Effects of Density and Moisture Variation on Dynamic Deformation Properties of Compacted Lateritic Soil

A series of repeated load triaxial tests were conducted in this study to investigate the influences of compaction density and postcompaction moisture variation on the dynamic elastic modulus (Ed) and plastic permanent strain (PPS) of compacted lateritic soil. Specimens were compacted at optimum moisture content (OMC) and three degrees of compaction (90%, 93%, and 96%). Then the specimens were dried or wetted to different moisture contents (OMC, OMC±3%, OMC±6%, and OMC+9%) prior to testing for Ed and PPS. Results show that moisture content has greater influence on the Ed and PSS than compaction degree, and the increase in moisture content leads to a decrease of Ed and an increase of PPS. Furthermore, an empirical relationship between Ed and applied cyclic stress (σd) is developed that incorporates density and moisture variations. Three different evolution types of PPS with number of load cycles, plastic stable, plastic creep, and incremental collapse, are identified as the increase of moisture content. In addition, the critical dynamic stress (σdc) separating stable and unstable deformation is determined based on the shakedown concept. The envelope curves of σdc-moisture of lateritic soil with different degrees of compaction are also determined to provide reference for the pavement design

NTIRE 2020 Challenge on Spectral Reconstruction from an RGB Image

This paper reviews the second challenge on spectral reconstruction from RGB images, i.e., the recovery of whole- scene hyperspectral (HS) information from a 3-channel RGB image. As in the previous challenge, two tracks were provided: (i) a "Clean" track where HS images are estimated from noise-free RGBs, the RGB images are themselves calculated numerically using the ground-truth HS images and supplied spectral sensitivity functions (ii) a "Real World" track, simulating capture by an uncalibrated and unknown camera, where the HS images are recovered from noisy JPEG-compressed RGB images. A new, larger-than-ever, natural hyperspectral image data set is presented, containing a total of 510 HS images. The Clean and Real World tracks had 103 and 78 registered participants respectively, with 14 teams competing in the final testing phase. A description of the proposed methods, alongside their challenge scores and an extensive evaluation of top performing methods is also provided. They gauge the state-of-the-art in spectral reconstruction from an RGB image

Grain Yield and Resource Use Efficiencies of Upland and Lowland Rice Cultivars under Aerobic Cultivation

Aerobic rice has the potential to replace transplanted flooded rice, as rice cultivation is seriously threatened by environmental and social factors. Although the recently released upland rice cultivars have higher drought tolerance, low yield potential of these cultivars makes them less feasible for high-yielding rice planting regions under aerobic cultivation. In this study, typical lowland rice cultivars (Huanghuazhan and Yangliangyou6) were evaluated for grain yield and resource use efficiencies under aerobic cultivation as compared with upland rice cultivars (Lvhan1 and Hanyou3). Averaged across different years, lowland rice cultivars recorded 26.9%, 14.6%, and 26.6% higher grain yield, water productivity, and nitrogen use efficiency for grain production (NUEg), respectively, as compared with upland cultivars. The higher grain yield of lowland rice cultivars under aerobic cultivation was mainly attributed to the higher aboveground biomass and the spikelet number per panicle, along with a higher harvest index and panicle number per unit area with respect to upland rice cultivars. During the entire growing season in aerobic cultivation, rainfall accounted for 60% to 85% of the total water use, which indicates that lowland rice cultivars could make better use of the rainfall because of a longer growth duration and a higher growth potential. In summary, this study suggests that with appropriate irrigation, lowland rice cultivars could grow well and furnish higher yield than the current upland rice cultivars under aerobic cultivation

Strengthening and Weakening Effects of Particles on Strength and Ductility of SiC Particle Reinforced Al-Cu-Mg Alloys Matrix Composites

The strengthening and weakening effects of SiC particles on composite strength and ductility were studied. Al-Cu-Mg alloys matrices with three different mechanical properties were used. Their yield strength, ultimate strength, and elongation range from 90 to 379 MPa, 131 to 561 MPa, and 18% to 31%, respectively. SiC particles with sizes of 4, 8, 12, 15, 20, and 30 μm were used to reinforce these three matrices, separately, and the composites of eighteen combinations of the particle sizes and matrix strengths were manufactured. Yield strength, ultimate strength, elongation, and fracture morphology of these composites were characterized. Based on the analysis, the strengthening to weakening behavior on strength and ductility were comprehensively discussed. The critical particle size having the best ductility was obtained. The strengthening limit and match range of the particle and the matrix to achieve effective strengthening were defined as a function of the particle size and matrix strength. This work offers an important reference for optimization of mechanical properties of the particle-reinforced metal matrix composites

Interfacial Structure of Carbide-Coated Graphite/Al Composites and Its Effect on Thermal Conductivity and Strength

