Search results for: muscle strength

Authors: Irina Severin, M. Caramihai, K. Chung, G. Tasca, T. Park

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The current study has investigated the ageing phenomena of silica optical fibres in relation to water activity which might be accelerated when exposed to a supplementary energy, such as microwaves. A controlled stress by winding fibres onto accurate diameter mandrel was applied. Taking into account that normally a decrease in fibre strength is induced in time by chemical action of water, the effects of cumulative reagents such as: water, applied stress and supplementary energy (microwave) in some cases acted in the opposite manner. The microwave effect as a structural relaxation catalyst appears unexpected, even if the overall gain in fibre strength is not high, but the stress corrosion factor revealed significant increase in certain simulation conditions.

Keywords: optical fibres, mechanical testing, aging, microwave, structural relaxation.

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Authors: Teuku Rihayat, Suryani

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Polyurethanes (PURs) are very versatile polymeric materials with a wide range of physical and chemical properties. PURs have desirable properties such as high abrasion resistance, tear strength, shock absorption, flexibility and elasticity. Although they have relatively poor thermal stability, this can be improved by using treated clay. Polyurethane/clay nanocomposites have been synthesized from renewable sources. A polyol for the production of polyurethane by reaction with an isocyanate was obtained by the synthesis of palm oil-based oleic acid with glycerol. Dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA) was used as catalyst and emulsifier. The unmodified clay (kunipia-F) was treated with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB-mont) and octadodecylamine (ODAmont). The d-spacing in CTAB-mont and ODA-mont were 1.571 nm and 1.798 nm respectively and larger than that of the pure-mont (1.142 nm). The organoclay was completely intercalated in the polyurethane, as confirmed by a wide angle x-ray diffraction (WAXD) pattern. The results showed that adding clay demonstrated better thermal stability in comparison with the virgin polyurethane. Onset degradation of pure PU is at 200oC, and is lower than that of the CTAB-mont PU and ODA-mont PU which takes place at about 318oC and 330oC, respectively. The mechanical properties (including the dynamic mechanical properties) of pure polyurethane (PU) and PU/clay nanocomposites, were measured. The modified organoclay had a remarkably beneficial effect on the strength and elongation at break of the nanocomposites, which both increased with increasing clay content with the increase of the tensile strength of more than 214% and 267% by the addition of only 5 wt% of the montmorillonite CTAB-mont PU and ODA-mont PU, respectively.

Keywords: Polyurethane, Clay nanocomposites, Biobase

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Authors: R. Moradpour, S.B. Ahmadi, T. Parhizkar, M. Ghodsian, E. Taheri-Nassaj

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Superfine pigments that consist of natural and artificial pigments and are made of mineral soil with special characteristics are used in cementitious materials for various purposes. These pigments can decrease the amount of cement needed without loss of performance and strength and also change the monotonous and turbid colours of concrete into various attractive and light colours. In this study, the mechanical strength and resistance against chloride and halogen attacks of cement mortars containing ceramic nano-pigments in an affected environment are studied. This research suggests utilisation of ceramic nano-pigments between 50 and 1000 nm, obtaining full-depth coloured concrete, preventing chlorine penetration in the concrete up to a certain depth, and controlling corrosion in steel rebar with the Potentiostat (EG&G) apparatus.

Keywords: Nano-structures, Corrosion, Mechanical properties, Nano-pigments.

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Authors: G. Aouf, D. Tabbal, A. Sabsabi, R. Aouf

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The aim of this study is to assess the viability of utilizing Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Fly Ash (MSWIFA) with Ordinary Portland cement as soil reinforcement materials for geotechnical engineering applications. A detailed experimental program is carried out followed by analysis of results. Soil samples were prepared by adding cement to MSWIFA-soil mix at different percentages. Then, a series of laboratory tests were performed namely: Sieve analysis, Atterberg limits tests, Unconfined compression test, and Proctor tests. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the effect of adding the cement at different percentages on the unconfined compression strength, maximum dry density (MDD), and optimum moisture content (OMC) of clayey soil-MSWIFA. The variations of admixtures’ contents were 10%, 20%, and 30% for MSWIFA by dry total weight of soil and 10%, 15%, and 20% for Portland cement by dry total weight of the mix. The test results reveal that adding MSWIFA to the soil up to 20% increased the MDD of the mixture and decreased the OMC, then an opposite trend for results were found when the percentage of MSWIFA exceeds 20%. This is due to the low specific gravity of MSWIFA and to the greater water absorption of MSWIFA. The laboratory tests also indicate that the Unconfined Compression Test values were found to be increased for all the mixtures with curing periods of 7, 14, and 28 days. It is also observed that the cement increased the strength of the finished product of the mix of soil and MSWIFA.

