Effect of tungsten disulfide nanotubes on the thermomechanical properties of polypropylene‐graft‐maleic anhydride nanocomposites

In this work, the influence of tungsten disulfide nanotubes (INT‐WS₂) on the mechanical, thermal, structural, and morphological characteristics of Polypropylene‐graft‐maleic anhydride (PPGMA) nanocomposites is investigated. The addition of 5% INT‐WS₂ increases the Young's Modulus by 28.5% and the storage modulus by 196.5% (in the rubbery state). Furthermore, the nanocomposites' thermal stability increases (up to 10 °C) with the addition of INT‐WS₂. Transmission electron microscopy observations of the nanocomposites revealed that nanotubes' length is significantly reduced during processing and that nanotubes are well‐dispersed inside the PPGMA matrix. DSC results indicated that INT‐WS₂ serve as nucleating agents in PPGMA. Moreover, AFM observations (coupled with DSC results) suggested the formation of fibrillar crystallites in the nanocomposites. This interfacial crystalline structure seems to interpose between the PPGMA and INT‐WS₂. Thus, it plays a crucial role in the load transfer from the amorphous part of the polymer to the rather stiff INT‐WS₂. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43887.     

A Non‐Invasive Hydrodynamic Study of Gas‐Solid Fluidised Bed of Linear Low Density Polyethylene

There are several non‐invasive techniques used to study the hydrodynamic characteristics of gas‐solid fluidised bed reactors. In this study a two phase, gas‐solid fluidised bed consisting of air and a linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE) resin was examined. The polyethylene sample was composed of irregular, non‐monosized particles ranging in size from 165 to 1500 µm. The experimental techniques used were digital fluoroscopy and pressure fluctuations. This study presents a comparison of the two‐phase system experimental results and two‐dimensional CFD simulation results. CFD packages FLUENT and MFIX were used.     

A new modeling approach investigating the diffusion speed of mobile telecommunication services in EU-15

The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of the time-delay effect on the diffusion of mobile telecommunication services in EU. It has been proved from several studies that the time-delay between the awareness and the adoption phase of mobile services-potential users determines the speed of the mobile telecommunication service diffusion and can be used effectively for ranking or cluster purposes in cases when the diffusion of a new product in different countries is studied. The proposed modeling approach originates from the well-known logistic model where it is assumed that the ordinary contagion process does not take place instantly but after some certain amount of time. A proper modification of the proposed model described by a time lag ordinary differential equation can be solved analytically and its properties for several parameters’ combination are investigated. Moreover, a new diffusion speed index is proposed and the correlation between the time-delay index and the proposed diffusion speed index is examined. Finally the model is applied to real data concerning the mobile services diffusion in 15 counties of EU from 1990 to 2002. Based on the estimated parameters of the model produced for each country a ranking and a clustering of the EU countries based on their derived diffusion speed and time-delay indexes are provided.     

Pore-scale redistribution of water during wetting of air-dried soils as studied by low-field NMR relaxometry

The kinetics of water uptake and redistribution in several soils and their components are studied using NMR relaxometry. Unlike the normal behavior observed in stable porous media, entry into micropores in the soil is a slow process as compared to entry into macro- and mesopores. This indicates that soils air-dried at ambient temperature include gel phases that have collapsed or reoriented, closing micropores, during drying. Wetting must then include the swelling processes that re-open micropores. This can even exhibit temperature dependence giving an "apparent activation energy" comparable to that of a chemical reaction, for example, ester hydrolysis. The processes of micropore opening may play a role in slow uptake of contaminants into soils.     

A Configurable Logic Based Architecture for Real-Time Continuous Speech Recognition Using Hidden Markov Models

An architecture is presented for real-time continuous speech recognition based on a modified hidden Markov model. The algorithm is adapted to the needs of continuous speech recognition by efficient encoding of the state space, and logarithmic encoding of the weights so that products can be computed as sums. The paper presents the algorithm and its application related modifications, the mapping of the algorithm to a special purpose architecture, and the detailed design of this architecture using configurable logic. Emphasis is given on how the attributes of the algorithm are exploited in a configurable logic based design. A concrete design example is presented with a coprocessor engine having one large FPGA, 64 Mbytes of synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), a small FPGA as a SDRAM controller, and 2 Mbytes SRAM. This engine operating at 66 MHz performs roughly nine times as fast as a high end personal computer running a fully optimized version of the same algorithm.     

Computational modeling of high performance cementitious thin shell elements under in-plane shear

High-performance cementitious materials are widely used in the construction of thin shell elements. This study investigates a simulation method based on composite layered shells for the nonlinear analysis of high-performance cementitious elements under in-plane shear. A tube torsion test is simulated and analyzed with MSC-MARC and its results are compared to an alternative calculation method, the Simplified Model for Combined Stress resultants (SMCS), as well as with experimental data. The simulation method is found to produce accurate results for fully under-reinforced elements with a range of strong to weak reinforcement ratios less than 2.     

Low-field NMR relaxometry: a study of interactions of water with water-repellant soils

Petroleum-induced water repellency in soils is a problem that has been thought to develop randomly following contamination and then remediation of a site with petroleum. The emergence of the phenomenon can occur within months or years of original contamination and with seemingly no warning. Low-field NMR has been used to study these soils and, specifically, the processes of water uptake that occur in them. Critical aspects in the development of this phenomenon have been identified as well--specifically, a dependence on climatic events in the area and contamination levels that contribute are suggested.     

Prediction of the molecular and polymer solution properties of LDPE in a high-pressure tubular reactor using a novel Monte Carlo approach

In the present work, a novel kinetic/topology Monte Carlo algorithm is developed for the prediction of molecular, topological and solution properties of highly branched low-density polyethylene (LDPE), produced in a high-pressure multi-zonal tubular reactor. It is shown that the combined kinetic/topology MC algorithm can provide comprehensive information regarding the distributed molecular and topological properties of LDPE (i.e., molecular weight distribution, short- and long-chain branching distributions, joint molecular weight-long chain branching distribution, branching order distribution, seniority/priority distributions, etc.) The molecular/topological results obtained from the MC algorithm are then introduced into a random-walk molecular simulator to calculate the solution properties of LDPE (i.e., the mean radius of gyration, R_g, and the branching factor, g) in terms of the chain length of the branched polyethylene. The validity of the commonly applied approximation regarding the random scission of highly branched polymer chains is assessed by a direct comparison of the average molecular properties of LDPE (i.e., number and weight average molecular weights), calculated by the combined kinetic/topology MC algorithm, with the respective predictions obtained by the commonly applied method of moments (MOM). Through this comparison it is demonstrated that the ambiguous implementation of the random scission reaction in the MOM formulation can result in erroneous predictions of the weight average molecular weight and MWD of LDPE. Finally, the effects of two key process parameters, namely, the polymerization temperature profile and the solvent concentration, on the molecular, topological and polymer solution properties of LDPE produced in a multi-zonal tubular reactor are investigated.