Stripping of aggregate from mortar in waste concrete heated by microwave:Mechanisms of differential-temperature stress and vapor expansion pressure

Microwave heating,which is used for pre-treatment of concrete before it is comminuted,stands as a strong candidate for selective liberation of multiphase materials like concrete.This paper is concerned with the selective liberation of concrete's raw constituents(particularly aggregate)for recycling by considering the water content of concrete as a parameter of microwave heating for the first time.The deterioration law of the concrete's performance was characterized by the variation in the splitting tensile strength and relative dynamic modulus after heating by microwave at different water contents.Besides,tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of the interface transition zone(ITZ)between aggregate and mortar as well as to investigate the reasons for the stripping behavior of aggregate-mortar,which included the interface tensile strength test,temperature measurement,and porosity test.The deterioration law of splitting tensile strength and relative dynamic modulus revealed that the performance of concrete was subject to different degrees of damage depending on the water content.Furthermore,experimental results showed that interface bonding strength between aggregate and mortar was dramatically impaired,and a large temperature difference was generated between the aggregate and mortar during microwave heating.Meanwhile,the permeable pores increased considerably even when the specimens were dried.In the presence of water,the intactness of ITZ between aggregate and mortar was destroyed by microwave heating,and its performance was significantly lowered,which led to the occurrence of stripping behavior between aggregate and mortar.This was reaffirmed by the microstructure presented by scanning electron microscopy.Thus,the newly developed microwave pretreatment improved by providing appropriate water contents for concrete corresponding to different strength grades is a promising method for recycling aggregate from waste concrete.

Mechanical formula for the plastic limit pressure of stent during expansion

The mechanics of cardiovascular stents during the process of expansion are very important for stent function and safety. In general, finite element method （FEM） or experi- ments are major methods used to ascertain mechanical prop- erties of the stent. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model of the tubular stent, derive formulas for the axial forces and moments on the stent end, and propose formu- las for the plastic limit pressure vs. the stent＇s radius during expansion. Examples covering different geometrical param- eters and material parameters are provided, and the plastic limit pressures calculated by FEM and the present method are compared, proving that the present formulas are acceptable and meaningful for the design and innovation of the stent.

Experimental study on expansion and cracking properties of static cracking agents in different assembly states

Rolled static cracking agent(RSCA)can solve the intractable problem of traditional bulk static cracking agent(BSCA)in engineering applications.This paper innovatively studies the rational water-cement ratio of BSCA and the immersion soaking time of RSCA under the condition of controlling temperature.Through the expansion and cracking performance experiments,the development characteristics of expansion pressure,the cracking effect of the single-hole specimen and the performance of hole spraying prevention under the action of BSCA and RSCA were compared and analyzed.The results show that:(1)The volume growth rate of static cracking agent decreases with the increase of water-cement ratio,and the fluidity increases with the increase of water-cement ratio.The rational water-cement ratio for BSCA application is 0.3,and the rational immersion time of RSCA is 2-2.5 min;(2)Under the bore diameters of 30,35,40 and 45 mm,the expansion pressure of BSCA with a water-cement ratio of 0.3 is 38.2,52.3,61.5 and 68 MPa,and the expansion pressure of RSCA immersed in water for 2.5 min is 43.5,58.8,69.5 and 75.1 MPa,respectively.Among them,the development speed of expansion pressure of BSCA is higher than that of RSCA,and the arrival time of the peak expansion pressure of RSCA is 1.7 times that of BSCA;(3)The crack initiation speed of single-hole specimen under the action of RSCA is 10.3%lower than that under the action of BSCA,but the cracking speed of the former is 72.6%higher than that of the latter;(4)The hole spraying occurs in BSCA under the bore diameter of 50,55 and 60 mm,while the hole spraying occurs in RSCA under the bore diameter of 60 mm.In terms of bore diameter,the hole spraying prevention of the RSCA is better than that of BSCA.The research results enrich the static blasting technology and provide data support and theoretical reference for field application.

An improved outer pipe method for expansive pressure measurement of static cracking agents

Static cracking agent(SCA)is actively investigated as an alternative to explosive blasting for rock breakage due to its immense expansion property.SCA can eliminate the negative effects of shock,noise and harmful gases encountered in explosive blasting processes.Accurate measurement and deep understanding of the expansive properties of SCAs are important in their industrial application.An improved outer pipe method(OPM),termed the upper end surface method(UESM),is proposed in this paper to overcome the shortcomings of the OPM in the expansive pressure measurement of SCAs.Numerical simulation is used to proof the concept and a mathematical model established to relate the internal pressure and the radial strains at different positions in the upper end surface method test equipment.The new equipment is calibrated using oil pressure and strain measurements.The calibrated equipment is then used to measure the expansion pressure of SCA at three different water contents to proof its potential.The differences in the measurements with OPM and UESM at three different moisture contents are less than 4%.The experimental results confirm the accuracy and applicability of the more user friendly and less expensive UESM in the measurement of the expansive pressures of SCAs.

