Effect of Aggregate Gradation on the Properties of 3D Printed Recycled Coarse Aggregate Concrete

A simplex centroid design method was employed to design the gradation of recycled coarse aggregate.The bulk density was measured while the specific surface area and average excess paste thickness were calculated with different gradations.The fluidity,dynamic yield stress,static yield stress,printed width,printed inclination,compressive strength and ultrasonic wave velocity of 3D printed recycled aggregate concrete(3DPRAC)were further studied.The experimental results demonstrate that,with the increase of small-sized aggregate(4.75-7 mm)content,the bulk density initially increases and then decreases,and the specific surface area gradually increases.The average excess paste thickness fluctuates with both bulk density and specific surface area.The workability of 3DPRAC is closely related to the average excess paste thickness.With an increase in average paste thickness,there is a gradual decrease in dynamic yield stress,static yield stress and printed inclination,accompanied by an increase in fluidity and printed width.The mechanical performance of 3DPRAC closely correlates with the bulk density.With an increase in the bulk density,there is an increase in the ultrasonic wave velocity,accompanied by a slight increase in the compressive strength and a significant decrease in the anisotropic coefficient.Furthermore,an index for buildability failure of 3DPRAC based on the average excess paste thickness is proposed.

Effect of particle gradation on pore structure and seepage law of solution in weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth ores

Both CT and Avizo software were used to explore the effect of particle gradation on the evolution characteristics of pore structure and seepage paths in weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth ores during leaching.The results showed that the pore areas in four kinds of ore samples before leaching were mainly concentrated in 10^(4)–10^(7)μm^(2),whose pore quantities accounted for 96.89%,94.94%,90.48%,and 89.45%,respectively,while the corresponding pore volume only accounted for 30.74%,14.55%,7.58%,and 2.84%of the total pore volume.With the decrease of fractal dimension,the average pore throat length increased,but pore throat quantities,the average pore throat radius and coordination number decreased.Compared with that before leaching,the change degree of pore structure during leaching increased with the fractal dimension decreasing.For example,the reduction rate of the average coordination number of ore samples was 14.36%,21.30%,28.00%,and 32.90%,respectively.Seepage simulation results indicated that seepage paths were uniformly distributed before leaching while the streamline density and seepage velocity increased with the fractal dimension decreasing.Besides,the phenomenon of the streamline interruption gradually reduced during leaching while preferential seepage got more obvious with the decrease of the fractal dimension.

Modelling and predicting the dynamic response of an axially graded viscoelastic core sandwich beam

The present study explored the influence of axial gradation of viscoelastic materials on the dynamic response of the sandwich beam for structural applications.The finite element(FE)formulations are used to model and investigate dynamic response of the sandwich beam.The classical beam theory is used to develop the FE formulations and Lagrange's approach is considered to obtain the equations of motion(EOM).FE code is developed and validated with the existing literature and also conducted the convergence study for the developed FE method.Further,the influence of different viscoelastic materials and boundary conditions on the dynamic response of the sandwich beam is investigated.Four different axial gradation configurations of viscoelastic materials are considered for the present work to explore the influence on natural frequency,loss factor and frequency response of the sandwich beam.The modeled axial gradation of viscoelastic material has displayed a considerable impact on the peak vibrational amplitude response of the sandwich beam for all the boundary conditions and these configurations improved the damping capabilities at different configurations for the structural applications.

Distribution Properties of Internal Air Voids in Ultrathin Asphalt Friction Course

The distribution characteristics of air voids in ultrathin asphalt friction course(UAFC) samples with different gradations and compaction methods were statistically analyzed using X-ray computed tomography(CT) and image analysis techniques. Based on the results, compared with the AC-5 sample, the OGFC-5mixture has a higher air void ratio, a larger air void size and a greater number of air voids, with the distribution of internal air voids being more uniform and their shapes being more rounded. The two-parameter Weibull function was applied to fit the gradation of air voids. The fitting results is good, and the function parameters are sensitive to changes in both mineral gradation and compaction method. Moreover, two homogeneity indices were proposed to evaluate the compaction uniformity of UAFC samples. Compared with the Marshall method,the SGC method is more conducive to improve the compaction uniformity of UAFC samples. The compaction method significantly influences the air void distribution characteristics and compaction uniformity of AC-5sample, but has a less significant impact on OGFC-5 sample. The experimental results in the study provides a solid foundation for further explorations on the internal structure and mixture design of UAFC.

