Meso- and Macro-Mechanical Analysis of the Frost-Heaving Effect of Void Water on Asphalt Pavement

In cold regions, many types of structural damages are caused by the frost heaving of asphalt pavements. Hence, it is important to quantitatively determine the frost-heaving effect of asphalt pavement using a mechanical method to control frost-heaving damage. In this study, first, the internal voids of the asphalt mixture were regarded as a single void, and the water phase transition generating the freezing water in the voids was simulated using a simplified hollow sphere model to create a uniform internal pressure. Second, the prediction equation of the equivalent linear expansion coefficient was proposed by taking the phase transition of water in the saturated asphalt mixture voids into account. A step function was used during the phase transition of water to determine the sudden change in the equivalent linear expansion coefficient, heat capacity, density, and thermal conductivity. Finally, the typical cooling conditions were simulated with the water phase transition and the nonwater phase transition. The experimental results showed that the proposed model could accurately simulate the effect of frost heaving. Higher stress and strain were generated on the surface and in the interior of the pavement, and the positions of maximum stress and strain occurred on the pavement surface under the frost-heaving conditions. The compressive strength of the asphalt mixture in a uniaxial compression test is about 4.5–6 MPa with a single freeze–thaw cycle. Furthermore, when frost heaving occurs on the asphalt pavement between 5.8 and 6.5 MPa, the numerical simulation method can be used to calculate the internal stress of the structure, which found that the compressive stress under the frost-heaving condition was the same magnitude as the compressive strength under the freeze–thaw testing condition.

A Quasi-Nondestructive Evaluation Method for Physical-Mechanical Properties of Fragile Archaeological Wood with TMA: A Case Study of an 800-Year-Old Shipwreck

Archaeological wood is a kind of ‘new material’ that has deteriorated due to long-term degradation. The existing wood science theory and evaluation methods are not fully applicable to archaeological wood. Moreover, current physical-mechanical evaluation methods are inadequate for fragile archaeological wood due to their insufficient accuracy and the large sample amount required, causing difficulties in many necessary physical-mechanical repeatability tests. In light of these limitations, the representative samples on Nanhai No. 1, a merchant shipwreck in the Song Dynasty, were selected as the research objects in this paper. The shipwreck is a typical waterlogged wooden artifact. A quasi-nondestructive physical-mechanical evaluation technique for archaeological wood was developed with the thermomechanical analyzer (TMA). This study used TMA to evaluate the bending strength of representative waterlogged archaeological samples of Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck and sound wood with the same species. Besides, the thermal linear expansion coefficients in the ambient temperature range were obtained. The sizes of the samples used in the tests were only 2 mm × 8 mm × 0.3 mm and 1 cm × 1 cm × 1 cm, respectively. Bending strength results of archaeological wood by the TMA method conformed to the tendency that the bending strength decreases with the increase of decay degree. In addition, the longitudinal linear expansion coefficients of archaeological wood reached 80%–115% of those in the transverse grain direction, which were about 10 times higher than those of the sound wood. The linear expansion coefficients of archaeological wood in three directions were similar. Based on the results of Fourier transform infrared analysis (FT-IR), the significant differences in the physical-mechanical properties of the archaeological wood and the sound wood were induced to be mainly ascribed to the decomposition and the loss of hemicellulose in the archaeological wood. The cell wall substrate could not stabilize the cellulose skeleton, which led to the instability of the tracheid structure of the archaeological wood. This study provided a proven quasi-nondestructive method for the preservation state evaluation of waterlogged archaeological wood (WAW) from the Nanhai I shipwreck and other similar waterlogged wooden relics.

Effects of Mixing Duration and Raw Materials on the Physicochemical, Microstructural and Sensorial Properties of Sausages Prepared From Red Tilapia (Oreochromis sp.)

