Optimisation of Thermal Comfort of Building in a Hot and Dry Tropical Climate: A Comparative Approach between Compressed Earth/Concrete Block Envelopes

Compressed earth blocks (CEB) are an alternative to cement blocks in the construction of wall masonry. However, the optimal architectural construction methods for adequate thermal comfort for occupants in hot and arid environments are not mastered. This article evaluates the influence of architectural and constructive modes of buildings made of CEB walls and concrete block walls, to optimize and compare their thermal comfort in the hot and dry tropical climate of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Two identical pilot buildings whose envelopes are made of CEB and concrete blocks were monitored for this study. The thermal models of the pilot buildings were implemented in the SketchUp software using an extension of EnergyPlus. The models were empirically validated after calibration against measured thermal data from the buildings. The models were used to do a parametric analysis for optimization of the thermal performances by simulating plaster coatings on the exterior of walls, airtight openings and natural ventilation depending on external weather conditions. The results show that the CEB building displays 7016 hours of discomfort, equivalent to 80.1% of the time, and the concrete building displays 6948 hours of discomfort, equivalent to 79.3% of the time. The optimization by modifications reduced the discomfort to 2918 and 3125 hours respectively;i.e. equivalent to only 33.3% for the CEB building and 35.7% for the concrete building. More study should evaluate thermal optimizations in buildings in real time of usage such as residential buildings commonly used by the local middle class. The use of CEB as a construction material and passive means of improving thermal comfort is a suitable ecological and economical option to replace cementitious material.

Effects of holding time and Zener-Hollomon parameters on deformation behavior of cast Mg-8Gd-3Y alloy during double-pass hot compression

Double-pass hot compression tests were carried out over a wide range of holding time（0–180 s） and Zener-Hollomon parameter（1.6 E15–1.3 E20） to study the deformation behavior of cast Mg-8 Gd-3 Y alloy.The flow curves show obvious work hardening and strain softening stages, leading to the peak stress of double-pass hot compression. Holding time and Zener-Hollomon parameter can significantly affect the second pass peak stress. It is found that increasing the holding time can cause a higher peak stress in the second pass deformation. The second pass stress reaches the peak stress of 71 MPa at ZenerHollomom parameter of 1.6 E15. When the parameter rises to 1.3 E20, the second pass peak goes up to237 MPa. In addition, the second pass peak stress is significantly higher than the unloading stress, which is opposite to the flow behavior of aluminum alloys. Residual stored deformation energy caused by the first pass deformation could be consumed by metadynamic recrystallization. Therefore, more strain energy is required for subsequent dynamic recrystallization, resulting in hardening behavior. A hardening fraction is defined to describe the deformation behavior quantitatively, which shows a positive correlation with the metadynamic recrystallization fraction. The metadynamic recrystallization leads to grain growth at the inter pass holding stage, diminishing dynamic recrystallization nucleation positions in the second pass deformation.

Hot Compression Behavior of As-Cast Precipitation-Hardening Stainless Steel

High temperature deformation characteristics of a semiaustenitic grade of precipitation-hardening stain- less steels were investigated by conducting hot compression tests at temperatures of 900--1 100 ℃ and strain rates of 0. 001--1 s^-1. Flow behavior of this alloy was investigated and it was realized that dynamic recrystallization （DRX） was responsible for flow softening. The correlation between critical strain for initiation of DRX and de- formation parameters including temperature and strain rate, and therefore, Zener-Hollomon parameter （Z） was studied. Metallographic observation was performed to determine the as-deformed microstructure. Microstructural observation shows that recrystallized grain size increases with increasing the temperature and decreasing the strain rate. The activation energy required for DRX of the investigated steel was determined using correlations of flow stress versus temperature and strain rate. The calculated value of activation energy, 460 kJ/mol, is in accordance with other studies on stainless steels. The relationship between peak strain and Z parameter is proposed.

Static softening behaviors of 7055 alloy during the interval time of multi-pass hot compression

Multipass plain strain compression test of 7055 alloy was carried out on Gleeble 1500D thermomechanical simulator to study the effect of interval time on static softening behavior between two passes. Microstructural features of the alloy deformed with delay times varying from 0 to 180 s after achieving a reduction of ,-~52 % in the 13 stages was investigated through TEM and EBSD observations. The 14th pass of peak stresses after different delay times were gained. The peak stress decreases with the interstage delay time increasing, but the decreasing trend is gradually slower. Static recovery, metadynamic recrystallization, and/or static recrystallization can be found in the alloy during two passes. The recovery and recrystallization degree increases with longer interstage delay time. The static recovery is the main softening mechanism. Subgrain coalescence and subgrain growth together with particle-stimulated nucleation are the main nucleation mechanisms for static recrystallization.

