Flash cosintering of a lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite nanofibre/Gd-doped ceria bilayer structure

For solid oxide fuel cells, an important structural requirement is that the electrolyte layer needs to be dense and the electrode layer porous, which is difficult to obtain by conventional cosintering. In this work, flash cosintering of a double layer structure consisting of a Gd-doped ceria substrate with a lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite nanofibre coating is investigated. Experimental and finite element modelling results reveal that when the LSCF layer is connected to the electrode, the heat is concentrated in the LSCF layer, which leads to a huge temperature gradient and introduces severe cracking. When the LSCF layer is electrically isolated from the electrode, the heat is concentrated in the GDC layer, and the temperature gradient is dramatically reduced. In this situation, the density of GDC can reach 92.86% while a high porosity of 52.26% is maintained in the LSCF layer, which is higher than that of the conventional cosintered sample.     

基于有限元法的石油射孔枪弹间干扰研究

石油射孔弹顺序起爆后,弹间冲击波相互作用是一个高度非线性的力学过程。基于有限元法对这一过程进行显式动力分析,由计算结果得知,高孔密射孔枪弹间干扰产生的主要原因是下位弹在不对称的压力场起爆。设计的不同孔密和不同爆速的导爆索两种情形的爆轰试验结果表明,弹间间距越小(即孔密的增加),弹间干扰越严重;随着导爆索爆速的降低,下位弹射流头部质量集中的"中间"偏转角度增大,上位弹对其干扰越明显。以上结论可用于高孔密射孔枪的优化设计。     

Mathematical law of size effect on the flexural property of ceramics

Brittle materials generally exhibit size effects, and the mechanical properties of these materials degrade significantly with an increase in size. However, the mathematical law governing the attenuation degree of mechanical properties with the increase in size is still unknown. In this study, maximum loads of differently sized ceramic test strips were subjected to three point bending tests under two working conditions of equal spans and span amplifications, respectively. Subsequently, the theoretical maximum loads of materials were calculated using the finite element method (FEM). By calculating the difference between the calculated values and the actual maximum loads, the attenuation of mechanical properties of ceramic samples were observed. The results show that the theoretical mechanical properties and the performance attenuation caused by the size effect tend to increase according to the following equation: y=ax³+bx²+cx+d. Therefore, mechanical properties and performance attenuation of any sample exhibiting a size within the experimental range can be predicted by a mathematical law, which was obtained through mechanical tests results of four samples with different sizes. The obtained mathematical law holds great significance for predicting the mechanical properties of materials under size effects.     

Facile synthesis of black phosphorus directly grown on carbon paper as an efficient OER Electrocatalyst: Role of Interfacial charge transfer and induced local charge distribution

Black phosphorus (BP), as a new 2D material, is normally synthesized by a high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) method from white and red phosphorus, which severely hinders the further development of BP for any potential applications and leads to search for other potential applications of BP with big challenge. Herein, we develop a facile and efficient Thermal-Vaporization-Transformation (TVT) approach to prepare a highly active BP directly grown on carbon paper as the electrode for Oxygen evolution reaction (OER), showing a low onset potential of 1.45 V versus RHE. Simultaneously, the current density of BP-CP illustrates the excellent electro-catalysis stability only decreases by 3.4% after continuous operation for 10000 s. Meanwhile, the density functional theory (DFT) calculations further illustrates the P-doped carbon layer in the upper side of BP layer is actually responsible for its enhanced OER property, and the adjacent carbon atoms of the embedded P atoms are actually the active sites due to the induced local change distribution by intramolecular change transfer. Considering the facile, but efficient and scalable, TVT approach can directly synthesize BP-CP with excellent OER performance, which is promising for BP electrocatalysts used for OER in metal-air batteries, fuel cells, water-splitting devices, even other key renewable energy.     

