Fabricating Strong and Stiff Bioplastics from Whole Spirulina Cells

Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion tonnes (Bt) of virgin plastics have been produced, of which around 5 Bt have accumulated as waste in oceans and other natural environments, posing severe threats to entire ecosystems. The need for sustainable bio-based alternatives to traditional petroleum-derived plastics is evident. Bioplastics produced from unprocessed biological materials have thus far suffered from heterogeneous and non-cohesive morphologies, which lead to weak mechanical properties and lack of processability, hindering their industrial integration. Here, a fast, simple, and scalable process is presented to transform raw microalgae into a self-bonded, recyclable, and backyard-compostable bioplastic with attractive mechanical properties surpassing those of other biobased plastics such as thermoplastic starch. Upon hot-pressing, the abundant and photosynthetic algae spirulina forms cohesive bioplastics with flexural modulus and strength in the range 3–5 GPa and 25.5–57 MPa, respectively, depending on pre-processing conditions and the addition of nanofillers. The machinability of these bioplastics, along with self-extinguishing properties, make them promising candidates for consumer plastics. Mechanical recycling and fast biodegradation in soil are demonstrated as end-of-life options. Finally, the environmental impacts are discussed in terms of global warming potential, highlighting the benefits of using a carbon-negative feedstock such as spirulina to fabricate plastics.     

Measurement of interfacial fracture parameters using coherent gradient sensing (CGS)

An optical interferometry called coherent gradient sensing (CGS) has been extended for mapping interface crack tip fields and for evaluating fracture parameters. The optical technique is a double grating shearing interferometer with an on line spatial filtering arrangement. The method offers real time full field measurements and can be used both in transmission made and reflection mode. The interferometer measures small angular deflections of light rays which can be further related to in plane gradients of _x + _y in transmission through elasto-optic relations. Direct interfacial crack tip measurements in a high stiffness mismatch PMMA-aluminium bimaterial system are performed. A variety of crack tip mode mixities are studied using asymmetric four point bend specimens subjected to different far field mechanical loads. The. complex stress intensity factors and the associated phase angles are measured from CGS patterns using an asymptotic expansion field. The measurements are compared with finite element results.     

INTERFACIAL CRACK INITIATION UNDER QUASI-STATIC AND DYNAMIC LOADING CONDITIONS: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Abstract— Interfacial fracture parameters under quasi-static and dynamic loading are examined in a large elastic mismatch bimatenal system. A wide range of remote field loading ratios of shear and tension are considered. The crack tip fields are mapped using the optical method of coherent gradient sensing or CGS and fracture parameters are quantified. Distinctly different crack initiation responses are observed for positive and negative shear stresses acting on the interface. Also, low velocity impact loading experiments are conducted to study the influence of dynamic loading on crack initiation parameters. Dynamic interfacial crack tip fields are recorded using high speed photography and fracture parameters for dynamically loaded stationary cracks are obtained. Measurements suggest significant crack initiation toughness reduction under dynamic loading conditions.     

Adaptive neural net (ANN) models for desulphurization of hot metal and steel

Neural nets can be adapted to complex patterns of interrelated input and output variables in a process even if the data sets contain a lot of noise. In this work two specific examples for the application of adaptive neural nets (ANN) in steel Industry are described. First, the sulphur content of hot-metal, obtained at the end of calcium carbide powder injection into 4001 torpedo ladles is predicted as a function of hot-metal weight, treatment time, initial sulphur content, gas flow rate and powder injection rate. The values predicted by the trained ANN model for a completely new set of input test data compare well with the actual values obtained on the shop floor. In the second example, the sulphur content of steel, obtained at the end of blow is predicted as a function of liquid-metal weight, total amount of oxygen injected, amount of iron ore added, and the temperature, contents of carbon, manganese, phosphorus and sulphur determined by in-blow sampling in a 300 t converter. The ANN predicted values of sulphur content of steel at tap (without reblow) also agree well with the values obtained on the shop floor.     

