Experimental studies of the bond response of three-wire strands and some influencing parameters

The bond behavior of prestressing strands is of great importance for the capacity of precast prestressed concrete structures. In the present study, the bond behavior of three-wire strands, and some influencing parameters, were examined by means of steel encased pull-through and push-in tests. The three mechanisms: adhesion, friction and other mechanical actions were found to be present at the strand-concrete interface at different slip values. The results from the experiments showed that the micro roughness of the strand surface strongly affected the initial bond response of the strand, that is the adhesion in the interface. The maximum bond capacity of indented three-wire strands was found to be directly connected to the geometric properties of the strand indents. The influence of the concrete strength on the bond capacity of the strand was hard to interpret. However, the density of the concrete matrix was found to be a better parameter for determine the influence of the concrete rather than the compressive strength.     

Methods of Verifying Continuous Automatic Belt Weighers: State and Prospects

The basic methods of verifying continuous automatic belt weighers are described. A comparative analysis of these methods on the basis of experimental studies is made and ways of implementing the results in industry are recommended.     

Managing Fashion Goods Inventories: Dynamic Recourse for Retailers with Outlet Stores

The proliferation of both online and bricks and mortar outlet stores underscores the observation that secondary markets are readily accessible to retailers of short-life-cycle products. These secondary markets provide recourse channels for retailers to sell excess inventory of out-of-favor items at reduced prices when overstocking occurs in a primary market. We study the problem of determining when a retailer should terminate its primary selling season by selling remaining inventory on a secondary market. The retailer has a single opportunity to procure prior to a primary selling season consisting of multiple periods. Demand in each period is random, but correlated. At the end of each period, any remaining inventory incurs a holding cost. Then, based upon the current level of inventory and the cumulative demand-to-date, the retailer decides either to terminate the primary selling season by selling all or part of the remaining inventory on a secondary market, or to extend the current primary selling season by another period. We develop structural properties of the optimal policy for determining when to terminate the primary selling season, and we develop corresponding implications for procurement.     

The anisotropic effect of a weak magnetic field on the photoconductivity of C<Subscript>60</Subscript> single crystals

The effect of crystal orientation on the photogeneration of free charge carriers was studied for C₆₀ single crystals in a weak magnetic field. The photoconductivity sharply depends on the orientation of magnetic field with respect to the crystallographic directions, showing a 5–8% increase for seven axes of the C₆₀ crystal.     

State of polarization changes: Classification and measurement

We propose a standardization procedure that provides a convenient, quantitative and reproducible laboratory-based method for measuring the state of polarization (SOP) fluctuations produced by polarization varying devices. This method is based on the SOP distributions generated by commercial polarization scramblers. We show that these devices generate distributions of the maximum change of the SOP (in a given sample time) that follow Rayleigh statistics, which scale linearly with scrambling frequency and the sample time. We use this procedure to measure the SOP fluctuations in a short length of coiled fiber subject to mechanical perturbations.     

Untersuchung der Verteilung und Intensität filamentierter Barrierenplasmen für die Behandlung von Oberflächen

The application of barrier discharges at atmospheric pressure in air expands on the market of plasma technology, because it is an ecological and cost‐effective alternative to other processes of surface treatment. These plasmas usually consist of a multitude of spatially and temporally localized filaments, whose distribution should be as even as possible for homogeneous treatment. This holds especially for the plasma treatment of sensitive goods such as wool or other textiles. In equipment for continuous pass of material the barrier arrangements often consist of a system cylinder – cylinder or cylinder – plane, whereby the gap width changes locally. Space distribution and intensity of filaments has been investigated by means of short‐time photography and spatially resolved measurement of current distribution and energy distribution derived from it. The local dependency found can be explained by means of a capacitive equivalent circuit.     

On the linear correlation between microhardness and mechanical properties in polar polymers and blends

The tensile elastic modulus (E), yield stress (σ_Y) and microhardness (MH) of neat and binary and ternary blends of glassy semicrystalline ethylene–vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), a glassy amorphous polyamide and a semicrystalline nylon‐containing ionomer covering a broad range of properties were examined. The tests were carried out on dry and water‐equilibrated samples to produce stiffer and softer materials, respectively. From the results, more accurate linear correlations were found to describe adequately the microhardness, modulus and yield stress of these strongly self‐associated polymers through hydrogen bonding. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

A comparison of transformation methods for evaluating two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals

Accurate numerical evaluation of integrals arising in the boundary element method is fundamental to achieving useful results via this solution technique. In this paper, a number of techniques are considered to evaluate the weakly singular integrals which arise in the solution of Laplace's equation in three dimensions and Poisson's equation in two dimensions. Both are two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals and are evaluated using (in a product fashion) methods which have recently been used for evaluating one‐dimensional weakly singular integrals arising in the boundary element method. The methods used are based on various polynomial transformations of conventional Gaussian quadrature points where the transformation polynomial has zero Jacobian at the singular point. Methods which split the region of integration into sub‐regions are considered as well as non‐splitting methods. In particular, the newly introduced and highly accurate generalized composite subtraction of singularity and non‐linear transformation approach (GSSNT) is applied to various two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals. A study of the different methods reveals complex relationships between transformation orders, position of the singular point, integration kernel and basis function. It is concluded that the GSSNT method gives the best overall results for the two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals studied. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.