Abrasion resistance and mechanical properties of high-volume fly ash concrete

The abrasion resistance and mechanical properties of concrete containing high-volume fly ash (HVFA) were investigated. Sand (fine aggregate) was replaced with 35, 45, and 55% of Class F fly ash by mass. The water to cement ratio and the workability of mixtures were maintained constant at 0.46 and 55 ± 5 mm respectively. Properties examined were compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity and abrasion resistance expressed as depth of wear. Test results indicated that replacement of sand with fly ash enhanced the 28-day compressive strength by 25–41%, splitting tensile strength by 12–21%, flexural strength by 14–17%, and modulus of elasticity by 18–23% depending upon the fly ash content, and showed continuous improvement in mechanical properties up to the ages of 365 days. Replacing fly ash with sand significantly improved the abrasion resistance of concrete at all ages. Strong correlation exists between the abrasion resistance and each of the mechanical properties investigated.     

Analytical study of carrier photogeneration and photocurrent inthin silicon solar cells with specular and diffuse back reflection

An analytical study of the effect of back reflection in thin silicon solar cells implementing a practical (nonideal) diffuse reflector at the back side is presented. Both the diffuse and specular reflection components are considered. The reflection properties of the back reflector are described by means of three parameters, which are interpreted in terms of a simple physical model. An exact expression for the generation profile resulting from specular and diffuse reflections is derived and its dependence on the reflector parameters is studied. A mechanism through which specular reflection can significantly enhance light trapping in the case of relatively weak diffuse reflection is proposed. The photocurrent boost doe to both types of reflections acting simultaneously is estimated     

Numerical simulation of the limiting efficiency of the graded bandgap solar cell

The limiting efficiency of the compositionally graded bandgap solar cell is calculated using a 1-D numerical simulator. Our simulator calculates the limiting efficiency by solving the coupled semiconductor equations, namely, Poisson's equation, the current continuity equations, together with the Boltzmann photon equation, rather than the detailed balance equations that are usually used in such calculations. The non-avoidable radiative and Auger bulk losses are the only losses considered in the calculations. The effect of photon recycling on the cell's parameters is included in the calculations of radiative recombination rates. We verified numerically that bandgap grading, under optimum profile, increases the limiting efficiency of the solar cell, over the previously published values. The effect of the bandgap grading on desensitizing the surface of the cell is discussed.     

α-Tocopherol prooxidant effect and malondialdehyde production

α-Tocopherol at high concentration (1.25×10⁻⁴M) exhibited a prooxidant effect during autoxidation of linolenic and arachidonic acids. This prooxidant activity involved a significant increase of the conjugated diene level, especially with linolenic acid. High performance liquid chromatographic evaluation of malondialdehyde, a by-product of the hydroperoxides of polyunsaturated fatty acids, showed that malondialdehyde was not increased during prooxidant effect ofα-tocopherol. Thus, malondialdehyde does not seem to be a good indicator for the manifestation of the prooxidant activity ofα-tocopherol.     

Experimental validation of exact design of switched-capacitor ladder filters

Experimental results validating a recently introduced exact theory for switched-capacitor lowpass ladder filters are presented. The prototype filter is a third-order Butterworth design using a low sampling/filter-cutoff ratio of 8.28 and has been fabricated in monolithic form.     

Synthesis of thioethers from hydroxy olefinic fatty acids

Reaction of 3-mercaptopropan-1, 2-diol with methyl ricinoleate (I) and methyl isoricinoleate (II) afforded their respective thioethers. The structure of the products was characterized by combustion and spectral (IR, NMR and MS) data.     

Characterization of surface‐modified hollow fiber polyethersulfone membranes prepared at different air gaps

Hollow fibers were spun from a solution of surface‐modifying macromolecule blended polyethersulfone in dimethyl acetamide by using dry‐wet spinning method at different air gaps and at room temperature. The air gap was varied from 10 to 90 cm. The ultrafiltration performance of hollow fibers was studied by using aqueous solutions of polyethylene glycols and polyethylene oxides of different molecular weights. Significant difference in surface morphology between the inner and outer surface of the hollow fibers was observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Similar results were obtained by contact angle measurement and XPS. Mean pore sizes of the inner surface and outer surface were calculated from AFM images and compared with the pore sizes obtained from mass transport data. Pore size distribution curves were drawn from both data, i.e., from AFM images and mass‐transport data, both methods gave similar results. Roughness parameters of the inner and outer surfaces and the sizes of nodular aggregates on both surfaces were measured. An attempt was made to correlate the above parameters with the performance of the membranes. Unexpected values of contact angles of both inner surface and outer surface were obtained. It was observed that the studied membranes could be put into two groups: (i) the membranes fabricated between 10 and 50 cm air gap and (ii) fabricated at higher than 50 cm air gap. A plausible mechanism for the unexpected results was discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 710–721, 2007     

Performance characteristics of high-volume Class F fly ash concrete

More than 88 million tonnes of fly ash is generated in India each year. Most of the fly ash is of Class F type. The percentage utilization is around 10 to 15%. To increase its percentage utilization, an extensive investigation was carried out to use it in concrete. This article presents the results of an experimental investigation dealing with concrete incorporating high volumes of Class F fly ash. Portland cement was replaced with three percentages (40%, 45%, and 50%) of Class F fly ash. Tests were performed for fresh concrete properties: slump, air content, unit weight, and temperature. Compressive, splitting tensile, and flexural strengths, modulus of elasticity, and abrasion resistance were determined up to 365 days of testing.Test results indicated that the use of high volumes of Class F fly ash as a partial replacement of cement in concrete decreased its 28-day compressive, splitting tensile, and flexural strengths, modulus of elasticity, and abrasion resistance of the concrete. However, all these strength properties and abrasion resistance showed continuous and significant improvement at the ages of 91 and 365 days, which was most probably due to the pozzolanic reaction of fly ash. Based on the test results, it was concluded that Class F fly ash can be suitably used up to 50% level of cement replacement in concrete for use in precast elements and reinforced cement concrete construction.     

A comparative study of the properties of terbium aluminum garnet powder sintered in air,vacuum and by laser irradiation

The structural and optical properties of terbium aluminum garnet (TAG) powder sintered (～1100 °C) in air, vacuum (～10^?6 mbar) and with 70 W of unfocussed CW CO₂ laser radiation, have been studied using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM/TEM), FTIR, optical absorption and photoluminescence techniques. Structural properties of TAG are found to be independent of the sintering procedure except that the pure TAG crystalline phase (Tb₃Al₅O₁₂) is evolved in about 2 h in the case of laser sintering compared to 8 h needed in air sintering (by furnace) and 4 h needed in the case of vacuum furnace sintering. On the other hand, the absorption/emission intensity (300–600 nm region) of TAG samples sintered in vacuum is higher compared to that of laser/furnace sintering in air.