Effects of process parameters on the microstructure during the hot compression of a TC6 titanium alloy

The effects of process parameters on the microstructural evolution, includinggrain size and volume traction of the a phase during hot forming of a TC6 alloy were investigatedusing compression tests. Experiments were conducted on the material with (α + β) phases atdeformation temperatures of 800, 860, 920, and 950℃, strain rates of 0.001, 0.01, 1, and 50 s^(-1),and height direction reductions of 30%, 40%, and 50%. After reaching a peak value near 920℃, thegrain size and volume fraction decrease with further increase of deformation temperature. The strainrate affects the morphologies and grain size of α phase of the TC6 titanium alloy. At a lowerstrain rate, the effect of the strain rate on the volume fraction is greater than that at a higherstrain rate under the experimental conditions. The effects of the strain rate on the microstructurealso result from deformation heating. The grain size of the α phase increases with an increase inheight direction reduction after an early drop. The effect of height direction reduction on thevolume fraction is similar to that of the grain size. All of the optical micrographs andquantitative metallography show that deformation process parameters affect the microstructure duringhot forming of the TC6 alloy, and a correlation between the temperature, strain, and strain rateappears to be a significant fuzzy characteristic.

Microstructure and hot compression behavior of twin-roll-casting AZ41M magnesium alloy

The relationship of true stress and true strain of AZ41M magnesium alloy under twin-roll-cast （TRC） and hot compression was analyzed us- ing a Gleeble 1500 machine. Microstructural evolutions of the TRC magnesium alloy under different deformation conditions （strain, sWain rate and deformation temperature） were examined using optical microscopy and discussed. The relationship of true stress and true sWain pre- dicted that lower deformation temperature and higher sWain rate caused sharp strain hardening. Meanwhile, the flow stress curve turned into a steady state at high temperature and lower strain rate. The intermediate temperature and strain rate （623 K and 0.01 s^-1） is appropriate.

Research on flow stress of spray formed 70Si30Al alloy under hot compression deformation

The flow stress of spray formed 70Si30Al alloy was studied by hot compression on a Gleeble- 1500 test machine. The experimental results indicated that the flow stress depends on the strain rate and the deformation temperature. The flow stress increases with an increase in strain rate at a given deformation temperature. The flow stress decreases with the deformation temperature increasing at a given strain rate. The relational expression among the flow stress, the swain rate, and the deformation temperature satisfies the Arrhenius equation. The deformation activation energy of 70Si30Al alloy during hot deformation is 866.27 kJ/mol from the Arrhenius equation.

Deformation mechanism of the spray formed 70Si30Al alloy during hot compression

The deformation mechanism of the spray formed 70Si30Al alloy was studied by hot compression on a Gleeble-1500 test machine. It is shown that hot deformation of the spray formed 70Si30Al alloy is achieved by liquid flow due to isostatic pressure and movement of solid particles due to shear force. Deformation condition depends on the nucleation rate and closure rate of the cavities. The flow stress slightly varies when the difference between the nucleation rate and closure rate of the cavities is small; however, it decreases when the nucleation rate of the cavities is greater than the closure rate of the cavities.

Influence of prior austenite grain size on the critical strain for completion of DEFT through hot compression test

A low carbon steel was used to determine the critical strain εc for completion of deformation enhanced ferrite transformation （DEFT） through a series of hot compression tests. In addition, the influence of prior austenite grain size （PAGS） on the critical strain was systematically investigated. Experimental results showed that the critical strain is affected by PAGS. When γ→α transformation completes, the smaller the PAGS is, the smaller the critical strain is. The ferrite grains obtained through DEFT can be refined to about 3 μm when the DEFT is completed.

Effects of hot compression deformation temperature on the microstructure and properties of Al–Zr–La alloys

The main goal of this study is to investigate the microstructure and electrical properties of Al–Zr–La alloys under different hot compression deformation temperatures. In particular, a Gleeble 3500 thermal simulator was used to carry out multi-pass hot compression tests. For five-pass hot compression deformation, the last-pass deformation temperatures were 240, 260, 300, 340, 380, and 420°C, respectively, where the first-pass deformation temperature was 460°C. The experimental results indicated that increasing the hot compression deformation temperature with each pass resulted in improved electrical conductivity of the alloy. Consequently, the flow stress was reduced after deformation of the samples subjected to the same number of passes. In addition, the dislocation density gradually decreased and the grain size increased after hot compression deformation. Furthermore, the dynamic recrystallization behavior was effectively suppressed during the hot compression process because spherical Al;Zr precipitates pinned the dislocation movement effectively and prevented grain boundary sliding.

