Stress field and damage evolution in C/SiC woven composites: Image-based finite element analysis and in situ X-ray computed tomography tests

The construction and examination of meso-structural finite element models of a Chemical-Vapor-Infiltrated (CVI) C/SiC composite is carried out based on X-ray microtomography digital images (IB-FEM). The accurate meso-structural features of the C/SiC composites, which are consisted of carbon fiber tows and CVI-SiC matrix, in particular the cavity defects, are reconstructed. With the IB-FEM, the damage evolution and fracture behaviors of the C/SiC composite are investigated. At the same time, an in situ tensile test is applied to the C/SiC composite under a CT real-time quantitative imaging system, aiming to investigate the damage and failure features of the material as well as to verify the IB-FEM. The IB-FEM results indicate that material damage initially occur at the defects, followed by propagating toward the fiber-tow/SiC-matrix interfaces, ultimately, combined into macro-cracks, which is in good agreement with the in situ CT experiment results.     

Direct View on the Origin of High Li+ Transfer Impedance in All-Solid-State Battery

Large interfacial resistance plays a dominant role in the performance of all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries. However, the mechanism of interfacial resistance has been under debate. Here, the Li⁺ transport at the interfacial region is investigated to reveal the origin of the high Li⁺ transfer impedance in a LiCoO₂(LCO)/LiPON/Pt all-solid-state battery. Both an unexpected nanocrystalline layer and a structurally disordered transition layer are discovered to be inherent to the LCO/LiPON interface. Under electrochemical conditions, the nanocrystalline layer with insufficient electrochemical stability leads to the introduction of voids during electrochemical cycles, which is the origin of the high Li⁺ transfer impedance at solid electrolyte-electrode interfaces. In addition, at relatively low temperatures, the oxygen vacancies migration in the transition layer results in the formation of Co₃O₄ nanocrystalline layer with nanovoids, which contributes to the high Li⁺ transfer impedance. This work sheds light on the mechanism for the high interfacial resistance and promotes overcoming the interfacial issues in all-solid-state batteries.     

Hydrodynamics study of a fast liquid–liquid oxidation process with in situ gas production in microreactors

Hydrodynamics characteristics of a fast and highly exothermic liquid–liquid oxidation process with in situ gas production in microreactors were studied using a newly developed experimental method. In the adipic acid synthesis through the K/A oil (the mixture of cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone) oxidation with nitric acid, bubble generation modes were divided into four categories. The gas production became more intensive, unstable, even explosive with increasing the oil phase feed rate and the temperature. A novel automatic image processing method was developed to monitor the instantaneous velocity online by tracking the gas–liquid interface. The axial velocity at the same location was unstable due to the changing gas production rate. Furthermore, the actual residence time was obtained easily with being only 36% of the space–time minimally, beneficial for establishing accurate kinetics and mass transfer models with time participation. Finally, an empirical correlation was developed to predict the actual residence time under different conditions.     

凌庄子水厂保水堰流量系数试验

凌庄子水厂蓄水池进水口处有一保水堰,为非标准薄壁堰,不能使用已有堰流公式对其过流量进行准确计算。为了得出较为精确的过流流量,按照重力相似准则制作几何比尺为1∶5的模型进行试验研究。在已有自由出流公式的基础上,对自由出流流量系数进行修正并对淹没情况下流量变化过程进行研究。对该非标准堰自由出流流量系数的实测值与经验值进行分析比较,发现堰板槽降低了实际自由出流过流能力。淹没出流的流量系数主要与下游尾水位有关,试验中形成的淹没式堰流受实际堰型尺寸影响,下游尾水位和堰上水位近似相等,不完全适用已有淹没出流流量公式,通过试验给出了修正淹没系数随h/p的变化关系。结果表明利用堰前、堰后水位初步计算过流流量是可行的,可为该工程提供参考,也可为实际工程中非标准矩形堰的流量计算提供思路。     

Enhanced mechanical properties of porous titanium implants via in-situ synthesized titanium carbide in lamellar pore walls

