Effect of complexation of oxidised corn starch with mineral elements on physicochemical properties

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of complexation of oxidised starch with mineral elements on its physicochemical properties. Corn starch was oxidised with sodium hypochlorite and, afterwards, modified with ions of potassium, magnesium and iron. Thus, native and modified starches were analysed for: contents of mineral elements, colour parameters (L*a*b*), water binding capacity and solubility in water at temperature of 60 and 80 °C. Thermodynamic characteristics of gelatinisation by DSC, molecular weight distribution by GPC, intrinsic viscosity and pasting properties by RVA were studied. The efficiency of incorporation of metal ions into oxidised corn starch was about 30%, 20% and 20% for potassium, magnesium and iron ions, respectively. The complexation with potassium ions caused the greatest changes in the molecular weight distribution and the intrinsic viscosity of starches and viscosity of starch pastes. Only modification of starch with iron ions affected the colour parameters of the starch. Incorporation of metal ions into starch resulted also in changes in its water binding capacity and solubility in water.     

An element-based displacement preconditioner for linear elasticity problems

Finite element analysis of problems in structural and geotechnical engineering results in linear systems where the unknowns are displacements and rotations at nodes. Although the solution of these systems can be carried out using either direct or iterative methods, in practice the matrices involved are usually very large and sparse (particularly for 3D problems) so an iterative approach is often advantageous in terms of both computational time and memory requirements. This memory saving can be further enhanced if the method used does not require assembly of the full coefficient matrix during the solution procedure. One disadvantage of iterative methods is the need to apply preconditioning to improve convergence. In this paper, we review a range of established element-based preconditioning methods for linear elastic problems and compare their performance with a new method based on preconditioning with element displacement components. This new method appears to offer a significant improvement in performance.     

Numerical Study of Finite Element Method Based Solutions for Propagation of Wetting Fronts in Unsaturated Soil

The accurate prediction of the propagation of a wetting front in an unsaturated soil subjected to surficial infiltration is of practical importance to many geotechnical and geoenvironmental problems. The finite element method is the most common solution technique as the hydraulic soil properties are highly nonlinear. Two important issues are often found to create difficulties in such analyses. First, numerical oscillations are usually observed in the calculated pore pressures at the wetting front. Second, when a reasonable mesh size and time step are used, the elevation of the wetting front may be seriously overpredicted. This paper is focused on the second issue. The under-relaxation (UR) technique used in the iterative process within each time step is found to have a serious impact on rate of convergence with refinement in mesh size and time step. Two different techniques are typically used; the first evaluates the hydraulic conductivity using an average of heads calculated from the preceding time node and the most recent iteration of the current time node (UR1), and the second evaluates the hydraulic conductivity using the average of heads calculated from the two most recent iterations of the current time nodes (UR2). The study shows that UR1, which is adopted in programs such as SEEP/W, ensures that the solution converges rapidly to a stable solution within a time step, but may converge to the wrong wetting front at a given elapsed time unless a sufficiently refined mesh is used. UR2 converges much more slowly within a time step, but the error in the wetting front is smaller than that generated by UR1.     

International legislation on trace elements as contaminants in food: a review

Environmental contaminants such as trace elements may be present in all foods. Foods, raw materials and ingredients for food production are to an increasing extent traded across borders. Hence, there is a need for international legislation on trace elements as contaminants in food. In 1961, the FAO and WHO established the Codex Alimentarius to elaborate international food legislation. Contaminants in food are handled by the Codex Committee for Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC). The Codex Alimentarius system for developing legislation concerning trace elements as contaminants in food is based upon the Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food (GSCTF). By October 2001, the principles for setting maximum limits (MLs) for contaminants in food are agreed, and work is in progress on MLs for trace elements such as lead and cadmium in the various food categories. The status for the proposals is presented and discussed. The EU Regulation 466/2001 of 8 March 2001 sets MLs for lead and cadmium in various foods. This regulation will apply from 5 April 2002. The EU regulation is more detailed but similar to the Codex draft standards for lead and cadmium in food. In future, legislators and administrators in the Codex and EU and analytical chemists will discuss how to use more and better analytical data as risk-management tools to protect public health. Trace elements' speciation is an important aspect of this discussion.     

The solution of the inverse problem of gravitational potential using a set of measurements of different field elements

A numerical solution of the inverse problem of the gravitational field at a single point is obtained using six field elements for a point, a spherical cap, a differential spherical sector and a vertical segment. In the system of six equations obtained, the unknowns are the mass of the body, the depth of its center, and the second, third, and fourth degree moments. The accuracy of the solution of this system is ten times higher than when using three field elements. __________ Translated from Izmeritel’naya Tekhnika, No. 5, pp. 3–8, May, 2007.     

