Design, Material Properties and Structural Performance of Sustainable Concrete

Green concretes, also termed eco-concretes, with reduced cement content may provide an alternative for improving concrete sustainability independently of used supplementary cementitious materials. However, to evaluate the sustainability of these new types of concretes not only the ecological impact due to the composition may be regarded but in particular also their technical performance, i.e. their mechanical, physical and chemical properties, have to be taken into consideration. Consequently, this paper introduces first the index Building Material Sustainability Potential, which is applied in combination with the service life prediction for cement-reduced concretes using probabilistic methods. Moreover, the composition of green concretes is indicated, and related test results on the performance of green concretes are presented. The potential of green concrete for applications in practice is shown by the structural performance of graded concrete members being loaded in flexural tests

Color-coded object-adapted fringe projection for two- and three-dimensional quality control

Die Kontrolle von Werkstücken hinsichtlich ihrer dreidimensionalen Geometrie und ihrer Oberflächencharakteristik ist von entscheidender Bedeutung für die automatisierte industrielle Produktion. Vorgestellt wird ein schnelles und robustes Einzelbildverfahren das es gestattet, gleichzeitig die Topographie zu kontrollieren und ein Videobild des Werkstückes zu generieren. Hierzu wird eine objektangepasste Streifenprojektion mit einer farbkodierten Maske verwendet. Zur Detektion können preiswerte Einzelchip Farbkameras zum Einsatz kommen. Das Verfahren erzielt eine vergleichsweise gute 3D-Auflösung von 1/4000 bei einer hohen lateralen 2D- und 3D-Auflösung und ist weitgehend unempfindlich gegen lokale Verschmutzungen und Variation der Beleuchtung.Industrial quality control today requires fast and robust detection of the topography as well as the surface of objects. We present a fast single--frame method based on object-adapted fringe projection where a color mask is used in order to simultaneously obtain a video image as well as a map of the deviation of the topography. Color-coded projection in combination with detection by a consumer one-chip digital camera is employed for testing complex objects by simple means. An accuracy (3D) of 1/4000 together with a high lateral resolution is obtained. Additionally the method is quite immune against dirt and varying illumination conditions

Creep in reactive colloidal gels: A nanomechanical study of cement hydrates

From soft polymeric gels to hardened cement paste, amorphous solids under constant load exhibit a pronounced time-dependent deformation called creep. The microscopic mechanism of such a phenomenon is poorly understood in amorphous materials and constitutes an even greater challenge in densely packed and chemically reactive granular systems. Both features are prominently present in hydrating cement pastes composed of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) nanoparticles, whose packing density increases as a function of time, while cement hydration is taking place. Performing nanoindentation tests and porosity measurements on a large collection of samples at various stages of hydration, we show that the creep response of hydrating cement paste is mainly controlled by the interparticle distance and results from slippage between (C-S-H) nanoparticles. Our findings provide a unique insight into the microscopic mechanism underpinning the creep response in aging granular materials, thus paving the way for the design of concrete with improved creep resistance

Solving the subset-sum problem with a light-based device

We propose a special computational device which uses light rays for solving the subset-sum problem. The device has a graph-like representation and the light is traversing it by following the routes given by the connections between nodes. The nodes are connected by arcs in a special way which lets us to generate all possible subsets of the given set. To each arc we assign either a number from the given set or a predefined constant. When the light is passing through an arc it is delayed by the amount of time indicated by the number placed in that arc. At the destination node we will check if there is a ray whose total delay is equal to the target value of the subset sum problem (plus some constants).Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, Natural Computing, 200

Exact Cover with light

We suggest a new optical solution for solving the YES/NO version of the Exact Cover problem by using the massive parallelism of light. The idea is to build an optical device which can generate all possible solutions of the problem and then to pick the correct one. In our case the device has a graph-like representation and the light is traversing it by following the routes given by the connections between nodes. The nodes are connected by arcs in a special way which lets us to generate all possible covers (exact or not) of the given set. For selecting the correct solution we assign to each item, from the set to be covered, a special integer number. These numbers will actually represent delays induced to light when it passes through arcs. The solution is represented as a subray arriving at a certain moment in the destination node. This will tell us if an exact cover does exist or not.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, New Generation Computing, accepted, 200

Should applicants to Nottingham University Medical School study a non-science A-level? A cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been suggested that studying non-science subjects at A-level should be compulsory for medical students. Our admissions criteria specify only Biology, Chemistry and one or more additional subjects. This study aimed to determine whether studying a non-science subject for A-level is an independent predictor of achievement on the undergraduate medical course.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The subjects of this retrospective cohort study were 164 students from one entry-year group (October 2000), who progressed normally on the 5-year undergraduate medical course at Nottingham. Pre-admission academic and socio-demographic data and undergraduate course marks were obtained. T-test and hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses were undertaken to identify independent predictors of five course outcomes at different stages throughout the course.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was no evidence that the choice of science or non-science as the third or fourth A-level subject had any influence on course performance. Demographic variables (age group, sex, and fee status) had some predictive value but ethnicity did not. Pre-clinical course performance was the strongest predictor in the clinical phases (pre-clinical Themes A&B (knowledge) predicted Clinical Knowledge, p < 0.001, and pre-clinical Themes C&D (skills) predicted Clinical Skills, p = < 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study of one year group at Nottingham Medical School provided no evidence that the admissions policy on A-level requirements should specify the choice of third or fourth subject.</p