Block Shear Capacity of Bolted Connections in Cold-Reduced Steel Sheets

This paper examines the mechanisms for block shear failures of bolted connections in steel plates postulated in the design equations specified in the North American, European and Australian steel structures codes. It explains that there is only one feasible mechanism for the limit state of conventional block shear failure, that which involves tensile rupture and shear yielding, irrespective of the steel material ductility. It describes the fundamental shortcomings of various code equations for determining the block shear capacity of a bolted connection. Based on the tensile rupture and shear yielding mechanism, an in-plane shear lag factor, and the active shear resistance planes identified in the present work, this paper proposes a rational equation that is demonstrated to provide more accurate results compared to all the code equations in predicting the block shear capacities of bolted connections in G450 steel sheets subjected to concentric loading. The resistance factor of 0.8 for the proposed equation is computed with respect to the LRFD approach given in the North American specification for the design of cold-formed steel structures

Synthesis and characterization of CuFe2O4 nanorods synthesized by polyol route

Uniform, high quality, CuFe2O4 nanorods with high aspect ratios were synthesized by a surfactant-free single step polyol process at 220 degrees C. The structure of the product was characterized by XRD and FT-IR, and the morphology of the product was analyzed by SEM. The results showed that the as-prepared nanorods have a uniform cross-section and with average diameter of similar to 100 nm and aspect ratio in the range of 13-52. X-ray line profile fitting resulted in crystallite size of 15 nm, which reveals the polycrystalline nature of these nanorods. Magnetic characterization of product was performed by EPR and VSM techniques and the results show that the CuFe2O4 nanorods are ferromagnetic. The line width of the resonance lines in FMR is about 1.8 kOe which may originate from different resonance fields of randomly distributed nanocrystals which have different orientation of magnetic easy axes. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A Noble-Metal-Free Heterogeneous Photosensitizer-Relay Catalyst Triad That Catalyzes Water Oxidation under Visible Light

An entirely earth-abundant chromophore-relay water oxidation catalyst triad system, which is robust and efficient at neutral pH, is presented. The synthesis involves the coordination of a porphyrin derivative to a bridging Fe(CN)(5) group, which is then reacted with Co ions to prepare a covalently linked chromophore-Prussian blue analogue assembly. Light-driven water oxidation studies in the presence of an electron scavenger indicate that the triad is active and it maintains a steady activity for at least three hours. Transient absorption experiments and computational studies reveal that the Fe(CN)(5) group is more than a linker as it takes part in electron-transfer and co-operates with porphyrin in the charge separation process