Relationship and Variability of Atmospheric Precipitation Characteristics in the North-West of Ukraine

The paper deals with the issues of differentiation of atmospheric precipitation into gradations according to their characteristics and established meteorological practices.The division of atmospheric precipitation into gradations allows one to have an idea of the possible consequences of their fallout on life in the area.The dependence of the average intensity of precipitation on their duration for the entire series of observations is not described by a power-law dependence with a sufficient degree of reliability,and when differentiating into gradations according to the amount of precipitation(<2.5 mm,2.5-10 mm,≥10 mm),the dependences are obtained with a high degree of correlation.The scatter of points can be explained by the presence of intermediate categories of precipitation,which does not take into account the accepted division of the data.Thus,for large values of the amount of precipitation,the existence of a sepa­rate curve is possible,since the existing classifications of precipitation imply the division of heavy showers into sepa­rate gradations.Differentiation of rains by their duration shows a stronger stratification of the field of points for shorter rains(up to 60 minutes).This stratification of the field of points is successfully differentiated into shorter segments of 20,30 minutes.Associated with the greater heterogeneity of shorter precipitation,it can be both rains of low intensi­ty and heavy downpours of short duration.The probability of the position of the maximum intensity of precipitation during rain has more significant differences for precipitation less than 2.5 mm(the curves are more curved).For rains with a precipitation amount of 2.5 mm or more,the probability curves approach straight lines,which is associated with greater heterogeneity of precipitation less than 2.5 mm.

DEPTH PREDICTION OF RAIN WATER ON ROAD SURFACE BASED ON ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

A model based on the non-linear artificial neural network （ANN） is established to predict the thickness of the water film on road surfaces. The weight and the threshold can be determined by training test data, and the water film thickness on the road surface can be accurately predicted by the empirical verification based on sample data. Results show that the proposed ANN model is feasible to predict the water film thickness of the road surface.

Basic Farmland Plan Based on Farmland Gradation

Taking B District in A City as an example, quality classification of basic farmland was evaluated based on farmland gradation. It can be concluded from the analysis that utilization grade of basic farmland in current round was 16.82 without consideration of farmland gradation updating, and the grade enhanced by 0.08, still lower by 0.11 than that in last round, when the updating was taken into account. Finally, the reasons for problems occurred in the round were analyzed as follows： less consideration of protection on basic farmland in orientation of urban development; neglecting of basic farmland quality in Overall Plan of Land Utilization; non-classification of excellent lands after land consolidation; untimely updating of farmland gradation. In addition, the countermeasures were proposed correpondingly, including strengthening of basic farmland quality in the Plan, classification of excellent lands after consolidation, timely updating and inclusion of farmland gradation into ＂one map＂ project.

Mass-front velocity of dry granular flows influenced by the angle of the slope to the runout plane and particle size gradation

The mass-front velocities of granular flows results from the joint action of particle size gradations and the underlying surfaces.However,because of the complexity of friction during flow movement,details such as the slope-toe impedance effects and momentum-transfer mechanisms have not been completely explained by theoretical analyses,numerical simulations,or field investigations.To study the mass-front velocity of dry granular flows influenced by the angle of the slope to the runout plane and particle size gradations we conducted model experiments that recorded the motion of rapid and long-runout rockslides or avalanches.Flume tests were conducted using slope angles of 25°,35°,45°,and 55° and three particle size gradations.The resulting mass-front motions consisted of three stages:acceleration,velocity maintenance,and deceleration.The existing methods of velocity prediction could not explain the slowing effect of the slope toe or the momentum-transfer steady velocity stage.When the slope angle increased from 25° to 55°,the mass-front velocities dropped significantly to between 44.4% and59.6% of the peak velocities and energy lossesincreased from 69.1% to 83.7% of the initial,respectively.The velocity maintenance stages occurred after the slope-toe and mass-front velocity fluctuations.During this stage,travel distances increased as the angles increased,but the average velocity was greatest at 45°.At a slope angle of 45°,as the median particle size increased,energy loss around the slope toe decreased,the efficiency of momentum transfer increased,and the distance of the velocity maintenance stage increased.We presented an improved average velocity formula for granular flow and a geometrical model of the energy along the flow line.

