Experimental Study of Effect of Temperature Variations on the Impedance Signature of PZT Sensors for Fatigue Crack Detection

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is recognized as an efficient tool to interpret the reliability of a wide variety of infrastructures. To identify the structural abnormality by utilizing the electromechanical coupling property of piezoelectric transducers, the electromechanical impedance (EMI) approach is preferred. However, in real-time SHM applications, the monitored structure is exposed to several varying environmental and operating conditions (EOCs). The previous study has recognized the temperature variations as one of the serious EOCs that affect the optimal performance of the damage inspection process. In this framework, an experimental setup is developed in current research to identify the presence of fatigue crack in stainless steel (304) beam using EMI approach and estimate the effect of temperature variations on the electrical impedance of the piezoelectric sensors. A regular series of experiments are executed in a controlled temperature environment (25°C–160°C) using 202 V1 Constant Temperature Drying Oven Chamber (Q/TBXR20-2005). It has been observed that the dielectric constant ε₃₃^T which is recognized as the temperature-dependent constant of PZT sensor has sufficiently influenced the electrical impedance signature. Moreover, the effective frequency shift (EFS) approach is optimized in term of significant temperature compensation for the current impedance signature of PZT sensor relative to the reference signature at the extended frequency bandwidth of the developed measurement system with better outcomes as compared to the previous literature work. Hence, the current study also deals efficiently with the critical issue of the width of the frequency band for temperature compensation based on the frequency shift in SHM. The results of the experimental study demonstrate that the proposed methodology is qualified for the damage inspection in real-time monitoring applications under the temperature variations. It is capable to exclude one of the major reasons of false fault diagnosis by compensating the consequence of elevated temperature at extended frequency bandwidth in SHM.     

Living fungal hyphae-templated porous gold microwires using nanoparticles as building blocks

Abstract  

A simple and environmentally benign green method is reported to decorate growing fungal hyphae with high loading of gold nanoparticles, which were initially produced using aqueous tea extract as a sole reducing/stabilizing agent. Inoculation of fungal spores in aqueous suspension of nanoparticles led to the growth of intensely red-coloured fungal hyphae due to the accumulation of gold nanoparticles. Heat treatment of these hybrid materials led to the formation of porous gold microwires. This report is thus an interesting example of using green and sustainable approach to produce nanostructured materials which have potential applications in catalysis, sensing and electronics.     

Existence and uniqueness of solutions for multi-point boundary value problems for fractional differential equations

In this work, we investigate existence and uniqueness of solutions for a class of nonlinear multi-point boundary value problems for fractional differential equations. Our analysis relies on the Schauder fixed point theorem and the Banach contraction principle.     

Cement Composites with Carbon-Based Nanomaterials for 3D Concrete Printing Applications – A Review

3D concrete printing (3DCP) is an emerging additive manufacturing technology in the construction industry. Its challenges lie in the development of high-performance printable materials and printing processes. Recently developed carbon-based nanomaterials (CBNs) such as graphene, graphene oxide, graphene nanoplatelets, and carbon nanotubes, have various applications due to their exceptional mechanical, chemical, thermal, and electrical characteristics. CBNs also have found potential applications as a concrete ingredient as they enhance the microstructure and modify concrete properties at the molecular level. This paper focuses on state-of-the-art studies on CBNs, 3DCP technology, and CBNs in conventional and 3D printable cement-based composites including CBN dispersion techniques, concrete mixing methods, and fresh and hardened properties of concrete. Furthermore, the current limitations and future perspectives of 3DCP using CBNs to produce high-quality composite mixtures are discussed.     

One-pot synthesis of CoO–ZnO/rGO supported on Ni foam for high-performance hybrid supercapacitor with greatly enhanced cycling stability

The high specific capacitance along with good cycling stability are crucial for practical applications of supercapacitors,which always demands high-performance and stable electrode materials.In this work,we report a series of ternary composites of CoO-ZnO with different fractions of reduced graphene oxide(rGO) synthesized by in-situ growth on nickel foam,named as CZG-1,2 and 3,respectively.This sort of binder-free electrodes presents excellent electrochemical properties as well as large capacitance due to their low electrical resistance and high oxygen vacancies.Particularly,the sample of CZG-2(CoO-ZnO/rGO 20 mg) in a nanoreticular structure shows the best electrochemical performance with a maximum specific capacitance of 1951.8 F/g(216.9 mAh/g) at a current intensity of 1 A/g.The CZG-2-based hybrid supercapacitor delivers a high energy density up to 45.9 Wh/kg at a high power density of 800 W/kg,and kept the capacitance retention of 90.1% over 5000 charge-discharge cycles.     

The use of vibrational spectroscopy to study the pathogenesis multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions

Spectroscopy techniques are valuable tools in biomedical research and have been used extensively in the study of disease. However, neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) have received little attention and the available spectroscopy studies are limited, both in overall numbers of patients studied and the disease samples considered. MS is a complex immune-mediated disease, with variable clinical courses and limited therapeutic options. This review aims to summarize current literature in the area, demonstrating how spectroscopy techniques can provide valuable information to inform and advance research into the most common neurological condition affecting young adults.     

Crystallographic report: Chlorodiphenyltin(IV) piperidine‐1‐carbodithioate

A trigonal bipyramidal C₂ClS₂ coordination geometry for tin is found in Ph₂Sn(S₂CN(CH₂)₅)Cl. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Landau damping of ion-acoustic waves with simultaneous effects of non-extensivity and non-thermality in the presence of hybrid Cairns-Tsallis distributed electrons

The dispersion properties and Landau damping rate of ion-acoustic waves (IAWs) with the hybrid Cairns-Tsallis distributed (CTD) electrons and Maxwellian ions are investigated using the plasma kinetic model based on Vlasov-Poisson's equations. For both super-extensive (q < 1) and sub-extensive (q > 1) plasmas, the dielectric response function, real frequency, and Landau damping rate of IAWs are derived. By taking the effect of θ_{i, e} (ion-to-electron temperature ratio) into account, it is found that with the increase of ion temperature, the real frequency and wave dispersion effects increase as well (for both super-extensive and sub-extensive cases). Exploring the properties of the Landau damping rate of IAWs with the simultaneous presence of non-thermal parameter α and non-extensive parameter q, a comparison of numerical and analytical results is presented. It is found that in different ranges of θ_{e, i} (electron-to-ion temperature ratio), on decreasing the values of the non-extensive parameter and increasing values of the non-thermal parameter, the weak damping rate is observed (vice versa) in super-extensive or super-thermal plasma, although the trend of the damping rate in sub-thermal plasma is similar (as in the case of super-thermal plasma) but is less weak. It is further revealed that the damping rate of IAWs in thermal plasmas (Maxwellian) is stronger than the damping rate of IAWs in the case of non-thermal plasmas (CTD). The current study is applicable to provide deep insight and further allow the exploration of electrostatic plasma modes in different space and laboratory plasma environments where the hybrid CTD plasma exists.