A study of the local site effects on the ground response for the city of Eskişehir,Turkey

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Local soil characteristics play a key role in determining soil-structure interaction and reliability of the superstructure behavior under...     

Properties of Carbopol Solutions as Models for Yield-Stress Fluids

ABSTRACT: The effect of pH on the non-Newtonian viscosity (η)of aqueous Carbopol 940 solutions is presented with high resolution (pH increments about 0.4) between pH = 2.8 and 12.7. Aqueous NaOH was used to adjust pH of 1.48 wt % Carbopol solutions. A Contraves viscometer was used to measure steady-flow shear stress at known shear rate (γ) over the range γ= 8 to 195 s⁻¹. Yield stresses and shear-thinning η(γ) were observed. Data were fitted with a Herschel-Bulkley model, whose parameters (including yield stress) were expressed as functions of pH. Comparisons were made of η(γ) to the dynamic viscometric properties η'(ω) and η*(ω) for comparable ranges of γ and frequency (ω): A fairly close match was found between η and η* but η«η'. pH dependence included previously unreported extrema of h(pH) in the range of pH = 6.2 to 6.6. Because of sensitive control of rheological properties with pH, Carbopol solutions can be used to mimic a great range of shear-thinning and yield-stress behavior that should make them useful for model studies directed toward process and equipment design and evaluation.     

An interdisciplinary heuristic evaluation method for universal building design

This study highlights how heuristic evaluation as a usability evaluation method can feed into current building design practice to conform to universal design principles. It provides a definition of universal usability that is applicable to an architectural design context. It takes the seven universal design principles as a set of heuristics and applies an iterative sequence of heuristic evaluation in a shopping mall, aiming to achieve a cost-effective evaluation process. The evaluation was composed of three consecutive sessions. First, five evaluators from different professions were interviewed regarding the construction drawings in terms of universal design principles. Then, each evaluator was asked to perform the predefined task scenarios. In subsequent interviews, the evaluators were asked to re-analyze the construction drawings. The results showed that heuristic evaluation could successfully integrate universal usability into current building design practice in two ways: (i) it promoted an iterative evaluation process combined with multi-sessions rather than relying on one evaluator and on one evaluation session to find the maximum number of usability problems, and (ii) it highlighted the necessity of an interdisciplinary ad hoc committee regarding the heuristic abilities of each profession. A multi-session and interdisciplinary heuristic evaluation method can save both the project budget and the required time, while ensuring a reduced error rate for the universal usage of the built environments.     

Removal of acetic acid from water by catalytic distillation. Part 2: Modeling and simulation studies

A simulation program has been established by incorporating basic models for reaction kinetics, vapor–liquid equilibrium and mass transfer into Aspen Plus (Aspen Technology Inc., 1996) to simulate the catalytic distillation process for the removal of dilute acetic acid from water. The simulated concentration profiles agree well with those measured under various operating conditions.     

Online composition estimation and experiment validation of distillation processes with switching dynamics

This study explores both the theoretical and experimental investigations of applying a continuum and noncontinuum state estimator to composition estimation in a distillation process with switching dynamics. In a hybrid distillation modeling, the column compositions are considered as continuum states while the operating modes are modeled as noncontinuum states. A moving horizon estimator (MHE), which has the capability to handle process constraints is developed for composition estimation in a distillation process under known switching mode criteria using the available temperature measurements. The performance of a MHE is shown to be better than that of EKF in handling process and measurement noise under switching dynamics. For some situations where the system operating mode transition is unknown, a new approach to state estimation under unknown switching functions is investigated. The proposed method combines a MHE for composition estimation with a mode change detector to detect a change in the system operating mode and an operating mode estimator to identify the functioning mode. In the presence of both the measurement noise and plant-model mismatch, the developed estimator is shown to be effective in estimating both the column composition and the system operating mode accurately.     

Numerical modelling and characterization of nanofiltration membranes for the separation of carbohydrate mixtures

The results of an experimental and computational investigation of the selective separation of carbohydrates on nano‐membranes in cross‐flow filtration are reported. Two commercial membranes (NF270‐400 and TFC‐SR3) were characterised in terms of permeability and rejection of carbohydrate solutions. It is shown that the membranes can be used to recover glucose and galactose from their mixtures with lactose. The permeate flux is shown to depend on sugar concentration, with permeate flux decreasing as the concentration increases. Quantitative evaluation using numerical analysis of the above flow and separation process showed that the performance of nano‐membranes can be captured and reproduced with sufficient accuracy, thereby reducing the number of experiments require to evaluate the suitability of membranes in different applications. A Fickian approach is adopted to model the separation, and is shown to be effective.     

Water soluble polymeric nanofibres for rapid flocculation and enhanced dewatering of mature fine tailings

Water-soluble polymer flocculants have been used to efficiently release entrapped water in oil sands tailings by bridging fine particles to create large heavier flocs which can then settle faster and release water more efficiently. Due to their initial interaction with the fine particles suspended in tailings, polymer nanofibres may perform better than their parent polymers because of the entire surface of the nanofibres being fully accessible to the fine particles. In this work, commercially available poly(acrylamide-co-diallyl dimethylammonium chloride) was chosen as a basis for this study. Initial settling rate, supernatant turbidity, water recovery, capillary suction time, and solids content were measured to determine the effect of polymer nanofibres on solid-liquid separation. The solid forms of the polymer (either as nanofibre or powder) perform better than the polymer solution in each test, with optimum dosages of 5 wt% mature fine tailings (MFT) loading. Nanofibres could achieve settling rates of 60 m/h, while the other forms were only able to achieve 42 m/h. Additionally, the turbidity of the supernatant obtained after flocculation with nanofibres was 15 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), while the polymer solution and powder produced turbidites of 162 NTU and 70 NTU, respectively. In addition, polymer nanofibres and powders generated larger flocs compared to the polymer solution, which produced small, homogenized flocs.