Analysis and Economic Evaluation of the Use of Recycled Polyamide Powder in Masonry Mortars

Due to the considerable amount of waste plastics and polymers that are produced annually, the introduction of these waste products in construction materials is becoming a recurrent solution to recycle them. Among polymers, polyamide represents an important proportion of polymer waste. In this study, sustainable and lightweight mortars were designed and elaborated, substituting the aggregates by polyamide powder waste. Mortars were produced with various dosages of cement/aggregates, and the polyamide substitutions were 25, 50, 75, and 100% of the aggregates. The aim of this paper is to determine the density and the compressive strength of the manufactured mortars to observe the feasibility for being employed as masonry or rendering and plastering mortars. Results showed that with increasing polymer substitution, lower densities were achieved, ranging from 1850 to 790 kg/m3 in modified mortars. Mortars with densities below 1300 kg/m3 are cataloged as lightweight mortars. Furthermore, compressive strength also decreased with more polyamide substitution. Obtained values in recycled mortars were between 15.77 and 2.10 MPa, but the majority of the values (eight out of 12) were over 5 MPa. Additionally, an economic evaluation was performed, and it was observed that the use of waste polyamide implies an important cost reduction, apart from the advantage of not having to manage this waste material. Consequently, not only the mechanical properties of the new recycled materials were verified as well as its economic viability

GaSb/Mn multilayers structures fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering: Interface feature and nano-scale surface topography

The multilayer structure is a well-studied architecture for electronic and optoelectronic applications and more recently in spintronic devices. In this work, we present the structural, morphological, topographical, and magnetic properties of GaSb/Mn multilayers deposited via DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature and 423 K. Raman measurements evidence the formation of p-type GaSb layers with a contribution of electrons in the multilayer due to the neighboring Mn layer and the formation of effective interlayers. HR-SEM measurements show the multilayer architecture with columnar microstructure in the layer’s formation, while AFM micrographs allowed observing the changes in grain sizes (between 129 and 187 nm) and roughness (between 1.47 nm and 6.28 nm) with increasing number of layers. The formation of the interlayers between the GaSb and Mn layer was assayed in-depth spectroscopically via Rutherford backscattering studies. These interlayers were associated with diffusion processes during deposition and contributed to the magnetic behavior of multilayers. A ferromagnetic-like behavior was observed in the multilayer

Polarization conversion on nanostructured metallic surfaces fabricated by LIPSS

Conference on Laser-Based Micro-and Nanoprocessing (LBMP) at Photonics West Conference (13ª. 2019. San Francisco, California). ISBN: 978-1-5106-2455-9 © 2019 SPIE. This work is part of the following projects: ECOGRAB, funded by the Government of Spain under the RETOS COLABORACIÓN I+D+i programme. LASER4SURF has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 768636.Waveplates modify polarization by generating a phase change. Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) have recently started to be studied as waveplates due to the birefringence in-duced by the nanoripples, easily fabricated in a one-step process by laser, where LIPSS morphology is defined by the characteristics of the laser process parameters and the substrate material. The optical properties of these waveplates are defined by LIPSS parameters such as period, depth or width of the ripples. In this work we have deposited thin film coatings on stainless steel samples containing LIPSS for different coating thickness and composition. Results show that thin film coatings are a good candidate for the tunability of LIPSS birefringence since the coating modifies the induced polarization change and reflectivity of the sample depending on coating thickness and composition, as expected from numerical simulations.Depto. de ÓpticaFac. de Ciencias FísicasTRUEUnión Europea. H2020Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)pu

LIPSS manufacturing with regularity control through laser wavefront curvature

Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) manufacturing is a convenient laser direct-writing technique for the fabrication of nanostructures with adaptable characteristics on the surface of virtually any material. In this paper, we study the influence of 1D laser wavefront curvature on nanoripples spatial regularity, by irradiating stainless steel with a line-focused ultrafast laser beam emitting 120 fs pulses at a wavelength of 800 nm and with 1 kHz repetition rate. We find high correlation between the spatial regularity of the fabricated nanostructures and the wavefront characteristics of the laser beam, with higher regularity being found with quasi-plane-wave illumination. Our results provide insight regarding the control of LIPSS regularity, which is essential for industrial applications involving the LIPSS generation technique

Tailoring diamond's optical properties via direct femtosecond laser nanostructuring

We demonstrate a rapid, accurate, and convenient method for tailoring the optical properties of diamond surfaces by employing laser induced periodic surface structuring (LIPSSs). The characteristics of the fabricated photonic surfaces were adjusted by tuning the laser wavelength, number of impinging pulses, angle of incidence and polarization state. Using Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) modeling, the optical transmissivity and bandwidth was calculated for each fabricated LIPSSs morphology. The highest transmission of ~99.5% was obtained in the near-IR for LIPSSs structures with aspect ratios of the order of ~0.65. The present technique enabled us to identify the main laser parameters involved in the machining process, and to control it with a high degree of accuracy in terms of structure periodicity, morphology and aspect ratio. We also demonstrate and study the conditions for fabricating spatially coherent nanostructures over large areas maintaining a high degree of nanostructure repeatability and optical performance. While our experimental demonstrations have been mainly focused on diamond anti-reflection coatings and gratings, the technique can be easily extended to other materials and applications, such as integrated photonic devices, high power diamond optics, or the construction of photonic surfaces with tailored characteristics in general

