Application of waste products from agricultural-food industry for production of rigid polyurethane-polyisocyanurate foams

Solid parts of the wheat slops (90% w/w of dry mass and 10% w/w of water) were applied as a filler (5–30% w/w in relation to the sum of polyisocyanate and polyol masses) in PUR-PIR composition. Six foams containing different amounts of slops were prepared by this method and then, their physical–mechanical properties i.e. apparent density, compressive strength, brittleness, after-combustion residue, stability of linear dimensions, change of volume, loss in mass (48 h, temp 120 °C), softening point, content of the closed cells and absorbability of water were determined. Moreover, the foams were subjected to thermogravimetric and infrared analyses.     

Microstructure and Corrosion Behavior of Hot-Deformed and Cold-Strained High-Mn Steels

The electrochemical corrosion properties of 26Mn-3Si-3Al and 27Mn-4Si-2Al austenitic steels in two different states were studied in 0.1 M H₂SO₄ and 3.5% NaCl using potentiodynamic polarization tests. The effect of cold deformation on the microstructure and corrosion behavior of steels was analyzed. In acid solution, both steels exhibited lower corrosion resistance than in chloride solution independently on the steel state (hot-rolled, cold-worked). Cold deformation decreases the corrosion resistance, though this effect is smaller than the effect of chemical composition related to the combined Al + Si addition. All steels showed the evidence of pitting corrosion. The intensive dissolution of Fe and Mn takes place in the acid medium.     

A Comparison of Surface Tension,Viscosity, and Density of Sn and Sn–Ag Alloys Using Different Measurement Techniques

This work is aimed at comparing several methods for the measurement of physical properties for molten Sn and Sn–Ag alloys, namely, surface tension, density, and viscosity. The method used for viscosity in this work is the modified capillary method. For surface tension and density, the data used for comparison were previously measured using the maximum bubble pressure method and the dilatometer technique, respectively, for four Sn–Ag alloys having (3.8, 32, 55, and 68) at% Ag. The results are compared with those obtained using a new method based on a fluid draining from a crucible under the influence of gravity, designated the Roach–Henein (RH) method. This new method enables the determination of these three physical properties in one set of measurements. Liquid Sn was used as well as two liquid Sn–Ag alloys having (3.8 and 34.6) at% Ag with the RH method. It was determined that the RH method may be used to simultaneously obtain surface tension, viscosity, and density and that the errors associated with these measurements were similar to those obtained using traditional and separate techniques. Comparisons of the measured viscosity and surface tension to those predicted using thermodynamic models will also be presented. Finally a comparison of mixing model predictions with the experimentally measured alloy surface tension and viscosity is also presented.     

A 99 line code for discretized Michell truss optimization written in Mathematica

The main purpose of the paper is to provide an easy-to-use code for topological optimization of the least weight trusses, written in the Mathematica programming language. The main idea of the presented approach consists in using a fixed ground structure and the linear programming formulation of the optimization problem. The solver is based on the fast interior point method. The strong effort is done to create the effective generator of the computational model utilizing the high regularity of the ground structure and the high sparsity of the geometric matrix. The efficiency and reliability of the algorithm is confirmed in several numerical tests. Due to a linear programming formulation of the optimization problem the method presented in the paper assures finding the global optimum, hence it may be considered as the useful tool for verification of results obtained in other ways. The appended complete Mathematica code of the program developed will be supplied by the Publisher on SpringerLink.     

Scaling of activation energy for macroscopic flow in poly(ethylene glycol) solutions: Entangled – Non-entangled crossover

We postulate an empirical scaling equation, which accurately describes flow of polymer solutions, complimenting the paradigm of length-scale-dependent viscosity. We investigated poly(ethylene glycol) aqueous solutions and observed an exponential dependence of viscosity on the hydrodynamic radius of a single coil R_h divided by the correlation length ξ. Properties of the system changed abruptly with the onset of chain entanglement at concentration corresponding to ξ = R_h. We propose a single equation valid for all the investigated systems, analyze the physical meaning of parameters appearing therein and discuss the impact of chain entanglement. Viscous flow is treated as an activated process, following the Eyring rate theory. We show that the difference of activation energy for flow between pure solvent and polymer solution, ΔE_a, is a function of concentration, whose derivative has a discontinuity at the crossover concentration. For dilute PEG solutions ΔE_a takes values of up to several kJ/mol and is proportional to the intrinsic viscosity. We successfully apply the scaling approach to the diffusive motion of a protein (aldolase) in solutions of 25 kg/mol PEO (concentrations of 2–20%), investigated by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). A significant difference in the influence of crowding on translational and rotational motion of the protein is revealed.     

Digestibility of common native starches with reference to starch granule size,shape and surface features towards guidelines for starch-containing food products

Influence of diverse botanical sources (wheat, maize, waxy maize, cassava, potato, rice or waxy rice) on in vitro native starch digestibility has been investigated. Physicochemical properties (chemical composition, particles size and shape, surface features) of starch granules were determined with a view to explaining digestibility differences between samples. Rapidly digestible starch (RDS), slowly digestible starch (SDS) and resistant starch (RS) contents were measured according to Englyst method. Potato starch was shown to be composed of large rounded granules having smooth surfaces, which explains its slow enzymatic breakdown. Potato starch displayed the highest RS (86%) content and the lowest RDS content (9.9%). Since RS positively influences health and SDS may result in cell, tissue and/or organ damages, potato starch is an ideal starch nutrient. Conversely, waxy rice starch was rich in amylopectin and displayed small diameters and angular shapes, which are both known to facilitate enzymatic starch hydrolysis. It exhibited a near-zero RS content (0.9%) and a high RDS fraction (60%). According to this study, potato starch exhibited the best nutrient profile, followed up in this order by cassava, waxy maize, wheat, maize and waxy rice starches.     

Optimal design of a Kirchhoff-Love plate of variable thickness by application of the minimum principle

Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization - An approximate thickness optimization of a rectangular Kirchhoff-Love plate with variable stiffness under uniform load is performed in this paper....