Pixel-level thin crack detection on road surface using convolutional neural network for severely imbalanced data

Because roads are the major backbone of the transportation network, research about crack detection on road surfaces has been popular in computer and infrastructure engineering. When training a convolutional neural network (CNN) for pixel-level road crack detection, three common challenges include (1) the data are severely imbalanced, (2) crack pixels can be easily confused with normal road texture and other visual noises, and (3) there are many unexplainable characteristics regarding the CNN itself. When it comes to very fine and thin cracks, these challenges are exaggerated and a new challenge is introduced, as there can be a discrepancy between the actual width and the annotated width of a crack. To tackle all these challenges of thin crack detection, this paper proposes a new variant of CNN named ThinCrack U-Net, designed to provide thin results upon pixel-level crack detection on road surfaces. The main contribution is to demystify how pixel-level thin crack detection results are affected by different loss functions as well as various combinations of the U-Net components. The experimental results show that ThinCrack U-Net yields a significant performance boost in CrackTree260, from 65.71% to 94.48% F-measure, compared to the existing variant of U-Net previously proposed in the context of pixel-level thin crack detection. Finally, this paper locates the source of undesirable result thickness and solves it with the balanced usage of downsampling/upsampling layers and atrous convolution. Unlike suggested by previous works, different loss functions show no significant impact on ThinCrack U-Net, whereas normalization layers are proved crucial in pixel-level thin crack detection.     

The modification of surface,size and shape of barium zirconate powder via salt flux

The “top-down” process via direct conversion of the micro (μm)-to-submicroscale (sub-μm) particle was applied in this work by using eutectic chloride salts to prepare BaZrO₃. The particle size at optimum condition could be decreased by more than 10 times from 2.1 ± 0.9 μm to 168 ± 23 nm without destroying the 1:1 of Ba:Zr stoichiometry. The uniform sub-μm-BaZrO₃ powder was sintered in order to obtain ~98% dense ceramic at 1400°C/10 h, which is significantly lower than the 1650°C in normal cases. The microwave dielectric constant, tan δ, and quality factor were also determined. Furthermore, this method also was applied to lead-free piezoelectric material in the 0.87BaTiO₃–0.13BaZrO₃–CaTiO₃ (0.87BT–0.13BZ–CT) system. The particle size of 0.87BT–0.13BZ–CT was reduced greatly from >10 µm to 2.8 ± 0.4 µm. It can be proved that salt flux dissolution method enables high-purity with uniform sub-micro/nanometer powder production in one step by using simple laboratory equipment and low-cost raw materials.     

CaTiO3 induced ferroelectric phase coexistence and low temperature dielectric relaxation in BaTiO3–BaZrO3 ceramics

The series of 0.86BaTiO₃–(0.14?x)BaZrO₃–xCaTiO₃ (abbreviated as BT–BZ–xCT) ceramics with 0.03 ≤ x ≤ 0.11 were studied to obtain high piezoelectric properties. Rietveld refinement analysis indicated that the BT–BZ–CT compositions follow a gradual rhombohedral (R) → orthorhombic (O) + R → O + tetragonal (T) → T phase transformation with increasing x. Clear evidence of the series of ferroelectric phase transitions was also found in the dielectric results. The R‐O and O‐T transition temperature shifted close to ambient temperature, while the Curie temperature slightly increased with increasing x. In addition to the dielectric loss peaks associated with the structural phase transitions, a broad low‐temperature dielectric loss peak was detected in the R phase at T = 90‐150 K. This dielectric relaxation was attributed to the domain wall freezing and fits well to the Vogel‐Fulcher model with activation energy E_a ≈ 60‐300 meV and freezing temperature T_VF ≈ 75‐140 K. High piezoelectric strain coefficient (d₃₃*) of about 1030 pm/V at 10 kV was achieved at x = 0.07, and a high Curie temperature (T_C) was maintained at about 375 K.     

