Synthesis and thermal characterization of the C-S-H/paraffin composite phase change material utilizing a discontinuous two-step nucleation method

The novel calcium-silicate-hydrate(C-S-H)/paraffin composite phase change materials were synthesized using a discontinuous two-step nucleation method.Initially,the C-S-H precursor is separated and dried,followed by immersion in an aqueous environment to transform it into C-S-H.This two-step nucleation approach results in C-S-H with a specific surface area of 497.2 m^(2)/g,achieved by preventing C-S-H foil overlapping and refining its pore structure.When impregnated with paraffin,the novel C-S-H/paraffin composite exhibits superior thermal properties,such as a higher potential heat value of 148.3 J/g and an encapsulation efficiency of 81.6%,outperforming conventional C-S-H.Moreover,the composite material demonstrates excellent cyclic performance,indicating its potential for building thermal storage compared to other paraffin-based composites.Compared with the conventional method,this simple technology,which only adds conversion and centrifugation steps,does not negatively impact preparation costs,the environment,and resource consumption.This study provides valuable theoretical insights for designing thermal storage concrete materials and advancing building heat management.

Insight Into the Separation-of-Variable Methods for the Closed-Form Solutions of Free Vibration of Rectangular Thin Plates

The separation-of-variable(SOV)methods,such as the improved SOV method,the variational SOV method,and the extended SOV method,have been proposed by the present authors and coworkers to obtain the closed-form analytical solutions for free vibration and eigenbuckling of rectangular plates and circular cylindrical shells.By taking the free vibration of rectangular thin plates as an example,this work presents the theoretical framework of the SOV methods in an instructive way,and the bisection–based solution procedures for a group of nonlinear eigenvalue equations.Besides,the explicit equations of nodal lines of the SOV methods are presented,and the relations of nodal line patterns and frequency orders are investigated.It is concluded that the highly accurate SOV methods have the same accuracy for all frequencies,the mode shapes about repeated frequencies can also be precisely captured,and the SOV methods do not have the problem of missing roots as well.

A Two-step Inverse Method for Quantitative Damage Evaluation of Plate-like Structures Using Vibration Approach

This study presents a novel two-step approach to assess plate-like structural laminar damages,particularly for delamination damage detection of composite structures.Firstly,a 2-D continuous wavelet transform is employed to identify the damage location and sizes from vibration curvature data.An inverse method is subsequently then used to determine the bending stiffness reduction ratio along a specified direction,enabling the quantification of the delamination severity.The method employed in this study is an extension of the one-dimensional inverse method developed in a previous work of the authors.The applicability of the two-step inverse approach is demonstrated in a simulation analysis and by an experimental study on a cantilever composite plate containing a single delamination.The inverse method is shown to have the capacity to reveal the detailed damage information of delamination within a constrained searching space and can be used to determine the effective flexural stiffness of composite plate structures,even in cases of complex delamination damage.

Structural Modal Parameter Recognition and Related Damage Identification Methods under Environmental Excitations: A Review

Modal parameters can accurately characterize the structural dynamic properties and assess the physical state of the structure.Therefore,it is particularly significant to identify the structural modal parameters according to the monitoring data information in the structural health monitoring(SHM)system,so as to provide a scientific basis for structural damage identification and dynamic model modification.In view of this,this paper reviews methods for identifying structural modal parameters under environmental excitation and briefly describes how to identify structural damages based on the derived modal parameters.The paper primarily introduces data-driven modal parameter recognition methods(e.g.,time-domain,frequency-domain,and time-frequency-domain methods,etc.),briefly describes damage identification methods based on the variations of modal parameters(e.g.,natural frequency,modal shapes,and curvature modal shapes,etc.)and modal validation methods(e.g.,Stability Diagram and Modal Assurance Criterion,etc.).The current status of the application of artificial intelligence(AI)methods in the direction of modal parameter recognition and damage identification is further discussed.Based on the pre-vious analysis,the main development trends of structural modal parameter recognition and damage identification methods are given to provide scientific references for the optimized design and functional upgrading of SHM systems.

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence on organic inorganic metal halide perovskite CH_3NH_3Pb I_(3-)Cl_ prepared on ZnO/FTO substrates using a two-step method

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence characteristics of organic-inorganic halide perovskite CH3NH3Pb I3-xClx films prepared using a two-step method on ZnO/FTO substrates were investigated. Surface morphology and absorption characteristics of the films were also studied. Scanning electron microscopy revealed large crystals and substrate coverage. The orthorhombic-to-tetragonal phase transition temperature was-140 K. The films＇ exciton binding energy was 77.6 ± 10.9 meV and the energy of optical phonons was 38.8 ± 2.5 meV. These results suggest that perovskite CH3NH3Pb I（3-x）Clx films have excellent optoelectronic characteristics which further suggests their potential usage in perovskitebased optoelectronic devices.

