Standard EN ISO Research Articles

CONTROL DEL AISLAMIENTO ACÚSTICO AL RUIDO AÉREO ENTRE PARTICIONES INTERIORES EN OBRA TERMINADA SEGÚN LA NORMATIVA CTE-DB-HR

Updates on the Basic Document of Protection Against Noise (Dcc-DB-HR) (CTE, 8th April, 2016) in the section "Control of the finished construction" substituted the standard UNE EN ISO 140-4 by UNE EN ISO 16283-1, although after that, it was rectified to the use of the derogated standard. The present work focuses on the comparison between both standards and describes the main technical changes that will affect to both technicians and administration staff. 16 experimental measurement series were undertaken in public buildings with different purpose (sanitary, educational, cultural and administrative). Results obtained from the 'in situ' measurements comparing both standards showed no significant differences between the insulation values according the application of each standard.

From Individual Graphite Assignment to an Improved Digital Image Analysis of Ductile Iron

Since graphite classification by visual analysis exhibits large variations, a more integrative concept of graphite shape classification is required to evaluate the correlations of process, microstructure and properties, and to fulfill customers’ requirements. The automatic digital image analysis is partly based on visual analysis, but it is not thoroughly defined for graphite shape classification. For example, nodules and thereby nodularity are only defined by the shape parameter roundness, although several studies suggest more sophisticated approaches. Within the first of three successive round robin tests, visual assignment for a variety of graphite particles was performed to obtain a universal digital data set of classified graphite particles. For this, the classification approach from standard EN ISO 945-1 was used and extended with degenerated graphite. The assigned particles were evaluated concerning different shape parameters showing that roundness and the assigned minimum limit value of 0.6 are not sufficient to distinguish nodules from less ideal graphite particle shapes. Furthermore, the current classification approach does not represent the full spectrum of graphite morphologies and needs to be extended. The development of a universal hierarchical classification method for nodules and other graphite shapes has been initiated, and the results will contribute to an improved image analysis standard for ductile iron, particularly ISO 945-4.

Water vapour permeability of innovative building materials from different waste

The hygrothermal performance of building materials is a very important issue for indoor comfort. The aim of this study is to measure the water vapour resistance factor μ of recycled waste materials. Leather cuttings, rice husk, and coffee chaff were used in order to manufacture innovative panels for thermal-noise building insulation. The permeability measurements were carried out by the dry cup method in compliance with the Standard EN ISO 12572. In the experimental campaign, conventional gypsum plaster and expanded polystyrene were also considered, whose hygrothermal characteristics are known from the Literature, in order to verify the reliability of the method. The moisture transfer properties of the innovative panels are higher than the values available in the Literature for other vegetable and mineral fibers-based panels (sheep wool, wood, cork, expanded vermiculite and perlite, glass or stone wool, and so on). However, the high μ-value obtained for coffee chaff panels (equal to 392) could involve an increase in heat loss and acoustically weak points.

Improvement to EN ISO 52016-1:2017 hourly heat transfer through a wall assessment: the Italian National Annex

Energy efficiency in buildings is a crucial topic to reduce worldwide energy consumption and fight climate changes. A key aspect is the assessment of the heat transfer through the opaque elements of the building envelope. One way to do it is modeling the element as a resistors and capacitors network (RC), using the thermal-electrical analogy. In the hourly dynamic method introduced by the recently published standard EN ISO 52016-1:2017, each opaque element is modelled with an RC-network. Italy has implemented in the National Annex A of the Standard an alternative methodology for the definition of the number of nodes and position, based on the detailed layers’ characteristics. In this work, the two methods are described and compared with the exact analytical solution for three cases under sinusoidal boundary conditions. In all the test cases, the results obtained applying the Italian Annex provide better results, with a reduction of the error on the internal flux amplitude between 14% and 67%. In addition, it has been verified that the Italian model is actually well-tuned. Indeed, the amplitude of the external flux is overestimated on average of only 3%, and the phase differences are limited (maximum ±1 h). Lastly, also the effect of the change of the number of nodes, and to move the nodes from the layers’ mid-point to the interface, have been analysed, but none of these strategies were demonstrated able to increase significantly the model accuracy, which can be obtained only reducing the calculation timestep.