Model Validation for Bridge-Road-Vehicle Dynamic Interaction System

The dynamic response of highway bridges subjected to moving truckloads has been observed to be dependent on (1) dynamic characteristics of the bridge; (2) truck configuration, speed, and lane position on the bridge; and (3) road surface roughness profile of the bridge and its approach. Historically, truckloads were measured to determine the load spectra for girder bridges. However, truckload measurements are either made for a short period of time [for example, weigh-in-motion (WIM) data] or are statistically biased (for example, weigh stations) and cost prohibitive. The objective of this paper is to present results of a 3D computer-based model for the simulation of multiple trucks on girder bridges. The model is based on the grillage approach and is applied to four steel girder bridges tested under normal truck traffic. Actual truckload data collected using a discrete bridge WIM system are used in the model. The data include axle loads, truck gross weight, axle configuration, and statistical data on multiple presence (side by side or following). The results are presented as a function of the static and dynamic stresses in each girder and compared with code provisions for dynamic load factor. The study provides an alternate method for the development of live-load models for bridge design and evaluation.     

Dynamic crack propagation with cohesive elements: a methodology to address mesh dependency

In this paper, two brittle fracture problems are numerically simulated: the failure of a ceramic ring under centrifugal loading and crack branching in a PMMA strip. A three‐dimensional finite element package in which cohesive elements are dynamically inserted has been developed. The cohesive elements' strength is chosen to follow a modified weakest link Weibull distribution. The probability of introducing a weak cohesive element is set to increase with the cohesive element size. This reflects the physically based effect according to which larger elements are more likely to contain defects. The calculations illustrate how the area dependence of the Weibull model can be used to effectively address mesh dependency. On the other hand, regular Weibull distributions have failed to reduce mesh dependency for the examples shown in this paper. The ceramic ring calculations revealed that two distinct phenomena appear depending on the magnitude of the Weibull modulus. For low Weibull modulus, the fragmentation of the ring is dominated by heterogeneities. Whereas many cracks were generated, few of them could propagate to the outer surface. Monte Carlo simulations revealed that for highly heterogeneous rings, the number of small fragments was large and that few large fragments were generated. For high Weibull modulus, signifying that the ring is close to being homogeneous, the fragmentation process was very different. Monte Carlo simulations highlighted that a larger number of large fragments are generated due to crack branching. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sphere packing with a geometric based compression algorithm

An efficient algorithm for the random packing of spheres can significantly save the cost of the preparation of an initial configuration often required in discrete element simulations. It is not trivial to generate such random packing at a large scale, particularly when spheres of various sizes and geometric domains of different shapes are present. Motivated by the idea of compression complemented by an efficient physical process to increase packing density, shaking, a new approach, termed compression algorithm, is proposed in this work to randomly fill any arbitrary polyhedral or cylindrical domains with spheres of various sizes. The algorithm features both simplicity and high efficiency. Tests show that it takes 181 s on a 1.4-GHz PC to complete the filling of a cylindrical domain with a total number of 26,787 spheres, achieving a packing density of 52.89%.     

Prediction of necking of high strength steel tubes during hydroforming—multi-axial loading

This article studies tubular hydroforming of high strength low alloy (HSLA) and dual phase (DP600) straight tubes under the action of end feeding loads. Experiments demonstrate that higher end feed loads enhance the formability of the tubes and increase the internal fluid pressure for onset of necking and bursting. Because of the action of the internal pressure and the axial compressive load, the onset of localization (necking) is due to a complex three-dimensional state of stress. Using free expansion experiments, approximate upper and lower bound strain-based forming limit curves are determined for the tube materials. These limit curves, in turn, are used to derive upper and lower bound extended stress-based forming limit curves [Simha et al., Prediction of necking in tubular hydroforming using an extended stress-based FLC. Transactions of the ASME Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology 2007;129(1): 36-47]. In conjunction with finite element computations that use solid elements to model the tube, these stress-based limit curves are used to predict upper and lower bound necking pressures under the action of end feed loading. These predictions of necking pressures, when an appropriate coefficient of tube-die friction is used, are found to bracket the experimentally measured necking pressures. Computations using plane stress shell elements to model the tubes are shown to give erroneous results, since the plane stress approximation is not valid when tubes are hydroformed in a die.