Full scale investigation of GCL damage mechanisms in small earth dam retrofit applications under earthquake loading

This paper reports results of full scale testing to further explore potential GCL damage mechanisms in earth dam retrofit applications in seismically active areas; in particular, to a) investigate whether shear displacements could reduce the magnitude of GCL panel overlap during earthquake shaking; b) explore the influence of gravel particles on GCL thickness at localised point of contact; and c) observe the consequences of an accidental exposure of an uncovered GCL to short duration rainfall in terms of moisture content and effects during subsequent compaction. The results of these experiments indicate that even under severe shaking no movements were detected at the GCL panel overlap. Whereas gravel particles were observed to locally reduce the thickness of the GCL to 2.2 mm, no plowing of the particle into the GCL occurred due to a lack of shear displacement at the interface, resulting in no localised internal erosion through the barrier. Furthermore, hydration of GCL panels during construction due to surface wetting was observed to result in a state of hydration less than its post-construction state. These results indicate that although each of the three GCL damage mechanisms cannot be ruled out to ever be relevant in practice, the performance of the GCL retrofitted earth dam tested was satisfactory under even severe Level 2 earthquake shaking, and suggests that the retrofitting of small earth dams with GCLs is a promising strategy to improve their static and seismic resistance.     

Fine-tuned,molecular-composite,organosilica membranes for highly efficient propylene/propane separation via suitable pore size

Fine-tuned, molecular-composite, organosilica membranes were fabricated via the co-condensation of organosilica precursors bis(triethoxysilyl)acetylene (BTESA) and bis(triethoxysilyl)benzene (BTESB). Fourier transform infrared and UV–vis spectra confirmed the co-condensation behaviors of BTESA and BTESB. The evolution of the network structure indicated that the incorporated BTESB decreased the membrane pore size, which was determined by a modified gas translation model according to the steric effect of the phenyl groups. The incorporation of BTESB to BTESA finely tuned the membrane structure and endowed the resultant composite membrane with improved separation properties. The BTESAB 9:1 membrane (molar ratio of BTESA/BTESB was 9:1) exhibited high C₃H₆ permeance at 4.5 × 10⁻⁸ mol m⁻² s⁻¹ Pa⁻¹ and a C₃H₆/C₃H₈ permeance ratio of 33 at 50°C. One of the most important developments of this study involved clearly defining the relationship between membrane pore size and C₃H₆/C₃H₈ separation performance for organosilica membranes in single and binary separation systems.     

High-performance molecular-separation ceramic membranes derived from oxidative cross-linked polytitanocarbosilane

Polytitanocarbosilane (TiPCS)-derived ceramic membranes were fabricated using a pre-ceramic polymer. Special attention was focused on a process of thermal-oxidative curing that was used to induce cross-linking and the effect of this process on the ceramic yield, thermal stability, oxidation resistance, and microstructure of TiPCS. The cross-linked TiPCS powders showed a ceramic yield and thermal stability that were higher than that from the non-cross-linked version. In addition, the cross-linked TiPCS with uniform micropores showed higher levels of N₂ and CO₂ adsorption capacity, BET surface area, and micropore volume than the non-cross-linked versions, and the cross-linking process enhanced the stability of the pore structure at high temperature. The cross-linked TiPCS membranes showed high H₂ permeance (1.49 × 10⁻⁶ mol/(m² s Pa)) with sub-nanopores (H₂/SF₆ selectivity: 12 000, H₂/N₂: 10), and in addition higher oxidation resistance than their non-cross-linked counterparts. Furthermore, the influence of the concentration of the TiPCS precursor coating solution was optimized and the hydrothermal stability of the membranes at high temperatures was also evaluated. The optimized membrane demonstrated great performance for the pervaporation removal of methanol in binary azeotropic systems of either MeOH/butyl acetate or MeOH/toluene, and it also showed high hydrothermal stability with excellent dehumidification performance under high temperatures.     

Methylcyclohexane dehydrogenation for hydrogen production via a bimodal catalytic membrane reactor

The dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane (MCH) to toluene (TOL) for hydrogen production was theoretically and experimentally investigated in a bimodal catalytic membrane reactor (CMR), that combined Pt/Al₂O₃ catalysts with a hydrogen‐selective organosilica membrane prepared via sol‐gel processing using bis(triethoxysilyl) ethane (BTESE). Effects of operating conditions on the membrane reactor performance were systematically investigated, and the experimental results were in good agreement with those calculated by a simulation model with a fitted catalyst loading. With H₂ extraction from the reaction stream to the permeate stream, MCH conversion at 250°C was significantly increased beyond the equilibrium conversion of 0.44–0.86. Because of the high H₂ selectivity and permeance of BTESE‐derived membranes, a H₂ flow with purity higher than 99.8% was obtained in the permeate stream, and the H₂ recovery ratio reached 0.99 in a pressurized reactor. A system that combined the CMR with a fixed‐bed prereactor was proposed for MCH dehydrogenation. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 1628–1638, 2015     

Visual image of neighbors to elicit wandering behavior in the soldier crab

The soldier crab appears in great numbers and feeds while wandering during daytime low tide. When they see an approaching object, they screw themselves into the sand. The mechanism of formation of mass wandering has not been clarified. In this study, to investigate if the soldier crabs use visual images of neighbors as a stimulus for wandering, dummy crabs were presented to crabs. In the experiments, one, two, four, or eight dummies were placed in a circle on a sand arena. Each crab was placed in the center of the arena and observed whether it burrowed into the sand or wandered. The proportions of wandering individuals in each experimental treatment were compared with the expected value. Significantly more crabs were wanderers when only two and four dummies were present. This result suggests that soldier crabs chose burrowing or wandering depending on visual image of the distribution of the neighbors.     

