• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1568-1574
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• 2012

Microbiological calcium carbonate precipitation (MCCP) has been investigated for its ability to improve the durability of cement mortar. However, very few strains have been applied to crack remediation and strengthening of cementitious materials. In this study, we report the biodeposition of Bacillus subtilis 168 and its ability to enhance the durability of cement material. B. subtilis 168 was applied to the surface of cement specimens. The results showed a new layer of deposited organic-inorganic composites on the surface of the cement paste. In addition, the water permeability of the cement paste treated with B. subtilis 168 was lower than that of non-treated specimens. Furthermore, artificial cracks in the cement paste were completely remediated by the biodeposition of B. subtilis 168. The compressive strength of cement mortar treated with B. subtilis 168 increased by about 19.5% when compared with samples completed with only B4 medium. Taken together, these findings suggest that the biodeposition of B. subtilis 168 could be used as a sealing and coating agent to improve the strength and water resistance of concrete. This is the first paper to report the application of Bacillus subtilis 168 for its ability to improve the durability of cement mortar through calcium carbonate precipitation.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.5 no.3 s.17
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• pp.1-9
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• 2003

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of various joint sealant on reducing the reflection cracking of asphalt concrete overlay on cement concrete pavement. The test method used was an accelerated reflection cracking test in shear mode, which was developed for evaluation of reflection cracking resistance of overlaid asphalt concrete in laboratory. The test results showed that use of joint sealants resulted in a significant reduction of reflection cracking. When sealant E was used, the fatigue life was the highest, with relatively larger horizontal deformation. When Sealant B was used, the dynamic stability was the highest with the smallest horizontal deformation. In general, the greater the tensile strength of sealant, the better the crack resistance of the mixture.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.222-228
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• 2019

As rubber products such as O-rings, which are also known as packings or toric joints, come in regular, long term contact with liquid fuel, they can eventually swell, become mechanically weakened, and occasionally crack; this diminishes both their usefulness and intrinsic lifetime and could cause leaks during the steady-state flow condition of the fuel. In this study, we evaluate the lifetime of such products through compression set tests of FKM, a family of fluorocarbon elastomer materials defined by the ASTM international standard D141; these materials have great compression, sunlight, and ozone resistance as well as a low gas absorption rate. In this process, O-rings are immersed in the liquid fuel of airtight containers that can be expressed as a compression set, and the liquid fuel leakage in a flow rig tester at variable temperatures over 12 months is investigated. Using the Power Law model, our study determined a theoretical O-ring lifetime of 2,647 years, i.e. a semi-permanent lifespan, by confirming the absence of liquid fuel leakage around the O-ring assembled fittings. These results indicate that the FKM O-rings are significantly compatible for fuel tests to evaluate long-term sealing conditions.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.315-325
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• 2022

Reinforced concrete structures are exposed throughout their lifetime to the phenomenon of carbonation, which considerably influences their durability by causing corrosion of the reinforcements. The fight against this phenomenon is usually ensured by anti-carbonation coatings which have the possibility of limiting the permeability to carbon dioxide or with coatings which absorb the CO₂ present in the air. A coating with good crack-bridging (sealing) capacity will prevent water from entering through existing cracks in concrete. Despite the beneficial effect of these coatings, their durability decreases considerably over time with temperature and humidity. In order to use coatings made from local materials, not presenting any danger, available in abundance in our country, very economical and easy to operate is the main objective of this work. This paper aim is to contribute to the formulation of a corrected dune sand-based mortar as an anti-carbonation coating for concrete. The results obtained show that the cement mortar based on dune sand formulated has a very satisfactory compressive strength, a very low water porosity compared to ordinary cement mortar and that this mortar allows an improvement in the protection of the concrete against the carbonation of 60% compared to ordinary cement mortar based on alluvial sand. Moreover, the formulated cement mortars based on dune sand have good adhesion to the concrete support, their adhesion strengths are greater than 1.5MPa recommended by the standards.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.197-207
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• 2018

Thermal deterioration of fuel due to long-term storage influences engine performance and causes malfunctions. Fuel stability is usually evaluated via heat resistance and thermal stability during a brief heat shock at high temperature; storage stability in this scenario means that there is very little change in the quality of the fuel during long-term storage. In addition, rubber-based products such as oil seals, O-rings, and rubber hoses can influence the quality of the fuel. When these rubber products are in contact with fuel, they can swell, mechanically weaken, and occasionally crack, thus leaking low molar weight rubber and additives including plasticizer and antioxidant into the fuel to degrade its properties and shorten its useful lifetime. This study determines the thermal stabilities of three kinds of synthetic fuels by evaluating their low temperature kinematic viscosities, chemical composition changes via GC analyses, gross heat of combustion, and color changes. We evaluate the compression set of O-rings by immersing one NBR and two FKM rubber O-rings in the three synthetic fuel samples in airtight containers at variable storage temperatures for six months; from this, we estimate the lifetimes of the O-rings using the Power law model. There were very little changes in the chemical compositions and gross heat of combustion after six months of the experiment. The lifetimes are thus dependent on the materials of the rubber products, and in particular, the FKM O-ring was calculated to have a theoretical lifetime of 200 to 5,700 years. These results indicate that the synthetic fuels maintain their physical properties even after long-term storage at high temperatures, and the FKM O-ring is suitable for long-term sealing of these fuels.