Research on Shrinkage Inhibition Technology of C50 Steel Shell Immersed Tube Self-Compacting Concrete

The effects of shrinkage reducing agent and expansion agent on workability, strength and shrinkage of C50 self-compacting concrete with steel-shell immersed tube were studied. It is found that the expansive agent can increase the 28d compressive strength of concrete and restrain the shrinkage of concrete, but it can reduce the mixture property of concrete, and the shrinkage reducing agent can reduce the 28d compressive strength of concrete, but it can obviously restrain the shrinkage of concrete and improve the performance of concrete mixture. On the basis that the performance of concrete mixture meets the technical index, when the dosage of shrinkage reducing agent is 1.5%, the performance of concrete mixture is the best, and the drying shrinkage rate of 28d is the smallest. At this time, the properties of C50 steel-shell sunk pipe self-compacting concrete are as follows: slump flow 720mm, T50 2s, pour-down time 2s, v-shaped funnel passing time 6s, 28d compressive strength 59.6 MPa, 28d drying shrinkage 135×10−6.

Design features of a high-vacuum steam jet pump and some results of its tests

This paper presents an original design of a high-vacuum steam jet pump in which a heater made of a heating cable is immersed in a working fluid located in a stainless steel boiler. At the same time, the boiler itself is vacuum isolated from the pump housing. There is also a heater made of a heating cable in a stainless steel shell, made in the form of a spiral and immersed in a working fluid. Such an arrangement of the heater is possible only when a liquid with a homogeneous chemical composition and a low saturated vapor pressure is used as a working fluid in high-vacuum pumps.

Analysing the Confinement Effect in Hollow Core Steel-Concrete Composite Columns under Axial Compression

Spun concrete technology allows manufacturing the reinforced concrete poles, piles, and columns with a circular hollow core. This concreting method ensures higher concrete density and strength than the traditional vibration technique and self-compacting concrete. This technology defines an attractive alternative for producing steel-concrete composite elements, allowing efficient utilisation of the materials due to the confinement effect. This study experimentally investigates the material behaviour of the composite columns subjected to axial compression. The experimental results support the above inference—the test outcomes demonstrate the 1.2–2.1 times increase of the compressive strength of the centrifugal concrete regarding the vibrated counterpart; the experimental resistance of the composite columns 1.25 times exceeds the theoretical load-bearing capacity. The proposed mechanical-geometrical parameter can help to quantify the composite efficiency. The parametric analysis employs the finite element model verified using the test results. It demonstrates a negligible bond model effect on the deformation prediction outcomes, indirectly indicating the steel shell confinement effect and confirming the literature results.

Experience of thick-walled calcium-containing cored wire application at steel ladle treatment

Metal processing in ladle by calcium-containing cored wires is one of the most spread methods of ladle treatment and modifying. Results of analysis of efficiency induces of existing cored wires application depending on their diameter, wall thickness and filling coefficient presented. It was shown that the basic efficiency index of a cored wire application – recovery coefficient – depending on wire quality (homogeneity of filling by calcium along the wire length), wire grade, conditions of its injection into liquid steel and other parameters can vary within a range from 50 to 95%. Reasons of unsatisfactory calcium recovery at usage of calcium-containing wires of 14–15 mm diameter with steel shell 0.4 mm thick and filling of mechanical mixture of steel shots and metallic calcium in various proportions was considered. Advantages of the modern calcium-containing cored wire with thicker wall were highlighted, including their higher wire rigidity and stability of its supply by a wire feeder into liquid steel. It was established that calcium content in a cored wire at the level of 100 g/m was the most effective composition. It was noted that increase of speed of cored wire feeding into steel will result in an increase of calcium recovery and in a decrease of probability of metal splashing out the steel ladle.

