Results Of Short-term Tests Research Articles

The Effect of Normalizing Temperature on the Short-Term Creep Rupture of the Simulated HAZ in Gr.91 Steel Welds

As-received Gr.91 steel tube was normalized at either 940 or 1060 °C for 1 h, followed by Ar-assisted cooling to room temperature, then tempered at 760 °C for 2 h. Those samples were designated as 940NT or 1060NT samples. An infrared heating system was used to simulate HAZ microstructures in the weld, which included over-tempering (OT) and partial transformation (PT) zones. The results of short-term creep tests showed that normalizing at higher temperature improved the creep resistance of the Gr.91 steel. By contrast, welding thermal cycles would shorten the creep life of the Gr.91 steel. Among the tested samples in each group, the PT samples had the shortest life to rupture, especially the 940NT-PT sample. The microstructures of the PT samples comprised of fine lath martensite and ferrite subgrains with carbides decorating the grain and subgrain boundaries. Excessive dislocation recovery, rapid coalescence of refined martensite laths, and growth of ferrite subgrains were responsible for the poorer creep resistance of the PT samples relative to those of the other samples.

Field test on energy performance of medium-depth geothermal heat pump systems (MD-GHPs)

This paper introduces the practical energy performance of medium-depth geothermal heat pump systems (MD-GHPs), which use vertical concentric tube as ground heat exchangers (GHEs) to extract heat from the medium-depth geothermal energy for space heating in buildings. Hereby the medium-depth geothermal energy refers to heat embodied in rocks nearly 2–3 km underground with temperature around 70–90 °C. The operation performance and energy efficiency of MD-GHPs is tested in five residential buildings in Xi'an, North China. According to the short-term and annual field test results, the energy performance of MD-GHPs as well as the heat transfer performance of GHEs are introduced and analyzed. Results show that the average temperature of the outlet water from the ground can reach 33.0 °C, promoting the performance of whole systems greatly, with the COP (Coefficient of Performance) of the heat pump reaching 5.43 and the COPhs of heat source reaching 4.58. Therefore, the energy saving rate (ESR) of the MD-GHPs can reach 41.0%, 29.3% and 47.5% compared with air source heat pump systems (ASHPs), conventional ground source heat pump systems (SD-GHPs) and gas boilers.

Creep and Long-Time Strength of Compression Elements from Foam Concrete

In this article discusses the mechanical properties of foam concrete, which submitted based on the experimental data of long force resistance and deformation of compression elements from foam concrete. Also submitted criterion range of strength and deformation characteristics of foam concrete different structural modification with taking into account the permanently acting load, which necessary for calculation and design structures of buildings. In article such characteristics of foam concrete as durability and deformability at the age of 28 days by results of short-term tests and also influence of average density and a type of structure on its durability and deformability are considered. Change of mechanical properties of foam concrete in time by results of short-term tests is analyzed and studied. Experimental and theoretical researches which have in turn allowed to recommend for rationing of value of settlement characteristics the foam of concrete taking into account their variability, aging and duration of action of loading are executed.

A Version of the Failure Criterion Modification for Plane Concrete

The paper is about the generally accepted in the deformable solid mechanics principles of constructing limiting surfaces of concrete strength in the principal stress space. The background and theoretical approaches taken by different researchers to describe the functions of deviatoric and meridional curves as the basic elements which determine the surface configuration of concrete strength were analyzed.There was carried out a comparative analysis of different authors’ suggestions on an analytic description of concrete strength for different stress states and a comparison of the developed criteria and the results of short-term tests of plane concrete under multiaxial loadings. Comparing the methods taken for developing the interpolation functions of deviatoric and meridional curves, it was inferred that the application of different approaches to the development of concrete failure criteria is effective. Keeping in mind the results of the comparative analysis of the prerequisites taken to develop the above failure criteria and the requirements of a better approximation of the experimental data, there are made new suggestions to describe concrete strength for the general case of stress state.

Creep Rupture of the Simulated HAZ of T92 Steel Compared to that of a T91 Steel.

The increased thermal efficiency of fossil power plants calls for the development of advanced creep-resistant alloy steels like T92. In this study, microstructures found in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of a T92 steel weld were simulated to evaluate their creep-rupture-life at elevated temperatures. An infrared heating system was used to heat the samples to 860 °C (around AC1), 900 °C (slightly below AC3), and 940 °C (moderately above AC3) for one minute, before cooling to room temperature. The simulated specimens were then subjected to a conventional post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) at 750 °C for two hours, where both the 900 °C and 940 °C simulated specimens had fine grain sizes. In the as-treated condition, the 900 °C simulated specimen consisted of fine lath martensite, ferrite subgrains, and undissolved carbides, while residual carbides and fresh martensite were found in the 940 °C simulated specimen. The results of short-term creep tests indicated that the creep resistance of the 900 °C and 940 °C simulated specimens was poorer than that of the 860 °C simulated specimens and the base metal. Moreover, simulated T92 steel samples had higher creep strength than the T91 counterpart specimens.

