A modified Kozeny–Carman equation for predicting saturated hydraulic conductivity of compacted bentonite in confined condition

Kozeny–Carman (KC) equation is a well-known relation between hydraulic conductivity and pore properties in porous material. The applications of KC equation to predicting saturated hydraulic conductivities of sands and non-expansive soils are well documented. However, KC equation is incapable of predicting saturated hydraulic conductivity of expansive soil (e.g. bentonite) well. Based on a new dual-pore system, this study modified KC equation for improving the prediction of saturated hydraulic conductivities of bentonites. In this study, an assumption that inter-layer space (micropore) has limited effect on fluid flow performance of compacted bentonite was adopted. The critical parameters including total porosity and total tortuosity in conventional KC equation were replaced by macroporosity and tortuosity of macropore, respectively. Macroporosity and microporosity were calculated by basal spacing of compacted bentonite, which was estimated by assuming that specific surface area is changeable during saturation process. A comprehensive comparison of bentonite's saturated hydraulic conductivity predictions, including modified KC equation proposed in this study, conventional KC equation, and prediction method based on diffuse double layer (DDL) theory, was carried out. It was found that the predicted saturated hydraulic conductivity of bentonites calculated using modified KC equation fitted the experimental data better than others to a certain extent.     

Experimental investigation of forced flow boiling of nitrogen in a horizontal corrugated stainless steel tube

Experimental investigation is performed on the heat transfer characteristics of forced flow boiling of saturated liquid nitrogen (LN₂) in a horizontal corrugated stainless steel tube with a 17.6 mm maximum inner diameter. The local heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) are measured at two mass flow rates with a wide range of wall heat fluxes. The effects of the heat flux, mass flow flux and vapor quality on the two-phase heat transfer characteristics are discussed. The results reveal that the local HTCs increase with the heat flux and mass flow flux. The measured local HTCs present a strong dependence on the heat flux. The circumferential averages of the HTCs for the present corrugated tube are compared with the empirical correlations proposed for the smooth tubes, and the results show that the heat transfer is enhanced due to the area augmentation.     

Responses of a cylindrical lined tunnel due to internal dynamic load in two distinct mediums: Ideal elastic and saturated porous medium

The dynamic responses of a lined tunnel subjected to dynamic loading is one of the key issues that needs to be addressed prior to the design and construction of tunnels. While the tunnel lining and surrounding soil are commonly designed in ideal explosion-proof engineering as ideal elastic media to simplify the problem, in reality; soils are porous geo-materials. Therefore, the concern is whether this practice is more conservative or close to the reality, in contrast to the scenario where the surrounding soil is assumed as a saturated porous medium. This study investigates the differences and relationships between the dynamic responses of the lining structures in two immensely disparate media: ideal elastic medium and porous saturated medium. Firstly, to avoid the complexity of 3D numerical studies, 3D analytical solutions for the responses of the lined tunnel in both the ideal elastic medium and porous medium due to internal dynamic loading are derived using Fourier and Laplace transforms. Also, the differences between the dynamic responses (e.g., the radial displacement, radial effective stress, and hoop effective stress) of the lining structures in two media are determined to assess the rationality of assuming that the soil around the lined tunnel is an infinite elastic compressible medium. Finally, the influence of the porosity on the dynamic response of a cylindrical lined tunnel subjected to dynamic loads is examined.     

工频涡流加热养护混凝土的功率计算

提出厂工频涡流加热养护混凝土的功率计算办法。及其工频涡流在铁管中电热转換过程中的基本参数:饱和电流和饱和电压及单位长度的含义。     

时效性对单桩极限承载力影响分析

目前 ,盐城地区正广泛采用打入式预制桩和泥浆护壁成孔灌注桩 ,本文将从这两种桩的成桩工艺 ,结合地基条件 ,对盐城地区饱和软粘土层中这两种桩成桩后休止时间对单桩极限承载力的影响规律进行了分析研究 ,并对载荷试验的间歇时间的确定问题做一些有益的探讨。     

Modelling the boring of curves in (very) soft soils during microtunnelling

In recent years the interest in microtunnelling has grown due to the fact that open trenching is an increasingly undesired operation. However, microtunnelling encounters restrictions in expanding into new areas. In the Netherlands, and more general in (very) soft soils, one of the main problems is the controlled boring of curves. To better understand the behaviour of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) an analytical model has been developed, that takes translation and rotation of the TBM into account. These movements can be superimposed to describe the complete movement of the TBM. The model has been developed in an incremental fashion by first taking only the influence of a limited set of parameters into account. The first model takes the subgrade reaction modulus and the influence of the machine on the stiffness of the soil into account and is subsequently improved upon by taking the dead weight and eccentric jacking forces into account. This second model is validated with a case study, the installation of the KPE-pipe under the Hartel canal in Rotterdam, and this shows reliable results. Using the model, the required position of the steering jacks in the tunnelling machine can be determined, given that the required parameters are known. In addition, the ovalisation of the bored hole can be forecast. With the variation in angular rotations and the maximum rotation, the behaviour of the joints can be determined. In this way problematic situations can be prevented. Although the results of the validations are good, a number of aspects do need further research.     

