Assessment of Highway Bridge Upgrading by Dynamic Testing and Finite-Element Model Updating

The Land Transport Authority of Singapore has a continuing program of highway bridge upgrading for refurbishing and strengthening bridges to allow for increasing vehicle traffic and increasing axle loads. One subject of this program has been a short-span bridge taking a busy main road across a coastal inlet near a major port facility. Experiment-based structural assessments of the bridge were conducted before and after upgrading works including strengthening. Each assessment exercise comprised three separate components: (1) a strain and acceleration monitoring exercise lasting approximately one month; (2) a full-scale dynamic test carried out in a single day without closing the bridge; and (3) a finite-element model updating exercise to identify structural parameters and mechanisms. This paper presents the dynamic testing and the modal analysis used to identify the vibration properties and the quantification of the effectiveness of the upgrading through the subsequent model updating. Before and after upgrade, similar sets of vibration modes were identified, resembling those of an orthotropic plate with relatively weak transverse bending stiffness. Conversion of bearings from nominal simple supports to nominal full fixity was shown via model updating to be the principal cause of natural frequency increases of up to 50%. The utility of the combined experimental and analytical process in direct identification of structural properties has been proven, and the procedure can be applied to other structures and their capacity assessments.     

Flux Jumps and H-T Diagram of Instability for MgB2

We present a study of magneto-thermal instabilities in polycrystalline MgB₂ superconductor, by magnetic hysteresis loop measurements and by investigations of magnetic flux dynamics with a miniature Hall probe. Temperature and magnetic field ranges where the flux jumps may be observed have been determined. On the basis of measurements of the magnetic flux dynamics, an average magnetic diffusivity describing the process of the flux jump is estimated. This parameter is compared with the thermal and magnetic diffusivities calculated on the basis of available data for thermal conductivity, heat capacity and resistivity. It is shown that the estimated value of the field of the first flux jump is influenced significantly by the field dependence of specific heat. In order to explain the observed phenomenon, the temperature reached by the sample during the flux jump at different magnetic fields is calculated.     

Increased production of reactive oxygen species by rat liver mitochondria after chronic ethanol treatment

Rat liver microsomes and, to a lesser extent, nuclei were previously shown to produce reactive oxygen species at elevated rates after chronic ethanol treatment. The ability of intact rat liver mitochondria to interact with iron and either NADH or NADPH, and the effects of ethanol treatment, on production of reactive oxygen intermediates was determined. In the presence of ferric-ATP, NADH or NADPH catalyzed mitochondrial lipid peroxidation. Rates were elevated two- to threefold with mitochondria from ethanol-fed rats with both reductants. Mitochondrial lipid peroxidation was insensitive to superoxide dismutase, catalase, or hydroxyl radical scavengers but was sensitive to GSH and anti-oxidants such as trolox. Mitochondrial generation of hydroxyl radical-like species (assayed by oxidation of chemical scavengers) was increased after chronic ethanol treatment, as was H2O2 production. Modifiers of mitochondrial metabolism such as rotenone, cyanide, or an uncoupling agent, had no effect on mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen intermediates. The membrane-impermeable thiol reagent, p-chloromercuribenzoate, was complete inhibitory with both mitochondrial preparations. The activity of the rotenone-insensitive NADH-cytochrome c reductase, an enzyme of the outer mitochondrial membrane, was increased 40 to 60% by the ethanol treatment. These results suggest that NADH acting via the outer membrane NADH reductase can catalyze an iron-dependent production of oxygen radicals by rat liver mitochondria. The outer mitochondrial membrane fraction, prepared by digitonin fractionation, displayed increased rotenone-insensitive NADH-cytochrome c reductase activity after ethanol treatment and was more reactive in catalyzing scission of pBR322 DNA from the supercoiled form to the open circular forms. Rates of oxygen radical production by mitochondria and the extent of increase produced by chronic ethanol treatment are similar to those previously found with microsomes when NADH is the cofactor. Oxidation of ethanol by alcohol dehydrogenase generates NADH, and NADH-dependent production of reactive oxygen species by various organelles is increased after chronic ethanol treatment. These acute metabolic interactions coupled to induction by chronic ethanol treatment may play an important role in the development of a state of oxidative stress in the liver by ethanol.     

