• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.3
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• pp.221-229
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• 2023

Urbanization and industrialization have significantly increased the amount of solid waste produced in recent decades, posing considerable disposal problems and environmental burdens. The practice of waste utilization in concrete has gained popularity among construction practitioners and researchers for the efficient use of resources and the transition to the circular economy in construction. This study employed Lytag aggregate, an environmentally friendly pulverized fuel ash-based lightweight aggregate, as a substitute for natural coarse aggregate. At the same time, fly ash, an industrial by-product, was used as a partial substitute for cement. Concrete mix M20 was experimented with using fly ash and Lytag lightweight aggregate. The percentages of fly ash that make up the replacements were 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%. The Compressive Strength (CS), Split Tensile Strength (STS), and deflection were discovered at these percentages after 56 days of testing. The concrete cube, cylinder, and beam specimens were examined in the explorations, as mentioned earlier. The results indicate that a 10% substitution of cement with fly ash and a replacement of coarse aggregate with Lytag lightweight aggregate produced concrete that performed well in terms of mechanical properties and deflection. The cementitious composites have varying characteristics as the environment changes. Therefore, understanding their mechanical properties are crucial for safety reasons. CS, STS, and deflection are the essential property of concrete. Machine learning (ML) approaches have been necessary to predict the CS of concrete. The Artificial Fish Swarm Optimization (AFSO), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and Harmony Search (HS) algorithms were investigated for the prediction of outcomes. This work deftly explains the tremendous AFSO technique, which achieves the precise ideal values of the weights in the model to crown the mathematical modeling technique. This has been proved by the minimum, maximum, and sample median, and the first and third quartiles were used as the basis for a boxplot through the standardized method of showing the dataset. It graphically displays the quantitative value distribution of a field. The correlation matrix and confidence interval were represented graphically using the corrupt method.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.707-720
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• 2022

In the present work, bending and free vibration analyses of multilayered functionally graded (FG) graphene platelet (GPL) and fiber-reinforced hybrid composite beams are carried out using the parabolic function based shear deformation theory. Parabolic variation of transverse shear stress across the thickness of beam and transverse shear stress-free conditions at top and bottom surfaces of the beam are considered, and the proposed formulation incorporates a transverse displacement field. The present theory works only with four unknowns and is computationally efficient. Hamilton's principle has been employed for deriving the governing equations. Analytical solutions are obtained for both the bending and free vibration problems in the present work considering different variations of GPLs and fibers distribution, namely, FG-X, FG-U, FG-Λ, and FG-O for beams having simply-supported boundary condition. First, the matrix is assumed to be strengthened using GPLs, and then the fibers are embedded. Multiscale modeling for material properties of functionally graded graphene platelet/fiber hybrid composites (FG-GPL/FHRC) is performed using Halpin-Tsai micromechanical model. The study reveals that the distributions of GPLs and fibers have significant impacts on the stresses, deflections, and natural frequencies of the beam. The number of layers and shape factors widely affect the behavior of FG-GPL-FHRC beams. The multilayered FG-GPL-FHRC beams turn out to be a good approximation to the FG beams without exhibiting the stress-channeling effects.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.479-487
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• 2023

Copper is cost-effective and abundantly available as a biocidal coating agent for a wide range of material surfaces. Natural oxidation does not compromise the efficacy of copper, allowing it to maintain antimicrobial activity under prolonged exposure conditions. Furthermore, copper compounds exhibit a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against pathogenic yeast, both enveloped and non-enveloped types of viruses, as well as gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Contact killing of copper-coated surfaces causes the denaturation of proteins and damage to the cell membrane, leading to the release of essential components such as nucleotides and cytoplasm. Additionally, redox-active copper generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), which cause permanent cell damage through enzyme deactivation and DNA destruction. Owing to its robust stability, copper has been utilized in diverse forms, such as nanoparticles, ions, composites, and alloys, resulting in the creation of various coating methods. This mini-review describes representative coating processes involving copper ions and copper oxides on various material surfaces, highlighting the antibacterial and antiviral properties associated with different oxidation states of copper.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.161-172
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• 2023