Maternal High‐Fat‐Diet Programs Rat Offspring Liver Fatty Acid Metabolism

In offspring exposed in utero to a maternal diet high in fat (HF), we have previously demonstrated that despite similar birth weights, HF adult offspring at 6 months of age had significantly higher body weights, greater adiposity, and increased triacylglycerol (TAG) levels as compared to controls. We hypothesized that a maternal HF diet predisposes to offspring adiposity via a programmed increase in the synthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids in the liver and hence increased substrate availability for liver TAG synthesis. We further hypothesized that programmed changes in offspring liver fatty acid metabolism are associated with increased liver expression of the lipogenic enzyme stearoyl‐CoA desaturase‐1 (SCD‐1). Female rats were maintained on a HF diet rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) prior to and throughout pregnancy and lactation. After birth, newborns were nursed by the same dam, and all offspring were weaned to control diet. Plasma and liver fatty acid compositions were determined using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Fatty acid C16 desaturation indices of palmitoleic/palmitic and (vaccenic + palmitoleic)/palmitic and the C18 desaturation index of oleic/stearic were calculated. Liver protein abundance of SCD‐1 was analyzed in newborns and adult offspring. Plasma and liver C16 desaturation indices were decreased in HF newborns, but increased in the adult offspring. Liver SCD‐1 expression was increased in the HF adult offspring. These data show that the maternal HF diet during pregnancy and lactation increases offspring liver SCD‐1 protein abundance and alters the liver C16 desaturase pathway.     

Commercially available alternatives to palm oil

Since several years there has been a demand for food products free of palm oil, noticeable in the Western European market. Alternatives based on liquid oils, fully hydrogenated fats, and exotic fats like shea and sal etc., have been developed by the research groups of several specialty oils and fats suppliers. This article describes the advantages and disadvantages of those products and compares them to similar products based on palm oil. It is also discussed how reasonable the replacement of palm products would be, since sustainable and 3‐MCPD/glycidolester‐reduced palm based specialty oils are also available on the market.     

Microglial Cell Activation Increases Saturated and Decreases Monounsaturated Fatty Acid Content,but Both Lipid Species are Proinflammatory

Neuroinflammation is a component of age-related neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive decline. Saturated (SFA) and monounsaturated (MUFA) fatty acids are bioactive molecules that may play different extrinsic and intrinsic roles in neuroinflammation, serving as exogenous ligands for cellular receptors, or endogenous components of cell structural, energetic and signaling pathways. We determined the fatty acyl profile of BV2 microglial cells before and after acute activation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We also investigated the effect of SFA and MUFA pretreatment on the production of an invasive, neurotoxic phenotype in BV2 cells. Acute activation of BV2 microglia resulted in an increase in the relative content of SFA (12:0, 16:0, 18:0, 20:0, 22:0, and 24:0 increased significantly), and a relative decrease in the content of MUFA (16:1n7, 18:1n7, 18:1n9, 20:1n9, 24:1n9 decreased significantly). In agreement, the major stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) isoform in BV2 cells, SCD2, was significantly down-regulated by LPS. We next treated cells with SFA (16:0 or 18:0) or MUFA (16:1n7 or 18:1n9), and found that levels of secreted IL6 were increased, as was secreted MMP9-mediated proteolytic activity. To test the functional significance, we treated SH-SY5Y neuronal cells with conditioned medium from BV2 cells pretreated with fatty acids, and found a small but significant induction of cell death. Our findings suggest differential intrinsic roles for SFA and MUFA in activated microglial cells, but similar extrinsic roles for these fatty acid species in inducing activation. Expansion of SFA is important during microglial cell activation, but either supplemental SFA or MUFA may contribute to chronic low-grade neuroinflammation.     

Pore pressure and consolidation of saturated silty clay induced by progressively heating/cooling

The thermal pore pressure and consolidation of a saturated silty clay are experimentally studied. The specimen was heated progressively from the room temperature of 25 °C to 85 °C (T = 25 °C → 35 °C → 45 °C … → 85 °C), and then cooled from 85 °C to 25 °C (T = 85 °C → 75 °C → 65 °C … → 25 °C), with (case 1) or without (case 2) drainage between temperature stages at four confining pressures (50, 100, 150 and 200 kPa, respectively). It shows that during the undrained heating/cooling, the pore pressure reaches a peak at the time when the specimen is heated to the required temperature and then decreases slightly, and it declines to a minimum at the time when the specimen is cooled to the required temperature and then increases slightly. Such phenomenon can be attributed to the adjustment of soil structure induced by the interaction of solid grains with pore water. On the other hand, during the drained heating/cooling, the maximum pore pressure increases with the increase of temperature stages, and the normalized negative pore pressures show a decreasing trend with the decrease of temperature stages. This appears to be especially obvious as the applied confining pressures decrease. It is also observed that consolidation volumetric strains during the isothermal drainage increase significantly with the increase of temperature stage, and the reduction in the volumetric strains due to absorption after cooling shows a decreasing trend with the decrease of temperature stage.