Accumulation of hydrogen and its influence on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Kh18N10T steel

By the methods of thermal-desorption spectrometry and nuclear reactions, we study the processes of trapping, thermal desorption, and evolution of the profiles of distribution of deuterium ionically implanted with an energy of 12 keV into Kh18N10T steel at room temperature. The evolution of the microstructure of steel under the conditions of irradiation of samples with D₂⁺ ions up to doses of 1 · 10¹⁸ D/m²−2 · 10²² D/m² is studied by the method of electron microscopy. The regularities of changes in the mechanical properties of steel after irradiation are determined. __________ Translated from Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv, Vol. 43, No. 5, pp. 117–121, September–October, 2007.     

Analytical determination of intrinsic permeability of synthetic nonwoven filter fabrics

In this paper an analytical method for determining the permeability of nonwoven filter fabrics is presented. The derived formula shows that the intrinsic permeability, fully characterizing the porous medium, depends on fabric porosity, n, fibre diameter, d, and a shape factor determined experimentally.     

Photopolymerization of N,N‐dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate studied by photocalorimetry

Photopolymerization of dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate (DMAEMA) is studied in bulk and in solutions in the presence of different photoinitiators using differential photocalorimetry (DPC). The rate of DMAEMA photopolymerization is slow compared to that of alkylmethacrylates. Bimodal DPC curves of DMAEMA photopolymerization in bulk are obtained. The type I photoinitiators (IRGACURE® 651 and IRGACURE® 1700), which produce free radicals by homolytic fragmentation of photoexcited molecules, are more effective in promoting photopolymerization of DMAEMA. The type II photoinitiators (benzophenone and IRGACURE® 500), which initiate DMAEMA photopolymerization through an H‐abstraction mechanism involving an amino group from the monomer (polymer), are less efficient and favor the formation of partly crosslinked products. The effects of the photoinitiator concentration, temperature, and solvent on the kinetic data are evaluated and discussed. A scheme of photopolymerization of DMAEMA, including the formation of intermediate DMAEMA based macromonomers, is proposed. The main point of the suggested scheme is a high chain transfer to the DMAEMA monomer. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 579–588, 2002     

Non-contact methods of measuring moisture concentration in external layers of building partitions: III—Water vapour condensation on the cementitious surfaces

This paper presents the results of the larger study into a potential application of laser radiation for the detection of phase transition processes in low temperatures occurring on the surface layers of cementitious materials. An attempt was made to identify relationships between the environmental conditions—temperature and air humidity, and the selected parameters of the reflected light. Onset of the condensation process and formation of water microdrops on the surface of the material leads to the phase displacement of individual laser rays, which are represented by different speckle images.

Although the analysis of parameters of the reflected light are very difficult in the case of porous materials because of highly developed roughness of the surface structure it has been proved that a dynamic study of the phase transition phenomena can be successfully carried out without mechanical intervention.     

Non-contact methods of measuring moisture concentration in external layers of building partitions II—Monitoring of the water vapour condensation on porous surfaces

This paper present the results of the investigation into a potential application of laser radiation for the detection of phase transition processes occurring on the surface layers of porous materials. An attempt was made to discuss in the approximation equations, the relationships between coefficients of the reflected light, the temperature and humidity of the surrounding environment. Laser light reflected from the porous surface carries information about the roughness of the structure. The presence of water microdrop on the surface of the porous material, as a result of condensation and thus a phase transition, leads to the phase displacement of individual rays, which is represented by different images. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the reflected light parameters allows a dynamic study of the phase transition phenomena without mechanical intervention.     

Mesh‐independent p‐orthotropic enrichment using the generalized finite element method

This paper is aimed at presenting a simple yet effective procedure to implement a mesh‐independent p‐orthotropic enrichment in the generalized finite element method. The procedure is based on the observation that shape functions used in the GFEM can be constructed from polynomials defined in any co‐ordinate system regardless of the underlying mesh or type of element used. Numerical examples where the solution possesses boundary or internal layers are solved on coarse tetrahedral meshes with isotropic and the proposed p‐orthotropic enrichment. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis of silicon oxynitride from a polymeric precursor

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and gas chromatography (GC) have been used to study the products of ammonolysis of dichloromethylsilane in diethyl ether at 0 °C. Results indicate that the major products are trimethylcyclotrisilazane and tetramethylcyclotetrasilazane. Hydrolysis of the cyclosilazanes has also been qualitatively investigated. A simple and useful method for the identification of cyclosilazanes has been developed using the ¹H NMR technique.