Hot deformation behavior of KFC copper alloy during compression at elevated temperatures

The hot deformation behavior of a KFC copper alloy was studied by compression deformation tests on Gleeble 1500 machine at strain rates ranging between 0.01?10 s?1 and deformation temperature of 650?850 ℃, and associated structural changes were studied by observations of metallography and TEM. The results show that the true stress–true strain curves for a KFC copper alloy are characterized by multiple peaks or a single peak flow, and tend to a steady state at high strains. The peak stress can be represented by a Zener-Hollomon parameter in the hyperbolic-sine-type equation with the hot deformation activation energy Q of 289 kJ/mol. The dynamic recrystallization(DRX) occurs by bulging out of part serrated grain-boundary, and the dynamic recrystallization grain size is dependent sensitively on deformation temperature T and strain rate ε&, also a function of Z. The dynamic spherical Fe-rich precipitates and successive dynamic particles coarsening has been assumed to be responsible for flow softening at high strains, and this is more effective when samples deformed at low temperatures and higher strain rates.

Hot-compression constitutive relation of as-cast AZ31 magnesium alloy

In hot-compression process,the various factors have obvious effects on the deformation behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloy deformation behavior. To understand the hot-compression constitutive relation thoroughly,the stress-strain behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloy at various strain rates and different deformation temperatures were investigated under maximum strain of 60%. The microstructure of the experimental alloy was studied in the hot-compression procedure. The experimental results show that the relation of peak flow stress,strain rate and temperature can be described by Z parameter which contains Arrheniues item. The strain rate and the deformation temperature are the key parameters affecting deformation activation energy.

Microstructure comparison of ZK60 alloy under casting,twin roll casting and hot compression

The microstructures of ZK60 alloy under conventional direct as-casting (DC),twin roll casting (TRC) and twin roll casting followed by hot compression (TRC-HC) were analyzed by optical morphology (OM),electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).The deformation condition of hot compression is 350 ℃,0.1 s?1.The microstructural evolution under TRC-HC deformation followed by annealing at different temperatures and time was discussed.The results show that TRC provides more modified microstructure compared with DC.Twins are found in TRC processing;dynamic recrystallization (DRX),shear bands and twins are found in TRC-HC.A short annealing time has little effect on hardness,while during a long time annealing,it is found that low annealing temperatures increase the micro-hardness and high temperature decreases it.

Dynamic modeling of twin roll casting AZ41 magnesium alloy during hot compression processing

A dynamic material model of Mg-4.51Al-1.19Zn-0.5Mn-0.5Ca(AZ41,mass fraction,%)magnesium alloy was put forward.The results show that the dynamic material model can characterize the deformation behavior and microstructure evolution and describe the relations among flow stress,strain,strain rates and deformation temperatures.Statistical analysis shows the validity of the proposed model.The model predicts that lower deformation temperature and higher strain rate cause the sharp strain hardening. Meanwhile,the flow stress curve turns into a steady state at high temperature and lower strain rate.The moderate temperature of 350 ℃and strain rate of 0.01 s-1 are appropriate to this alloy.

Flow behavior and microstructure evolution during hot compression of TA15 titanium alloy

The samples of TA15 titanium alloy were hot compressed in the temperature range of 550-1 000℃at constant strain rate from 0.01 s-1 to 1.0 s-1.The flow behavior and microstructural evolution during hot deformation of TA15 alloy were investigated, based on which the hot working parameters of TA15 alloy were selected. The results show that with the increase of deformation temperature and decrease of stain rate, the flow stress decreases gradually, but the magnitude of stress drop varies with the increase of temperature in different temperature intervals. According to the flow stress and deformation microstructure, the deformation behavior can be classified into three types as working hardening(550-600℃,α+βphase), dynamic recrystallization (650-900℃,α+βphase) and dynamic recovery(950-1 000℃,βphase). The main softening mechanism is dynamic recrystallization(DRX) ofαphase inα+βphase zone and dynamic recovery(DRV) ofβphase inβphase zone. As the stain rate decreases dynamic recrystallization ofαphase proceeds more adequately inα+βzone and theβsubgrains of dynamic recovery have the tendency to grow inβzone. The reasonable temperature for warm forming of TA15 alloy is in the range of 600-700℃, which has been verified by warm spinning experiment of tube workpieces.