Graphite/Al composites had attracted significant attention for thermal management applications due to their excellent thermal properties. However, the improvement of thermal properties was restricted by the insufficient wettability between graphite and Al. In this study, silicon carbide and titanium carbide coatings have been uniformly coated on the graphite by the reactive sputtering method, and Graphite/Al laminate composites were fabricated by a hot isostatic pressing process to investigate the influence on thermal conductivity and mechanical properties. The results show that carbide coating can effectively improve the interfacial thermal conductance of SiC@Graphite/Al and TiC@Graphite/Al composites by 9.8 times and 3.4 times, respectively. After surface modification, the in-plane thermal conductivity (TC) of the composites with different volume fractions are all exceeding the 90% of the predictions. In comparison, SiC is more conducive to improving the thermal conductivity of composite materials, since the thermal conductivity of the 28.7 vol.% SiC@Graphite/Al reached the highest value of 499 W/m·K, while TiC is favorable for improving the mechanical properties. The finding is beneficial to the understanding of carbide coating engineering in the Graphite/Al composites

Modeling and Analysis of FeICIC in OFDMA HetNets with Limited Backhaul Capacity

Heterogeneous networks (HetNets) with dense deployment of small cells in co-channel manner are recognized as a key solution to boost network capacity. However, in addition to the severe inter-Tier interference, the non-ideal backhaul is also a bottleneck in improving the performance of HetNets. This paper proposes an analytical model of further-enhanced intercell interference coordination (FeICIC) in orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) HetNets with limited backhaul capacity, and further evaluates the performance of HetNets. Stochastic geometry is applied to derive the expression of rate coverage in two-Tier HetNets, while modeling the BS interference in the context of OFDMA. The accuracy of analytical results is validated by Monte Carlo simulation. The superiority of FeICIC for rate coverage of HetNets is demonstrated, and the proper parameter settings are further investigated to provide design guidelines for future dense networks

Effect of the Particle Size and Matrix Strength on Strengthening and Damage Process of the Particle Reinforced Metal Matrix Composites

Roles of the particle, strengthening, and weakening during deformation of the particle reinforced metal matrix composite, were studied using in situ technique. Composites with three different strengths Al-Cu-Mg alloy matrices reinforced by three sizes SiC particles were manufactured and subjected to in situ tensile testing. Based on in situ observation, damage process, fraction and size distribution of the cracked particles were collected to investigate the behavior of the particle during composite deformation. The presence of the particle strengthens the composite, while the particle cracking under high load weakens the composite. This strengthening to weakening transformation is controlled by the damage process of the particle and decided by the particle strength, size distribution, and the matrix flow behavior together. With a proper match of the particle and matrix, an effective strengthening can be obtained. Finally, the effective match range of the particle and the matrix was defined as a function of the particle size and the matrix strength

Design and current balancing optimization of A 1700V/1000A multi-chip SiC power module

The rated current of a single SiC MOSFET is always less than 100A at a voltage rating higher than 1.2kV. Therefore, plenty of SiC MOSFET dies paralleled as multichip power modules to increase the current capacity. However, due to the asymmetric layout and the difference between chip parameters, there will be severe current imbalance in power modules, affecting the reliability. This paper presents a multi-chip 1700V/1000A SiC power module, consisting of 18 paralleled chips in each switch of the half-bridge topology. A serial of current balancing optimization method is proposed, including chip classification, the optimization of layout, power terminals and driver loop. Finally, the double pulse test (DPT) is conducted to verify the performance of the power module

Hot Deformation Behavior and Mechanisms of SiC Particle Reinforced Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Alloy Matrix Composites

A systematic and comprehensive analysis of the hot deformation and mechanisms of SiC particle-reinforced aluminum matrix composites is significant for optimizing the processing of the composites and obtaining the desired components. Based on this, related research on 11 vol% SiCp particle-reinforced 7050Al matrix composites was carried out. Hot compression experiments were carried out on the Gleeble-3500 thermal simulator to study the hot deformation behavior of composites at the temperature of 370–520 °C and strain rate of 0.001–10 s−1. The hyperbolic sine constitutive equation of the material was established, and the processing map was calculated. Combining the typical metallograph and misorientation angle distribution, the microstructure evolution mechanism of composites was analyzed, and the effect of particles on recrystallization behavior was investigated. Under certain process conditions, the dominant deformation mechanism of composites changed from dynamic recovery (DRV) to dynamic recrystallization (DRX), and the grain boundary sliding mechanism began to play a role. In addition, high temperature tensile and elongation at break were tested, and it was found that the dominant form of fracture failure changed from brittle fracture of the particles to ductile fracture of the matrix as the temperature increased

Study on Fabrication and Properties of Graphite/Al Composites by Hot Isostatic Pressing-Rolling Process

Graphite/Al composites have attracted much attrition due to their excellent thermal properties. However, the improvement of thermal conductivity (TC) is limited by the difficulty in controlling the orientation of graphite and the poor wettability between graphite and aluminum. In this study, a novel process for fabricating the Graphite/Al composites is proposed, which involves fabricating graphite film and aluminum foil into laminate material. Then, taking a rolling method, the fractured and well oriented graphite film can help the composite achieve high TC while maintaining a certain strength. The result reveals that both single and total reduction have a significant influence on the diameter and orientation of the graphite, and by adjusting the process parameters, composites with high TC can be acquired at a relatively low reinforcement volume. This near-net-forming process can directly meet the thickness requirements for electronic packaging and avoids the exposure of graphite to the surface during secondary processing, which is promising to promote the application for high TC Graphite/Al composites in thermal management