Increasing the Size of a Piece of Popcorn

Popcorn is an extremely popular snack food in the world today. Thermodynamics can be used to analyze how popcorn is produced. By treating the popping mechanism of the corn as a thermodynamic expansion, a method of increasing the volume or size of a kernel of popcorn can be studied. By lowering the pressure surrounding the unpopped kernel, one can use a thermodynamic argument to show that the expanded volume of the kernel when it pops must increase. In this project, a variety of experiments are run to test the validity of this theory. The results show that there is a significant increase in the average kernel size when the pressure of the surroundings is reduced.Comment: Latex document, 14 pages, 4 figures, 1 page of table

Grouting as a mean for repairing earth constructions

A good condition of the structural elements of an earth construction is essential for a good global structural behaviour. Therefore, the absence of major cracks is essential. Repairing cracks by using traditional techniques, involving the partial or the total reconstructions of the structural elements, constitutes a very intrusive solution that must, necessarily, be avoided in the case of historical earth constructions. Grouting constitutes an alternative and more practical solution for solving this problem. However, the design of the grouts for earth constructions demands the implementation of a methodical process that accounts both for the structural and durability demands of the construction. Previous works showed that the injection of mud grouts is a reliable and feasible solution. However, the knowledge developed is still very limited, hindering the further development of a methodology for designing mud grouts for earth constructions. Therefore, in this paper an initial methodology proposal for the design of mud grouts is presented and discussed. This results from an ongoing research that aims at the development of suitable grouts for earth constructions.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Grouting as a repair/strengthening solution for earth constructions

Earth, as a building material, has been used since ancient times, and is still being used with that purpose. It was used for building shelters, houses, temples and even military constructions, like fortresses. As a consequence, currently, there is a great architectural heritage stock on this kind of constructions. Nevertheless, earthen materials are very sensitive when compared with modern materials, since they are more vulnerable to external aggressive agents, revealing most of the times a faster degradation rate. From a structural perspective they present a very low tensile strength, a low compressive strength and a fragile behaviour, making the earthen structures strongly vulnerable to earthquakes. The structural damage in this kind of structures manifests, in general, in the form of cracks or voids. Repairing these cracks is fundamental in order to obtain an improved structural behaviour, especially if the earth construction was built in a seismic zone. Injecting mud grouts may constitute a feasible and reliable solution for repair this kind of damage. Although, mud grouts experience many problems that hinder their application and the knowledge about them is still very limited. This requires that deep studies have to be carried out in order to solve their problems and to make this solution reliable. In this paper it is discussed the methodology that should be established for the design of mud grouts suitable for earth constructions. But first a summarized explanation about earth constructions and their problems is presented. This results from an ongoing PhD research that still is in an initial phase, and it aims, precisely, the development of grouts specifically to be applied in earth constructions.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Strengthening of masonry and earthen structures by means of grouting: design of grouts

Grout injection is a technique commonly used in the repair and strengthening of masonry, due to the simplicity in its execution. However, to design a suitable grout, a proper methodology must be followed. The grout must accomplish requirements that depend mainly on mechanical behaviour and durability features of the struc-tures. Grouting can be also applied to earthen structures, for repairing cracks and filling voids. The same methodology can be used to design grouts, but the requirements must be adapted. Therefore, this paper pre-sents a discussion concerning the repair and strengthening of masonry and earth constructions through grout injection. To emphasize the differences in the requirements, first a short characterization of earth as a building material is given. Subsequently, the main decay phenomena are identified. Finally, attention goes to the effect of shrinkage and swelling behaviour of earth and the design of an appropriate grout for injection.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Evidence of spontaneous spin polarized transport in magnetic nanowires

