Building on ‘Hollow Land’ : Skill and Expertise in Foundation-Laying Practices in the Low Countries in the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Centuries

Foundation-laying practices for marshy conditions have received comparatively little attention in architectural history; however, in the seventeenth century Netherlandish specialized skill and knowledge for the construction of pile foundations was recognized as being exceptional and garnered international esteem. Based on new archival material, this article provides insight into the rigorous processes of foundation design, and draws attention to its multidisciplinary nature. In addition, it sheds new light on the introduction of deep foundations, which was a major engineering innovation, providing greater stability because of the use of longer piles that reached the first solid layer deep below the surface. While Dutch expertise was directly related to the landscapes they inhabited, other factors that fostered innovation in foundation design are considered as well.

TECHNOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF CONTINUOUS CASTING OF STEEL

The analysis of the casting of metal is carried out and a number of factors influencing the qualitative formation of metal strips are revealed. Attention is focused on the formation of a solid layer on the mold rolls, the possibility of controlling the deformation zone and heat transfer between the mold rolls. The conditions for the formation of stripes were compared during two-roll, single-roll casting-rolling and metal freezing.

Preparation and properties of silicone rubber materials with foam/solid alternating multilayered structures

In this paper, silicone rubber materials with foam/solid alternating multilayered structures were successfully constructed by combining the two methods of multilayered hot-pressing and supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) foaming. The cellular morphology and mechanical properties of the foam/solid alternating multilayered silicone rubber materials were systematically studied. The results show that the growth of the cell was restrained by the solid layer, resulting in a decrease in the cell size. In addition, the introduction of the solid layer effectively improved the mechanical properties of the microcellular silicone rubber foam. The tensile strength and compressive strength of the foam/solid alternating multilayered silicone rubber materials reached 5.39 and 1.08 MPa, which are 46.1% and 237.5% of the pure silicone rubber foam, respectively. Finite element analysis (FEA) was applied and the results indicate that the strength and proportion of the solid layer played important roles in the tensile strength of the foam/solid alternating multilayered silicone rubber materials. Moreover, the small cellular structures in silicone rubber foam can provided a high supporting counterforce during compression, meaning that the microcellular structure of silicone rubber foam improved the compressive property compared to that for the large cellular structure of silicone rubber foam.

Semi-Solid Precision Forming Process of High-Strength and Wear-Resistant Aluminum Matrix Composites

A layered composite structural model with an outer wear-resistant layer of high-silicon aluminum alloy and an inner layer of ultra-high strength aluminum alloy is designed. A scaling brake drum part with layered composite was prepared by semi-solid precision forming process. The effects of process parameters such as casting temperature, specific pressure, solid layer temperature and heattreatment system on the composite interface were investigated. The results show that the casting temperature and solid layer temperature had a great influence on the interface recombination. The high forming specific pressure could effectively restrain the growth of secondary dendritesof the composite, and the proper heat treatment process could improve the morphology of the composite interface. A scaling brake drum component with A390/7050 layered composite structure was well prepared under optimal conditions.

Pollution Performance of RTV Coated Insulators

Theincrease in power demand necessitates the usage of EHV and UHV transmission system. The growth of industries causes higher pollution level in the ambient condition on insulators. This increases the pollution severity of the site which results in pollution accumulation on the surface of Insulators. This causes flashover across insulator. Flashover across polluted insulators poses a serious threat to the reliability of the system and leads to system outages. There are many remedial measures to minimize the flashover of a porcelain insulator under pollution conditions. One such method is the application of hydrophobic coatings such as Room Temperature Vulcanizing Silicone Rubber on the surface of ceramic insulators. Laboratory testing of coated insulators has been carried out based on the solid layer method and by the inclined plane tests at constant voltage to evaluate the RTV coatings withstands capability against tracking and erosion. The performance of the coatings was assessed by monitoring the leakage current on the insulator surfaces. The applied voltage and leakage current were monitored throughout the tests. In order to optimize and economize the usage of RTV coatings various tests were performed and results are analyzed. It was possible to conclude from the test results that one fourth length of RTV coating is sufficient to withstand the pollution severity.

The Dependence of Effective Distribution Coefficient on Growth Rate and Mass Transfer Coefficient for P-Xylene in Solid-Layer Melt Crystallization

The solid-layer growth kinetics and resulting crystal purity for a well-mixed p-xylene (PX) melt with impurity of o-xylene (OX) or ethylbenzene (EB) were studied in this work at various cooling temperatures. A correlation based on the energy balance was adopted to describe the dependence of growth rate on the temperature gradient between melt and cooling medium. An empirical equation based on the mass balance was proposed to relate the effective distribution coefficient with growth rate, mass transfer coefficient, and impurity mole fraction. By fitting the proposed empirical equation with the experimental effective distribution coefficients, the mass transfer coefficients for the PX/OX and PX/EB mixtures were retrieved respectively.

Substation Monitoring and Control using Rs485 Transceiver

Through this project, prioritization of distribution of two power stations by monitoring and detecting the power imbalance at the earliest and reversing the data’s so it can be rectified. RS485 is utilized as the solid layer underlying several routine protocols employed to execute industrial control systems. This system is programmed to also convey the real time electrical parameters recurrently and thus enable the main substation to monitor the parameters. This main station apparatus is developed to cut off subsequent substation power whenever the voltage or current exceeds the predefined limits