Keywords: Clayey soil, cement, Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Fly Ash, MSWIFA, unconfined compression strength.

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Authors: Juraj Beniak, Ľubomír Šooš, Peter Križan, Miloš Matúš

Abstract:

Within Rapid Prototyping technologies are used many types of materials. Many of them are recyclable but there are still as plastic like, so practically they do not degrade in the landfill. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the special plastic materials, which are biodegradable and available for 3D printing within Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology. The question is, if the mechanical properties of produced models are comparable to similar technical plastic materials which are usual for prototype production. Presented paper shows the experiments results for tensile strength measurements for specimens prepared with different 3D printer settings and model orientation. Paper contains also the comparison of tensile strength values with values measured on specimens produced by conventional technologies as injection moulding.

Keywords: 3D printing, biodegradable plastic, fused deposition modeling, PLA plastic, rapid prototyping.

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Authors: Chang-Hsing Lee, Cheng-Chang Lien, Chin-Chuan Han

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In this paper, an edge-strength guided multiscale retinex (EGMSR) approach will be proposed for color image contrast enhancement. In EGMSR, the pixel-dependent weight associated with each pixel in the single scale retinex output image is computed according to the edge strength around this pixel in order to prevent from over-enhancing the noises contained in the smooth dark/bright regions. Further, by fusing together the enhanced results of EGMSR and adaptive multiscale retinex (AMSR), we can get a natural fused image having high contrast and proper tonal rendition. Experimental results on several low-contrast images have shown that our proposed approach can produce natural and appealing enhanced images.

Keywords: Image Enhancement, Multiscale Retinex, Image Fusion.

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Authors: A. Khalina, K. Shaharuddin, M. S. Wahab, M. P. Saiman, H. A. Aisyah

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This paper investigates the effect of alkali treatment and mechanical properties of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) fibre for the development of yarn. Two different fibre sources are used for the yarn production. Kenaf fibres were treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in the concentration of 3, 6, 9, and 12% prior to fibre opening process and tested for their tensile strength and Young’s modulus. Then, the selected fibres were introduced to fibre opener at three different opening processing parameters; namely, speed of roller feeder, small drum, and big drum. The diameter size, surface morphology, and fibre durability towards machine of the fibres were characterized. The results show that concentrations of NaOH used have greater effects on fibre mechanical properties. From this study, the tensile and modulus properties of the treated fibres for both types have improved significantly as compared to untreated fibres, especially at the optimum level of 6% NaOH. It is also interesting to highlight that 6% NaOH is the optimum concentration for the alkaline treatment. The untreated and treated fibres at 6% NaOH were then introduced to fibre opener, and it was found that the treated fibre produced higher fibre diameter with better surface morphology compared to the untreated fibre. Higher speed parameter during opening was found to produce higher yield of opened-kenaf fibres.

Keywords: Alkaline treatment, Kenaf fibre, Tensile strength, Yarn production.

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Authors: Vanchai Laemlaksakul

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This research was to evaluate a technical feasibility of making single-layer experimental particleboard panels from bamboo waste (Dendrocalamus asper Backer) by converting bamboo into strips, which are used to make laminated bamboo furniture. Variable factors were density (600, 700 and 800 kg/m3) and temperature of condition (25, 40 and 55 °C). The experimental panels were tested for their physical and mechanical properties including modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), internal bonding strength (IB), screw holding strength (SH) and thickness swelling values according to the procedures defined by Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS). The test result of mechanical properties showed that the MOR, MOE and IB values were not in the set criteria, except the MOR values at the density of 700 kg/m3 at 25 °C and at the density of 800 kg/m3 at 25 and 40 °C, the IB values at the density of 600 kg/m3, at 40 °C, and at the density of 800 kg/m3 at 55 °C. The SH values had the test result according to the set standard, except with the density of 600 kg/m3, at 40 and 55 °C. Conclusively, a valuable renewable biomass, bamboo waste could be used to manufacture boards.

