• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2022

The effect of discrete polypropylene fibre reinforcement on shear strength parameters, tensile properties and isotropic index of stabilized compacted residual subgrade was investigated. Composites of compacted subgrade were developed from polypropylene fibre dosage of 0%, 1%, 2.5% and 4% and 3% cement binder. Saturated compacted soil benefited from incremental fibre dosage, the mobilized friction coefficient increased to a maximum at 2.5% fibre dosage from 0.41 to 0.58 and the contribution due to further increase in fibre dosage was marginal. Binder stabilization increased the degree of isotropy for unreinforced soil at lower fibre dosage of 1% and then decreased with higher fibre dosage. Saturation of 3% binder stabilized soil decreased the soil friction angle and the degree of isotropy for both unstabilized and binder stabilized soil increased with fibre dosage. The maximum tensile stress of 3% binder stabilized fibre reinforced residual soil was 3-fold that of 3% binder stabilized unreinforced soil. The difference in computed and measured maximum tensile and tangential stress decreased with increase in fibre dosage and degree of stabilization and polypropylene fibre reinforced soil met local and international criteria for road construction subgrade.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.177-182
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• 1991

Nutrient evaluation of sago fibre showed that the fibre has potential and could be utilized as feed for ruminants. However, as a source of nutrients, it has limitations arising from low intake, digestibility, crude protein and minerals content. The present study showed that the sago fibre is low in crude protein (3.3%) and high in neutral detergent fibre (72.5%) and acid detergent lignin (25.8%) contents. Treatment of sago fibre with urea increased the crude protein content from 3.3 to 16.7%. Both urea and sodium hydroxide treatment decreased the neutral detergent fibre level from 72.5 to 59 and 56.5%, respectively. Rumen degradation of sago fibre by nylon bag showed that both urea and sodium hydroxide treatments increased dry matter and organic matter disappearance of the fibre significantly. In vivo digestibility of 2% urea treated sago fibre was 47.5% and intake of the fibre was 1.57% of body weight of the lamb.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.299-306
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• 2019

The natural fibre composites are termed as bio-composites. They have shown a promising replacement to the current carbon/glass fibre reinforced composites as environmental friendly materials in specific applications. Natural fibre reinforced composites are potential materials for various engineering applications in automobile, railways, building and Aerospace industry. The natural fibre selected to fabricate the composite material is plant-based fibre e.g., sisal fibre. Sisal fibre is a suitable reinforcement for use in composites on account of its low density, high specific strength, and high hardness. Epoxy is a thermosetting polymer which is used as a resin in natural fibre reinforced composites. Hand lay-up technique was used to fabricate the composites by reinforcing sisal fibres into the epoxy matrix. Composites were prepared with the unidirectional alignment of sisal fibres. Test specimens with different fibre orientations were prepared. The fabricated composites were tested for mechanical properties. Impact test, tensile test, flexural test, hardness test, compression test, and thermal test of composites had been conducted to assess its suitability in industrial applications. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test revealed the microstructural information of the fractured surface of composites.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.271-276
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• 1977

Treating with step concentration of papain, round mucle of Korean cattle were cut in longitudinal and cross section and stained. Collagenous fibre and elastic fibre of its connective tissue were observed microscopically. The results were as follows: 1) In proportion to the increase of enzyme concentration amorphous bundle of collagenous fibre were loosed gradually and destroyed in the long run and besides the property of this fibre stained became remarkably weak. 2) Elastic fibre was paralleled to muscle fibre and in proportion to the increase of enzyme concentration, it was lost elasticity, loosed, straightened and broken remarkably to pieces. 3) Histological variation of collagenous fibre and elastic fibre treated with enzyme was more remarkable than control.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.1761-1769
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• 2007

This experiment was conducted to determine the extent to which susceptibility to cortisol-induced follicle shutdown is influenced by fleece phentotype. Twenty Finewool (10 sheep low fibre diameter, low coefficient of fibre diameter-LL and 10 low fibre diameter, high coefficient of variation of fibre diameter-LH) and twenty Strongwool (10 low fibre diameter, low coefficient of variation of fibre diameter-HL and 10 high fibre diameter and high coefficient of variation of fibre diameter-HH) sheep of 9 months of age were individually penned in an animal house and were injected intramuscularly with an aqueous suspension of hydrocortisone acetate at a rate of 1.42 mg/kg body weight for a period of two weeks. Fibre diameter was measured from clipped tattooed patch wool samples. Follicle activity was measured by histological changes in skin biopsies taken weekly. Blood samples were collected at two-week intervals and plasma cortisol measured. Increased plasma cortisol concentration significantly (p<0.05) reduced clean wool production and mean fibre diameter dropped to its lowest level four weeks after commencement and two weeks after the cessation of cortisol injection. Elevation of plasma cortisol concentration significantly (p<0.0001) increased the percentage of inactive follicles two weeks after injection started. High fibre diameter groups (Strongwool sheep; i.e. HL+HH) had significantly (p<0.0001) higher percentage of follicle shutdown than low fibre diameter groups (Finewool sheep; i.e. LL+LH). Average percentage of shutdown follicles for Finewool (LL+LH) and Strongwool (HL+HH) Merino sheep was $9.8{\pm}0.9$ and $13.5{\pm}0.9$ respectively. Shutdown of primary follicles was more pronounced in Finewool than Strongwool sheep. There was no significant effect of coefficient of variation of fibre diameter on propensity to follicle shutdown induced by exogenous cortisol. It is concluded that elevation in plasma cortisol concentration is inhibitory to the normal activity of follicles in Strongwool sheep but that variation in fibre diameter has little or no effect.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.125-139
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• 2016

