Investigation on low Ni duplex stainless steel grades

none5- ISSN:noneCALLIARI I.; J. DOBRANSZKY; E. RAMOUS; G. STRAFFELINI; G.REBUFFICalliari, Irene; J., Dobranszky; Ramous, Emilio; G., Straffelini; G., Rebuff

Climate change-induced aridity is affecting agriculture in Northeast Italy

CONTEXT: The Mediterranean basin and specifically Northeast Italy are recognised as climate change hotspots. The latter is a key socio-economic area in Europe among the most agriculturally productive. However, increasingly frequent drought periods (typical of drier climates) are threatening agriculture. An extreme event occurred in the summer of 2022. It dramatically affected northern Italy, through high temperatures, water shortages and indirect processes (such as saltwater intrusion in the Po River Delta). OBJECTIVE: The objective is to map and quantify the agricultural areas in Northeast Italy at risk of climate zone shift due to human-induced climate change, providing a comprehensive overview of the main threatened agricultural systems and supporting the use of projections through historical data analysis. METHODS: We compared the distribution of current (1980 > 2016) and future (2071 > 2100; RCP8.5 scenario) climate zones for 8 main agricultural systems in 14 key provinces in Northeast Italy. Further analyses were performed on historical data to support future climate projections and to analyse agricultural drought during extreme events: (1) a multi-temporal Aridity Index (AI) to investigate aridification dynamics; (2) a focus on the 2022 event (drought and temperature extremes, a situation that is likely to occur more often in the future), combining a Vegetation Health Index (VHI) with a zonal investigation of high Land Surface Temperature (LST); (3) a climate focus for the Po River Delta cultural landscape. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the climate in Northeast Italy is evolving towards drier conditions, posing a challenge to agriculture. The Adriatic coast could become an Arid zone, a finding in line with historical observations. Rice fields will be most at risk (76% of their surface could become Arid in the future), as well as the irrigated lands that are essential for food security (around 20% expected in the Arid zone). Worthy is what is foreseen for crops on slopes (often not irrigated), which may experience drier summers (60% of the surface). SIGNIFICANCE: We identified the areas at risk of climate change at the farm scale in Northeast Italy, mapping where the threatened fields are located, what their extent is, and which agricultural systems are currently implemented. Such information would facilitate early action, guiding large-scale planning towards more resilient agriculture. Findings could promote sustainable water management plans, open the debate on which crops are worth growing based on future climate, and inspire more localised studies in the design of mitigation measures

Agriculture in Hilly and Mountainous Landscapes: Threats, Monitoring and Sustainable Management

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The importance of a multi-temporal approach to assess climate change impacts in Northern Italian agriculture

The territory of north-eastern Italy, crossed by the Po River, which flows eastward into the Adriatic Sea, is home to flourishing agricultural production. The area is among Europe's most important rural regions and is crucial for food production. However, the sector is facing the impact of climate change. Among the most worrying phenomena is an increase in the frequency of more severe and longer drought periods, leading to progressively arid climatic conditions. The summer of 2022 was one of the most critical times on record, with the combination of extreme temperatures and severe water shortages. The effects severely impacted agriculture, with crop loss, irrigation problems, and saltwater intrusion into the Po River delta. Emerging multi-temporal satellite remote sensing technologies and the application of big data-based algorithms allow in-depth knowledge of phenomena occurring on Earth and the subsequent research of mitigation solutions. Specifically, monitoring the impacts of extreme drought in the region can be useful in understanding which areas are most at risk in the short term, while the use of future climate models can guide more resilient agricultural management in the future. This research first proposes the application of multi-temporal MODIS satellite indices to assess the agricultural drought that affected north-eastern Italy in the summer months of 2022 and secondly analyses the possible traces of climatic aridification. In addition, we present a study on the relationship between agricultural lands and current & future climates, carried out using high-resolution climate zone maps (RCP8.5 scenario). The aim is to understand the potential future climate in the currently cultivated fields. Mapping present and future critical areas and knowing which farming systems are most at risk due to climate change can be valuable information for managing agricultural assets under the threat of climate change. Acknowledgements - This study was carried out within the Agritech National Research Center and received funding from the European Union Next-GenerationEU (PIANO NAZIONALE DI RIPRESA E RESILIENZA (PNRR) – MISSIONE 4 COMPONENTE 2, INVESTIMENTO 1.4 – D.D. 1032 17/06/2022, CN00000022)

Pin-on-Disc Testing of Low-Metallic Friction Material Sliding Against HVOF Coated Cast Iron: Modelling of the Contact Temperature Evolution

