Effects of compressing parameters and Mg(OH)2 content on mechanical properties and flame retardancy of rice straw-fibre reinforced composites

Rice straw fibre was utilized for unidirectional (UD) composites. In this study, the effects of compression temperature, duration, pressure, and fibre volume fraction on the mechanical properties of composites were investigated, respectively. The composite with optimal mechanical properties was prepared at a temperature of 180oC, pressure of 125 kg.cm-2 for 10 min, and at a fibre volume fraction of 40%. Mg(OH)2 was found to be an appropriate additive to enhance the flame retardancy of the composite. Interestingly, this agent also improved the mechanical and thermal insulation properties of the obtained composite.

Microstructure Evolution and Mechanical Properties of Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr Alloy during Compression

The compression behavior and mechanical properties of the Mg-13Gd-4Y-2Zn-0.5Zr (wt.%) alloy filled with intragranular long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) phases at different temperatures were investigated. The results showed that the higher the compression temperature, the smaller the plastic strain that the grains withstand. The grains changed from equiaxed to flat strips when compressed at 350°C, and the morphology of the grains did not change at 450°C. Due to the existence of DRX grains, compression at 450 °C didn’t cause large-angle kink, but the kink angle at 350°C was very large. DRX grains only appeared at the grain boundaries and around the intergranular LPSO phase at the beginning of compression, and only appear at the kink bands (KBs) after the lamellar LPSO phases begin to kink. DRX grains gradually increased with the KBs increasing.

Temperature during the vibration-assisted compression of alfalfa

Compression of alfalfa into briquettes is an effective way to solve the problem of storage and transportation. In the process of compression, heat is generated and the temperature is raised in the material. In fact, the appropriate temperature can improve the quality of alfalfa briquettes and reduce the energy consumption of densification. In this study, the effect of assisted vibration on the compression temperature was tested. The results showed that when the vibration frequency was below 15 Hz, the temperature at the center and side in compressed alfalfa increased slowly with compression time. When the vibration frequency was above 20 Hz, it increased first and then decreased with the increase of time. Moreover, the maximum temperature value increased remarkably when the frequency was above 20 Hz. In the same vibration frequency and compression time, the center temperature in the compressed alfalfa was higher than the side temperature. The experimental results provide a reference for the determination of reasonable vibration parameters, and explanation of the effect of vibration on reducing energy consumption.

Density, hardness and strength properties of densified fir and aspen woods pretreated with water repellents

In this study, the effect of thermo-mechanical densification on the density, hardness, compression strength, bending strength (MOR), and modulus of elasticity (MOE) of fir and aspen wood pretreated with water repellents was analyzed. Wood specimens were impregnated with paraffin, linseed oil and styrene after pre-vacuum treatment. Then, the impregnated wood specimens were densified with compression ratios of 20 and 40%, and at 120, 150 and 180 °C. The results indicated that the density, hardness and strength properties of the all densified specimens (untreated and impregnated) increased depending on the compression ratio and temperature. For all tested properties, higher increases were obtained in the paraffin and styrene pretreated specimens compared to untreated samples. However, the increase rates in linseed oil pretreated specimens were generally lower than untreated specimens. Regarding water repellents the most successful results in all tested properties were determined in styrene pretreated specimens. The density, hardness and strength properties of all specimens increased with the increase in compression ratio. On the other hand, the increase in the compression temperature negatively affects the properties of untreated and linseed oil pretreated specimens, while having a generally positive effect on the properties of paraffin pretreated specimens. However, all tested properties of styrene pretreated specimens have increased significantly due to the increase in compression temperature. The increasing strength properties of wood as a result of densification have increased much more with paraffin and especially styrene pretreatment. These combinations can be considered as an important potential for applications that require more hardness and strength.

