4,018 research outputs found
An experimental study of concrete resistivity and the effects of electrode configuration and current frequency on measurement
Electrical resistivity, a measurable parameter of the state of concrete, plays an important role in the assessment of reinforced concrete structures. An experimental study using two-electrode method has been conducted to evaluate the resistivity of Portland cement concrete. Internal and external electrodes were varied in order to understand effect of the electrodes configuration, where carbon fibre (CF) sheets were employed as the internal electrodes and CF and copper sheets were used as external electrodes. Furthermore, frequency of applied current was varied from low to high, to identify the most suitable frequency that can be utilized for stable and reliable results. Optimised internal electrodes configuration and the current frequency of 10,000 Hz were used to measure the resistivity on a series of concrete cubes, which were made using three different water to cement ratios and four different chloride contents
Modelling the electrical resistivity of concrete with varied water and chloride contents
The electrical resistivity of concrete is an important property in the assessment of reinforcement corrosion in concrete and an essential parameter in the design and operation of cathodic protection for reinforced-concrete (RC) structures. Water and chloride contents in concrete are highly variable in RC structures in real-world hostile environments, meaning that characterisation of their coupled effects on concrete electrical resistivity is important. The currently available models are investigated in this paper. As all the current models are purely empirical, an improvement with a semi-empirical model is proposed. The improvement highlights the intrinsic linkage between concrete electrical resistivity and water content and the pore size distribution of concrete. The proposed model was tested using two sets of experimental data and was also compared with other two empirical models
Leveraging the Partial Reconfiguration Capability of FPGAs for Processor-Based Fail-Operational Systems
The mu problem and sneutrino inflation
We consider sneutrino inflation and post-inflation cosmology in the singlet
extension of the MSSM with approximate Peccei-Quinn(PQ) symmetry, assuming that
supersymmetry breaking is mediated by gauge interaction. The PQ symmetry is
broken by the intermediate-scale VEVs of two flaton fields, which are
determined by the interplay between radiative flaton soft masses and higher
order terms. Then, from the flaton VEVs, we obtain the correct mu term and the
right-handed(RH) neutrino masses for see-saw mechanism. We show that the RH
sneutrino with non-minimal gravity coupling drives inflation, thanks to the
same flaton coupling giving rise to the RH neutrino mass. After inflation,
extra vector-like states, that are responsible for the radiative breaking of
the PQ symmetry, results in thermal inflation with the flaton field, solving
the gravitino problem caused by high reheating temperature. Our model predicts
the spectral index to be n_s\simeq 0.96 due to the additional efoldings from
thermal inflation. We show that a right dark matter abundance comes from the
gravitino of 100 keV mass and a successful baryogenesis is possible via
Affleck-Dine leptogenesis.Comment: 27 pages, no figures, To appear in JHE
Introducing willingness-to-pay for noise changes into transport appraisal: an application of benefit transfer.
Numerous research studies have elicited willingness-to-pay values for transport-related noise, however, in many industrialised countries including the UK, noise costs and benefits are still not incorporated into appraisals for most transport projects and policy changes (Odgaard et al, 2005; Grant-Muller et al, 2001). This paper describes the actions recently taken in the UK to address this issue, comprising: primary research based on the city of Birmingham; an international review of willingness-to-pay evidence; development of values using benefit transfers over time and locations; and integration with appraisal methods. Amongst the main findings are: that the willingness-to-pay estimates derived for the UK are broadly comparable with those used in appraisal elsewhere in Europe; that there is a case for a lower threshold at
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45dB(A)Leq,18hr1 rather than the more conventional 55dB(A); and that values per dB(A) increase with the noise level above this threshold. There are significant issues over the valuation of rail versus road noise, the neglect of non-residential noise and the valuation of high noise levels in different countries. Conclusions are drawn regarding the feasibility of noise valuation based on benefit transfers in the UK and elsewhere, and future research needs in this field are discussed
The effect of metakaolin and hybrid polymers on the microstructure of concrete
It has been established that metakaolin (MK) can be applied as a supplementary cementitious material and
that some polymers can enhance substantial properties of concrete. Previous studies showed that, when used
in combination, MK and polymers can complement each other, and enhance further the mechanical and
durability properties of concrete, which were not improved by one another separately. To have a deep
observation and understanding of the mechanism of concretes modified with various combinations of MK
and polymers, this study investigates the changes in the microstructures based on SEM combined with CT
scan analysis scan technologies. The findings show that the microstructure of the pore of hardened concrete
modified with combined MK and hybrid polymers is significantly improved compared to samples with MK
or polymers alone. This indicates that this approach can be effectively used to provide additional proof on
the strength and porosity properties of high-performance concrete
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