Investigation of stress fields for non-standard sized glass plates loaded by ring-on-ring

A ring-on-ring (ROR) test is a prevailing test method for evaluating the equi-biaxial strength of glass materials. However, current ROR test standards limit the strength and size of glass to prevent a nonlinear behavior. In this study, the feasibility of ROR testing for non-standard, high-strength glass, such as tempered or ion-exchanged rectangular glass is investigated. To this end, ROR simulation based on theory and experiment is conducted for thirty non-standard glasses with widths of 100–300 mm and aspect ratios of 1.0–2.0. As a result, the maximum measurable stress was about 215.6 MPa for 100 × 200 mm glass and 481.3 MPa for 300 × 600 mm glass with a 3% deviation, which is well above the strength of regular tempered glass. The main purpose of this work is to understand the range of aspect ratio of horizontal and vertical widths of a glass plate that can be evaluated by the standard ROR test.     

Validation of qPCR method for enterococci quantification at Toronto beaches: Application for rapid recreational water monitoring

Rapid quantitative PCR-based methods for enterococci monitoring can allow public health authorities to make more timely beach posting decisions. However, qPCR methods must be assessed for proposed sites as locale-specific factors may affect DNA recovery or qPCR inhibition. We assessed the feasibility of the USEPA 1609.1 qPCR-based (Enterococcus) method at two urban Toronto beaches and three recreational areas at nearby river mouths in parallel with culture-based methods on the same water samples. A strong positive correlation was observed between the Enterococcus qPCR method and culturing-based quantification methods for E. coli and enterococci at both beaches and two river mouth areas. One river, known to be highly sewage-impacted, did not yield DNA suitable for qPCR analyses. qPCR results from biological replicates were strongly correlated and showed coefficients of variation as low as or lower than culture-based methods. With respect to Beach Action Value exceedances, the USEPA 1609.1 qPCR method provided an 80–90% level of agreement with E. coli enumeration results and >90% with enterococci enumeration. Results indicated that if recreational water locations and sampling conditions met the requirements of the USEPA 1609.1 qPCR method, the method can meet or exceed all quality control requirements and provide water quality results within 3.5 h for diverse recreational water settings around the City of Toronto.     

Design and construction of lightweight EPS geofoam embedded geomaterial embankment system for control of settlements

This paper presents a research study on a bridge site located along US highway 67 over SH 174 in Cleburne, Texas, where bridge approach slabs have experienced more than 0.4 m (17 in.) of settlement within a span of 16 years after construction. Many treatment methods attempted to mitigate this problem had proven to be ineffective. As part of novel rehabilitation works, the top of existing fill soil on the embankment was replaced with lightweight expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam blocks to alleviate the approach slab settlements. This paper describes initial design and construction details of the rehabilitation works performed on the embankment system along with a focus on the early performance details. Field monitoring studies were conducted for almost three years to study the bump/settlements under the EPS geofoam embankment system. Short term measured settlement data was analyzed with hyperbolic model to predict the long term settlements. Numerical finite element studies attempted in this study showed that settlements could be reasonably predicted by modeling these geofoam embankments. Based on the monitoring and modeling studies, the effectiveness of utilizing EPS geofoam as an embankment fill material was addressed to mitigate the differential settlements under a bridge approach slab.     

Realizing fragment spawning and fragment growth in the parallelized Discrete Element Method (DEM) during modelling of comminution

The particle based Discrete Element Method (DEM) can be applied to examine comminution processes. In this study, a DEM framework has been extended to model particle breakage without mass loss. After a breakage event occurs, spherical particles, as often considered in the DEM, are replaced by size reduced spherical fragments. During the following time steps, the fragments grow to their desired sizes, so that the mass loss can be counterbalanced. Previously defined overlaps with adjacent unbroken and broken particles (fragments) as well as walls are allowed. The breakage model has been realized in a parallelized DEM framework because comminution processes are often attributed to large numbers of particles and by parallelization the computational time can be reduced efficiently. An oedometer (one-dimensional compression in axial direction of a confined particle bed) has been modelled to investigate the parallelization efficiency and the influence of the permitted overlaps during the growth process on the growth duration. A simplified roller mill has been considered to examine the applicability of the breakage procedure considering parallelization. The results show that parallelization reduces computational time considerably. The breakage procedure is suitable to model comminution processes involving even densely packed particle systems and is superior to existing approaches.