Properties of the Interfacial Transition Zone in Model Concrete

The interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between aggregates and cement paste in cementitious materials is a crucial element in mechanical and transport systems. Computer simulation by the SPACE system is used to approach this problem in the present paper. For the particle-packing phenomenon in the fresh state of concrete, the SPACE system relies on a dynamic generation algorithm, reflecting the production conditions of concrete. Hence, structure of the model cement has been proven more realistic than can be achieved by random generator-based system.A natural phenomenon in the ITZ around aggregate particles is size segregation leading to different gradients in porosity, particle size and surface area. Size segregation implies the difference size fractions in the binder mixture to have peak values in their densities on different distances from the aggregate surface. Structural evolution of the ITZ is stereologically quantified with the help of composition and configuration parameters in the fresh and hardened states of concrete.The addition of mineral admixtures is a successful approach to improving the ITZ microstructure. Experiments demonstrated the blending efficiency to be higher for coarser grained Portland cement (PC), due to the positive effect exerted by gap grading, i.e. by having distinctly different size ranges of particles. This is confirmed by computer simulation of the ITZ microstructure in model concretes made with blended cements. In addition, it is very important in concrete production to achieve good workability conditions to ensure sufficient dispersion of the fine rice husk ash (RHA) particles and proper migration of them into the ITZ through the structure network of large cement particles.     

Acoustical properties of aerated autoclaved concrete

This work analyses acoustic qualities of autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC). Three the most widely used types of AAC are chosen for the analysis: gas cement concrete, gas cement concrete with combined binder (Portland cement and lime), and foam cement concrete. The procedure and technique of the materials’ formation is presented in this work. The evaluation of acoustic qualities of AAC is based on the material’s air permeability and porosity (i.e., ratio of the volume of the interconnected pores to the total volume of pores). For this purpose the measurements obtained by an acoustic interferometer are used. The results of the experiment show that regression equations for the AAC types, which density ranges from 250 to 500 kg/m³, may be used to estimate the materials’ normal incidence absorption coefficient values, which depend on the air permeability and porosity. Results show that absorption coefficient of not specially treated AAC is rather low. According to the measurements obtained in a special reverberation room of 202 m³, a sound absorption coefficient may increase up to 0.6, provided that slits of Helmholtz resonator’s type are made in the slabs of AAC gas cement concrete with combined binder.     

Study of radon transport through concrete modified with silica fume

The concentration of radon in soil usually varies between a few kBq/m³ and tens or hundreds of kBq/m³ depending upon the geographical region. This causes the transport of radon from the soil to indoor environments by diffusion and advection through the pore space of concrete. To reduce indoor radon levels, the use of concrete with low porosity and a low radon diffusion coefficient is recommended. A method of reducing the radon diffusion coefficient through concrete and hence the indoor radon concentration by using silica fume to replace an optimum level of cement was studied. The diffusion coefficient of the concrete was reduced from (1.63 ± 0.3) × 10⁻⁷ to (0.65 ± 0.01) × 10⁻⁸ m²/s using 30% substitution of cement with silica fume. The compressive strength of the concrete increased as the silica-fume content increased, while radon exhalation rate and porosity of the concrete decreased. This study suggests a cost-effective method of reducing indoor radon levels.     

Structural and magnetic studies of Fe2O3/SiO2 granular nanocomposites

Fe₂O₃/SiO₂ nanocomposites were synthesized by mechanical alloying, using Fe and SiO₂ powders as precursors. After 340 h milling, the sample essentially consists of hematite and amorphous silica. TEM images show hematite particles embedded in and surrounded by an amorphous silica matrix. A broad size distribution—5–50 nm—of hematite particles is found, and other group of very small—2–3 nm—unidentified particles are observed. Room temperature Mössbauer spectra show a paramagnetic doublet, which may correspond to a non-crystalline phase in the sample (probably the small unidentified particles), and a sextet corresponding to hematite. Magnetic properties were investigated by measuring hysteresis curves at different temperatures (5–300 K) and by zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) magnetization curves (10 mT). The hysteresis loops were well fitted by a ferromagnetic contribution. No evidence of Morin transition is found down to 5 K.     

Absolute Continuity of States on Concrete Logics

By concrete logic we mean a quantum logic which is set-representable, and byVitali—Hahn—Saks logic (VHS-logic) we mean a concrete logic for which theVitali—Hahn—Saks theorem holds true. In this note we investigate the size of theclass of VHS-logics, showing among others that each concrete logic can beconcretely enlarged to a VHS-logic as well as to a non-VHS-logic.     