Calidad en las empresas que fabrican y comercializan muebles de madera en Lima, Perú, 2014

En la actualidad hablar de la gestión de calidad se ha convertido en un tema muy relevante en el ámbito empresarial, gubernamental y académico; su utilización como uno de las herramientas de gestión en los negocios ha permitido hacer mejoras en los procesos productivos, desde el proveedor de la materia prima hasta el servicio de post venta del producto a los clientes, generando satisfacción en los consumidores. La gestación y el desarrollo logrado de la gestión de la calidad en el presente siglo nos muestran un profundo interés de las organizaciones por ser cada vez más competitivos en un mundo globalizado y cambiante. Pero su aplicación en las empresas y en otras instituciones, son irregulares; no todos avanzan con la misma prioridad de implementación del TQM. En este estudio de investigación se analizó el sector industrial de las Empresas que Fabrican y Comercializan Muebles de Madera en la Ciudad de Lima, Perú. Para determinar el nivel de implementación de la gestión de la calidad en el referido sector, se utilizó el modelo de los nueve factores de la calidad señalado en el artículo, Calidad en la Empresas Latinoamericanas: El Caso Peruano (Benzaquen, 2013). En ese sentido, los resultados obtenidos al 2014 reflejan el nivel de implementación del TQM en las empresas del sector industrial de la presente tesis, el cual demuestra que está en un nivel intermedio según la escala utilizada en el instrumento TQM (Benzaquen, 2013) y su respectiva aplicación en el estudio de investigación. Este nivel de calidad alcanzado por el sector refleja la existencia de una diferencia con respecto al nivel de calidad de las empresas peruanas mencionado por Benzaquen (2013).At present to discuss about quality management has become a fundamental topic in the business, governmental and academic field. The application of quality management as one of the main tools in the modern management has allowed the improvement of the production process, from the supplier of raw materials to the customer care services, making consumer satisfaction possible. The continuous improvement and development in quality management at the present century shows that there is a profound interest from the organizations to become more competitive in a global changing world. Nevertheless, its application in companies and other institutions is irregular, since not all of them move towards the implementation of TQM. In this research study, the industrial sector of companies that fabricate and commercialize wood furniture in Lima was analyzed. In order to determine the level of implementation of the quality management in this specific sector, this research used the model of the nine quality factors mentioned in the article, Quality in Latin-American Companies: The Peruvian case. (Benzaquen, 2013) In that sense, the results obtained at 2014, reflect the level of implementation of TQM in companies related to the industrial sector of the current study, which shows that it is in an intermediate level according to the scale used in the TQM (Benzaquen, 2013) and its application in this case of study .This level of quality achieved by the sector reflects the existence of a significant difference to the quality of Peruvian companies mentioned by Benzaquen (2013).Tesi

Femtosecond laser fabrication of LIPSS-based waveplates on metallic surfaces

A fast and reliable method for the fabrication of polarization modifying devices using femtosecond laser is reported. A setup based on line focusing is used for the generation of LIPSS on stainless steel, processing at different speeds between 0.8 and 2.4 mm/s with constant energy per pulse of 1.4 mJ. SEM and AFM characterizations of the LIPSS show a progressive increase in period as the processing speed increases, while height remains approximately constant in the studied range. Optical characterization of the devices shows an induced change in the polarization of the reflected beam that varies with the processing speed, which allows a controlled fabrication of these devices

Femtosecond laser fabrication of LIPSS-based waveplates on metallic surfaces

A fast and reliable method for the fabrication of polarization modifying devices using femtosecond laser is reported. A setup based on line focusing is used for the generation of LIPSS on stainless steel, processing at different speeds between 0.8 and 2.4 mm/s with constant energy per pulse of 1.4 mJ. SEM and AFM characterizations of the LIPSS show a progressive increase in period as the processing speed increases, while height remains approximately constant in the studied range. Optical characterization of the devices shows an induced change in the polarization of the reflected beam that varies with the processing speed, which allows a controlled fabrication of these devices

Polarization conversion on nanostructured metallic surfaces fabricated by LIPSS

Waveplates modify polarization by generating a phase change. Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) have recently started to be studied as waveplates due to the birefringence in-duced by the nanoripples, easily fabricated in a one-step process by laser, where LIPSS morphology is defined by the characteristics of the laser process parameters and the substrate material. The optical properties of these waveplates are defined by LIPSS parameters such as period, depth or width of the ripples. In this work we have deposited thin film coatings on stainless steel samples containing LIPSS for different coating thickness and composition. Results show that thin film coatings are a good candidate for the tunability of LIPSS birefringence since the coating modifies the induced polarization change and reflectivity of the sample depending on coating thickness and composition, as expected from numerical simulations