dimensional temperature field by solving nonlinear heat conduction equation. The closed-form solutions for the thermal stresses are formulated using the classical thermoelasticity theory coupled with HPM solution for temperature field. The plane state of stress conditions are considered in this study. The effects of thermal parameters such as variable thermal conductivity parameter (β), thermogeometric parameter (K), and the non-dimensional coefficient of thermal expansion (χ) on the temperature field and stress field are studied. The results for temperature field and stress field obtained from HPM-based solution are found to be in very close agreement with the results available in literature. Furthermore, the HPM solution is found to be very efficient and handles nonlinear heat transfer equation with greater convenience.

The focus of the present work is to develop an aluminium metal matrix nanocomposite reinforced with graphene nanoplates (GNP). This study examines the effect of adding a small quantity of GNP on the mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour of the composites. The powder metallurgy approach was employed to fabricate a range of Al/GNP composites, and each of these composites was developed using a different proportion of GNP, ranging from 0 to 0.6 wt. %. The XRD line profile investigations of pure Al and composites were performed to identify the presence of GNP in the composites. Physical and mechanical properties, followed by corrosion resistance, are examined. Micro Vickers hardness and a compression test were conducted to determine the mechanical properties. The corrosion test of the composites was performed using potentiostat. Experimental results reveal that the composite has a noticeable advantage over pure aluminium in terms of hardness, compressive strength and corrosion resistance.

In this work, application of the homotopy perturbation method (HPM) and an inverse solution for estimating unknown thermal parameters such as the variable thermal conductivity parameter (β), the thermogeometric parameter (K), and the nondimensional coefficient of thermal expansion (χ) in an annular fin subjected to thermal stresses is presented. Initially, to obtain the nondimensional temperature distribution from the heat equation, the forward method is employed using an approximate analytical solution based on HPM. Thereafter, a closed form solution for the temperature-dependent thermal stresses is obtained using the classical theory of thermoelasticity coupled with HPM solution containing the temperature distribution. Next, for satisfying a particular stress criterion which makes relevance in selecting appropriate configurations for selecting the finned system, unknown thermal parameters are obtained using an inverse approach based on the Nelder–Mead simplex search minimization technique. The objective function is taken as the sum of square of the residuals between the measured stress field and an initially guessed value which is updated iteratively. It is found that more than one type of temperature distribution may yield a given stress distribution, thereby giving rise to different fin efficiencies. The agreement between the actual and the predicted results was found to be satisfactory.