Comparative Study of the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Foamed Concrete with Local Materials

Living in a habitat with comfort is requested by all. Cinder block bricks have poor thermal properties, leading people to use fan heaters and air conditioners to regain comfort. To overcome this problem of thermal discomfort in buildings, we used lightweight concrete such as foamed concrete which is a material that has improved thermal properties for thermal comfort. In addition, this material was compared with local materials used for the construction of buildings such as BTC, adobe and BLT mixed with binders. The results showed that foamed concrete is a material that has good thermal and mechanical properties compared to local materials mixed with binders. The foamed concrete having acceptable thermo-mechanical properties was that having a density of 930 kg/m3. It has a thermal resistance of 0.4 m2·K/W for a thickness of 20 cm. The foamed concrete having acceptable thermo-mechanical properties was that having a density of 930 kg/m3. It has a thermal resistance of 0.4 m2·K/W for a thickness of 20 cm. For sunshine on a daily cycle equal to 12 hours, the characteristic thickness achieved by this material is 7.29 cm. It also has a shallow depth of heat diffusion having a lower thickness than other materials. This shows that foamed concrete is a promising material for the construction of buildings.

Effect of Cellular Structure on Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane Foam Curing Materials

Based on the mechanical properties and microstructure of polyurethane foam solidified material, a two-dimensional model of polyurethane foam solidified material was constructed. Polyurethane foam was obtained by fully and uniformly mixing the two components. The research was carried out through the combination of experimental test and finite element simulation. The experimental results show that when the pore density is constant, the size of the bubble hole is an important factor affecting the mechanical properties of the model. The smaller the size of the bubble hole, the less likely it is to produce stress concentration inside the model, and the stronger the resistance to material deformation. Under the random distribution, the lower the density of the polyurethane cured material, the higher the probability of damage between the adjacent bubbles, which is not conducive to the stability of the material. The density of the cured material should not be lower than 199 kg/m^3.

Effect of Post-Added Water Amount on Pre-Concentrated Bark Foaming Materials by Mechanical Stirring

In this study,pre-concentrated bark,furfuryl alcohol and other biomass raw materials were used to prepare foaming materials by high-speed mechanical stirring without using a foaming agent.We investigated the effect of the postadded water amount on the properties of foaming materials.In particular,we determined basic physical properties of these materials,including the limiting oxygen index(LOI),porosity,thermal conductivity,thermogravimetric analysis,pore size distribution,and microstructure.The results of scanning electron microscopy(SEM)indicated that the pore size distribution was uniform and the pore size increased with increasing water volume.Thermogravimetric analysis(TG/DTG)showed that when the temperature reached 410°C,the foam was easily decomposed,the final residual mass was only 2.8%,and water addition had little effect on it.Moreover,the amount of post-added water is 5–30 g,the density and compression strength of the foamed materials gradually decreased,while the degree of pulverization increased.LOI ranged from 26.1%to 30.79%,and porosity ranged from 81%to 83%.The change in water volume greatly affected the foam’s performance,the performance of foamed material deteriorated as the amount of added water increased,but the effect on thermal conductivity was not very obvious.The highest thermal conductivity was only 0.0179 W/(m·K),still providing excellent thermal insulation.

Molten Salts/Ceramic-Foam Matrix Composites by Melt Infiltration Method as Energy Storage Material

A new type of high temperature energy storage material was obtained through the melt infiltration method, using compounding SiC ceramic foam as matrix and Na2SO4 as phase change material. The resulting composite material was measured by XRD, SEM, TG-DSC methods. The experimental results indicate that the composite is composed of silicon carbide, sodium sulfate and square quartz, and no chemical reactions occurs between Na2SO4 and SiC matrix. Na2SO4 has a good bonding with the SiC ceramic foam matrix. As the composite material is characterized by high thermal energy storage density and high thermal conductivity, it is suit for energy storage under high temperature.

Stabilized multifunctional phase change materials based on carbonized Cu-coated melamine foam/reduced graphene oxide framework for multiple energy conversion and storage