Effect of particle gradation of aluminum on the explosion field pressure and temperature of RDX-based explosives in vacuum and air atmosphere

To optimize the energy output and improve the energy utilization efficiency of an aluminized explosive,an explosion device was developed and used to investigate the detonation pressure and temperature of R1(A16)aluminum powder and the aluminum powder particle gradation of R2(Al6+Al13),R3(Al6+Al24)and R4(Al6+AI flake)in a confined space.By using gas chromatography,quantitative analysis and calculations were carried out to analyze the gaseous detonation products.Finally,the reaction ratios of the aluminum powder and the explosion reaction equations were calculated.The results show that in a confined space,the quasi-static pressures and equilibrium temperature of the aluminum powder in air are higher than in vacuum.In vacuum,the quasi-static pressures and equilibrium temperatures of the samples in descending order are R1>R3>R4>R2 and R3>R4>R1>R2,respectively.In air,the quasi-static pressures and equilibrium telperatures of the samples in descending order are R1>R2>R4>R3 and R1>R4>R2>R3,respectively.R4(Al6+AI flake)and R3(Al6+A124)have relatively higher temperatures after detonation,which shows that the particle gradation method can enhance the reaction energy output of aluminum during the initial reaction stage of the explosion and increase the reaction ratio by10.6%and 8.0%,respectively.In air,the reaction ratio of AI6 aluminum powder can reach as high as 78.16%,and the reaction ratio is slightly reduced after particle gradation.Finally,the reaction equations of the explosives in vacuum and in air were calculated by quantitative analysis of the explosion products,which provides a powerful basis for the study of RDX-based explosive reactions.

Classification and Gradation of Cultivated Land Quality in Bishan County of Chongqing, China

The conflicts among food security, economic development and ecological protection are the “sticking point” of undeveloped southwestern mountainous areas of China. The objectives of this study are to identify appropriate inte- grated indicators influencing the classification and gradation of cultivated land quality in the southwestern mountainous area of China based on semi-structure interview, and to promote the monitoring of cultivated land quality in this region. Taking Bishan County of Chongqing as a study case, the integrated indicators involve the productivity, protection, ac- ceptability, and stability of cultivated land. The integrated indicators accord with the characteristics of land resources and human preference in southwestern mountainous area of China. In different agricultural zones, we emphasize different indicators, such as emphasizing productivity, stabilization and acceptability in low hilly and plain agricultural integrative zone (LHP-AIZ), protection, productivity and stability in low mountain and hill agro-forestry ecological zone (LMH-AEZ), and acceptability in plain outskirts integrative agricultural zone (PO-IAZ), respectively. The pronounced difference of classification and gradation of cultivated land, regardless of inter-region or intra-region, is observed, with the reducible rank from PO-IAZ, LHP-AIZ to LMH-AEZ. Research results accord with the characteristics of assets management and intensive utilization of cultivated land resources in the southwestern mountainous area of China. Semi-structure interview adequately presents the principal agent of farmers in agricultural land use and rural land market. This method is very effective and feasible to obtain data of the quality of cultivated land in the southwestern mountainous area of China.

Experimental study on evolution law for particle breakage during coal and gas outburst

Coal and gas outburst is a dynamic phenomenon in underground mining engineering that is often accompanied by the throwing and breakage of large amounts of coal.To study the crushing effect and its evolution during outbursts,coal samples with different initial particle sizes were evaluated using a coal and gas outburst testing device.Three basic particle sizes,5–10 mesh,10–40 mesh,and 40–80 mesh,as well as some mixed particle size coal samples were used in tests.The coal particles were pre-compacted at a pressure of 4 MPa before the tests.The vertical ground stress(4 MPa)and the horizontal ground stress(2.4 MPa)were initially simulated by the hydraulic system and maintained throughout.During the tests,the samples were first placed in a vacuum for 3 h,and the coal was filled with gas(CH4)for an adsorption time of approximately 5 h.Finally,the gas valve was shut off and the coal and gas outburst was induced by quickly opening the outburst hole.The coal particles that were thrown out by the outburst test device were collected and screened based on the particle size.The results show the following.(1)Smaller particle sizes have a worse crushing effect than larger sizes.Furthermore,the well-graded coal particles are weakly broken during the outburst process.(2)As the number of repeated tests increases,the relative breakage index grows;however,the increment of growth decreases after each test,showing that further fragmentation becomes increasingly difficult.

