Search results for "mechanical engineering"
showing 10 items of 4245 documents
The effect of plasticity in crumpling of thin sheets
2008
Bridging the gap between theoretical and experimental work to understand the effect of plasticity on the crumpling of thin sheets into a small volume has proved difficult. A realistic numerical model now makes a distinction between elastic and elasto-plastic behaviour. Crumpling a thin sheet of material into a small volume requires energy for creating a network of deformations such as vertices and ridges1,2. Scaling properties of a single elastic vertex3,4,5 or ridge have been analysed theoretically6,7,8, and crumpling of a sheet by numerical simulations1,9,10. Real materials are however elasto-plastic11,12,13,14,15 and large local strains induce irreversible plastic deformations. Hence, a …
Speciation and interactions of plutonium with humic substances and kaolinite in aquifer systems
2007
Abstract The speciation of plutonium (Pu) in contact with humic substances (HS) and kaolinite has been performed in aquifer systems. Mainly the redox behavior, complexation, and sorption of plutonium are discussed here. The redox behavior of Pu(VI) in contact with HS was studied and it was found that Pu(VI) is reduced to Pu(III) and Pu(IV) within a couple of weeks. The complexation constants (log β LC ) of Pu(III) and Pu(IV) with HS have been determined by means of the ultrafiltration method. Furthermore, the sorption of Pu(III) and Pu(IV) onto kaolinite has been investigated as a function of pH by batch experiments under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.
Novel Instrument for Temperature Measurements in Borehole Heat Exchangers
2019
The thermal response test (TRT) is the standard method for characterizing the thermal properties of the ground and those of a borehole heat exchanger (BHE). During the TRT, the inlet and outlet temperatures of the BHE are monitored. However, this test typically considers the ground as a homogeneous, isotropic, and infinite media, and therefore, it only determines the bulk and effective parameters, such as effective thermal conductivity and thermal borehole resistance. Hence, the enhanced TRT protocols are necessary where the depth-dependent temperatures are measured to estimate depth-specific thermal properties. Thus, a novel instrument with a data logger to automatically obtain the tempera…
Improvement of the technological process of carbonated spring water by implementing the quality and food safety management standards
2019
Bottled spring water must be health providing, clean, without microorganisms, parasites or substances. The design, manufacturing and management of processes, related to spring water bottling involves controlling the safety issues that may arise in the production processes. These aspects are not sufficient to prevent hazards and they must be related to the implementation of a quality and food safety systems. The aim of the paper is to improve the technological process of carbonated spring water in Monopolis S.A Company, by implementing the quality and food safety management standards. The methodology is based on the implementation requirements of the HACCP principles, included in ISO 22000 s…
A pedotransfer function for estimating the soil erodibility factor in Sicily
2009
The soil erodibility factor, K, of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is a simple descriptor of the soil susceptibility to rill and interrill erosion. The original procedure for determining K needs a knowledge of soil particle size distribution (PSD), soil organic matter, OM, content, and soil structure and permeability characteristics. However, OM data are often missing and soil structure and permeability are not easily evaluated in regional analyses. The objective of this investigation was to develop a pedotransfer function (PTF) for estimating the K factor of the USLE in Sicily (south Italy) using only soil textural data. The nomograph soil erodibility factor and its associated firs…
Methodologies for feasibility studies related to wastewater reclamation and reuse projects
2006
Abstract About 20% of the total surface water in Europe is strongly threatened due to pollution problems, and 60% of European cities over-exploit their groundwater resources. The European Framework Water Directive established that by the year 2015 “a good ecological state” of all European water resources and a sustainable use of water must be achieved. Wastewater reuse presents a promising solution to the growing pressure on Europe's water resources. However, wastewater reuse implementation in Europe faces obstacles that include insufficient public acceptance; technical, economic and hygienic risks; and lack of regulations. On the other hand, a very important aspect to implement a water reu…
A boundary condition for arbitrary shaped inlets in lattice-Boltzmann simulations
2009
We introduce a mass-flux-based inlet boundary condition for the lattice-Boltzmann method. The proposed boundary condition requires minimal amount of boundary data, it produces a steady-state velocity field which is accurate close to the inlet even for arbitrary inlet geometries, and yet it is simple to implement. We demonstrate its capability for both simple and complex inlet geometries by numerical experiments. For simple inlet geometries, we show that the boundary condition provides very accurate inlet velocities when Re less than or similar to 1. Even with moderate Reynolds number, the inlet velocities are accurate for practical purposes. Furthermore, the potential of our boundary condit…
Conduction properties of thin films from a water soluble carbon nanotube/hemicellulose complex.
2018
We have examined the conductive properties of carbon nanotube based thin films, which were prepared via dispersion in water by non-covalent functionalization of the nanotubes with xylan, a type of hemicellulose. Measurements of low temperature conductivity, Kelvin probe force microscopy, and high frequency (THz) conductivity elucidated the intra-tube and inter-tube charge transport processes in this material. The measurements show excellent conductive properties of the as prepared thin films, with bulk conductivity up to 2000 S cm−1. The transport results demonstrate that the hemicellulose does not seriously interfere with the inter-tube conductance. peerReviewed
Reduction and catalytic behaviour of heterobimetallic copper–lanthanide oxides
2008
Abstract The reduction of the heterobimetallic copper–lanthanide oxides 2CuO·CeO2 and 3CuO·Ln2CuO4 (Ln = La, Pr, Nd) was studied by H2-TG/DTA and H2-TPR. All systems exhibit two main reduction steps accompanied by mass losses in the temperature range 20–1000 °C. The first step was attributed to CuO reduction, whereas the second step is due either to copper reduction in the Ln2CuO4 phase with the concomitant formation of Ln2O3 or to the surface reduction of CeO2. The products were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, and BET techniques and are better described as supported copper type materials. They were active for the mesityl oxide (4-methyl-2-penten-2-one) gas phase hydrogenation.
Toward Self-Aware Robots
2018
Despite major progress in Robotics and AI, robots are still basically “zombies” repeatedly achieving actions and tasks without understanding what they are doing. Deep-Learning AI programs classify tremendous amounts of data without grasping the meaning of their inputs or outputs. We still lack a genuine theory of the underlying principles and methods that would enable robots to understand their environment, to be cognizant of what they do, to take appropriate and timely initiatives, to learn from their own experience and to show that they know that they have learned and how. The rationale of this paper is that the understanding of its environment by an agent (the agent itself and its effect…