Many wire products (e.g. nets) are made from galvanized material. The hot dip galvanizing process gives the possibility of applying in a respectively thick coat of zinc (also depending on the time of staying wires in the bath) which provides the protection of the product against corrosion. In the available literature there were no research concerned with the influence of hot dip galvanizing process on the mechanical properties TRIP structure steel wires. Therefore, an experiment was carried out in laboratory conditions allowing the determination of the influence of hot dip galvanizing process parameters on the mechanical properties (tensile strength UST and yield strength YS) of TRIP steel wires as well as on the amount of retained austenite in their structure. It has been stated that the hot galvanizing process of TRIP steel wires influences, proportionally to the time of staying wires in zinc bath, on their plastic properties (the increase in yield strength YS) as well as the decrease in the amount of retained austenite in their structure. Such a phenomenon can be caused by stresses responsible for rapid heating of the wire put in the zinc bath in temperature of 450°C and by the strengthening of the materials resulting from the transformation of retained austenite.

In this paper, an attempt was made to explain the causes of surface delamination in high carbon steel wires during the torsion test. For end wires with 1.7 mm diameter drawn at speeds of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 m/s, technological tests were carried out. Then the susceptibility of the wire to plastic strain was determined. The microstructure analysis complemented the research. Analysis of the fracture torsion test showed that the wires drawn at speeds exceeding 15 m/s are delamination, which disqualify it as a material for a rope and a spring. The source of delamination in high carbon steel wires is their stronger strengthening, especially of the surface layer, which leads to a decrease in the orientation of the cementite laminaes and an increase in the degree of their fragmentation.

The effects of the miniature channel-shaped scratches not detectable by the present inline electromagnetic defect detection system employed for wires’ surface defect detection on the fracture behaviour of the wires for civil engineering applications were investigated numerically. Finite element analysis revealed that both miniature channel-shaped across-the-thickness and across-the-width scratches change the fracture behaviour of the wires in terms of the fracture initiation locations and fracture process sequence. However, miniature across-the-thickness scratches does not affect the fracture shape of the wire while miniature across-the-width scratches changed the wires’ cup and cone fracture to a fracture shape with a predominantly flat fracture. These results provide an understanding of the fracture behaviour of wires with miniature scratches and serve as an alternative or a complimentary tools to experimental or fractographic failure analysis of wires with miniatures scratches which are difficult to carry out in the laboratory due to the sizes of the scratches.

The paper discusses a theoretical and an experimental analyses of steel wire drawing in conical drawing dies with a varying length of the die sizing portion. The theoretical analysis was performed in the Drawing 2D, where the wire temperature and drawing stress were determined. The theoretical study was verified by the measurement of drawing force under laboratory conditions and by industrial multi-stage drawing tests carried out under commercial conditions. A relationship has been shown to exist between die sizing portion length and wire temperature and drawing stress.

The paper presents the implementation of the method of own residual magnetic field to identify damages occurring in a steel rope. A special measuring head with 4 residual magnetic field sensors, spaced evenly every 90 degrees, was used. The measuring head was also equipped with a path or a time sensor. The measurement consists in recording normal and tangential components of the residual magnetic field and their gradients. This method has a number of advantages with regard to classic magnetic methods. It does not require special magnetisation of the rope or its special preparation for testing. Validation of the obtained test results of this rope was conducted by the classic MTR method and a very good compliance in the detection of damage was demonstrated. It was found that the strong magnetisation used in the MTR method does not affect the detection of damage to the rope using the residual magnetic field method.

One of the most important parameters, crucial to applications of superconductors in cryo-electrotechnique, is power loss. Measurements of losses in superconducting long sample wires require AC magnetic fields of a special geometry and appropriate high homogeneity. In the paper part of the theoretical basis for calculations and a simple design method for a race-track coil set are presented. An example of such home-made coils, with a magnetic field uniformity of about 0.2 % over the range of about 8 cm, is given. Also a simple electronic measurement system for the determination of AC magnetization loss in samples of superconducting tapes is presented.

The paper discusses experimental studies to determine the effect of the die working portion angle on the lubrication conditions, zinc coating thickness and the mechanical properties of medium-carbon steel wires. The test material was 5.5 mm-diameter wire rod which was drawn into 2.2 mm-diameter wire in seven draws at a drawing speed of v = 10 m/s. Conventional drawing dies of a working portion angle of α = 3, 4, 5, 6, 7°, respectively, were used for the drawing process. After the drawing process, the quantity of the lubricant on the wire surface and the thickness of the zinc coating were determined in individual draws. Testing the finished 2.2 mm-diameter wires for mechanical properties, on the other hand, determined the effect of the die working portion on the yield point, tensile strength, uniform and total elongation, reduction in area, the number of twists and the number of bends.

New materials require the use of advanced technology in manufacturing parts of complex shape. One of the modern non-conventional technology of manufacturing difficult to cut materials is the wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM). The article presents the results of theoretical and experimental research in the influence of the WEDM conditions and parameters on the shape deviation during a rough cut. A numerical model of the dielectric flow in the gap (ANSYS) was developed. The influence of the dielectric velocity field in the gap on the debris evacuation and stability of WEDM process was discussed. Furthermore, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to build empirical models for influence of the wire speed Vd, wire tension force Fn, the volume flow rate of the dielectric Qv on the flatness deviation after the WEDM.

The work presents results of research on the influence of micro materials on the thermal conductivity λ of gypsum. In the research, cellulose-based polymer and aerogel were used as the modifying micro materials. For the purpose of measuring the thermal conductivity, a non-stationary method was used based on the “hot wire method”. A very precise set of devices for measuring and recording the temperature of the heating wire was used. In the presented solution, a single measurement took only one minute. Measurements were recorded with the help of a computer measuring system, with a sampling time of 0.01s. During the 60-second-long test, 6000 measurements of the heating wire temperature were collected. A decrease of the thermal conductivity and density of hardened gypsum with added micro materials was observed due to modifications of the structure of the final product. Experimental values of the thermal conductivity of the gypsum specimens with the addition of polymer and aerogel were respectively over 23% and 6% lower than the non-modified gypsum specimen.

A design of microwave installation for energy concentration on a surface of a heated object is proposed. In the installation a dipole lattice on the basis of a single-wire transmission line is used which is located inside of reflector in a form of specular parabolic conducting cylinder. The heated object is placed in the area of microwave energy concentration.

In the article a waveguide field of a surface wave in a reradiation mode is explored. The surface wave is reradiated by a group of vibrators coaxial with the waveguide wire. Results of experimental studies of field distribution along the waveguide operating in various modes are presented. The possibility of efficiency increase in reradiated field and its adjustment by contactless movement of reflector is shown.

The oral cavity due to its temperature fluctuations, changing pH, high humidity, action of mechanical forces and the presence of microorganisms is a favorable environment for degradation of dental materials. The paper presents comparative results on orthodontic arch-wires AISI304 steel before and after low temperature plasma nitriding carried out at cathodic potential (conventional) and at plasma potential, i.e. in a process incorporating an active screen. Corrosion resistance test on nitrided layers produced on stainless steel were carried out via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and the potentiodynamic method in non-deaerated artificial saliva solution at 37°C. The results were complemented with analysis of the structure, surface topography and microhardness. The results showed an increase in corrosion resistance of AISI304 steel after conventional glow-discharge nitriding.