scholarly journals Improvement of the Impact Properties of Composite Laminates by Means of Nano-Modification of the Matrix—A Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 2406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamed Saghafi ◽  
Mohamad Fotouhi ◽  
Giangiacomo Minak

This paper reviews recent works on the application of nanofibers and nanoparticle reinforcements to enhance the interlaminar fracture toughness, to reduce the impact induced damage and to improve the compression after impact performance of fiber reinforced composites with brittle thermosetting resins. The nanofibers have been mainly used as mats embedded between plies of laminated composites, whereas the nanoparticles have been used in 0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D dimensional patterns to reinforce the matrix and consequently the composite. The reinforcement mechanisms are presented, and a comparison is done between the different papers in the literature. This review shows that in order to have an efficient reinforcement effect, careful consideration is required in the manufacturing, materials selection and reinforcement content and percentage. The selection of the right parameters can provide a tough and impact resistant composite with cost effective reinforcements.

Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Colin Eady

For 30 years, forage ryegrass breeding has known that the germplasm may contain a maternally inherited symbiotic Epichloë endophyte. These endophytes produce a suite of secondary alkaloid compounds, dependent upon strain. Many produce ergot and other alkaloids, which are associated with both insect deterrence and livestock health issues. The levels of alkaloids and other endophyte characteristics are influenced by strain, host germplasm, and environmental conditions. Some strains in the right host germplasm can confer an advantage over biotic and abiotic stressors, thus acting as a maternally inherited desirable ‘trait’. Through seed production, these mutualistic endophytes do not transmit into 100% of the crop seed and are less vigorous than the grass seed itself. This causes stability and longevity issues for seed production and storage should the ‘trait’ be desired in the germplasm. This makes understanding the precise nature of the relationship vitally important to the plant breeder. These Epichloë endophytes cannot be ‘bred’ in the conventional sense, as they are asexual. Instead, the breeder may modulate endophyte characteristics through selection of host germplasm, a sort of breeding by proxy. This article explores, from a forage seed company perspective, the issues that endophyte characteristics and breeding them by proxy have on ryegrass breeding, and outlines the methods used to assess the ‘trait’, and the application of these through the breeding, production, and deployment processes. Finally, this article investigates opportunities for enhancing the utilisation of alkaloid-producing endophytes within pastures, with a focus on balancing alkaloid levels to further enhance pest deterrence and improving livestock outcomes.


Author(s):  
Anna C. Thornton

Abstract Quality has been a rallying call in the design and manufacturing world for the last two decades. One way to improve quality is to reduce the impact of manufacturing variation. Variation risk mitigation is challenging especially when a product has multiple quality characteristics and complex production and assembly. It is common wisdom that companies should identify and mitigate the risk associated with variation throughout the design process. As yield problems are identified, they should be mitigated using the most cost effective approach. One approach to variation risk mitigation is variation reduction (VR). VR targets reduction of variation introduced by existing manufacturing processes using tools such as Design of Experiments (DOE) and robust design. Many companies have specialized groups that specialize in these methods. VR teams have the role of improving manufacturing performance; however, these teams are limited in their resources. In addition, no tools exist to quantitatively determine where a VR team’s efforts are most effectively deployed. This paper provides a mathematical and optimization model to best allocate VR resources in a complex product.


2011 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 694
Author(s):  
J Sofra ◽  
Andrew Stewart

