The parameters obtained from oedometric consolidation tests are commonly used in the development of constitutive modeling and for engineering practice. This paper focuses on the influence of the natural deposition plane orientation on oedometric consolidation behavior of three natural clays from the southeast coast of China. Oedometer tests were conducted on intact specimens prepared by sampling at a series of angles relative to the natural deposition plane. For each specimen, yield stress, compressibility indexes, secondary compression, and permeability coefficients were determined. The influence of the sampling angle on these properties was investigated, revealing that yield stress, compression index, swelling index, creep index, ratio of secondary compression coefficient to compression index (C_e/C_c) and permeability coefficient were all dependent to some extent on the sampling angle. These findings indicate the role of the anisotropy due to the natural deposition on the oedometric consolidation behavior.

The mechanical behavior of concrete-filled glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP)-steel tube structures under combined seismic loading is investigated in this study. Four same-sized specimens with different GFRP layout modes were tested by a quasi-static test system. Finite element analysis (FEA) was also undertaken and the results were presented. Results of the numerical simulation compared well with those from experimental tests. Parametric analysis was conducted by using the FE models to evaluate the effects of GFRP thickness, axial compression rate, and cross sectional steel ratio. The experimental and numerical results show that the technique of GFRP strengthening is effective in improving the seismic performance of traditional concrete-filled steel tubes, with variations related to different GFRP layout modes.

An innovative occupant friendly retrofitting technique has been developed for reinforced concrete (RC) building structures with hollow brick infill walls used as partition walls which constitute the major portion of the existing building stock in Turkey. The idea is to convert the existing hollow brick infill wall into a load carrying system acting as a cast-in-place RC wall by reinforcing it with relatively thin concrete plates bonded to the mortar coated infill wall by use of tile adhesive and fixed by (6 (6 mm diameter) bolts. Test parameters were the shape and thickness of the plates, presence of reinforcement in plates, number and arrangement of (6 bolts. It was observed that lateral strength, stiffness, energy dissipation capacity, and ductility of the strengthened infill walls were improved and behaviour was enhanced by the proposed technique. Plates with two different basic shapes were used to strengthen the test specimens.

In this study, the efficiency of bitumen and asphalt mixtures modified with crumb rubber (CR) and recycled glass powder (RGP) is evaluated. From an environmental point of view, the application of RGP in asphalt mixtures is considered beneficial since it prevents accumulation of waste glass in the natural environment. Rheological and mechanical properties of modified bitumen samples were investigated by laboratory methods such as bitumen conventional tests and dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), and also by asphalt mixture performance tests including Marshall stability, indirect tensile strength (ITS), compressive strength, and indirect tensile stiffness modulus. The results showed that the application of RGP in place of CR has no negative impact on the efficiency of bitumen and asphalt mixtures and even improves their engineering properties except for the toughness index (TI). Moreover, a modification with 5% CR and 5% RGP in asphalt mixtures results in the best overall performance.

The pure γ-Ca₂SiO₄ (γ-C₂S) phase was prepared at 1623 K of calcining temperature, 10 h of holding time and furnace cooling. The β-C₂S phase was obtained through γ-C₂S conversion with the following calcination system which was adopted at 1473 K of calcining temperature, 1 h of holding time and then water-cooling. The conversion rate of γ-C₂S was studied by the Rietveld quantitative laboratory X-ray powder diffraction supported by synchrotron X-ray diffraction images. The refinement results show that the final conversion rate of γ-C₂S is higher than 92%. The absolute error of the γ-C₂S conversion rate between two Rietveld refinements (sample with or without α-Al₂O₃) is 3.6%, which shows that the Rietveld quantitative X-ray diffraction analysis is an appropriate and accurate method to quantify the γ-C₂S conversion rate.

Solar energy is a natural resource which can be harnessed to provide clean electricity for hydrogen production systems. However, this technology is not widely used because of control issues, particularly for hydrogen refuelling stations. At present, direct or DC-DC converter couplings are the most common system configurations for hydrogen refuelling stations. However, these system configurations are costly and suffer from gas shortage at hydrogen refuelling stations. Furthermore, the hydrogen produced by such system configurations varies considerably depending on the levels of solar radiation. In order to address these issues, a new system configuration is proposed, incorporating the feedback signal of the storage level in the control system. The photovoltaic (PV) system, electrolyzer, and storage tank are integrated with a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) to determine the backup current compensation for electrolyzer operation in order to obtain the minimum power required for hydrogen production. The proposed FLC is constructed with three input variables which are the PV current, hydrogen storage level, and the battery state of charge. The rules-based fuzzy inference process is based on the proposed configuration which combines the advantages of direct and DC-DC converter coupling configurations. The simulation results show that the proposed configuration offers better adaptability to variable radiation conditions compared to other methods. This gives a more promising option for ensuring the adequacy of hydrogen supply at hydrogen refuelling stations.

An experimental and model-based study of the effect of rich air/fuel ratios (AFRs) and temperature on the NO_x slip of a lean NO_x trap (LNT) was conducted in a lean-burn gasoline engine with an LNT after-treatment system. The emissions of the engine test bench and the inlet temperature of the LNT were used as the major inlet boundary conditions of the LNT. The engine periodically operated between a constant lean AFR of 23 with alterable rich AFRs of 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14. A decrease in the rich AFR of the engine strengthened the desorption atmosphere in the LNT, an effect closely related to the number of reductants, and further heightened the NO_x desorption of the LNT, but with a penalty in fuel consumption. To eliminate that penalty, the inlet boundary conditions of the LNT were varied by adjusting the inlet temperature within a range between 200 °C and 400 °C. An increase in inlet temperature heightened the NO_x desorption of the LNT, and a NO_x breakthrough occurred after the inlet temperature exceeded 390 °C. To control NO_x breakthrough, the inlet temperature can be adjusted to offset the strong desorption atmosphere in the LNT commonly created by a rich AFR.