SMC composites waste management as reinforcing fillers in polypropylene by combination of mechanical and chemical recycling processes

A new process of management of waste of composite materials from Sheet Moulding Compounds (SMC), as reinforcing fillers for thermoplastic materials, including both mechanical and chemical processes is proposed in this paper. Communited SMC being composed of coated glass fibres intimately mixed with calcium carbonate powder, their reinforcing power is low. First, the fibrous part was increased by partial dissolution of calcium carbonate present in the crushed products SMC. Second, a process of partial solvolysis was developed aiming at strong increasing the interfacial mechanical properties by functionalising of SMC load incorporated into polypropylene/grafted maleic anhydride polypropylene (PP/PP_gma). At this effect, we investigated a treatment with a hot triamine (diethylenetriamine, DETA) in order to create a functionalisation, after scission of the bond ester of unsaturated polyester, as bridging amino-succinimide.The effect of this recycling way by partial solvolysis was checked from the mechanical properties of the resulting reinforced PP/PP_gma material: Although a lower of Young modulus, better yield stress and especially resilience were observed.     

An executable subset of VDM-SL in an SA/RT framework

In this article we present the executable specification language IPTES Meta-IV based on the formal specification language VDM-SL. The language has been fitted to work in an SA/RT framework and the article presents how it supports the specification of the data transformation part of SA/RT. Furthermore we present some of the advanced constructs of the language seen as an executable specification language in its own right. Finally we present how an IPTES Meta-IV interpreter is used in combination with a high-level timed Petri net executor to execute SA/RT models.     

An expert PID controller uses refined ziegler and nichols rules and fuzzy logic ideas

This article proposes a scheme for the on-line adjustment of three mode controller settings based on experimental measurements of closed-loop performance. It uses a recently developed heuristic tuning procedure to identify estimated process parameters. This method may give rise to conflicting estimates. Fuzzy Set theory is applied to manage the situation in terms of a fuzzy conjunction to combine the various estimates. PID control was chosen because of its wide use in the industrial environment due to driving simplicity and robustness. The article shows design, development, and computer simulation aspects.     

Phobia-related cognitive bias for pictorial and linguistic stimuli.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether anxiety-related cognitive bias for threat is stronger for threatening pictures than for threatening words. Spider-phobic participants (n?=?31 ) and control participants (n?=?33) performed a pictorial and linguistic spider Stroop task. Spider-phobic participants showed a marked bias for threat. However, this bias was similar for pictures and for words, although the spider-phobic group evaluated the pictures as being more aversive. The results suggest that automatic processing of threatening information in people with phobias is triggered in an on-off fashion, independent of subjective threat of the stimuli. This lack of distinction in automatic processing of weak and strong predictors of danger may be fundamental to the irrational nature of anxiety disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Environmental assessment of an uncontrolled sanitary landfill,Pocos de Caldas,Brazil

There are more than 20,000 uncontrolled sanitary landfill areas in Brazil. The paper reports an integrated study undertaken to develop an environmental assessment of the uncontrolled sanitary landfill area of the city of Po?os de Caldas, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. A number of remedial alternatives were evaluated. The USGS modular 3D finite difference groundwater flow model (Modflow) and Modular 3D Finite Difference Mass Transport Model (MT3D) software were used to simulate groundwater flow and contaminant transport modelling, as well as to predict changes due to the proposed remediation measures. The remedial alternatives considered for normal conditions from 20 to 40 year periods were waste removal, vertical cut-off barriers, extraction wells and top capping. The results indicated that extraction wells and waste removal are the best alternatives because they significantly reduce both the extension and levels of the contamination plume even after 5 years. The extraction well proved a less expensive remedial alternative than waste removal.      

Use of the nuclear microprobe at the University of Arizona for the study of heavy metal deposition in rabbit renal tissue

Industrial wastes consigned to disposal sites frequently contain substantial amounts of heavy metals. We have successfully applied proton induced X-ray emission analysis (PIXE) in the conduct of heavy metal (Hg, Cd, Cr, As) toxicity studies using precision cut rabbit renal cortical slices. The large beam diameter (4000 μm) of the proton macroprobe at The University of Arizona Ion Beam Analysis facility allowed an overall concentration of the metal(s) of interest in the samples to be determined, but lacked the ability to resolve point concentrations in the tissue. The ability to locate these areas has now been made available to us with the addition of a rastering microprobe (μ-PIXE) to the facility. Studies now being conducted in our laboratory using this micro-technique include analysis of renal tissue taken from rabbits injected intraperitoneally with HgCl₂, K₂Cr₂O₇, and NaAsO₂. The small beam size (3 μm) and the ability to raster this beam over areas of up to 125 μm × 125 μm has allowed regional mapping of endogenous and non-endogenous metal concentrations and revealed trends in heavy metal deposition in in vivo treated renal tissue, significantly increasing the amount of information obtained from these animal studies using PIXE alone. The combination of small beam size, high resolution, and multi-element detection makes μ-PIXE a powerful tool for investigating the impact of non-endogenous metals on the kidney.     

Rheological behaviour of processed avocado pulp emulsions

Shear rate vs. shear stress data were obtained on avocado pulp in water emulsions using a concentric cylinder rheometer and fitted to a power law model. Dilution, as volume fraction of water, had a pronounced effect on the apparent viscosity of the pulp emulsions and the Richardson equation, (η_R= exp.( a φ) for the emulsion viscosity fitted the data well. A mean slope coefficient, a , of 4.57 can be used as a first approximation. Enzymatic treatment (40°C, 1 h), is slightly more effective than thermal treatment (65°C, 1 h), in reducing the initial apparent viscosity of the pulp-water emulsions     

Comparisons of Urban Travel Forecasts Prepared with the Sequential Procedure and a Combined Model

Detailed analyses and comparisons of urban travel forecasts prepared by applying the state-of-practice sequential procedure and the solution of a combined network equilibrium model are presented. The sequential procedure for solving the trip distribution, mode choice and assignment problems with feedback is the current practice in most transportation planning agencies, although its important limitations are well known. The solution of a combined model, in contrast, results from a single mathematical formulation, which ensures a well-converged and consistent result. Using a real network, several methods for solving the sequential procedure with feedback are compared to the solution of the combined model ESTRAUS. The results of these methods are shown to have various levels of instability. The paper concludes with a call for a new paradigm of travel forecasting practice based on an internally consistent model formulation that can be solved to a level of precision suitable for comparing alternative scenarios.