Numerical benchmark campaign of cost action tu1404 – microstructural modelling

This paper presents the results of the numerical benchmark campaign on modelling of hydration and microstructure development of cementitious materials. This numerical benchmark was performed in the scope of COST Action TU1404 “Towards the next generation of standards for service life of cement-based materials and structures”. Seven modelling groups took part in the campaign applying different models for prediction of mechanical properties (elastic moduli or compressive strength) in cement pastes and mortars. The simulations were based on published experimental data. The experimental data (both input and results used for validation) were open to the participants. The purpose of the benchmark campaign was to identify the needs of different models in terms of input experimental data, verify predictive potential of the models and finally to provide reference cases for new models in the future. The results of the benchmark show that a relatively high scatter in the predictions can arise between different models, in particular at early ages (e.g. elastic Young’s modulus predicted at 1 d in the range 6-20 GPa), while it reduces at later age, providing relatively good agreement with experimental data. Even though the input data was based on a single experimental dataset, the large differences between the results of the different models were found to be caused by distinct assumed properties for the individual phases at the microstructural level, mainly because of the scatter in the nanoindentation-derived properties of the C-S-H phase.</jats:p

Surface Kinetics and Generation of Different Terms in a Conservative Growth Equation

A method based on the kinetics of adatoms on a growing surface under epitaxial growth at low temperature in (1+1) dimensions is proposed to obtain a closed form of local growth equation. It can be generalized to any growth problem as long as diffusion of adatoms govern the surface morphology. The method can be easily extended to higher dimensions. The kinetic processes contributing to various terms in the growth equation (GE) are identified from the analysis of in-plane and downward hops. In particular, processes corresponding to the (h -> -h) symmetry breaking term and curvature dependent term are discussed. Consequence of these terms on the stable and unstable transition in (1+1) dimensions is analyzed. In (2+1) dimensions it is shown that an additional (h -> -h) symmetry breaking term is generated due to the in-plane curvature associated with the mound like structures. This term is independent of any diffusion barrier differences between in-plane and out of-plane migration. It is argued that terms generated in the presence of downward hops are the relevant terms in a GE. Growth equation in the closed form is obtained for various growth models introduced to capture most of the processes in experimental Molecular Beam Epitaxial growth. Effect of dissociation is also considered and is seen to have stabilizing effect on the growth. It is shown that for uphill current the GE approach fails to describe the growth since a given GE is not valid over the entire substrate.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure

Triadic awareness predicts partner choice in male–infant–male interactions in Barbary macaques

Social knowledge beyond one’s direct relationships is a key to successful maneuvering of the social world. Individuals gather information on the quality of social relationships between their group companions, which has been termed triadic awareness. Evidence of the use of triadic awareness in natural contexts is limited mainly to conflict management. Here we investigated triadic awareness in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) in the context of bridging interactions defined as male-infant-male interactions whereby a male (actor) presents an infant to another male (receiver) in order to initiate an affiliative interaction with that male. Analyses based on 1,263 hours of focal observations on ten infants of one wild social group in Morocco supported the hypothesis that males use their knowledge of the relationship between infants and other adult males when choosing a male as a partner for bridging interactions. Specifically, (i) the number of bridging interactions among initiator-infant-receiver triads was affected by the strength of the infant-receiver relationship and (ii) when two males were available as bridging partners, a male was more likely to be chosen as the receiver the stronger his social relationship with the infant in comparison to the other available male was. This demonstrates that non-human primates establish triadic awareness also of temporarily rather dynamic infant-male relationships and use it in naturally occurring affiliative context. Our results contribute to the discussion about the mechanism underlying the acquisition of triadic awareness and the benefits of its usage and lend support to hypotheses linking social complexity to the evolution of complex cognition

Data for: Hygro-mechanical modeling of restrained ring test: COST TU1404 benchmark

Experimental data for the ring test