Keywords: Particleboard, Urea Formaldehyde Resin, BambooWaste

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Authors: Samiul Kaiser, M. S. Kaiser

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The influence of Mg and Zr addition on mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength and impact energy of commercially pure Al are investigated. The microstructure and fracture behavior are also studied by using Optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy. It is observed that magnesium addition improves the mechanical properties of commercially pure Al at the expense of ductility due to formation of β″ (Al₃Mg) and β′ (Al₃Mg₂) phase into the alloy. Zr addition also plays a positive role through grain refinement effect and the formation of metastable L1₂ Al₃Zr precipitates. In addition, it is observed that the fractured surface of Mg added alloy is brittle and higher numbers of dimples are observed in case of Zr added alloy.

Keywords: Al-alloys, hardness, tensile strength, impact energy, microstructure.

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Authors: Kangkang Tang

Abstract:

A large amount of blast furnace slag is generated in China. Most ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) however ends up in low-grade applications. Blast furnace slag, ground to an appropriate fineness, can be used as a partial replacement of cementitious material in concrete. The potential for using GGBS in structural concrete, e.g. concrete beams and columns is investigated at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU). With 50% of CEM I cement replaced with GGBS, peak hydration temperatures determined in a suspended concrete slab reduced by 20%. This beneficiary effect has not been further improved with 70% of CEM I replaced with GGBS. Partial replacement of CEM I with GGBS has a retardation effect on the early-age strength of concrete. More GGBS concrete mixes will be conducted to identify an ‘optimum’ replacement level which will lead to a reduced thermal loading, without significantly compromising the early-age strength of concrete.

Keywords: GGBS, thermal effect, sustainable construction, CEM I.

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Authors: Maruf Yinka Kolawole, Jacob Olayiwola Aweda, Farasat Iqbal, Asif Ali, Sulaiman Abdulkareem

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Zinc is a non-ferrous metal with potential application in orthopaedic implant materials. However, its poor mechanical properties were major challenge to its application. Therefore, this paper studies the mechanical properties of biodegradable Zn-based alloy for biomedical application. Pure zinc powder with varying (0, 1, 2, 3 & 6) wt% of magnesium powders were ball milled using ball-to-powder ratio (B:P) of 10:1 at 350 rpm for 4 hours. The resulting milled powders were compacted and sintered at 300 MPa and 350 °C respectively. Microstructural, phase and mechanical properties analyses were performed following American standard of testing and measurement. The results show that magnesium has influence on the mechanical properties of zinc. The compressive strength, hardness and elastic modulus of 210 ± 8.878 MPa, 76 ± 5.707 HV and 45 ± 11.616 GPa respectively as obtained in Zn-2Mg alloy were optimum and meet the minimum requirement of biodegradable metal for orthopaedics application. These results indicate an increase of 111, 93 and 93% in compressive strength, hardness and elastic modulus respectively as compared to pure zinc. The increase in mechanical properties was adduced to effectiveness of compaction pressure and intermetallic phase formation within the matrix resulting in high dislocation density for improving strength. The study concluded that, Zn-2Mg alloy with optimum mechanical properties can therefore be considered a potential candidate for orthopaedic application.

Keywords: Biodegradable metal, biomedical application mechanical properties, powder metallurgy, zinc.

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Authors: Abbas Vahedian, Rijun Shrestha, Keith Crews

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The bond mechanism between timber and fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) is relatively complex and is influenced by a number of variables including bond thickness, bond width, bond length, material properties, and geometries. This study investigates the influence of bond thickness on the behaviour of interface, failure mode, and bond strength of externally bonded FRP-to-timber interface. In the present study, 106 single shear joint specimens have been investigated. Experiment results showed that higher layers of FRP increase the ultimate load carrying capacity of interface; conversely, such increase led to decrease the slip of interface. Moreover, samples with more layers of FRPs may fail in a brittle manner without noticeable warning that collapse is imminent.

Keywords: FRP, single shear test, bond thickness, bond strength.

