Multi‐layered Youden Rectangles

Multi‐layered Youden rectangles are introduced. These new designs include double and triple Youden rectangles as subdesigns. Though many double Youden rectangles are known, the triples, introduced in 1994, have to now yielded few nontrivial examples. Two infinite series of multi‐layered Youden rectangles are constructed, and so also many new triple Youden rectangles.     

Particle size,size distribution and morphological evaluation of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GRP) industrial by-product

The waste management of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GRP) materials, in particular those made with thermosetting resins, is a critical issue for the composites industry because these materials cannot be reprocessed. Therefore, most thermosetting GRP waste is presently sent to landfill, in spite of the significant environmental impact caused by their disposal in this way. The limited GRP waste recycling worldwide is mostly due to its intrinsic thermosetting properties, lack of characterization data and unavailability of viable recycling and recovery routes. One of the possibility for re-using GRP industrial by-product is in form of powder as a partial aggregate replacement or filler addition in cement based composites for applications in sustainable construction materials and technologies. However, the feasibility of this kind of reutilization strongly depends on the morphology and particle size distribution of a powder made up of polymer granules and glass fibers. In the present study, the use of image analysis method, based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ImageJ processing program, is proposed in order to evaluate the morphology of the particles and measure the particle size and size distribution of fine GRP waste powder. The obtained results show a great potential of such a method in order to be considered as a standardized method of measurement and analysis in order to characterize the grain size and size distribution of GRP particles before exploiting any compatibility issue for its recycling management.     

MULTI-SCALE NUMERICAL MODEL FOR SIMULATING CONCRETE MATERIAL BASED ON FRACTAL THEORY

A new multi-scale numerical model is presented using the fractal theory and adopting FEM to simulate the failure of concrete.The relation between the fractal box dimension in large scale and the damage to concrete in small scale is deduced.And the evolutionary process of elastic modulus and strength in small scale is given.Consequently,the multi-scale numerical model is proposed to describe the constitutive relation of concrete between small scale and large scale.A two-dimensional static analysis of a concrete block is performed by using this model and the calculation result is discussed.The propagation of cracks of the concrete block is also studied.     

Rapid determination of oxindole alkaloids in cat's claw by HPLC using ionic liquid‐based microwave‐assisted extraction and silica monolithic column

Cat's claw is a large woody vine with hook‐like thorns, and has been traditionally used to treat inflammatory disorders in South and Central America. In this study, a rapid, validated high‐performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method using a silica monolithic column was developed for the simultaneous determination of oxindole alkaloids, namely rhynchophylline, pteropodine, isomitraphylline and isopteropodine, in cat's claw. The ionic liquid‐based microwave‐assisted extraction (ILMAE), considered as an environmentally friendly and powerful tool, was first applied in the extraction of oxindole alkaloids. To optimize the HPLC method, the stationary phases, pH values of mobile phase and flow rates were investigated. The validated HPLC method using a Monolithic RP_18e column (100 × 4.6 mm) enables these analytes to be separated almost twice as fast as with a conventional particulate column (~16 vs ~30 min) with limits of quantification and detection of 0.5 and 0.15 μg/mL, respectively. The ILMAE conditions were optimized by the Taguchi orthogonal array design. In comparison with conventional water boiling extraction, ILMAE offers almost four times higher yields within an extremely short extraction time. The developed HPLC coupled with ILMAE method could be efficient and practical for rapid determination of oxindole alkaloids in cat's claw.     

Mathematical modeling of a slurry reactor for DME direct synthesis from syngas

In this paper,an axial dispersion mathematical model is developed to simulate a three-phase slurry bubble column reactor for direct synthesis of dimethyl ether(DME) from syngas.This large-scale reactor is modeled using mass and energy balances,catalyst sedimentation andsingle-bubble as well as two-bubbles class flow hydrodynamics.A comparison between the two hydrodynamic models through pilot plantexperimental data from the literature shows that heterogeneous two-bubbles flow model is in better agreement with the experimental data thanhomogeneous single-bubble gas flow model.Also,by investigating the heterogeneous gas flow and axial dispersion model for small bubblesas well as the large bubbles and slurry(i.e.including paraffins and the catalyst) phase,the temperature profile along the reactor is obtained.Acomparison between isothermal and non-isothermal reactors reveals no obvious performance difference between them.The optimum values ofreactor diameter and height were obtained at 7 m and 50 m,respectively.The effects of operating variables on the axial catalyst distribution,DME productivity and CO conversion are also investigated in this research.     

