The mathematical model and numerical simulations of the solidification of a cylindrical casting, which take into account the process of the mould cavity filling by liquid metal and the feeding of the casting through the conical riser during its solidification, are proposed in the paper. The interdependence of thermal and flow phenomena were taken into account because they have an essential influence on solidification process. The effect of the pouring temperature and pouring velocity of the metal on the solidification kinetics of the casting was determined. In order to obtain the casting without shrinkage defects, an appropriate selection of these parameters was tried, which is important for foundry practice. The velocity fields have been obtained from the solution of Navier-Stokes equations and continuity equation, while temperature fields from solving the equation of heat conductivity containing the convection term. In the solidification modelling the changes in thermo-physical parameters as a function of temperature were considered. The finite element method (FEM) was used to solve the problem.

The present work studies the tribological properties of new hybrid material composed from high porosity open cell aluminum alloy (AlSi10Mg) skeleton and B83 babbitt infiltrated into it. The porous skeleton is obtained by replication method applying salt (NaCl) as space holder. The reinforcing phase of the skeleton consists of Al2O3 particles. The skeleton contains Al2O3 particles as reinforcement. The microstructure of the obtained materials is observed and the tribological properties are determined. A comparison between tribological properties of nominally nonporous aluminum alloy, high porosity open cell skeleton, babbitt alloy and the hybrid material is presented. It is concluded that new hybrid material has high wear resistivity and is a promising material for sliding bearings and other machine elements with high wear resistivity.

The application of hardfacing is one of the ways to restore the functional properties of worn elements. The possibility of using filler materials rich in chrome allows for better wear resistance than base materials used so far. The paper presents the results of research on the use of 3 different grades of covered electrodes for the regeneration of worn track staves. The content of the carbon in the covered electrodes was from 0,5% to 7% and the chromium from 5% to 33%. The microscopic and hardness tests revealed large differences in the structure and properties of the welds. The differences in the hardness of the welds between the materials used were up to 150 HV units. The difference in wear resistance, in the ASTM G65 test, between the best and worst materials was almost 12 times big.

Mount Flora at Hope Bay, in northernmost part of Antarctic Peninsula, is a famous Jurassic flora locality. It has already been studied for a hundred years, but however, it is still possible to find there new taxa. Based on two species of liverworts found at Mount Flora (Schizolepidella gracilis and Schizolepidella birkenmajeri sp. nov.), the present study discusses affiliation of the genus Schizolepidella to liverworts. The new species Schizolepidella birkenmajeri is erected.

A. B. Dobrowolski, a member of the Belgian expedition in Belgica to West Antarctica (1897-1899), after his return home became a strong supporter of Polish scientific activity in the Polar countries. His patronage - called by him the "Polar Action", was especially well marked during organization of three Polish expeditions to the Svalbard archipelago: to Bear Island during the 2nd Polar Year, 1932-33 and to Spitsbergen in 1934 and 1938. Apart from his scientific achievements in Antarctica, Dobrowolski was also widely known as an author of popular-scientific books on history of discovery and exploration in the Arctic and the Antarctic.

The objective of this study was to determine the suitability of the nanofi ltration (NF) process to recover the regenerating agent (NaOH) from spent solutions contaminated with organic compounds. NaOH recovery from 2 spent regenerant solutions after cleaning ultrafiltration (UF) membranes (polymeric 30 kDa, ceramic 300 kDa) fouled with natural humic water was carried out using 2 types of NF membranes: NP010P (Na₂SO₄ rejection: 35–75%) and NP030P (Na₂SO₄ rejection: 80–95%). It has been shown that the use of the NP030P membrane allows for very high separation effi ciency of organic compounds (up to 97% of color intensity reduction) from the tested solutions. It was also observed that the effectiveness of the process, in addition to the type of membrane used, also depends on the time of NF process – along with the elapsed time of the process, the hydraulic and separation properties of the tested membranes deteriorated. The obtained results showed that the use of both tested NF membranes allows for the recovery of NaOH to a degree that allows its re-use.

The paper discusses the use of multiclustering statistical analysis in the assessment of domestic wastewater filtration effectiveness. Calculations included data collected over four months of experiments with using waste as filling material of vertical flow filters for domestic sewage treatment. The effectiveness of pollutants removal was analysed in case of me-chanically shredded waste in the form of PET flakes, PUR foam trims, shredded rubber tires and wadding. The organic compounds (CODcr, BOD5) removal, suspend solids, biogens (as NH4+, PO43– ions) and oxygen saturation changing com-pared with sand filling was analysed. Multiclustering statistical analysis allowed to divide pollutants removal efficiency of analysed materials into 3 clusters, depending on the hydraulic loading. The first group consisted in quality parameters of treated sewage: the highest reduction of BOD5 and NH4-N. It included the values of quality parameters and indicators for the filtrates obtained at the lowest hydraulic load from columns filled with 60 cm of rubber tires or sand. The second group comprised the results for fillings containing foam, PET and rubber tires (the other hydraulic loads).It featured the highest reduction of total suspended solids and PO43–. Removal of easily biodegradable organic compounds was at a similar level in both cluster groups. The filter filled with polyester waste (wadding), which was as effective as 30 cm layer of sand, and the filters filled with 60 cm of sand working at the highest hydraulic load. Third group showed the lowest values of parameters and indicators for analysed filtrates.

The problem of harmful casting resins has been present in foundries for many years. Manufacturers are introducing new products that contain in their composition environmentally and eco-friendly ingredients. Unfortunately, not all types of technology can be used, sometimes environmental benefits are disproportionate to the quality of castings and their price. In the foundry industry, the most popular binders are based on organic compounds (often carcinogenic) and other harmful substances. Due to strict legal regulations regarding environmental protection, as well as care for the foundry's workers' comfort - their occurrence should be reduce to a minimum. These compounds often behave also depending on the conditions of use (temperature, atmosphere). The application of various methods of thermal analysis and spectroscopic methods allows to verify the mechanism of resin decomposition process in relation to conditions in the form in both inert and oxidizing atmosphere. For analysis the resins from cold-box technology, were used TG–DTG–DSC, Py-GC/MS methods and specified the course of changes occurring in combination of different atmosphere.

The goal of this paper is to explore and to provide tools for the investigation of the problems of unit-length scheduling of incompatible jobs on uniform machines. We present two new algorithms that are a significant improvement over the known algorithms. The first one is Algorithm 2 which is 2-approximate for the problem Qm|pj  = 1, G = bisubquartic|Cmax. The second one is Algorithm 3 which is 4-approximate for the problem Qm|pj  = 1, G = bisubquartic|ΣCj, where m ∈ {2, 3, 4}. The theory behind the proposed algorithms is based on the properties of 2-coloring with maximal coloring width, and on the properties of ideal machine, an abstract machine that we introduce in this paper.