A novel Ag–CuAlO2 sealant for reactive air brazing of 3YSZ and AISI 310S

Based on reactive air brazing (RAB), we designed a new type of sealant (Ag–xCuAlO₂) for joining 3 mol.% yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) ceramics and AISI 310S stainless steel. The CuAlO₂ content affected the wettability of the sealant on the YSZ surface, and the joints had a high shear strength when Ag–2 wt.%CuAlO₂, which had a small contact angle on the YSZ substrate, was used as the sealant. In addition, the thickness of the oxide layer was reduced compared to that for the Ag–CuO sealant. The effects of the processing parameters on the microstructure and shear strength of the joints were investigated, and the as-brazed joints reached their highest shear strength (93.7 MPa) when brazed at 1040 °C for 30 min. After high-temperature oxidation at 800 °C for 200 h, the shear strength of the joints remained at 50 MPa, and no apparent change in the microstructure was observed, proving that the joints possessed excellent oxidation resistance.     

Human responses to high levels of carbon dioxide and air temperature

In this study, 30 subjects were exposed to different combinations of air temperature (T_a: 24, 27, and 30°C) and CO₂ level (8000, 10 000, and 12 000 ppm) in a high-humidity (RH: 85%) underground climate chamber. Subjective assessments, physiological responses, and cognitive performance were investigated. The results showed that as compared with exposure to T_a = 24°C, exposure to 30°C at all CO₂ levels caused subjects to feel uncomfortably warm and experience stronger odor intensity, while increased mental effort and greater intensity of acute health symptoms were reported. However, no significant effects of T_a on task performance or physiological responses were found. This indicated that subjects had to exert more effort to maintain their performance in an uncomfortably warm environment. Increasing CO₂ from 8000 to 12 000 ppm at all T_a caused subjects to report higher rates of headache, fatigue, agitation, and feeling depressed, although the results were statistically significant only at 24 and 27°C. The text typing performance and systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased significantly at this exposure, whereas diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and thermal discomfort increased significantly. These effects suggest higher arousal/stress. No significant interaction effect of T_a and CO₂ concentration on human responses was identified.     

Real-time molecular characterization of air pollutants in a Hong Kong residence: Implication of indoor source emissions and heterogeneous chemistry

Due to the high health risks associated with indoor air pollutants and long-term exposure, indoor air quality has received increasing attention. In this study, we put emphasis on the molecular composition, source emissions, and chemical aging of air pollutants in a residence with designed activities mimicking ordinary Hong Kong homes. More than 150 air pollutants were detected at molecular level, 87 of which were quantified at a time resolution of not less than 1 hour. The indoor-to-outdoor ratios were higher than 1 for most of the primary air pollutants, due to emissions of indoor activities and indoor backgrounds (especially for aldehydes). In contrast, many secondary air pollutants exhibited higher concentrations in outdoor air. Painting ranked first in aldehyde emissions, which also caused great enhancement of aromatics. Incense burning had the highest emissions of particle-phase organics, with vanillic acid and syringic acid as markers. The other noteworthy fingerprints enabled by online measurements included linoleic acid, cholesterol, and oleic acid for cooking, 2,5-dimethylfuran, stigmasterol, iso-/anteiso-alkanes, and fructose isomers for smoking, C₂₈-C₃₄ even n-alkanes for candle burning, and monoterpenes for the use of air freshener, cleaning agents, and camphor oil. We showed clear evidence of chemical aging of cooking emissions, giving a hint of indoor heterogeneous chemistry. This study highlights the value of organic molecules measured at high time resolutions in enhancing our knowledge on indoor air quality.     

Indoor solid fuel use for heating and cooking with blood pressure and hypertension: A cross-sectional study among middle-aged and older adults in China

A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the impact of solid fuel use for heating and cooking on blood pressure (BP) and hypertension, using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The primary fuels used for indoor heating and cooking were collected by questionnaires, respectively. Hypertension was defined based on self-report of physician's diagnosis, and/or measured BP, and/or anti-hypertensive medication use. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed to assess the associations. Among 10 450 eligible participants, 68.2% and 57.2% used indoor solid fuel for heating and cooking, respectively. Compared with none/clean fuel users, solid fuel for heating was associated with elevated BP (adjusted β: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.04–3.01 for systolic BP; adjusted β: 1.36, 95% CI: 0.78–1.94 for diastolic BP) and increased risk of hypertension (adjusted odds ratio: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.03–1.29). The impact of indoor solid fuel for heating on BP was more evident in rural and north residents, and hypertensive patients. We did not detect any significant associations between solid fuel use for cooking and BP/hypertension. Indoor solid fuel use is prevalent in China, especially in the rural areas. Its negative impact on BP suggested that modernization of household fuel use may help to reduce the burden of hypertension in China.     

