Effects of upholstery materials on the burning behavior of real‐scale residential upholstered furniture mock‐ups

Fire spread and growth on real‐scale four cushion mock‐ups of residential upholstered furniture (RUF) were investigated with the goal of identifying whether changes in five classes of materials (barrier, flexible polyurethane foam, polyester fiber wrap, upholstery fabric, and sewing thread), referred to as factors, resulted in statistically significant changes in burning behavior. A fractional factorial experimental design plus practical considerations yielded a test matrix with 20 material combinations. Experiments were repeated a minimum of two times. Measurements included fire spread rates derived from video recordings and heat release rates (HRRs). A total of 13 experimental parameters (3 based on the videos and 10 on the HRR results), referred to as responses, characterized the measurements. Statistical analyses based on Main Effects Plots (main effects) and Block Plots (main effects and factor interactions) were used. The results showed that three of the factors resulted in statistically significant effects on varying numbers of the 13 responses. The Barrier and Fabric factors had the strongest main effects with roughly comparable magnitudes. Foam was statistically significant for fewer of the responses and its overall strength was weaker than for Barrier and Fabric. No statistically significant main effects were identified for Wrap or Thread. Multiple two‐term interactions between factors were identified as being statistically significant. The Barrier*Fabric interaction resulted in the highest number of and strongest statistically significant effects. The existence of two‐term interactions means that it will be necessary to consider their effects in approaches designed to predict the burning behavior of RUF.     

Al、Mo含量对铸造钛合金力学性能的影响

运用正交实验 ,考察了Al、Mo含量对Ti Al Mo 1Zr系铸造钛合金力学性能的影响。试验结果表明 :随Al、Mo含量提高 ,铸造合金的强度增加 ,塑性和冲击韧性降低 ,但Al、Mo的交互作用却使合金塑性提高 ,强度和冲击韧性降低     

Numerical modeling of combustion processes and pollutant formations in direct-injection diesel engines

The Representative Interactive Flamelet (RIF) concept has been applied to numerically simulate the combustion processes and pollutant formation in the direct injection diesel engine. Due to the ability for interactively describing the transient behaviors of local flame structures with CFD solver, the RIF concept has the capabilities to predict the auto-ignition and subsequent flame propagation in the diesel engine combustion chamber as well as to effectively account for the detailed mechanisms of soot formation, NO_X formation including thermal NO path, prompt and nitrous NO_X formation, and reburning process. Special emphasis is given to the turbulent combustion model which properly accounts for vaporization effects on the mixture fraction fluctuations and the pdf model. The results of numerical modeling using the RIF concept are compared with experimental data and with numerical results of the commonly applied procedure which the low-temperature and high-temperature oxidation processes are represented by the Shell ignition model and the eddy dissipation model, respectively. Numerical results indicate that the RIF approach including the vaporization effect on turbulent spray combustion process successfully predicts the ignition delay time and location as well as the pollutant formation.     

A theory of personalisation of appearance: quantitative evaluation of qualitatively derived data

Using qualitative data, Blom and Monk (2003) derived a theory of why people choose to personalise the appearance of their PCs and mobile phones. This paper describes some quantitative data that provide some support for, and some modifications to, the theory. Individuals having personal home pages were recruited to fill in a questionnaire that assesses dispositions to personalise and its effects. In addition the 82 home pages were inspected to assess the extent of personalisation. This correlated significantly with the dispositions 'Frequency of Use' and 'Knowledge of Personalisation'. The questionnaire items corresponding to effects were factor analysed. A four-factor solution suggested item groupings similar, but not identical, to those used in the theory. There are significant positive correlations between the extent of personalisation and cognitive effects and enduring emotional effects. The value of quantitative data for confirming and refining a qualitative theory is discussed.     

Formation of Azobenzenes and Azoxybenzenes from the Aqueous Reactions of Anilines and Ozone

Azobenzenes and azoxybenzenes are two of the products identified from the aqueous reaction of anilines with ozone. Aniline concentration and functional groups on the benzene ring of aniline affected the amount of azobenzenes and azoxybenzenes formed; (1) decreasing the aniline concentration significantly increased azobenzene formation, and (2) electron-withdrawing groups increased the formation of its related azobenzene and azoxybenzene, whereas electron-donating groups had the opposite effect.     

WALL AND PARTICLE-SHAPE EFFECTS ON HEAT TRANSFER IN PACKED BEDS

The effective radial thermal conductivity and apparent heat transfer coefficient for a packed bed were experimentally determined for beds of spheres, full cylinders and hollow cylinders, for flow rates giving particle Reynolds numbers in the range 100-1000, and for tube to particle diameter ratios of 5-12. Over these ranges the radial Peclet number Pe_r showed significant dependence on solid conductivity, gas flow rate and particle shape, while the wall Biot number Bi showed significant dependence on tube to particle diameter ratio, gas flow rate and particle shape. These dependencies were predicted well by equations incorporating the effects of these variables into individual gas and solid phase parameters, which were then combined to give the effective or lumped parameters     

Oxidation Of Iron And Manganese By Ozone

The oxidation of iron and manganese by ozone was studied in the laboratory. Model waters both with and without organic matter were used. Results showed iron to be very rapidly oxidized to an insoluble form in the absence of organic matter. However, in the presence of organic matter the iron was protected from oxidation by ozone and precipitation. The degree to which this occurred depended on the nature of the organic matter and the chemical environment at the time of mixing the iron stock and the dissolved organic matter.

Experiments with manganese allowed the determination of second order rate constants for the reaction of ozone with manganese at various pH values. The oxidation of manganese in the presence of organic matter occurred in competition with oxidation of the organic matter. As a result, high ozone doses were required to achieve the same degree of removal of manganese. An increase in bicarbonate alkalinity from 50 mg/L to 200 mg/L did not result in an acceleration of the manganese oxidation in the absence of organic matter. However, in the presence of organic matter, higher levels of bicarbonate created conditions that resulted in more complete oxidation of the manganese following total consumption of the dosed ozone.     

Driving a Wedge Between Evidence and Beliefs: How Online Ideological News Exposure Promotes Political Misperceptions

This article has 2 goals: to provide additional evidence that exposure to ideological online news media contributes to political misperceptions, and to test 3 forms this media‐effect might take. Analyses are based on representative survey data collected during the 2012 U.S. presidential election (N = 1,004). Panel data offer persuasive evidence that biased news site use promotes inaccurate beliefs, while cross‐sectional data provide insight into the nature of these effects. There is no evidence that exposure to ideological media reduces awareness of politically unfavorable evidence, though in some circumstances biased media do promote misunderstandings of it. The strongest and most consistent influence of ideological media exposure is to encourage inaccurate beliefs regardless of what consumers know of the evidence.     

作物残体去向与利用及对土壤氮素转化的影响

近年来,作物残体还田受到了很大的关注,一方面它可以改进土壤氮素的动态变化,减少硝态氮淋失;另一方面可作为提高耕地土壤作为潜在氮储库的一种手段。作物残体是碳、氮的重要源和库,因此还田后会影响土壤中的氮素循环。本文综述了作物残体还田后对土壤氮素转化的影响及残体氮素的利用与去向问题。具体阐述了以下几个方面内容:作物残体的降解过程及影响因素,残体氮素的利用率及去向问题,以及作物残体对土壤无机氮库、有机氮库、微生物特征的影响。