Multi-scale hydrogeologic characterization of a leaky till–mantled fractured bedrock aquifer system

The paper presents hydrogeologic properties for a leaky till–mantled fractured bedrock aquifer system based on geophysical and hydraulic tests performed at a drumlin located in northeastern Massachusetts, USA. The site profile consists of a fractured bedrock aquifer overlain by a 30 m thick unweathered, coarse-grained till aquitard. Steady state, decadal scale, hydraulics varied little until seasonal irrigation pumping was initiated in recent years, causing a substantial annual drawdown in the aquifer and leakage from the overlying till. High frequency hydraulic head data sets collected in monitoring wells record the hydraulic response to the irrigation pumping. These data sets, together with results from small scale slug and purge tests performed in monitoring wells, are used to characterize the hydrogeologic behavior of this groundwater system. Geophysical logging performed in bedrock wells confirmed the presence of numerous flowing fractures. The large-scale continuum analysis of the fractured bedrock aquifer response to the irrigation pumping yields transmissivity values consistent with those determined from the small-scale, short-term purge test results. The low hydraulic conductivity till has a significant impact on the drawdown behavior of the fractured bedrock aquifer. Calibrated values from the collective data sets and analyses result in the following properties for the 30 m thick unweathered till: hydraulic conductivity K′ = 7.2 × 10−9m/s, transmissivity T′ = 2.3 × 10−8m2/s, and storativity S′ = 2.7 × 10−4, and for the underlying fractured bedrock aquifer: T = 6.5 × 10−6m2/s with an average fracture aperture of 46 μm and hydraulic conductivity Kf= 1.3 × 10−3m/s. These results should describe similar unweathered coarse-grained till–mantled fractured bedrock aquifer systems and provide useful data for preliminary analyses prior to any site-specific investigations.

INHIBITION OF MICROBIAL SULFATE REDUCTION BY MOLYBDATE

Hydrogen sulfide generation in oil production is a constant cause of concern. In several cases this phenomenon occurs due to the action of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Various methods, including biocides and nitrate addition, have been used to control the activity of these microorganisms, but they are expensive and have side effects. Other inhibition methods, such as the use of molybdate, have received much less attention. This study performed a kinetic test for the inhibition of sulfate reduction, and short-term tests to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of molybdate in liquid medium containing 10.4 and 20.8 mM of sulfate (1000 mg L-1 and 2000 mg L-1), respectively. An inoculum was prepared from a microbial consortium of sulfate-reducing bacteria dominated by Desulfovibrio vulgaris enriched from produced water from oil wells of the Reconcavo Basin, Brazil. The indicators of bacterial activity used were: sulfate reduction, sulfide production, culture medium color, pH, and redox potential. The tests show that, regardless of the concentration of molybdate, sulfate reduction is inhibited after the first hours of the start of the test. The conversion of sulfate in the kinetic experiment without molybdate is 78%, whereas the average conversion in the experiment with molybdate is approximately 30% in 216 h. The short-term test results show that 0.08 mM (12.8 mg L-1) molybdate, a molar ratio molybdate/sulfate of 0.004, is sufficient to inhibit the activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria for 168 h.

Short-term Tests of Potassium dIdD Vector Magnetometer

In this paper the results of short-term tests of a suspended Potassium dIdD vector magnetometer are presented. The instrument was installed on a stable pillar during May 2012 near Milton (Ontario, Canada). The aim was to investigate primarily the bias current stability and the noise level of the instrument (for measured components less than 10 pT in a root-mean-square sense). A brief description of the measurement principles and a review of formulae used for field component calculations are given. The errors of components, which arise from assumptions on dIdD orientation as well as from the total field time variations during a measurement cycle, are estimated and discussed, both for real and simulated data. Finally, the accuracy of the instrument was estimated, and the maximal theoretical accuracies of components were better than 60 pT at mid-latitudes.

An improved model of predicting hepatocarcinogenic potential in rats by using gene expression data.

Carcinogenicity studies using animals are expensive and time consuming. Therefore, the development of a highly accurate carcinogenicity prediction system to interpret short-term test results would be beneficial. The Ames test is popular for mutagens; however, it cannot detect non-genotoxic carcinogens. Previously, we reported a prediction system using gene expression data obtained from a short-term (28-day) study that screened candidate compounds for testing in long-term carcinogenicity studies. In this study, our system was improved by adding more gene expression data. To establish our new system, we used the data of 93 test compounds (41 hepatocarcinogens and 52 non-hepatocarcinogens). Analysis of liver gene expression data by dividing compounds into 'for training' and 'for test' categories (20 cases assigned randomly) using Support Vector Machine (SVM) identified a set of marker probe sets that could be used to predict hepatocarcinogenicity. The assigned 42 probe sets have included the cancer- or c-Myc-related genes such as Hsp90, Pink1, Hspc111, Fbx29, Hepsin, Syndecan2 and Synbindin. Compared with the older version, the improved system had a higher concordance rate with the training data and a good performance with the external test data.

