• Resources Recycling
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.55-61
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• 2009

Dewatering process to remove water from pigment sludge was important in the diverse aspects of the improvement of product quality, curtailment of the drying cost and the transportation. It was difficult to dewater pigment particles with the mechanical forces because the size was fine under $5{\mu}m$. Thermal filter press dewatering equipment composed of squeezing plate and a fixed heating plate was developed to improve the dewaterability of pigment the sludge as supplying the heat from the fixed heating plate to the cake. Several tests that estimate the dewaterability for pigment sludge as with or without squeezing process and the difference of dewatering time was conducted with this equipment. Dewaterability of thermal dewatering under squeezing process was increased about 20% compared with non squeezing process. Under squeezing process, thermal dewatering tests changing dewatering time with 70 and 80 minute were conducted respectively. The water content of cake was more reduced at dewatering time of 80 minute compared with 70 minute, and dewatering velocity was also decreased, which caused the productivity of thermal filter press to drop. It was observed that clogging of filter cloth didn't almost occur because the liquid was discharged from cake layer easily. In this research, it was resulted that the squeezing process and long dewatering time were effective to improve the dewaterability of pigment sludge. So, this thermal filter press equipment was useful for dewatering the fine particle sludge like pigment.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.123-132
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• 2018

Reinforced concrete (RC) columns which are the main vertical structural members are exposed to several static and dynamic effects such as earthquake and wind. However, impact loading that is sudden impulsive dynamic one is the most effective loading type acting on the RC columns. Impact load is a kind of impulsive dynamic load which is ignored in the design process of RC columns like other structural members. The behavior of reinforced concrete columns under impact loading is an area of research that is still not well understood; however, work in this area continues to be motivated by a broad range of applications. Examples include reinforced concrete structures designed to resist accidental loading scenarios such as falling rock impact; vehicle or ship collisions with buildings, bridges, or offshore facilities; and structures that are used in high-threat or high-hazard applications, such as military fortification structures or nuclear facilities. In this study, free weight falling test setup is developed to investigate the behavior effects on RC columns under impact loading. For this purpose, eight RC column test specimens with 1/3 scale are manufactured. While drop height and mass of the striker are constant, application point of impact loading, stirrup spacing and concrete compression strength are the experimental variables. The time-history of the impact force, the accelerations of two points and the displacement of columns were measured. The crack patterns of RC columns are also observed. In the light of experimental results, low-velocity impact behavior of RC columns were determined and interpreted. Besides, the finite element models of RC columns are generated using ABAQUS software. It is found out that proposed finite element model could be used for evaluation of dynamic responses of RC columns subjected to low-velocity impact load.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.377-400
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• 2016

Dropped objects are among the top ten causes of fatalities and serious injuries in the oil and gas industry (DORIS, 2016). Objects may accidentally fall down from platforms or vessels during lifting or any other offshore operation. Proper planning of lifting operations requires the knowledge of the risk-free zone on the sea bed to protect underwater structures and equipment. To this end a three-dimensional (3D) theory of dynamic motion of dropped cylindrical object is expanded to also consider ocean currents. The expanded theory is integrated into the authors' Dropped Objects Simulator (DROBS). DROBS is utilized to simulate the trajectories of dropped cylinders falling through uniform currents originating from different directions (incoming angle at $0^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}$, $180^{\circ}$, and $270^{\circ}$). It is found that trajectories and landing points of dropped cylinders are greatly influenced by the direction of current. The initial conditions after the cylinders have fallen into the water are treated as random variables. It is assumed that the corresponding parameters orientation angle, translational velocity, and rotational velocity follow normal distributions. The paper presents results of DROBS simulations for the case of a dropped cylinder with initial drop angle at $60^{\circ}$ through air-water columns without current. Then the Monte Carlo simulations are used for predicting the landing point distributions of dropped cylinders with varying drop angles under current. The resulting landing point distribution plots may be used to identify risk free zones for offshore lifting operations.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.219-231
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• 2020