Because particulate matter has emerged as a major contributor to air pollution, the tire industry has conducted studies to reduce particulate matters from tires by improving tire performance. In this study, we compared the conventional blending method, in which rubber, filler, and additives are mixed simultaneously, to the Y-blending method, in which masterbatches are blended. We manufactured carbon black (CB)-filled natural rubber (NR)/butadiene rubber (BR) blend and silica-filled epoxidized NR/BR blend compounds to compare the effects of the two blending methods on the physical properties of the compounds and the amount of particulate matter generated. The Y-blending method provided uniform filler distribution in the heterogeneous rubber matrix, improved processability, and exhibited low rolling resistance. This method also improved physical properties owing to the excellent filler-rubber interaction. The results obtained from measuring the generation of particulate matter indicated that, the Y-blending method reduced PM_2.5 particulate matter generation from the CB-filled and silica-filled compounds by 38% and 60%, and that of PM₁₀ by 29% and 67%, respectively. This confirmed the excellence of the Y-blending method regarding the physical properties of truck bus radial tire tread compounds and reduced particulate matter generated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.6
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• pp.557-570
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• 2024

Due to interfacial ageing, chemical action and interfacial damage, the interface debonding may appear in the interfaces of composite laminates. Particularly, the laminates display a side-dependent effect at small scale. In this work, a three-dimensional (3D) and anisotropic thick nanoplate model is proposed to investigate the effects of imperfect interface and nonlocal parameter on the bending deformation, vibrational response and buckling stability of one-dimensional (1D) hexagonal quasicrystal (QC) layered nanoplates. By combining the linear spring model with the transferring matrix method, exact solutions of phonon and phason displacements, phonon and phason stresses of bending deformation, the natural frequencies of vibration and the critical buckling loads of 1D hexagonal QC layered nanoplates are derived with imperfect interfaces and nonlocal effects. Numerical examples are illustrated to demonstrate the effects of the imperfect interface parameter, aspect ratio, thickness, nonlocal parameter, and stacking sequence on the bending deformation, the vibrational response and the critical buckling load of 1D hexagonal QC layered nanoplate. The results indicate that both the interface debonding and nonlocal effect can reduce the stiffness and stability of layered nanoplates. Increasing thickness of QC coatings can enhance the stability of sandwich nanoplates with the perfect interfaces, while it can reduce first and then enhance the stability of sandwich nanoplates with the imperfect interfaces. The biaxial compression easily results in an instability of the QC layered nanoplates compared to uniaxial compression. QC material is suitable for surface layers in layered structures. The mechanical behavior of QC layered nanoplates can be optimized by imposing imperfect interfaces and controlling the stacking sequence artificially. The present solutions are helpful for the various numerical methods, thin nanoplate theories and the optimal design of QC nano-composites in engineering practice with interfacial debonding.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.64-72
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• 2024

As air pollution continues to increase owing to increasing traffic centered in urban areas, the tire industry is researching methods to reduce particulate matter. In this study, functionalized lithium butadiene rubber (F-LiBR) was applied to a natural rubber (NR)/butadiene rubber (BR) blend compound often used in truck bus radial (TBR) tire treads. The effect of the functional group that can react with carbon black (CB) in BR was investigated in terms of the dispersion of CB and the compound performance, including the generation of particulate matter. Compounds that were substituted with F-LiBR exhibited enhanced interaction with CB, resulting in excellent filler dispersion. Although F-LiBR exhibited lower crosslinking density and inferior abrasion resistance due to its high vinyl content, the compound with 30 phr of F-LiBR was advantageous in terms of its rolling resistance due to the excellent filler dispersion, which was also effective in reducing the amount of generated particulate matter (up to 56% reduction for PM_2.5, and 67% reduction for PM₁₀). The results confirmed the benefits of the introduction of functional groups into TBR tire tread compounds, which can aid in improving the fuel efficiency and reducing particulate matter generation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.436-441
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• 2009