Integrated Indicators-based Gradation of Cultivated Land Quality in Mountainous Region of Southwestern China

The gradation of cultivated land is to assess the suitability of cultivated land for agricultural production in terms of natural and economic properties of land. It can be used to evaluate sustainability of land use and soil management practices. Formal and informal surveys, Delphi and comprehensive index method are adopted to identify appropriate integrated indicators, and measure the gradation of cultivated land quality. The determination of integrated indicators presents three basic features of cultivated land quality： stable plant productivity, social acceptability and maintenance of environmental quality. Pronounced concentration-dissipation law of total function score value occurs in paddy field units, with three ranges, i.e., 79-68.5, 68.5-59 and 59-51. Total function score value in dryland units mainly ranges from 40 to 70, but slight concentration-dissipation law of each unit is still observed, with four ranges, i.e., 79-68, 68-51, 51-37 and 37-15. Paddy field quality is divided into three gradations, and the scales are 18 220.9 ha, 5410.6 ha and 2890.9 ha. Dryland quality is classified into four gradations, and the scales are 1548.6 ha, 8153.8 ha, 3316.3 ha and 685.2 ha. The total function score value of every gradation unit is conformed to the results of farmers＇ assessment. Research results meet with the needs of accurate degree of the gradation of cultivated land quality. Integrated indicators-based gradation of cultivated land assessment accords with the characteristics of land resources and human preference in the mountains of southwestern China. This study will be useful to promote the monitoring of cultivated land quality, and to supply fine ground and knowledge for establishing appropriate cultivated land management practices in Southwestern China.

Experimental study on the effect of granular backfill with various gradations on the mechanical behavior of rock

Backfilling is a common practice in the mining industry and the backfilling performance plays a significant role in supporting the surrounding rock mass.To evaluate the backfilling performance,an experimental apparatus has been developed to understand how backfill affects the compressive strength of sandstone specimens in the laboratory.Pebbles were selected to model the backfill and divided into six groups with different particle sizes using a set of standard sieves.The backfilling pebbles with three types of particle size compositions were then produced,i.e.single gradation,two adjacent gradations,and increasingly widening gradations.A series of compressive tests were carried out to study the mechanical behavior of the sandstone specimens confined by these pebbles.The effects of the gradations of the filled pebbles on the peak and residual compressive strengths were analyzed.It is found that the increasing amount of the compressive strength is over 10%in most cases,even up to 20%.Based on the experiment data,the increasing amount was also estimated theoretically under some assumptions and it further confirmed the experimental results.The effects are closely related to the gradations of the filled pebbles except for their dense degree.

2D IMAGE BASED SIEVING FOR PARTICLE AGGREGATE GRADATION

Acquiring the size gradation for particle aggregates is a common practice in the granule related industry,and mechanical sieving or screening has been the normal method. Among many drawbacks of this conventional means,the major ones are time-consuming,labor-intensive,and being unable to provide real-time feedback for process control. In this letter,an optical sieving approach is introduced. The two-dimensional images are used to develop methods for inferring particle volume and sieving behavior for gradation purposes. And a combination of deterministic and probabilistic methods is described to predict the sieving behaviors of the particles and to construct the gradation curves for the aggregate sample. Comparison of the optical sieving with standard mechanical sieving shows good correlation.

Design Method and Performance for Large Stone Porous Asphalt Mixtures

Design method for large stone porous asphalt mixtures （LSPM） was analyzed to avoid the early distresses of semi-rigid asphalt pavements. Based on stone-to-stone skeleton structure concept, processes of LSPM gradation design was given. The gradation composite design for LSPM shows that the LSPM nominal maximum size （ N MS） should be larger than 26.5 mm, and the NMS sieve passing percentage should be greater than 50%. Through experiments and calculations on the volume properties of the aggregate, the range of aggregate gradation curve of LSPM was given. In terms of asphalt binder＇s normalized test results, MAC-70 and SBS modified asphalt were selected as the asphalt binders. The applicability of large scale Marshall Method and gyratory compaction method to shape specimens was investigated. Based on the asphalt mixture performance evaluation, the optimum asphalt content range （3.1%-3.6%）, the bitumen film＇s thickness range （13-16 μm） and the air void range （13%-18 %） were recommended. Finally, LSPM was tested by the laboratory performance tests including rutting resistance test, fatigue test and water stability test. The theoretic and practical analysis shows that LSPM has a good performance on water permeability, rutting resistance and reflection crack resistance.

