Preparation and Characterization of Phenolic Prepolymer Impregnated Chinese Fir by Cyclic Increasing-Pressure Method with Green and Efficient

The Chinese fir wood was impregnated using a cyclic increasingpressure method(CIPM)with phenolic prepolymers as the impregnating modifier.Unmodified Chinese fir and progressive increasing-pressure method(PIPM)impregnated Chinese fir were used as reference samples and were compared and analyzed.The product’s chemical structure,internal morphology,crystal structure,and heat resistance were characterized.The transversal and longitudinal sections showed better filling effects,so that it bore greater external loading and reduced the water storage space.CIPM infused more phenolic prepolymer into the Chinese fir.Not only producing more physical filling but also forming more hydrogen bond associations and chemical bond combinations.Compared with PIPM and unmodi-fied Chinese fir,the CIPM impregnated Chinese fir had better mechanical strength and water resistance.The cellulose chains in CIPM impregnated Chinese fir were more closely linked and their crystallinity were clearly improved.Changes in internal morphology and crystal structure explained the reason why the mechanical properties and water resistance of CIPM impregnated Chinese fir were improved significantly.This Chinese fir had lower thermal decomposition rates,higher decomposition residual rates,and smaller combustion flames,which confirmed that it possessed improved heat and fire resistance.

Modeling, analysis, and screening of cyclic pressure pulsing with nitrogen in hydraulically fractured wells

Cyclic pressure pulsing with nitrogen is studied for hydraulically fractured wells in depleted reservoirs.A compositional simulation model is constructed to represent the hydraulic fractures through local-grid refinement.The process is analyzed from both operational and reservoir/hydraulic-fracture perspectives.Key sensitivity parameters for the operational component are chosen as the injection rate,lengths of injection and soaking periods and the economic rate limit to shut-in the well.For the reservoir/hydraulic fracturing components,reservoir permeability,hydraulic fracture permeability,effective thickness and half-length are used.These parameters are varied at five levels.A full-factorial experimental design is utilized to run 1250 cases.The study shows that within the ranges studied,the gas-injection process is applied successfully for a 20-year project period with net present values based on the incremental recoveries greater than zero.It is observed that the cycle rate limit,injection and soaking periods must be optimized to maximize the efficiency.The simulation results are used to develop a neural network based proxy model that can be used as a screening tool for the process.The proxy model is validated with blind-cases with a correlation coefficient of 0.96.

Numerical Analyses of Caisson Breakwaters on Soft Foundations Under Wave Cyclic Loading

A caisson breakwater is built on soft foundations after replacing the upper soft layer with sand. This paper presents a dynamic finite element method to investigate the strength degradation and associated pore pressure development of the intercalated soft layer under wave cyclic loading. By combining the undrained shear strength with the empirical formula of overconsolidation clay produced by unloading and the development model of pore pressure, the dynamic degradation law that describes the undrained shear strength as a function of cycle number and stress level is derived. Based on the proposed dynamic degradation law and M-C yield criterion, a dynamic finite element method is numerically implemented to predict changes in undrained shear strength of the intercalated soft layer by using the general-purpose FEM software ABAQUS, and the accuracy of the method is verified. The effects of cycle number and amplitude of the wave force on the degradation of the undrained shear strength of the intercalated soft layer and the associated excess pore pressure response are investigated by analyzing an overall distribution and three typical sections underneath the breakwater. By comparing the undrained shear strength distributions obtained by the static method and the quasi-static method with the undrained shear strength distributions obtained by the dynamic finite element method in the three typical sections, the superiority of the dynamic finite element method in predicting changes in undrained shear strength is demonstrated.

Motion-pressure coupled control and simulation of long-endurance capability for multicapsule stratospheric airships

The current study focuses on the motion-pressure coupled control for a multicapsule stratospheric airship and transforms the path-tracking and heading-hold control of airships into guidance tracking with a time-varying weighted sum of longitudinal and lateral velocities by the definition of compound speed.Herein,an improved nonlinear predictive control method is provided to reduce the control energy consumption by the rolling optimization of controller parameters based on finite time intervals,ensuring infinite-time path-tracking tasks.Simultaneously,combined with the proposed cyclic regulation process of safe pressure between internal and external capsules,this study can fully reflect the force-thermal coupled rule of airships under the actions of atmospheric environment and maneuvering force,while evaluating the long-endurance capability of airships under the conditions of safe superheating and overpressure.The effectiveness of the motionpressure coupled controller was verified through numerical simulations,which can overcome the influence of environmental wind and achieve a tracking effect for the desired cruise path and compound speed.The airspeed provided during the cyclic circadian time caused the maximum superheating of the helium controlled within 30C.The helium in the internal and external capsules achieved circadian regulation.The equivalent micropore diameter of the capsule of 5 mm can achieve 55 days of long-endurance flight.The controller satisfies the requirements of cruise-flight application modes for multicapsule stratospheric airships with important engineering value.