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Authors: Mohie Eldin Mohamed Afifiy Elmashad

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Day by day technology increases and problems associated with this technology also increase. Several researches were carried out to investigate the deployment of such material safely in geotechnical engineering in particular and civil engineering in general. However, different types of waste material have such as cement duct, fly ash and slag been proven to be suitable in several applications. In this research cement dust mixed with different percentages of sand will be used in some civil engineering application as will be explained later in this paper throughout filed and laboratory test. The used mixer (waste material with sand) prove high performance, durability to environmental condition, low cost and high benefits. At higher cement dust ratio, small cement ratio is valuable for compressive strength and permeability. Also at small cement dust ratio higher cement ratio is valuable for compressive strength.

Keywords: cement dust, cement, soil improvement, permeability

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Authors: Amir M. Alani, Morteza Aboutalebi, Martin J. King

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Experimental study on the influence of fibre content on crack behaviour and propagation in synthetic-fibre reinforced beams has been reported in this paper. The tensile behaviour of metallic fibre concrete is evaluated in terms of residual flexural tensile strength values determined from the load-crack mouth opening displacement curve or load-deflection curve obtained by applying a centre-point load on a simply supported notched prism. The results achieved demonstrate that an increase in fibre content has an almost negligible effect on compressive and tensile splitting properties, causes a marginal increment in flexural tensile strength and increasesthe Re3 value.

Keywords: Fibre-Reinforced Concrete, Crack, Flexural Test, Ductility, Fibre Content, Experimental Study.

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Authors: K. Kalaiselvan, A. Elango

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Laser beam welding of dissimilar sheet metal combinations such as Ti/Al, SS/Al and Cu/Al are increasingly demanded due to high energy densities with less fusion and heat affected zones. A good weld joint strength involves combinations of dissimilar metals and the formation of solid solution in the weld pool. Many metal pairs suffer from significant intermetallic phase formation during welding which greatly reduces their strength. The three different sheet metal mentioned above is critically reviewed and phase diagram for the combinations are given. The aim of this study is to develop an efficient metal combinations and the influence on their interfacial characteristics. For that the following parameters such as weld geometry, residual distortion, micro hardness, microstructure and mechanical properties are analyzed systematically.

Keywords: Laser Beam Welding (LBW), dissimilar metals, Ti/Al, SS/Al and Cu/Al sheets.

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Authors: H. M. Nanjundaswamy, S. K. Nath, S. Ray

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TiO₂ particles have been added in molten aluminium to result in aluminium based cast Al/Al₃Ti-Al₂O₃ composite, which has been added then to molten magnesium to synthesize magnesium based cast Mg-Al/Al₃Ti-Al₂O₃ composite. The nominal compositions in terms of Mg, Al, and TiO₂ contents in the magnesium based composites are Mg-9Al-0.6TiO₂, Mg-9Al-0.8TiO₂, Mg-9Al-1.0TiO₂ and Mg-9Al-1.2TiO₂ designated respectively as MA6T, MA8T, MA10T and MA12T. The microstructure of the cast magnesium based composite shows grayish rods of intermetallics Al₃Ti, inherited from aluminium based composite but these rods, on hot forging, breaks into smaller lengths decreasing the average aspect ratio (length to diameter) from 7.5 to 3.0. There are also cavities in between the broken segments of rods. β-phase in cast microstructure, Mg₁₇Al₁₂, dissolves during heating prior to forging and re-precipitates as relatively finer particles on cooling. The amount of β-phase also decreases on forging as segregation is removed. In both the cast and forged composite, the Brinell hardness increases rapidly with increasing addition of TiO₂ but the hardness is higher in forged composites by about 80 BHN. With addition of higher level of TiO₂ in magnesium based cast composite, yield strength decreases progressively but there is marginal increase in yield strength over that of the cast Mg-9 wt. pct. Al, designated as MA alloy. But the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) in the cast composites decreases with the increasing particle content indicating possibly an early initiation of crack in the brittle inter-dendritic region and their easy propagation through the interfaces of the particles. In forged composites, there is a significant improvement in both yield strength and UTS with increasing TiO₂ addition and also, over those observed in their cast counterpart, but at higher addition it decreases. It may also be noted that as in forged MA alloy, incomplete recovery of forging strain increases the strength of the matrix in the composites and the ductility decreases both in the forged alloy and the composites. Initiation fracture toughness, J_IC, decreases drastically in cast composites compared to that in MA alloy due to the presence of intermetallic Al₃Ti and Al₂O₃ particles in the composite. There is drastic reduction of J_IC on forging both in the alloy and the composites, possibly due to incomplete recovery of forging strain in both as well as breaking of Al₃Ti rods and the voids between the broken segments of Al₃Ti rods in composites. The ratio of tearing modulus to elastic modulus in cast composites show higher ratio, which increases with the increasing TiO₂ addition. The ratio decreases comparatively more on forging of cast MA alloy than those in forged composites.