超声动载荷下三维随机骨料混凝土的损伤

混凝土是一种由粗骨料与水泥砂浆组成的非均质复合材料。本研究利用APDL语言程序编写三维水泥混凝土骨料随机投放程序并导入ABAQUS中,同时赋予各相材料塑性损伤本构关系来研究混凝土动态加载下的破坏规律,运用超声波在混凝土破碎中的作用机理对混凝土动态损伤破坏过程进行模拟研究。结果表明:随着超声动态载荷的增大,粗骨料体积分数为40%的混凝土始终能够承受最大应力载荷;随着超声应力波幅值增大,混凝土在动载荷下的损伤值逐渐增大,且粗骨料体积分数为40%时,其抗损伤能力最优;当粗骨料最大粒径逐渐增大,或者当粗骨料最小粒径增大,混凝土级配不合理导致性能不稳定,更易损伤破坏。     

矿物掺合料作为砂浆细集料的水化产物与光谱性能研究

粉煤灰、锂渣和钢渣作为工业废渣,等质量替代水泥时其利用率往往较低,为了大量地使用这些工业废渣。采用X射线单晶衍射仪、同步热分析仪、傅里叶红外光谱仪和电镜扫描分析方法,研究了锂渣、粉煤灰和钢渣替代细集料后砂浆的水化产物、光谱特性、微观形貌,并探讨了砂浆抗折/抗压强度随替代率(0%,30%,50%,70%和100%)增长的变化规律。研究结果表明：四种浆体的水化产物主要为CSH凝胶、Ca(OH)₂、少量的AFt和未水化的颗粒(Al₂O₃,SiO₂),其中水泥-锂渣浆体、水泥-粉煤灰浆体、水泥-钢渣浆体中的未水化颗粒还含有一定的Li₂O·Al₂O₃·SiO₂,Ca_1.56SiO_3.5·xH₂O和RO phas。四种浆体以3 467,3 438,2 923,2 348,1 638,1 429,1 111,1 000,768,696和462 cm-1为特征峰,但其峰强有所不同,其活性也不同,参与二次水化反应的程度也不同,因此,水泥-钢渣浆体中Ca(OH)₂的含量明显高于水泥-粉煤灰浆体和水泥-锂渣浆体的现象;但不管是矿物掺合料替代水泥还是细集料,都在浆体中发挥着火山灰活性和填充作用。含三种100%矿物掺合料砂浆的抗折强度和抗压强度均高于纯水泥砂浆,分别(锂渣、粉煤灰和钢渣)约高37.77%/51.88%,14.71%/11.70%,91.95%/34.88%,但其达到峰值的掺量不同。因此,采用矿物掺合料替代细集料是可行的,能大幅度提高工业废渣在混凝土行业中的使用,且能达到节能减排的效果。     

Influence of mesoscale three-phase parameters to the tensile behavior of concrete

In the mesoscopic level, concrete is regarded as three-phase composite material with cement matrix, aggregate, and the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between them. The mechanical properties of ITZ are regarded weaker than those of the cement matrix and aggregate. In this study, a mesoscale mechanical model based on the interface specimen with a single aggregate is established to study the influence of three-phase parameters on the interface specimen under quasi-static and dynamic direct tensile loading. Besides, the loading rate effect is also considered in this study to further analyze the dynamic performance of ITZ and the whole interface specimen. According to the numerical results, it is indicated that the ITZ properties (elastic modulus and strength) play significant roles in the performance of the interface specimen under quasi-static direct tensile loading. However, the cement matrix is dominant to the mechanical properties of interface specimen under dynamic tensile loading. Moreover, the properties of ITZ (elastic modulus, strength, and DIF values) and the ITZ thickness have some influence on the dynamic performance of ITZ and the whole interface specimen under dynamic tensile loading. In contrast, the Poisson’s ratio and density of ITZ have little influence on the dynamic behavior of the whole interface specimen. Additionally, the aggregate diameter is influential to the time reaching peak stress of ITZ and the whole interface specimen, and the loading rate only influences the time to reach the peak stress of ITZ under dynamic tensile loading.     