The leakage of organic phase change materials(OPCMs)at temperatures above their melting point severely limits their large-scale application.The introduction of porous supports has been identified as an efficient leakageproofing method.In this study,a novel carbonized Cu-coated melamine foam(MF)/reduced graphene oxide(rGO)framework(MF/rGO/Cu-C)is constructed as a support for fabricating stabilized multifunctional OPCMs.MF serves as the supporting material,while rGO and Cu act as functional reinforcements.As a thermal energy storage material,polyethylene glycol(PEG)is encapsulated into MF/rGO/Cu-C through a vacuum-assisted impregnation method to obtain PEG@MF/rGO/Cu-C composite with excellent comprehensive performance.PEG@MF/rGO/Cu-C exhibits high phase change enthalpies of 148.3 J g^(-1)(melting)and 143.9 J g^(-1)(crystallization),corresponding to a high energy storage capability of 92.7%.Simultaneously,MF/rGO/Cu-C endues the composite with an enhanced thermal conductivity of 0.4621Wm^(-1) K^(-1),which increases by 463%compared to that of PEG@MF.Furthermore,PEG@MF/rGO/Cu-C displays great light-to-thermal and electric-to-thermal conversion capabilities,thermal cycle stability,light-tothermal cycle stability,and shape stability,showing promising application prospects in different aspects.

Carbon foams prepared from coal tar pitch for building thermal insulation material with low cost

A new approach is provided to resolve the large-scale applications of coal tar pitch. Carbon foams with uniform pore size are prepared at the foaming pressure of normal pressure using coal tar pitch as raw materials. The physical and chemical performance of high softening point pitch(HSPP) can be regulated by vacuumizing owing to the cooperation of vacuumizing and polycondensation. Results indicate that the optimum softening point and weight ratio of quinoline insoluble are about 292℃ and 65.7%, respectively. And the optimum viscosity of HSPP during the foaming process is distributed in the range of 1000-10000 Pa·s. The resultant carbon foam exhibits excellent performance, such as uniform pore structure, high compressive strength(4.7 MPa), low thermal conductivity(0.07 W·m^(-1) ·K^(-1)), specially, it cannot be fired under the high temperature of 1200 ℃.Thus, this kind of carbon foam is a potential candidate for thermal insulation material applied in energy saving building.

Fatigue analysis of closed-cell aluminium foam using different material models

The fatigue analyses of AlSi7 closed-cell aluminium foam were performed using a real porous model and three different homogenised material models:crushable foam model,isotropic hardening model and kinematic hardening model.The numerical analysis using all three homogenised material models is based on the available experimental results previously determined from fatigue tests under oscillating tensile loading with the stress ratio R=0.1.The obtained computational results have shown that both isotropic and kinematic hardening models are suitable to analyse the fatigue behaviour of closed-cell aluminium foam.Besides,the kinematic hardening material model has demonstrated significantly shorter simulation time if compared to the isotropic hardening material model.On the other hand,the crushable foam model is recognized as an inappropriate approach for the fatigue analyses under tension loading conditions.

Experiment on Mode Ⅰ/Ⅱ Mixed Interfacial Fracture Characterization of Foam Core Sandwich Materials at Elevated Temperatures

Foam-cored sandwich materials have been widely used in the civil engineering due to their advantages such as lightweight,high strength,and excellent anti-corrosion ability. However,the interfacial bonding strength of foamcored sandwich materials is weakened at elevated temperatures. In practice,the effect of high temperature cannot be ignored,because the composites and foams are sensitive to the change of temperature in the environment. In this study,a series of single-leg bending beams were tested at different temperatures to evaluate the influences of high temperatures on Mode Ⅰ/Ⅱ mixed interfacial fracture of foam core sandwich materials. The temperature was from29 ℃ to 90 ℃,covered the glass transition temperature of composites and foam core,respectively. The Mode Ⅰ/Ⅱ mixed interfacial crack prorogation and its corresponding interfacial strain energy release rate were summarized.

Seamless Bra Cup Moulding of Fabric-Foam Laminated Materials

Seamless bra cup moulding is an important manufacturing technique for the apparel industry,and in particular,for bra production.Polyurethane(PU)foams and/or fabric-foam laminated sheets are moulded into a desirable cup shape in order to fit the three-dimensional(3D)breast contour.Such foam cups not only provide a wide range of designs combined with different levels of softness and support,but also reduce production costs with minimum cutting and sewing of seams.In this study,two selected PU foam and fabric materials typically used for bra cup moulding were examined.Their respective performance behaviour in relation to different moulding temperatures and time changes were recorded and analyzed.The results reveal that cup heights are greatly affected by the use of foam and/or fabric-foam laminated materials.High moulding temperatures and/or prolonged dwell time could be required when deforming laminated materials and setting large cup sizes.Nevertheless,cup height cannot be taken as the only criteria to determine the optimal moulding conditions,and this is especially the case for large cup sizes.The design of mould heads is a major factor that affects the dimension changes of foam cups.In this respect,to control the foam moulding process,it is suggested that bra manufacturers examine the fabric/foam material properties to determine the optimal moulding condition,and quantify the shape of foam cups to enhance the design and development process of aluminum mould heads.