The exploitation of the spin in charge-based systems is opening revolutionary opportunities for device architecture. Surprisingly, room temperature electrical transport through magnetic nanowires is still an unresolved issue. Here, we show that ferromagnetic (Co) suspended atom chains spontaneously display an electron transport of half a conductance quantum, as expected for a fully polarized conduction channel. Similar behavior has been observed for Pd (a quasi-magnetic 4d metal) and Pt (a non-magnetic 5d metal). These results suggest that the nanowire low dimensionality reinforces or induces magnetic behavior, lifting off spin degeneracy even at room temperature and zero external magnetic field.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps fig

Seismic assessment of a vernacular rammed earth building

Rammed earth constructions represent a valuable cultural heritage of vernacular architecture, whose significance has acquired even more importance in the last years with the renovated interest for this sustainable building technique. The aim of this work is to develop a FEM model typologically representative of a Portuguese vernacular rammed earth construction in order to characterize numerically its seismic performance and raise awareness about the level of improvement introduced by two compatible strengthening techniques: textile reinforced mortar (TRM) and a ring beam applied at the top of the walls.This research work was partly financed by FEDER funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE) and by Portuguese national funds through FCT(Foundation for Science and Technology) within the scope of projects POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007633 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016737 (PTDC/ECM-EST/2777/2014). The support from grant SFRH/BPD/97082/2013 is also gratefully acknowledged

Numerical modeling of the seismic out-of-plane response of a plain and TRM-strengthened rammed earth subassembly

The importance of raw earth is highlighted by the millions of persons living in earthen buildings around the World and by numerous historical monuments made of this material. Its widely availability led to the development of a variety of building techniques, including rammed earth, which is the main focus of this study. Similarly to unreinforced masonry structures, rammed earth buildings acceptably withstand gravity loads, but are significantly vulnerable to earthquakes. In this regard, great attention has been put on the proposal of efficient, compatible, affordable and reversible strengthening solutions. However, very limited studies address either the experimental testing or modeling of the seismic response of such buildings. The current study investigates the seismic out-of-plane performance of a plain and subsequently strengthened rammed earth sub-assembly (U-shape) using an advanced finite element modeling approach calibrated based on previously conducted small-scale experiments. Here, failure mechanisms, corresponding capacity and efficiency of the adopted strengthening solution (low-cost textile-reinforced mortar) are evaluated by means of pushover analyses. Then, the reliability of the pushover analyses is assessed by comparing its outcomes with that of the incremental dynamic analyses. In general, the failure was found to be governed by overturning of the web wall due to its detachment from the wing walls, while the strengthening was found to increase the capacity and delay the damage development.This work was financed by FEDER funds through the Competitively Factors Operational Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of projects POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016737 (PTDC/ECM-EST/2777/2014) and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007633. The support from grant SFRH/BPD/97082/2013 is also acknowledged

In-plane seismic performance of plain and TRM-strengthened rammed earth components

Raw earth is one of the most widely used building materials and is employed in different techniques, among which adobe and rammed earth are the most common. The respective structural systems, like in masonry buildings, acceptably withstand against gravity loads, though they are significantly vulnerable to earthquakes. Moreover, a great percentage of the World’s population is still inhabited in such environments, which are endangered by future earthquakes. The current article investigates the seismic in-plane performance of an I-shaped rammed earth component by means of advanced nonlinear finite element modelling. In this regard, conventional pushover analyses were conducted to evaluate load/displacement capacities and to assess probable failure modes. It was observed that the component fails mainly due to detachment of the wing walls from the web wall and due to occurrence of diagonal shear cracks at the web. Subsequently, the application of Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) strengthening solution to the component was studied and shown to be able to maintain the integrity of the component for larger lateral load levels. Finally, the reliability of the pushover analyses to predict the seismic response was evaluated by comparison with outcomes from incremental nonlinear dynamic analysis.This work was financed by FEDER funds through the Competitively Factors Operational Programme – COMPETE and by national funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of projects POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007633 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016737 (PTDC/ECMEST/2777/2014). The support from grant SFRH/BPD/97082/2013 is also acknowledged