Raman and infrared spectroscopic quantification of the carbonate concentration in K_(2)CO_(3)aqueous solutions with water as an internal standard

Carbonate-bearing fluids widely exist in different geological settings,and play important roles in transporting some elements such as the rare earth elements.They may be trapped as large or small fluid inclusions(with the size down to<1μm sometimes),and record critical physical-chemical signals for the formations of their host minerals.Spectroscopic methods like Raman spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy have been proposed as effective methods to quantify the carbonate concentrations of these fluid inclusions.Although they have some great technical advantages over the conventional microthermometry method,there are still some technical difficulties to overcome before they can be routinely used to solve relevant geological problems.The typical limitations include their interlaboratory difference and poor performance on micro fluid inclusions.This study prepared standard ion-distilled water and K_(2)CO_(3)aqueous solutions at different molarities(from 0.5 to 5.5 mol/L),measured densities,collected Raman and infrared spectra,and explored correlations between the K_(2)CO_(3)molarity and the spectroscopic features at ambient P-T conditions.The result confirms that the Raman O-H stretching mode can be used as an internal standard to determine the carbonate concentrations despite some significant differences among the correlations,established in different laboratories,between the relative Raman intensity of the C-O symmetric stretching mode and that of the O-H stretching mode.It further reveals that the interlaboratory difference can be readily removed by performing one high-quality calibration experiment,provided that later quantifying analyses are conducted using the same Raman spectrometer with the same analytical conditions.Our infrared absorption data were collected from thin fluid films(thickness less than~2μm)formed by pressing the prepared solutions in a Microcompression Cell with two diamond-II plates.The data show that both the O-H stretching mode and the O-H bending mode can be used as internal standards to determine the carbonate concentrations.Since the IR signals of the C-O antisymmetric stretching vibration of the CO32ion,and the O-H stretching and bending vibrations from our thin films are very strong,their relative IR absorbance intensity,if well calibrated,can be used to investigate the micron-sized carbonate-bearing aqueous fluid inclusions.This study establishes the first calibration of this kind,which may have some applications.Additionally,our spectroscopic data suggest that as the K_(2)CO_(3)concentration increases the aqueous solution forms more large water molecule clusters via more intense hydrogen-bonding.This process may significantly alter the physical and chemical behavior of the fluids.

Stress-strain relationship for reactive powder concrete with recycled powder under uniaxial compression

The recycled powder(RP)from construction wastes can be used to partially replace cement in the preparation of reactive powder concrete.In this paper,reactive powder concrete mixtures with RP partially replacing cement,and natural sand instead of quartz,are developed.Standard curing is used,instead of steam curing that is normally requested by standard for reactive powder concrete.The influences of RP replacement ratio(0%,10%,20%,30%),silica fume proportion(10%,15%,20%),and steel fiber proportion(0%,1%,2%)are investigated.The effects of RP,silica fume,and steel fiber proportion on compressive strength,elastic modulus,and relative absorption energy are analyzed,and theoretical models for compressive strength,elastic modulus,and relative absorption energy are established.A constitutive model for the uniaxial compressive stress-strain relationship of reactive powder concrete with RP is developed.With the increase of RP replacement ratio from 0% to 30%,the compressive strength decreases by 42% and elastic modulus decreases by 24%.

Influence of shock absorber condition on pavement fatigue using relative damage concept

Considering the importance of the road transportation nowadays, concerns related to pavement deterioration and maintenance have become relevant subjects. Especially for commercial vehicles, the vertical dynamic load （characterized by the tire-road interaction） is directly related to wear on the road surface. Given this, the main objective of this paper is to analyse effects of vertical loads applied on the flexible pavement, considering the variation of the condition of shock absorbers from a truck＇s front suspension. The mea- surements were performed on a rigid truck, with 2 steering front axles, in a durability test track located in Brazil. With a constant load of 6 tons on the front suspension （the maximum allowed load on front axles according to Brazilian legislation）, 3 different shock absorber conditions were evaluated： new, used and failed. By applying the relative damage concept, it is possible to conclude that the variation of the shock absorber conditions will significantly affect the vertical load applied on the pavement. Although the results clearly point to a dependent relationship between the load and the condition of the shock ab- sorbers, it is recommended to repeat the same methodology, in future to analyse the influence of other quarter car model variants （such as spring rate, mass and tire spring stiffness）.