Modeling and surface texturing on surface roughness in machining LaPO4–Y2O3 composite

In this work, lanthanum phosphate with a 20% yttria (LaPO₄/Y₂O₃) composite prepared by an Aqueous Sol–Gel process is machined using an Abrasive Water Jet Machine (AWJM). The machinability of this composite is studied by varying the input parameters namely Jet Pressure (JP), Stand-Off Distance (SOD), and Traverse Speed (TS) on Surface finish. Garnet of 80 mesh size is used as an abrasive with a flow rate of 85?g/min. The microstructural characterization study reveals the presence of new element YPO₄. This element enhances the machinability and reduced porosity in the composite. Microscopy examinations on the machined surface reveals that partial overlapping at low JP, poor surface finish at high JP and SOD, forged deficiency at maximum SOD and TS. The minimum levels of all input parameters are influenced to obtain acceptable Ra. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) on the kerf surface shows micro wear track and peaks. The Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) is developed for Ra to check the adequacy. From the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), SOD has a significant effect on Ra with a contribution of 53%. The influence of JP and TS on Ra is found to be 31% and 15%, respectively.     

Compressive and flexural strength properties of ZnS optical ceramics

Polycrystalline Chemical Vapor Deposited (CVD) ZnS was subjected to post thermal treatments such as pressure less heat treatment (CVD + HT) and Hot Isostatic Pressing (CVD + HIP). The as deposited CVD, CVD + HT and CVD + HIP samples were characterized for their X-ray crystallographic micro-structural characteristics, followed by compressive and flexural strength measurements. ZnS material irrespective of the heat treatment showed an increase in peak compressive strength and a decrease in flexural stress in comparison to CVD samples. An attempt is made in this brief study to correlate the processes and associated micro-structural and crystallographic characteristics with observed strength properties. Detailed quantitative fractographic analysis reveals that ZnS material processed under all the three conditions fails by mixed fracture comprising of low degree of ductile, microdimples and transgranular shear fracture with predominant extent of low energy quasicleavage faceted fracture however, in case of as CVD specimens, the size of the quasi-cleavage facets are much finer.     

Quasi-static and dynamic fracture of graphite/epoxy composites: An optical study of loading-rate effects

Strain-rate effects on fracture behavior of unidirectional composite materials are studied. Single-edge notched multi-layered unidirectional graphite composites (T800/3900-2) are investigated to examine fracture responses under static and dynamic loading conditions using a digital speckle correlation method. The fracture parameters for growing cracks are extracted as a function of fiber orientation. A 2D digital image correlation (DIC) method is used to obtain time-resolved full-field in-plane surface displacements when specimens are subjected to quasi-static and impact loading. Stress intensity factor and crack extension histories for pure mode-I and mixed mode cases are extracted from the full-field displacements. When compared to the dynamic stress intensity factors at crack initiation, the static values are found to be consistently lower. The stress intensity factor histories exhibit a monotonic reduction under dynamic loading conditions whereas an increasing trend is seen after crack initiation under quasi-static loading cases. This is potentially due to dominant crack face fiber bridging effects in the latter cases.     

Fracture parameters for interfacial cracks: an experimental-finite element study of crack tip fields and crack initiation toughness

Crack tip measurements and analysis of interfacial parameters for PMMA-aluminum bimaterial system are presented. A variety of crack tip mode-mixities are obtained by subjecting asymmetric four-point-bend specimens to different boundary loads. The crack tip fields are mapped using the optical method of Coherent Gradient Sensing (CGS). The complex stress intensity factors and the associated crack tip mixities () are measured from CGS fringe patterns. The asymptotic expansion field for interface cracks is used for extracting fracture parameters by accounting for higher order contributions to the experimental data. The measurements are compared with complementary finite element computations. A linear relationship between crack tip mixity and the applied load mixity is experimentally demonstrated in this large elastic mismatch system. The fracture load and hence the energy release rate G _cr () at crack initiation is measured as applied load mixities are varied. Limited discussion on the influence of surface roughness prior to bonding on the fracture toughness is included. Positive and negative shear on the crack plane produce different failure responses in this bimaterial system and the observed asymmetry is akin to the one predicted by the T&H model that includes crack tip nonlinearty.