Influence of Bridgman solidification on microstructures and magnetic behaviors of a non-equiatomic FeCoNiAlSi high-entropy alloy

The non-equiatomic FeCoNiAlSi alloy is prepared by the Bridgman solidification (BS) technique at different withdrawal velocities (V = 30, 100, and 200 μm/s). Various characterization techniques have been used to study the microstructure and crystal orientation. The morphological evolutions accompanying the crystal growth of the alloy prepared at different withdrawal velocities are nearly the same, from equiaxed grains to columnar crystals. The transition of coercivity is closely related to the local microstructure, while the saturation magnetization changes little at different sites. The coercivity can be significantly reduced from the equiaxed grain area to the columnar crystal area when the applied magnetic field direction is parallel to the crystal growth direction, no matter what is the withdrawal velocity. In addition, the alloy possesses magnetic anisotropy when the applied magnetic field is in different directions.     

Neutral axis depth and moment redistribution in FRP and steel reinforced concrete continuous beams

The neutral axis depth is considered the best parameter for quantifying the moment redistribution in continuous concrete beams, as exemplified in various design codes worldwide. It is therefore important to well understand the variation of neutral axis depth against moment redistribution. This paper describes a theoretical investigation into the neutral axis depth and moment redistribution in concrete beams reinforced with fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) and steel bars. A finite element model has been developed. The model predictions are in favourable agreement with experimental results. Three types of reinforcement are considered, namely, glass fibre, carbon fibre and steel. Various levels of reinforcement ratio are used for a parametric evaluation. The results indicate that FRP reinforced concrete continuous beams exhibit significantly different response characteristics regarding the moment redistribution and variation of neutral axis depth from those of steel reinforced ones. In addition, it is found that the code recommendations are generally unsafe for calculating the permissible moment redistribution in FRP reinforced concrete beams, but the neglect of redistribution in such beams may be overconservative.     

Restructuring bank networks after mergers and acquisitions: A capacitated delocation model for closing and resizing branches

During restructuring processes, due to mergers and acquisitions, banks frequently face the problem of having redundant branches competing in the same market. In this work, we introduce a new Capacitated Branch Restructuring Model which extends the available literature in delocation models. It considers both closing down and long term operations׳ costs, and addresses the problem of resizing open branches in order to maintain a constant service level. We consider, as well, the presence of competitors and allow for ceding market share whenever the restructuring costs are prohibitively expensive.We test our model in a real life scenario, obtaining a reduction of about 40% of the network size, and annual savings over 45% in operation costs from the second year on. We finally perform a sensitivity analysis on critical parameters. This analysis shows that the final design of the network depends on certain strategic decisions concerning the redundancy of the branches, as well as their proximity to the demand nodes and to the competitor׳s branches. At the same time, this design is quite robust to changes in the parameters associated with the adjustments on service capacity and with the market reaction.     

Producing fully-lamellar microstructure for wrought beta-gamma TiAl alloys without single α-phase field

Fine-grained fully-lamellar (FL) microstructure is desired for TiAl components to serve as compressor/turbine blades and turbocharger turbine wheels. This study deals with the process and phase transformation to produce FL microstructure for Mo stabilized beta-gamma TiAl alloys without single α-phase field. Unlike the α + γ two-phased TiAl or beta-gamma TiAl with single α-phase field, the wrought multi-phase TiAl–4/6Nb–2Mo–B/Y alloys exhibit special annealing process to obtain FL microstructure. Short-term annealing at temperatures slightly above β-transus is recommended to produce the desired FL microstructure. The related mechanism is to guarantee the sufficient diffusion homogenization of β stabilizers during single β-phase annealing, and further avoid α decomposition by α → γ + β when cooling through α + β + γ phase field. The colony boundary β phase contributes to fine-grained nearly FL microstructure, by retarding the coarsening of the α phase grains.     

Collapse load of composite laminates: Lower bound evaluation by stress field analytical approximation

The paper proposes a limit analysis approach to define the ultimate load capacity of orthotropic composite laminates under biaxial loading and plane stress conditions. A lower bound to the collapse load multiplier is computed by solving a maximization nonlinear problem, according to the static theorem of limit analysis. To set up the optimization problem a stress field distribution is hypothesized at lamina level, moreover inter-lamina stresses are also considered. The effectiveness and validity of the proposed approach is shown by comparing the obtained numerical predictions both with available experimental data and with other numerical results carried out by means of a different numerical lower bound approach.