Geotechnical properties of steel slag aggregates: Shear strength and stiffness

Steel slag is an industrial by-product formed in the furnace during the steelmaking process. Electric arc furnace slag (EAFS) and ladle furnace slag (LFS) are the primary by-products of steelmaking from steel scraps. This research evaluates the physical, geotechnical and engineering properties of LFS, EAFS and a blend comprising 50% LFS and 50% EAFS (LFS50 + EAFS50) through laboratory testing. The specialized laboratory tests undertaken in this study include California bearing ratio (CBR) and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests, direct shear tests (DSTs), consolidated drained (CD) triaxial tests and repeated load triaxial (RLT) tests. The shear strength responses of the steel slag were found to vary with the dilatancy-induced peak strength of the LFS and the LFS50 + EAFS50 mixture and the dilatancy-associated strain-hardening behavior of the EAFS. Based on the high shear strength parameters and the adequate stiffness that were attained, the steel slag was found to have the potential for usage as a geo-material. LFS and LFS50 + EAFS50 were well-graded and had high CBR values, which would deem them suitable for roadwork applications. EAFS, however, was found to be poorly graded and to have relatively lower CBR values, which would deem it suitable for less stringent applications such as engineering fill and pipe bedding. The viability of using these by-products as geo-materials in civil infrastructures can transform these current waste by-products, particularly LFS, from being stockpiled at steel company plants to being used as alternative green material.     

Investigation of deformation and breakup of a falling droplet using a multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method

In this paper, a multi-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method for multiphase flows is employed to simulate different modes of deformation and fragmentation of an axisymmetric falling droplet under buoyancy force. To show the accuracy of the model, the Laplace law for stationary drops is conducted first. Then, drop deformation and breakup in a free fall is studied in an axially symmetric pipe. Surface tension effects as well as impacts of gas and drop viscosities are investigated for a wide range of Eötvös, Morton, and Archimedes numbers. The drag coefficient of the drop, as it falls, is measured and compared to the empirical correlations, and reasonable agreement is shown. The findings are further verified by comparing a typical bag breakup mechanism with experimental observations. It is seen that at low Eötvös numbers the drop deforms slightly and reaches a steady state. Increase of Eötvös number enhances the rate of deformation, and at a high enough Eötvös value breakup of the drop happens. While the gas viscosity is shown to have a trivial effect on the breakup of the droplet, drop viscosity is the overriding factor in the mechanism of disintegration. Consequently, various breakup modes of the falling droplet are observed just by varying the drop-based Archimedes number. By capturing different breakup mechanisms of a falling droplet such as bag breakup, shear breakup, and, particularly, multimode breakup, the present lattice Boltzmann method exhibits an excellent superiority over the sharp interface tracking schemes that fail to capture dissociation of the interface.     

Investigation of Fano resonances in the optomechanical cavity via a magnetic field

We theoretically investigate Fano resonances in a single-cavity optomechanical system, which is driven by an external force arisen from a passed current through one end of a mirror in a magnetic field. It is revealed that the asymmetric Fano shape in the optomechanical system strongly depended on the strength of the magnetic field and current intensity. Further, we study the phase of the transmitted probe light and find a tunable switch from slow to fast light and vice versa via manipulating the magnetic field.     

ECaD: Energy‐efficient routing in flying ad hoc networks

Much progress can be expected in the domain of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication by the next decade. The cooperation between multiple UAVs in the air exchanging data among themselves can naturally form a flying ad hoc network (FANET). Such networks can be the key support to accomplish several kinds of missions while providing the required assistance to terrestrial networks. However, they are confronted with many challenges and difficulties, which are due to the high mobility of UAVs, the frequent packet losses, and the weak links between UAVs, all affecting the reliability of the data delivery. Furthermore, the unbalanced energy consumption may result in earlier UAV failure and consequently accelerate the decrease of the network lifetime, thus disrupting the overall network. This paper supports the use of the movement information and the residual energy level of each UAV to guarantee a high level of communication stability while predicting a sudden link breakage prior to its occurrence. A robust route discovery process is used to explore routing paths where the balanced energy consumption, the link breakage prediction, and the connectivity degree of the discovered paths are all considered. The performance of the scheme is evaluated through a series of simulations. The outcomes demonstrate the benefits of the proposed scheme in terms of increasing the lifetime of the network, minimizing the number of path failures, and decreasing the packet losses.     