Análise da confiabilidade de estruturas de concreto armado com uma metodologia para inclusão de efeitos estocásticos de propriedades dos materiais

In this paper, special emphasis is given to the inclusion of uncertainties in the evaluation of structural behaviour aiming at a better representation of the system characteristics and the quantification of the importance of these uncertainties in the project. It deals with the structural reliability analysis problem accounting the effect of spatial variability of material properties. To this end it is proposed a finite element model to represent the behaviour of reinforced concrete for short and long-term loads, which includes the main features observed in this material. It was developed a model for the generation of multidimensional non-Gaussian stochastic fields for the material properties that is independent of the finite element mesh. First, an example of a two-dimensional non-Gaussian stochastic field generation in a square steel plate is presented. Latter, the reliability analysis is performed to a limit state function based on prescribed values of mid-span displacements on a simply-supported reinforced beam. Finally, the influence of long-term effects on the reliability of a reinforced concrete beam is studied considering the effect of steel reinforcement corrosion.     

Finding the buckling load of non-uniform columns using the iteration perturbation method

The aim of this study is to calculate the critical load of variable inertia columns. The example studied in this paper can be used as a paradigm for other non-uniform columns. The wavelength of equivalent vibratory system is used to calculate the critical load of the trigonometrically varied inertia column. In doing so, the equilibrium equation of the column is theoretically studied using the perturbation method. Accuracy of the calculated results is evaluated by comparing the solution with numerical results. Effect of improving the initial guess on the solution accuracy is investigated. Effects of varying parameters of the trigonometrically varied inertia and the uniformly tapered columns on their stability behavior are studied. Finally, using the so-called “perfectibility” parameter, two design goals, i.e., being lightweight and being strong, are studied for the discussed columns.     

COUPLING EFFECTS OF VOID SHAPE AND VOID SIZE ON THE GROWTH OF AN ELLIPTIC VOID IN A FIBER-REINFORCED HYPER-ELASTIC THIN PLATE

The growth of a prolate or oblate elliptic micro-void in a fiber reinforced anisotropic incompressible hyper-elastic rectangular thin plate subjected to uniaxial extensions is studied within the framework of finite elasticity. Coupling effects of void shape and void size on the growth of the void are paid special attention to. The deformation function of the plate with an isolated elliptic void is given, which is expressed by two parameters to solve the differential equation. The solution is approximately obtained from the minimum potential energy principle. Deformation curves for the void with a wide range of void aspect ratios and the stress distributions on the surface of the void have been obtained by numerical computation. The growth behavior of the void and the characteristics of stress distributions on the surface of the void are captured. The combined effects of void size and void shape on the growth of the void in the thin plate are discussed. The maximum stresses for the void with different sizes and different void aspect ratios are compared.     

Development of a rapid method for the simultaneous separation and determination of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol and its N- and O-glucuronides in human urine by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Determination of the tobacco-specific nitrosamine metabolite 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) and its N- and O-glucuronides (NNAL-N-Gluc and NNAL-O-Gluc) is important for toxicology analysis of tobacco smoke induced carcinogenicity and the understanding of detoxification mechanisms of the carcinogenic nitrosamine in humans. But previously reported indirect measurement methods involving enzymolysis and base treatment steps were tedious and time-consuming. In this work, a direct measurement method for simultaneous determination of urinary NNAL, NNAL-N-Gluc and NNAL-O-Gluc by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) in a single run was developed for the first time without the need to perform enzymatic or base hydrolysis. Urine samples were purified using dichloromethane and further extracted by solid-phase extraction. Then they were analyzed by LC–MS/MS operated in electrospray positive ionization mode. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Phenomenex Kinetex PFP column within 6 min. The proposed method was validated and the results demonstrated that the method can produce satisfactory recoveries and reproducibility for the analytes. The applicability of this newly developed method was investigated for the simultaneous analysis of the three metabolites in smokers’ urine and the obtained results were comparable to those detected using the conventional enzymolysis method.