Measurements of thermal Transmittance of an External massive timber wall in-situ and in the Laboratory

The thermal transmittance of an exterior massive timber wall was measured in situ in Appenzell, Switzerland according to the standard ISO 9869-1. The measurements were performed with two different measurement sets in parallel. The measurements started in February and stopped at end of April. The measuring data were analyzed using mean values of the thermal transmittance coefficient and of the thermal resistance following the procedure of ISO 9869-1. In order to clarify if the in-situ measurement results show significant deviations from the measurement results of the thermal transmittance obtained in the laboratory, the thermal transmittance of the identical wall construction was measured in the laboratory of Bern University of Applied Sciences in Biel according to the standard EN ISO 8990 for steady state boundary conditions in a guarded and calibrated hot box. The test results will be presented and the measurement setup will be described. The calculation value of the thermal transmittance coefficient of the massive timber wall according to EN ISO 6946 is U = 0.53 W/(m2K). The test results of the thermal transmittance coefficient, U-value of the wall, measured in the hot box, agreed well within a confidence level of 95 % with the calculated value. The in-situ measurement results of the thermal transmittance coefficient of the two measurement sets differ significantly in the order of 8 % referred to the calculated U-value of the wall as the basic amount. Furthermore, both in situ test results of the U-value of the wall show significant deviations from the calculated U-value up to 27 %.

Influence of Optical Brightening Agent Concentration on Properties of Cotton Fabric Coated with Photochromic Microcapsules Using a Pad-Dry-Cure Process.

The weak photostability of photochromic dyes applied to textile substrates is one of the disadvantages of the broader use of photochromic dyes in the textile industry. Therefore, the influence of optical brightener concentration on both the photocoloration and photostability of cotton fabric coated with photochromic microcapsules using a pad-dry-cure process, as well as the physical-mechanical properties and colorfastness properties, were studied in this research. Coated samples were subjected to different tests according to valid EN ISO standards; namely mass per unit area, fabric stiffness, breaking force and elongation, air permeability, and different colorfastness properties (rubbing, domestic and commercial laundering, and light). Results showed that the coated fabric had higher mass per unit area, stiffness, breaking force and elongation and lower air permeability compared to uncoated fabric, irrespective of the padding bath composition. Coated fabric has better colorfastness to wet than dry rubbing. The colorfastness to washing decreases with the increased number of washing cycles. The use of optical brightener decreases the photocoloration of coated fabric and increases the photostability of coated fabric after the exposure of samples to a Xenotest apparatus for longer than 12 h.

Thermal resistance of growing media for green roofs: To what extent does the absence of specific reference values potentially affect the global thermal resistance of the green roof? An experimental example

Since 2009, the Construction Technologies Institute of the National Research Council of Italy has been developing a laboratory process for the evaluation and certification of the thermal performances of growing media for green roofs. The results of the first two experimental phases have highlighted the significant difference between the thermal resistance values of growing media and those of natural occurring soils, depending on both the composition and the degree of compaction and internal moisture content. This study aims to complete the research study by demonstrating and quantifying the error made in the standard calculation of the thermal resistance of a green roof stratigraphy if uncorrected thermal resistance values are chosen for growing medium and drainage layer. The experimentation is based on the comparison, under the same configuration and system boundaries, of the thermal performances of an extensive green roof configuration according to two different calculation methods as provided for in standards EN ISO 6946 and ISO 9869. The results underline that the potential discrepancy between calculated and monitored thermal resistance values can exceed 40% if no appropriate and specific inputs are assumed for growing media and drainage layer. Instead, if correct values are used, the calculation discrepancy can be reduced to 11,8% and this could be useful to designers to solve problems during standard calculations. This calls for further testing and for a reference standard for calculating the thermal resistance of growing media for green roofs and drainage layer that have become all the more urgent.