The aim of this study is to investigate the durability of fly ash based geopolymer mortar with and without protective coatings in aggressive chemical environments. The source materials for geopolymer are Fly ash and Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag (GGBS) and they are considered in the combination of 80% & 20% respectively. Two Molarities of NaOH solution were considered such as 8M and 10M. The ratio of binder to sand and Sodium silicate to Sodium hydroxide solution (Na₂SiO₃/NaOH) are taken as 1:2 and 2 respectively. The alkaline liquid to binder ratio is 0.4. Compressive strength tests were conducted at various ages of the mortar specimens. In order to evaluate the performance of coatings on geopolymer mortar under aggressive chemical environment, the mortar specimens were coated with two different types of coatings such as epoxy and Acrylic. They were then subjected to different chemical environments by immersing them in 10% standard solutions of each ammonium nitrate, sodium chloride and sulphuric acid. Drop in compressive strength as a result of chemical exposure was considered as a measure of chemical attack and the drop in compressive strength was measured after 30 and 60 days of chemical exposure. The compressive strength results following chemical exposure indicated that the specimens containing the acrylic coating proved to be more resistant to chemical attacks. The control specimen without coating showed a much greater degree of deterioration. Therefore, the application of acrylic coating was invariably much more effective in improving the compressive strength as well as the resistance of mortar against chemical attacks. The results also indicated that among all the aggressive attacks, the sulphate environment has the most adverse effect in terms of lowering the strength.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.75 no.5
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• pp.571-583
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• 2020

Permeation grouting is of great significance for consolidating geo-materials without disturbing the original geo-structure. To dip into the filtration-induced pressure increment that dominates the grout penetration in permeation grouting, nonlinear filtration coefficients embedded in a convection-filtration model were proposed, in which the volume of cement particles in grout and the deposited particles of skeleton were considered. An experiment was designed to determine the filtration coefficients and verify the model. The filtration coefficients deduced from experimental data were used in simulation, and the modelling results matched well with the experimental ones. The pressure drop revealed in experiments and captured in modelling demonstrated that the surge of inflow pressure lagged behind the stoppage of flow channels. In addition, both the consideration of the particles loss in liquid grout and the number of filtrated particles on pore walls presented an ideal trend in filtration rate, in which the filtration rate first rose rapidly and then reached to a steady plateau. Finally, this observed pressure drop was extended to the grouting design which alters the water to cement (W/C) ratio so as to alleviate the filtration effect. This study offers a novel insight into the filtration behaviour and has a practical meaning to extend penetration distance.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.787-799
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• 2016

Climate anomalies in recent years, numerous natural disasters caused by landslides and a large amount of entrained sands and stones in Taiwan have created significant disasters and greater difficulties in subsequent reconstruction. How to respond to these problems efficaciously is an important issue. In this study, the sands and stones were doped with recycled materials (waste LCD glass sand, slag powder), and material was mixed for recycled ready-mixed soil. The study is based on security and economic principles, using flowability test to determine the water-binder ratio (W/B=2.4, 2.6, and 2.8), a fixed soil: sand ratio of 6:4 and a soil: sand: glass ratio of 6:2:2 as fine aggregate. Slag (at concentrations of 0%, 20%, and 40%) replaced the cement. The following tests were conducted: flowability, initial setting time, unit weight, drop-weight and compressive strength. The results show that the slump values are 220 -290 mm, the slump flow values are 460 -1030 mm, and the tube flow values are 240-590 mm, all conforming to the objectives of the design. The initial setting times are 945-1695 min. The unit weight deviations are 0.1-0.6%. The three groups of mixtures conform to the specification, being below 7.6 cm in the drop-weight test. In the compressive strength test, the water-binder ratios for 2.4 are optimal ($13.78-17.84kgf/cm^2$). The results show that Recycled ready-mixed soil materials (RRMSM) possesses excellent flowability. The other properties, applied to backfill engineering, can effectively save costs and are conducive to environmental protection.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.479-490
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• 2021

Pre-drainage of groundwater in the roof aquifer by boreholes is the main method for prevention of roof water disaster, and the drop in the water level during the drainage leads to the variation of the local stress in the overlying strata. Based on a multitude of boreholes for groundwater drainage from aquifer above the 1303 mining face of Longyun Coal Mine, theoretical analysis and numerical simulation are used to investigate the local stress variation in the process of borehole drainage. The results show that due to the drop in the water level of the roof aquifer during the drainage, the stress around the borehole gradually evolved. From the center of the borehole to the outside, a stress-relaxed zone, a stress-elevated zone, and a stress-recovered zone are sequentially formed. Along with the expansion of drainage influence, the stress peak in the stress-elevated zone also moves to the outside. When the radius of influence develops to the maximum, the stress peak position no longer moves outward. When the coal mining face advances to the drainage influence range, the abutment pressure in front of the mining face is superimposed with the high local stress around the borehole, which increases the risk of stress concentration. The present study provides a reference for the stress concentration caused by borehole drainage, which can be potentially utilized in the optimal arrangement of drainage boreholes in underground mining.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.277-288
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• 2022

