Mathematical Evaluation Changes in Rheological and Mechanical Properties of Pears during Storage under Variable Conditions

In order to better design, fabricate and control pear handling machine, we should take into account mechanical and rheological properties of pear fruits as related to handling process. The changes in rheological properties of pears stored at 5, 15, 25 ℃ and variable （fluctuating） temperature for 12 days were evaluated in terms of elasticity and viscosity parameters using creep tests. The elasticity and viscosity parameters in creep tests in general decreased with increase in storage time both under constant and variable storage conditions. For the variable storage condition, a bulk mean temperature calculated to account for a series combination of storage time and temperature to which the pears subjected. The changes in rheological properties due to variable storage temperature were described as a function of storage time. The result indicated that except the viscosity parameter of the Maxwell component of the four-element model, it was possible to describe the changes in rheological properties as a function of storage time, which are better physical parameters to estimate the quality of pears.

Preparation and characterization of supramolecular gel suitable for fractured formations

The excellent mechanical properties of supramolecular gel could adapt to the complex reservoir environment and had broad application prospects in the field of oil and gas drilling and production engineering.In this paper,a supramolecular gel based on hydrophobic association and hydrogen bonding was prepared by micellar copolymerization,which could be used to plug fractures and pores in formations.Supramolecular gel was a gel network system with high performance characteristics formed by self-assembly of non-covalent bond interaction.The rheological properties,mechanical mechanics,temperature resistance and swelling ability of supramolecular gel were studied.The results showed that the supramolecular gel had a dense three-dimensional network structure with open and interconnected pore structures,which could exhibit good rheological properties and strong viscoelastic recovery ability.The mechanical properties of the supramolecular gel were excellent,it had a tensile stress of 0.703 MPa and an elongation at break of 1803%.When the compressive strain was 96%,the compressive stress could reach 14.5 MPa.Supramolecular gel also showed good temperature resistance and swelling properties.At the aging temperature of 135℃,supramolecular gels still maintained good gel strength,and it only took 12 h to reach the equilibrium swelling ratio of 35.87 in 1%NaCl solution.It was also found that supramolecular gel in low concentration saline(1%NaCl solution)showed relatively faster swelling than high concentration saline(25%NaCl solution).The swelling process of the supramolecular gel was non-Fick diffusion(typeⅡ).This indicated that the organic/inorganic permeability network was well formed.Therefore,the diffusion rate of small molecules could be guaranteed to be equal to the relaxation rate of large molecules before and after the phase transition temperature.In addition to the diffusion of water molecules,the swelling process of the supramolecular gel was also affected by the relaxation of gel network and polymer chain segment,the interaction between water molecules and polymer network and the groups of polymer network and other factors.Supramolecular gel particles could be used as plugging materials for drilling fluids,which had excellent ability to plug formation fractures and pores.The plugging ability of the supramolecular gel was up to 6.7 MPa for 0.5 mm fracture width,and 9.6 MPa for porous media with 5 mD permeability.Compared with HT-PPG gel particles commonly used in oil fields,supramolecular gel particles had better plugging ability on fractures and porous media.The development and application of supramolecular gel had far-reaching significance for promoting the functional application of polymer materials in drilling and production engineering.

Creep failure mode and criterion of Xiangjiaba sandstone

Based on the results of conventional triaxial compression tests and triaxial compression creep tests on Xiangjiaba sandstone,the failure modes in short-term tests and creep tests,fractography of sandstone after creep failure,short-term and creep failure criterion are analyzed.In the short-term tests and creep tests,the sandstone samples fail in a mix mode consisting of shear failure in a single main plane and tensile failure.Confining pressure can restrict brittle failure and enhance the ductility of sandstone.In the creep tests,brittle fracture is reduced and plastic deformation can fully be developed compared to the condition of short-term tests.And the shear fracture surfaces are flat and they are covered by small particles as a result of friction.When confining pressure increases,particle size decreases while the degree of friction on shear plane increases.On the tensile failure plane,the tensile trace and direction of tearing could be clearly observed.There are obvious tearing steps on the tensile failure plane and tearing laminated structure on the front edge of tearing fracture.The same criterion can be used for the short-term and creep behavior,and the fitting effect using the MOGI criterion is better than the DRUCKER PRAGER criterion.The cohesion and friction angle calculated by the MOGI criterion are in good accordance with those calculated by the MOHR COULOMB criterion.