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Mapping potential surface ponding in agriculture using UAV-SfM

Among the environmental problems that could affect agriculture, one of the most critical is ponding. This may be defined as water storage on the surface in concavities and depressions due to soil saturation. Stagnant water can seriously affect crops and the management of agricultural landscapes. It is mainly caused by prolonged rainfall events, soil type, or wrong mechanization practices, which cause soil compaction. To better understand this problem and thus provide adequate solutions to reduce the related risk, high-resolution topographic information could be strategically important because it offers an accurate representation of the surface morphology. In the last decades, new remote sensing techniques provide interesting opportunities to understand the processes on the Earth's surface based on geomorphic signatures. Among these, Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), combined with the structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry technique, represent a solid, low-cost, rapid, and flexible solution for geomorphological analysis. This study aims to present a new approach to detect the potential areas exposed to water stagnation at the farm scale. The high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) from UAV-SfM data is used to do this. The potential water depth was calculated in the DEM using the relative elevation attribute algorithm. The detection of more pronounced concavities and convexities allowed an estimation and mapping of the potential ponding conditions. The results were assessed by observations and field measurements and are promising, showing a Cohen's k(X) accuracy of 0.683 for the planimetric extent of the ponding phenomena and a Pearson's rxy coefficient of 0.971 for the estimation of pond water depth. The proposed workflow provides a useful indication to stakeholders for better agricultural management in lowland landscapes

Heroic viticulture: Environmental and socioeconomic challenges of unique heritage landscapes

Steep-slope agricultural landscapes cover a small fraction of global agricultural areas.1 Despite the limited coverage, they are relevant for high-quality food and wine production, history, and landscape value. On steep slopes, centuries of effort and tradition have created a unique cultural heritage to be preserved. Here, peculiar traditional local knowledge of soil and water conservation combined with agronomic practices (e.g., dry-stone wall terracing) has been handed down for generations. However, such landscapes are fragile and under threat

EFFETTO DELLA POROSITA' SULL'USURA PER STRISCIAMENTOROTOLAMENTO DEL FERRO SINTERIZZATO

Nel presente lavoro è stato studiato l’effetto della porosità sul comportamento ad usura per strisciamentorotolamento a secco di ferro sinterizzato. Si è scelto di studiare questo materiale per evidenziare solamente il ruolo della porosità, ed evitare la complicazione data dall’uso di materiali con microstrutture complesse. Le prove sono state condotte in configurazione disco contro disco, utilizzando campioni con porosità totale compresa tra il 9.7 e 17.8%. La velocità di rotazione del disco campione è stata di 400 giri al minuto, quella del disco antagonista (del medesimo materiale) di 360 giri al minuto e il carico applicato di 30 N. L’evoluzione dei meccanismi di usura è stata indagata mediante osservazioni al microscopio ottico ed elettronico dei frammenti e delle tracce di usura, misure di diffrattometria di raggi X dei frammenti di usura e osservazione metallografica, completata da prove di microdurezza, di sezioni ottenute perpendicolarmente alla traccia di usura. I risultati evidenziano come l’usura (severa) proceda per delaminazione con un contributo di ossidazione superficiale; la formazione di uno strato di densificazione superficiale influenza il processo tribologico ed in particolare il meccanismo di formazione dei frammenti di usura. Nonostante la densificazione, i pori presenti nei sinterizzati riducono la loro resistenza all’usura per rotolamentostrisciamento perché introducono regioni deboli dove la delaminazione è particolarmente facilitata

INVESTIGATION OF SECONDARY PHASES EFFECT ON 2205 DSS FRACTURE TOUGHNESS

It is well known that the fracture toughness of DSS is strongly reduced by the precipitation of various intermetallic phases occurring in the temperature range 600-1000°C. A large decrease in impact fracture toughness occurs even at room temperature for volume fractions of intermetallic phases lower than 1%, when only small and rare particles are present. In the present investigation, the influence of the intermetallic phases on the impact fracture behaviour of a 2205 grade DSS has been investigated. Samples containing different amounts of the intermetallic phases have been obtained by isothermal aging treatments in the range 800-950°C. The results of the impact tests confirm that the dangerous phase content determine both the toughness and the fracture behaviour of the DSS examined. At content lower than 1%, when precipitates are rare and small, their effect is a reduction of the absorbed energy for the ductile fracture. But the 1% appears as the critical content, when some particles became large enough to operate the nucleation of the brittle fracture. Indeed, at higher content, a number of large particles are present, well sufficient to induce a general brittle fracture. The obtained results allow correlating the absorbed energy values with the intermetallic phases content and dimensions