Construction utilization of foamed waste glass

Foamed waste glass(FWG) material is newly developed for the purpose to utilize the waste glassware and other waste glass. FWG has a multi-porous structure that consists of continuous or discontinuous voids. Hence lightweight but considerable stiffness can be achieved. In the present study, the manufacture and engineering properties of FWG are introduced first. Then, the utilizations of FWG are investigated in laboratory tests and field tests. Some case studies on design and construction work are also reported here. Through these studies we know that the discontinuous void material can be utilized as a lightweight fill material, ground improvement material and lightweight aggregate for concrete. On the other hand, the continuous void material can be used as water holding material for the greening of ground slope and rooftop, and as clarification material for water.

Mechanical Property of Foamed Metal

A comprehensive study on the mechanical behavior of foamed metals was demonstrated.The relationship among their mechanical properties,preparation method,porosity and the structure was briefly studied as well.

Enhanced CO2 decomposition via metallic foamed electrode packed in self-cooling DBD plasma device

A self-cooling dielectric barrier discharge reactor, packed with foamed Cu and Ni mesh and operated at ambient conditions, was used for the composition of CO2 into CO and O2.The influences of power, frequency, and other discharge characteristics were investigated in order to have a better understanding of the effect of the packing materials on CO2 decomposition.It is found that porous foamed Cu and Ni not only played a role as the carrier of energy transformation and electrode distributed in discharge gaps but also promoted the equilibrium shifting toward the product side to yield more CO by consuming some part of O2 and O radicals generated from the decomposition of CO2.The maximum CO2 decomposition rates of 48.6%and 49.2% and the maximum energy efficiency of 9.71% and 10.18% were obtained in the foamed Ni and Cu mesh, respectively.

Role of Composite Phase Change Material on the Thermal Performance of a Latent Heat Storage System: Experimental Investigation

Paraffin wax is a perfect phase change material(PCM)that can be used in latent heat storage units(LHSUs).The utilization of such LHSU is restricted by the poor conductivity of PCM.In the present work,a metal foam made of aluminium with PCM was used to produce a composite PCM as a thermal conductivity technique in PCM⁃LHSU and water was used as heat transfer fluid(HTF).An experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the heat transfer characteristics of LHSU using pure PCM and composite PCM.The study included time⁃dependent visualization of the PCM during the melting and solidification processes.Besides,a thermocouple network was placed inside the heat storage to record the temperature profile during each process.Results showed that better performance could be obtained using composite PCM⁃LHSU for both melting and solidification processes.The melting time of composite PCM⁃LHSU was about 83%faster than that of a simple PCM⁃LHSU,and the percentage decreasing in the solidification time was about 85%due to the provision of metal foam.

A comparative study of combustible cartridge case materials

Foamed combustible material based on polymer bonded RDX was fabricated using CO_2 as foaming agent.The inner structures of felted and foamed combustible materials were presented by SEM. The two materials presented different formulations and inner porous structures. The combustion behaviors of felted and foamed materials were investigated by closed vessel test. Simultaneously, the co-combustion behavior of combustible cartridge case with 7-perf consolidated propellants was also investigated. The results of closed vessel test is applicable to gun system which is made of the foamed combustible material as component.

Preparation of Magnesia Insulation Materials by Walnut Shell Powder Impregnated with Silica Sol

In order to reduce the thermal energy loss of high temperature kilns and furnaces and lower the surface temperature of the kiln body,magnesia insulation materials were prepared using self-made magnesia porous aggregates(using high purity magnesia powder as starting material and potassium oleate as the foaming agent),middle grade magnesia powder,calcium aluminate cement,and SiO_(2) micropowder as starting materials,introducing walnut shell powder impregnated with silica sol(short for Sws)as a pore-forming agent.The effects of the Sws addition(0,10%,15%,and 20%,by mass)and the sintering temperature(1300,1350,1400,and 1480℃)on the properties of magnesia insulation materials were studied.The results show that(1)for the specimens fired at 1480℃,when the Sws addition is 10%,the cold compressive strength is 22 MPa;when the Sws addition is 20%,the thermal conductivity is 0.368 W·m^(-1)·K^(-1)(350℃);(2)nano-silica in the silica sol reacts with MgO in the matrix to form forsterite,which encapsulates the pores volatilized from the walnut shell powder and forms closed pores.