RESOURCE-SAVING METHODS FOR COOLING THE COMPRESSIBLE GAS

Компрессорные машины широко используются в различных промышленных отраслях, в том числе пищевых. Поскольку энергетические затраты на сжатие газов велики, экономия ресурсов является актуальной задачей. Рассмотрены термодинамические основы сжатия газов, изменение параметров сжимаемой среды и граничные условия по параметрам работы компрессорных машин объемного действия. Приведены расчеты, показывающие необходимость перехода на многоступенчатое сжатие в связи с предельным повышением температуры сжатия в конце сжатия. Рассмотрены вопросы охлаждения сжимаемого газа и перспективы использования новых способов охлаждения. Compressor machines are widely used in food, oil, gas and other branches of industrial economy. Energy costs for gas compression are rather high that is why the process of resources saving urgent. Thermodynamic bases of gas compression and change of parameters of a compressible medium, and boundary conditions of parameters of work of compressor machines of volume action are considered. Calculations showing the need to switch to multistage compression due to the limiting increase in the compression temperature at the end of compression are presented. The issues of compressible gas cooling and prospects of using new cooling methods are considered.

Process Optimization for Compression Molding of Carbon Fiber–Reinforced Thermosetting Polymer

To enhance the quality and mechanical performance of a carbon fiber–reinforced polymer (CFRP) workpiece, this paper prepares a polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fiber–reinforced thermosetting polymer (CFRTP) laminated board through compression molding, and carries out orthogonal tests and single-factor tests to disclose the effects of different process parameters (i.e., compression temperature, compression pressure, pressure-holding time, and cooling rate) on the mechanical performance of the CFRTP workpieces. Moreover, the process parameters of compression molding were optimized based on the test results. The research results show that: The process parameters of compression molding can be ranked as compression temperature, pressure-holding time, compression pressure, cooling rate, and mold-opening temperature, in descending order of the impact on the mechanical property of the CFRTP; the optimal process parameters for compression molding include a compression temperature of 150 °C, a pressure-holding time of 20 min, a compression pressure of 50 T, a cooling rate of 3.5 °C/min, and a mold-opening temperature of 80 °C. Under this parameter combination, the tensile strength, bending strength, and the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of the samples were, respectively, 785.28, 680.36, and 66.15 MPa.

Dynamic Precipitation in Mg–8.08Gd–2.41Sm–0.30Zr Alloy during Hot Compression

Dynamic precipitation of Mg–8.08Gd–2.41Sm–0.30Zr (wt %) alloy during hot compression was studied in the present work. The effects of temperature and strain rate on dynamic precipitation, and the effects of dynamic precipitation on dynamic recrystallization (DRX) and microhardness, were systematically analyzed. For this purpose, hot compression tests were conducted at the strain rates of 0.002~1 s−1 and temperatures of 350~500 °C, with the compaction strain of 70% (εmax = 0.7). The obtained results revealed that dynamic precipitation occurred during hot compression at 350~400 °C, but did not occur for T ≥ 450 °C. The precipitates were demonstrated to be β-Mg5Gd with a size of 200~400 nm, and they were distributed in the DRXed region. Dynamic precipitation occurred at strain rates in the 0.002~0.01 s−1 range, but did not occur when the strain rates were in the 0.1~1 s−1 range for the hot compression temperature of 350 °C. The relationships between the hot compression temperature (T) and DRXed grain size (lnd), microhardness (Hv), and DRXed grain size (d−1/2) of Mg–8.08Gd–2.41Sm–0.30Zr alloy were obtained.

Application of mathematical modelling when determining the parameters effect of biomass densification process on solid biofuels quality

The main aim of this paper is to present the design of experiment (DOE) and evaluation methodology for this experimental plan in order to determine the parameters effect of biomass densification process on final solid biofuels quality. One of the recovery possibilities for waste biomass raw materials is production of solid biofuels. Using a variety combination of influencing variables can be improve the final quality of solid biofuels. Raw biomass material variables influence, especially (type of raw material, particle size, moisture content, compression pressure and compression temperature) can be recognized during the production of solid biofuels. Their effect can be seen through the quality indicators; especially mentioned variables significantly influence the mechanical quality indicators of solid biofuels. In this experimental research authors would like to investigate properties and behaviour of wood raw waste biomass during densification. This contribution discusses the analysis and design of experimental process, its individual steps and their subsequent DOE leading to the development of a mathematical model that will describe this process. This paper also presents the research findings regarding the effect of influencing variables on final density of solid biofuels during densification. Aim of the experimental process is to determine the mutual interaction between solid biofuels density and influencing variables during densification. Effect of compression pressure, compression temperature, moisture content and particle size on solid biofuels density from wood sawdust was determined.