Prediction of concrete strength using ultrasonic pulse velocity and artificial neural networks

Ultrasonic pulse velocity technique is one of the most popular non-destructive techniques used in the assessment of concrete properties. However, it is very difficult to accurately evaluate the concrete compressive strength with this method since the ultrasonic pulse velocity values are affected by a number of factors, which do not necessarily influence the concrete compressive strength in the same way or to the same extent. This paper deals with the analysis of such factors on the velocity-strength relationship. The relationship between ultrasonic pulse velocity, static and dynamic Young’s modulus and shear modulus was also analyzed. The influence of aggregate, initial concrete temperature, type of cement, environmental temperature, and w/c ratio was determined by our own experiments. Based on the experimental results, a numerical model was established within the Matlab programming environment. The multi-layer feed-forward neural network was used for this purpose. The paper demonstrates that artificial neural networks can be successfully used in modelling the velocity-strength relationship. This model enables us to easily and reliably estimate the compressive strength of concrete by using only the ultrasonic pulse velocity value and some mix parameters of concrete.     

Statistical geometry and space-time

In this paper I try to construct a mathematical tool by which the full structure of Lorentz geometry to space time can be given, but beyond that the background — to speak pictorially — the subsoil for electromagnetic and matter waves, too. The tool could be useful to describe the connections between various particles, electromagnetism and gravity and to compute observables which were not theoretically related, up to now. Moreover, the tool is simpler than the Riemann tensor: it consists just of a setS of line segments in space time, briefly speaking.To prevent misunderstanding: I am far from asserting to have really solved any physical problem. This short paper gives some mathematical ideas, only, which might — I hope — prove to be helpful in future     

On the transport coefficients of interacting Brownian particles

A macroscopic argument shows that the ratios between the coefficients of particle transport are given by the equation of state of the diffusing substance, which may interact both by classical and by quantum mechanical effects. This fact is compared with the results of two microscopic treatments: first it agrees with the diffusion equation for interacting particles, and — on a less coarse-grained level — it can also be inferred from Boltzmann's transport equation.Work supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation     

Evaluating the Effective Action

The use of effective field theory, in situations wherein the energy-momentum of light particles is much lower than the rest mass of heavy degrees of freedom, has become an important one in contemporary physics. Herein we examine various means by which this effective action can be evaluated, using the effective photon–photon interaction—the Euler–Heisenberg Lagrangian—as a pedagogical example.     

Deflagration-to-detonation transition in mixtures of finely divided ammonium perchlorate with submicron aluminum powder

Deflagration-to-detonation transition in binary mixtures of fine ammonium perchlorate (20-μm grains) with submicron ALEX-L aluminum powder (0.2-μm particles) is studied using high-speed photography and pressure recording with quartz crystal sensors. The test mixtures were loaded in thin-walled quartz tubes of inner diameter 10 mm. The charges had a porosity of ~50%. It has been shown that, even under very mild conditions (low-strength shell and a weak source of initiation), the deflagration mode of mixture combustion easily transforms into the detonation mode. The shortest length of the region of transition from deflagration to normal detonation (not more than 30 mm) was observed for a lean mixture, with an aluminum content of ~5%. The mechanism of transition to detonation involves the stage of convective combustion, resulting in the formation of a brightly luminescent crescent-shaped area behind the primary flame front, which, in turn, generates a forward (in the direction of propagation) and a backward wave. The forward wave gives rise to low-speed detonation, which later transforms into normal detonation. The pressure profile within the region of low speed detonation is measured. A comparison with similar experiments in which ALEX-L alu- minum powder was replaced by ASD-4 aluminum (4 μm particles) shows that ALEX-L sensitizes the mixture, resulting in a dramatic reduction of the length of the transition region, making it possible to produce normal detonation in low-strength shells.     

Diffusion tensor of particles in r.f. fields with stochastic parameters

A discussion is presented of the diffusion tensor of particles moving in an axially symmetric magnetostatic and a stochastic r.f. field specified by the scalar or the vector potential. Diffusion is considered as taking place in those coordinates of the phase space which determine the position of the guiding centre, and the transverse and longitudinal particle energies. The r.f. field is assumed to be specified by either an envelope in the form of stochastic pulses (the field inside the pulses varies non-stochastically) or by a stochastic spectrum. A magnetic field of the mirror type is taken for the concrete example of an inhomogeneous field. The solution is undertaken in suitable canonical variables; the process proper is assumed to be Markoffian.In discussing the general form of the diffusion coefficients attention is focused on the effect the mean correlation time and the presence of resonance bear on diffusion, and on problems connected with possible quasi-stationarity of the spectrum. Concrete expressions of the diffusion tensor in some of the fields met with in practice are given and compared.The basic expressions of the rate of absorption of an r.f. field by a set or particles are examined, and an analysis is made of the relation — referred to in earlier literary sources — that exists between diffusion obtained on the basis of the Fokker-Planck equation and that solution resulting from the quasi-linear theory.     