Directional lamellar porous titanium scaffolds are widely used as bone implant bearing materials because of their anisotropic pore structure. Their mechanical properties can be effectively improved by enhancing the strength of pore walls through the introduction of ceramics. In this work, porous titanium implants were prepared by freeze casting combined with TiH₂ decomposition. The graphene was introduced into the pore walls of porous titanium, which could transform into titanium carbide (TiC) in situ upon sintering. TiC was evenly distributed in the lamellar pore walls, and the interface was well bonded. The compression strength of the fabricated implants was up to 389.94 MPa when the graphene content was 3 wt%, which was 377.8% times as high as the porous titanium. The crack propagation was resisted by TiC because of the “pinning” effect on the pore wall. Some of TiC were pulled out from the matrix, and others were fractured. The strength of the fabricated implants was improved significantly by the large consumption of fracture energy. Also, fabricated porous titanium implants with TiC are suitable for bone implantation.     

Facile fabrication of MOF-decorated nickel iron foam for highly efficient oxygen evolution

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as efficient electrocatalysts due to the features of high specific surface area, rich pore structure and diversified composition. It is still challenging to synthesize self-supporting MOF-based catalysts using simple and low-cost fabrication methods. Herein, we successfully fabricated Ni-doped MIL-53(Fe) supported on nickel-iron foam (Ni-MIL-53(Fe)/NFF) as efficient electrocatalyst. A facile two-step solvothermal method without adding any metal salts was used, which can simplify the fabrication process and reduce the experimental cost. In the fabrication process, the bimetallic Ni-MIL-53(Fe)/NFF was in situ converted from an intermediate NiFe₂O₄/NFF. The obtained material exhibits outstanding electrocatalytic oxygen evolution performance with a low overpotential of 248 mV at 50 mA cm^?2, and a small Tafel slope of 46.4 mV dec^?1. This work sheds light on the simple and efficient preparation of bimetallic MOF-based material, which is promising in electrocatalysts.     

基于TRNSYS的茯砖茶生产工艺能源系统节能环保特性研究

茯砖茶发酵、干燥过程中，烘房内温湿度稳定性和能源系统低能耗是保证茯砖茶品质与成本的重要因素。本文采用TRNSYS仿真与实验研究相结合的方法，对咸阳某茯砖茶厂实际使用的空气源热泵系统进行建模，通过研究各季节典型代表月烘房温湿度的波动情况，确定该空气源热泵系统在全年的运行状态是否满足工艺要求，在此基础上，对比了该系统在全年可运行季节代表月与该生产厂房早期使用的燃气锅炉系统的能耗仿真结果，对空气源热泵系统的节能与环保特性进行研究。结果表明：由于夏季送风质量流量过大且室外空气含湿量较高，7月烘房温湿度不满足工艺要求。热泵系统在1、4、10月的总标煤消耗量的平均值是锅炉系统的44.42%，平均CO2、SO2、NOx排放量分别为锅炉系统的34.13%、44.1%、40.60%。在茯砖茶发酵、干燥的过程中，相比于燃气锅炉系统，空气源热泵系统具有更好的节能与环保特性。     

Comparative analysis of inbreeding parameters and runs of homozygosity islands in 2 Italian autochthonous cattle breeds mainly raised in the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese production region

