53,604 research outputs found
Butt fusion welding of polyethylene pipes
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The butt fusion process is extensively used in the joining of polyethylene (PE) pipes by the water and gas industries. This welding process although deceptively simple, is rather poorly understood, with much of the initial developments being of a rather empirical nature. The Water Research centre (WRc) have funded the present research in an attempt to optimise the welding of high pressure pipeline (PE100) systems. The main aims of this research were to investigate the effect of different welding conditions on the physical and mechanical properties of the joints produced and to investigate these effects on the micro- and macro-structures
of the joints produced. A series of welds were made using Eltex Tub 124 and Rigidex
002-50 pipes of 180mm diameter. The fusion pressure and heatsoak times were varied. A milling machine witha twin cutter arrangement was used to obtain the test specimens from around the circumference of the pipes. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to study the effect of sample
preparation methodology on the thermo-oxidative stability. Polarised light microscopy and image analysis were used to
study the macro- and micro-structural developments in the weld joint. Joint strength was evaluated via standard and
non-standard tensile test methods. Milling the samples to produce the test specimens was found to decrease significantly the thermo-oxidative resistance of the polymer. Reasons for this behaviour have been proposed. In order to achieve high quality thin films from microtomy, custom-made blades were used. This programme also developed the optimum polishing method for the microtomed blades. The macro-structure of the bead: its shape and dimensions were
found to be a function of temperature and pressure. Correlation was found between the bead geometry and the position around the circumference of the pipe. The macrostructures within the weld zone also showed this dependence on the position along the circumference of the pipe. An examination of the microstructures of each weld had shown the presence of five different zones. The feasibility of using microtomed thin sections in a tensile test was demonstrated. The test method provides a
means to study failure initiation and propagation in the tensile test specimen. Initial deformation was found to occur
in the centre of the melt-affected zone (MAZ) and the final failure occurs at the junction of the weld bead and the bulk
polymer. Tests on films without the weld bead showed that maximum deformation occurred at the centre of the sample
within the MAZ. The presence of the bead and the asymmetry in the test specimens caused by the welding process were found to have a
significant influence on the failure mode and the failure strain. The strain rate was also found to play a significant role in both beaded and debeaded samples. The failure was initiated from the pseudo notches in the beaded samples. In the debeaded sample the failure was within the MAZ
H.264 wireless video telephony using iteratively-detected binary self-concatenated coding
No full textIn this contribution we propose a robust H.264 coded wireless video transmission scheme using iteratively decoded self-concatenated convolutional coding (SECCC). The proposed SECCC scheme is composed of constituent recursive systematic convolutional (RSC) codes and an interleaver is used to randomise the extrinsic information exchanged between the constituent RSC codes. Additionally, a puncturer is used to increase the achievable bandwidth efficiency. At the receiver self-iterative decoding is invoked between the hypothetical decoder components. The performance of the system was evaluated using the H.264/AVC source codec for interactive video telephony. Furthermore, EXIT charts were utilised in order to analyse the convergence behaviour of the SECCC scheme advocated. We demonstrate the efficiency of this approach by showing that the video quality is significantly improved, when using the binary SECCC scheme. More explicitly, the proposed system exhibits an Eb /N0 gain of 6 dB at the PSNR degradation point of 2 dB in comparison to the identical-rate benchmarker carrying out RSC coding and puncturing, while communicating over correlated Rayleigh fading channels
Morphological and physiological interactions of NG2-glia with astrocytes and neurons
No full textModels of central nervous system (CNS) function have historically been based on neurons and their synaptic contacts - the neuronal doctrine. This doctrine envisages glia as passive supportive cells. However, electrophysiological and imaging studies in brain slices show us that astrocytes, the most numerous cells in the brain, express a wide range of neurotransmitter receptors that are activated in response to synaptic activity. Furthermore, astrocytes communicate via calcium signals that are propagated over long distances by the release of 'gliotransmitters', the most abundant being adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This has led to the concept of the neuron-astroglial functional unit as the substrate of integration in the CNS. Recently, a novel glial cell type has been characterized by expression of the proteoglycan NG2. These NG2-glia receive presynaptic input from neurons and responds to neurotransmitters released at synapses. Now, studies on transgenic mice in which fluorescent proteins are specifically expressed by subclasses of glia are helping to address the question of where NG2-glia fit in the neuron-astroglial model of integrated brain function. NG2-glia, as well as astrocytes, have been shown to respond to neuronal and astroglial signals by raised intracellular calcium, which is a potential communications mechanism by which NG2-glia may be active partners in neuron-glial circuits. Moreover, a current concept of NG2-glia considers them to be 'neural stem cells' and an exciting prospect is that neuron-glial signalling may regulate the differentiation capacity of NG2-glia and their response to injury.</p
Self-concatenated coding and multi-functional MIMO aided H.264 video telephony
No full textAbstract— Robust video transmission using iteratively detected Self-Concatenated Coding (SCC), multi-dimensional Sphere Packing (SP) modulation and Layered Steered Space-Time Coding (LSSTC) is proposed for H.264 coded video transmission over correlated Rayleigh fading channels. The self-concatenated convolutional coding (SECCC) scheme is composed of a Recursive Systematic Convolutional (RSC) code and an interleaver, which is used to randomise the extrinsic information exchanged between the self-concatenated constituent RSC codes. Additionally, a puncturer is employed for improving the achievable bandwidth efficiency. The convergence behaviour of the MIMO transceiver advocated is investigated with the aid of Extrinsic Information Transfer (EXIT) charts. The proposed system exhibits an Eb /N0 gain of about 9 dB at the PSNR degradation point of 1 dB in comparison to the identical-rate benchmarker scheme
