Effect of retempering with superplasticizer admixtures on slump loss and compressive strength of concrete subjected to prolonged mixing

To have concrete possesses the specified engineering properties, its slump loss has to be compensated somehow at construction site so that concrete could be placed and compacted properly. Several attempts have been tried so far to render concrete workable at construction site including starting with a high initial slump at the stationary plant, or retempering with water and/or with chemical admixtures at construction site. In this investigation, ASTM C 494 Type F superplasticizer was used for retempering concrete to restore its initial slump. Concrete mixes having an initial slump of about 19 cm were prepared and subjected to prolonged mixing with different mixing duration such as 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 min following an initial mixing of 5 min to ensure homogeneity. At the end of each mixing period, cube specimens of 15 cm were cast from concrete retempered to its initial slump level and tested at the age of 28 days for compressive strength. Results revealed that compared to the concrete retempered with water, those retempered with a superplasticizer admixture have yielded significantly higher strength regardless of the mixing duration.     

Graphene oxide-containing isocyanate-based polyimide foams: Enhanced thermal stability and flame retardancy

Isocyanate-based graphene oxide-containing polyimide foams were synthesized by a semi-prepolymer method. In this method, while the first solution containing pre-polymer was derived from pyromellitic dianhydride and excess polymethylene polyphenylene isocyanate (PM200), the second solution contains dianhydride derivatives, water, catalysts, surfactants, and graphene oxide. PIFs were prepared with 0%, 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, and 1% graphene oxide by weight, respectively. PIFs exhibited a minimum side reaction and urea generation was not seen for all PIFs instead of imide bonding. The addition of graphene oxide (GO) leads to a more close-packed structure. Therefore, crosslinking density and thermal stability of graphene oxide-containing polyimide foams increased. Upon the addition of 1% GO, almost seven times higher compression strength was obtained compared to neat PIFs. Also, LOI values supported the theory that thermally stable and flame retardant PIFs can be synthesized via the isocyanate-based process with GO.     

The effects of cryogenic treatment on the toughness and tribological behaviors of eutectoid steel

Cryogenic treatment is a supplementary heat treatment usually applied after quenching. Its effects are permanent and this process affects the entire section. There have been many studies related to cryogenic treatment, most of which have been focused on tool steels. In the current study, a high-speed-train railway material was investigated, and different heat treatment processes were applied to the eutectoid steel. The effects of quenching and cryogenic treatment were investigated on the mechanical properties (toughness, hardness and wear). Four different structures were obtained with different heat treatment cycles: Pearlitic, tempered martensite, 12 hour cryo-treated tempered and 36 hour cryo-treated tempered. As a result of Charpy v-notch tests and hardness tests, cryogenic treatment was found to improve the toughness and hardness of quenched samples. The results of the ball-on-disc wear tests showed that the cryo-treated samples have better wear resistance than pearlitic and martensitic samples.     

Structural and thermochemical properties, and energetics of C8(NO2)8 and C20(NO2)4n (n = 0–4)

Density-functional-theory calculations, at the B3LYP level with the 6–31 G basis set, have been performed to investigate the structural and electronic properties of octanitrocubane, C₈(NO₂)₈, and polynitrofullerenes of type C₂₀(NO₂)_4n, with n = 0–4, in their ground states. Having determined their energetically optimized geometric structures, energetics, and vibrational frequencies, we have calculated the enthalpies of combustion and decomposition of these molecules. Extrapolating from the so-obtained data, we have also estimated, as a by-product, the enthalpy values of C₂₀(NO₂)₂₀.     

A new implementation of common matrix approach using third-order tensors for face recognition

In the classical common matrix approach (CMA), the common matrix for each individual face class is obtained using basis matrices calculated by Gram–Schmidt orthogonalization of the class covariance matrix. This common matrix represents the common or invariant properties of a given face class. The CMA idea relies on the concept of basis matrices of a face class which span the, so called, difference subspace of that class. In this paper, an alternative method to obtain the basis matrices for CMA is proposed. The basis matrices are obtained using the higher order singular value decomposition (HOSVD) of a third-order tensor constructed with face images and these basis matrices are utilized in the construction of CMA. In order to exemplify the improvements in the recognition rates, face recognition experiments are carried out via the AR face database. The original face matrices, as well as 2DPCA-, 2DSVD-, and 2DFDA-based feature matrices are applied as the input matrices for the two different implementations of CMA in the experimental studies. The results indicate that the recognition rates obtained by the proposed method are slightly higher than those obtained using the basis matrices calculated by Gram–Schmidt orthogonalization.     

Investigation of the correlation between thermal properties and hardenability of Jominy bars quenched with air–water mixture for AISI 1050 steel

In this study, the hardenability of AISI 1050 steel has been investigated in different cooling media using Jominy test. The temperature values were recorded using the thermocouples that were placed on sample. The relations between the cooling media and the cooling curves, heat flux, hardenability and heat convection coefficient were shown in graphics. The correlation between thermal properties and hardenability was established. When Jominy water pressure decreased, hardenability decreased in Jominy bar. But hardenability of steel quenched by air–water mixture cooling media was observed that increasing surprisingly. As a result of air–water mixture quenching, heat transfer accelerated and the hardenability increased in the Jominy bar.