Keywords: Composite, fracture toughness, forging, tensile properties.

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Authors: N. Tugrul, A. S. Kipcak, N. Baran Acarali, E. Moroydor Derun, S. Piskin

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Magnesium borate(MB) istechnical ceramic for high heat-resisting, corrosion-resisting, super mechanical strength, superinsulation, light weight, high strength, and high coefficient of elasticity. Zinc borate (ZB) can be used as multi-functional synergistic additives with flame retardant additives in polymers. The most important properties are low solubility in water and high dehydration temperature. ZB dehydrates above 290°C and anhydrous ZB has thermal resistance about 400°C. In this study, the raw materials of ZnO, MgO and H₃BO₃ were used with mole ratio of 1:1:9. With the starting materials hydrothermal method was applied at a temperature of 100^oC. The reaction time was determined as 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes after some preliminary experiments. After the synthesis, the crystal structure and the morphology of the products were examined by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). As a result, the forms of Zinc Oxide Borate Hydrate [Zn₃B₆O₁₂.3.5H₂O], Admontite [MgO(B₂O₃)₃.7(H₂O)] and Mcallisterite [Mg₂(B₆O₇(OH)₆)₂.9(H₂O)] were synthesized.

Keywords: Magnesium borate, zinc borate, XRD, FT-IR.

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Authors: Yukinori Taniguchi, Kazuyoshi Kurita, Kohei Mizuta, Keigo Nishitani, Ryuichi Fukuda

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Tungsten carbide is widely used as a tool material in metal manufacturing process. Since tungsten is typical rare metal, establishment of recycle process of tungsten carbide tools and restore into cemented carbide material bring great impact to metal manufacturing industry. Recently, recycle process of tungsten carbide has been developed and established gradually. However, the demands for quality of cemented carbide tool are quite severe because hardness, toughness, anti-wear ability, heat resistance, fatigue strength and so on should be guaranteed for precision machining and tool life. Currently, it is hard to restore the recycled tungsten carbide powder entirely as raw material for new processed cemented carbide tool. In this study, to suggest positive use of recycled tungsten carbide powder, we have tried to fabricate a carbon based sintered steel which shows reinforced mechanical properties with recycled tungsten carbide powder. We have made set of newly designed sintered steels. Compression test of sintered specimen in density ratio of 0.85 (which means 15% porosity inside) has been conducted. As results, at least 1.7 times higher in nominal strength in the amount of 7.0 wt.% was shown in recycled WC powder. The strength reached to over 600 MPa for the Fe-WC-Co-Cu sintered alloy. Wear test has been conducted by using ball-on-disk type friction tester using 5 mm diameter ball with normal force of 2 N in the dry conditions. Wear amount after 1,000 m running distance shows that about 1.5 times longer life was shown in designed sintered alloy. Since results of tensile test showed that same tendency in previous testing, it is concluded that designed sintered alloy can be used for several mechanical parts with special strength and anti-wear ability in relatively low cost due to recycled tungsten carbide powder.

Keywords: Tungsten carbide, recycle process, compression test, powder metallurgy, anti-wear ability.

