Search results for "Moisture"
showing 10 items of 290 documents
Effect of moisture on elastic and viscoelastic properties of fiber reinforced plastics: Retrospective and current trends
2019
Abstract This chapter is a brief review of journal papers and books about moisture and composites with polymer matrix (mostly fiber reinforced composites but not exclusively). Most polymer materials and composites absorb moisture. It is well known from many papers (some of them mentioned in this chapter) over several decades that absorbed moisture essentially affects mechanical and many other important properties of polymers and polymer-based composites. The key question is: How does absorbed moisture affect mechanical properties of composites? Furthermore, the process of moisture absorption in composite structures may occur over many months and even years. More questions then arise: What i…
Evaluation of equilibrium moisture content in ligno-cellulosic residues of olive culture
2014
The use of ligno-cellulosic residuals from agriculture as means for renewable energy production is well known; nonetheless significant problems still exist on development of bioenergy value chains. Moisture content and hygroscopicity are among these problems. Higher moisture content of the biomass means lower calorific value and higher perishability, hence storage difficulties. For this reason it is important to evaluate how the moisture content of the material varies while it is stored and how the calorific value of the feedstock is affected by it. The purpose of this study is to determine the variation of moisture content and its influence on lower calorific value (LCV) of four types of s…
Effect of various moisture content on the mechanical and viscoelastic properties of giant reed Arundo donax L.
2015
The giant reed Arundo donax L. is an aggressive grass widely diffused throughout warm temperate regions. Thanks to its remarkable features as fast-growing, eco friendly and high specific properties (i.e. high strength/weight and modulus/weight ratios), it is widely used in ancient and traditional buildings, especially in the realization of supports for roof cladding and paneling of walls. A better understanding and a consequent standardization of its properties could make it more suitable for general application in the sustainable building industry. Mechanical and viscoelastic properties of the giant reed were studied as a function of the moisture content. To this scope, various sets of ree…
Drying of shrinking cylinder-shaped bodies
1998
Abstract A mathematical model has been developed for the prediction of sample temperature, average moisture and moisture distribution in a cylinder-shaped solid during the drying process. The effect of shrinkage was taken into account. The macroscopic heat balance and the microscopic mass balance combined with Fick's law were simultaneously solved using the Runge-Kutta-Merson method and a numerical finite difference method. The effective diffusion coefficient was expressed as a function of sample temperature and local moisture content. Using an experimental drying curve determined at 90 °C, the diffusional equation was identified for broccoli stems, and was used to predict the average and l…
Water barrier properties of treated-papers and application to sponge cake storage
2006
Abstract Water barrier properties of three treated papers and of one plastic film were compared and the potential of these packaging films to prevent moisture loss from a sponge cake during storage in standard conditions (25 °C and 50% relative humidity gradient) was evaluated. Sorption isotherms were established at 25 °C for both sponge cake and papers, from which diffusivity values in papers were determined for the whole range of A w . Permeability of packaging films was determined in standard conditions. Water sorption was close for all papers, regardless of their treatment, whereas water diffusivity was reduced by coating or calendering. Water vapor permeability in papers was controlled…
Effects of temperature and moisture fluctuations on an experimental soil microarthropod community
2001
Summary We established an experiment in microcosms with coniferous forest humus and birch leaf litter for testing the effects of constant vs. diurnally fluctuating temperature and uniform vs. varying moisture, on the population densities and species richness of Collembola and Mestostigmata. These parameters and the vertical distribution of populations were analysed by layers (top, centre, bottom) at two samplings (weeks 10 and 27). The hypotheses were that populations of at least some species benefit from fluctuating microclimate, and that varying conditions permit more species to coexist than uniform conditions. At fluctuating temperature regime, four species and total Collembola were more…
Hydration and water holding properties of cross-linked lignite humic acids
2014
Abstract Lignite and lignite humic acids, which are used as soil amendments sometimes, are supposed to improve soil properties such as water holding capacity. The structure of those materials is composed of various organic molecules stabilized mostly by weak interactions. Therefore, excess of water causes only partial swelling, but most of the physical structure is destabilized. This accelerates the desiccation and hampers their application as natural hydrogel-like substances. In order to stabilize the structure of lignite humic acids and improve the water holding capacity, we applied formaldehyde cross-linking procedure based on covalent coupling of aromatic humic acids moieties. By combin…
Non-Isothermal Mathematical Model of Wood and Paper Drying
2002
A mathematical model of wood or paper drying based on a detailed consideration of both heat and moisture transport phenomena is proposed. By averaging we express the model as a sequence of initial value problems for systems of two first order nonlinear ordinary differential equations. This mathematical model makes it possible to efficiently investigate the drying process of a thin wood plate or paper sheet for varying temperature and humidity conditions in the surroundings. In particular, we have considered the optimization of the heat regime over a series of steam-heated cylinders in a papermaking machine.
Gravimetric measurement of water vapour sorption, moisture and dry mass
2004
The gravimetric measurement of the moisture content of solids is discussed in comparison to other usual methods. Results of measurements of silica gel are reported. Furthermore, we inform on standardisation work.
Temporal and spatial fluctuations in moisture affect humus microfungal community structure in microcosms
2000
The effects of temporal and spatial fluctuations in moisture on the microfungal community were studied in birch litter plus pine humus microcosms over 6 months. Two treatments were used: a uniform treatment in which moisture was maintained at the original moisture content throughout the profile over the course of the experiment; and a fluctuating moisture treatment in which the moisture content of the whole microcosm fluctuated weekly around the original moisture content. At 6 months, fungal species richness was higher and diversity was lower under moisture fluctuations than under uniform moisture. The number of fungal isolates and proportional diversity was significantly higher in the bott…