Tilapia can be commercialised to produce sausages. However, the use of minced tilapia or tilapia surimi as the raw material and different mixing durations of the ingredients using the bowl cutter during the sausage production could affect the quality of the products. This study determined the effects of different mixing durations (10, 15 or 20 min) on the physicochemical, microstructural and sensorial properties of sausages made from minced tilapia and tilapia surimi. The washing of the minced tilapia during the surimi production significantly increased the tilapia surimi moisture content and pH, while reducing the protein, fat and ash contents. Subsequently, the addition of other ingredients to produce the sausages influenced the moisture, fat, ash and carbohydrate contents of both types of sausages. The type of raw material and mixing duration showed significant interactions in terms of linear expansion, water holding capacity and colour properties of the sausages. Individually, the tilapia surimi sausage had a better linear expansion, cohesiveness, colour and sensory acceptability than the minced tilapia sausage. The mixing times of 15 and 20 min produced better results for the physicochemical and sensory properties of both types of sausages. However, the gel strengths of both types of sausages were better when mixed for 15 min and the microstructure images supported this. Based on the results obtained, this study concluded that tilapia surimi as the raw material with 15 min of mixing duration is recommended to produce a better-quality sausage.

Thermal behaviour of ceramics obtained from the kaolinitic clays of Terra Alta, Catalonia, Spain

The thermal properties and evolution of mineralogy and colour of kaolinitic clay from the Terra Alta region were studied. The mineralogy of these materials consists mainly of kaolinite (13–27 mass%) and quartz (48–86 mass%). Minor illite, hematite, K-feldspar and calcite also occur. The linear expansion and absorption curves were used to predict the optimal firing temperature of the raw clays. During firing, from 1100 °C the water absorption decreases steeply, due to an increase in liquid phase, which penetrates into the pores and close the porosity. At this temperature, the firing shrinkage increases progressively. The fired clays are mainly composed of quartz, cristobalite and mullite, with minor hematite and rutile. Mullite starts to appear at 1050–1100 °C. SEM observations show that porosity decreases with the firing temperature. The colour properties were measured in the raw clays and in the fired bricks at different temperatures. The lightness, L*, is lower in the fired test pieces respect to the natural clays. This colour varies according to the hematite content, being from white to reddish in the fired samples.

Spectrums and Uniform Mean Ergodicity of Weighted Composition Operators on Fock Spaces

For holomorphic pairs of symbols $$(u, \psi )$$ ( u , ψ ) , we study various structures of the weighted composition operator $$ W_{(u,\psi )} f= u \cdot f(\psi )$$ W ( u , ψ ) f = u · f ( ψ ) defined on the Fock spaces $$\mathcal {F}_p$$ F p . We have identified operators $$W_{(u,\psi )}$$ W ( u , ψ ) that have power-bounded and uniformly mean ergodic properties on the spaces. These properties are described in terms of easy to apply conditions relying on the values |u(0)| and $$|u(\frac{b}{1-a})|$$ | u ( b 1 - a ) | , where a and b are coefficients from linear expansion of the symbol $$\psi $$ ψ . The spectrum of the operators is also determined and applied further to prove results about uniform mean ergodicity.

New Horizons of Well Bonding: Cement Expansion in Absence of Water Access

Zonal isolation for primary cementing is generally of concern when there is potential for gas migration. The challenge for the industry is to achieve a long-term annular cement seal and prevent gas migration. This paper focuses on the problem of ensuring sufficient bulk expansion of set cement without access to external water and optimizing the cement slurry formulation. The approach to solving this problem is creative and simple within the industry. One of the reasons for wellbore gas migration and inter-connected flows can be due to cement shrinkage over time. This study focuses on laboratory testing of an expanding cement system in the absence of water and analysis of test results of novel the cement system in terms of its implementation on well with high gas migration potential. The cement system behavior will also be described in terms of rheological, filtration and mechanical properties and compared to conventional expanding cement slurries. This approach can be used to improve cement bonding with the aim of minimizing future remedial jobs. Several approaches were implemented to achieve noticeable expansion in anhydrous media. One of the methods showed it was feasible to achieve 1.27% linear expansion in set cement without external water contact, while linear expansion in the presence of water was 0.78%. This method uses the addition of sodium chloride (NaCl) and while it has been previously described in literature, no practical design/testing directions have been given. The study identified the most effective concentration of sodium chloride required for set cement expansion without water availability. The study described how other cement system properties permitted better results in terms of placement quality of highly salt-saturated cement. Overall, complex laboratory test results provide evidence of effective linear expansion in set cement in the absence of external water. The optimization of cement slurry properties was focused on obtaining optimal thickening time, rheology and compressive strength, which was complicated by the presence of a high concentration of sodium chloride. An expanding cement system was successfully tested in the absence of water showing positive linear expansion. A new approach for testing expanding cement systems in the absence of water was introduced how excessive linear expansion could be compromised with compressive strength development. The research results have shown that the use of NaCl additive in high concentrations in high SVF self-healing systems provided improved performance when aiming for effective linear expansion in set cement in the absence of water.