A novel flat steel plate-concrete-corrugated steel plate (FS-C-CS) sandwich panel was proposed for resisting impact load. The failure mode, impact force and displacement response of the FS-C-CS panel under impact loading were studied via drop-weight impact tests. The combined global flexure and local indentation deformation mode of the FS-C-CS panel was observed, and three stages of impact process were identified. Moreover, the effects of corrugated plate height and steel plate thickness on the impact responses of the FS-C-CS panels were quantitatively analysed, and the impact resistant performance of the FS-C-CS panel was found to be generally improved on increasing corrugated plate height and thickness in terms of smaller deformation as well as larger impact force and post-peak mean force. The Finite Element (FE) model of the FS-C-CS panel under impact loading was established to predict its dynamic response and further reveal its failure mode and impact energy dissipation mechanism. The numerical results indicated that the concrete core and corrugated steel plate dissipated the majority of impact energy. In addition, employing end plates and high strength bolts as shear connectors could prevent the slip between steel plates and concrete core and assure the full composite action of the FS-C-CS panel.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.5
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• pp.619-632
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• 2022

Reinforced concrete (RC) structures may be subjected to sudden dynamic impact loads such as explosions occurring for different reasons, the collision of masses driven by rockfall, flood, landslide, and avalanche effect structural members, the crash of vehicles to the highway and seaway structures. Many analytical, numerical, and experimental studies focused on the behavior of RC structural elements such as columns, beams, and slabs under sudden dynamic impact loads. However, there is no comprehensive study on the behavior of the RC column-beam connections under the effect of sudden dynamic impact loads. For this purpose, an experimental study was performed to investigate the behavior of RC column-beam connections under the effect of low-velocity impact loads. Sixteen RC beam-column connections with a scale of 1/3 were manufactured and tested under impact load using the drop-weight test setup. The concrete compressive strength, shear reinforcement spacing in the beam, and input impact energy applied to test specimens were taken as experimental variables. The time histories of impact load acting on test specimens, accelerations, and displacements measured from the test specimens were recorded in experiments. Besides, shear and bending crack widths were measured. The effect of experimental variables on the impact behavior of RC beam-column connections has been determined and interpreted in detail. Besides, a finite element model has been established for verification and comparison of the experimental results by using ABAQUS software. It has been demonstrated that concrete strength, shear reinforcement ratio, and impact energy significantly affect the impact behavior of RC column-beam connections.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.6
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• pp.529-540
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• 2023

A novel laminated-hybrid-composite-beam (LHCB) of glass-epoxy infused with flyash and graphene is constructed for this study. The conventional mixture-rule and constitutive-relationship are modified to incorporate filler and lamina orientation. Eringen's non-local-theory is used to include the filler effect. Hamilton's principle based on fifth-order-layer-wise-shear-deformation-theory is applied to formulate the equation of motion. The analogous shear-spring-models for LHCB with multiple-cracks are employed in finite-element-analysis (FEA). Modal-experimentations are conducted (B&K-analyser) and the findings are compared with theoretical and FEA results. In terms of dimensionless relative-natural-frequencies (RNF), the dynamic-response in cantilevered support is investigated for various relative-crack-severities (RCSs) and relative-crack-positions (RCPs). The increase of RCS increases local-flexibility in LHCB thus reductions in RNFs are observed. RCP is found to play an important role, cracks present near the end-support cause an abrupt drop in RNFs. Further, multiple cracks are observed to enhance the nonlinearity of LHCB strength. Introduction of the first to third crack in an intact LHCB results drop of RNFs by 8%, 10%, and 11.5% correspondingly. Also, it is demonstrated that the RNF varies because of the lamina-orientation, and filler addition. For 0° lamina-orientation the RNF is maximum. Similarly, it is studied that the addition of graphene reduces weight and increases the stiffness of LHCB in contrast to the addition of flyash. Additionally, the response of LHCB to moving mass is accessed by appropriately modifying the numerical programs, and it is noted that the successive introduction of the first to ninth crack results in an approximately 40% to 120% increase in the dynamic-amplitude-ratio.