Active earth pressure acting on retaining wall considering anisotropic seepage effect

This paper presents a general solution for active earth pressure acting on a vertical retaining wall with a drainage system along the soil-structure interface. The backfill has a horizontal surface and is composed of cohesionless and fully saturated sand with anisotropic permeability along the vertical and horizontal directions. The extremely unfavourable seepage flow on the back of the retaining wall due to heavy rainfall or other causes will dramatically increase the active earth pressure acting on the retaining walls, increasing the probability of instability. In this paper, an analytical solution to the Laplace differential governing equation is presented for seepage problems considering anisotropic permeability based on Fourier series expansion method. A good correlation is observed between this and the seepage forces along a planar surface generated via finite element analysis. The active earth pressure is calculated using Coulomb's earth pressure theory based on the calculated pore water pressures. The obtained solutions can be degenerated into Coulomb's formula when no seepage exists in the backfill. A parametric study on the influence of the degree of anisotropy in seepage flow on the distribution of active earth pressure behind the wall is conducted by varying ratios of permeability coefficients in the vertical and horizontal directions,showing that anisotropic seepage flow has a prominent impact on active earth pressure distribution. Other factors such as effective internal friction angle of soils and soil/wall friction conditions are also considered.

Electric power generation technology of natural gas pressure reduction:Insights from black box-gray box hierarchical exergy analysis and evaluation method

Based on the“three box”exergy analysis model,a black box-gray box hierarchical exergy analysis and evaluation method is put forward in this paper,which is applied to evaluate the power generation technology of differential pressure produced by natural gas expansion.By using the exergy analysis theory,the black box-gray box hierarchical exergy analysis models of three differential pressure power generation technologies are established respectively.Firstly,the“black box”analysis models of main energy consuming equipment are established,and then the“gray box”analysis model of the total system is established.Based on the calculation results of exergy analysis indexes,the weak energy consumption equipment in the whole power generation process is accurately located.Taking a gas field in southwest China as an example,the comprehensive energy consumption evaluation of the three power generation technologies is carried out,and the technology with the best energy consumption condition among the three technologies is determined.Finally,the rationalization improvement measures are put forward from improving the air tightness,replacing the deflector and reducing the flow loss.

Hydrodynamics of three-phase fluidization of homogeneous ternary mixture in a conical conduit-Experimental and statistical analysis

Hydrodynamics of conical fluidized bed differ from that of columnar beds by the fact that a velocity gradient exists along the axial direction of the bed.The gas–liquid–solid fluidized bed has emerged in recent years as one of the most promising devices for three-phase operations.Such a device is of considerable industrial importance as evident from its wide applications in chemical,refining,petrochemical,biochemical processing,pharmaceutical and food industries.To explore this,a series of experiments have been carried out for homogeneous well-mixed ternary mixtures of dolomite of varying compositions in a three-phase conical fluidized bed.The hydrodynamic characteristics determined included the bed pressure drop,bed fluctuation and bed expansion ratios.The single and combined effects of operating parameters such as superficial gas velocity,superficial liquid velocity,initial static bed height,average particle size and cone angle on the responses have been analyzed using response surface methodology(RSM).A 25 full factorial central composite experimental design has been employed.Analysis of variance(ANOVA) showed a high coefficient of determination value and satisfactory prediction second-order regression models have been derived.Experimental values of bed pressure drop,bed fluctuation and bed expansion ratios have been found to agree well with the developed correlations.

Thermal properties of diamond/Al composites by pressure infiltration:comparison between methods of coating Ti onto diamond surfaces and adding Si into Al matrix

This study was pertained to the effects of Ti coating on diamond surfaces and Si addition into Al matrix on the thermal conductivity（TC） and the coefficient of thermal expansion（CTE） of diamond/Al composites by pressure infiltration.The fracture surfaces,interface microstructures by metal electro-etching and interfacial thermal conductance of the composites prepared by two methods were compared.The results reveal that Ti coating on diamond surfaces and only12.2 wt% Si addition into Al matrix could both improve the interfacial bonding and increase the TCs of the composites.But the Ti coating layer introduces more interfacial thermal barrier at the diamond/Al interface compared to adding 12.2 wt% Si into Al matrix.The diamond/Al composite with 12.2 wt% Si addition exhibits maximum TC of 534 W·m^-1·K^-1and a very low CTE of 8.9×10^-6K^-1,while the coating Ti-diamond/Al composite has a TC of 514 W·m^-1·K^-1 and a CTE of 11.0×10^-6K^-1.