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Authors: J. Subbalakshmi, G. Dhruvasamhith, S. M. Hussain

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Polyaniline (PANI) is one of the most extensively studied material among the conducting polymers due to its simple synthesis by chemical and electrochemical routes. PANIs have advantages of chemical stability and high conductivity making their commercial applications quite attractive. However, to our knowledge, very little work has been reported on the tensile strength properties of templated PANIs processed with polyvinyl alcohol and also, detailed study has not been carried out. We have investigated the effect of small molecule and polymers as templates on PANI. Stable aqueous colloidal suspensions of trisodium citrate (TSC), poly(ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT-PSS), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) templated PANIs were prepared through chemical synthesis, processed with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and were fabricated into films by solution casting. Absorption and infra-red spectra were studied to gain insight into the possible molecular interactions. Surface morphology was studied through scanning electron microscope and optical microscope. Interestingly, tensile testing studies revealed least strain for pure PVA when compared to the blends of templated PANI. Furthermore, among the blends, TSC templated PANI possessed maximum elasticity. The ultimate tensile strength for PVA processed, PEG-templated PANI was found to be five times more than other blends considered in this study. We establish structure–property correlation with morphology, spectral characterization and tensile testing studies.

Keywords: Processed films, polyvinyl alcohol, spectroscopy, surface morphology, templated polyanilines, tensile test.

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Authors: Muhammad Shahid, Muhammad Mansoor

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Increasing demands of contemporary applications for high strength and lightweight materials prompted the development of metal-matrix composites (MMCs). After the discovery of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in 1991 (revealing an excellent set of mechanical properties) became one of the most promising strengthening materials for MMC applications. Additionally, the relatively low density of the nanotubes imparted high specific strengths, making them perfect strengthening material to reinforce MMCs. In the present study, aluminum-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Al-MWCNTs) composite was prepared in an air induction furnace. The dispersion of the nanotubes in molten aluminum was assisted by inherent string action of induction heating at 790°C. During the fabrication process, multifunctional fluxes were used to avoid oxidation of the nanotubes and molten aluminum. Subsequently, the melt was cast in to a copper mold and cold rolled to 0.5 mm thickness. During metallographic examination using a scanning electron microscope, it was observed that the nanotubes were effectively dispersed in the matrix. The mechanical properties of the composite were significantly increased as compared to pure aluminum specimen i.e. the yield strength from 65 to 115 MPa, the tensile strength from 82 to 125 MPa and hardness from 27 to 30 HV for pure aluminum and Al-CNTs composite, respectively. To recognize the associated strengthening mechanisms in the nanocomposites, three foremost strengthening models i.e. shear lag model, Orowan looping and Hall-Petch have been critically analyzed; experimental data were found to be closely satisfying the shear lag model.

Keywords: Carbon nanotubes, induction melting, nanocomposite, strengthening mechanism.

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Authors: Mei L. Lin, Pi-Yueh Cheng

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Classes on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship are becoming quite popular at universities throughout the world. However, it is not easy for business students to get involved to innovative activities, especially patent application. The present study investigated how to enhance business students- intention to participate in innovative activities and which incentives universities should consider. A 22-item research scale was used, and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to verify its reliability and validity. Multiple regression and discriminant analyses were also conducted. The results demonstrate the effect of growth-need strength on innovative behavior and indicate that the theory of planned behavior can explain and predict business students- intention to participate in innovative activities. Additionally, the results suggest that applying our proposed model in practice would effectively strengthen business students- intentions to engage in innovative activities.

Keywords: discriminant analysis, growth need strength, innovative behavior, TPB model

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Authors: Daniella R. Mulinari, Araujo J. F. Marina, Gabriella S. Lopes

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Natural fibers are used in polymer composites to improve mechanical properties to replace inorganic reinforcing agents produced by non-renewable resources. The present study investigates the tensile and flexural behaviors of palm fibers-high density polyethylene (HDPE) composite as a function of volume fraction. The surface of the fibers was treated by mercerization treatments to improve the wetting behavior of the apolar HDPE. The treatment characterization was obtained by scanning electron microscopy, X-Ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. Results evidences that a good adhesion interfacial between fibers-matrix caused an increase strength and modulus flexural as well as tensile strength in the modified fibers/HDPE composites when compared to the pure HDPE and untreated fibers reinforced composites.

Keywords: Mechanical properties, palm fibers, polymer composites, surface treatment.