Sensitivity Analysis of Zinc Dose-response Function according to Actual Standard Approach

One of the reasons for the decrease in reliability of constructions is the corrosion of carbon steel. Many members are made from carbon steel as embedded reinforcement in reinforced concrete (RC) members, steel structures, steel bearings, barriers, rails, etc. These members from carbon steel can be protected by zinc coating. In these cases, the zinc coating layer provides the passive stage during which the steel does not corrode. Therefore, the first-year corrosion rate, as well as the speed of the corrosion during many years, is a very significant parameter for determination of the decreasing the reliability of structure in time. The determination of the corrosivity of the atmosphere can be either on specimens exposed under outdoor conditions or by calculation, according to so-called dose-response function, based on environmental information observed from the public´s hydrometeorological institutes. The paper is focused on sensitivity analysis of zinc dose-response function rcorr,ZN in the range of input parameter recommended either in the standard STN EN ISO 9223 or in the range of measurement by Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute – SHMI.

Slip surface identification based on engineering properties analysis of weathering breccia at landslide occured in mount pawinihan, central java, indonesia

Landslide mitigation may be performed in various methods, such as by identifying the weathering degree in order to determine the position of slip surface. Slip surface is imaginary plane beneath surface dividing the moving part of slope mass with the rest, In short, it may also be defined as the weakest zone where the landslide may occur. Therefore, slip surface is the main object of this research which result may be used as a reference for further mitigation step. This research is conducted in the landslide case of Mount Pawinihan, Banjarnegara. The research is conducted by identifying the weathering degree of heterogenic material based on the British Standard EN ISO 14689-1. Engineering properties sampling was conducted after identification of weathering zone and use systematic sampling base on zone of weathering. The research result shows that the landslide soil mass under study may be divided into four weathering zones exposing on surface, while the position of slip surface may be identified in the weathering zone 3 (moderately weathered). This zone is a boundary of rock and soil condition.

Bioplastic Properties of Sago-PVA Starch with Glycerol and Sorbitol Plasticizers

This study describes the making of sago starch bioplastics using glycerol and sorbitol plasticizers with the addition of PVA and chitosan filler. It purposes to compare the effect between the addition of glycerol and sorbitol plasticizers. Bioplastic samples of sago-PVA starch have been made from a mixture of sago starch and chitosan solution that had been dissolved with acetic acid, glycerol/sorbitol plasticizer, and PVA was printed and left in the air for 24 hours, then dried in the oven for 12 hours. Testing the mechanical properties of tensile strength refers to ASTM D882 then tearing strength testing based on method C in JIS K 7128 standard. In addition to testing mechanical properties, morphological tests were also referred to as the JSM-6390A standard and biodegradability tests were carried out qualitatively with DIN EN ISO standards 846, and this Water Uptake test was referred to the ASTM-D570-98 standard. This study found that the glycerol plasticizers have a better value than other comparable materials in biodegradation testing with a value of 82.38%, However, in tensile strength test, sorbitol has better value than other material, namely with the best tensile strength value of 16.12 MPa, 142.05% in elongation, tear strength of 12,729 kgf/mm, and water uptake value of 10.34%.

Numerical determination and experimental validation of the fracture toughness of welded joints

Most of the serious weldment failures lead to catastrophic consequences in terms of damage of other equipment, loss of production, and risks to workers’ health and safety. Hence, there is motivation to find margin between safety and disaster. This necessitates guaranteeing the integrity of a welded structure even if a crack is present. Therefore, influence of the material inhomogeneity and residual stresses on deformation and fracture behavior needs to be described precisely. Fracture mechanics parameters J - integral and CTOD have attracted great interest in recent years.Two three point bending specimens of base metal (BM) and weld metal (WM) were tested according to standard BS EN ISO 15653. Than, a two dimensional finite element analysis was performed in Ansys Workbench software to calculate J-integral, and compare with experimental results. The aim of this work is to explore the possibility of using the test results in the reliable prediction of weldment fracture.

