Rechnerische Beurteilung der Schubtragfähigkeit einer Spannbetonbrücke mit geringem Querkraft bewehrungsgrad

Assessment of the shear strength of an existing post‐tensioned concrete bridge with a low amount of shear reinforcement – First application of the ”Flexural Shear Crack“ model in practice In recent years it was reported several times, that within a static assessment according to current standards the shear strength of post‐tensioned bridges, which were built in Austria before 1989, cannot be fulfilled any more. However, test results prove, that especially prestressed structures have additional load bearing capacities, which cannot be reproduced with current calculation models. In the framework of a pilot project a new developed shear model (Flexural Shear Crack Model) was used. In this paper the approach as well as the main results of a statical reevaluation of an existing post‐tensioned road bridge at the Tauern Autobahn A10 will be presented.     

Verstärkung mit vorgespannten eingeschlitzten Lamellen

Oberflächig geklebte Kohlefaserlamellen (CFK) werden seit vielen Jahren zur Bauteilverstärkung eingesetzt. Die hohe Festigkeit dieser Lamellen kann aufgrund der begrenzten Zugkapazität des Betons nicht zur Gänze ausgenutzt werden. Eingeschlitzte CFK Lamellen hingegen bieten wesentliche Vorteile, die zusammen mit Vorspannung noch weiter optimiert werden können. Für den Vorspannvorgang wurde eine spezielle Verankerung, auf Basis der Composite Wedge Technik, entwickelt, die einfaches und rasches Vorspannen erlaubt. Die Verankerung ist zudem nur 8 kg schwer, was besonders vorteilhaft beim Hantieren an der Tragwerksunterseite ist. Nach dem Vorspannen wird die Verankerung entfernt, die permanente Verankerung der Lamellenenden wird durch nachträgliches Verkleben gewährleistet. Es verbleiben keine Stahlteile im oder am Bauwerk. So zeichnet sich die Konstruktion durch geringen Wartungsaufwand und hohe Dauerhaftigkeit aus. Die Effizienz der entwickelten Systeme wurde an vorgespannten Plattenstreifen experimentell untersucht. In den Untersuchungen konnte die Funktionsfähigkeit nachgewiesen werden. Strengthening using Prestressed Near Surface Mounted Strips Exernally bonded carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) strips are used since several years for strengthening of structures. The high strength of the strips cannot be exploited in most applications. Near surface mounted strips offer several advantages, which allow for further optimization together with prestressing. For the prestressing action a special anchoring device, based on the Composite Wedge Principle, was developed, which allows a simple and quick prestressing procedure. Additionally the anchorage weighs only 8 kg, which is especially beneficial when manipulations on the lower surface of the structure are necessary. The anchorage will be removed after prestressing and the permanent anchorage of the ends of the strips will be established by bond. No steel parts remain in the structure, after completing the strengthening. This results in low maintenance and a high durability. The efficiency of the developed systems and the prestressed plate strips was examined experimentally. In these investigations a perfect functionality could be demonstrated.     

A new method to determine the ratio of electricity production from fossil and biogenic sources in waste-to-Energy plants

New directives of the European Union require operators of waste-to-energy (WTE) plants to report the amount of electricity that is produced from renewable sources in the waste feed. Until now, the standard method to determine the portion of renewable electricity is sorting the wastes into defined fractions of fossil organic and biogenic waste components and determining the lower heating value of these fractions. Out of it the amount of electricity production from renewables is calculated. This practice is labor and cost intensive. Therefore, it is usually carried out once a year which provides only a snapshot analysis of limited significance. This paper proposes a method to calculate the portion of electricity produced from renewable materials in waste continuously by solving a set of equations. All data required are either available from literature or from operating data routinely measured in WTE plants. The advantages are statistically derived uncertainty of the result, temporal resolution of the result down to daily mean values, low implementation efforts, and virtually no operational costs. An example of the implementation of the method to a 60 000 tons per year WTE plant is given.     

Real-Time Properties of Indirect Recursive Procedures

The purpose of this paper is to show that indirect recursive procedures can be used for implementing real-time applications without harm, if a few conditions are met. These conditions ensure that upper bounds for space and time requirements can be derived at compile time. Moreover they are simple enough such that many important recursive algorithms can be implemented. In addition, our approach allows for concentrating on essential properties of the parameter space during space and time analysis. This is done by morphisms that transfer important properties from the original parameter space to simpler ones, which results in simpler formulas of space and time estimates.     

A three-dimensional microfluidic tumor cell migration assay to screen the effect of anti-migratory drugs and interstitial flow

Most anti-cancer drug screening assays are currently performed in two dimensions, on flat, rigid surfaces. However, there are increasing indications that three-dimensional (3D) platforms provide a more realistic setting to investigate accurate morphology, growth, and sensitivity of tumor cells to chemical factors. Moreover, interstitial flow plays a pivotal role in tumor growth. Here, we present a microfluidic 3D platform to investigate behaviors of tumor cells in flow conditions with anti-migratory compounds. Our results show that interstitial flow and its direction have significant impact on migration and growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines such as HepG2 and HLE. In particular, HepG2/HLE cells tend to migrate against interstitial flow, and their growth increases in interstitial flow conditions regardless of the flow direction. Furthermore, this migratory activity of HepG2 cells is enhanced when they are co-cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells. We also found that migration activity of HepG2 cells attenuates under hypoxic conditions. In addition, the effect of Artemisinin, an anti-migratory compound, on HepG2 cells was quantitatively analyzed. The microfluidic 3D platform described here is useful to investigate more accurately the effect of anti-migratory drugs on tumor cells and the critical influence of interstitial flow than 2D culture models.     

Soft physical vapour deposition coatings—a new coating family for high performance cutting tools

The joint effort of a cutting tool manufacturer and a coating specialist has led to the development of a cutting tool coating based on a soft solid lubricant (patents pending). It is applied by an advanced sputtering technique as a very thin uniform coating with a good adherence to the tools. It has a low coefficient of friction and a low affinity to alloy materials such as aluminium, titanium and precious metals. These factors and others allow machining at high spindle speeds and feed rates with an excellent workpiece surface finish. Values can be maintained which are far superior to even those permitted for cemented carbide tools. In some cases productivity and tool life can be increased by a factor of up to 20.