Development of an experimental setup for microwave assisted drying of PET; a feasibility study

With high global ambitions for sustainability and circularity and increasing energy prices, the recycling industry keeps innovating to keep up with political goals and customer demand. Reducing the energy consumption in the recycling process reduces environmental impact and reduces financial costs for the customer. A energy intensive process...

Prediction of soil compaction parameters through the development and experimental validation of Gaussian process regression models

The laboratory determination of maximum dry density (ρ_dmax) and optimum moisture content (w_opt) of soils requires considerable time and energy. Efforts have been made in the past to present models to predict the soil compaction parameters (ρ_dmax and w_opt), but the existing models are either...

Cross-Sectional Analysis Of The Mechanical And Physical Properties Of Spruce Foundation Piles: An investigative analysis of moisture content, density, compressive strength, and modulus of elasticity across the cross-section of spruce foundation piles, with an emphasis on the predictive proficiency of micro-drilling methods

Summary<br/><br/>Numerous ancient historical constructions worldwide depend primarily on an extensive array of wooden foundation piles, as they are subject to loading conditions governed by the superstructure above. Wooden foundations transfer loads through a combination of compression and lateral resistance. The inherent strength of wood...

Interlocking wood-to-wood joinery connections with moisture induce process: Interlocking optimization of digital manufactured households: an alternative construction system as solution for affordable housing in Colombia

From a global perspective, the building industry is one of the significant factors of environmental impact on the planet. Related activities in this industry refer to 40% of total carbon emissions; 28% of this value accounts for building operations, while the remaining 12% represents the manufacturing of new construction materials. Studies have...

Low-temperature drying of waste activated sludge enhanced by agricultural biomass towards self-supporting incineration

A high moisture content of waste activated sludge (WAS) associated with a low calorific value needs to be deeply dried towards self-supporting incineration. On the other hand, thermal energy with low temperature exchanged from treated effluent has great potential for drying sludge. Unfortunately, low-temperature drying of sludge seems to be...

Influence of moisture content on the assessment of decay levels by micro-drilling measurements in wooden foundation piles

In the historic city centre of Amsterdam (NL), the most widespread foundation system consists of wooden piles. With the aim of modelling and predicting remaining service life of these foundations and the piles in particular, one of the possible methods for collecting data and monitoring their condition consists of micro-drilling (MD)...

Remote sensing-based prediction of forest fire characteristics

Forest fires are a major ecosystem disturbance at global scale, put pressure on agencies in charge of citizens and infrastructure security and cause unvaluable human losses. Fires are controlled by multiple static and dynamic drivers related to topography, land cover, climate, weather, and anthropic activity. Among these, weather is an active...

Prediction of the equilibrium moisture content based on the chemical composition and crystallinity of natural fibres

Natural fibre-based materials offer various advantages compared to synthetic fibres, however their applications are limited mainly due to their hygroscopic properties, which are affected by their chemical composition, microstructure and the porosity of the plant cells of which the fibre is composed. Therefore, this work investigates the...

Combining multi-spectral and thermal remote sensing to predict forest fire characteristics

Forest fires preparedness strategies require the assessment of spatial and temporal variability of fire danger. While several tools have been developed to predict fire occurrence and behaviour from weather data, it is acknowledged that fire danger models may benefit from direct assessment of live fuel condition, as allowed by Earth Observation...

The Effect of Environmental Conditions on the Degradation Behavior of Biomass Pellets

Biomass pellets provide a pivotal opportunity in promising energy transition scenarios as a renewable source of energy. A large share of the current utilization of pellets is facilitated by intensive global trade operations. Considering the long distance between the production site and the end-user locations, pellets may face fluctuating storage...

Predicting forest fires burned area and rate of spread from pre-fire multispectral satellite measurements

Operational forest fire danger rating systems rely on the recent evolution of meteorological variables to estimate dead fuel condition. Further combining the latter with meteorological and environmental variables, they predict fire occurrence and spread. In this study we retrieved live fuel condition from MODIS multispectral measurements in...

Load carrying capacity of multiple fastener steel to bamboo joints loaded parallel to the fibre direction

Laminated bamboo could be a promising material when it comes to large span roofing structures where often truss structures are adopted. It is assumed that connection design used for timber trusses can also be applied in laminated bamboo trusses. For this research truss nodes with slotted-in steel plates are considered. This research will focus...

Remediation measures for solid bulk cargoes: Moisture content reduction inside a ship's cargo hold

Solid bulk cargo liquefaction is a serious problem in the shipping industry. Numerous capsized ships have been reported as a result of liquefied cargo. Only between 2009 and 2016 nine ships sunk, causing 100 casualties. Most accidents did happen with nickel ore transport but other fine grained solid bulk cargoes report accidents as well. The...

Remote sensing estimation of vegetation moisture for the prediction of fire hazard

Various factors contribute to forest fire hazard, and among them vegetation moisture is the one that dictates susceptibility to fire ignition and propagation. The scientific community has developed a number of spectral indexes based on remote sensing measurements in the optical domain for the assessment of vegetation equivalent water thickness ...

The effect of the environment on the fatigue properties of ARALL-3

The effect of the environment on the fatigue behaviour and residual strength of ARALL-3 has been studied using three types of specimens, varying in structural complexity. In addition to the reference ambient air condition, specimens were aged and/or fatigue loaded in hot/humid air or in sump tank fluid. Environmental fatigue loading of door...

Standardized environmental fatigue sequence for the evaluation of composite components in combat aircraft (ENSTAFF = ENvironmental FalSTAFF)

Fatigue life assessment of composite structures in fighter aircraft necessitates testing with both mechanical and environmental loading at both coupon and structural element size levels. Testing facilities to run such tests are now available but environmental fatigue testing is expensive and time consuming. An environmental fatigue loading...

Fracture characteristics of carbon and aramid unidirectional composites in interlaminar shear and open hole tensile tests.

This investigation examined carbon/epoxy and aramide/epoxy composites in interlaminar shear and in open-hole tensile tests at 90 to the unidirectional fibre orientation. Epoxy resin was also tested under tension. Photomicroscopy and the S.E.M. were used to study the fracture surfaces. Wet tests were performed to investigate the influence of...