Applying the Dynamic Two-Step Method to Forecast Remaining Oil Distribution of Lower Series ,Xiaermen Oilfield

The distribution of remaining oil is often described qualitatively. The remaining oil distributed in the whole reservoir is calculated according to the characteristics of the space distribution of the saturation of remaining oil. Logging data are required to accomplish this. However, many such projects cannot be completed. Since the old study of remaining oil distribution could not be quantified efficiently, the ＂dynamic two-step method＂ is presented. Firstly, the water cut of every flow unit in one well at one time is calculated according to the comprehensive water cut of a single well at one time. Secondly, the remaining oil saturation of the flow unit of the well at one time is calculated based on the water cut of the flow unit at a given time. The results show that ＂dynamic two-step method＂ has characteristics of simplicity and convenience, and is especially suitable for the study of remaining oil distribution at high water-cut stage. The distribution of remaining oil presented banding and potato form, remaining oil was relatively concentrated in faultage neighborhood and imperfect well netting position, and the net thickness of the place was great. This proposal can provide an effective way to forecast remaining oil distribution and enhance oil recovery, especially applied at the high water-cut stage.

Cryopreservation of Gametophytes of Laminaria japonica (Phaeophyta) Using Encapsulation-Dehydration with Two-Step Cooling Method

Gametophytes of Laminaria japonica were cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen using encapsulation-dehydration with two-step cooling method. Gametophytes cultured at 10℃ and under continuous irradiance of 30 μmol m^-2 s^-1 for 3 weeks were encapsulated in calcium alginate beads. The beads were dehydrated in 0.4 molLl sucrose prepared with seawater for 6 h, desiccated in an incubator set at 10℃ and 70% relative humidity for 4 h, pre-frozen at either -40℃ or -60℃ for 30 min, and stored in liquid nitrogen for 〉24 h. As high as 43% of survival rate was observed when gametophytes were thawed by placing the beads in 40℃ seawater and re-hydrated in 0.05 molL^-1 citrate sodium prepared using 30‰ NaCl 7 d later. More cells of male gametophytes survived the whole procedure in comparison with female gametophytes. The cells of gametophytes surviving the preservation were able to grow asexually and produce morphologically normal sporophytes.

Effects of Ni doping contents on photocatalytic activity of B-BiVO_4 synthesized through sol-gel and impregnation two-step method

To enhance the photocatalytic activity of B-BiVO4,Ni-doped B?BiVO4photocatalyst(Ni-B-BiVO4)was synthesized through sol-gel and impregnation method.The photocatalysts were characterized by XPS,XRD,SEM,EDS,BET and UV-Vis DRS techniques.The results showed that single or double doping did not change the crystalline structure and morphology,but the particle size decreased with Ni doping.The band gap energy absorption edge of Ni-B-BiVO4shifted to a longer wavelength compared with undoped,B or Ni single doped BiVO4.More V4+and surface hydroxyl oxygen were observed in BiVO4after Ni-B co-doping.When the optimal mass fraction of Ni is0.30%,the degradation rate of MO in50min is95%for0.3Ni-B-BiVO4sample which also can effectively degrade methyl blue(MB),acid orange(AOII)II and rhodamine B(RhB).The enhanced photocatalytic activity is attributed to the synergistic effects of B and Ni doping.

A simulation study comparing the Texas two-step and the multistage consecutive fracturing method

Multistage hydraulic fracturing in horizontal wells is a critical technique for developing unconventional oil and gas resources.Stress interactions among neighboring fractures cause immature fracture development.The Texas two-step fracturing(TTSF)method is a new technique that aims to enhance fracture complexity and conductivity.This paper compares the fracture development of consecutive fracturing and the TTSF.The fracturing sequence in the multistage fracturing method has a significant effect on the fracture length,fracture width and injection pres sure.The consecutive fracturing results in relatively uneven fracture length and width.Certain fractures in consecutive fracturing are restrained to be closed due to the strong stress shadowing effect.In contrast,TTSF has considerable potential for alleviating the negative effects of stress interactions and producing a larger stimulated reservoir volume.

The convergence ball and error analysis of the two-step Secant method

Under the assumption that the nonlinear operator has Lipschitz continuous divided differences for the first order,we obtain an estimate of the radius of the convergence ball for the two-step secant method.Moreover,we also provide an error estimate that matches the convergence order of the two-step secant method.At last,we give an application of the proposed theorem.