Effect of TiO2 pigment gradation on the properties of thermal insulation coatings

This study was designed to evaluate the thermal performance and mechanical properties of coatings with different gradations of TiO2 pigments. The solar reflectance, cooling performance, wash resistance, and film adhesion strength of the coatings were investigated. The influence of TiO2 powder gradation on the final properties of the coatings was studed. The solar reflectance and the thermal insulation were observed to increase with increasing content of nanosized TiO2. The mechanical properties of the coatings, such as their wash resistance and film adhesion strength, were observed to increase with increased incorporation of nanosized TiO2. Such improvements in the properties of the coatings were attributed to the greater specific surface area and lower thermal conductivity of nanosized TiO2 particles compared to normal TiO2 particles.

Gradation equation of coarse-grained soil and its applicability

Gradation equation is one way to describe the gradation of coarse-grained soil conveniently,exactly and quantitatively.With the gradation equation,the influence of gradation on the mechanical behaviors of coarse-grained soil can be expressed quantitatively.A new gradation equation with a parameter is proposed.The basic properties and applicability of the new equation are studied.The results show that the proposed equation has the applicability to express coarse-grained soil gradation(CSG),and the range of the parameter β is found to be 0<β<1.The value ofbdetermines the gradation curve shape.If β>0.5,the gradation curve is sigmoidal,otherwise the gradation curve is hyperbolic.For well graded gradations,the parameter has the value of 0.13<β<1.Several CSGs used in domestic and foreign earth-rockfill dams are probed,and the value of the parameterbfalls in the range of 0.18 to 0.97.The investigation of the range of β is of value to guide the design for CSG of earth-rockfill dam.

The Compaction Characteristics of Hot Mixed Asphalt Mixtures

The quality of compaction is important to the performance of hot mixed asphalt （HMA） pavement. Most premature failures of asphalt pavement are concerned with poor compaction. Compaction characteristic of lIMA mixtures were studied. Compaction tests were done with typical widely used HMA mixtures, including dense gradation asphalt mixtures with different nominal maximum aggregate size （AC13,AC20,AC25）, and mixtures with different gradation （AC13, SMA13,Supl3 and OGFC13）. HMA mixtures were sampled at different compaction temperature and Marshall blow numbers, varying between 60 and 175 ~C and between 15 and 75 lows, respectively. The compaction characteristics of these mixtures were evaluated. The results showed that the Marshall stability and volumetric properties were significantly affected by the compaction temperature. Mixtures with the same NMAS but different type of gradation need different compaction energy to get the designed density.

THE RESEARCH OF GRADATION FUSION ALGORITHM BASED ON MULTISENSOR ASYNCHRONOUS SAMPLING SYSTEM

This letter explores the distributed multisensor dynamic system, which has uniform sampling velocity and asynchronous sampling data for different sensors, and puts forward a new gradation fusion algorithm of multisensor dynamic system. As the total forecasted increment value between the two adjacent moments is the forecasted estimate value of the corresponding state increment in the fusion center, the new algorithm models the state and the forecasted estimate value of every moment. Kalman filter and all measurements arriving sequentially in the fusion period are employed to update the evaluation of target state step by step, on the condition that the system has obtained the target state evaluation that is based on the overall information in the previous fusion period. Accordingly, in the present period, the fusion evaluation of the target state at each sampling point on the basis of the overall information can be obtained. This letter elaborates the form of this new algorithm. Computer simulation demonstrates that this new algorithm owns greater precision in estimating target state than the present asynchronous fusion algorithm calibrated in time does.

Analysis of One-Dimensional Compression under a Wide Range of Stress with Densely Arrayed BPM

In this paper,the densely arrayed bonded particle model is proposed for simulation of granular materials with discrete element method(DEM)considering particle crushing.This model can solve the problem of pore calculation after the grains are crushed,and reduce the producing time of specimen.In this work,several one-dimensional compressing simulations are carried out to investigate the effect of particle crushing on mechanical properties of granular materials under a wide range of stress.The results show that the crushing process of granular materials can be divided into four different stages according to er-logσy curves.At the end of the second stage,there exists a yield point,after which the physical and mechanical properties of specimens will change significantly.Under extremely high stress,particle crushing will wipe some initial information of specimens,and specimens with different initial gradings and void ratios present some similar characteristics.Particle crushing has great influence on grading,lateral pressure coefficient and compressibility of granular materials,and introduce extra irreversible volume deformation,which is necessary to be considered in modelling of granular materials in wide stress range.