Dome Shape Optimization of Composite Pressure Vessels Based on Rational B-Spline Curve and Genetic Algorithm

This paper presents an algorithm for shape optimization of composite pressure vessels head. The shape factor which is defined as the ratio of internal volume to weight of the vessel is used as an objective function. Design constrains consist of the geometrical limitations, winding conditions, and Tsai-Wu failure criterion. The geometry of dome shape is defined by a B-spline rational curve. By altering the weights of control points, depth of dome, and winding angle, the dome shape is changed. The proposed algorithm uses genetic algorithm and finite element analysis to optimize the design parameters. The algorithm is applied on a CNG pressure vessel and the results show that the proposed algorithm can efficiently define the optimal dome shape. This algorithm is general and can be used for general shape optimization.     

Kinetic-spectrophotometry method for determination of ultra trace amounts of aluminum in food samples

A simple and sensitive kinetic-spectrophotometry method is developed for the determination of trace amounts of aluminum in food samples based on its catalytic effect on the oxidation of Nile Blue A by potassium bromate in sulfuric acid medium. The absorbance is measured at 595.5 nm with the fixed-time method. The optimization of the operating conditions regarding concentrations of the reagents, temperature and interferences are also investigated. The calibration curve is linear over the concentration range 0.07–0.9 μg ml⁻¹ of aluminum with good precision and accuracy and the detection limit was down to 0.034 μg ml⁻¹. The relative standard deviation for a standard solution of 0.4 μg ml⁻¹ of aluminum is 1.73% (n = 10). The proposed method proved highly sensitive, selective and relatively rapid for the assay of aluminum at ultra trace level without any pre-concentration and separation step. The method was applied to the determination of aluminum in food samples (rice, tea and potato). The analytical results of the real samples were in good agreement with the standard method.     

C 1-stably ℒ p shadowable homoclinic classes

Let p be a hyperbolic saddle of diffeomorphism f on closed manifold M and H(p, f) be the homoclinic class associated with it. In this article, we introduce the notion of C ¹-stably ? _p shadowing and prove that if f is C ¹-stably ? _p shadowable on a homoclinic class H(p, f) then, H(p, f) has a dominated splitting. Moreover, we prove that if f is C ¹-stably Lipschitz ? _p shadowable on H(p, f) and H(p, f)-germ of f is expansive then the homoclinic class is hyperbolic.     

Shelf Life Enhancement of Butter,Ice-Cream,and Mayonnaise by Addition of Lycopene

Lycopene crystals were incorporated in butter (20 ppm), ice-cream (70 ppm), and mayonnaise (50 ppm) and were analyzed for their sensory characteristics during storage for 4 months. The peroxide value generally increased with the storage time. Higher peroxides and free fatty acids were observed in control samples as compared to that of lycopene-treated products. Lycopene as an antioxidant slowed the development of off-flavor, off-odors, and color changes in lycopene-added butter, ice cream, and mayonnaise during storage as it interrupts the chain of free radicals involved in autoxidation. Results showed that there were insignificant changes in hunter L*, a*, and b* values of butter, ice cream, and mayonnaise during the 4 months of storage. Thus, it could be concluded that lycopene-treated products are in comparison with control market samples. The sensory scores of ice cream, butter, and mayonnaise revealed that the sensory attributes were similar to those of control samples. With increased storage, the sensory scores decreased but a significant decrease was observed in the 4th month of storage for all samples.     

Growth of hole in thin plates under hypervelocity impact of spherical projectiles

The paper presents an exhaustive analysis of experimental data on the strike of spherical projectile on thin metallic targets for prediction of hole-diameter in the target. The discrepancies in the test data have been highlighted. A non-dimensional model for the prediction of hole-diameter is presented, which incorporates the geometric and material properties of the target as well as the projectile and the angle of strike of the projectile. Most of the historical models perform well for one or two materials and for other materials their performance is far from satisfactory. The proposed model not only works well for these materials independently but also for all materials data of normal and oblique strike.The influence of the velocity of strike on the hole-diameter has been studied by extracting data sets with other parameters same. It is observed that most of the historical models either under-predict or over-predict the hole-diameter for some range of velocity, but the proposed model works well for the whole range of velocity.