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Authors: K. Kalaiselvan, A. Elango, N. M. Nagarajan

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Today automobile and aerospace industries realise Laser Beam Welding for a clean and non contact source of heating and fusion for joining of sheets. The welding performance is mainly based on by the laser welding parameters. Some concepts related to Artificial Neural Networks and how can be applied to model weld bead geometry and mechanical properties in terms of equipment parameters are reported in order to evaluate the accuracy and compare it with traditional modeling schemes. This review reveals the output features of Titanium and Aluminium weld bead geometry and mechanical properties such as ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, elongation and reduction of the area of the weld using Artificial Neural Network.

Keywords: Laser Beam Welding (LBW), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Optimization, Titanium and Aluminium sheets.

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Authors: Josef Fládr, Jiří Němeček, Veronika Koudelková, Petr Bílý

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Mechanical parameters of cementitious composites differ quite significantly based on the composition of cement matrix. They are also influenced by mixing times and procedure. The research presented in this paper was aimed at identification of differences in microstructure of normal strength (NSC) and differently mixed high strength (HSC) cementitious composites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation together with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) phase analysis of NSC and HSC samples was conducted. Evaluation of interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between the aggregate and cement matrix was performed. Volume share, thickness, porosity and composition of ITZ were studied. In case of HSC, samples obtained by several different mixing procedures were compared in order to find the most suitable procedure. In case of NSC, ITZ was identified around 40-50% of aggregate grains and its thickness typically ranged between 10 and 40 µm. Higher porosity and lower share of clinker was observed in this area as a result of increased water-to-cement ratio (w/c) and the lack of fine particles improving the grading curve of the aggregate. Typical ITZ with lower content of Ca was observed only in one HSC sample, where it was developed around less than 15% of aggregate grains. The typical thickness of ITZ in this sample was similar to ITZ in NSC (between 5 and 40 µm). In the remaining four HSC samples, no ITZ was observed. In general, the share of ITZ in HSC samples was found to be significantly smaller than in NSC samples. As ITZ is the weakest part of the material, this result explains to large extent the improved mechanical properties of HSC compared to NSC. Based on the comparison of characteristics of ITZ in HSC samples prepared by different mixing procedures, the most suitable mixing procedure from the point of view of properties of ITZ was identified.

Keywords: Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, high strength concrete, interfacial transition zone, mixing procedure, normal strength concrete, scanning electron microscopy.

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Authors: M. Esmailian, M. Shakouri, A. Mottahedi, S. G. Shabestari

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Heat treatable aluminum alloys such as 7075 and 7055, because of high strength and low density, are used widely in aircraft industry. For best mechanical properties, T6 heat treatment has recommended for this regards, but this temper treatment is sensitive to corrosion induced and Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) damage. For improving this property, the over-aging treatment (T7) applies to this alloy, but it decreases the mechanical properties up to 30 percent. Hence, to increase the mechanical properties, without any remarkable decrease in SCC resistant, Retrogression and Re-Aging (RRA) heat treatment is used. This treatment performs in a relatively short time. In this paper, the RRA heat treatment was applied to 7055 aluminum alloy and then effect of RRA time on the mechanical properties of 7055 has been investigated. The results show that the 40-minute time is suitable time for retrogression of 7055 aluminum alloy and ultimate strength increases up to 625MPa.

Keywords: 7055 Aluminum alloy, Mechanical properties, SCC resistance, Heat Treatment.

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Authors: Erjola Reufi, Jozefita Marku, Thomas Bier

Abstract:

Ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) method has been shown for some time to provide a reliable means of estimating properties and offers a unique opportunity for direct, quick and safe control of building damaged by earthquake, fatigue, conflagration and catastrophic scenarios. On this investigation hybrid reinforced concrete has been investigated by UPV method. Hooked end steel fiber of length 50 and 30 mm was added to concrete in different proportion 0, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 % by the volume of concrete. On the other hand, polypropylene fiber of length 12, 6, 3 mm was added to concrete of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 % by the volume of concrete. Fifteen different mixture has been prepared to investigate the relation between compressive strength and UPV values and also to investigate on the effect of volume and type of fiber on UPV values.

Keywords: Compressive strength, polypropylene fiber, steel fiber, ultrasonic pulse velocity, volume, type of fiber.

