• Clean Technology
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.97-102
• /
• 2022

Lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted considerable attention as a promising candidate for next-generation power sources due to their high theoretical energy density, low cost, and eco-friendliness. However, the poor electrical conductivity of sulfur and its insoluble discharging products (Li₂S₂/Li₂S), large volume changes, severe self-discharge, and dissolution of lithium polysulfide intermediates result in rapid capacity fading, low Coulombic efficiency, and safety risks, hindering Li-S battery commercial development. In this study, a three-dimensionally (3D) connected hierarchical porous carbon framework (HPCF) derived from waste sunflower seed shells was synthesized as a sulfur host for Li-S batteries via a chemical activation method. The natural 3D connected structure of the HPCF, originating from the raw material, can effectively enhance the conductivity and accessibility of the electrolyte, accelerating the Li⁺/electron transfer. Additionally, the generated micropores of the HPCF, originated from the chemical activation process, can prevent polysulfide dissolution due to the limited space, thereby improving the electrochemical performance and cycling stability. The HPCF/S cell shows a superior capacity retention of 540 mA h g^-1 after 70 cycles at 0.1 C, and an excellent cycling stability at 2 C for 700 cycles. This study provides a potential biomass-derived material for low-cost long-life Li-S batteries.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.385-403
• /
• 2023

To avoid premature damage to the connection joints of a conventional precast concrete shear wall, a new precast concrete shear wall system (NPSW) based on a plastic damage relocation design concept was proposed. Five specimens, including one monolithic cast-in-place concrete shear wall (MSW) as a reference and four NPSWs with different connection details (TNPSW, INPSW, HNPSW, and TNPSW-N), were designed and tested by lateral low-cyclic loading. To accurately assess the damage relocation effect and quantify the damage and deformation, digital image correlation (DIC) and conventional data acquisition methods were used in the experimental program. The concrete cracking development, crack area ratio, maximum residual crack width, curvature of the wall panel, lateral displacement, and deformed shapes of the specimens were investigated. The results showed that the plastic damage relocation design concept was effective; the initial cracking occurred at the bottom of the precast shear wall panel (middle section) of the proposed NPSWs. The test results indicated that the crack area ratio and the maximum residual crack width of the NPSWs were less than those of the MSW. The NPSWs were deformed continuously; significant distortions did not occur in their connection regions, demonstrating the merits of the proposed NPSWs. The curvatures of the middle sections of the NPSWs were lower than that of the MSW after a drift ratio of 0.5%. Among the NPSWs, HNPSW demonstrated the best performance, as its crack area ratio, concrete damage, and maximum residual crack width were the lowest.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.385-401
• /
• 2023

Steel is becoming increasingly popular due to its high strength, excellent ductility, great assembly performance, and recyclability. In reality, steel structures serving for a long time in atmospheric, industrial, and marine environments inevitably suffer from corrosion, which significantly decreases the durability and the service life with the exposure time. For the mechanical properties of corroded steel, experimental studies are mainly conducted. The existing numerical analyses only evaluate the mechanical properties based on corroded morphology at the isolated time-in-point, ignoring that this morphology varies continuously with corrosion time. To solve this problem, the relationships between pit depth expectation, standard deviation, and corrosion time are initially constructed based on a large amount of wet-dry cyclic accelerated test data. Successively, based on that, an in-situ pitting evolution method for evaluating the residual tensile strength of corroded steel is proposed. To verify the method, 20 repeated simulations of mass loss rates and mechanical properties are adopted against the test results. Then, numerical analyses are conducted on 135 models of corrosion pits with different aspect ratios and uneven corrosion degree on two corroded surfaces. Results show that the power function with exponents of 1.483 and 1.091 can well describe the increase in pit depth expectation and standard deviation with corrosion time, respectively. The effect of the commonly used pit aspect ratios of 0.10-0.25 on yield strength and ultimate strength is negligible. Besides, pit number ratio α equating to 0.6 is the critical value for the strength degradation. When α is less than 0.6, the pit number increases with α, accelerating the degradation of strength. Otherwise, the strength degradation is weakened. In addition, a power function model is adopted to characterize the degradation of yield strength and ultimate strength with corrosion time, which is revised by initial steel plate thickness.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.503-517
• /
• 2022

This paper presents the mechanical buckling of bi-directional functionally graded sandwich beams (BFGSW) with various boundary conditions employing a quasi-3D beam theory, including an integral term in the displacement field, which reduces the number of unknowns and governing equations. The beams are composed of three layers. The core is made from two constituents and varies across the thickness; however, the covering layers of the beams are made of bidirectional functionally graded material (BFGSW) and vary smoothly along the beam length and thickness directions. The power gradation model is considered to estimate the variation of material properties. The used formulation reflects the transverse shear effect and uses only three variables without including the correction factor used in the first shear deformation theory (FSDT) proposed by Timoshenko. The principle of virtual forces is used to obtain stability equations. Moreover, the impacts of the control of the power-law index, layer thickness ratio, length-to-depth ratio, and boundary conditions on buckling response are demonstrated. Our contribution in the present work is applying an analytical solution to investigate the stability behavior of bidirectional FG sandwich beams under various boundary conditions.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.108-114
• /
• 2024