Aging Behavior of Lithium Titanate Battery under High-Rate Discharging Cycle

The high-rate discharging performance of a lithium titanate battery is one of its main properties. In conditions that require ultra-high-rate discharging, a lithium titanate battery can be discharged continuously at a current of 50 C (50 times of its maximum capacity) or higher. In this paper, we take cylindrical steel shell lithium titanate cells as the research object and perform aging cycles at 66 C on these cells. The ultra-high-rate discharging cycles cause a rapid high-power capacity fading while the available capacity at normal current rate is not affected. The capacity at 66 C decreases to 80% of initial value in 10 cycles. This paper also analyzes the aging process of a lithium titanate battery at high-rate discharging with incremental capacity (IC) analysis, and presents the aging behavior of lithium titanate battery qualitatively, which is inconsistent with existing research. We attribute the aging mechanism of ultra-high-rate discharging cycles to the decrease of ionic mobility and increase of polarization resistance. Mechanical damage is observed in the CT scan of an aged cell, which we presume to be the result of rapid strain of cathode material.

Verification of Composite Steel and Concrete Bed Behaviour for Machine Tools

This paper focuses on the theoretical and experimental verification of a behaviour composite reinforced concrete bed for installation in high-precision machine tools. The design solution consists of coupling the steel shell and HPC concrete filling, which ensures the high rigidity of the bed. Studies in this article were aimed at describing, in detail, the behaviour of the bed, from production to setting into its final position. An integral part of the solution was implementing the measurement of the response of the real bed segment using the installed monitoring system as well as the numerical simulations performed on the assembled FEM model. Thanks to the modular design of the bed, it was possible to verify the behaviour of the simulated load during the operation of the machine tool on a smaller sample. The aim is to verify the functionality of the coupling and, based on the comparison of measured and theoretical data, to define the critical points of the composite and, thus, provide a basis for design optimisation in order to maximise the monitored parameters.

Analysis of Non-Symmetrical Heat Removal during Cast-ing of Steel Billets and Slabs

Steel is one of the essential materials in the world's civilization. It is essential to produce many products such as pipelines, mechanical elements in machines, vehicles, profiles, and beam sections for buildings in many industries. Until the '50s of the 20th century, steel products required a complex process known as ingot casting; for years, steelmakers focused on developing and simplifying this process. The result was the con-tinuous casting process (CCP); it is the most productive method to produce steel. The CCP allows producing significant volumes of steel sections without interruption and is more productive than the formal ingot casting process. The CCP begins by transferring the liquid steel from the steel-ladle to a tundish. This tundish or vessel distributes the liquid steel, by flowing through its volume, to one or more strands having wa-ter-cooled copper molds. The mold is the primary cooling system, PCS, solidifying a steel shell to withstand a liquid core and its friction forces with the mold wall. Further down the mold, the rolls drive the steel section in the SCS. Here the steel section is cooled, solidifying the remaining liquid core, by sprays placed in every cooling segment all around the billet and along the curved section of the machine. Finally, the steel strand goes towards a horizontal-straight free-spray zone, losing heat by radiation mechanism, where the billet cools down further to total solidification. A moving torch cutting-scissor splits the billet to the desired length at the end of this heat-radiant zone.

Analytical Prediction and Finite Element Simulation of Steel Tubular Pier with Stiffener

Hollow steel tubular members are extensively used in multi storey car parks, bridge piers, building columns, offshore structures and subway columns. An earthquake of moderate intensity can result in extensive damage and potential collapse of bridges. During a large earthquake, traditional seismic lateral resisting system can experience significant damage and it cause residual drifts. Thus, a suitable strengthening or retrofitting technique needs to be developed for minimising structural damage and human casualty due to imposed lateral impact loading. The steel shell acts as longitudinal and transverse reinforcement. The primary role of stiffeners is to prevent local buckling prior to overall buckling and to increase overall buckling strength. In seismic applications, an additional, yet equally important role of stiffeners is to increase ductility of the cross section under cyclic loading. Stiffeners are the secondary plate or sections which are attached to web or flanges to stiffen them against out of plane deformation. This paper presents the research work on analytical prediction and finite element simulation of steel tubular pier with stiffeners. A non-liner 3D model was developed using ANSYS programme.