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Authors: A. Ashjaran, M. E. Yazdanshenas, A. Rashidi, R. Khajavi, A. Rezaee

Abstract:

fibers of pure cellulose can be made from some bacteria such as acetobacter xylinum. Bacterial cellulose fibers are very pure, tens of nm across and about 0.5 micron long. The fibers are very stiff and, although nobody seems to have measured the strength of individual fibers. Their stiffness up to 70 GPa. Fundamental strengths should be at least greater than those of the best commercial polymers, but best bulk strength seems to about the same as that of steel. They can potentially be produced in industrial quantities at greatly lowered cost and water content, and with triple the yield, by a new process. This article presents a critical review of the available information on the bacterial cellulose as a biological nonwoven fabric with special emphasis on its fermentative production and applications. Characteristics of bacterial cellulose biofabric with respect to its structure and physicochemical properties are discussed. Current and potential applications of bacterial cellulose in textile, nonwoven cloth, paper, films synthetic fiber coating, food, pharmaceutical and other industries are also presented.

Keywords: Microbial cellulose, Biofabric, Microorganisms Acetobacter xylinum, Polysaccharide

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Authors: Esra Yel, Tabriz Aslanov, Merve Sogancioglu, Suheyla Kocaman, Gulnare Ahmetli

Abstract:

The disposal of waste plastics has become a major worldwide environmental problem. Pyrolysis of waste plastics is one of the routes to waste minimization and recycling that has been gaining interest. In pyrolysis, the pyrolysed material is separated into gas, liquid (both are fuel) and solid (char) products. All fractions have utilities and economical value depending upon their characteristics. The first objective of this study is to determine the co-pyrolysis product fractions of waste HDPE- (high density polyethylene) and LDPE (low density polyethylene)-olive pomace (OP) and to determine the qualities of the solid product char. Chars obtained at 700 °C pyrolysis were used in biocomposite preparation as additive. As the second objective, the effects of char on biocomposite quality were investigated. Pyrolysis runs were performed at temperature 700 °C with heating rates of 5 °C/min. Biocomposites were prepared by mixing of chars with bisphenol-F type epoxy resin in various wt%. Biocomposite properties were determined by measuring electrical conductivity, surface hardness, Young’s modulus and tensile strength of the composites. The best electrical conductivity results were obtained with HDPE-OP char. For HDPE-OP char and LDPE-OP char, compared to neat epoxy, the tensile strength values of the composites increased by 102% and 78%, respectively, at 10% char dose. The hardness measurements showed similar results to the tensile tests, since there is a correlation between the hardness and the tensile strength.

Keywords: Pyrolysis, olive pomace, char, biocomposite, PE plastics.

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Authors: Hyun-Seop Shin, Chin-Hyung Lee, Ki-Tae Park

Abstract:

In order to apply partially filled steel grid composite deck as the horizontal supporting structure of various kinds of infrastructures, the variation of its flexural strength according to design parameters such as cross and longitudinal bars constituting the steel grid and the type of shear connection is evaluated and compared experimentally. The result shows that the design sensitivity of the deck to the spacing of the cross bars is insignificant in the case of structure with low risk of punching failure or without load distribution problem. By means of shear connection composed by transverse rebar and longitudinal bar without additional shear stud bolts, the complete interaction between steel grid and concrete slab is able to be achieved and the composite deck can develop its bending resistance capacity.

Keywords: bending strength, composite action, shear connection, steel grid composite deck

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Authors: Xia Chen, Hua-Quan Yang, Shi-Hua Zhou

Abstract:

Alkali-active sandstone aggregate was ground by vertical and ball mill into particles with residue over 45 μm less than 12%, and investigations have been launched on particles distribution and characterization of ground sandstone powder, fluidity, heat of hydration, strength as well as hydration products morphology of pastes with incorporation of ground sandstone powder. Results indicated that ground alkali-active sandstone powder with residue over 45 μm less than 8% was easily obtainable, and specific surface area was more sensitive to characterize its fineness with extension of grinding length. Incorporation of sandstone powder resulted in higher water demand and lower strength, advanced hydration of C₃A and C₂S within 3days and refined pore structure. Based on its manufacturing, characteristics and influence on properties of pastes, it was concluded that sandstone powder was a good selection for use in concrete as mineral admixture.

Keywords: Concrete, mineral admixture, hydration, structure.

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