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Cement, the most used building material amounts to an annual world production of 3.5 Gt. Sulfobelite cements, SB, require lower kiln temperature and emit less CO2, compared to Ordinary Portland cement, OPC. The main difference of SB from OPC is the reduction of alite (CaO)3SiO2, the increase of belite (CaO)2SiO2 and the formation of yeelimite (CaO)4(Al2O3)3SO3, also called "Klein's salt". Industrial byproducts, such as Flue Gas Desulphurization gypsum, FGD and dry Red Mud, the so–called bauxite residue, BR can also be used as raw materials, decreasing the CO2 footprint. In the present study, SB cements were prepared in laboratory scale from FGD and BR, as well as, conventional raw materials. All compositions were characterized by XRD, Q–XRD, optical microscopy, SEM and were tested for their compressive strength, soundness, coagulation, etc. The main result of this work is that the studied industrial byproducts, FGD and BR, can be used as alternative raw materials for the raw meals of SB cements, accomplishing low–temperature clinkering at 1330 °C and lower quantities of conventional raw materials. Conclusions suggest that SB cements can be a promising eco–friendly building material and can be used in other applications such as 3-D printed building, rapid-setting mortars, rapid sealants, etc. Moreover, this is an attempt to apply circular economy in cement production utilizing the established production route of cement industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study researches a novel advanced joining technique, utilizing metal additive manufacturing, named μPinning. μPins are small pin-like structures manufactured on a metal substrate and used to penetrate and be consolidated inside a fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) laminate as through-the-thickness reinforcement during curing (Ucsnik et al. in Composite to composite joint with lightweight metal reinforcement for enhanced damage tolerance. ECCM16—16th European Conference on Composite Materials, Seville, Spain, 2014, Parkes et al. in Compos Struct 118:250–256, 2014). Prior studies have shown a significant increase in the load bearing capabilities of the joint [1-2], as well as greater performance in dynamic and fatigue loads (Graham et al. in Compos Part A 64:11–24, 2014, Chang et al. in Compos Sci Technol 66(13):2163–2176, 2006, Ko et al. in Compos Struct 119:59–66, 2015]. The main objective of this research is to use numerical optimization tool to optimize the shape of a μPin, as studies have shown that the shape of the μPin exhibits a significant role in the mechanical response [1-2, 5, 7]. After the numerical optimization, experimental testing was performed to validate the assumption of the importance of the μPin shape in the joint loading response. Finally, this study aims to lead to future research on the design of metal inserts in sandwich structures and struts for use in space applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this work is to develop a new structural health monitoring system for composite aerospace structures based on dynamic response strain measurements and experimental modal analysis techniques. Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) optical sensors were used for monitoring the dynamic response of the composite structure. The structural dynamic behavior has been numerically simulated and experimentally verified by means of vibration testing. The hypothesis of all vibration tests was that actual damage in composites reduces their stiffness and produces an eigenfrequency shifting to lower values in the same sense as mass increase produces. Thus, damage was simulated by slightly varying locally the mass of the structure at different zones. The correlation between the simulated damage and the loss of stiffness was analytically defined. Experimental modal analysis based on the strain responses was conducted and the extracted strain mode shapes were the input for the damage detection expert system. A feed-forward back propagation neural network was the core of the damage detection system. The features-input to the neural network consisted of the strain mode shapes, extracted from the experimental modal analysis. Dedicated training and validation activities were carried out based on the experimental results. The system showed high reliability, confirmed by the ability of the neural network to recognize the size and the position of damage on the structure. The experiments were performed on a real structure i.e. a lightweight antenna sub-reflector, manufactured and tested at EADS CASA ESPACIO. An integrated FBG sensor network, based on the advantage of multiplexing, was mounted on the structure with optimum topology. Numerical simulation was used as a support tool at all the steps of the work. Potential applications for the proposed system are during ground qualification extensive tests of space structures and during the mission as modal analysis tool on board, being able via the FBG responses to identify a potential failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental durability of carbon nanotube (CNT)-modified carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) is investigated. The key problem of these new-generation composites is the modification of their polymer matrix with nanoscaled fillers. It was recently demonstrated that the damage tolerance of these materials, as manifested by their fracture toughness, impact properties, and fatigue life, can be improved by adding CNTs at weight fractions as low as 0.5%. This improvement is mainly attributed to the incorporation of an additional interfacial area between the CNTs and the matrix, which is active at the nanoscale. However, this additional interface could have a negative effect on the environmental durability of the aforementioned systems, since it is well known that the moisture absorption ability of a matrix is enhanced by the presence of multiple interfaces, which serve as an ingress route to water. To examine this problem, CNT-modified CFRPs were exposed to