For seismic retrofitting of masonry walls, the use of fibre reinforced cement-based mortar for bonding the fibre grids can eliminate some of the shortcomings related to the use of resin as bonding material. The results of an experimental testing program on masonry walls retrofitted with fibre reinforced mortar and fibre grids are presented in this paper. Seven squat masonry walls were tested under unidirectional lateral displacement reversals and constant axial load. Steel anchors were used to increase the effectiveness of the bond between the fibre grids and the masonry walls. Application of fibre grids on both lateral faces of the walls effectively improved the hysteretic behaviour and specimens could be loaded until slip occurred in the horizontal joint between the masonry and the bottom concrete stub. Application of the fibre grids on a single face did not effectively improve the hysteretic behaviour. Retrofitting with fibre reinforced mortar only prevented the early damage but did not effectively increase deformation capacity. When the boundaries of the cross sections were not properly confined, midplane splitting of the masonry walls occurred. Steel anchors embedded in the walls in the corners area effectively prevented this type of failure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.76 no.5
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• pp.613-618
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• 2020

Exhausting oil resources and increasing pollution around the world are forcing researchers to look for new, renewable, biodegradable materials to lead sustainable development. The use of fiber reinforced composites based on natural fibres has increasingly begun as prospective materials for various engineering applications in the automotive, rail, construction and aerospace industries. The natural fiber chosen to make the composite material is plant-based fibre, e.g. jute fibre, and hemp fibre. Thermosetting polymer based Epoxy (LY556) was utilized as matrix material and The composites were produced using hand lay-up technique. The fabricated composites were tested for acoustic testing, thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and flammability testing to asses sound absorption, thermal decomposition and fire resistivity of the structures. Hemp fibre composites have shown improved thermal stability over Jute fibre composites. However, the fire resistance characteristics of jute fibre composites are better as compared to hemp fibre composites. The sound absorption coefficient of composites was found to enhance with the increase of frequency.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.79-85
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• 2017

This paper summarizes the experimental study of the shear behaviour of Hybrid Fibre Reinforced Concrete (HFRC) beams retrofitted by using externally bonded Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) laminates. To attain the set-out objectives of the present investigation, steel fibre of 1% and polypropylene fibre of 0.30% was used for hybrid steel-polypropylene fibre reinforced concrete: whereas for hybrid glass-polypropylene fibre reinforced concrete, glass fibre by 0.03% and polypropylene fibre of 0.03% by volume of concrete was used. In this study, 9 numbers of beams were cast and tested into three groups (Group I, II & III). Each group containing 3 numbers of beams, out of which one serve as a control beam or a hybrid steel-polypropylene fibre reinforced concrete beam or a hybrid glass - polypropylene fibre reinforced concrete beam and the remaining two beams were preloaded until shear cracks appeared up to 75% of ultimate load and then preloaded beams (damaged beams) were retrofitted with GFRP laminates at shear zone in the form of strips, as one beam in vertical position and another beam in inclined position to restrict the shear cracks. Finally, the retrofitted beams were loaded until failure and test results were compared. The experimental tests have been conducted to investigate various parameters of structural performance, such as load carrying capacity, crack pattern and failure modes, load-deflection responses and ductility relations. The test results revealed that beams retrofitted using GFRP laminates considerably increased the load carrying capacity. In addition, it was found that beams retrofitted with inclined strip offers superior performance than vertical one. Comparing the test results, it was observed that hybrid steel-polypropylene fibre reinforced concrete beam retrofitted with GFRP laminates showed enhanced behaviour as compared to other tested beams.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.325-335
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• 2016

This paper studies the effects of steel fibre geometry and architecture on the cracking behaviour of steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC), with the reinforcements being four types, namely 5DH ($Dramix^{(R)}$ hooked-end), 4DH, 3DH-60 and 3DH-35, of various hooked-end steel fibres at the fibre dosage of 40 and $80kg/m^3$. The test results show that the addition of steel fibres have little effect on the workability and compressive strength of SFRC, but the ultimate tensile loads, post-cracking behaviour, residual strength and the fracture energy of SFRC are closely related to the shapes of fibres which all increased with increasing fibre content. Results also revealed that the residual tensile strength is significantly influenced by the anchorage strength rather than the number of the fibres counted on the fracture surface. The 5DH steel fibre reinforced concretes have behaved in a manner of multiple crackings and more ductile compared to 3DH and 4DH ones, and the end-hooks of 4DH and 5DH fibres partially deformed in steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFR-SCC). In practice, 5DH fibres should be used for reinforcing high or ultra-high performance matrixes to fully utilize their high mechanical anchorage.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 1993

During compression molding of fibre-reinforced thermoplastics, the two main problems such as the fibre-matrix separation and the fibre orientation are produced by the flow state. As the molded product tends to be nonhomogeneous and anisotropic due to the separation and the orientation, it is necessary to clarify these in relation to the molding process variables and the fibre structure (fibre entanglement). If the entanglement of fibre structure is strong, the separation increases and the orientation is not easily aligned. Namely, these are inseparably related to each other. The correlation between the separation and the orientation have to be clarified for designing the fibre structure. In this paper, the degree of nonhomogeneity which is a measure of the separation is obtained using one-dimensional rectangular shaped part compression molding. And the orientation function is defined and measured by the image processing using soft X-rayed photograph and image scanner. Correlation between the degree of nonhomogeneity and the orientation function is discussed.