Reggiana and Modenese are autochthonous cattle breeds, reared in the North of Italy, that can be mainly distinguished for their standard coat color (Reggiana is red, whereas Modenese is white with some pale gray shades). Almost all milk produced by these breeds is transformed into 2 mono-breed branded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses, from which farmers receive the economic incomes needed for the sustainable conservation of these animal genetic resources. After the setting up of their herd books in 1960s, these breeds experienced a strong reduction in the population size that was subsequently reverted starting in the 1990s (Reggiana) or more recently (Modenese) reaching at present a total of about 2,800 and 500 registered cows, respectively. Due to the small population size of these breeds, inbreeding is a very important cause of concern for their conservation programs. Inbreeding is traditionally estimated using pedigree data, which are summarized in an inbreeding coefficient calculated at the individual level (F_PED). However, incompleteness of pedigree information and registration errors can affect the effectiveness of conservation strategies. High-throughput SNP genotyping platforms allow investigation of inbreeding using genome information that can overcome the limits of pedigree data. Several approaches have been proposed to estimate genomic inbreeding, with the use of runs of homozygosity (ROH) considered to be the more appropriate. In this study, several pedigree and genomic inbreeding parameters, calculated using the whole herd book populations or considering genotyping information (GeneSeek GGP Bovine 150K) from 1,684 Reggiana cattle and 323 Modenese cattle, were compared. Average inbreeding values per year were used to calculate effective population size. Reggiana breed had generally lower genomic inbreeding values than Modenese breed. The low correlation between pedigree-based and genomic-based parameters (ranging from 0.187 to 0.195 and 0.319 to 0.323 in the Reggiana and Modenese breeds, respectively) reflected the common problems of local populations in which pedigree records are not complete. The high proportion of short ROH over the total number of ROH indicates no major recent inbreeding events in both breeds. ROH islands spread over the genome of the 2 breeds (15 in Reggiana and 14 in Modenese) identified several signatures of selection. Some of these included genes affecting milk production traits, stature, body conformation traits (with a main ROH island in both breeds on BTA6 containing the ABCG2, NCAPG, and LCORL genes) and coat color (on BTA13 in Modenese containing the ASIP gene). In conclusion, this work provides an extensive comparative analysis of pedigree and genomic inbreeding parameters and relevant genomic information that will be useful in the conservation strategies of these 2 iconic local cattle breeds.     

Maskless Preparation of Spatially-Resolved Plasmonic Nanoparticles on Polydimethylsiloxane via In Situ Fluoride-Assisted Synthesis

Here, a fluoride-assisted route for the controlled in-situ synthesis of metal nanoparticles (NPs) (i.e., AgNPs, AuNPs) on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is reported. The size and coverage of the NPs on the PDMS surface are modulated with time and over space during the synthetic process, leveraging the improved yield (10×) and faster kinetics (100×) of NP formation in the presence of F⁻ ions, compared to fluoride-free approaches. This enables the maskless preparation of both linear and step gradients and patterns of NPs in 1D and 2D on the PDMS surface. As an application in flexible plasmonics/photonics, continuous and step-wise spatial modulations of the plasmonic features of PDMS slabs with 1D and 2D AgNP gradients on the surface are demonstrated. An excellent spatially resolved tuning of key optical parameters, namely, optical density from zero to 5 and extinction ratio up to 100 dB, is achieved with AgNP gradients prepared in AgF solution for 12 minutes; the performance are comparable to those of commercial dielectric/interference filters. When used as a rejection filter in optical fluorescence microscopy, the AgNP-PDMS slabs are able to reject the excitation laser at 405 nm and retain the green fluorescence of microbeads (100 µm) used as test cases.     

In situ fibrillation of isotactic polypropylene in ethylene-vinyl acetate: Toward enhanced rheological and mechanical properties

In situ microfibrillar reinforced composites with ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) as matrix and isotactic polypropylene (iPP) as dispersed fibrils were successfully fabricated by multistage stretching extrusion with an assembly of laminating-multiplying elements (LMEs). Four types of EVA with different apparent viscosity were utilized to study the influence of viscosity ratio on the morphology and mechanical properties of EVA/iPP in situ microfibrillar blends. The scanning electron micrographs revealed that the dividing–multiplying processes in LMEs could effectively transform the morphology of iPP phase into microfibrils and the morphology of iPP microfibrils strongly depended on the viscosity ratio. Higher viscosity ratio was favorable for formation of finer microfibrils with narrower diameter distribution. The morphology development of iPP with different viscosity ratio greatly affected the rheological and mechanical properties of EVA/iPP blends. The dynamic rheological results shown that the iPP microfibrils were helpful to increase the storage modulus and loss modulus. The tensile test indicated that the mechanical properties of EVA/iPP blends were controlled by the morphology of iPP phase and the polarity of EVA matrix. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47557.