hydrothermal loadings. At specified intervals, the composites were weighted, and the water uptake vs. time was recorded for both the modified and a reference systems. The electrical conductivity of the composites was registered at the same time intervals. After the environmental exposure, the interlaminar shear properties of the conditioned composite systems were measured and compared with those of unmodified composites, as well as with the shear properties of unexposed laminates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The micromechanics of tension–tension fatigue loading in model single-fibre composite geometries is investigated in this paper. In an attempt to emulate the conditions encountered in full carbon fibre composites, the fibres were prestrained prior to the curing process to ensure that they were free of high residual compressive stresses as a result of resin shrinkage. The resulting specimens were grouped into two categories depending on the level of the initial fibre prestrain (case A low, case B high). The cyclic load is designed to be well below the endurance fatigue limit of the polymer matrix (∼0.6%), and to have a frequency low enough to avoid unwanted thermal post curing. Throughout the preparation procedure, as well as during fatigue loading, the fibre stress (strain) was constantly monitored by means of laser Raman spectroscopy. The fibre axial stress distributions at each fatigue step were converted to interfacial shear stress (ISS) distributions, from which important parameters such as the maximum ISS the system can accommodate, the transfer length for efficient stress built-up and the length required for the attainment of maximum ISS were obtained. The results showed that, up to 2×10[sup 6] loading cycles, the main parameters which affected the stress transfer efficiency at the interface were the fibre fracture process itself and the viscoelastic behaviour of the matrix material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patella fractures following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction are a recognized but rarely reported complication. To our knowledge, 24 reports of patella fractures after ACL reconstruction using the central-third patella-tendon autograft have been reported in the literature. Patellar fractures associated with the use of the medial-third bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft have not been reported. This article describes four cases of patellar fractures in 478 ACL reconstructions between 1992 and 1999, using the medial third of the patellar tendon graft. All of them were transverse fractures of the patella but only one was displaced. All patients suffered local injury to the donor knee between 2 and 4 months postoperatively. No significant differences in the final outcome were noticed between the cases complicated with patellar fracture and those with uncomplicated ACL reconstructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The validity of indentation tests for the characterization of the mechanical properties of coatings relies greatly on the indentation depth. Deep indentation concludes to unreliable results due to the substrate effect on the measured properties. At shallow depths the size effect can also be an important error factor. The purpose of the present study is the determination of the critical ratio of coating thickness to indentation depth, up to which the substrate properties have a negligible effect on the force versus indentation depth curve and thus on determined mechanical properties of the coating. The analysis required, was conducted using finite element method. A spherical (ball) indenter was used and a three dimensional model of the indenter/coating-substrate system was applied. The effect of the coating to substrate Yield strength ratio, on the critical coating thickness to indentation depth ratio, was investigated for three different coating to substrate Young's modulus ratios. The results of this work provide considerable insight for the determination of the confidence indentation depth during micro-indentation for layered systems with different properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work deals with the determination of theviscoelastic properties of composite laminates based on the viscoelasticbehaviour of the single lamina. A viscoelastic lamination theory isdeveloped assuming that the lamina stiffness matrix is fully complex andfrequency dependent. For the measurement of the complete setof frequency dependent viscoelastic properties of the single lamina(i.e. complex moduli and Poisson's ratio) a new methodology has beenintroduced, based on the free and forced vibration of unidirectional and[45/−45] ns composite laminates. Allmeasurements have been performed both in air and in vacuum. Since thevibration amplitude was very small, in order to fulfil linearityrequirements, the results do not show any significant difference due toair damping. The effects of experimental errors on theevaluation of the viscoelastic properties of the single lamina have alsobeen discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A parametric study based on finite element analysis is performed in order to investigate the sensitivity of the eigenfrequency spectrum of the human head system upon variation of its constitutive material properties. This study stems from the ever increasing medical interest connected to early diagnosis of brain edema and the lack of existing accurate and non-invasive diagnostic methods to achieve it. The present computational work aims to resolve the question of whether or not such a spectrum shifting is detectable with current experimental procedures. The human head is modeled as a prolate spheriod consisting of confocal shell representing the scalp-skull system, in contact with the subarachnoidal space which surrounds the brain. The skull is modeled as an isotropic elastic material whereas the brain is assumed to be a frequency dependent viscoelastic body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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