Long-term stability analysis of large-scale underground plant of Xiangjiaba hydro-power station

Numerical analysis of the optimal supporting time and long-term stability index of the surrounding rocks in the underground plant of Xiangjiaba hydro-power station was carried out based on the rheological theory. Firstly,the mechanical parameters of each rock group were identified from the experimental data; secondly,the rheological calculation and analysis for the cavern in stepped excavation without supporting were made; finally,the optimal time for supporting at the characteristic point in a typical section was obtained while the creep rate and displacement after each excavation step has satisfied the criterion of the optimal supporting time. Excavation was repeated when the optimal time for supporting was identified,and the long-term stability creep time and the maximum creep deformation of the characteristic point were determined in accordance with the criterion of long-term stability index. It is shown that the optimal supporting time of the characteristic point in the underground plant of Xiangjiaba hydro-power station is 5-8 d,the long-term stability time of the typical section is 126 d,and the corresponding largest creep deformation is 24.30 mm. While the cavern is supported,the cavern deformation is significantly reduced and the stress states of the surrounding rock masses are remarkably improved.

Performance prediction of magnetorheological fluid‐based liquid gating membrane by kriging machine learning method

Smart liquid gating membrane is a responsive structural material as a pressure-driven system that consists of solid membrane and dynamic liquid,responding to the external field.An accurate prediction of rheological and mechanical properties is important for the designs of liquid gating membranes for various applications.However,high predicted accuracy by the traditional sequential method requires a large amount of experimental data,which is not practical in some situations.To conquer these problems,artificial intelligence has promoted the rapid development of material science in recent years,bringing hope to solve these challenges.Here we propose a Kriging machine learning model with an active candidate region,which can be smartly updated by an expected improvement probability method to increase the local accuracy near the most sensitive search region,to predict the mechanical and rheolo-gical performance of liquid gating system with an active minimal size of ex-perimental data.Besides this,this new machine learning model can instruct our experiments with optimal size.The methods are then verified by liquid gating membrane with magnetorheological fluids,which would be of wide interest for the design of potential liquid gating applications in drug release,microfluidic logic,dynamic fluid control,and beyond.

INVESTIGATION INTO MORPHOLOGY, MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF SBR/EPDM/ORGANO MONTMORILLONITE NANOCOMPOSITES

Rubber compounds based on styrene-butadiene rubber/ethylene propylene diene monomer blends of different compositions （60/40, 70/30, 80/20, 90/10, 100/0） reinforced with 1 wt%, 3 wt%, 5 wt% and 7 wt% organoclay （Cloisite 20A） were prepared on a two roll mill via a vulcanization process and characterized by several techniques. Results of X-ray diffraction showed expansion of the inter-gallery distance, and transmission electron microscopy （TEM） micrographs confirmed that the prepared nanocomposite samples have intercalated and partially exfoliated structures. Cure characteristics showed that, organoclay not only accelerates the vulcanization reaction, but also gives rise to a marked increase of the torque, indicating crosslink density of the prepared compounds increases at the presence of organoclay. Mechanical properties of samples received markedly increase by clay loading due to the good interaction established between nanoclay particles and polymer matrix as it was evidenced by SEM photomicrographs. At the same time, rheological properties showed that addition of nanoclay could improve storage modulus as well as complex viscosity of SBR/EPDM samples. The results of ozone test revealed that the ozone resistance of samples significantly increases as nanoclay or EPDM content increases.

Effect of Cellulose Microfibers from Sugar Beet Pulp By-product on the Reinforcement of HDPE Composites Prepared by Twin‐screw Extrusion and Injection Molding

The aims of this work turn towards the valorization of the underutilized Raw Sugar Beet Pulp by-product to produce white Cellulose Microfibers(CMFs),and its potential effect as a reinforcement for the development of High-Density Polyethylene(HDPE)composites.Pure CMFs were first obtained by subjecting raw SBP to alkali and bleaching treatments.Several characterization techniques were performed to confirm the successful removal of the amorphous compounds from the surface of individual fibers,including SEM,XRD,TGA,and FT-IR analysis.Various CMF loadings(5–10 wt%)were incorporated as bio-fillers into HDPE polymer to evaluate their reinforcing ability in comparison to raw and alkali-treated SBP using twin-screw extrusion followed by injection molding.Styrene–(Ethylene–Butene)–Styrene Three-Block Co-Polymer Grafted with Maleic Anhydride was used as a compatibilizer to improve the interfacial adhesion between fibers and the matrix.Thermal,mechanical,and rheological properties of the produced composite samples were investigated.It was found that the Young’s modulus were gradually increased with increasing of fibers loadings,with a maximum increase of 30%and 26%observed for composite containing 10 wt%of CMFs and raw SBP,respectively,over neat HDPE.While,the use of coupling agent enhances the ductile behavior of the composites.It was also found that all fiber improves the hardness and toughness behavior of all reinforced composites as well as the complex modulus particularly at 10 wt%.The thermal stability slightly increases with the addition of fibers.This study demonstrates a new route for the valorization of SBP by-products.These fibers can be considered as a valuable bio-fillers candidate for the development of composite materials with enhanced properties.