O artigo analisa as transformações ocorridas no ensino superior brasileiro, tomando como referência a base de dados do INEP, e a dinâmica das Instituições Privadas de Ensino Superior em assimilar rapidamente as políticas de Estado voltadas para a Educação Superior. Tem como objetivo apresentar a evolução do ensino superior no Brasil, em especial a graduação, com destaque para as modificações introduzidas nas políticas públicas a partir dos anos 2000 e que afetaram este nível de ensino. A fundamentação teórica foi pautada em debater a origem e a evolução do ensino superior no Brasil, o descompasso entre a oferta e a demanda de vagas no ensino superior brasileiro e as Políticas públicas implementadas no ensino superior a partir dos anos 2000. No tocante aos aspectos metodológicos, trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva, de abordagem quanti-qualitativa. Os resultados encontrados evidenciam que o crescimento das vagas no ensino superior vem apresentando sinais de esgotamento, ocorrendo uma ociosidade no sistema que se manifesta nas vagas não preenchidas nos processos seletivos. As políticas públicas têm um papel fundamental de ajustar a demanda e a oferta, uma vez que há indícios que a renda é um dos grandes inibidores do preenchimento das vagas e da taxa de sucesso.

Wood plastic composites (WPC), which are used in high-value markets, contribute to solve some of the problems associated with municipal solid waste accumulation. In this study, the effect of cashew nutshell powder (CNSP) content on properties of formulations with recycled high-density polyethylene, 5 wt% of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene and 5 wt% of struktol TPW 113, a blend of complex, modified fatty acid ester, was evaluated. Mixtures containing from 20 to 60 wt% CNSP were melt-processed, using a thermokinetic mixer. WPC's were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and melt flow index (MFI) measurements. Composite morphology and mechanical properties were also accessed, respectively, by scanning electron microscopy and tensile tests. Results show that the tensile strength of composites decreased as the content of CNSP increased due to poor reinforcement-matrix interface and voids formed during residual cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) vaporization. On the other hand, elastic modulus decreased and elongation at break increased, both indicating a plasticizing effect of the residual CNSL, confirmed by crystallinity and MFI data. Differences in the thermal stability of composites were restricted to thermal behavior of main components. POLYM. COMPOS., 00:000-000, 2016.

Sintered stainless steel has a wide range of applications mainly in the automotive industry. Properties such as wear resistance, density and hardness can be improved by addition of nanosized particles of refractory carbides. The present study compares the behavior of the sintering and hardness of stainless steel samples reinforced with NbC or TaC (particles size less than 20 nm) synthesized at UFRN. The main aim of this work was to identify the effect of the particle size and dispersion of different refractory carbides in the hardness and sintered microstructure. The samples were sintered in a vacuum furnace. The heating rate, sintering temperature and times were 20°C/min, 1290°C and 30, 60 min respectively. We have been able to produce compacts with a relative density among 95.0%. The hardness values obtained were 140 HV for the reinforced sample and 76 HV for the sample without reinforcement.

Extensive work has been performed on WC-Co hard metals for mining tools, tool inserts and other components. Cobalt is widely used as the binder metal because it’s good wetting behavior and solubility. However, the cost is high. Fe-Cr-Ni alloys show similar characteristics to Cobalt regard to melting temperature and crystal structure. Additionally, Fe-Cr-Ni alloys are a less expensive and nontoxic alternative. The present work analyze sintering characteristics of the WC / Fe-Cr-Ni alloys composite and development of new sintered hard metal composite for mining tools. The composite WC-316L was processed via Powder Metallurgy and sintering was performed at different temperatures: 1200oC, 1300oC and 1400oC rate and 20oC and isotherm 1hour in vacuum atmosphere. The composite sintered WC-316L was characterized by XRD, SEM and Vickers micro hardness test. The samples processed at temperatures of 1200oC and 1300oC showed considerable porosity, heterogeneity microstructure, low density relative and low Micro hardness, 300 HV and 700 HV, respectively. The samples sintered at temperature 1400oC showed higher homogeneity microstructure compared to the samples sintered at temperatures of 12000C and 13000C, higher density relative, 86%, and micro hardness value compatible with the composite WC-Co, 1890 HV.These analyzes infer that stainless steel can be used instead of cobalt.

The nanocrystallites in a metal matrix composite (MMC) have wide importance in the sintering area. The nanocrystallites have been related with properties such as hardness and density of 316L steel matrixes. The Y2O3 and TaC dispersion in steel crystalline structures affects these properties and the sintering process. This study analyze: the 316L steel, Y2O3 and TaC crystallite size; TaC and Y2O3 dispersion in milled powder composite; MMC nanocrystallite size and micro-strain during milling process of 316L-(CFC) steel and the effects of dispersion in sintered MMC. The alloy was submitted to high energy milling. MMC was characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The diffraction was analyzed by Rietveld’s refinement method, DBWS 9807 program, and crystallite size and micro-strain were performed using Scherrer’s equation and Williamson-Hall’s method.