Delivering services and projects in a brownfield environment has unique challenges. Brownfield, by its very nature, involves highly constrained and dynamic environments. This requires stakeholders to work collaboratively and be creative and nimble. Effective communication between client and service provider is essential. This is because the decision-making horizons are significantly shorter and consequences are more immediate. Brownfield projects are typically organised to minimise inter-discipline interfaces, with seamless delivery from engineering through to construction. Engineering effort needs to be the right sized based on the level of complexity and risk involved to ensure the effort and cost expended is appropriate for the modification or upgrade. When planning and executing brownfield projects, the following areas require special focus: health, safety and the environment—to cope with the inherently higher risks due to live inventory, lack of space, simultaneous operations and increased personnel; interface with operations—to plan, manage and minimise disruption to production; live systems—to assess the impact/disruption to energised systems and coordinate tie-ins; production—to minimise disruption and ensure that the project is executed safely while production continues; hot work—to a minimum and where necessary contain naked flame and spark activity on site; integrity—to ensure the condition of the asset is well understood and any sub-system upgrades to accommodate the modification are identified; limited space—to accommodate temporary project facilities, minimising the impact on operations and maintenance activities; and, access—to ensure that the project is planned to lessen disruption, maximise off-site preparation and to minimise on-site construction. Systematic program management, project engineering, and a tiered engineering approach are essential to cost effective and timely delivery. For each of the eight key areas we detail some of the subtle and enabling strategies/tools that distinguish brownfield project delivery from greenfield.


1994 ◽  
Vol 370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahan Agopyan ◽  
Holmer Savastano

AbstractThe characteristics of fibres and paste of ordinary Portland cement transition zone are analysed and correlated to the mechanical properties of the produced composites. The water-cement ratio of the matrix varies from 0.30 to 0.46 and the age of the specimens varies from 7 to 180 days. Composites of vegetable fibres (coir, sisal and malva) are compared with those of chrysotile asbestos and polypropylene fibres. The analysis is made by backscattered electron image (BSEI) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Mechanical tests evaluate the composite tensile strength and ductility.Mainly for vegetable fibre composites the transition zone is porous, cracked and rich in calcium hydroxide macrocrystals. These results are directly associated with the fibre-matrix bonding and with the composite mechanical performance. Further studies considering the impact performance of the composites compare the porosity of the transition zone with the toughness of the composites.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Hadi Santoso

Managers who are responsible for the management of companies are faced with two important decisions - investment and funding. The right investment decisions and choice of funding sources are important because they affect the company's financial performance. The selection of the types of assets to be invested and the right types of financing sources result in optimal returns for the company. It reflects good company performance and future prospects. In addition, optimal return is a good sign for investors. Companies that perform well experience increase in the value of their firm. This study examined the effect of investment decisions and the selection of appropriate sources of funds on the performance of the company and the consequent impact on the firm value. The study was conducted in two parts. The first part examined the effect of investment decisions on long-term assets with long-term funding on the rate of return and firm value. The second part examined the effect of investment decisions on the company's short-term assets and funding for financial performance and firm value. The case study used in this research is a consumer goods sub-sector company listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in the period 2010 to 2017. Path analysis is the data analysis tools that was used. The results of data analysis showed that the asset structure has an effect on financial performance and firm value. The capital structure affects the financial performance but does not affect the firm value of the company. Financial performance was measured by ROI.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-342
Author(s):  
Tri Pujiati

Budaya merupakan salah satu tantangan utama yang ditemukan dalam menerjemahkan bahasa Inggris ke dalam bahasa Indonesia. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui dampak indeks budaya terhadap terjemahan Novel Eclipse karya Stephenie Meyer. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dan pendekatan semiotik dalam penerjemahan. Terdapat 30 data yang diambil dari novel Eclipse dan terjemahannya dalam bahasa Indonesia dengan teknik. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa (1) indeks budaya yang digunakan oleh penerjemah sebagai cara untuk mempertahankan budaya sumber itu sendiri memiliki dampak besar pada bahasa target. Ada beberapa terjemahan yang tidak dapat diterima dalam bahasa target karena maknanya tidak tersedia dalam bahasa Indonesia, indeks budaya lainnya diterima dalam bahasa target karena ada persamaan arti yang sesuai dengan bahasa sumber; (2) sebagai cara untuk menyelesaikan masalah dalam menerjemahkan budaya, penerjemah menggunakan prosedur transferensi dan naturalisasi. Terdapat 87% menggunakan prosedur transferensi dan 13% menggunakan naturalisasi. Simpulan umum dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa beberapa strategi penerjemahan tersebut tidak akurat di dalam bahasa sasaran sehingga penerjemah perlu mempertimbangkan pemilihan prosedur yang tepat sehingga terjemahan yang dihasilkan dapat diterima dalam bahasa sasaran. Culture is one of the main important challenges found in translating English into Indonesian language. This research aims to know the impact of cultural index on translation of Eclipse Novel by Stephenie Meyer. This research uses qualitative method and semiotic approach in translation. There are 30 data taken from Eclipse novel and its translation in Indonesian language. The results of this study show that (1) cultural index which used by translator as a way to defend the source culture and source language (henceforth SL) itself has a great impact on target language (henceforth TL). There are some translations which cannot be accepted in target language because the meaning is not available in Indonesian language, the other cultural index are accepted in TL as there are equivalence meaning that correspondence the SL; (2) as a way to solve the problem in translating culture, the translator uses transference and naturalization procedure. There are about 87% used transference procedure and 13% used naturalization. The general conclusion of this study shows that some of these strategies are not accurate in the target language so translators need to consider the selection of the right procedure so that the resulting translation can be accepted in the target language.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedict Lawrence Sy