1,2-Bis(4-aminophenoxy)ethane
No full textThe molecule of the title compound, C14H16N2O2, is located on a crystallographic twofold rotation axis. The central O-C-C-O bridge adopts a gauche conformation. One of the amine H atoms is disordered over two equally occupied positions. The crystal structure is stabilized by N-H...O and N-H...N hydrogen bonds. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.002 Å; disorder in main residue; R factor = 0.049; wR factor = 0.119; data-to-parameter ratio = 17.9
Measuring Electrostatic Double-Layer Forces at high Surface Potentials with the Atomic Force Microscope
No full textThe long-term behaviour of butt fusion welds in polyethylene pipeline systems
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The objective of the study was to examine factors that influence the strength of butt welds and gain an understanding of the
process of failure. The study was divided into several sectors. The first and primary part of the programme was to determine the
extent to which the pipe system's long-term strength under both internal fluctuating and constant pressure is reduced by the presence of axially misaligned butt welds. The second objective was to examine fracture initiation sites and crack propagation paths of the failed aligned and misaligned butt welded samples in relation to the melt flow zone and the weld bead in order to establish the cause of failure. Finally the project considered the influence of selected welding parameters on the fatigue performance of aligned butt fusion welds and an investigation into the influence of elevated temperature (79°C) testing technique on the basic material's properties. Fatigue and stress-rupture lifetimes were found to decrease significantly with increasing axial misalignment at the butt fusion weld in 63,90 and 125mm MDPE pipe systems at 79°C in a water environment. In the butt fusion weld having axial misalignment of 20 per cent of the wall thickness and above, the reduction in the fatigue and stress-rupture lifetime was greater than 50 per cent compared to the aligned weld. It was not clear whether there is a pipe size effect or not; there was no marked change in the fatigue performance of misaligned butt welds for the three pipe diameters examined. However, the fatigue
performance of the aligned butt welds in 90 and 125mm was noticeably better compared to 63mm pipe systems. The stress rupture performance of misaligned butt welds in 90 and 125mm MDPE pipes was more than halved compared to those in 63mm pipe systems. Both the fatigue and stress rupture performance of misaligned butt welds could be explained in terms of amplified axial stress and in general, the Ory expression for evaluating the increase in axial stress due to misalignment appears to be valid. The temperature dependence of the fatigue performance of aligned and misaligned butt fusion welds in 63 and 90mm MDPE pipe systems suggests that if continuous internal fluctuating pressure under the conditions examined is maintained, then the butt fusion welds with axial misalignment of below 10 per cent of the wall thickness may well meet the design lifetime of 50 years at the service termperature. Under stress-rupture
conditions, all the misaligned butt welds considered in the three pipe diameters surpassed the minimum specified requirement
of 170 hours at 79°C. The fatigue was the most aggresive condition of the two for minor misalignment. Examination of the circumferential butt weld failures revealed
that the crack invariably initiated from the notch located at the inner weld bead and no preferred crack propagation path was taken in relation to the melt flow zone. It was proved that the notch was responsible for the observed circumferential failure of aligned butt welds in 63mm MDPE pipes by testing these butt fusion welds where the internal weld bead was machined off. The
failure site for the internal weld bead machined off sample was in the pipe remote from the weld inferring that the material in
the melt flow zone does not constitute any weakness. The effect of elevated temperature (79°C) testing in 63mm HDPE pipe was found to increase the density (and crystallinity)
signifying a slow annealing process in the material. However, the changes in these parameters were not of sufficient scale to
strongly influence the performance. The main effect of elevated temperature testing in water environment appears to be the
extraction of stabiliser from the base polymer as was indicated by the rapid decrease in oxidation induction time with the
ageing times.This work is supported by the Engineering Directorate of the SERC, the Water Research Centre (Engineering) and the Associated Octel
Company Ltd
Experimental and numerical study of butt welded joints made of high strength steel
No full textWelded joints are wildly used in the construction sector for fabrication of steel and aluminium structures. A welded joint is traditionally divided into three regions: The Base Material (BM), the Heat-Affected Zone (HAZ), and the Weld Material (WM). The mechanical behaviour of each region varies depending on properties of BM, FM and welding parameters. In general, HAZ has a lower material strength compared to BM and WM. The material strength difference is even more significant if BM is made of High Strength Steel (HSS) and welded by using undermatching electrodes. Therefore, it is essential to obtain the constitutive model of HAZ to accurately predict the behaviour (strength, stiffness, and ductility) of the HSS welded joint. In this paper, milled coupon specimens with a transverse butt weld in the middle are used for obtaining the original stress-strain relationship of HAZ and WM based on Digital Image Correlation (DIC) measurements. The original and the modified HAZ constitutive model are validated against the milled and unmilled coupon specimens by Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Comparing the FEA and experimental results, it can be concluded that the modified HAZ constitutive model is successfully validated. Finally, the tensile behaviour of the butt-welded square hollow section is investigated through FEA. It is found that the peak deformation would be significantly overestimated if the modified HAZ constitutive model is not used.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Steel & Composite Structure
ham-butt-pork
No full texthamburgHere we kept the barrels of salt beef, ham-butt-pork, fat-back pork, and what we were most interested in- the puncheons of molasses.G. M. Story FEB 1973JH FEB 1973Used I and SupUsed SupUsed Su
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