Wide-range equation of state of matter. II. Microfield model

Among the models proposed for theoretically calculating wide-range equations of state of matter we single out: the ionization — chemical equilibrium model for the gas — plasma state of matter containing a qualitatively new nonidealness correction, the microfield correction; the quantum — statistical model for compressed condensed matter; the quasiband model for the transition region between these states. It is shown that, taken together, these models are in good agreement with experiments, give the most accurate equation of state in the supercritical region to date, and provide a qualitative explanation of the optical properties of matter.The work was performed with the financial support of the Russian Fund for fundamental research (Grant No. 93-01-861, TEFIS computer library of thermophysical properties of matter).Deceased.Institute of Mathematical Modeling, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 4, pp. 11–31, April, 1995.     

A Monte Carlo and continuum study of mechanical properties of nanoparticle based films

A combination Monte Carlo and equivalent-continuum simulation approach was used to investigate the structure-mechanical property relationships of titania nanoparticle deposits. Films of titania composed of nanoparticle aggregates were simulated using a Monte Carlo approach with diffusion-limited aggregation. Each aggregate in the simulation is fractal-like and random in structure. In the film structure, it is assumed that bond strength is a function of distance with two limiting values for the bond strengths: one representing the strong chemical bond between the particles at closest proximity in the aggregate and the other representing the weak van der Waals bond between particles from different aggregates. The Young’s modulus of the film is estimated using an equivalent-continuum modeling approach, and the influences of particle diameter (5–100 nm) and aggregate size (3–400 particles per aggregate) on predicted Young’s modulus are investigated. The Young’s modulus is observed to increase with a decrease in primary particle size and is independent of the size of the aggregates deposited. Decreasing porosity resulted in an increase in Young’s modulus as expected from results reported previously in the literature.     

A Remark on the Notion of Robust Phase Transitions

We point out that the high-qPotts model on a regular lattice at its transition temperature provides an example of a nonrobust—in the sense recently proposed by Pemantle and Steif—phase transition.     

CP-violation in nonassociative field theory

The octonion spinor field is studied. The nonassociativeness of the algebra makes it possible to introduce a new quantum number — the associator (partner of the spin) — as a measure of the nonassociativeness and a generator of the Lorentz group. The spin-associator interaction is introduced. This interaction could lie at the basis of the weak interaction of particles. This is proved by the connection found between the associator and the Kobayashi-Maskawa phase factor.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 10, pp. 39–44, October, 1990.     

Humidity and aggregate content correction factors for air-coupled ultrasonic evaluation of concrete

This paper describes the use of non-contact ultrasound for the evaluation of concrete. Micromachined capacitance transducers are used to transmit ultrasonic longitudinal chirp signals through concrete samples using air as the coupling medium, and a pulse compression technique is then employed for measurement of time of flight through the sample. The effect on the ultrasonic wave speed of storing concrete samples, made with the same water/cement ratio, at different humidity levels is investigated. It is shown that there is a correlation between humidity and speed of sound, allowing a correction factor for humidity to be derived. A strong positive linear correlation between aggregate content and speed of sound was then observed; there was no obvious correlation between compressive strength and speed of sound. The results from the non-contact system are compared with that from a contact system, and conclusions drawn concerning coupling of energy into the samples.     

Irreversible shear-activated aggregation in non-Brownian suspensions

We have studied the effect of shear on the stability of suspensions made of non-Brownian solid particles. We demonstrate the existence of an irreversible transition where the solid particles aggregate at remarkably low volume fractions (phi approximately 0.1). This shear-induced aggregation is dramatic and exhibits a very sudden change in the viscosity, which increases sharply after a shear-dependent induction time. We show that this induction time is related exponentially to the shear rate, reflecting the importance of the hydrodynamic forces in reducing the repulsive energy barrier that prevents the particles from aggregating.