Compression properties of cost-efficient porous expanded clay reinforced AA7075 syntactic foams fabricated by industrial-oriented die casting technology

In today’s manufacturing industries,hard competition between rival firms makes it compulsory for researchers to design lighter and cheaper machine components due to the megatrends of cost-effectiveness and anti-pollution.At this point,aluminum syntactic foams(ASFs)are new-generation engineering composites and come into the upfront as a problem-solver.Owing to their features like low density,sufficient elongation,and perfect energy absorption ability,these advanced foams have been considerably seductive for many industrial sectors nowadays.In this study,an industrial-oriented automatic die casting technology was used for the first time to manufacture the combination of AA7075/porous expanded clay(PEC).Micro evaluations(optical and FESEM)reveal that there is a homogenous particle distribution in the foam samples,and inspections are compatible with the other ASF studies.Additionally,T6 aging heat treatment was operated on one half of the produced foams to explore the probable impact of aging on the compressive responses.Attained results show that PEC particles can be an alternative to expensive hollow spheres used in the previous works.Besides,a favorable relationship is ascertained between the aging treatment and mechanical properties such as compression strength and plateau strength.

Volume change of macropores of titanium foams during sintering

The porosity of titanium foams obtained from the space holder technique was theoretically analyzed in the cases of volume shrinking, retaining and expanding during sintering. The relationship between porosity and spacer content was compared under different conditions. The kind of volume change of macropores during sintering was discussed. The results indicate that the relationship between porosity and spacer content depends on the decreased volume of macropores and the volume of micropores in cell-walls in the first case, while the porosity will be greater than the spacer content for the other two cases. It proves that the volume change of macropores during sintering decreases based on theory and practice.

High-performance thermal interface materials enabled by vertical alignment of lightweight and soft graphene foams

High-performance thermal interface materials (TIMs) are highly sought after for modern electronics. Two-dimensional (2D) materials as vertical aligned fillers can optimize the out-plane thermal conductivity (k ⊥), but their excessively high content or intrinsic rigidness deteriorate TIMs softness, leading to worsening for thermal contact resistance (R contact). In this study, 2D graphene materials are fabricated into lightweight and soft graphene foams (GFs) with high-orientation, acting as vertical filler frameworks to optimize the k ⊥ and R contact for vertical GF (VGF) TIMs. The VGF-TIM has a high k ⊥ of 47.9 W·m^(−1)·K^(−1) at a low graphene content of 15.5 wt.%. Due to the softness and low filler contents of GFs, the VGF-TIM exhibits a low compressive module (4.2 MPa), demonstrating excellent compressibility. The resulting TIM exhibit a low contact resistance of 24.4 K·mm2·W^(−1), demonstrating 185.1% higher cooling efficiency in practical heat dissipating scenario compared to commercial advanced TIMs. This work provides guidelines for the design of advanced TIMs and their applications in thermal management.

基于FOAM-X的多孔材料吸声性能研究

基于FOAM-X对聚氨酯泡沫、三聚氰胺泡沫和玻璃棉3种多孔材料的吸声系数进行分析,研究了多孔材料的厚度、孔隙率、背后空腔深度、热效特征长度和粘滞特征长度对吸声性能的影响。以聚氨酯泡沫为例,在VA-ONE中进行隔声仿真,比较了3种多孔材料的吸声性能,并通过仿真值与实测值对比,验证FOAM-X对声学参数预测的可靠性。研究结果表明,多孔材料的厚度、孔隙率、背后空腔深度和粘滞特征长度对多孔材料的吸声性能具有显著影响,而热效特征长度则几乎没有影响,三聚氰胺泡沫具有良好的吸声性能,FOAM-X对声学参数预测较准确。

Effect of SiO_2/Na_2O mole ratio on the properties of foam geopolymers fabricated from circulating fluidized bed fly ash

Geopolymers are three-dimensional aluminosilicates formed in a short time at low temperature by geopolymerization. In this pa-per, alkali-activated foam geopolymers were fabricated from circulating fluidized bed fly ash （CFA）, and the effect of SiO2/Na2O mole ratio （0.91-1.68） on their properties was studied. Geopolymerization products were characterized by mechanical testing, scanning electron mi-croscopy （SEM）, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDX）, and X-ray diffraction （XRD）. The results show that SiO2/Na2O mole ratio plays an important role in the mechanical and morphological characteristics of geopolymers. Foam samples prepared in 28 d with a SiO2/Na2O mole ratio of 1.42 exhibit the greatest compressive strength of 2.52 MPa. Morphological analysis reveals that these foam geo-polymers appear the relatively optimized pore structure and distribution, which are beneficial to the structure stability. Moreover, a combina-tion of the Si/Al atomic ratio ranging between 1.47 and 1.94 with the Na/Al atomic ratio of about 1 produces the samples with high strength.