Workability of hybrid fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete

Compared to fiber reinforced concrete (FRC), self-compacting concrete (SCC) is a relatively new type of concrete with high flowability and good cohesiveness. It offers very attractive economical and technical benefits, which can be further extended when combined with FRC. In this article two different types of steel fibers were used, in combination, and the effects of fiber inclusion on the workability of hybrid fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (HFR-SCC) is studied. The effects of fibers are quantified based on the fiber volume, length, and aspect ratios of the fibers. It was concluded that in addition to the above-mentioned quantifiable three properties, other properties of fibers such as shape and surface roughness are also found to be important but they cannot be quantified at this stage.     

Revisiting Slotted ALOHA: Density Adaptation in FANETs

Unmanned aerial vehicles have been widely used in many areas of life. They communicate with each other or infrastructure to provide ubiquitous coverage or assist cellular and sensor networks. They construct flying ad hoc networks. One of the most significant problems in such networks is communication among them over a shared medium. Using random channel access techniques is a useful solution. Another important problem is that the variations in the density of these networks impact the quality of service and introduce many challenges. This paper presents a novel density-aware technique for flying ad hoc networks. We propose Density-aware Slotted ALOHA Protocol that utilizes slotted ALOHA with a dynamic random access probability determined using network density in a distributed fashion. Compared to the literature, this paper concentrates on proposing a three-dimensional, easily traceable model and stabilize the channel utilization performance of slotted ALOHA with an optimized channel access probability to its maximum theoretical level, 1/e, where e is the Euler’s number. Monte-Carlo simulation results validate the proposed approach leveraging aggregate interference density estimator under the simple path-loss model. We compare our protocol with two existing protocols, which are Slotted ALOHA and Stabilized Slotted ALOHA. Comparison results show that the proposed protocol has 36.78% channel utilization performance; on the other hand, the other protocols have 24.74% and 30.32% channel utilization performances, respectively. Considering the stable results and accuracy, this model is practicable in highly dynamic networks even if the network is sparse or dense under higher mobility and reasonable non-uniform deployments.

     

Sunflower seed cake as reinforcing filler in thermoplastic composites

Dimensional stability, mechanical properties, and melting and crystallization behavior of polypropylene composites filled with sunflower seed cake (SSC) were investigated. Injection molded composites were prepared from the SSC flour and polypropylene with and without maleic anhydride‐grafted polypropylene (MAPP) at 30, 40, 50, and 60 wt % contents of the SSC flour. Twenty‐eight days thickness swelling and water absorption values of the specimens increased by 43 and 56% as the filler content increased from 30 to 60 wt %, respectively. The flexural modulus of the polypropylene composites increased from 3157 to 4363 MPa as the SSC flour increased from 30 to 60 wt %. The maximum flexural strength 38.4 MPa was observed for 40 wt % SSC flour filled specimens. However, further increment in the SCC flour decreased the flexural strength to 31.4 MPa. The tensile strength of the specimens decreased from 22.5 to 14 MPa while the tensile modulus increased from 3023 to 3677 MPa as the SSC flour increased from 30 to 60 wt %. The dimensional stability and mechanical properties of the composites were significantly improved by the incorporation of the coupling agent (MAPP). The effect of the MAPP addition was more pronounced for the strength than for the modulus. The melting temperature and degree of crystallinity of the neat polypropylene decreased with increasing content of the SSC flour. The degree of crystallinity of filled composites considerably increased with the incorporation of the MAPP. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Physical,mechanical, and thermal properties of polypropylene composites filled with walnut shell flour

Injection molded specimens were prepared from the walnut shell flour and polypropylene with and without maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene at 40, 50, and 60% (weight) contents of the walnut shell. The bending and tensile modulus of the composites significantly increased with increasing the filler content while the bending and tensile strengths significantly decreased. Water absorption and thickness swelling of the composites increased with increasing filler content. The MAPP improved the interfacial adhesion between walnut shell flour and polymer matrix. A 40/57/3 formulation of the walnut shell flour/polypropylene/MAPP can be used in outdoor applications requiring a high dimensional stability.     

Experimental characterization of helical swimming trajectories in circular channels

Trajectories of microorganisms and artificial helical swimmers in confinements are important in biology and for controlled swimming in medical applications. Numerical studies on the locomotion of model microorganisms and spherical particles are reported in the literature. Here, we report experimental results on the trajectories and velocities of artificial helical swimmers in circular channels. Trajectories are recorded by a digital camera and images are processed to obtain the radial position and the orientation of the swimmer. Tail length, channel diameter, rotation frequency and the rate of the Poiseuille flow are varied in the experiments. Experimental results demonstrate that confinement and flow affect the orientation of swimmer and the swimming performance. Swimmers follow stable helical trajectories in the forward direction when the tail pushes the swimmer. However, when the tail pulls the swimmer in the backward direction trajectories converge to a straight line in the narrow channel, whereas helical trajectories are observed for pullers as well in the wide channel.     

