The effect of traffic data source on deterioration rates of heavy-duty flexible pavements

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of traffic data source (estimated vs. actual) on predicted progression rates of roughness and rutting for heavy-duty flexible pavements of rural freeways. Progression rates are predicted using calibrated HDM-4 models. The assessment is performed in terms of variations in maintenance intervention timing associated with the variations in progression rates. Time series pavement condition data (covering 3–5 years) have been collected for 7 sections of rural freeways for use in calibrating HDM-4 deterioration models. They range in length from 10 to 60.8 km and cover different traffic volumes, climate zones and subgrade soil types. For these sections, estimated annual average daily traffic (AADT), growth factors and assumed loading have been extracted from relevant database. Only six segments of these sections have Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) sites so relevant actual AADT, growth factors and axle load distributions have been extracted from WIM reports. The results of running the calibrated HDM-4 deterioration models using different traffic data show that actual traffic data from WIM sites result in higher rates of deterioration to that of estimated data for four sites, resulting in earlier intervention timing and higher present value agency cost. The other two sites have lower rates with actual data due to lower traffic loading than estimated.     

碳酸盐岩裂缝性储层常规测井评价方法

哈萨克斯坦K油田石炭系KT-Ⅱ段储层为开阔台地相中低孔、特低渗灰岩储层，裂缝对改善储层的渗流能力至关重要，前人研究的利用常规测井资料评价碳酸盐岩储层裂缝的方法由于受裂缝产状、饱和度、泥浆侵入深浅等多方面因素的影响，存在确定性差、容易误判的缺陷。基于研究区目的层段有限的取心和电成像测井资料，结合孔隙型储层和裂缝-孔隙型储层测井响应特征，提出了利用补偿中子确定基块岩石电阻率与基块声波时差，再比较二者与深侧向电阻率、声波时差的差异特征，进而综合识别储层不同产状裂缝发育段，最后建立了裂缝孔隙度、次生孔隙度、裂缝渗透率、总渗透率等储层参数的测井解释模型，实现了利用常规测井资料对碳酸盐岩油藏储层的裂缝识别及参数定量评价。该方法应用的测井综合评价成果与取心物性分析、生产动态情况能够更好地匹配，为该类油藏的合理高效开发提供了依据。     

On the thermal conductivity of bimodal SiC/A356 composites fabricated via powder metallurgy route

The present study investigates the thermal conductivity of bimodal SiC particulate distribution in aluminum matrix composites fabricated via powder metallurgy route. The effects of the SiC_p reinforcement size distribution and processing parameters such as sintering time and temperature on the thermal conductivity have been examined. The Box–Behnken experimental array was employed to identify the effects of selected variables on the thermal conductivity of the composite. A reasonable augmentation in the thermal conductivity was observed with an increase in sintering time and %volume fraction of fine SiC particulates. It has been demonstrated that the matrix doped with fine SiC particulates (37?µm) occupied interstitial positions and formed continuous SiC–matrix network resulting in minimizing the micropores that contributed for good thermal conductivity, that is, 235?W/mK. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) were conducted to evaluate the microstructure architecture and interfacial phase formation.     

A narrow-frame antenna for WWAN/LTE/WiMAX/WLAN mobile phones

In this paper, we present a novel narrow-frame antenna with a size of 75 × 8 × 5.8 mm³ for 5.7 in. mobile phones. The antenna mainly consists of a monopole with four branches that are coupled to a two-branch grounded strip. Our antenna is able to cover more bands than other narrow-frame antennas by excitation of several resonant modes. The improved range of the antenna covers the following eleven bands: LTE700, GSM850, GSM900, DCS, PCS, UMTS, LTE2300, LTE2500, LTE3400 (3400–3800 MHz)/WiMAX3.5 GHz (3400–3650 MHz), WLAN5.2 GHz (5150–5350 MHz) and WLAN5.8 GHz (5725–5875 MHz). Another advantage of the proposed antenna is that it does not need any lumped element to match the antenna. The working principles of the proposed antenna are thoroughly studied. A prototype of the proposed antenna is fabricated and measured, with the results in good agreement with the simulation results.     

Investigation of seasonal variations of Beijing pavement condition data using unevenly spaced dynamic panel data model

Beijing municipal highway administration started to collect pavement condition data on its major expressways since 2006. It is advised in the Chinese practice standard that data collection shall be conducted on annual basis. However, pavement data are usually collected at different seasons of the year, which may cause significant seasonal variations in the observed condition. Moreover, for some reasons, data are missing for some of the pavement sections at certain years, which could bring up difficulties in performance model estimation and inference. These concerns have been simply neglected in past practice. This study proposed an unevenly spaced dynamic panel data model to investigate the seasonal patterns of a performance indicator called Ride Quality Index (RQI). A quasi-differencing approach was adopted for the estimation. Data collected from the 5th Ring Road of Beijing were used in the case study. It was found that RQI data collected during the fall season are expected to be lower than that collected during the spring or summer seasons. Findings from this research would be helpful to pavement engineers in using unevenly spaced pavement condition data for future condition estimation.     

