Modeling Abrasion Resistance of Concrete Floors

Abrasion of industrial concrete floors is a major problem resulting in their lower service lives. Attempt has been made to relate the abrasion resistance of concrete to its compressive strength. However there are other factors which influence the abrasion resistance of concrete. In this study, several concrete mixtures containing different types of cements, aggregates, admixtures and additives such as silica fume and styrene butadiene rubber (S.B.R) polymer were made to assess their abrasion resistances. All concrete specimens were tested for wear action in accordance with ASTM and EN standard test methods. Based on data obtained from the tests, an empirical model was proposed to evaluate the abrasion resistance of different concretes. Results of this investigation show that the incorporation of silica fume, S.B.R polymer and granite aggregates in concrete improve its abrasion resistance. The proposed mathematical model is capable to predict the abrasion resistance of concrete and provide a guide for selection of materials to produce more durable concrete when subjected to wear action

Design of Hybrid Solar Cell Based on Dye-Sensitized TiO2TiO_2 Nanoparticles with Conjugated Polymer

In this paper, we have proposed dye-sensitized hybrid solar cell based on $TiO_2$ nanoparticles as a medium for electron transport and conjugated polymers as hole-conductor, where dye molecules absorb solar radiation and create electron-hole pairs. This solar cell can be a better alternative to conventional electrolyte based dye-sensitized solar cells, because of enhanced characteristics of performance. We have simulated it numerically, to study essential characteristics of the structure such as electron, hole and their current densities and internal electric field in two operating conditions of open-circuit and short-circuit cases. Then current-voltage characteristic diagram has been plotted and energy conversion efficiency calculated