Peridynamic modeling of concrete structures

The peridynamic model described in Silling (Silling, S.A., 1998. Reformation of Elasticity Theory for Discontinuous and Long-Range Forces, SAND98-2176. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM), being a central-force model, is limited to modeling materials with a Poisson's ratio of 1/4. In this paper, the peridynamic model is generalized by adding pairwise peridynamic moments to simulate linear elastic materials with varying Poisson's ratios. The new model is called the “micropolar peridynamic model”. The micropolar peridynamic model is placed within a finite element context to enable efficacious application of boundary conditions and efficient computational solutions using an implicit, rather than an explicit solution algorithm. The implicit solution algorithm is suitable for quasistatic simulation of damage and cracking in concrete structures. With this new model, very simple tensile damage mechanisms at the micro structural (peridynamic) level are sufficient to explain a great deal of the microcracking (damage) and fracture mechanics observed in concrete structures. The new implementation appears to be computationally efficient.     

Anodic oxidation of mecoprop herbicide at lead dioxide

The electrochemical oxidation of an aqueous solution containing mecoprop (2-(2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid) has been studied at PbO₂ anodes by cyclic voltammetry and bulk electrolysis. The influence of current density, hydrodynamic conditions, temperature and pH on the degradation rate and current efficiency is reported. The results obtained show that the use of PbO₂ leads to total mineralization of mecoprop due to the production of oxidant hydroxyl radical electrogenerated from water discharge. The current efficiency for the electro-oxidation of mecoprop is enhanced by low current density, high recycle flow-rates and high temperature. In contrast, the pH effect was not significant. It has also been observed that mecoprop decay kinetics follows a pseudo-first-order reaction and the rate constant increases with rising current density.     

Effects of viscosity ratio and composition on development of morphology in chaotic mixing of polymers

This study investigated the effects of viscosity ratio (p) and composition on morphology development in an immiscible polymer system mixed under chaotic flow conditions. It was seen that morphology of the dispersed phase developed through a widely accepted route involving transitions from lamellas to fibrils and to droplets. It was found in experiments with p≥1 that the dispersed phase converted into droplets very rapidly with narrow droplet size distribution when p∼1. For higher values of p, the speed of morphological transitions slowed down, the droplet size distribution became wider, and much larger droplets were formed. Similar effects were observed at higher concentration of the dispersed phase. No self-similar scaling behavior was observed in the droplet size distribution, which can be attributed to the lack of self-similarity in the breakup of lamellas into fibrils.     

Fast Minor Testing in Planar Graphs

Minor Containment is a fundamental problem in Algorithmic Graph Theory used as a subroutine in numerous graph algorithms. A model of a graph H in a graph G is a set of disjoint connected subgraphs of G indexed by the vertices of H, such that if {u,v} is an edge of H, then there is an edge of G between components C _u and C _v . A graph H is a minor of G if G contains a model of H as a subgraph. We give an algorithm that, given a planar n-vertex graph G and an h-vertex graph H, either finds in time $\mathcal{O}(2^{\mathcal{O}(h)} \cdot n +n^{2}\cdot\log n)$ a model of H in G, or correctly concludes that G does not contain H as a minor. Our algorithm is the first single-exponential algorithm for this problem and improves all previous minor testing algorithms in planar graphs. Our technique is based on a novel approach called partially embedded dynamic programming.     

Modeling a solar-powered double bed novel composite adsorbent (silica activated carbon/CaCl2)-water adsorption chiller

During the past few decades, the growing demand for air conditioning has caused a significant increase in demand for primary energy resources. Adsorption cooling system is one of the technologies which could be powered by renewable energy. This study aims to improve the performance of a solar-powered adsorption chiller by applying a novel composite adsorbent, a mixture of activated carbon, silica gel and calcium chloride. Modeling is established to investigate the cooling performance of a composite adsorbent based adsorption chiller driven by flat-type solar collectors with three different configurations of glaze: (1) single glazed cover; (2) double glazed cover and (3) transparent insulation material (TIM) cover. The simulation results show that the coefficient of performance (COP) and the specific cooling power (SCP) of the adsorption chiller depend hugely on the solar collector temperature. It is found that a double glazed cover shows the best cooling performance and 30 m² is the most optimized solar collector area. Two to three hours of pre-heating time is required to initiate the desorption process of the adsorber in a day of operation. This newly developed silica activated carbon/CaCl₂ composite material as adsorbent used in the adsorption chiller could achieve a high mean COP_sc of 0.48. Its satisfactory performance suggests that this novel composite material has a potential to be used in the adsorption chiller system even if it is powered by unstable solar energy.     

HI extraction by H3PO4 in the Sulfur–Iodine thermochemical water splitting cycle: Composition optimization of the HI/H2O/H3PO4/I2 biphasic quaternary system

Iodine excess separation from hydriodic acid (HI) is one of the most challenging steps of the Sulfur–Iodine thermochemical water splitting cycle. One promising method is the extraction of HI by using phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄), with the subsequent separation of gaseous hydriodic acid from water and H₃PO₄ by a distillation step.     

Automated detection of ocular alignment with binocular retinal birefringence scanning

We previously developed a retinal birefingence scanning (RBS) device to detect eye fixation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a new binocular RBS (BRBS) instrument can detect simultaneous fixation of both eyes. Control (nonmyopic and myopic) and strabismic subjects were studied by use of BRBS at a fixation distance of 45 cm. Binocularity (the percentage of measurements with bilateral fixation) was determined from the BRBS output. All nonstrabismic subjects with good quality signals had binocularity >75%. Binocularity averaged 5% in four subjects with strabismus (range of 0-20%). BRBS may potentially be used to screen individuals for abnormal eye alignment.     

Rapid detection of oilfish and escolar in fish steaks: A tool to prevent keriorrhea episodes

The outbreak of keriorrhea caused by the wax ester-rich oilfish and escolar has become a frequent and worldwide concern. To help prevent such episodes, rapid detection of these fishes in the supply chain of the seafood industry and by food and health inspection agencies is essential. Through a combination of DNA, GC–MS and TLC analyses with reference to authentic samples, fish steaks of oilfish and escolar mislabeled as other species could be accurately identified. The TLC method developed is inexpensive and provides a reliable and importantly rapid identification within 30 min.