• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.127-134
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• 2010

This study was to develop high-nutritious energy bar from extruded hemp obtained by extrusion process. Mixture of rice flour and defatted hemp was extruded at a barrel temperature of 110 and 130$^{\circ}C$, and moisture content of 20 and 25%. Properties of extrudates such as bulk density, expansion index, breaking strength, apparent elastic modulus, water absorption index (WAI), water solubility index (WSI) have been analyzed. The antioxidant potential was determined by the DPPH-radical scavenging assay. The expansion index was the highest in rice-hemp extrudate at 130$^{\circ}C$ barrel temperature and 20% moisture content among the other hemp-added extrudates. The WAI was increased with increase in moisture content, while the WSI was increased with increase in barrel temperature. The peak viscosity of rice extrudate had higher valule than those of extrudate added with hemp. DPPH scavenging activity of rice-hemp extrudate at 130$^{\circ}C$ barrel temperature and 20% moisture content showed the highest value. Sensory properties, moisture content and color were assessed for quality of energy bar. The color values of the energy bar indicated decreasing L (lightness) and b (yellowness), and increasing a (redness) after 30 days storage at ambient condition. The highest overall acceptable was the energy bar added with rice-hemp extrudate at 130$^{\circ}C$ barrel temperature and 20% moisture content.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2020

Precast concrete elements in accelerated bridge construction (ABC) extends from superstructure to substructure, precast pile foundation has proven a benefit for regions with fragile ecological environment and adverse geological condition. There is still a lack of knowledge of the seismic behavior and performance of the precast pile foundation. In this study, a 1/8 scaled model of precast pile foundation with elevated cap is fabricated for quasi-static test. The failure mechanism and responses of the precast pile-soil interaction system are analyzed. It is shown that damage occurs primarily in precast pile-soil interaction system and the bridge pier keeps elastic state because of its relatively large cross-section designed for railways. The vulnerable part of the precast pile with elevated cap is located at the embedded section, but no plastic hinge forms along the pile depth under cyclic loading. Hysteretic curves show no significant strength degradation but obvious stiffness degradation throughout the loading process. The energy dissipation capacity of the precast pile-soil interaction system is discussed by using index of the equivalent viscous damping ratio. It can be found that the energy dissipation capacity decreases with the increase of loading displacement due to the unyielding pile reinforcements and potential pile uplift. It is expected to promote the use of precast pile foundation in accelerated bridge construction (ABC) of railways designed in seismic regions.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.115-126
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• 2017

In this paper, size dependent bending and free flexural vibration behaviors of functionally graded (FG) nanobeams are investigated using a nonlocal quasi-3D theory in which both shear deformation and thickness stretching effects are introduced. The nonlocal elastic behavior is described by the differential constitutive model of Eringen, which enables the present model to become effective in the analysis and design of nanostructures. The present theory incorporates the length scale parameter (nonlocal parameter) which can capture the small scale effect, and furthermore accounts for both shear deformation and thickness stretching effects by virtue of a hyperbolic variation of all displacements through the thickness without using shear correction factor. The material properties of FG nanobeams are assumed to vary through the thickness according to a power law. The neutral surface position for such FG nanobeams is determined and the present theory based on exact neutral surface position is employed here. The governing equations are derived using the principal of minimum total potential energy. The effects of nonlocal parameter, aspect ratio and various material compositions on the static and dynamic responses of the FG nanobeam are discussed in detail. A detailed numerical study is carried out to examine the effect of material gradient index, the nonlocal parameter, the beam aspect ratio on the global response of the FG nanobeam. These findings are important in mechanical design considerations of devices that use carbon nanotubes.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.535-543
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• 2019

Building on/with expansive soils with no treatment brings complications. Compacted expansive soils specifically fall short in satisfying the minimum requirements for transport embankment infrastructures, requiring the adoption of hauled virgin mineral aggregates or a sustainable alternative. Use of hauled aggregates comes at a high carbon and economical cost. On average, every 9m high embankment built with quarried/hauled soils cost $12600MJ.m^{-2}$ Embodied Energy (EE). A prospect of using mixed cutting-arising expansive soils with industrial/domestic wastes can reduce the carbon cost and ease the pressure on landfills. The widespread use of recycled materials has been extensively limited due to concerns over their long-term performance, generally low shear strength and stiffness. In this contribution, hydromechanical properties of a waste tyre sand-sized rubber (a mixture of polybutadiene, polyisoprene, elastomers, and styrene-butadiene) and expansive silt is studied, allowing the short- and long-term behaviour of optimum compacted composites to be better established. The inclusion of tyre shred substantially decreased the swelling potential/pressure and modestly lowered the compression index. Silt-Tyre powder replacement lowered the bulk density, allowing construction of lighter reinforced earth structures. The shear strength and stiffness decreased on addition of tyre powder, yet the contribution of matric suction to the shear strength remained constant for tyre shred contents up to 20%. Reinforced soils adopted a ductile post-peak plastic behaviour with enhanced failure strain, offering the opportunity to build more flexible subgrades as recommended for expansive soils. Residual water content and tyre shred content are directly correlated; tyre-reinforced silt showed a greater capacity of water storage (than natural silts) and hence a sustainable solution to waterlogging and surficial flooding particularly in urban settings. Crushed fine tyre shred mixed with expansive silts/sands at 15 to 20 wt% appear to offer the maximum reduction in swelling-shrinking properties at minimum cracking, strength loss and enhanced compressibility expenses.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.839-856
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• 2023

This work presents a simple four-unknown refined integral plate theory for mechanical and thermal buckling behaviors of functionally graded (FG) plates resting on Visco-Pasternak foundations. The proposed refined high order shear deformation theory has a new displacement field which includes indeterminate integral variables and contains only four unknowns in which any shear correction factor not used, with even less than the conventional theory of first shear strain (FSDT). Governing equations are deduced from the principle of minimum total potential energy and a Navier type analytical solution is adopted for simply supported FG plates. The Visco-Pasternak foundations is considered by adding the impact of damping to the usual foundation model which characterized by the linear Winkler's modulus and Pasternak's foundation modulus. The accuracy of the present model is demonstrated by comparing the computed results with those available in the literature. Some numerical results are presented to show the impact of material index, elastic foundation type, and damping coefficient of the foundation, on the mechanical and thermal buckling behaviors of FG plates.