Machine for accelerated cyclic corrosion tests through alternate immersion in salt solution

Metal structures corrosion is a problem of global economic importance. Typically, the corrosion process runs slowly, which requires accelerated methods for corrosion behaviour examination. The conditions when accelerated methods are used differ from the real ones, which affects the results obtained. One of the methods that relatively successfully reproduces corrosion in a natural atmosphere is included in the standard EN ISO 11130:2018 – Alternate immersion test in salt solution. Unlike other widespread methods, uneven corrosion occurs here, including spots and pits, which greatly affect the mechanical behaviour of the material. The commercial devices for such tests are quite expensive. This justifies the development and production of one’s own equipment as the one presented in this paper. The design, construction and production of a low-cost device are hereby described. The first results of the tests performed with this machine are also given. The corrosion rate of rods, 6 mm in diameter, from widely used steel grades – S235JR and S235JRC – was determined. The duration of the test was 42 days. The results were compared with those from another corrosion test method with the same duration – immersion in a solution of 3.5% NaCl.

Hourly dynamic and monthly semi-stationary calculation methods applied to nZEBs: Impacts on energy and comfort

The EU Directive 2010/31 abstained from prescribing harmonized and strict requirements for nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs), to provide EU countries flexibility and room for maneuver in setting national targets, in view of the impact of local climatic conditions and specific territorial and socio-economical features on heating and cooling needs. Benchmarks are usually provided in terms of primary energy needs, however the definition of accurate calculation methodologies, notably as regards the cooling share, is a rather challenging task. Nonetheless, its accomplishment is cardinal to countries, like Mediterranean ones, were the building performance is mostly dictated by summertime sensitivities. This paper presents a cutting-edge approach to nZEB performance analysis: the monthly quasi steady-state (EN 13790 as implemented in Italian UNI/TS 11300) and hourly dynamic calculation methods (developed under the standard UNI EN ISO 52016-1:2018) are compared, with due attention to the cooling energy consumption, to spot pros and cons of a finer temporal discretization. Potential nZEB design alternatives in three different Italian climatic zones are contemplated and used to confront the effectiveness of the above procedures.

Measurement of the dynamics of fluid sorption for tissue papers

Liquid absorption ability belongs to the most important features of tissue papers. Due to non-homogeneous internal and superficial structures, precise and fast evaluation of this property is challenging. The main aim of the presented research was to design an experimental device dedicated to the measurement of the kinetics of wetting phenomenon for tissue papers. The second aim was to evaluate whether it was possible to use image analysis for more precise characterization of liquid absorption properties of tissue paper. The obtained results showed that the method used, based on image analysis supported by gravimetric methods, proved to efficiently and quantitatively characterize the dynamics of liquid absorption for tissue papers. Supplementary parameters such as absorption anisotropy and in-plane velocity were obtained. Different experimental results were obtained for various tissue paper grades. Furthermore, water absorption capacity calculated from image analysis data correlated with results obtained according to the standard method EN ISO 12625-8:2010 “Tissue paper and tissue products—Part 8: Water-absorption time and water-absorption capacity, basket-immersion test method.” Hence, the presented device quantitatively characterizes and discriminates water absorption phenomenon for tissue papers.