Dielectric properties of nanocrystalline barium zirconate titanate synthesized by glycine-nitrate autocombustion

Abstract

Dielectric properties of nanocrystalline barium zirconate titanate (Ba(Zr_xTi_1-x)O₃; BZT for x?=?0.1 and 0.3) synthesized by glycine-nitrate autocombustion method were investigated in this study. The phase formation examined by TGA-DTA, XRD, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy confirmed that high purity single-phase BZT with perovskite structure was obtained by using glycine-to-nitrate molar ratio of 2.2:4 and calcining in air at 1100?°C for 4?h. TEM analysis showed that BZT had agglomerate particles consisted of primary spherical nanocrystals with the size of 8-11?nm. The diffuse phase transition behavior of BZT ceramics increased with increasing Zr concentration and for x?=?0.3, the Curie temperature; T_c, shifted to below room temperature. The BZT ceramics for x?=?0.1 had relatively high dielectric constant (ε), 13007, low T_c, 76?°C and comparable dielectric loss (tan δ) at T_c, 0.012 which caused by the high degree of Zr diffuseness into the perovskite structure. These results suggest that glycine-nitrate autocombustion is the effective method for preparing high quality BZT ceramics.     

Aqueous Co-precipitated spherical shape PbZrO3 nanopowders: Perovskite phase formation

The perovskite phase formation of nanocrystalline powder of lead zirconate (PbZrO₃, PZ) was investigated. The structure, phase formation and morphology of PZ powders were characterized using the X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Tetragonal zirconia (t-ZrO₂) phase was found as an intermediate phase during the calcinations process, followed by the crystallization of the orthorhombic PZ phase. The change in relative amount of the residual t-ZrO₂ phase as a function of calcination temperature was estimated from the relative intensities of selected Raman peaks. From a TEM photograph, the PbZrO₃ powder was found to be spherical in shape with uniform nanosized features. The average particle size for the calcined powders was about 10.44±1.21 nm.     

In vitro assessment of antibacterial potential and mechanical properties of Ag-TiO2/WPU on medical cotton optimized with response surface methodology

The environmental-friendly, economical, and simple one pot formulation for enhanced antibacterial and mechanical property finishing on medical cotton fabrics was successfully developed and optimized using a central composite design in conjunction with response surface methodology. It combines the concepts of in situ synthesis of AgNPs and photocatalytic property of TiO₂ in waterborne polyurethane as the finishing emulsion without additional organic reducing or stabilizing agent. The optimal formulation with contents of AgNO₃ (240 ppm) and TiO₂ NPs (980 ppm) exhibited excellent antibacterial activities against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus with over 99% reduction and improved mechanical properties as well as non-toxicity to mammalian cells.     

Phase Formation,Microstructure, and Densification of Yttrium‐Doped Barium Zirconate Prepared by the Sonochemical Method

Spherical monodispersed yttrium‐doped barium zirconate (BaY_0.1Zr_0.9O₃; BYZ) particles were successfully prepared in single step without the requirement of calcination process by the sonochemical method in highly basic aqueous solution. The stoichiometric solution of BaCl₂.2H₂O, ZrOCl₂.8H₂O, and YCl₄.6H₂O was precipitated in a 20 M NaOH under high‐intensity ultrasonic irradiation (20 kHz, 150 W/cm²) for 15, 30, and 60 min. As‐prepared powders were identified by XRD, FT‐IR, and Raman spectroscopy as cubic perovskite BYZ. The microstructure examined by SEM and TEM showed spherical‐shaped BYZ particles formed by aggregation of primary nanocrystals, and this unique morphology was induced by the effects of the ultrasonication and the strong alkaline environment. BYZ powders prepared under ultrasonication for 60 min had narrow‐sized distribution with the average particle size of 267 ± 26 nm and the specific surface area of 40.2 m²/g. BYZ ceramics sintered in the air at 1550°C for 20 h showed good densification (95%) and consisted of large grain size (7.67 ± 2.79 μm).