EFFECTS OF STRAIN RATE ＆TEMPERATURE ON HOT COMPRESSION FLOW BEHAVIOR OF A HYDROGENATED CAST Ti－25Al－

The flow behavior of a cast Ti-25Al-10Nb-3V-1Mo alloy based onTi3Al, with and without hydrogen content, was investigated under isothermal compression test at strain rates of 0.1s-1 to 0.001s -1 in the temperature range of 900℃ to1000 ℃. The hot compression peak stress (or the maximum flow stress) of the alloy withand without hydrogen decreases with the increasing temperature and the decreasingstrain rate. Hydrogenation makes the hot compression peak stress decrease by 37%～53%, which corresponds to lowering the deformation temperature by about 50℃.Strain rate does not change the favorable effect of hydrogenation on hot compressionflow behavior at all three deformation temperatures. The microstructure of the alloywith 0.2% H (mass %) deformed at a fixed temperature exhibits the same feature asthat of the alloys without hydrogenation deformed at higher temperatures for bothstrain rates. Hydrogenation has the same effect on microstructure as strain rate andtemperature.

Lamellar Disintegration Mechanism of TC11 Titanium Alloy during Hot Compression

TC11 titanium alloy samples with lamellar microstructrue were compressed on a Gleeble 1500D Simulator.Compression tests were carried out at 950 ℃ and a strain rate of 0.1 s-1 with height reduction of 20%,40% and 60%,respectively.Microstruture of the compressed TC11 alloy was obeserved and analyzed by optical microscopy(OM),transmission electron microscope(TEM),electron back-scattered diffraction(EBSD).The lamellar disintegration mechanism of the TC11 titanium alloy was deduced.The results indicated that the compressive deformation promoted the phase transformation in bi-phase area.βphase layers were formed along the gliding planes inα phase,and α slivers were disintegrated into many small flakes through theα/βinterface slipping.

Hot-compression behavior of Al-1Mn-1Mg alloy

The hot-compression of Al-1Mn-1Mg (mass fraction, %) alloy sample was carried out on a Gleeble-1500 thermo-simulator at deformation temperatures from 320 to 400 ℃ and strain rates from 0.1 to 10 s-1 by total strain of 1.4. Microstructure and texture evolution of the hot-compressed alloy were investigated by optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis, respectively. The results show that the relationship among flow stress σ, deformation temperature T and strain rate ε can be expressed in the form of βσ = ln ε+ Q /( RT)? ln A. The threshold value of ln Z (Z is Zener-Hollomon parameter) characterizing the dynamic recrystallization (DRX) is 46, below which the DRX takes place. A strong P orientation {011}<455> associated with a weak cube orientation {100}<001> is found in the recrystallized sample during hot-compression.

Flow stress behavior of Al-Cu-Li-Zr alloy containing Sc during hot compression deformation

The flow stress behavior of Al-3.5Cu-1.5Li-0.25(Sc+Zr) alloy during hot compression deformation was studied by isothermal compression test using Gleeble-1500 thermal-mechanical simulator. Compression tests were preformed in the temperature range of 653-773 K and in the strain rate range of 0.001-10 s-1 up to a true plastic strain of 0.7. The results indicate that the flow stress of the alloy increases with increasing strain rate at a given temperature,and decreases with increasing temperature at a given imposed strain rate. The relationship between the flow stress and the strain rate and the temperature was derived by analyzing the experimental data. The flow stress is in a hyperbolic sine relationship with the strain rate,and in an Arrhenius relationship with the temperature,which imply that the process of plastic deformation at an elevated temperature for this material is thermally activated. The flow stress of the alloy during the elevated temperature deformation can be represented by a Zener-Hollomon parameter with the inclusion of the Arrhenius term. The values of n,α and A in the analytical expressions of flow stress σ are fitted to be 5.62,0.019 MPa-1 and 1.51×1016 s-1,respectively. The hot deformation activation energy is 240.85 kJ/mol.

Hot-compression behavior of Al alloy 5182

Hot-compression of aluminum alloy 5182 was carried out on a Gleeble-1500 thermo-simulator at deformation temperatureranging from 350 °C to 500 °C and at strain rate from 0.01 s 1to 10 s 1with strain range from 0.7 to 1.9. The microstructures andmacro-textures evolution under different conditions were investigated by polarized optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis,respectively. The basic trend is that the hot-compression stress increases with the decrease of temperature and increase of strain rate,which is revealed and elucidated in terms of Zener-Hollomon parameter in the hyperbolic sine equation with the hot-deformationactivation energy of 143.5 kJ/mol. An empirical constitutive equation is proposed to predict the hot-deformation behavior underdifferent conditions. As deformation temperature increases up to 400 °C, at strain rate over 1 s 1, dynamic recrystallization (DRX)occurs. Cube orientation {100} 001 is detected in the recrystallized sample after hot-compression.