Two-Step Hybrid Block Method for Solving Nonlinear Jerk Equations

In this paper, a block method with one hybrid point for solving Jerk equations is presented. The hybrid point is chosen to optimize the local truncation errors of the main formulas for the solution and the derivative at the end of the block. Analysis of the method is discussed, and some numerical examples show that the proposed method is efficient and accurate.

TWO-STEP REGULATION METHOD OF ACUPUNCTURE IN THE TREATMENT OF INTRACTABLE FACIAL PARALYSIS OBSERVATION ON 96 CASES

Two step regulating acupuncture therapy was employed in the treatment of 96patients with intractable facial paralysis and the therapeutic effects of the method is compared withthat in 40 patients in control.In the first step,strong regulating acupuncture was applied at Meixin(EXtra),upper Taiyang (EX-HN 5) and Xiaguan (ST 7) points in the affected face.In the secondstep,weak regulating acupuncture was used at Dicang (ST 4) and Sibai (ST 2) points in the healthface.It was revealed that among the 96 patients,37 cases (38. 5%) were cured,57 cases (59. 4%)markedly improved,2 cases (2.1%) improved with a total effective rate of 100%.The effective ratewas statistically different (P【0. 005) from that in the control.The results indicate that the method issuperior to the ordinary manipulation in treating intractable facial paralysis.

A Review on Sources,Extractions and Analysis Methods of a Sustainable Biomaterial:Tannins

Condensed and hydrolysable tannins are non-toxic natural polyphenols that are a commercial commodity industrialized for tanning hides to obtain leather and for a growing number of other industrial applications mainly to substitute petroleum-based products.They are a definite class of sustainable materials of the forestry industry.They have been in operation for hundreds of years to manufacture leather and now for a growing number of applications in a variety of other industries,such as wood adhesives,metal coating,pharmaceutical/medical applications and several others.This review presents the main sources,either already or potentially commercial of this forestry by-materials,their industrial and laboratory extraction systems,their systems of analysis with their advantages and drawbacks,be these methods so simple to even appear primitive but nonetheless of proven effectiveness,or very modern and instrumental.It constitutes a basic but essential summary of what is necessary to know of these sustainable materials.In doing so,the review highlights some of the main challenges that remain to be addressed to deliver the quality and economics of tannin supply necessary to fulfill the industrial production requirements for some materials-based uses.

A new two-step variational model for multiplicative noise removal with applications to texture images

Multiplicative noise removal problems have attracted much attention in recent years.Unlike additive noise,multiplicative noise destroys almost all information of the original image,especially for texture images.Motivated by the TV-Stokes model,we propose a new two-step variational model to denoise the texture images corrupted by multiplicative noise with a good geometry explanation in this paper.In the first step,we convert the multiplicative denoising problem into an additive one by the logarithm transform and propagate the isophote directions in the tangential field smoothing.Once the isophote directions are constructed,an image is restored to fit the constructed directions in the second step.The existence and uniqueness of the solution to the variational problems are proved.In these two steps,we use the gradient descent method and construct finite difference schemes to solve the problems.Especially,the augmented Lagrangian method and the fast Fourier transform are adopted to accelerate the calculation.Experimental results show that the proposed model can remove the multiplicative noise efficiently and protect the texture well.

A hybrid specific index-related process monitoring strategy based on a novel two-step information extraction method

A two-step information extraction method is presented to capture the specific index-related information more accurately.In the first step,the overall process variables are separated into two sets based on Pearson correlation coefficient.One is process variables strongly related to the specific index and the other is process variables weakly related to the specific index.Through performing principal component analysis(PCA)on the two sets,the directions of latent variables have changed.In other words,the correlation between latent variables in the set with strong correlation and the specific index may become weaker.Meanwhile,the correlation between latent variables in the set with weak correlation and the specific index may be enhanced.In the second step,the two sets are further divided into a subset strongly related to the specific index and a subset weakly related to the specific index from the perspective of latent variables using Pearson correlation coefficient,respectively.Two subsets strongly related to the specific index form a new subspace related to the specific index.Then,a hybrid monitoring strategy based on predicted specific index using partial least squares(PLS)and T2statistics-based method is proposed for specific index-related process monitoring using comprehensive information.Predicted specific index reflects real-time information for the specific index.T2statistics are used to monitor specific index-related information.Finally,the proposed method is applied to Tennessee Eastman(TE).The results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A two-step unconditionally stable explicit method with controllable numerical dissipations

A family of unconditionally stable direct integration algorithm with controllable numerical dissipations is proposed. The numerical properties of the new algorithms are controlled by three parameters α, β and γ. By the consistent and stability analysis, the proposed algorithms achieve the second-order accuracy and are unconditionally stable under the condition that α≥-0.5, β≤ 0.5 and γ≥-(1+α)/2. Compared with other unconditionally stable algorithms, such as Chang's algorithms and CR algorithm, the proposed algorithms are found to be superior in terms of the controllable numerical damping ratios. The unconditional stability and numerical damping ratios of the proposed algorithms are examined by three numerical examples. The results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms have a superior performance and can be used expediently in solving linear elastic dynamics problems.