Due to the continuously increasing global demand for electricity, the demand for high-voltage submarine cables is also increasing. One of the issues that need to be addressed for submarine cables is the high production cost and expensive laying costs. Submarine cables exposed to the marine environment encounter external forces such as wave and current, leading to issues such as cable damage due to external factors or high maintenance costs in the event of an accident. Therefore, we are preparing for the uncertainty of the submarine environment through many protective materials and protective equipment. In this study, we examined the bending performance of piggyback clamps (PBC) and strap, which are representative protective equipment, in response to the submarine environment through analytical methods. To examine the structural performance of PBC, the bending performance were assessed under the maximum bending moment criterion of 15 kN·m for the flexible protection tube. As a result, it was confirmed that the structural performance regarding the bending moment of both PBC and straps was ensured.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.273-291
• /
• 2024

This paper presents a three-dimensional displacement-based formulation to investigate the free vibration of functionally graded nanoplates resting on a Winkler-Pasternak foundation based on the nonlocal elasticity theory. The material properties of the FG nanoplate are considered to vary continuously through the thickness of the nanoplate according to the power-law distribution model. A general three-dimensional displacement field is considered for the plate, which takes into account the out-of-plane strains of the plate as well as the in-plane strains. Unlike the shear deformation theories, in the present formulation, no predetermined form for the distribution of displacements and transverse strains is considered. The equations of motion for functionally graded nanoplate are derived based on Hamilton's principle. The solution is obtained for simply-supported nanoplate, and the predicted results for natural frequencies are compared with the predictions of shear deformation theories which are available in the literature. The predictions of the present theory are discussed in detail to investigate the effects of power-law index, length-to-thickness ratio, mode numbers and the elastic foundation on the dynamic behavior of the functionally graded nanoplate. The present study presents a three-dimensional solution that is able to determine more accurate results in predicting of the natural frequencies of flexural and thickness modes of nanoplates. The effects of parameters that play a key role in the analysis and mechanical design of functionally graded nanoplates are investigated.

• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.840-846
• /
• 2008

Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of grape seeds was performed under the different conditions based on a central composite design for independent variables of microwave power ($0{\sim}120\;W$), ethanol concentration ($0{\sim}100%$) and extraction time ($1{\sim}5\;min$). Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to predict the optimum extraction conditions for three dependent variables in grape seed extracts: total yield, total catechin and electron donating ability. Determination coefficients ($R^2$) of regression equations for the three dependent variables were higher than 0.9 (p < 0.01). The optimal MAE conditions to yield the maximum value of total catechin (434.16 mg%) were 122.76 W microwave power, 42.88% ethanol and 4.67 min extraction time. The superimposed contour maps for maximizing the three dependent variables indicated that the MAE condition ranges were 75150 W, 4060% ethanol and 3.55.0 min. The predicted values at the optimized conditions (6.72% total yield, 408.65 mg% total catechin, and 83.33% electron donation ability) were similar to the experimental values. The optimized MAE (112.5 W, 50% EtOH, 4.2 min) was more efficient than the conventional solvent extraction using 80% EtOH, $60^{\circ}C$ for 3h and 150 rpm.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.101-107
• /
• 2024

Demand for submarine cable is increasing due to advances in submarine power transmission technology and submarine cable manufacturing technology. Submarine cable use various types of protective equipment to prevent problems such as high maintenance costs in the event of cable damage and power outages during maintenance periods. Among them, flexible protection tube is a representative protective equipment to protect cables and respond to external forces such as waves and current. The flexible protection tube is made of polyurethane 85A hyperelastic material, so the calculation of mechanical behavior is carried out using mechanical properties based on experimental results. In this study, a study was conducted to determine the bending performance and tensile performance of flexible protection tube through analytical methods. The physical properties obtained through the multiaxial tensile test of polyurethane 85A were used for the analysis. Bending and tensile performance were determined for the maximum bending moment standard of 15 kN·m and the tensile load standard of 50 kN. As a result, it was confirmed that when the maximum bending moment of 15 kN·m of the flexible protection tube occurred, the bending performance of the MBR was secured at 13 m and when a tensile load of 50 kN, it was applied the maximum vertical displacement was 968 mm, confirming that the tensile performance was secured.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.85-104
• /
• 2013

The present work deals with the thermomechanical bending response of functionally graded plates resting on Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundations. Theoretical formulations are based on a recently developed refined trigonometric shear deformation theory (RTSDT). The theory accounts for trigonometric distribution of transverse shear stress, and satisfies the free transverse shear stress conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate without using shear correction factor. Unlike the conventional trigonometric shear deformation theory, the present refined trigonometric shear deformation theory contains only four unknowns as against five in case of other shear deformation theories. The material properties of the functionally graded plates are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness, according to a simple power law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. The elastic foundation is modelled as two-parameter Pasternak foundation. The results of the shear deformation theories are compared together. Numerical examples cover the effects of the gradient index, plate aspect ratio, side-to-thickness ratio and elastic foundation parameters on the thermomechanical behavior of functionally graded plates. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and efficient in predicting the thermomechanical bending response of functionally graded plates.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.235-253
• /
• 2015

In this research, a simple but accurate sinusoidal plate theory for the thermomechanical bending analysis of functionally graded sandwich plates is presented. The main advantage of this approach is that, in addition to incorporating the thickness stretching effect, it deals with only 5 unknowns as the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT), instead of 6 as in the well-known conventional sinusoidal plate theory (SPT). The material properties of the sandwich plate faces are assumed to vary according to a power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The core layer is made of an isotropic ceramic material. Comparison studies are performed to check the validity of the present results from which it can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and efficient in predicting the thermomechanical behavior of functionally graded sandwich plates. The effect of side-to-thickness ratio, aspect ratio, the volume fraction exponent, and the loading conditions on the thermomechanical response of functionally graded sandwich plates is also investigated and discussed.