Comparison of three different classification methods performance for the determination of biofuel quality by means of NIR spectroscopy

AbstractConsidering the European goal to promote clean, sustainable, and affordable energies, solid biofuels could play an important role in increasing the share of renewable energies. Given the huge variability of solid biofuel characteristics and in order to determine their best application, it is important to assess their quality before the intended use. Technical standards EN ISO 17225 divide the solid biofuels in several quality classes on the basis of chemical‐physical parameters and qualitative features (ie, origin and source of the material). These last are quite hard to be determined in densified solid biofuels like pellet and briquettes using conventional lab analysis, and near‐infrared spectroscopy could represent a rapid and economic method to overcome this problem.To this aim, three near‐infrared spectral datasets have been investigated to evaluate the possibility to get information about qualitative features of the densified solid biofuels and in detail: (a) discrimination between treated/virgin wood; (b) discrimination between bark/wood; and (c) discrimination between herbaceous/woody biomass. Three different classification methods have been taken into consideration—support vector machines (SVM), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA), and principal component analysis linear discriminant analysis (PCA‐LDA)—and the classification performance were compared. All the methods were carefully validated using two different new modifications of repeated double cross‐validation.

ACREDITED MOLECULAR METHODS FOR DETECTION OF INFECTIONS CAUSED BY HIV, HEPATITIS B VIRUS AND HEPATITIS C VIRUS

Hepatitis B and C, as well as HIV infections are common pathology in present time. According current assessments 350 million are carriers of Hepatitis B virus, 170 million of Hepatitis C virus and over 60 million infected by HIV. Timely detection and prompt diagnosis of these viral infections are of great importance. According assessments, in our country about 1 of 50 persons are infected by Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C. From the beginning of the epidemic in 1987, until 2016 total number of registered of HIV/AIDS is 311 (179 with AIDS and 131 HIV positive). In JZU - University Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Conditions Skopje, diagnosis of these viral infections are made by accredited molecular diagnostics methods, PCR, at Department for molecular diagnostics using HCV-RNA, HBV-DNA and HIV-RNA. Aims of accreditation of particular procedures in laboratories is protection and advancing of human health, and preventing of spreading of viral infections. With great success, Department for molecular diagnostics as part of the University Clinic For Infectious Diseases and Febrile Conditions Skopje use the System for quality management according standard MKS EN ISO 15189:2013 for medical laboratories. Accredited molecular methods in use for detection of Hepatitis C virus, Hepatitis B virus and HIV are Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Genotypisation of HCV with method of Reverse hybridization.

ENERGY WOOD STORES IN UNDERGROWTH OF FORESTS IN LATVIA

INTRODUCTION
 Forest resources are the most significant natural asset of the state of Latvia. According to data of the 2nd stage of forest resource monitoring for 2014, Latvia has 3575 thousand hectares of forest land comprising 55.3 percent of the total territory of Latvia, while the total timber stock is estimated at 668 million cubic meters (Bumanis et al., 2014).
 However, from the available data on forest resources it is only possible to theoretically and hypothetically state what proportion of these resources would be useful and economically justified as an energy supply. Each forest stand has a certain amount of undergrowth and understorey – small woody plants (shrubs) which have not been researched much until now. A precise determination of the amount of energy wood in Latvian forests would be of great benefit to the Latvian economy.
 MATERIAL AND METHODS
 Research data were collected in forests at the Jelgava Forest District “Forest Research Station”. The research was carried out in two forest subquarters of forest site type Myrtillosa mel. Eight circle-shaped sample plots were established. The area of each single plot was 25 m2.
 In the sample plots, the understorey and undergrowth trees were cut at the root neck. A sample was prepared from each tree harvested which was then sent for drying.
 The wood samples were transferred to "Forest and wood products research and development institute Ltd” for moisture determination. Total moisture content of the wood sample was determined according to standard LVS EN ISO 18134-2: 2016.
 RESULTS
 In the forest subquarter with a stand composition of 10Pine (66 years old) the sum biomass of undergrowth and understorey was 177.91 kg per sample plot. In the forest subquarter with a stand composition of 9Pine1Birch (88 years old) there was a total understorey tree mass of 180.9 kg but 16.17 kg of undergrowth per plot. This means there was more biomass in understorey than undergrowth in the site investigated.
 DISCUSSION
 When the tree stand was 10Pine (66 years old) the amount of dry matter to be extracted from all sample plots was 12.37 t ha-1 on average. In the forest subquarter with a stand composition of 9Pine1Birch (88 years old) the amount of dry mass is 10.24 t ha-1 on average.
 According to previous research, 7-20 t ha-1 of dry mass was obtained in Sweden, 7 to 12 t ha-1 in Poland, 6 to 14 t ha-1 in Germany and 8 to 12 t ha-1 in Latvia (Lazdina et al., 2010). There are also several researches papers which describe biomass from young hardwood stands on abandoned agricultural land in Canada: the values vary from 0,6 t ha-1 to 82,6 t ha-1 (Lupi et al., 2017). Consequently, a sufficient amount of biomass was obtained in the forest subquarters investigated in our research, which fits with the results of other studies carried out.
 CONCLUSION
 The volume of potential energy wood in undergrowth and understorey in Myrtillosa mel. forest site types is significant and it is advisable to use it as a raw material for energy production together with felling residues. However, it is necessary to evaluate the technical and technological capabilities from an economic perspective in each particular case.