Application of time-temperature-stress superposition principle on the accelerated physical aging test of polycarbonate

The effect of physical aging on the polymer mechanical properties is very important for long-term safety assessment of engineering application. In this paper, the physical aging tests of polycarbonate (PC) were conducted systemically under different temperature and uniaxial tensile stress level. It was shown that both temperature and stress have obvious accelerated effect on the physical aging of PC. The higher the temperature and stress level are, the faster the aging process is. To predict the long-term behavior after physical aging using the short-term test results of PC, the elongation-at-break was chosen as the index of the severity of physical aging. An Arrhenius-type time–temperature–stress superposition principle (TTSSP) was proposed to evaluate long-term performance using short-term test data. Using the proposed method, time and cost can be dramatically reduced for the assessment of long-term physical aging performance of polymeric material. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:2215–2221, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers

Accelerated aging test of hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber using the time–temperature–strain superposition principle

The long-term (~550 days) degradation of fracture strain of HNBR under the reference condition of 60 °C @ zero strain can be predicted using the time–temperature–strain superposition principle with the short-term (<10 days) test results.

Short term bond shear stress and cracking control of reinforced self-compacting concrete one way slabs under flexural loading

Fibre-reinforced self-compacting concrete (FRSCC) is a high-performance building material that combines positive aspects of fresh properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC) with improved characteristics of hardened concrete as a result of fibre addition. To produce SCC, either the constituent materials or the corresponding mix proportions may notably differ from the conventional concrete (CC). These modifications besides enhance the concrete fresh properties affect the hardened properties of the concrete. Therefore, it is vital to investigate whether all the assumed hypotheses about CC are also valid for SCC structures. In the present paper, the experimental results of short-term flexural load tests on eight reinforced SCC and FRSCC specimens slabs are presented. For this purpose, four SCC mixes - two plain SCC, two steel, two polypropylene, and two hybrid FRSCC slab specimens - are considered in the test program. The tests are conducted to study the development of SCC and FRSCC flexural cracking under increasing short-term loads from first cracking through to flexural failure. The achieved experimental results give the SCC and FRSCC slabs bond shear stresses for short-term crack width calculation. Therefore, the adopted bond shear stress for each mix slab is presented in this study. Crack width, crack patterns, deflections at mid-span, steel strains and concrete surface strains at the steel levels were recorded at each load increment in the post-cracking range.

Model for fatigue life prediction of titanium alloys. Part 1. Elaboration of a model of fatigue life prior to initiation of microstructurally short crack and a propagation model for physically short and long cracks

This paper presents a review of the fatigue life models at stages 1 and 2 of fatigue fracture. Based on the modification of these models, a model is proposed that allows one to predict residual life to fracture under conditions of high-cycle uniaxial loading of smooth specimens of titanium alloys from the results of short-term tensile tests and the microstructure analysis.

A comparative study on dimensional stability of PET and BOPP substrates for fabrication of flexible electric/electronic devices through roll-to-roll printing

Dimensional stability of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and biaxial-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) substrates was investigated for high-resolution roll-to-roll gravure printing. Differential scanning calorimetry and short-term tensile test results showed that the thermal resistance of the printable PET substrate was superior to those of the BOPP substrate and a commercial amorphous PET. The creep of the BOPP film was always faster than that of the PET film under various temperatures and loads, and could be correlated with the Maxwell element. In addition, in regular modes of applying heat and spraying solvent, deformational patterns of polymeric substrates were observed and described.

Long-term durability prediction models for GFRP bars in concrete environment

This article presents a durability study of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars within concrete environment and provides recommendations for effective accelerated ageing methods, data reduction and validation, and formulation of master curves for long-term predictions. Concrete beams reinforced with GFRP bars were immersed in tap water inside temperature-controlled tanks. Sustained load was applied to beam samples, and elevated temperatures were used to accelerate the ageing of GFRP bars. After exposure, GFRP bars were tested for residual tensile strength, which was considered as a measure of the durability performance of the specimens. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were used to evaluate the microstructural changes of conditioned specimens. Short-term (up to 270 days) results showed that compared to alkalinity and low sustained load, moisture and elevated temperature played much more important roles in accelerating environmental attack to GFRP bars. Based on the short-term test results, the dominant degradation mechanism for GFRP bars in concrete was found as the deterioration of fiber/matrix interface. A degradation model based on Arrhenius concept and prediction procedures are given, and correlations with other studies and field data are provided. The tensile strength retentions for GFRP bars in saturated concrete subjected to sustained load were predicted. It was found that degradation rates decreased rapidly, but tensile strength retentions at different exposure temperatures converge to a constant value with the increase of exposure time. Beyond fiber-matrix debonding, there is a possibility that other degradation mechanisms such as fiber corrosion may start to dominate the deterioration process of GFRP bars with time.