The control of paracetamol particle size and surface morphology through crystallisation in a spray dryer

The parameters governing the crystallisation of paracetamol using various conventional techniques has been extensively studied, however the factors influencing the drug crystallisation using spray drying is not as well understood. The aim of this work was to investigate the crystallisation of an active pharmaceutical ingredient through evaporative crystallisation using a spray dryer to study the physicochemical properties of the drug and to use semi-empirical equations to gain insight into the morphology and particle size of the dried powder. Paracetamol solutions were spray dried at various inlet temperatures ranging from 60 °C to 120 °C and also from a series of inlet feed solvent compositions ranging from 50/50% v/v ethanol/water to 100% ethanol and solid-state characterisation was done. The size and morphology of the dried materials were altered with a change in spray drying parameters, with an increase in inlet temperature leading to an increase in particle Sauter mean diameter (from 3.0 to 4.4 µm) and a decrease in the particle size with an increase in ethanol concentration in the feed (from 4.6 to 4.4 µm) as a result of changes in particle density and atomised droplet size. The morphology of the dried particles consisted of agglomerates of individual crystallites bound together into larger semi-spherical agglomerates with a higher tendency for particles having crystalline ridges to form at higher ethanol concentrations of the feed.     

Lewis acid-oxygen vacancy interfacial synergistic catalysis over SO42−/Ce0.84Zr0.16O2–WO3–ZrO2 for N,N-diethylation of aniline with ethanol

Herein, a new mechanism involving Lewis acid-oxygen vacancy interfacial synergistic catalysis for aniline N,N-diethylation with ethanol was proposed, and the SO₄²⁻/Ce_0.84Zr_0.16O₂–WO₃–ZrO₂ catalyst (SCWZ) with both Lewis acid sites and oxygen vacancies was synthesized by the hydrothermal method, which shows better catalytic activity than the reported solid acidic catalysts. Besides, the SO₄²⁻/ZrO₂ (SZ) and SO₄²⁻/WO₃–ZrO₂ (SWZ) catalysts were also prepared and compared with SCWZ to investigate the synergistic effect of each component. The SO₄²⁻ and WO₃ mainly generate Lewis acid by bonding with ZrO₂, which is beneficial for the fracture of the N–H bond in aniline. The Ce_0.84Zr_0.16O₂ solid solution mainly plays a vital role in generating the oxygen vacancies as the interface active species, which can participate in stripping –OH from ethanol, then the carbocation will also be released, which only needs 1.3805 kcal/mol energy, calculated by density functional theory (DFT), to be input. In comparison, the traditional reaction mechanism needs the Brønsted acidic sites to promote the protonation of ethanol, then dehydration and subsequent formation of carbocation followed, and 108.6846 kcal/mol energy needs to be input, which is far higher than that of the new mechanism. The apparent activation energy (E_a) over SCWZ was measured by experiment to be 34.09 kJ/mol, which is much lower than that of SWZ (47.10 kJ/mol) and SZ (54.37 kJ/mol), illustrating comparatively preferable kinetics for SCWZ than that of SWZ and SZ. Besides, the conversion of aniline and selectivity to N,N-diethylaniline over SCWZ reach almost 100% and 73%, respectively. The SCWZ can be renewed for 4 times without rapid deactivation, and the longevity of SCWZ is longer than that of SWZ and SZ, as the loaded SO₄²⁻ and tetragonal ZrO₂ are stabilized by Ce_0.84Zr_0.16O₂ and WO₃, respectively.     

煤矿井下避难硐室系统的构建与应用分析

为进一步减少煤矿事故发生后的人员伤亡、财产损失，在分析国内外煤矿井下避难系统发展的基础上，以何家塔煤矿井下避难硐室系统的构建设计与应用为例，详细介绍了井下避难硐室系统的分类、结构构成、功能需求和配套设施等，并通过紧急避险疏散时间的校验计算，提出避难硐室距离采掘工作面以不超过1 000 m为宜，且应按照“地面最安全，先逃生后避险”原则进行避险救援，为国内其他矿井避难硐室的构建应用和相关标准的制定提供了参考。     

稀土La2O3改性脲醛树脂的黏度特性研究

脲醛树脂(UF树脂)胶黏剂具有胶合强度高、制作简单、成本低廉、原料来源丰富等一系列特点,成为我国人造板生产的主要胶种,是市场上需求量最大的胶黏剂之一。但由于在固化时会放出刺激性的甲醛,游离甲醛高,在使用时严重危害人的健康。近年来,随着人们环保意识的提高,生产和使用低毒UF树脂胶势在必行。本文介绍了稀土氧化镧对脲醛树脂的改性过程并对改性后脲醛树脂胶的各项性能进行了测试。本实验通过在不同反应阶段加入稀土氧化镧,分别探讨它们对脲醛树脂胶黏剂性能影响。实验表明:在脲醛树脂胶中加入稀土氧化镧可以增加黏度、固化时间、固含量,并可以减少游离甲醛释放量。