Modification of the fiber/matrix bonding by a plasma treatment to reduce the structure-borne sound transmission

In order to improve the sound emission in a structure that is made out of fiber reinforced plastics, the structure-borne sound propagation is selectively manipulated by a local or global modification of the fiber-matrix bonding. This manipulation is induced by a reduction of the fiber-matrix bonding by using a hydrophobic and therefore non-polar surface treatment of the dry fiber. The content of this paper is to present the preliminary investigations regarding the effectiveness of test specimens with two different hydrophobic plasma treatments compared to a reference without any modification. To this end, several tests were performed in order to prove the effectiveness of the respective modification to the fiber-matrix bonding. The specimens are composite laminated plates with a uni-directional lay-up. The materials which is used for the composite laminate is carbon fiber in combination with an epoxy matrix.Positive results are demonstrated regarding the feasibility to apply a hydrophobic plasma coating on a dry NCF (non-crimp-fabric) with sharp and defined edges. Since the determination of the loss factor and storage modulus according to the standard DIN EN ISO 6721-3 (Procedure B) did not show any relevant changes in comparison to the reference, a simplified test according to the standard DIN EN ISO 6721-3 (Procedure A) was performed in order to check if a suitable test environment was chosen. The results showed a measurable growth of the loss factor up to 71% in comparison to the reference.

Characterization of the Venturi flowmeters for the control of ITER magnets

Within the framework of the ITER project, CEA/SBT is in charge of the design, manufacturing and delivery of 277 Venturi flowmeters. The latter were developed for either the control of the supercritical helium flow in the magnets at cryogenic temperature (4.5 K) or the operation of the current leads at room temperature. Depending on the temperature, the values of the Reynolds number in the Venturi tubes are significantly higher or lower than those specified in the standard NF EN ISO 5167-4 regarding the design of Venturi flowmeters. An experimental determination of the flowmeter coefficient was therefore required. Due to the large number of flowmeters, a manufacturing strategy was developed in order to obtain a reproducible behaviour. This strategy was validated by the experimental results obtained at room and cryogenic temperature.

Accreditation of the toxicological screening: recommendations of the SFBC-SFTA group

Toxicological screening is a specific approach to analytical toxicology that uses analytical tools such as GC-MS, LC-UV (diode array) or LC-MS. Toxicological screening allows the detection and simultaneous identification of a large number of compounds. The results may be based on the use of one or more techniques. As part of the accreditation process for medical biology examinations according to standard NF EN ISO 15189, the group from SFTA and SFBC recommends an approach to accredit toxicological screening. Indeed, the complexity of the accreditation of this analysis comes in particular from the high number of compounds that can be detected. Validation parameters are discussed in the specific context of toxicological screening by considering two distinct approaches: the simple identification of compounds, or the identification and estimation of a range of concentration related to clinical outcomes.