Effect of the dilation caused by helium bubbles on edge dislocation motion in α-iron: molecular dynamics simulation

Various types of nanometric defects such as voids and helium (He) bubbles produced by high-energy neutron irradiations are known to degrade the mechanical properties of irradiated materials. In this study, we have evaluated the obstacle strength of He bubbles to the mobility of an edge dislocation in α-iron for 2 and 4 nm bubbles with He-to-vacancy (He/V) ratios ranging from 0 to 1 at 300 and 500 K, by molecular dynamics simulation. Results showed that as the He/V ratio increases, the obstacle strength needed for the release of a dislocation from the bubble becomes stronger up to a moderate He/V ratio (0.6 and 0.4 for 2 and 4 nm bubbles, respectively, at both temperatures), and a further increase in the He/V ratio leads to weakening of the obstacle strength. For He/V = 1, the obstacle strengths are 10–30% weaker than those at moderate He/V ratios depending on the bubble size and temperature. The extent of obstacle strength was found to be correlated with the dilation caused by He bubbles depending on the bubble size, He/V ratio, and temperature.     

Oxygen doped Ge crystals Czochralski-grown from the B2O3-fully-covered melt

Local vibrations of oxygen in Ge crystals grown from a melt fully covered by B₂O₃ were evaluated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Ge single crystals containing oxygen were grown by the Czochralski method under various growth conditions. Oxygen concentrations in the crystals were determined to be in the range between 8.5 × 10¹⁵ and 5.5 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ from the infrared absorption at 855 cm⁻¹ originating in local vibration of Ge-O_i-Ge quasi-molecules. Absorption peaks relating to GeO_x, SiO_x and Si-O_i-Si were not detected in the as-grown crystals. The calibration coefficient for determining oxygen concentration in Ge crystals from the absorption peak intensity at 1264 cm⁻¹ was estimated to be 1.15 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻².     

Evaluation and fabrication of pore‐size‐tuned silica membranes with tetraethoxydimethyl disiloxane for gas separation

Organic/inorganic hybrid silica membranes were prepared from 1,1,3,3‐tetraethoxy‐1,3‐dimethyl disiloxane (TEDMDS) by the sol‐gel technique with firing at 300–550°C in N₂. TEDMDS‐derived silica membranes showed high H₂ permeance (0.3–1.1 × 10^?6 mol m^?2 s^?1 Pa^?1) with low H₂/N₂ (～10) and high H₂/SF₆ (～1200) perm‐selectivity, confirming successful tuning of micropore sizes larger than TEOS‐derived silica membranes. TEDMDS‐derived silica membranes prepared at 550°C in N₂ increased gas permeances as well as pore sizes after air exposure at 450°C. TEDMDS had an advantage in tuning pore size by the “template” and “spacer” techniques, due to the pyrolysis of methyl groups in air and Si? O? Si bonding, respectively. For pore size evaluation of microporous membranes, normalized Knudsen‐based permeance, which was proposed based on the gas translation model and verified with permeance of zeolite membranes, reveals that pore sizes of TEDMDS membranes were successfully tuned in the range of 0.6–1.0 nm. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2011     

Photocatalytic hydrogen production from water with nonfood hydrocarbons as oxidizing sacrifice agents

To enhance photocatalytic water splitting, various oxidizing sacrifice agents (OSA) have been added to the system in order to scavenge the coproduced O₂, and, thus, to hinder the reverse reactions. In the aim of achieving carbon‐neutral photocatalytic water splitting, nonfood hydrocarbons of castor‐ and jojoba‐oils were evaluated as OSA. Moreover, various surfactants were tested as emulsifiers for W/O binary solution for promoting photocatalytic water splitting rate. Among the OSA used, the castor‐oil was found to be more suitable candidate compared to jojoba‐oil, which was attributed to its smaller carbon chain numbers of mainly 18. Without surfactants, around 20 vol %‐castor‐oil aqueous binary solution with TiO₂/Pt(0.10 wt %) provided the highest water splitting rate of about 30 mL‐H₂/(m²·h). Among tested surfactants, liquid‐detergent was the best due to its optical transparency. 40 vol %‐ or 60 vol %‐castor‐oil emulsion with a drop of liquid‐detergent resulted in a water splitting rate of 125 mL‐H₂/(m²·h), which was four times greater that the aforementioned highest value. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2011