Cyclic Pulsating Pressure Enhanced Segregating Structuration of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene/Graphene Composites as High-performance Light-Weight EMI Shields

Currently,the enhancement in electromagnetic interference(EMI)performance of polymeric composite generally relies on either improving electrical conductivity(σ)for stronger electromagnetic(EM)reflections or tailoring structure for higher EM resonances.Herein,we proposed a novel technique called cyclic pulsating pressure enhanced segregating structuration(CPP-SS),which can reinforce these two factors simultaneously.The structural information was supplied by optical microscopy(OM)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM),both of which confirmed the formation and evolution of segregate structured ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene(UHMWPE)/graphene composites.Then,the result showed that CPP-SS can significantly improve theσof samples.Ultimately,advanced specific EMI shielding efficiency of 31.1 d B/mm was achieved for UHMWPE/graphene composite at 1-mm thickness and a low graphene loading of 5 wt%.Meanwhile,it also confirmed that the intrinsic disadvantage of poor mechanical properties of conventional segregated structure composites can be surpassed.This work is believed to provide a fundamental understanding of the structural and performance evolutions of segregated structured composites prepared under CPPSS,and to bring us a simple and efficient approach for fabricating high-performance,strong and light-weight polymeric EMI shields.

Addressing the permanent deformation behavior of hot mix asphalt by triaxial cyclic compression testing with cyclic confining pressure

Rutting or permanent deformation is one of the major distress modes of hot mix asphalt in the field. Triaxial cycle compression testing （TCCT） is a standardized and scientifically accepted test method to address this distress mode in the lab and to characterize the resistance to permanent deformation. In most labs and according to EN 12697-25, standard TGCTs are carried out with cyclic axial loading and a constant confining pressure. In road pavements on the other hand, dynamic traffic loading due to passing wheels leads to cyclic confining pressure. In order to bring the TCCT closer to reality, the radial reaction and its phase lag to axial loading in standard TCCTs are analyzed and an enhanced TCCT with cyclic confining pressure is introduced. The cyclic confining pressure takes into account the viscoelastic material response by the radial phase lag to axial phase loading. In a subsequent test program, TCCTs with different confining pressure amplitudes were carried out on two hot mix asphalts. Results from standard and enhanced TCCTs were analyzed, compared and discussed. It is shown that the resistance to permanent deformation in- creases significantly when the viscoelastic material response is taken into account in the TCCT by introducing cyclic confining pressure.

Micro-scale behavior of granular materials during cyclic loading

This study presents the micro-scale behavior of granular materials under biaxial cyclic loading for differ- ent confining pressures using the two-dimensional （2D） discrete element method （DEM）. Initially, 8450 ovals were generated in a rectangular frame without any overlap. Four dense samples having confining pressures of 15, 25, 50, and 100 kPa were prepared from the initially generated sparse sample. Numeri- cal simulations were performed under biaxial cyclic loading using these isotropically compressed dense samples. The numerical results depict stress-strain-dilatancy behavior that was similar to that observed in experimental studies. The relationship between the stress ratio and dilatancy rate is almost indepen- dent of confining pressures during loading but significantly dependent on the confining pressures during unloading. The evolution of the coordination number, effective coordination number and slip coordina- tion number depends on both the confining pressures and cyclic loading. The cyclic loading significantly affects the microtopology of the granular assembly. The contact fabric and the fabric-related anisotropy are reported, as well. A strong correlation between the stress ratio and the fabric related to contact normals is observed during cyclic loading, irrespective of confining pressures.

Cooperative effect from cation and anion of pyridine-containing anion-based ionic liquids for catalysing CO_2 transformation at ambient conditions

Pyridine-containing anion-based ionic liquids(PA-ILs) with two kinds of interaction sites to bind CO_2, e.g., [P4444][2-OP], were found to be highly efficient for catalysing the cycloaddition reactions of atmospheric CO_2 with epoxides at room temperature under metal-and halogen-free conditions, producing a series of cyclic carbonates in high yields. It was demonstrated that the cooperative interaction from two interaction sites in the anions of PA-ILs activated CO_2, while the cation activated the epoxides substrates via coordination to the central P+ unit, thus resulting in the high activity of the IL catalysts.