Obtaining confidence limits for safe creep life in the presence of multi batch hierarchical databases: An application to 18Cr–12Ni–Mo steel

The creep and creep rupture properties of 18Cr–12Ni–Mo steel tubes have been analysed using the Wilshire equations. The observed behaviour patterns are then briefly discussed in terms of the dislocation processes governing creep strain accumulation. A suitable statistical framework for analysing both the single and multi batch data available on this material is then specified. It is shown that ignoring the hierarchical nature present in many creep data bases, which has been the approach used until now when using the Wilshire equations, leads to a serious and significant underestimate of the predicted safe life for this material. The model allows accurate predictions, with associated levels of confidence, of long-term properties by extrapolation of short-term test results for this steel.

Triaxial mechanical creep behavior of sandstone

Based on laboratory results of time-dependent mechanical behavior tests, we investigated short-term and mechanical creep behavior of sandstone, observed in conventional triaxial compression experiments at room temperature, using a servo-controlled rheology testing machine. Given our short-term experimental test results, we confirmed deviatoric creep stress levels of sandstone. Multiple deviatoric stress levels were applied in steps to each sample. Each deviatoric stress level before the final failed deviatoric stress was maintained for 48 h or longer. Time-dependent variations of axial strains of sandstone samples are discussed and evaluated. During the creep tests, complete tertiary creep curves of sandstone were observed under failed deviatoric stress levels with different confining pressures. Slices of coal in sandstone samples can lead to distinct tertiary creep deformation failure.

Evidence for a Long-Term Strength Threshold in Crystalline Rock

The mechanical response of brittle rock to long-duration compression loading is of particular concern in underground disposal of nuclear waste, where radionuclides must be isolated from the biosphere for periods of the order of a million years. Does the strength decrease without limit over such time, or is there, for some rock types, a lower “threshold” strength below which the rock will cease to deform? This paper examines the possibility of such a threshold in silicate crystalline rocks from several perspectives, including: (1) interpretation of the results of short-term creep tests on rock; (2) numerical analysis of the effect of decrease in fracture toughness due to stress corrosion on the strength of a crystalline rock; and (3) evidence from plate tectonics, and observations of in situ rock stress in granite quarries. The study concludes that there isclear evidence of threshold strength. The threshold is of the order of 40% of the unconfined compressive strength or higher for laboratory specimens under unconfined compressive loading, and increases rapidly in absolute value with confinement. Field evidence also leads to the conclusion that the long-term strength of crystalline rock in situ is of comparable magnitude to the laboratory value.

A Geosynthetic Modular Block Connection Creep Test Apparatus, Methodology, and Interpretation

Abstract A test protocol for the quantification of creep between modular block (segmental) facing units and geosynthetic reinforcement can be found in a Federal Highway Administration guidance document first published in 2001. However, to date the utility of the proposed method has not been examined in a systematic manner nor have test results been reported in the research literature. The paper describes a test apparatus and reports the results of a series of connection creep tests that demonstrate details of the proposed methodology and lessons learned. Important recommendations for data interpretation are presented for the first time. An additional practical result of this study is a consistent method to calculate the connection creep reduction factor required for design using the results of conventional short-term connection test results and connection creep-rupture curves.

Lithium–manganese dioxide cells for implantable defibrillator devices—Discharge voltage models

The discharge potential behavior of lithium-manganese dioxide cells designed for implantable cardiac defibrillators was characterized as a function of extent of cell depletion for tests designed to discharge the cells for times between 1 and 7 years. The discharge potential curves may be separated into two segments from 0 ≤ x ≤ ∼0.51 and ∼0.51 ≤ x ≤ 1.00, where x is the dimensionless extent of discharge referenced to the rated cell capacity. The discharge potentials conform to Tafel kinetics in each segment. This behavior allows the discharge potential curves to be predicted for an arbitrary discharge load and long term discharge performance may be predicted from short term test results. The discharge potentials may subsequently be modeled by fitting the discharge curves to empirical functions like polynomials and Padé approximants. A function based on the Nernst equation that includes a term accounting for nonideal interactions between lithium ions and the cathode host material, such as the Redlich–Kister relationship, also may be used to predict discharge behavior.