A comparison study on structure-function relationship of polysaccharides obtained from sea buckthorn berries using different methods:antioxidant and bile acid-binding capacity

In this study,the structural characters,antioxidant activities and bile acid-binding ability of sea buckthorn polysaccharides(HRPs)obtained by the commonly used hot water(HRP-W),pressurized hot water(HRP-H),ultrasonic(HRP-U),acid(HRP-C)and alkali(HRP-A)assisted extraction methods were investigated.The results demonstrated that extraction methods had significant effects on extraction yield,monosaccharide composition,molecular weight,particle size,triple-helical structure,and surface morphology of HRPs except for the major linkage bands.Thermogravimetric analysis showed that HRP-U with filamentous reticular microstructure exhibited better thermal stability.The HRP-A with the lowest molecular weight and highest arabinose content possessed the best antioxidant activities.Moreover,the rheological analysis indicated that HRPs with higher galacturonic acid content and molecular weight showed higher viscosity and stronger crosslinking network(HRP-C,HRP-W and HRP-U),which exhibited stronger bile acid binding capacity.The present findings provide scientific evidence in the preparation technology of sea buckthorn polysaccharides with good antioxidant and bile acid binding capacity which are related to the structure affected by the extraction methods.

Drilling-based measuring method for the c-φ parameter of rock and its field application

The technology of drilling tests makes it possible to obtain the strength parameter of rock accurately in situ. In this paper, a new rock cutting analysis model that considers the influence of the rock crushing zone(RCZ) is built. The formula for an ultimate cutting force is established based on the limit equilibrium principle. The relationship between digital drilling parameters(DDP) and the c-φ parameter(DDP-cφ formula, where c refers to the cohesion and φ refers to the internal friction angle) is derived, and the response of drilling parameters and cutting ratio to the strength parameters is analyzed. The drillingbased measuring method for the c-φ parameter of rock is constructed. The laboratory verification test is then completed, and the difference in results between the drilling test and the compression test is less than 6%. On this basis, in-situ rock drilling tests in a traffic tunnel and a coal mine roadway are carried out, and the strength parameters of the surrounding rock are effectively tested. The average difference ratio of the results is less than 11%, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method for obtaining the strength parameters based on digital drilling. This study provides methodological support for field testing of rock strength parameters.

Efficient slope reliability and sensitivity analysis using quantile-based first-order second-moment method

This paper introduces a novel approach for parameter sensitivity evaluation and efficient slope reliability analysis based on quantile-based first-order second-moment method(QFOSM).The core principles of the QFOSM are elucidated geometrically from the perspective of expanding ellipsoids.Based on this geometric interpretation,the QFOSM is further extended to estimate sensitivity indices and assess the significance of various uncertain parameters involved in the slope system.The proposed method has the advantage of computational simplicity,akin to the conventional first-order second-moment method(FOSM),while providing estimation accuracy close to that of the first-order reliability method(FORM).Its performance is demonstrated with a numerical example and three slope examples.The results show that the proposed method can efficiently estimate the slope reliability and simultaneously evaluate the sensitivity of the uncertain parameters.The proposed method does not involve complex optimization or iteration required by the FORM.It can provide a valuable complement to the existing approximate reliability analysis methods,offering rapid sensitivity evaluation and slope reliability analysis.

Ag-doped ZnO nanorods synthesized by two-step method

A two-step method is adopted to synthesize Ag-doped ZnO nanorods. A ZnO seed layer is first prepared on a glass substrate by thermal decomposition of zinc acetate. Ag-doped ZnO nanorods are then assembled on the ZnO seed layer using the hydrothermal method. The influences of the molar percentage of Ag ions to Zn ions （RAg/zn） on the structural and optical properties of the ZnO nanorods obtained are carefully studied using X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy and spectrophotometry. Results indicate that Ag ions enter into the crystal lattice through the substitution of Zn ions. The （002） c-axis-preferred orientation of the ZnO nanorods decreases as RAg/Zn increases. At RAg/Zn 〉 1.0%, ZnO nanorods lose their c-axis-preferred orientation and generate Ag precipitates from the ZnO crystal lattice. The average transmissivity in the visible region first increases and then decreases as RAg/Zn increases. The absorption edge is first blue shifted and then red shifted. The influence of Ag doping on the average head face, and axial dimensions of the ZnO nanorods may be optimized to improve the average transmissivity at RAg/Zn 〈 1.0%.