A fiber optic sensor is prospective to be applied to structural health monitoring. Especially, a fiber Bragg grating(FBG) sensor is one of the most popular sensors for the structural health monitoring. The FBG sensor has several demodulation systems for tracking the shift of the Bragg wavelength. The dynamic bandwidth is dependent on the demodulation system. In this paper, the sensing mechanism is that the slope of the optical spectrum of FBG could be used as its sensitivity when the tunable laser shot the monochromatic laser wavelength at the highest slope point. In this technique, the high sensitivity is guaranteed even though the sensing range is limited. In an example of the application, the composite plate embedding a FBG sensor was manufactured by using an autoclave method and the above sensing mechanism was applied to the composite plate. Firstly, the natural frequencies of the plate were successfully measured by the FBG sensor during the impact hammer test. Secondly, a high-power speaker was used to force the plate to be vibrated at the specific frequency that was one of the natural frequencies. During the shaking, the FBG sensor measures the dynamic characteristics and ESPI was also used to measure the mode shape. From the two dynamic tests, the availability of the FBG sensor system and the ESPI was proven as a technique for measuring the dynamic characteristics of composite structure.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.63-72
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• 2009

Carbon-coated lithium iron phosphate ($LiFePO_4/C$) composites are synthesized by the modified mechanical activation method (modified MA process) and studied by the Rietveld structural refinement. Rietveld indices of $LiFePO_4/C$ indicate good fitting with $R_p=8.14%,\;R_{wp}=11.1%,\;R_{exp}=9.09%,\;R_B=3.88%$, and S (GofF, Goodness of fit) = 1.2, respectively. $LiFePO_4/C$ with a space group Pnma shows a = 10.3229(3)${\AA}$, b = 6.0052(2) ${\AA}$, c = 4.6939(1) ${\AA}$, and V = 290.98(1) ${\AA}^3$ in dimension, indicating good agreements with those of previous works. Synthetic powders are nano-sized ($65{\sim}90nm$) homogeneous particles with high purity. Thus the modified MA method will be an efficient process to get a high quality cathode material for commercial lithium batteries.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.194-205
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• 1994

In this research, we attempt to fabricate an excellent CFRC(Carbon Fiber Reinforced Carbon), which has good thermal and mechanical properties, with 8H/satin woven fabric prepreg, high modulus and high strength type continuous carbon fiber and raw coal tar pitch(RCTP) matrix or THF soluble fraction(THFSP) matrix which has good graphitizability. Green bodies were fabricated with hot press molding technique and CFRC samples were made after carbonization, impregnation, recarbonization and graphitization steps. For the purpose of characterization of the physical properties, SEM, polarized light microscope, TGA were observed, and tested flexural strength, modulus and ILSS. After heat treating the THFSP matrix up to $2300^{\circ}C$, the value of $C_0$/2 was 3.380$\AA$, which is analogous to the structure of natural graphite and the value of 2$\theta$ is $26.276^{\circ}$ approached to the Bragg's angle of natural graphite. As a result of TGA to test the high temperature air oxidation, the THFSP matrix, graphitized up to $2300^{\circ}C$, exhibited the best air oxidation resistance. And mechanical properties were increased up to 65~70% as fiber volume fraction increased. Because of the good orientation graphitizability, the fracture surface of THFSP matrix CFRC is very good.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.147-156
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• 2006

To investigate the influence of the foaming temperature and carbon black content on the cure behaviors and foaming characteristics of the foams. natural rubber (NR) was foamed at five temperature zones (145, 150, 155, 160 and $165^{\circ}C$) and different feeding ratios of the carbon black. A decreasing trend of the scorch time, $t_{s2}$ and cure time, $t_{90}$ was observed upon increasing foaming temperature and carbon black content. The optimal temperature for vulcanization and foaming of NRs in this study was considered to be $165^{\circ}C$ where density of the loomed NRs is lower than those at other four temperature regions. The rule rate index of the NRs foamed at $145^{\circ}C$ is smaller than those at 150, 155, 160 and $165^{\circ}C$. The results of the expansion ratio and micrographs of the foamed NRs were founded to support the density characteristics. The thickness of each of the struts formed inside the rubber matrix decreases with increasing the foaming temperature, while it increases with increasing the carbon black content.