Mechanical and thermal properties of wood‐plastic composites reinforced with hexagonal boron nitride

Mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of injection molded wood‐plastic composites (WPCs) prepared from poplar wood flour (50 wt%), thermoplastics (high density polyethlyne or polypropylene) with coupling agent (3 wt%), and hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN) (2, 4, or 6 wt%) nanopowder were investigated. The flexural and tensile properties of WPCs significantly improved with increasing content of the h‐BN. Unlike the tensile and flexural properties, the notched izod impact strength of WPCs decreased with increasing content of h‐BN but it was higher than that of WPCs without the h‐BN. The WPCs containing h‐BN were stiffer than those without h‐BN. The tensile elongation at break values of WPCs increased with the addition of h‐BN. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis showed that the crystallinity, melting enthalpy, and crystallization enthalpy of the WPCs increased with increasing content of the h‐BN. The increase in the crystallization peak temperature of WPCs indicated that h‐BN was the efficient nucleating agent for the thermoplastic composites to increase the crystallization rate. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:194–200, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Comparison of the mechanical,thermomechanical, thermal,and morphological properties of pumice and calcium carbonate‐filled poly(phenylene sulfide) composites

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the mechanical, thermal, thermomechanical, and morphological properties of pumice and calcium carbonate (CaCO₃)‐filled poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) composites and compare the effect of these filler materials on the properties of composites. Mechanical test results indicate that %1 pumice and CaCO₃ addition increased the tensile strength value of PPS. With the %1 loading level of pumice, tensile strain of composites remained unchanged, but for other loading levels of both fillers, tensile strain of composites decreased. Hardness of composites increased with the addition of pumice to PPS matrix for all loading levels of pumice. The lowest damping factor peak intensity was observed for %1 pumice included composites. Morphological analyses results revealed that pumice particles are clearly embedded in the PPS matrix and covered with matrix. On the other hand, there are a number of microvioids that can be observed in the tensile fracture surfaces of CaCO₃‐filled composites. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:3160–3166, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Modeling of hydro-thermo-mechanical behavior of Nafion NRE212 for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells using the Finite Viscoplasticity Theory Based on Overstress for Polymers (FVBOP)

The primary aim of this work is to present the modifications made to the Finite Viscoplasticity Theory Based on Overstress for Polymers (FVBOP). This is a unified state variable theory and the proposed changes are designed to account for humidity and temperature effects relevant to the modeling of the hydrothermal deformation behavior of ionomer membranes used in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC). Towards that end, the flow function, which is responsible for conferring rate dependency in FVBOP, is modified. A secondary objective of this work was to investigate the feasibility of using the storage modulus obtained by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) in place of the elasticity modulus obtained from conventional tensile/compressive tests, and find the correlation between the storage modulus and the elasticity modulus. The numerical simulations were juxtaposed against data from tensile monotonic loading and unloading experiments on perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membrane Nafion NRE212 samples which are used extensively as a membrane material in PEMFC. The deformation behavior was modeled at four different temperatures (298, 323, 338, and 353 K—all values below the glass transition temperature of Nafion) and at three water content levels (3, 7 and 8 % swelling). The effects of strain rate, temperature, and hydration were captured well with the modified FVBOP model.     

Effects of Er,Cr:YSGG laser on repair bond strength of 5-year water-aged and non-aged CAD/CAM ceramics

The aim of this study is to examine the repair bond strength of three different 5-year water-aged and non-aged computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) ceramics (leucite-reinforced, lithium disilicate, and feldspathic ceramic) on which four different surface treatments (bur-grinding, sandblasting, acid-etching, and laser irradiation) have been applied with composite resin. Note that 360 ea. samples have been attained from CAD/CAM blocks. Each CAD/CAM ceramic has been randomly separated into two sub-groups depending on aging procedure. The designed 5-year water-aged and non-aged samples have been separated into four sub-groups. Ceramic surfaces were repaired then the samples have been placed into shear test device. Three-way variance analysis has been used in the comparison of the repair bond strengths depending on the ceramic type, surface treatment, and aging. Results have revealed that the repair bond strength values show differences depending on CAD/CAM ceramic type, surface treatment, and the aging of the surface (p < .001). While the aged and laser-irradiated feldspathic CAD/CAM ceramics showing the highest shear bond strength, the lowest shear bond strength values were in aged and bur-grinded feldspathic CAD/CAM ceramics. Irradiation with erbium chromium: yttrium scandium gallium garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) laser has significantly increased the repair bond strength in leucite-reinforced and feldspathic CAD/CAM ceramics, acid-etching is suggested surface treatment for the lithium disilicate CAD/CAM ceramics.     

Effect of fused deposition modeling process parameters on the mechanical properties of recycled polyethylene terephthalate parts

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) filaments made of recycled materials are desirable for environmentally friendly and sustainable manufacturing of prototypes and load-bearing components in many applications. We investigate the effect of FDM process parameters on the mechanical properties of 3D-printed parts made of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) filaments. Increasing the nozzle temperature from 230°C to 260°C improves the strength of the specimens by 100%. Using a raster orientation parallel to the loading direction improves the ductility by more an order of magnitude. Specimen orientation and infill ratio also influence the mechanical properties. The temperature and the orientation effects are related to the quality of fusion between the printed lines. A modified Gibson-Ashby model correctly predicts the strength as a function of the infill ratio. Through the optimization of process parameters, the mechanical strength of 3D-printed rPET structures can reach that of injection-molded PET, making FDM a suitable manufacturing technique for load-bearing applications.