Flax/epoxy composite laminates were tested under low velocity impact loading, using passive Infra-Red thermography to monitor the damage evolution during the impact event. Two configurations were tested: unidirectional ([08F]S) and cross-ply ([(0/90)4F]S). The unidirectional laminate exhibited poor and brittle impact response. Conversely, the cross-ply laminate showed better impact performance with its energy penetration threshold three times higher than the unidirectional. Its impact toughness was also 2.5 times higher. Additional tests were conducted to evaluate the effect of hybridization with Kevlar®49. Test results showed significant improvement on the impact performance of the unidirectional flax/epoxy laminate. Hybridization increased its energy penetration threshold three times and impact toughness five times. Conversely, it reduced the penetration threshold of the cross-ply flax/epoxy laminate by 10%; however, it more than doubled the impact toughness. The impact toughness the Kevlar-Flax/epoxy laminates were slightly higher than those of aluminum and CFRP’s, making them sustainable alternatives for impact applications.


Author(s):  
Ayhan Kesimal ◽  
Kadir Karaman ◽  
Ferdi Cihangir ◽  
Bayram Ercikdi

The excavatability of rocks is of importance for the selection of suitable and cost–effective excavation methods not only in mining and quarrying but also in the construction of tunnels, subways, highways and dams. Moreover, selection of the right excavation method and equipment in mining and geotechnical projects depends on the excavatability properties of rocks. A number of different methods have been proposed to evaluate the excavatability of rocks based on their geotechnical properties, such as rock mass rating (RMR), uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), discontinuity spacing of rock masses, point load index (PLI) and seismic velocity of intact rock. The type of equipment used and the method of working also affect the excavatability of rocks. In this work, the term excavatability is considered as the ease of excavation of rock and rock masses and comprises the methods of digging, ripping, breaking and blasting for easy/very easy, moderate to difficult, soft or moderately to highly fractured rock and very difficult excavation conditions, respectively.


Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Starkey ◽  
Jessica Menold ◽  
Scarlett R. Miller

Building prototypes is an important part of the concept selection phase of the design process, where fuzzy ideas get represented to support communication and decision making. However, previous studies have shown that prototypes generate different levels of user feedback based on their fidelity and aesthetics. Furthermore, prior research on concept selection has shown that individual risk attitude effects how individuals select ideas, as creative ideas are perceived to be riskier in comparison to less creative ideas. While the role of risk has been investigated in concept selection, there is lack of research on how risk is related to the selection of prototypes at various levels of fidelity. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of prototype fidelity, concept creativity, and risk aversion, on perceived riskiness and concept selection through a between-subjects study with 72 engineering students. The results revealed that there was a “goldilocks” effect in which students choose concepts with “just the right amount” of novelty, not too much and not too little, as long as quality was adequate. In addition, the prototype fidelity of a concept had an interaction with uniqueness, indicating that unique concepts are more likely to be perceived as less risky if presented at higher levels of fidelity.


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