Objectives: Polymerization shrinkage of dental composites remains a major concern in restorative dentistry because it can lead to micro-cracking of the tooth and debonding at the tooth-restoration interface. The aim of this study was to measure the full-field polymerization shrinkage of dental composites using the optical digital image correlation (DIC) method and to evaluate how the measurement is influenced by the factors in experiment setup and image analysis. Methods: Four commercial dental composites, Premise Dentine, Z100, Z250 and Tetric EvoCeram, were tested. Composite was first placed into a slot mould to form a bar specimen with rectangular-section of 4 mm×2 mm, followed by the surface painting to create irregular speckles. Curing was then applied at one end of the specimen while the other part were covered against curing light for simulating the clinical curing condition of composite in dental cavity. The painted surface was recorded by a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera before and after curing. Subsequently, the volumetric shrinkage of the specimen was calculated with specialist DIC software based on image cross correlation. In addition, a few factors that may influence the measuring accuracy, including the subset window size, speckle size, illumination light and specimen length, were also evaluated. Results: The volumetric shrinkage of the specimen generally decreases with increasing distance from the irradiated surface with a conspicuous exception being the composite Premise Dentine as its maximum shrinkage occurred at a subsurface distance of about 1 mm instead of the irradiated surface. Z100 had the greatest maximum shrinkage strain, followed by Z250, Tetric EvoCeram and then Premise Dentine. Larger subset window size made the shrinkage strain contour smoother. But the cost was that some details in the heterogeneity of the material were lost. Very small subset window size resulted in a lot of noise in the data, making it difficult to discern the general pattern in the strain distribution. Speckle size did not seem to have obvious effect on the volumetric shrinkage strain along specimen length; however, larger speckles resulted in higher level of noise or heterogeneity in the shrinkage distribution. Compared with bright illumination, dimmer lighting produced larger standard deviations in the measured shrinkage, indicating a higher level of noise. The longer the specimen, the greater was the rate of reduction with distance from the irradiated surface, especially for the longitudinal strain. Significance: The image correlation method is capable of producing full-field polymerization shrinkage of dental composites. The accuracy of the measurements relies on selection of optimal parameters in experimental setup and DIC analysis.

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) offer high energy conversion, low noise, low pollutant emission, and low processing cost. Despite many advantages, SOFCs face a major challenge in competing with other types of fuel cells because of their high operating temperature. The necessity to reduce the operational temperature of SOFCs has led to the development of research into the materials and fabrication technology of fuel cells. The use of composite cathodes significantly reduces the cathode polarization resistance and expands the triple phase boundary area available for oxygen reduction. Powder preparation and composite cathode fabrication also affect the overall performance of composite cathodes and fuel cells. Among many types of cathode materials, lanthanum-based materials such as lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (La_1-xSr_xCo_1-yFe_yO_3-δ) have recently been discovered to offer great compatibility with ceria-based electrolytes in performing as composite cathode materials for intermediate- to low-temperature SOFCs (IT-LTSOFCs). This paper reviews various ceria-based composite cathodes for IT-LTSOFCs and focuses on the aspects of progress and challenges in materials technology.

In the hostile and highly corrosive marine environment, advanced composite materials can be used in marine current turbines due to their high strength-to-weight ratios and excellent resistance to corrosion. A composite material marine current turbine (CMMCT), which has significant advantages over traditional designs, has been developed and investigated numerically. A substantial improvement in turbine performance is achieved by placement of a duct to concentrate the energy. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results show that the extracted power of a ducted CMMCT can be three to four times the power extracted by a bare turbine of the same turbine area. The results provide an insight into the hydrodynamic design and operation of a CMMCT used to shorten the design period and improve technical performance.