Study on mechanical and thermal properties of a modified epoxy resin

The uniaxial tensile test, linear expansion coefficient test of a modified epoxy resin in the ambient temperature range from -35℃ to 120℃, and the impact test at room temperature were carried out to explore its mechanical and thermal characteristics under temperature change environment. The constitutive model of the material suitable for temperature change environment is deduced, the numerical calculation is carried out in MATLAB, compared with the relative tested curve, and the obtained constitutive model is applied to the modeling calculation in ABAQUS and the results are verified. The results show that the modified epoxy resin has better strength, stiffness, impact toughness and lower coefficient of linear expansion than common epoxy resins such as E-44, E-51 and EPON e863. The material is suitable to be used as the matrix of spaceborne electronic component potting module. The proposed empirical constitutive model can obtain the stress-strain relationship of the material at any temperature in the range of -35℃~120℃ through interpolation, and can be directly used in relevant damage analysis and life prediction of electronic component potting module. The research method and derivation results have engineering reference value.

Experimental study of the thermophysical properties for aluminum-magnesium alloy AMg3

The thermal diffusivity (a), the thermal coefficient of linear expansion (α), the isobaric heat capacity (cp ) and the fusion enthalpy (ΔH) of aluminum-magnesium alloy AMg3 were investigated by laser flash method, dilatometric method and method of differential scanning calorimetry in the temperature range of 300–773…1000 K. The thermal conductivity (λ) has been calculated from the measurement results. The estimated errors of the obtained data were 2–5%, 3–5%, 2–3% and (1.5–2.0)⋅10-7 K-1 for a, λ, cp and α, respectively. Approximation equations and a table of reference values for the temperature dependence of the studied properties have been obtained.

Contact Interaction of Steam Turbine Inner Casing Elements During Plastic Deformation

A structure’s material plasticity influence on the pattern of contact interaction of its elements during operation is studied. The stress-strain state problem for the inner casing of a steam turbine high-pressure cylinder operating at supercritical steam parameters (over 240 atm and 565 °C) is solved. The problem is solved by using a finite-element software package. A model of thermoplasticity with kinematic and isotropic hardening is considered. In carrying out the study, experimental strain curves were used for the materials of the connection. The main dependencies used in solving the problem are given. The method of solving the thermal contact problem of interaction of flange connector elements in the conditions of plasticity is based on the application of a contact layer model. To be able to take into account changes in the load from the fastening in the process of combined strain of both the fastening and the casing, first proposed is a method of the three-dimensional modeling of the thermal tightening of the fastening of the horizontal casing connector by applying the linear coefficient of linear expansion of the material. The proposed approach allows modeling the stress of the initial tightening of studs by specifying a fictitious change (decrease) of the coefficient of linear expansion of a stud given as a separate body in the calculation scheme. The magnitude of the specified change in the coefficient of linear expansion is determined from the relationship between the stress of the initial tightening in the stud and the required, for its creation, elongation, which is implemented in the calculation scheme in the presence of different values of linear expansion of both the stud and the casing. To conduct the numerical experiment, an ordered finite-element grid of the casing design was constructed. A 20-node finite element was used in the construction of the casing grid and the fastening. The effect of force loads and the temperature field, in which the structural element under consideration is operated, is taken into account. An analysis of the results of distribution of equivalent stresses and contact pressure during operation is carried out. The difference between the obtained results and the results of solving the problem in the elastic formulation is noted.