Investigating the effect of production process of ball mill refiner on some physical quality parameters of compound chocolate: response surface methodology approach

Chocolate compound was produced using ball mill refiner, and the effect of agitator shaft speed and refining time on the physical quality parameters (particle size, colour and steady‐state rheology) of compound chocolate was determined using response surface methodology. The shaft speed and refining time range were selected between 40–60 r.p.m. and 10–30 min, respectively. Determination coefficient of the models established for particle size, Newtonian viscosity and colour parameters (brightness, chroma and hue angle) were found to be very close to unity. Increasing shaft speed and time induced a reduction in particle size and an increase in viscosity of the samples. Temperature sweep test was also performed, and the obtained data were successfully fitted to Arrhenius equation to calculate the corresponding parameters representing temperature dependency of the compounds. The results highlighted that the establishment of such models can provide essential information in terms of optimisation of production processes regarding usage purpose of the compound chocolate.     

Mechanical properties and repair bond strength of polymer-based CAD/CAM restorative materials

Information on the mechanical properties and repairability of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) blocks is scarce. Five CAD/CAM blocks with similar indications were evaluated, including four resin nanoceramics, one polymer-infiltrated ceramic network (PICN), and one feldspathic ceramic. CAD/CAM blocks were sectioned into 4 mm × 1.2 mm × 13 mm bars for flexural strength (FS), and 4 mm thick blocks were prepared for elastic modulus (EM), nanohardness (NH), and microshear bond strength (µSBS) testing. FS of the CAD/CAM blocks was determined using a three-point bending test, whereas EM and NH values were measured using a nanoindenter. The reparability of the tested block materials was determined by the µSBS test. One-way ANOVA was conducted for FS, EM, NH, and µSBS followed by Tukey's pairwise comparison (α < 0.05). FS ranged from 115 to 207 MPa, EM from 8.21 to 44 GPa, NH from 0.76 to 7.24, and µSBS from 24.9 to 30.6 MPa. The findings of the present study revealed that resin nanoceramic blocks exhibited higher FS values than PICN and feldspathic ceramic, and they have acceptable mechanical properties for the fabrication of single-unit restorations according to the ISO 6872:2008. Furthermore, all CAD/CAM blocks tested can be successfully repaired regarding their recommended repair protocol.     

Microwave Dehydration of Borax: Characterization,Dehydration Kinetics,and Modelling

Glass Physics and Chemistry - In the present study, borax (Na2B4O7·10H2O) was dehydrated using microwave radiation and the dehydration rate curves were calculated. The kinetic parameters and...     

The Residual Stress Relaxation Behavior of Weldments During Cyclic Loading

Accurate measurement of residual stress is necessary to obtain reliable predictions of fatigue lifetime and enable estimation of time-to-facture for any given stress level. In this article, relaxation of welding residual stresses as a function of cyclic loading was documented on three common steels: AISI 1008, ASTM A572, and AISI 4142. Welded specimens were subjected to cyclic bending (R = 0.1) at different applied stresses, and the residual stress relaxation existing near the welds was measured as a function of cycles. The steels exhibited very different stress relaxation behaviors during cyclic loadings, which can be related to the differences in the microstructures of the specimens. A phenomenological model, which treats dislocation motion during cyclic loading as being analogous to creep of dislocations, is proposed for estimation of the residual stress relaxation.     

Robust parameter design optimization for type‐I right censored data

Robust parameter design (RPD) aims to build product quality in the early design phase of product development by optimizing operating conditions of process parameters. A vast majority of the current RPD studies are based on an uncensored random sample from a process distribution. In reality, censoring schemes are widely implemented in lifetime testing, survival analysis, and reliability studies in which the value of a measurement is only partially known. However, there has been little work on the development of RPD when censored data are under study. To fill in the research gaps given practical needs, this paper proposes response surface–based RPD models that focus on survival times and hazard rate. Primary tools used in this paper include the Kaplan‐Meier estimator, Greenwood's formula, the Cox proportional hazards regression method, and a nonlinear programming method. The experimental modeling and optimization procedures are demonstrated through a numerical example. Various response surface–based RPD optimization models are proposed, and their RPD solutions are compared.     

Trick the body trick the mind: avatar representation affects the perception of available action possibilities in virtual reality

Virtual Reality - In immersive Virtual Reality (VR), your brain can trick you into believing that your virtual hands are your real hands. Manipulating the representation of the body, namely the...     

The effect of protein profile and preheating on denaturation of whey proteins and development of viscosity in milk protein beverages during heat treatment

The effect of preheat temperature (63 or 77 °C for 30 s; final heat 120 °C for 30 s) and casein to whey protein ratio on the physical characteristics of 3.3%, w/w, dairy protein beverages was investigated. Dispersions preheated at 77 °C had lower viscosity than dispersions preheated at 63 °C. Casein‐containing dispersions had significantly lower levels of α‐lactalbumin denaturation than whey protein‐only dispersions. A higher proportion of casein improved the thermal stability of protein dispersions. Overall, alteration of preheat temperature and casein to whey protein ratio can influence dairy beverage quality, with increasing levels of casein reducing physical changes due to heat treatment.