Cold-stretched pressure vessels from austenitic stainless steels (ASS) are widely used for storage and transportation of liquefied gases, and have such advantages as thin wall and light weight. Fatigue is an important concern in these pressure vessels, which are subjected to alternative loads. Even though several codes and standards have guidelines on these pressure vessels, there are no relevant design methods on fatigue failure. To understand the fatigue properties of ASS 1.4301 (equivalents include UNS S30400 and AISI 304) in solution-annealed (SA) and cold-stretched conditions (9% strain level) and the response of fatigue properties to cold stretching (CS), low-cycle fatigue (LCF) tests were performed at room temperature, with total strain amplitudes ranging from ±0.4% to ±0.8%. Martensite transformations were measured during the tests. Comparisons on cyclic stress response, cyclic stress-strain behavior, and fatigue life were carried out between SA and CS materials. Results show that CS reduces the initial hardening stage, but prolongs the softening period in the cyclic stress response. Martensite transformation helps form a stable regime and subsequent secondary hardening. The stresses of monotonic and cyclic stress-strain curves are improved by CS, which leads to a lower plastic strain and a much higher elastic strain. The fatigue resistance of the CS material is better than that of the SA material, which is approximately 1×10³ to 2×10⁴ cycles. The S-N curve of the ASME standard for ASS is compared with the fatigue data and is justified to be suitable for the fatigue design of cold-stretched pressure vessels. However, considering the CS material has a better fatigue resistance, the S-N curve will be more conservative. The present study would be helpful in making full use of the advantages of CS to develop a new S-N curve for fatigue design of cold-stretched pressure vessels.

The optimization design of the power system is essential for stratospheric airships with paradoxical requirements of high reliability and low weight. The methodology of orthogonal experiment is presented to deal with the problem of the optimization design of the airship’s power system. Mathematical models of the solar array, regenerative fuel cell, and power management subsystem (PMS) are presented. The basic theory of the method of orthogonal experiment is discussed, and the selection of factors and levels of the experiment and the choice of the evaluation function are also revealed. The proposed methodology is validated in the optimization design of the power system of the ZhiYuan-2 stratospheric airship. Results show that the optimal configuration is easily obtained through this methodology. Furthermore, the optimal configuration and three sub-optimal configurations are in the Pareto frontier of the design space. Sensitivity analyses for the weight and reliability of the airship’s power system are presented.

The optimal arrangement of viscoelastic dampers (VEDs) used to link two adjacent shear-type structures under seismic excitation was investigated. A two-step optimal design method is proposed. First, optimal parameter expressions of the Kelvin model are used to calculate the optimal stiffness and damping coefficient of the VEDs. Then, using the two-step optimal design method, taking the quadratic performance index as the optimization objective, the optimal arrangement of the dampers is determined. General rules about the optimal arrangement of the VEDs were obtained. The results show that the placement of only one damper between two adjacent shear-type structures should be avoided; if more than one damper is used, they should be distributed on the top and lower floors of the structures. Optimization of the number of dampers had little effect on response reduction. The most important factor was the optimization of the placement of the dampers. Through comparative study, for buildings of equal and unequal heights, the optimal parameters of dampers from parametric studies were shown to match the theoretical results for different numbers and placements of dampers. The level of response reduction was shown to be sensitive to the damping coefficient of the dampers.

Based on consolidation equations proposed for unsaturated soil, an analytical solution for 1D consolidation of an unsaturated single-layer soil with nonhomogeneous mixed boundary condition is developed. The mixed boundary condition can be used for special applications, such as tests occur in laboratory. The analytical solution is obtained by assuming all material parameters remain constant during consolidation. In the derivation of the analytical solution, the nonhomogeneous boundary condition is first transformed into a homogeneous boundary condition. Then, the eigenfunction and eigenvalue are derived according to the consolidation equations and the new boundary condition. Finally, using the method of undetermined coefficients and the orthogonal relation of the eigenfunction, the analytical solution for the new boundary condition is obtained. The present method is applicable to various types of boundary conditions. Several numerical examples are provided to investigate the consolidation behavior of an unsaturated single-layer soil with mixed boundary condition.

Chloride content and the pH value of the pore solution in the neighborhood of steel reinforcement are decisive parameters for initiation and rate of corrosion. The pore solution of cement mortar and hardened cement paste has been expressed from the pore space by high pressure in the investigation. The influence of the water-cement ratio, age, and addition of chloride to the fresh mix on chloride content in the pore solution has been determined by ion chromatography. At the same time the pH value of the pore solution has been determined. The dissolved chloride content decreases with increase in the water-cement ratio. The amount of bound chloride increases with time, but it decreases with decreasing content of dissolved chloride in the pore solution. A significant influence of carbonation on the dissolved chloride content of the pore solution has been observed. With complete carbonation, the dissolved chloride content in cement mortar and hardened cement paste increases by a factor between 2 and 12. The bound chloride decreases by 27%–54%. As expected, the pH value decreases from around 13.2 to as low as 8.0 due to carbonation. It can be concluded that carbonation not only lowers the pH value but liberates bound chloride. This is one obvious reason why the combined action of chloride penetration and carbonation accelerates steel corrosion and shortens the service life of reinforced concrete structures.